Four Elements

"Four Elements" is a [SEASON NUMBER] thread written on [IRL DATE].
==Summary==
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==Full Text==
Lila led her siblings as they walked around looking for Akkey. They agreed to spar together but never actually agreed to a time or place. Eventually after walking for half an hour they found her at the beach, it was a little after high noon. “Alright we’re.” Lila said. Are we doing this or what?“ She asked.
@akkeyagentofhelheim
akkeyagentofhelheim
Akkey had been taking more naps than normal now. That experiment with Dust had drained her tremendously.
She groaned as she sat up at their approach, “What? Do what?”
hubwalker1
“You wanted to spar didn’t you? C'mon we’re ready.” Lila said as she crossed her arms.
akkeyagentofhelheim
“Oh, right.” she blinked the sleep out of her eyes and got to her feet, “Is it just you, kid?” she glanced towards the twins, especially at Jari, “Are you sparring with me, too?”
hubwalker1
The other two kinda shuffled about a little, their feet tapping nervously. “Yes.” Lila said simply. “Would you prefer us all at once or one at a time?”
akkeyagentofhelheim
“Oh Gods, okay uh…” she pulled the shoreline forward slightly, humming into an open portal, “I don’t mind all at once but your electricity kinda of frazzles something inside me, Jari.” She grinned apologetically, “If we could go anywhere else other than the beach, that would be superb…”
hubwalker1
“Oh um…” She tried to think of where else to go but came up with few places. Hard to escape salt water on an island. “We can go whenever you want Aunt Akkey.” She said with a smile.
akkeyagentofhelheim
“Thanks,” she grinned back as they came up to the training ring, which was fortunately empty. Akkey dusted herself off, stretching her limbs, then clapped her hands in anticipation, her eyes shining despite her tiredness, “Okay! Show me what you got!”
hubwalker1
Lila drew her sword. “Any rules?” She asked as she flourished the blade.
akkeyagentofhelheim
“Errr…” she stopped for a moment, leaning her head to the side and crossed her arms in thought. She was never good at these rules; her first spar with Blunt years ago had the barest of parameters that he had set, no killing, no lasting damage, no magic.
Everyone had magic this time though.
“No killing, no lasting damage, no wrecking buildings. Anything goes!”
hubwalker1
She nodded “Sounds good to me.” She said as she dragged her sword across the ground, sending a stream of fire at her.
“O-oh we’re starting now?” Jari asked before sending a small lightning bolt at Akkey.
Kettil winced as he pushed his hands forward, sending a gust of wind at her as well
akkeyagentofhelheim
“Whoahoahoa.” Akkey grinned, nimbly hopping backwards a few steps. Their attacks exploded in the spot where she had just bee,n leaving markings on the ground. “Come on you three! You can’t just all randomly throw those at me and hope they hit! Work together!”
hubwalker1
“How do we do that?” Jari called.
Lila gently placed her blade on her shoulder. “Yeah these two don’t exactly have fighting experience, and none of us have experience working our powers in conjunction with each other.”
akkeyagentofhelheim
“Have you tried talking to each other about what you can do together?” She sat down on her haunches, leaning her cheek on her hand, looking at them gently, “Think about your actual elements! What have you seen lightning do? Wind, and fire? Instead of just shooting it out of your fingertips in a big blast, how do they differ in real life? Temperature, intensity, speed, size, flexibility, direction, even colour. You can manipulate all those!”
hubwalker1
The all had some sort of look of realization as she said this. “Alright give us a few minutes. after about twenty minutes of discussion and a few brief science lessons they turned back towards Akkey. "Alright I think we’re ready.” She said as she sheathed her sword.
akkeyagentofhelheim
She hopped to her feet, “Excellent! Go for it!”
hubwalker1
Kettil was the first to start them off this time. He held one hand in front of him and made a scooping motion with it, his fingers spread wide. With his other he stretched it out towards Akkey, though nothing seemed to happen as he did so.
Next was Lila she took a deep breath and shot a jet of fire, not at Akkey but at kettil. Her fire though was no longer her typical yellow and orange flame, now it was bright blue and hotter than anything else she’d produced before. Just before it struck her brother the flame met with an invisible barrier which strangely, and quickly caught fire and rushed towards Akkey.
akkeyagentofhelheim
Oh shit.
In the split second she blinked, the wall of blue flames had come right up to her. She took panicked steps to avoid it, flinging both arms up to create her own barrier of water, but she underestimated its power. The two-three?-elements collided in an explosion of steam and smoke, the temperature hotter than she expected. It blew her backwards and she lost her footing, rolling a couple of feet in the dirt.
Akkey coughed to clear her lungs of dust and smoke, and glanced up towards the siblings with a grin. Awesome.
She got up swiftly, and in one bound she closed part of the distance between her and Lila. She twisted her upper body, her right leg coming around wrapped in a long tendril of water, aiming for Lila’s left side.
hubwalker1
She took a sharp breath through her nose as she saw the foot flying at her and quickly grabbed it, holding her in place. “Jari now!” She called.
With that Jari let loose a bolt of lightning the she had been charging. Thankfully they weren’t on the beach so her aim was better and it flew towards Akkey’s leg.
akkeyagentofhelheim
When Jari’s electricity hit the salty air at the beach, she felt it in the tips of her fingers and toes and down the back of her neck, raising the hair on her skin. It jolted her, but otherwise she was fine. It reminded her of stormy days, when lightning streaked across the sky and she felt it in the rain. 
But the direct contact with the part-Pookan’s power was an entirely different experience.
It coursed through the tendril and up her leg. She threw her head back in immense agony and shock, jaw clenched, muscles contracted. She tried to release the water around her limb, but her entire body had tensed against pain.
Several seconds felt like several hours, before she managed to flick her left wrist upwards with massive effort. Two tendrils snaked their way to the girls’ faces, distracting them for a moment and losing their concentration, but that was all Akkey needed. 
She slipped from Lila’s grip, and disappeared into the soil through a portal, popping up a ways away, struggling on the ground against the pain that still surged through her body.
She grit her teeth, “Holy shit…”
hubwalker1
All three of them quickly rushed over to Akkey. Jari and Kettil bent down next to her while Lila stood above them. "Aunt Akkey are you okay? Jari asked as Kettil began examining her.
akkeyagentofhelheim
“Yeah, yeah…” She mumbled and cleared her head with a shake, groaning as she pulled herself up into a sitting position, “I’m fine…”
She took a deep breath, body still tingling, and grinned a little painfully up at all of them, “That was good. You three come up with that? What was that thing you did, Kettil?”
“Oh um…” Kettil started. “Well Jari was telling us that fire could burn the air if it was dense enough. So I um… Compressed the air into a wall for her to shoot at as well as a line of it leading right to you. We were hoping that Lila attacking me instead of you would throw you off… And I guess it did.” He said with a soft smile.
Jul 30, 2019
“Smart.” Akkey sniffed in good humour as the buzz left her fingers. That wall of fire had thrown her off, and thought it was only Lila’s attack, so she went straight for the commander.
“Alright, well, my turn!” she flipped herself onto her hands, flaring out her legs and sending out a ring of water that effectively separated the siblings. She landed on her feet and gave them a second to collect themselves, then went for Lila again. But this time, one hand caught Jari’s limbs and encased them in ice, trapping her against the wall, and the other opened a portal under Kettil’s feet and sending him to the training ring’s caged roof, dangling by his hands on one of the bars.
She came up to Lila, and in one smooth motion, swung her sheathed sword towards her chest.
Jul 30, 2019
Lila quickly jumped back, grunting slightly as the sheath caught her on the side. “Alright we’ll do it up close then she murmured as she clenched her fist, a blue dagger like flame appearing in each fist.
Meanwhile Kettil looks down at the floor from where he’s hanging. It’s a decent drop from here. It wouldn’t kill him but he was certain it would put him off his legs for a time. “Well here goes nothing I suppose.” He murmured to himself. He had been working on a technique for a while but had yet to master it. This was as good a time to practice as any. He let go of the bar and as he fell he created a ball of air and shoved it beneath him, managing to do so just before he hit the ground. Once it touched down he zoomed forwards and subsequently fell back off it. “Still need to work on my balance.” He muttered as he rubbed the back of his head.
While this was going on Jari was struggling with the ice. “Damn,” she cursed. “It’s too dense. I could try to melt it with my lightning but that would probably take too long.” After a few moments of deciding she frowned and grumbled. “Guess it can’t be helped.” She muttered. “Lila, Kettil! Incoming!” She called. With that she sent the electricity humming through her body, passing more and more current through herself until it exploded sending chunks of ice flying.
Lila created a large wall of fire melting most of the ice, though a few larger pieces got through, and Kettil managed to use a gust of wind to blow them away.
Jul 30, 2019
Akkey dropped her sword on the ground when she saw the flames, and localized the water right around her fists to limit Jari’s target on her. Her hands shot out in quick jabs, her feet light and skipping around Lila, who defended herself. A right hook, and an uppercut, twisting her body and kicking at her side. A strike to the chest then the jaw. The opposing elements kicked back at each other upon each contact, raising steam around them. 
Out of the corner of her eye, she saw the explosion of and she grinned as Lila and Kettil defended themselves. She quickly swatted away a stray chunk, right at Lila’s head. She disappeared and popped up right behind Kettil, “Welcome back to the ground!” Her left arm shot out, her hand in a palm to strike him on his back.
Jul 30, 2019
Lila winced as they traded blows, one in the ribs, one to chin. Seeing the chunk flying towards her she was quick to swat it away with a circular jet of flame.
Kettil held his hands up in an attempt to shield himself from the blow, a sphere of wind impeding her attack.
Jari winced as she shook herself out. She’d never done anything like that before and was honestly surprised that it worked. Notes for later. Thinking of her notes made her think of the black powder, which made her think of her bombs, which made her think of what she just did. She took some arc energy and balled it up and made it denser and chucked it, putting Akkey between the bomb and her brother. “Heads up!” She cried.
Jul 30, 2019
“Ah fuck!” She saw the ball of energy thrown at them and hopped back right as it landed in a bright impact on the ground, withdrawing all manipulation and awareness of water around her, and curling herself up in defense.
Jul 30, 2019
The grenade exploded sending a wave of electricity out from the where it landed, just out of range of Kettil. After it went off the siblings were quick to move and surround Akkey. “We win.” Lila said with a grin. Each of them looked down, each of their elements swirling around their hands.
Jul 30, 2019
Akkey crouched down on the ground, her eyes shifting around quickly, trying to find an opening to escape. A portal would’ve been helpful, but Jari’s power crackled right before her, reminding her of how weakened her water manipulation was in that moment. She glanced up, and she saw a different glint in each of their eyes as they stared down at her; red in Lila’s fiery glare, blue in Jari’s electric gaze, and green in Kettil’s gentle look.
She sighed and sat down cross legged, pulling all defenses in, leaning her head on one hand. She peeped open one eye towards Jari, “You really are a big weakness for me.”
Jul 30, 2019
The all grinned towards each other as they congratulated each other on the successful spar. “Well, lightning and water don’t mix too well.” She smirked.
“Actually, Akkey. It’s because of you that we won. Without you we wouldn’t have considered our abilities in the way we did.”
“Yeah thanks for the boost teach .” Lila says as she holds out her hand, a blue flame sitting in her palm.
Jul 30, 2019
“I should watch my mouth, then,” she grinned, not serious at all in her comment. She glanced towards Kettil,”Your sisters have explosive powers and forward personalities, so theirs can go really big. But I think you have the potential to be the most powerful. Out of everyone here you’re the only one with unlimited access to your element 24/7. I’d study your wind manipulation more, if I were you.”
“That is, if you want to,” she stood, leaning on her good leg, working out her right leg, still feeling a slight buzz through it, “You guys work more on your control and getting a little more creative with them, then we can work on that storm idea.” Her eyes glinted a little dangerously at the thought.
Jul 30, 2019
“I-I’m sorry storm?” Kettil asked nervously.
“Yyyeah I may have forgotten to mention that.” Jari said with a chuckle. “But Akkey thinks we can make a storm between your magic and mine.”
His eyes grew wide at that. “Oh… Well okay then.” He said, not really sure how to respond to that.
Jul 31, 2019
“I mean, we have all the elements we need right here. We’ll figure it out when you guys get better.” she grinned at the three, eyes softening. There was an enthusiasm in all of them that reminded her so much of Greg, despite their differing personalities. Especially sparring with Lila, it had brought back fond memories.
She went to pick up her sword, “Your dad really worked on that temperature control to evaporate all my sources back then. I think you’re on the right track, Commander.” she paused for a moment at the nickname, before clipping her weapon back to her waist.
Jul 31, 2019
Lila stared at the flame in her hand for a moment before clenching her fist, extinguishing it. “Did… Did he ever get to this level?” She asked.
Jul 31, 2019
She regarded her for a moment before responding, “No. He worked for it, but he didn’t manage past a yellow flame.”
Jul 31, 2019
She nodded. Knowing that she had already surpassed her father made her feel… Strange. “I think I’m going to practice a little more.”
“Well I’ve got to go write some notes on this!” Jari said as she rushed off.
“I should check to see if any letters have come from any of my clinics.” Kettil said as he wandered off as well, leaving just Lila and Akkey in the ring.
Jul 31, 2019
She followed the twins out with her eyes, before letting her gaze drift back to Lila, regarding her gently for a while, before stretching her limbs out again, “Whenever you’re ready, Lila.”
Jul 31, 2019
After a second her gaze snapped up to Akkey. “Hm? Oh right yeah.” She lowered herself into a fighting stance.
Jul 31, 2019
Akkey got herself ready as well, but studied Lila for a moment, “Are you sure you want to keep going?”
Jul 31, 2019
She answered by throwing a kick at her, a jet of fire flying at the Half-Breed. Though the fire was still blue it’s tips were now yellow.
Jul 31, 2019
I guess you do.
She pulled a tendril of water out of her pouch that easily extinguished the flame, especially now that she didn’t have to wary of electricity. Still she remained where she was and made no moves to attack, “Well that was a little lame.”
Jul 31, 2019
She frowned at her as she threw a ball of fire at her. "The Hel's that supposed to mean."
She shrugged, putting out a palm cover in water and effectively stopping the ball in its tracks, steaming and disappearing after a few seconds, “You’re cold now. Where’s the heat from before?”
hubwalker1
“I’m just as hot as ever, see.” She says as she holds a ball of fire in her hand and then tosses it back and forth before throwing it up and kicking it at Akkey.
akkeyagentofhelheim
“Not really,” she caught it again, steam rising around them, “It looks more like Greg’s flame than yours.” She closed her fist and the fire fizzled out. There was a haziness now that seemed to shift with Akkey as she moved. 
And it was getting colder where the mist hung around them.
hubwalker1
“Shit.” She cursed quietly as she tried herself to hide in the mist.
akkeyagentofhelheim
“I know exactly where you are, Lila,” she called out, taking a seat on the ground, “Why do you think I’m so affected by Jari’s current? Water is my element. This mist is gonna stay the colder you get.”
A tendril of water shot out of nowhere and wrapped itself around Lila’s trapping her arms on her sides.
hubwalker1
Lila grunted as she struggled against the tendril. She tried to light herself up to evaporate the water and free her from the water.
akkeyagentofhelheim
Akkey pressed her lips in a thin, worried line, keeping a firm hold on the part-Pookan, “Come on, kid! Where’s that fire from before? Aren’t you your dad’s daughter?”
hubwalker1
She frowned and struggled harder than before but she just couldn’t seem to get the same power as before.
akkeyagentofhelheim
She let her try a little longer, but it seemed to no avail. She dropped her hand and she released her arms, the mist still hovering around them, although not quite as dense. “What’s up?” her voice called out from seemingly nowhere.
hubwalker1
She fell to the ground on her hands and knees and looked around. “What do ya mean what’s up?” She called. “I’ve got you right where I want you.”
akkeyagentofhelheim
She raised her eyebrows, “Yeah?”
hubwalker1
“Yeah.” She said as she stood. She punched and a jet of flame came out in the opposite direction from where akkey was, colder than before with the only hint of blue at the bottom of flame.
akkeyagentofhelheim
She frowned, and sweeped her arm across. The steam disappeared in a rush, revealing Akkey sitting a few feet behind Lila, one cheek leaning on her hand, “What’s going on?”
hubwalker1
She clenched her jaw and crossed her arms. “I don’t know.” She grumbled.
akkeyagentofhelheim
“Hmmm…” she squinted at the girl, sizing her up, “What was going on in your head when you did it before? And what’s going on now?”
hubwalker1
She sighs. “I don’t know. Jari was just telling me about blue fire and how it was hotter and so I did it. Now I’m just…” She sighs. “Thinking about Dad.”
akkeyagentofhelheim
Akkey raised her brows, and smiled gently. She stood and walked up carefully to the confused girl, “When was the last time you thought about him?”
hubwalker1
She sighed. “I don’t know. A few months.” She went over and leaned on the wall of the ring. “Used to be I’d think about him all the time. He was reason I worked to become the Commander of this new Rebellion. I wanted revenge for what Central did to him and my family. I’ve dedicated the last 10 years of my life to training and preparing. I think all this time I’ve been working to surpass him,but now he’s back… Sort of, and Hel admonished me about fighting and Siri was asking what I was going to do after everything and…” She sighed. “I don’t know. Everything’s confusing now.”
akkeyagentofhelheim
“Hmmm…” she turned around, her dark and light hair flowing behind her. She took a couple skips forward in thought, “So anger and power has been your drive all this time? And now that you’ve been taking a new perspective, you’ve lost the source and direction for your flame…”
She faced Lila again, “Sounds like you need a new source, a new kind of heat. One that isn’t reliant on vengeance on your dad.”
hubwalker1
She sighed and looked up towards the sky. “Probably.”
akkeyagentofhelheim
Akkey regarded her for a while as the Pookan thought.
“You know, your dad was a really kind man.” she said quietly, her eyes shifting to the side in memory, “He was the first one to give Nala a second chance, and stood by her even when nobody else didn’t.” She folded her hands in front of her, “He let her possess him, and I really, really hated that back then. So I sent them to the North, with no telling if they would survive or not.”
“He came back with that flame, stronger than ever. And the first thing he did was thank me for the leg workout I gave him.” she took a deep breath and smiled to herself, “He was never a man to hold a grudge. He believed in the good in people. He just loved his friends, loved his family, loved you and your mom. He just…loved living and everything that came with it.”
She tilted her head, "Fire isn’t just about explosive power and anger. It’s life and passion and light. I think… that’s where his fire was from.”
She let a wry chuckle. "And what a life I've lived." She murmured.
akkeyagentofhelheim
Akkey snorted softly, “You kids act as if it’s the end of the line for you.”
“You’re what, 22? You’re barely older than I was during the Rebellion. I did shitty things and made shitty decisions, but I still had time to change that. Just like you do. Make choices that will change your life into something that you want it to be, something that you can be proud of. You have plenty of years in front of you to keep living. The question is, what will you make of it?”
hubwalker1
"That's just it!" She cried as she pushed off the wall, walking towards the center of the ring. "I don't know what I want my life to be! I've done nothing for the past 10 years but train for this! This war between me and Central! What do I do after all this is done?"
akkeyagentofhelheim
"Who the fuck knows?"
Akkey crossed her arms, keep her eyes trained on Lila, "I get it... ten years is a Hel of a long time to not do anything but that. But now you're realizing that something comes after it, and you don't know what the Hel to do with it. And honestly, that's insanely scary."
"But there's also no shame in it, in not knowing what the future brings. I didn't know what the Hel I wanted to do after the Rebellion either, and that was my life a long time too. I don't even know what the Hel I want to eat tomorrow. Your life isn't decided from the beginning; it's organic, it changes, whatever your choices are as you live."
"So you don't know what to do after bringing down Central, you never have and you still don't. That's fine. Why don't you start now and think about it? You take your time and figure it out, one day at a time. In the meantime, you just live life as it comes, with the friends and family that you have."
hubwalker1
She chuckles. "One day at a time huh? Alright. I think I can do that." She says. She lets out a laugh. "Maybe I'll end up being a Queen." She joked.
akkeyagentofhelheim
"Queen Lila Ericson. Nice ring to it," she grinned, before pulling and freezing water into a blade, "So, Your Majesty, feeling hot again?"
hubwalker1
She held a ball of fire in each hand. Both bright blue, though still a little flicks of yellow at tips. "Yeah." She said with a small grin."
akkeyagentofhelheim
“Excellent.”
She bent her legs and came up to Lila in two bounds, her ice blade colliding with her flames in an explosive force. The dust cleared around them, but immediately pulled back in the same mist that had been hovering around them, this time not so dense, but still dropping the temperature. The ice melted into its liquid form and wrapped its way around Lila’s torso, intent on trapping her arms again, but she managed to free one from the water’s grip.
hubwalker1
Lila grunted as she struggled to get free. Then she got an idea, and a spectacular one at that. "Hey Akkey!" She called. "Do you remember what they used to call my dad?"
akkeyagentofhelheim
“What?” she pulled another tendril from her pouch, merging it with the other on her hand and strengthening, “Commander of Awesome?”
hubwalker1
She laughed at that, having forgotten about that one. "True, but they also called him..." And with that blue fire erupted from her body violently, dissolving the water instantly and quickly forming into feathery bird like wings. The fire covered her entire and lifted her up in the air as the room quickly filled with heat. "The Phoenix." She finished as she stared down at Akkey.
akkeyagentofhelheim
She stared up at Lila in awe, feeling the fire evaporating almost every bit of vapour in she could reach in the ring. There was only enough for one attack left in the pouch by her hip, and her throat was drying up.
Damn... she scrambled backwards, putting as much distance as she could between them. Her fingers twitched, snaking the last bit of water she had onto her arm, feeling it almost boiling and disappearing. I’m in trouble.
hubwalker1
Lila crossed her arms as she watched Akkey's last attempt at retaliation. She gave the wings a single powerful flap, sending two sheets of fire heading straight for her, but the curved so one went to each went to one side of the half Nix, evaporating any water she had left. "I win." She called as she slowly lowered herself to the ground and the wings faded to nothingness. She then hunched over, panting hard, a lot of energy taken out of her for that.
akkeyagentofhelheim
She had flung her arms up in defense when the flames came for her, but she was left with nothing. Dario’s magic would be really useful right about now... she quickly tried to chant the spell under her breath, but it was too hot and too dry around her, and she still hadn’t managed to be successful with it at all.
Akkey quickly tumbled over to where Lila struggled on the ground, panting and feeling dehydrated herself. Her fingers stretched as if trying to reach for any kind of water source, “Damn kid... you alright?””
hubwalker1
She waves her off, still breathing heavily. "Yeah... Yeah I'm fine. Just took a lot out of me is all." She looked over at Akkey. "Hey got any water?" She asked with a half-grin.
akkeyagentofhelheim
“Shut up. You took it all,” she laughed, sitting heavily on the ground beside her, leaning her hands on her knees. She sighed, suddenly feeling the exhaustion, and grinned, “Did Greg teach you that? That jerk kept a few tricks up his sleeve, huh.”
hubwalker1
She frowns a little at that. "Not... Exactly. I did kinda pattern it after him though. When they... Sent him off, a giant Phoenix shaped flame erupted from him... I kinda wanted that legacy to live on..."
akkeyagentofhelheim
"Ah, sorry." she raised her brows apologetically, "Fiery until the very end, huh. Well... it's effective. Gonna have to think of a counter soon before you kick my ass again."
hubwalker1
"That's what the fourth time now?" She replied cheekily.
akkeyagentofhelheim
“You won’t be able to say that when I fight seriously,” she grinned jokingly, but there was a a grit and war torn experience behind her eyes that showed how much she held back for her.
Category:BOTGD 2
Category:Events
Category:Act I
Category:Lila Ericson
Category:Akkey Black
Category:Jari Ericson
Category:Kettil Ericson