Three months have come and gone in seemingly the blink of an eye as days stretched on into the fall. Cold winds were not uncommon so high atop the mountain where the academy makes its home but true cold has yet to come in full. Snow would fall heavily during the winter season but older students assured others that in the academy grounds it would be almost non-existant thanks to the weather influencing effects of gathered elementalists working to keep the various fields and forests in pristine condition year round.
Further down the mountain at the Jungles there was barely any cold at hall, the warmth of life thriving even when harsh winter should have fallen hard.
Over the months students were taught about themselves, their powers and the origin behind the change.
Those blessed with the ability to influence an element was thanks to an ancient pact between humans and what can only be described as the aspects. Beings of complete influence over an element.
Spirits of immeasurable control that some have called 'titans' in the past. Through them people were born touched by the spirits of nature and bonded, creating what is referred to as a second soul. Over time Humans influence over nature spread from five core aspects to the sub-elements known today such as Lightning, blood, and even darkness. While it remains unknown how humans gained access to these sub-elements, considering no formal pacts with any other 'titans' have been made since the initial five, there are considerable large bodies of theory which attempt to explain why.
The Academy was founded atop the Sacred mountain said to be where the Aspects first granted their blessing yet few can say if it is true. The city Elders say that Kano would know for sure but has never given an answer.
The grounds themselves about the schoolyard have been molded over countless years to become an ideal place of harmony and learning, teaching everything a young student could ask for.
Even things you wouldn't normally ask to be taught about.. Eccentric teachers made for interesting courses.
As the months began to progress at the school, each student was told to choose an academic specialty, as was mandated by Kano. After all, many students would return to a normal civilian life once mastering their control of their abilities, and a very select few would be considered to powerful or too valuable to allow to leave the Academy.
The domains of study were; The Sciences, The Humanities, The Arts, and The Technological Studies. These were further subdivided into Theoretical and Practical areas, yielding a total of eight options for a student to choose from.
Through dedication and practice the prowess of new students has climbed steadily, enough that a fledgeling control has sprouted. Moving mountains is still far out of your control but problems like spontaneous expulsions of heat have dropped significantly amongst the junior students.
You will also find that while you have all chosen domains of study, there are certain essential courses which are universally mandated by Kano. These are as follows; English, Philosophy, and Physical Education. These three classes are typically composed of an entire year's worth of students, if subdivided to manage in reasonable numbers.
Down in the subterannean 'lair' as it had begun to be called resided the Headmaster. Standing tall and clad in robes of pristine blue, he was an impressive figure regarded as something of a legend. Face obscured by writhing shadows as he walked, the glow of his eyes were the only indication he even posessed a face.
pacing back and forth in the dimly lit room he clenched and unclenched the icy black fist below his pristine sleeve. From the tip of his fingers up to his shoulder the normally pure form had turned to jagged angry black, fingers turning to sharp claws..
The corruption was rarely this bad and yet, looking at his malshapen hand, Kano was positive something was trying to escalate his condition.
Normally an Aspect could not be tainted. Theirs was a communion with the primal that transcended anything elementalists today experienced in their connection with the elements.
The writhing shadows about his body was a constant reminder of the price paid what seemed an eternity ago for peace.. Unfortunately for Kano this kind of problem could not be overcome by himself. Purging the blight from his body required another, to not only seperate the 'flesh' from his form but destroy it for good.
That was a risk of corrupting someone else as well.
A knock at his doors broke the gloomy thoughts as a whisk of his hand had the door unlocked.
"Enter. But be quick about it." Jordan poked his head into Kano's "office," and chuckled.
"You don't think that this aesthetic is maybe a little bit bleak for a working space? From what I've heard, regular cubicles are soul-sucking enough! I'll admit, the candles are a nice touch, and I think the floor's giving me a headache, but..." Jordan's eyes roamed from the candles that dotted the corners of the room, and then back to the undulating currents just beneath the gritty ice that made up the floor and shook his head.
He turned and closed the door gently, before stretching, cracking his neck and shoulders. He had just come from his evening workout and the Bastard-in-Chief had summoned him for some unknown purpose. Jordan had long since learned that ignoring a summons just meant being dragged to it through some immeasurably colder and wetter means. So he's come promptly, taking just enough time to sand-bathe.
"But that's not what you called me here for. What do you need?" A deep sigh escaped him as Kanos free hand reached out to pull up his sleeve, revealing the grotesque new form of his once pure arm. The blackened ice was growing thicker by the moment until it cracked and fell to the floor below, turning to black water moments after it had been seperated from the main body. It would only take a few moments for the water to take on a purer color as it was freed from the source of its initial corruption.
"Some would call it surgery I suppose, if blood and flesh still served as my form. But I believe we settled on calling it an amputation."The black ice was jagged and curved unnaturally, fingers ending hooks that could tear flesh from bone if its subzero temperature didn't cause enough pain as is. For Kano to bear witness to such a horrible blight upon his own body week after week was an insult. It had begun to manifest decades after the Aspect had absorbed the defilers second soul, at great cost to the others.
Aspects were eternal beings blessed with the purity of form. Primal spirits of tremendous power had given them the right to speak on their behalf in return for peace. One such individual had waged civil war on his bretheren that left a scar still felt on Elementalists to this day.
Darkness. Hated unlike any other. Those who had used their power of the shadows had cast doubt and fear into the heart and soul of every elementalist to grace this once green earth.
Their kind, after losing their leader and aspect, had been cast down as enemies for years uncounted. It was only in the last century or so that things had changed. Wisdom granted they be given a chance to rise from nothing and stand as equals..
The black hand clenched tight as it shattered a thin layer of its icy skin atop the ground again. While Kano was tolerant beyond measure it was not easy for him to forgive. If their Aspect resurfaced, reclaimed their power, and began again the civil war of the past it would break the unity of each element irreparably.
"Do what you must and cleanse this from me." As you have a thousand times before.. He thought grimly.
When Kano revealed his arm he whistled faintly. He thought the last manifestation had been severe, but it was nothing compared to this. Jordan got out his chair and walked around to Kano's side, instinctively hardening every inch of his skin. Then, before he got in range of the corrupted ice and its melting water, he started taking his clothes off.
"Isn't there some kind of outlet you could use? Just work with the darkness, and let it tire itself out? I can't imagine further training with the element could be harmful, at least."Kano merely shrugged in response.
He worked his shirt and pants off and threw them back onto the chair. Jordan's gaze ran over all of the gleaming points and the sort of dirty smudging, a kind of oily underglaize that permeated the corrupted arm. He sighed, and stepped closer. Dark drops that hit his skin as he stepped up behind Kano's right shoulder and peeled his robe back burned with cold. As far as Jordan could tell, the primary effect of the corruption was to transform Kano's essence of water into the harshest, coldest, most unpleasant kind of water that Jordan could think of. When it melted, it reeked with a powerful stench. Even frozen, the ice emanated a bone-chilling sensation that cut through even Jordan's toughened skin.
He didn't need to ask how deep. When it came to severing corruption, the answer would always be the same; to the bone.
Kano's body was roughly shaped the way a really tall human would be, and as Jordan moved robes out of the way, he could actually see the border of the corruption as it hung evilly next to the admittedly disturbed untainted waters of Kano's body. Jordan steeled himself for what he was about to do. Not because it was particularly difficult, the severance was always morbidly easy. It was rather because while Kano had a stunning amount of self-mastery, based on his limited reactions, the "amputation" as he put it, was utterly agonizingly painful to a sanity-straining degree.
Jordan gathered earth. While it was much more difficult to do here than in his own office, where the air positively stank of the earth and he was pretty sure normal people would succumb to black lung, he managed it just fine. The process he was performing didn't require lots of earth anyway. He just needed enough to create a diamond edge along the length of his hand and forearm. The first time Kano had come to him, Jordan had been overenthusiastic about the method of amputation. That first time... Jordan had never been fond of doing this duty since then. But he'd found a fool-proof method of doing it since his first ill-considered attempt. It was actually far easier and much quicker to do now than it had been when he first devised the technique, and if it weren't for its morbid purpose, he'd be quite proud of what could potentially be a formidable combat technique. He focused his mind, took a deep breath, and exhaled slowly. The blade was ready. The flesh waiting to be cleansed. He lined up his arm with Kano's shoulder and added a fine coating of dust to the pure portion of Kano's body to make sure his cut was clean.
He raised his arm once, twice, thrice, and...
To the bone.
The Headmaster required no breathe but still felt himself holding onto it. The act of being motionless and entirely focused on the next critical moment as he waited for Manilow to strike, sever the limb, and the very essence of Kanos form. Having become his very element as the years progressed the concept of pain became a more distant and unpleasant memory. If not for these necessary sessions he might not have ever felt it again.
Anything they can embrace, so can I. This too shall-!Pass it did. The diamond-like blade that was Manilows hand cut through the essence of his body, as the surge of powerful emotions bubbled to its surface. As it always did, fear took its place at the front of his mind as the limb fell uselessly to the ground thrashing at nothing as the corrupted icy 'flesh' of his own body sought to strike down what pained it so even as the appendage began to shatter.
Kanos free hand struck Jordan hard in the chest, force enough to shatter bone launching him across the room in a fit of rage and pain. A strike of mercy that had Manilow thrown bodily to the doors and out of the thrashing path of the Headmaster.
The pain was lightning across his very being as his body contorted, losing its human shape as the spirit controlling its form went into a spasm.
In his lack of control his powers ran rampant across the room.
Head thrown back, he howled. An inhuman sound, high pitched scream in a gurgling watery voice. Temperatures dropped and the serene waters flowing about the underside of his office tore through the walkway with impunity, a swipe of his remaining hand turned the great oaken desk into shards where it passed as Kano unleashed his pain to the world around him.
The black shadows that surrounded his face had vanished, replacing the severed apendage like a black tentacle as it too thrashed madly. With a final shuddering shriek his will rippled out of his form, spikes of ice and shadow slashing through his robes as the water responded. Freezing into blades of fury that gouged the rooms smooth stone walls into a crumbling ruin until the pain had passed.
The visage usually obscured by the veil of darkness showed a glistening white slate of ice, lacking any features save an open 'screaming' mouth locked into a snarl. Rows of 'fangs' lines the mouth as it shaped to his subconscious expression.
Shaking and dazed the moment passed in mere seconds. The torrent of his emotions had decimated the one pristine sanctuary he called an office, the walkway nothing more than rubble clogging what should have been a natural river leading below it, now turned to a frozen hellscape. The walls had gouges going a dozen feet in as it carved out the stone like it had been clay.
In the center of it all was Kano. Corrupt Aspect of Water, Gaoler of the Darkness. Motionless on his knees staring at the wreckage. The shadows had already returned to conceal his face.
Jordan, meanwhile, was lying in a heap in the hallway. He coughed, and wheezed. He let go of his hardened layer of skin, and it shattered to the ground next to him.
"Congrats Kano, you only managed to fracture a couple of ribs. Can't say the same for the office but," Jordan winced, and he gathered himself to stand up. "We'll fix that up in no time."Jordan stood up and felt around carefully. It was as he thought. Two possible fractures, but no noticeable damage that could prove troublesome. In terms of triage, he could be left until the end of the battle to be dealt with. Of course, it would be more difficult to know if he had internal bleeding, but based on the direction of the break, it could prove troublesome later... Rosalin would not be happy either way. Oh well, she could deal with Kano if she had a problem.
Manilow entered the office, and almost fell into the mess. He looked at the damage and shook his head. This probably wasn't worth dealing with right now, especially considering the way Kano was sitting in the back of the room silently. He made a makeshift path out of the rubble and walked along it, breathing heavily, and finally reached Kano's side. A witty comment came to mind, as they usually did, but Jordan snuffed it out. He got down on his knees next to the Headmaster, and inspected the cut. Clean, the way Jordan liked. Nothing unnecessarily removed, but absolutely no corruption left to spread. Which in a contradictory way, worried Jordan more. This was far beyond anything they'd ever dealt with before. He couldn't exactly refer to anybody on what to do. Left with nothing but his instincts, Jordan looked the Headmaster up and down, and then gave him a hug.
It wasn't a hug of lust, or love, or a hug of camaraderie. Neither of those things were a part of their relationship. It was a way to convey the support, the stability, that Kano needed, when literally everything around him was crumbling to pieces. When his own body betrayed him. Jordan couldn't say what caused it, but whatever small part of Kano that was still human, Jordan held onto it, letting Kano know that he was there for him. Though the longer Jordan held the hug, the more he wondered whether there actually was anything he could do to help, considering his past... A soldier, a man who follows orders, a tool to be used to terrible ends...
"OW, FUCK!"Jordan flinched out of the hug, and clutched at his shoulder. The Grit. Grinding in between his joints. He'd barely used a fraction of his power. By his own standards, he shouldn't be anywhere close to feeling his old injury. He wanted to return the hug, but the selifishness of pain had absorbed them both it seemed. Jordan sat next to Kano, the two of them nursing their war-wounds.
Jordan wondered what on earth the next battle would be.
The silence between the two would drag on until minutes turned to a full hour and still Kano had not so much as budged. The only reassuring sign was the temperature had normalized despite the ice. The book at his hip dangled from the secure chain as it always did and survived the thrashing dutifully, catching the shine from the hallway for the briefest of moments.
Slowly his vision turned to look upon it. The book contained written memories, photographs, signatures, thousands of experiences that would fade with time as all things did from the natural mind of living people. Even an Aspect would forget after enough time had passed.
So the important parts had been written. Recorded for his eyes only, to remember himself.
Remember his own mortality.
The chain shattered at the passing of his hand as the heavy tome fell into the waiting fingers, placing it with reverence upon the floor in front of him. Normally none would see his words but Kano barely registered Jordans presence, even through the hug. Heartfelt though it was.
Nimble fingers flipped open the book with practiced efficiency as they leafed through page after page of Headmasters life. Previous students who he had taken from broken homes and raised, from children to adults, and from adults into families. Some large and others small but all with smiling faces. Kind words of respect and love were scrawled on the worn pages.
In the center of the book was the last picture of his wife, painstakingly etched onto a piece of paper.
Kano dared not touch it and instead kept himself focused on it, beginning to speak. Suddenly aware of the other sharing his.. moment.
"... I remember pain so fleetingly now. Perceptions changed as the body did, until what made me human had been erased." His hand idly brushed where his arm had been, feeling the watery body below already beginning to replace the limb. With the essence trapped inside the corrupted arm it would not be replaced instantaneously.
"This.. burden. The Darkness. It eats at me, even now, as the tainted will of of the wielder continues his fight within." The book closed softly, returning to his hip as the frozen chains returned across the cover to secure it while Kano stood.
"Your own corruption harms you the same as me it seems. You are still alive, so I ask. Do you fear it? What you must sever from me that may be festering in you?"Jordan looked to Kano, then to the room around them. The result of corruption being let loose. There was a lot of reasons to fear this force that was worming its way into his being. Though, he'd had Grit in him since long before he'd ever started taking care of Kano. But was doing so making things worse? For all he knew it might be. Jordan coughed again, harder this time, and as he brought his arm away from his mouth, it was spattered with blood. Internal bleeding. Shit. He looked closer, and noticed it was browning, clumped. Clots. He was coughing up clots. Jordan shrugged, than hissed as that brought another twinge of pain to his chest.
"Kano, I don't fear the corruption. That's not bravado. It's the truth. The corruption isn't what scares me." Jordan paused, and then figured he might as well just come out and say it.
"I'm terrified of what you might to do to stop it."Jordan's eyes flicked to the book on Kano's hip. He pointed at it,
"That is far more important, than my own stupid efforts to cleanse you. I'm just a tool. But if this corruption really is spreading, I think, I couldn't tell you why but my gut just tells me that that book of yours holds the key. Ow, son of a bitch!" Jordan tried to move his shoulder, and loosen it up. It wouldn't move. It was locked in place.
"Shit. So much for loosening up with a couple extra reps earlier...""You fight demons your own way and it is respectable. Strength and loyalty are admirable traits, but we differ. I came to you for help with my problem," His hand idly brushed the book at his hip,
"But have you sought help for yourself? If this is not dealt with permanently it might one day threaten everything. So I will do everything in my power to stop it.""That's just it, Kano, I don't see how more power will make this problem better. Look what happened when it was just your arm!""I have lived an eternity. No other choice is known to me. Must I lay down and die as all the others have, or should the fight not continue? Every day of peace we have atop our homeland was paid for in blood and suffering that the spirits of the past paid willingly."Jordan didn't know what to say to that, not really.
"I've only lived a handful of decades, so maybe it's a matter of perspective, but the way I see it, the only battles you have to fight are the ones you choose. And if this Academy's answer to its history of blood and suffering, is a legacy of more blood and suffering, I'm sorry Kano. I don't care what you have on me, or what they'll do to me, I can't bring myself to support an effort like that. It would break me." Jordan rubbed at his shoulder with his other hand, it was starting to feel a bit better, if only a little.
"The only one who should suffer is me. The corruption has always been a threat to us, every elementalist. It is the only blemish on the harmony of our homes. Every student will fight such a creature eventually and must be ready. For myself.." Kano glanced at the wreckage of his once pristine office.
"If the problem gets worse. Where my presence threatens the way of our people I will remove the problem from this place for good." All things faded in time. Kano had always groomed successors among the generations, powerful Elementalists who could one day hold the mantle of the Aspect when at last it was time for his soul to join with the primal that had made him. To live on as part of something grander by far.
But the Darkness of the soul was breaking that future and choices would be made someday. With Kano gone it would mean two new aspects elevated to the world and as of yet.. There was no person fit to wield the lights opposite.
"Buy us more time, Jordan, and I will fix this. It is my duty as an Aspect.""I don't know how to, and your solution to all this destruction is your own self-destruction. That cannot be the answer. It just doesn't make sense. To destroy an arms cache, you don't set off an H-bomb over the entire surrounding country side. Duties or no, you need to come up with something better, damn you.""I am open to suggestions at this point, but the other Aspects cannot help me. They remain pure, to aid me in this might mean their corruption too."Kano rose to his full height and extended his hand to Jordan, surveying the wreckage clearly now. A moments slip of his concentration and the powers he wielded had reduced a confined area to nothingness it seemed. The harmony of the room all but obliterated.
"This is the fate of all if corruption takes us, any of us. You are right in that this threat cannot be battled alone no matter how.. 'H-bomb' I go?" The phrasing was foreign to the Headmaster. Likely Jordan had meant some human weapon of great destructive force but its meaning was lost to him beyond that assumption.
"Perhaps it is time to teach the others the true danger, instead of hiding it in the dark for it to fester.." "Wait, back up, can you even be sure that this corruption is caused by Darkness? Because I saw just as much ICE as darkness in that freak-out of yours. What if it's something else? Is that possible Kano?" Jordan took his hand, his bad arm still crunchy, but at least semi-mobile now.
"Because I was pure until I let it in!" Kano roared, turning to tower over the other man.
"Because the things we fear hunted us down like animals until we fought back. Because the shadows hide the hearts of others beneath it until they suffocate or give in. It has happened to me, it has happened to you, and it can happen to anyone. Like a parasite. If change is to be made it must be done before my time is over. You know this. A new Aspect must wield the Darkness, same as for the Waters, and peace be assured. Only then I believe it will end.."Kano was plagued with uncertainty at his own admission. While it was true that there was no proof it was the Darkness itself that caused the spirits to grow angry and change, resentful of the ones who wielded their gift and shaped them freely, it was the only explanation he had ever accepted.
Tolerance was given to the Darkness wielders of today on advice from others for the sole purpose of finding one with the potential to wield the Aspects power and prevent another civil war.. Wasn't it?
Jordan's fists were clenched, and he was shaking. He looked down and exhaled faintly in awe. His fists were Ironclad. He hadn't done that, let alone done that unconsciously since... Since...
Since a time where he'd known nothing but sheer unadulterated terror.
"Kano, those are the words of a man who is scared. Terrified. We need to understand what's going here. Our lack of knowledge is the greatest obstacle to overcoming this. I'll ask you again. Are you certain that this corruption couldn't come from another source? How many Dark wielders do you even know of, who could even do something like this? These children play with shadows for God's sake! Tell me why you're so fucking scared of this thing? You're the gods-damned Aspect of Darkness! You're-"But Jordan was no longer shouting at the Headmaster in the ruins of his office. He was somewhere else entirely...
"Jordan!" Too late, it seemed. For Kano to realize the man had stood his ground despite receiving an injury, coughing blood as he spoke wisdom while the Headmaster only snarled and shouted like some common thug. Ignoring the sweat on the mans forehead as he tried to stay on his feet long enough to help despite his own injury..
One arm slung over Kanos shoulders he hoisted Jordan up with ease, a firm grip on the mans waist. There would be time for talking later, and conversations long overdue.
"We will finish this another time." He whispered, striding out of the destroyed office in a steady route to the infirmary.
From the hallway as the duo departed, two sets of eyes watched the pair wander back to the surface. Two sets of eyes amidst the empty halls, one a shade of red so vibrant it threatened to set your soul aflame, and the other a color of green that radiated with the call of the earth itself. The lash of power had been noted and investigated but even they knew not to approach. Wordlessly the pair faded back into the halls, observing what they could.
Ready to act.
