Bladewarriors Book 1: Refresh

Flare let out a long contented sigh, sliding back in his chair as he patted his stomach. For the first time in a long time, he could say he was full and actually mean it. It had been ages since the young redhead had had the privilege of eating so well – in fact, he wasn't sure he had ever had such a privilege. The fiery youth let out a short burp, grinning as it reminded him of the delicious meal The Blue Priest had prepared for them – his way of saying thank you.

"Gross." Myst commented, laughing a moment from where she was laying.

Their group had enjoyed a spread of the Water Realm's finer delicacies – most of which, to Flare's great enthusiasm, revolved around seafood. The scene had been loud and joyous, with very little talk of the terrible trial they had just undergone. Most of the chatter had been simple that: chatter. Smalltalk about their lives, stories from The Water Realm, and general pointless talk. But, it had been a nice change from the serious tension that they had been dealing with the whole day and the sequence of difficult battles. Sitting and just talking had been a great relief.

"Sorry." Flare comment, closing his eyes as he relaxed in the plush sofa chair that sat in the room The Blue Priest had provided them all. After dinner, he they had retired to the lavious chamber that sat beneath the ship's deck. The Blue Priest had apologized that there was not a separate room for the girls, but hadn't gone so far to offer his own – a room which Frost had noticed made theirs look like a dingy, forgotten shed.

"Don't apologize!" Frost shouted, releasing his own burst of inner gas. "If you keep that stuff in, you'll explode, you know."

"I don't think that's true." Myst sighed, laughing genially as she relaxed.

"Sure it is!" The faire-haired fool insisted. "I had a friend whose uncle's sister-in-law's second cousin exploded because they held their fart in too long."

Flare let out a loud bellow, shaking his head.

"Is this the same friend that insisted people could melt?" Flare questioned, grinning as he stared at the fool.

"No!" Frost shouted emphatically. "I told you, that was my cousin's friend's brother's aunt! And they can melt, damnit!"

Frost pouted to himself as Myst and Flare began to laugh, shaking their heads. He was a little offended that they didn't believe his obviously true stories. Just because they didn't have any faith didn't mean he didn't. He was sure his cousin and friend were definitely telling the truth – they had to be!

Yawning, the boy turned his gaze, peering toward the green-haired girl who had set herself up in the far corner – all alone. As he thought back over the night, he realized he hadn't bothered her much since the battle with The Serpent ended. In fact, he couldn't remember her saying much of anything in quite a while.

"Oye! Twisttop, you're awfully quiet."

"Shut up!"

Frost paused, immediately caught off guard with the ferocity and haste with which the girl snapped back at him, jumping quite a few levels of annoyance all at once. The boy paused, lifting himself into an upright position as Myst and Flare turned to look at the girl as well, the strength with which she had responded instantly drawing their attention. Frost blinked – mouth hanging open – staring at the girl, at a complete loss for what he had done. He lowered his gaze, watching as the tomboy's clenched fists shook vehemently at her side, the muscles taught with the girl's anger.

"Come on now, I hardly even said anything, yet." Frost stated after a moment, inflecting a nervous laugh near the end, trying – somehow – to lighten the mood that had suddenly overwhelmed the room.

Ivy kept her head low, staring at the ground, trying to quell the sudden burst of rage Frost had somehow unleashed. She wasn't sure where it had come from – not really. Though the idiot was annoying, and she could tell he was getting ready to give her a hard time, even she was certain she had taken her reply at least a step or two too far. But her mind had been elsewhere, and she simply wasn't in the mood – not for his special brand of idiocy. Not at that moment. Still, she knew she couldn't just leave it like that – she had to say something. Otherwise, they might ask what was wrong, and she had no desire to talk about that either.

"S… Sorry." Ivy let out a deep breath, calming herself as she raised her head, putting on a weak smile. "I think I'm just… a little tired."

Though the girl seemed like she was addressing the whole group, for some reason Flare couldn't help but feel she was talking to everyone but him – as if she didn't want to speak to him. He turned his head slightly to the side, looking at the concerned expression the nymph near him was wearing. A quick glance past Ivy showed a similar feeling was coating Frost's face as well. They both looked worried, and very uncertain. It was apparent that, even if he wasn't who the girl was addressing, no one else was going to respond.

"Sure." Flare spoke up, putting on a reassuring grin as he nodded. "We all are. No big deal."

Myst shifted her gaze, looking toward the girl with the green braids. Ivy had sat down at the opposite end of the room, burying her face in her arms as she hugged her knees to her chest, obscuring her expression from view. It wasn't a leap to say there was something bothering the tomboy, though the nymph wasn't sure what it could be.

The mage turned away, letting her gaze become unfocused as she stared at the cieling, losing herself in thought. Perhaps Ivy was simply still in shock? The battle they had just endured had been extremely tense and trying for all of them, but probably especially so for the green-haired girl. Ivy had always been the least prepared of all of them for this journey, and she was still a novice – at best – with her sword. Not to mention, her fighting skills were still very limited and rough, and the girl was obviously not suited well to battle. In their first fight, against The Sentry at Sentinel Bay, Ivy hadn't managed to do much of anything, really. And though the tomboy had somehow pulled through for them all in the battle with Medusa, that was still only one fight – and nothing close to being on the level of the battle they had just waged with a Creature of the Gods.

The nymph let her head fall deeper into the grips of her arms, covering her mouth as she stole a quick glance back at the green-haired girl. She wasn't sure she was right, but she could certainly see her guess that the young woman was just still traumatized by the whole fiasco as being not only possible, but very likely. They had all experienced a moment where they had quite literally been on the verge of death. Even Myst had had the moment when her hands had been trapped by Frost's blade – frozen to the ground after losing her own saber. If Ivy hadn't acted when she did, The Serpent would have skewered her. Then there was Frost, who seemed to throw himself into dangerous situations the entire battle – sometimes for the best, but mostly for the worse. And of course, there had been the moment when Flare had been stabbed through the chest and demanded they all leave him. Myst had been sure that she was leaving the redhead to die when…

Myst perked up, that moment suddenly replaying in her mind. The wound Flare had gotten, it was certainly lethal. The nymph turned her eyes toward the relaxing redhead, staring at the blood-stained edges of the hole that still punctuated the warrior's shirt, right in the center of his chest. But, beyond that hole, all she could see was his unmarred skin. She was sure, though, that at that moment in the past, she could have actually seen through the boy if she had wanted to. So how… how had he…?

"Flare?" Myst lifted her head, staring at the relaxed teenager as she spoke. The fiery youth grunted to her, but didn't give her much more of a response.

"Flare… can I ask you something?"

Flare's eyes slid open, looking lazily toward her as she asked the question. "Yeah?"

"Flare… during the battle with The Serpent…" Myst paused, trying to decide the best way to phrase the question. Simply asking 'why didn't you die?' somehow seemed a little rude.

"What about it?" Flare stretched, lifting himself up into a sitting position as he stared at the nymph.

"Well… there was a moment when she stabbed you in the chest, and…" Myst lifted her eyes, locking gazes with the redhead. "How did you survive?"

"You'll have to be more specific." Flare laughed, scratching at the back of his forehead. "I think that happened a couple times."

"…back when you and Frost were fighting by yourselves."

Ivy lifted her head, turning to look at Myst as Flare as they turned to stare back at her as well. She was sure she knew what Myst was getting at, but she had nearly forgotten with everything that had happened after that. But… they had definitely left him to die. Yet, when they were nearly beaten – when it was only her that was left to stand against The Serpent – the redhead had suddenly appeared, fully healed, and took the monster on by himself while she healed Myst and Frost.

"How did you heal yourself?" Ivy looked toward Flare, staring directly into the boy's eyes for a moment before a sudden anxiousness welling in her chest forced her to look back toward Myst. "That's what you're wondering, right?"

"Yeah." Myst nodded, then turned to face Flare once more. "How did you manage to recover from that?"

Flare grinned weakly, turning his head away as he stared toward the ground. "Have you ever heard… of a creature called a Phoenix?"

"A Phoenix?" Myst blinked, unfamiliar with the term.

"No." Ivy shook her head, still avoiding looking directly at the redhead.

"It's a bird from the Fire Realm." Flare continued. "Or, they used to live in the Fire Realm, supposedly. They're sort of a thing of legend – I don't know if they ever actually existed, or if it was something someone made up, but…"

Flare paused, letting his eyes slip closed once more as he continued.

"According to stories, when the realms were first created, and the Fire Element was first infused into the realm, there was a species of bird that didn't cope well. Supposedly, their was something about the creature that caused it to burst into flames after absorbing a certain amount of the Fire Element that exists naturally now in the Fire Realm. It wasn't instantly, or anything – it took a couple years of the bird's life for the element to finally do them in, but… it was very sad for the bird, and because of it, their numbers began to dwindle."

"What does…"

"I'm getting to that." Flare smiled as Myst began to interrupt him. "Just keep listening."

Myst paused, then nodded, resting her head as she allowed Flare to continue the story.

"Stories say Din saw this, and felt sorry for the bird. Her power was causing the poor creature to burn away before it had a chance to properly adapt to the new environment. So, she took pity on the birds, and decided to grant them a gift. By the time she acted, though, the birds had become extremely rare – only a few survived. But she gave a gift to these few to ensure their kind would not die out. She blessed the birds with Rejuvenating Flames. Whenever the Fire Element became too much and these birds, they would burst into flames, and the birds would no longer die. In fact, flames would do just the opposite. When Fire consumed these birds, they would suddenly be restored to their original health – returned to a state of being similar to when they were just born. Fire revived and healed them!"

"Are you saying…" Ivy gasped slightly, sure her assumption couldn't be right. Despite that, though, she could see the redhead nod.

"Yeah." Flare replied. "That same power is part of my sword. I can absorb fire and use it to heal myself."

"I-incredible!" Myst shouted, her mind racing with the strength such an ability bestowed, but… it also raised a number of other questions.

"If fire can heal you, then…" Ivy shook her head, suddenly wondering if all the times she had healed the boy had been pointless, "Then that explosion of fire during the battle – from right before you saved me – you created that in order to heal yourself!"

"Not exactly." Flare laughed, shaking his head. "The fire my Flame Sword creates on its own can't be used to heal me. If it could, I'd never get hurt at all."

"Then… how?" Myst questioned, still amazed by the power.

"Well… you remember how my sword was dormant?" Flare questioned, not really looking for an answer. "Well, when it finishes recharging – when it reawakens – it unleashes a burst of flames, and an intense surge of heat."

"I thought you said your sword's fire doesn't heal you?" The tomboy questioned, as the boy's explanation seemed to turn full circle.

"It doesn't." Flare reconfirmed. "But when I talk about an intense heat, I mean an incredible heat – unlike anything else in the world. It's so hot… it makes the air itself ignite."

"Is that even possible!" Myst shouted, her eyes flicking toward the hilt of the Flame Sword. She had never even imagined a heat that strong could exist.

"It is." Flare nodded. "And it was that fire that I used to restore myself. I should also mention, though, that it takes a large amount of flames to have any real effect as well. A normal cooking fire – or even a burning house – probably wouldn't have been enough to heal the wound the Serpent gave me. Only my sword's release could have worked for that degree of injury."

"Then that begs the question."

Ivy couldn't help but jump, squeaking out a stifled scream as Frost suddenly joined the conversation. The warriors assembled there all turned, looking toward the fair-haired warrior who – on the surface – had looked to have fallen asleep. A moment later, though, the arctic warrior flicked his eyes open, propping himself up to turn and stare at the redhead amongst their group.

"I kind of wonder… if you knew it would all go down like that."

"What?" Ivy responded, skeptical about the fool's accusation.

"That's…" The word 'ridiculous' was floating at the edge of Myst's tongue before she paused, her mind suddenly considering what the boy had to say. She let out a silent gasp, quickly turning her head toward the flame warrior as Flare grinned, looking a little too relaxed. She wouldn't say it looked like he was about to admit Frost was right, but he certainly didn't appear to be denying the fool's words either.

"That's… not the case, is it?" The nymph questioned, leaning toward the redhead. "Flare… can you see the future like I can?"

"No." Flare laughed, shaking his head as he smiled. "What do you guys think I am, anyway?"

"Well… you were always so certain we'd win – no matter what we faced." Ivy injected, suddenly considering the idea Frost had presented.

"You always speak with such conviction – like you know for a fact you're right." Frost added, his face and tone seeming to be genuinely serious.

"And you could interpret my visions!" Myst shouted, nodding. "It's like… it's like you know what I'm seeing sometimes!"

"Guys…" Flare grinned, lifting a finger to point it toward the white-haired teen. "Consider the source of your revelation here."

Ivy and Myst paused, turning to look at each other a moment, as if seeking the answer in each other's eyes before they turned toward Frost. The fool grinned wide, as if on the verge of laughing as Ivy and Myst looked at him, their surprise and alarm at Flare turning toward anger directed at the fool.

"You were joking!" Ivy yelled, wishing she could reach out to punch Frost atop the head. "Idiot!"

"But…" Myst shook her head, spinning her eyes back toward Flare. "Even if it is Frost, what he said… it makes sense."

Flare calmed his laughter as he watched Frost roll over – his eyes meeting Myst's prying gaze. He tempered his smile, leaning forward as he rested his head on his palm.

"No, Myst. I can't see the future. No more than Frost can, anyhow." Flare laughed.

"Then… Then How!" Myst questioned vehemently, trying to make sense of this boy – trying to understand how he had managed to stage his miraculous recovery.

"Look," Flare stated, sighing a bit as he leaned forward, "There was no future-peering insight into my decisions – any of them."

"Then why did you use that move against The Sentry?" Frost questioned, actually genuine in his curiosity and inquiry. "You told us before why you hadn't used that technique in the past. But you never explained why you decided to use it right then – right before we were about to face The Serpent."

"Frost's right." Myst nodded, uttering a phrase that was fairly foreign to her tongue and lips. "I asked you before – what you were thinking – and you never gave me a proper answer. So… was this it? Were you preparing for that moment? And if so, how did you know?"

Flare lowered his head letting out a low moan that built into a frustrated roar as he scratched vigorously at the back of his skull.

"You guys are reading too much into things!" Flare shouted, slightly annoyed as he let out a frustrated sigh to follow his yell. "There's no grand meaning to it. The simple truth is… my Purification Edge was the easiest, safest, and fastest way to end that battle. That's it!"

Flare paused a moment, raising his head to look at his friends once more as he let those words sink in.

"At the time, it was the only sure-shot, one-hit end to the battle we had." The redhead continued. "Sure, any of us could've hacked or slashed away at the squid—"

"Octopus, actually." Myst corrected.

"Whatever!" Flare yelled, letting out another sigh. "Any of us could have attacked him, but any attack we made also could have freed him. Don't forget he could regenerate, so if our strike didn't finish it, it ran a great risk of releasing the beast as well, and then we'd have really been in trouble. Or am I wrong?"

None of the others there spoke up to deny the truth of the boy's words, but none of them seemed quite content with the explanation. They still couldn't understand one thing.

"Alright… if that is the case, then…" Ivy spoke up, staring at the ground in front of her as her mind trying to come up with an explanation to the question she was already asking. "If that's the case, then why did you lie to us about your sword being recovered before we entered the Serpent's Lair? Why not just tell us? Tell us everything?"

"I…" Flare trailed off, looking at the green-haired girl – at all of his friends there. It was… a very good question. He frowned, turning away from them. "I never lied… you all just assumed."

"That's not really the point." Myst jumped in, curious to the proper answer as well. "You let us all believe it was the case, even if you didn't say it outright."

Flare was silent, frowning to himself as he stared off into space a moment. He couldn't very well deny what Myst was saying, but he wasn't very proud of the answer he had for them. He wasn't exactly sure how to put it without upsetting them all.

"Well?" Frost spoke up, prompting him to respond.

"I…" Flare sighed, turning to face them as he found the words he needed. "I didn't want you all to worry."

"You ended up worrying us more when we found out later!" Myst yelled, glaring at the boy.

"You're right, and I'm sorry." Flare turned toward them all, bowing his head as he apologized. "I should have told you all, but I knew you would all have refused to continue on if you knew – it would only worry you."

"For damn good reason!" Frost yelled. "I got my ass kicked because I had to cover for you there at the beginning!"

"No offense, but…"Flare raised his head, looking to the fool, "you would have gotten you ass kicked one way or another. Flame Sword or no Flame Sword, The Serpent would definitely have pushed us to the edge – she did multiple times, after all."

"True, but… but if you had started with your sword…"

"If I had started with my blade already recovered," Flare cut Ivy off as she began to talk, "then I wouldn't have been able to step in when I did – when we were all at the edge of our lives, myself included in that. Imagine if I hadn't been able to recover at that moment, and try to tell me you don't think we would have been pushed that far either way."

The group was silent a moment as they contemplated the redhead's words. A few awkward seconds passed wordlessly before Myst finally broke the quiet.

"That just makes me feel like you planned it all even more." The nymph sighed, unsure what to believe.

"All I did was turn a weakness to a strength." Flare countered, shaking his head. "I followed my gut, and I prepared as best I could for what we would face. I'm sorry I didn't tell you all what I was thinking – that was my fault, and there's not really an excuse for that. But I knew what I was doing – and not because I can see the future – but because I've been doing this… for a long time…"

Myst stared at the redhead as the passion and force behind his words seemed to fade away as he trailed off, replaced by a strange sadness she couldn't place. There was no confident grin on his self-assured mug. There was no conviction in the boy's eyes. There was only a sense of regret and forlorn as she stared at him – as if this entire discussion was wearing on him more than the battle with The Serpent had. And as she stared at him, she thought she understood why. They were interrogating him – they were acting like they suddenly didn't trust this warrior that had stood by them, and protected them, and taught them, and supported them.

"What the hell are we doing?' Myst sighed, speaking the words with a subdued tone. Even so, in the confined space, it wasn't hard for everyone there to hear them.

"I'm sorry, Flare." It was Myst that bowed her head this time, shaking it as she continued. "We shouldn't be treating you like this. In the end, all that matters is that we survived. So… I'm sorry."

Ivy and Frost frowned nervously, somehow realizing the same thing Myst had as the nymph spoke – realizing what they had just been doing.

"That said!" Myst flung her head back up, glaring at the redhead. "Next time, tell us what your planning, you idiot! We're teammates here, remember! Or were you just pretending this whole time!"

Flare blinked, a startled stare framing his face as he stared at Myst – his mouth hanging open. He stayed that way a moment, unsure how to respond to the sincere apology followed by a passionate scolding. Eventually, all he could think to do… was laugh.

"I guess… you're right." Flare nodded. "You have a point."

Myst smiled, the anger in her eyes quickly fading as Flare agreed. He had already apologized once; he didn't need to do it again. But, she couldn't let him get off without yelling at least once. All the times he had asked for trust... he had to be willing to give it, too.

"Good!" The nymph cast a friendly smile on the redhead, content with how the discussion had ended, even if it hadn't gone quite the way she planned.

Ivy also turned a stare toward the redhead as Flare smiled back at the Myst, her eyes focusing in on the boy. She wasn't sure about Frost or Myst – how they were taking all this. She could assume Myst had at least decided to drop the subject, but the whole conversation made her very curious about the flame warrior.

No, that was wrong.

It wasn't really simply Flare she was curious about. She wondered about all of them – Frost, Myst, and Flare. Or, more specifically, she was curious about the blades.

"Flare… can I ask you one more question?" Ivy spoke up, looking directly at the redhead for the first time since the battle with The Serpent. "I promise it's nothing to do with what we were just talking about."

"That's fine." Flare replied, nodding as his levity faded, his eyes beginning to look worried.

"Your sword… went dormant, right?" Ivy questioned, knowing how the inquiry might sound to them all. But she really didn't have any intention of prolonging their previous topic. "Does that mean… does that mean there's actually a limit to what these blades can do?"

Flare seemed to smile – seemed relieved – as he nodded.

"I know we've always been told The Mystic Blades have endless power and magic, but you're right – they do have a limit." Flare answered. "Nothing lasts forever, as they say, and the blade's magic is prone to that as well. It can run out, but… I don't think it's something we need to concern ourselves with too much. If we made it through a battle with The Serpent without any of our blade's depleting fully, I think we'll be alright going forward, too."

"I see…" Ivy nodded as she set her head back down, resting her chin on her arms as she stared at the floor. She wondered… how much power did her blade actually have?

"Well…" Myst picked herself up, stretching as she did. "We should probably head to bed. We've a whole new realm to free tomorrow."

"I suppose you're right." Flare shrugged, nodding.

"What! But…" Frost pouted, frowning deeply as he collapsed on the ground once more. "It's still early…"

Myst sighed, frowning as she looked down at the fool.

"Go to bed, Frost. We're not going to wait for you to rest a whole extra day like we did in Sentinel Bay!"

"Killjoy." Frost murmured under his breath.

The nymph simply smiled, standing as she moved to her bed. The Serpent might have fallen that day, but they had a whole new adventure awaiting them tomorrow.