Axel twisted his body to the side violently as a flash of blue light narrowly grazed his left arm, driving forwards in a straight line and slamming into a tree behind him, cleaving it in two horizontally. Axel didn't let his attention waver, instead leaping into the air in a controlled backflip and spreading white flames around his body as the flash ignored the laws of physics and came rushing back, passing under Axel's back and bursting through the wall of flames he put up. Axel landed firmly on the ground and rushed forwards again, swinging his sword as he went, spreading flames up the trees around him and burning them to ashes.
The flash of light rushed through the air towards a blur of movement that darted from tree to tree, avoiding Axel's constant onslaught of fire. An arm reached out of the blur and caught the blue flash, kicking off of the tree and reversing direction shortly before a burst of flames consumed it. Axel grunted in frustration and pushed his focus to the limit, feeling the world slow around him as he tried to keep up with the speeding blur that was Kyle.
Axel felt anger boil up at the back of his mind.
Traitor.
Kyle was a traitor.
Axel didn't remember exactly why, and he didn't have the leisure to stop and sift through the new memories flowing through his brain, but he knew.
Kyle had betrayed the Kingdom of Argean and everything they fought for.
The white fire around Axel burned hotter and brighter as his anger grew. He could see the faint outline of Kyle now. At first, Axel could not hit Kyle at all as he darted around in a barely visible blur as if toying with him, but as time passed and Axel's focus sharpened, he started to catch up. Axel instinctively knew that as the battle drew on, he would only move faster, until the point where Kyle would have to rely on nothing but his unnatural reflexes to dodge his wrath.
Axel swung his sword repeatedly as he chased Kyle through the forest, moving east, away from the palace. In his wake lay a destruction so thorough that one might think a war was waged. Dead farmland and withering grasslands were scorched and riddled with craters. A forest thick with foliage had its undergrowth burnt to a crisp, with flaming trees actively returning to the soil and fallen trunks sliced clean through littering the winding path of battle.
With every swing of his sword, fire rose up from Axel's blade and rushed forwards to catch the elusive figure in front of him. With every deft sidestep and movement, Axel dodged the glowing blue daggers that flew at him. With every parry, the daggers' return path was disrupted, and with every slash fueled by Axel's rage, more of the forest burned in the brilliant white fire. Kyle was now actively running away from Axel, dodging his flame in a weaving pattern and occasionally throwing a dagger to keep Axel on his toes. At first, Kyle had the leeway to flick his wrist and summon faint glowing green hemispheres of magic that threw him up, down, and around. Hemispheres summoned over Axel warped his sense of balance, throwing him upwards, sideways, and crumbling to the ground as gravity changed direction freely. But as Axel grew faster and more adept at predicting Kyle's movements, Kyle could no longer toy with Axel. He was now running in a full-out sprint, hard-pressed to avoid Axel's relentless attacks. Even as night fell and the dense darkness wrapped around them, Axel's fire burned away the fog and the blue glow of Kyle's daggers betrayed his location.
"Can we talk?" Kyle shouted breathlessly as he narrowly sidestepped a pillar of fire.
"I have nothing to say to a traitor," Axel growled, rushing forwards and swinging his sword again.
"You don't get it!" Kyle shouted again, panting heavily. "I can explain!"
"Shut up," Axel shouted back.
"I'm being serious!" Kyle's face was now visible, and Axel could make out Kyle's movements even in the dark of night. He was close to matching Kyle's speed. It was only a matter of time.
"There's no excuse for murder," Axel said in a dangerously low tone.
"Let me explain what happened!" Kyle shouted in a panic, leaping out of the way of another slash. "That's not what it was!"
"Be quiet and let me burn you," Axel muttered.
"My gosh," Kyle muttered over the roar of flames and crash of falling trees. "Why are you so hard to talk to?"
Axel's vision narrowed as he kept chasing Kyle, gradually speeding up and nipping at his heels as he ran.
With a roar, the blazing trail following Kyle broke out of the forest into a slightly overgrown dirt path spanning five meters in width. Axel gritted his teeth as he watched Kyle align himself on the path and speed up. The trees had stopped him from running at full tilt, but on a clear path, Kyle could go as fast as he wanted. A loud boom blew the fog nearby away and resounded through the forest as Kyle threatened to disappear from Axel's sight. Axel was hard-pressed to keep Kyle in view as the trail wound through the trees with a slight curve, struggling to keep his surprise in check enough to not disrupt his focus. Instead, Axel channeled his bottomless stamina to increasing his pace as much as he could, keeping his eyes on Kyle's blurred figure.
The path gradually turned north as Axel's speed increased enough to keep Kyle in sight. Sooner or later, Axel would be able to catch up.
"The chase was fun," Axel mumbled under his breath, "but it's time for you to repent for your sins."
Without warning, Axel saw Kyle stop ahead, where the path exited the forest and entered what seemed to be a wide grassy clearing. Axel came speeding up behind Kyle, raising his sword to bring it down as hard as he could, but as Axel emerged from the forest into the clearing behind him, his focus suddenly crumbled at the sight that lay before him.
What Axel thought was a clearing was actually an outlook at the top of a hill that led down to a seaside village. The wide dirt path ran down the hill into the center of the wood and stone houses, meeting two other wide paths leading east and west, following the shoreline, and several other small trails leading into the forest. In the dense darkness of the night, the village was strangely bright, free of fog and clouds. Above the village, the sky was clearing up, revealing the white night star shining far above them, casting a dull white glow over the village.
When Axel's eyes focused, however, he could see that the village had been destroyed by battle. The houses were crumbled and caved in. Scars of fire and rubble littered the ground and whatever structure was still standing. The gently lapping sea washed up on crumbling piers and lone wood pillars standing in solitude, waiting for the half-sunken fishing boats lining the shore to return with the morning haul.
To anyone who arrived on that overlook, the abandoned village would make a solemn sight, bearing signs of a community that had long since been driven out or killed. Any onlooker would bear witness to the sight, wonder what happened, and then move on.
But not Axel.
To Axel, this was proof of Kyle's betrayal.
"Why are we here?" Axel growled. Ahead of him, Kyle stood, looking out over the crumbling village in a silent vigil.
"You weren't listening to me," Kyle murmured, "so I brought us here. You, of all people, should listen to me."
Axel held his sword at a ready stance and faced Kyle. "And why is that?"
"Because you're the only other one like me," Kyle said quietly, looking up to the dark night sky. In the dim light of the stars, Axel could make out a slight, sad smile on Kyle's face. "A person who does not belong to this world."
"What a load of-"
"Just listen," Kyle interrupted. His normally lighthearted, teasing tone took on a seriousness unbecoming of Kyle's character. "You can beat me up however much you want after, but just listen to me for a moment."
Axel hesitated, his battle-scarred arms itching to swing his fire-wreathed sword through Kyle's body, but his body wouldn't move. His anger had subsided, replaced by curiosity and a stubborn insistence to at least hear out his fellow Paragon.
"Alright," Axel muttered, extinguishing his fire and sheathing his sword roughly. "Start talking."
Kyle started walking down the path towards the village at a slow pace. His two daggers tucked into his belt shone blue in the night, gently illuminated their path. Axel followed in silence.
"Do you remember what happened here?" Kyle asked quietly, turning back to look at Axel.
Axel paused, and shook his head. He had been too engrossed in catching up to Kyle in anger after remembering that he was a traitor to consider why he felt this way.
"Well, let me explain, then," Kyle said in a solemn tone. "It was back when we were both Paragons working with King Creon."