The Sage of Spirits IV

I cut through the air where Zero stood. He teleported away again. I can feel his presence behind me.

“What are you doing?! You’re the hero aren’t you?! Why are you getting so serious?!”

“You’re the one using the spirits! And you should know what you did!”

“The thing I said about Alice?! What’s wrong with you?! It was a joke! I didn’t mean it! Obviously Alice—!”

“That isn’t it! If you really don’t understand, then I have no other choice!”

“Fine! Have it your way, you braindead moron!” Zero quickly flies up, far out of my reach. “Spirits of the Stars, gather at my call!”

Zero raises an arm. A small ball of light appears above his palm. The ball rapidly swells up, growing brighter and brighter until it hangs over his hand like a second sun.

What are we doing?

Because of Ascalade I should be the strongest human being alive. Because of the spirits of the world, Zero should be right behind me. Even with him by my side I was too weak to beat the Demon King, but that doesn’t make what we’re doing any less stupid. Together, we could wipe out a small country. Or even a large country. Honestly, we could destroy the world if we were so inclined. That’s the sort of power we’ve been blessed with. So why are we really going all out fighting each other? Aren’t those soldiers still around?

But even then, I can’t give in. I can’t forgive him. And I can’t surrender like that.

Zero swipes his arm down and the giant ball begins to move. It flies towards the ground, towards me. I hold out Ascalade and channel all the power I can muster. I pull my arm back to prepare my swing.

“Supernova!”

“Sunset Coda!”

There’s a flash of light along the edge of Ascalade as I slash the empty air. The giant ball of light is cleaved in half. Along the cut, a perfectly straight face, the ball begins to bubble up. The two halves begin to explode, brighter than the sun. As it bursts and expands, however, it comes up against an invisible wall. Zero contains the explosion within his barrier. I assume he meant to trap me inside and blow me up.

As the explosion clears and the spirits go off with their order fulfilled, I see something falling. Zero is falling. He must have used up all his energy making that explosion and that barrier. I try to run and catch him, but I stumble and fall. I had put my all into that one blow. I see him crash into the ground.

I catch my breath and stand back up. I sheath Ascalade and walk to Zero. I look down at him. He still seems conscious.

“Get up, Zero! We’re not done here!”

“Shut up! We’re both on our last legs now! Why do you still wanna fight! I thought you hated fighting, you damn bastard!”

“It doesn’t matter how tired I am. There are things I can’t give up on! Get up! We’re still fighting!” Zero takes off his outermost layer, a long coat, as he stands up.

“I’m a sage, you bastard!”

Zero punches my jaw. One of only twenty sages, the foremost magic users in the world, punched me. Compared to the few other sages I’ve seen, Zero isn’t so frail, but he still prefers his study. He isn’t very strong. He’s the sage and I’m the hero. I punch him right back. I punch his cheek.

He puts a hand on his cheek and looks at me as if he can’t believe I really hit him. Of course I hit him. It’s a fight after all. And I have something worth fighting for.

Zero throws a quick straight right into my forehead.

“What the hell are you even fighting me for!? If it’s not you and Alice, then what the hell else do you even care about!?” I hit him.

“It’s you, you insensitive ass!” He hits me.

“The hell did I do!?” I hit him.

“You have a fiancee!” He hits me.

“What does she have to do with anything!?” I hit him.

“You shouldn’t be talking about other girls! You already have somebody you love!” He hits me.

“We were fighting like that for something so stupid!” I hit him.

“It’s not stupid! You love her! It’s serious!” He hits me.

“Of course it’s stupid! You’re the one who came up with it, after all!” I hit him.

“Shut up!” He hits me.

“And you should get mad that I was talking about the girl you love!” I hit him hard.

“Don’t ever talk about Alice that way again!” I hit him again. “But that’s not what’s important right now!” He uppercuts my jaw.

“Don’t hit me so hard, jackass!” I hit him.

“This is a fight, moron!” He hits me.

“What do you even want me to do!?” I hit him.

“You shouldn’t have been waiting around! You should’ve just teleported back home to see her!” He smashes his forehead against my nose.

“That’s not how it works! Don’t lecture me when there’s nothing rattling around in there! If I could teleport like that I would’ve just done that from the start!” He taps his fist against my cheek weakly. “You think I can just go home, you gutless bastard! I went against my family to do this! You think I can just go home now! Without even killing the Demon King! Without even having the hero or the holy sword! How stupid are you! It’s obvious that our engagement has already been called off! Look at how I act! It won’t get any better if I go back there! There’s not anything waiting for me there!” I headbutt him right back.

“Shut up! Don’t be such a coward! You’re a sage, damnit!”

I grab the black cloth covering his eye while he’s still reeling. I pull it from his head with a harsh tug, revealing his eye. It’s iridescent. It’s the same as Ascalade, shimmering with all the colors of the rainbow, proof of the love of all the world’s spirits. I’ve never seen it uncovered. He’s only shown it to his fiancee.

“You’re the Sage of Spirits! What are you so scared of! Whether your relationship is over, whether or not there’s somebody waiting for you, that’s not something you get to decide! You’re both still alive! You both still live in the same world! Nothing’s over yet! I won’t stop until you go back to the capital and look at her properly! Face the girl you love properly! You’re strong enough that you don’t need to be afraid of anything!” I hit him again for good measure. He hits me in the side of the head with a strong hook.

“Just stay down, damnit!”

We keep fighting for a while. We’re stupid, after all. And we’re still just kids. We’re not even twenty. Zero hasn’t even gotten married yet. Neither have I. I haven’t even told her about my feelings. We’re just stupid kids. That’s why we’re fighting now. That’s all it took for us to have something we can’t back down from.

We keep hitting each other, like any plain fight. The hero and the sage. Two people who could conquer the world. Two people who are too strong to fight each other. We keep hitting each other like it’s perfectly normal, neither of us backing down even though neither of us have a reason to fight anymore.

This isn’t something I would ever do with Alice. I have a different kind of bond with her. Leaving it as friends feels too shallow. So that leaves Zero. That leaves the reason we’re still fighting.

He’s my closest friend. That’s what’s made us both so stupid.

That’s why the hero and the sage, two people who should have already died, keep on fighting each other.