Entry #12

The wind howled at the summit of the mountain, where clouds churned endlessly beneath their feet. Louis stood tall, his cloak dancing in the gale. Before him, Lady Aide hovered with elegance, her silver hair flowing like a stream of moonlight.

“So,” Louis said, eyes locked with hers, “this is where the trial begins?”

Aide nodded, her voice serene but resolute. “Here, above the world. The rules are simple—an aerial duel. Whoever falls... loses.”

Louis nodded firmly.

“Good luck to both of you!” Gabriel called from below, waving half-heartedly.

Aide glanced aside, cheeks tinged with pink.

Joaquin smirked. “Seems like Lady Aide is taking a liking to you.”

Gabriel flinched. “What? No—she didn’t.”

Mira tilted her head. “Her face looks like she's catching a cold.”

“Shut it, you two!” Gabriel snapped.

Louis stepped forward, drawing his sword. Aide summoned a spear of air that shimmered like crystal.

“First,” she instructed, “focus wind energy beneath your feet. Let it lift you—become weightless.”

Louis closed his eyes. The wind stirred around him, then surged upward. He soared into the sky.

Aide smiled. “Now propel yourself—condense the wind into wings.”

Louis obeyed, calling upon the air as ethereal wings of emerald wind unfurled from his back.

“Whoa!” Mira gasped. “Mister Louis has wings!”

Aide circled him effortlessly. “Lecture No.2: Wind is the most versatile of the elements. It can merge, bend, carry... even ignite.”

She raised a hand and summoned water from the clouds beneath them, shaping it into a crashing wave. Louis spun midair, blocking it with a burning arc from his blade—fire against water, wind driving his strike.

“You’ve mastered fire,” Aide noted. “But let’s see how well you fly.”

With a breath, she ascended—higher and higher—until she was a speck in the heavens.

Louis followed.

He swung. She parried.

They clashed above the clouds, where oxygen thinned and pressure grew suffocating.

“Can’t… breathe…” Louis gasped, wings flickering.

“The higher you go, the thinner the air,” Aide said calmly. “I stored wind energy in my lungs before we ascended.”

Louis reached again, but she spun back and shouted, “Divine Wind!”

A vortex spiraled down. The storm tore through one of his wings, sending Louis plummeting—but at the last second, he recovered.

He hovered, panting, surveying the clouds below.

“She’s too high,” he muttered. “I can’t keep up…”

Then he saw it—the clouds.

“I’ll use the storm to my advantage.”

He applied a gentle pulse of fire, warming the moisture around him. The clouds thickened rapidly, cloaking him in a rising fog.

Aide narrowed her eyes. “He’s thickening the cloud layer…”

Boom!

The mist exploded around her.

Gabriel shielded his eyes. “What’s he doing?!”

Joaquin squinted through the vapor. “He’s using the clouds as camouflage… clever.”

Louis inhaled deeply, packing wind into his lungs. Then—silent as a breeze—he rocketed through the thick fog.

Left? Right? Above? Aide spun, searching. “Where is he—?”

A glint of steel flashed at her upper right. She blocked the strike—barely.

“That wasn’t me,” Louis said, as his illusion vanished in an explosion of wood and flame.

Decoy?!

Then the real Louis struck from behind, pushing her downward with a controlled burst of fire-laced wind.

She gritted her teeth, fighting back with all the force of a cyclone.

But Louis didn’t relent.

He weaved the wind into flame—Ilazki’s technique—channeling both into a concentrated storm.

“Divine Wind: Ilazki!”

A hurricane of searing heat surged toward her. Aide raised her sword, infused with wind—but it disintegrated in the blast.

The energy slammed into her, pushing her down like a meteor. At the last second, she jammed her remaining weapon into the earth, halting her fall.

Joaquin leaned forward. “Did he win?”

Aide, panting, glanced at her footing. “Only if my feet touch the ground…”

Louis hovered above. “Because you used your sword, you’re still in.”

Aide’s eyes flared. “Then take this—Divine Wind!”

The hurricane roared upward—but Louis didn’t flinch.

He absorbed the gale, then turned it—redirected it—into a tempest of fire.

“Wind is the most versatile element,” he said, voice steady. “And it can turn on you, too.”

His Heatstorm clashed with hers—then overwhelmed it.

Aide plummeted to the ground, her ethereal weapon vanishing in sparks.

Louis descended beside her, kneeling.

“You said wind connects everything. That’s not just about nature. It’s about people.”

Aide blinked.

“You’re connected to your siblings by more than element. That’s why your wind is strong. Just like I was connected to my sister…”

“You… have a sister?” she asked, surprised.

Louis’s voice softened. “Had. I couldn’t save her.”

Aide’s expression melted. “Then she would be proud of you. Just as Ran would be of me.”

He nodded. “Thank you, Lady Aide.”

The team rushed to meet them.

“Louis!” Gabriel called. “That was insane!”

“You did brilliantly,” Joaquin added.

Mira bounced excitedly. “You were amazing!”

Louis smiled, humbled. “Thanks, everyone.”

Aide raised her hand. The wind around Louis stirred, swirling upward into his chest.

“I, Aide, ruler of the skies, hereby grant you mastery over the element of Wind. You’ve earned it, Louis Delacroix.”

The wind shimmered around him, embedding into his very essence.

“With this power,” Aide continued, “you can now ascend to Vishap’s post—my brother's mountaintop haven. Few ever reach it.”

But before they could move—

A breeze twisted beside them. A glowing figure formed—Lamia, radiant with divine energy.

“Lady Aide,” she said. “You’re needed. Your brother Olentzo’s post is under attack. Hordes of Xeolstors are overwhelming it.”

Aide’s face sharpened. “Why now?”

Lamia’s expression was grim. “Because your father’s champion is no longer at your side. They saw a weakness.”

Aide turned to Louis. “We’ll have to delay your visit to Vishap’s post.”

Louis nodded without hesitation. “We go where we’re needed. I’ll follow you.”

Entry# 12 End