Elementals Chapter 4: Celestial Tides (OPEN)

“And I’m with you,” Alister whispered in return. He liked the way Evan held his hand, his soft skin against his. Really, he did not think of himself as more powerful than him, or anyone else. He still thought of himself as rather weak, even compared to Evan.

Suddenly, the fog in the area receded with the explosion. The siblings watched with wonder until a sharp feeling moved their hearts, and they both gasped audibly.
”Oh, brother…” Astra seemed to moan. ”Why must your flames be so aggressive… you really have no respect for this place.”
A figure seemed to flicker in and out of sight, with silver eyes and white braid, looking pained. Instinctively, Alister moved over to Noel, bringing Evan along with him, though not in reaction to the figure. He had seen how many others besides Arcanis were once hidden in the forest, and he was worried about what they might do.

Ignis stumbled to his knees. His breath shortened, his vision fading. Yet he remained awake and focused. He shook his head, "Astra…that wasn't supposed to…" He couldn't talk, his body rejecting. His hands placed on the seal began to glow. Of course he didn't mean to start the fire, but he needed a blinding distraction. Using his body as a current he called out, "Noel, Alister! Channel your element around me!" Using his magic as a form of lightning rod, he could channel the wind into the seal, creating an elemental specific lock over it.

Arcanis witnessed the fire spread, "Astra! This is what your guests do? They threaten the decimate the entire temple! You watch as your enemy walks among your descendants, leading them with lies! He threatens to open the seal!" He points to Ignis and his spellwork, "He knows that your element is key to opening it! What will you do?"

Before the siblings could react, Astra manifested between the two groups, their head in their hands and shoulders seeming to shake with pain. ”Quiet. They are not my guests. I have no time for this, illusionist. Enough,” they said, letting their hands fall to their sides and revealing eyes glowing with frustration and pain. They raised them, causing a strong wind to lift Arcanis and Ignis into the air. ”Both of you meddle too much.”
The air around Alister had grown cold as his fear increased. Noel’s heart pounded. There was just sulfur dioxide now. She was afraid of losing focus, so she kept her eyes on the seal, even as Ignis was lifted upwards.
Astra now turned their attention to them. I have told you of your task, they spoke into their minds. Protect this place, and the seal. Should this old enemy of mine try to open it, do not hesitate to rip him from the earth and poison his blood. For if it happens, disaster will surely follow.
Gravity took ahold of Ignis, and he fell back to the ground. Arcanis stayed in the air, held firm by the wind as Astra dissolved into fog and rushed to blazing forest, attempting to smother the flames.

Ignis's spell vanished as soon as his body lifted into the air, "Hey! Can't I put the deadlock on this thing or what? Everyone knows it takes the air element to open the air seal. But it takes a prime to open the deadlock." Ignis looked at the forest set ablaze, that shouldn't have happened… the moisture in there should've restricted the flames. How is it even still burning?

Arcanis laughed, "I see your trust falls to them. So let's see if they can even walk straight!" With a flick of his wrist, an illusion was cast over the area, "Lose the ones you love, lose the mind itself…"

Ignis remained focused, yet when he lifted his head to see Kali, she was gone from his eyes. As well as the rest of the group. Go figure they ran.

(since Evan and Alister are holding hands, how would the illusion affect them?)

(their hands grew numb. but since they ARE touching, the effect is less powerful.)

(ok cool)

(Yes the question of how the illusion affects other senses is gonna come up)

(yes. all senses are numbed. if in physical touch, it'd be numbed but not cancelled completely)

(In the illusion, anyone the person loved or cared for will seem to disappear. Any attempts to call out or search for them, dizziness and confusion will happen. Since Evan and Alster are holding hands, their nerves are numbed to a point they can't feel to well. However the pressure of their hold reminds them they aren't separated. Ignis needed help with the seal, neither sibling are around so he thought they ran. Ignis didn't understand what happened fully so he thought everyone ran.)

(Thanks for the elaboration ^^ will respond soon)

"Ignis isn't here." Arcanis's words echoed around Kali, "Neither is your friends. You are left alone. Your cries for help suggest more than friendship. Why must you fall for one who doesn't even care about you?"

Ignis let go of the seal, his magic fading from it. The air seemed quiet, lifeless. "Snap out of it Ignis! He is fooling you!" Ignatius's words muffled yet audible. Ignis wandered around, seemingly lost in a void of loneliness and depression. A feeling of being alone for eternity, "Kali…Noel…Alister…Evan…." his eyes grew bright with magic, powerful and immense, "…I will never leave you!"
His words echoed throughout the forest, yet he felt his words weightless, useless. Lost in hatred and fear, a series of cuts appear on his body. Ignis didn't realize at first. His arms began to drip blood as each cut became more deep. Arcanis's lackeys. They're playing with us.

Arcanis laughs histerically, as if to mock Kali's emotion, "Really? Wouldn't you like to know what Ignis is hiding? What he keeps from you? Of course you must've felt it. The world getting colder, the heat that soon will fade. Of course he didn't tell you his element is dying. But how? Why? Wouldn't you like to know why Ignis didn't bother telling anyone?"

Noel was afraid to look back. She had seen Ignis return to the ground. She had seen him lift his head. But after that… he wasn’t there?
She wanted to look back, to see how the others were doing, but she was afraid. A cold feeling clutched at her heart. She realized that she couldn’t feel her brother’s presence nearby. She couldn’t hear or sense their breathing, the air filtering into their respiratory system and collecting in their lungs. Noel’s own breath became shaky. For a moment, she couldn’t speak.
“A… Ali?”
There was no answer. Noel’s eyes stayed on the seal, her expression contorting into something quite difficult to describe. “Ali, Ali, please, please, Ali…” she murmured over and over again, her voice eventually devolving into quiet, incoherent sobs. Then eventually her voice became coherent again. “Just focus on the seal, just focus on the seal, just focus on the seal…”
The gas was still there, forming a shield around it. Was she truly alone? She couldn’t let go of her control, someone she knew might die, or Arcanis would take advantage of the situation.
Arcanis. Of course.
“Please be okay, Ali, please be okay…”

“El, me and Evan can protect you while—“
Alister’s voice died. There was nothing. He saw nothing, he heard nothing. For a moment, he felt himself breaking down as he realized that he was alone. His sister, whom he had tried to protect for so long, was gone. There was a ringing in his ears as tears filled his eyes. Why was she not there? Why did she leave? This was all his fault. He brought her into danger. He brought her into this mess and now she was gone.
“El…” his voice was barely audible. His gaze had drifted down to the grass beneath him. “I’m sorry… I’m sorry… please come back…”
Something nagged at him. Was he truly alone? He thought felt something at the edge of his senses. A tingling in his hand.
Evan. Evan was gone too but— The tingling, a sort of pressure was still there. “Evan…” Alister mumbled. “Are you here?” He tried squeezing his hand where he felt the pressure.

Ignis's eyes widened, "We…are not gone…." He lifted his arms, a blue flame emerging from his palm, "Feel the heat…know that we are not lost…use your element. A force of nature Arcanis himself cannot hide." He closed his eyes and focused on the flame, all while he felt himself weaken from the blood that had escaped his body. I can't heal. I can't use darkness enough yet. My flame is…

He felt something. At least, he thought he did. Had he imagined it?
Alister blinked, then wiped the tears from his eyes and sniffled. Even if it had been imagined, he wanted to cling to the possibility, the hope of it not being so. He squeezed again, to make sure he wasn’t imagining things. He could somewhat feel the air around him, and he noticed it felt cooler now than it had earlier. Alister tried to get in control of himself. He couldn’t panic now. He had been given a job to protect the seal, and of course, his loved ones. Hie squeezed the pressure once again, both out of his wavering worry and resolve to keep himself calm.

Arcanis's words echoed around Noel as well, "Lost…alone…forgotten…."

Ignis's flame flickered as he continued to suffer from unknown attacks, "Come on, come on!"

(I don’t think so?)

(Arcanis only made it to where they couldn't sense each other, not the elements they control. The others can feel warmth cause it's natural. they are made to believe they're alone, but they can still feel everything else though like wind and heat.)

(Ah ok)