Bloodlines of Archaea I. Afira

I kicked him to the side, standing back up, saying, “well I’m leaving whether I have your permission or not.” He dove towards me, darting away whenever I came near. Becoming annoyed, I kicked him to the ground. Transforming into a laying baby, he wailed. I froze for a moment. In that moment, he rose above me in a shape a bird. I caught his leg, pulling him to the ground where I hit him squarely in the face. He fell over, I picked his arms up, and pinned him to a wall, where I threw him to the ground once more, his beak bleeding. I felt bad for him, as all he was doing was what his queen told him to do. He quickly transformed into a mouse and scurried away through a crack in the wall.

I walked over to the iron bars once again. I looked carefully at the metal work, then at my hands, wondering if I could make them hot enough to melt the metal. “It’s worth a shot,” I thought, wrapping my hands around two iron bars which stood beside one another. I closed my eyes, feeling my hands begin to heat up more and more. I thought of the time I watched Maktu melt gold in a kiln on the island using fresh lava, hoping I could bring that back, here, to this cell, so that I could find Akuma. I put every last ounce of my energy into melting the iron bars. I opened my eyes. The bars were glowing red, tiny drips came from the top.

“Yes!” I yelled with excitement, as I was melting through iron with my hands.

After a while, there was enough of a gap between the iron bars I could squeeze through. I ran out of the cell, dashing down the hall, glancing over my shoulder once in a while for approaching people.

“Akuma?” I called out, looking in every cell as I dashed down the hall. Finally spotting him a few cells from mine, he stood at the bars. It appeared he was trying to find a weakness in the bars. He was with another version of me. I became angered at the sight of her, taking advantage of his trust in me. I ran up to the cell.

She turned her head fearfully, asking, “what? How did you get out?” I ignored her, walking up to the iron bars.

Placing my hands on the bars, I said, “stand back,” as my hands burned, fueled by my anger, quickly melting through the iron. I walked in, grabbing the impostor by the arm, and looking her in the eyes as they conveyed her true panic. “I have met Pepelo, making you Kanoa.” I said, staring into her eyes which glossily reflected my own. I watched as my face melted away, she was a smaller version of Pepelo, both their scales a dark purple. “Tell me where our things are.” I ordered, penetrating her eyes.

“Down the hall, up the stairs, make a left, they’re in the armory.” She squeaked, as I allowed her to drop to the floor.

“Thank you,” I bowed, then holding out my hand to help a surprised Akuma, went back the way I came. “Come on, we don’t have much time.”

“Wait,” he said, pulling me aside. His hand rough with scars and calluses. I flinched, remembering when we discovered them. They didn’t seem to bother him, as he ignored the face I was making at the touch of his hand, saying, “How’d you know it wasn’t me?”

“Well for starters, he wasn’t interested in leaving, also, he had a sword, and didn’t painfully boast for hours about it being his father’s” I said, smiling. “I suppose the only reason I know is because of the sword, which I distinctly remember fell when the dart hit you.” I said, continuing to run down the hall until reaching the stairs.

There was a quick pause. “We should make a code word for if that ever happens again,” he said quietly.

“Agreed,” I said. “How about Fire Flower?” I asked.

He looked up, smiling. “Your favorite kind of flower,” he said. I nodded, wondering how he was able to remember that detail but was interrupted when he changed the subject. “How do you know she wasn’t lying?” he asked, running alongside me.

“She just watched me melt iron with my hands, and if she was lying, this is our best shot anyways.” I said, dashing up the stairs, coming out into what seemed to be a huge castle hallway. “Act fidgety and nervous,” I whispered, doing the same, glancing around the room, “and hope to the gods that they haven’t told their queen we have escaped.” I said, walking, worriedly to the left, following Kanoa’s instructions.