Ignacio vs. Chey

The guards raised their tridents. “You there, demi-god!” the guard on the left shouted, voice muffled in his helm. “We must insist that you take this fight elsewhere.”

Ignacio raised his fists, arms blazing with blue light. “What do you want?”

The man smiled. “Oh, you must be new.”

Koharu stepped up beside him, her hand raised with fingers arranged in a strange way.

“Chey, leave us alone,” she said. “Ezequiel isn’t here.”

“The way I see it,” Chey said, glancing around. “No one is here but us.”

“Did you not hear me?” the guard shouted from behind.

Koharu swallowed. “You don’t want this.”

Chey laughed, then turned stone faced. “I don’t think you know how much I do want this.”

His hands began to glow orange, dark smoke curling from them. A flaming ball rocketed from his hand as he tossed it with a yell.

Koharo spun her hand in a circle, a dark blue portal opening and cutting off their view from the man.

She turned to Ignacio, placing her hands on his shoulders. “I’m going to exit, but when I do this portal will only last for a few seconds, you hear me? You need to survive for at least-”

She faded into blue light, her hand slipping from his shoulder.

“Koharu,” he said, trying to grab her shoulder as it disappeared.

Damnit.

He glanced up as the sound of something careening through the air roared from above him. His eyes widened as a ball of magma pitched over Koharu’s portal, plummeting towards him.

He jumped to the side, the portal disappearing as he slid across the stone platform. The magma ball crashed into the platform, carving a hole into the white stone and splattering around it.

“Oh ho!” the man—Chey—said. “Left you alone, did she?”

Ignacio stood up, raising his fists again. Blue light glowed from them, curling into the air.

Chey stepped towards him, a slight smile on his face. “You’re definitely new. I don’t know Ezequiel’s crew to just leave people like that.”

Ignacio swung his arm, a ball of blue light flashing from his hand. Chey raised a fist, the ball shattering into sparks against it. The skin on his fist turned to magma and dripped to the ground, the heat distorting his face as he stared at Ignacio.

“Still haven’t taken you out? That’s worrying, boy, don’t you think?” Chey said with a grin.

Ignacio held both arms out to the side, the blue light covering them. “Maybe I want to stay.”

Guys, what’s taking you so long, he thought.

Chey chuckled. “I doubt that.”

He leapt towards Ignacio, fists raised overhead like a gorilla. Ignacio breathed out, and flung both arms forward.

The blue light shot off his arms like spears aimed for Chey, hitting him mid air and leaving two burn marks on his stomach.

That’s it!

He rolled forward, flinching as Chey smashed into the ground behind him, the shockwave rolling through Ignacio’s body. He turned, fists raised again as Chey stood from the black crater he’d left. Smoke curled from around him, his eyes glowing orange as he turned.

“You don’t know what you’re doing, boy,” he snarled. “But we can fix that.”

He turned around, flinging another ball of magma that hit Ignacio in the stomach.

Oh…

He fell down, his eyes bulging as he screamed in agony. The sizzling of his flesh filled the air, the scent of charred skin following. His back arched as the burning sank deeper into him, his eyes bulging as he shrieked in pain.

What do I do… What do I do! The thought ran through his mind again and again.

There was nothing to do but die. Die wondering why they weren’t pulling him out of there. Die wondering what the chances were of a mortal enemy finding them moments after landing in a city as huge as Miraveth.

He took a deep breath. And the pain… eased. The pulsing in his ears faded, the sound of Chey’s laughter following.

He rolled onto his stomach and stood up. A rage like nothing he’d felt before coursed through his veins. Like he’d been injected with a neuropen full of lava.

Chey stopped laughing. “What in the-”

Ignacio spun around, a glob of blue lava launching off his hand and into Chey’s bare chest.

His eyes widened as he stared down at the blue magma sinking into his chest.

He glanced up at Ignacio. “You’re… a…”

He sank to his knees as Ignacio panted. Blue smoke curled from Chey’s mouth, and he faded into an orange blaze of light.

Ignacio gasped, eyes fluttering open. The glass ceiling reflected him laying in the Cypher, the arms lifting with a low whirr.

Koharu.

He sat up, eyes locking onto her as she sat up from her Cypher across from him, placing a hand to her head. Ezequiel towered behind her, staring at Ignacio with folded arms.

“What… happened?” Ignacio asked.

Kiyomi walked around him, her Oni mask back on. “A test. That’s what.”

“My turn,” Ezequiel said. “What happened?”

Koharu held up a hand, sliding off the Cypher. “Relax. It was Chey, he found us.”

“Chey?” Ezequiel said, his arms unfolding. “What the hell is he doing alive?”

Koharu shot him a sideways glare.

Ignacio held up a hand. He felt like he was going to be ill. A phantom of that burning pain still lingered in his stomach. But it was the thought of Chey as he sank to his knees, smoke curling from his mouth, that hurt more. He shuddered. He had done that.

“Guys,” he said, swallowing hard. “I think I may have killed him.”

“I doubt that,” Kiyomi said.

Koharu snorted, shaking her head. “You damn people,” she said. “You know why they left you in there for a little longer, Ace? To see if you could survive.” She slid off her Cypher, walking past Kiyomi without even looking at her, and stormed out the door.

Ignacio raised his eyebrows at Ezequiel. “Did I survive enough for you?”

Ezequiel smirked. “You got heart, boy. I was being cautious. What are the chances of Chey finding you lot there randomly?’

Kiyomi walked up behind him, one hand on her hip as she scratched her bare shoulder. “Practically zero.”

“Well, I had nothing to do with it,” Ignacio said. “Koharu can tell you, I was as scared as she was.”

Kiyomi nodded. “I know.”

Ignacio frowned as he spotted Thiago outside the glass room, leaning against the wall with his arms cupped around his head. He waved, then gestured for Ignacio to come out.

Ignacio slid off the Cypher, his legs feeling weak. He hobbled past Kiyomi, pausing.

“I hope almost murdering me was sufficient for you,” he said.

She tilted her head to the side. “I was hoping you did die, in all honesty.”

Ignacio shook his head, walking out the glass room to Thiago.

“Ace,” Thiago said, leading him to the square of couches across from the glass door. “We have a huge problem.”

Ignacio sighed, sitting down in the same place he’d sat the day before, and the first day they’d arrived. He shifted his weight in the soft polymer cushion, his butt aching from all the time in the Cypher.

“What is it, Thiago?” he asked, stomach growling.

“My dad,” Thiago said, foot tapping madly as he ran his hands through his hair. “He wants me back home, like today.”

Ignacio closed his eyes. “What time is it?”

“Six in the morning,” Thiago said. “Been a little under twenty-four hours since you went in.”

Ignacio nodded, and a drop of blood fell from his nose. It splat against the back of his hand.

“Woah,” Thiago said, narrowing his eyes, “are you okay?”

Ignacio wiped his nose with a finger. “It’s fine, I’ll take care of it. What’s your dad saying?”

“That he wants me back, it’s not like me to be gone for so long, that he doesn’t need to be worrying about me and work at the same time,” Thiago sighed. “Just when you’re getting your Sect powers, too.”

Ignacio rubbed his chin, a light stubble coating it. “You need to convince him that you’re alright but that you can’t come home. Ezequiel won’t let you go, trust me.”

Thiago snorted. “You don’t have to tell me that, they guy is insane. I never agreed to staying here until you did.”

Ignacio leaned an elbow on the arm rest of the couch, massaging his eyes. “You need to convince him. Just do it.”

That phantom burn from earlier returned, making him wrap an arm around his stomach.

“I’ll try,” Thiago said. “But what happens if I can’t?”

“Talk to Ezequiel,” Ignacio said, walking away. “I need to check on Celeste.”