The wind settled after the guardian dismissed the trial.
"A mere test. Yet…. Some does fail miserably." He smirks looking at Kael.
The trio gathered at the edge of a floating courtyard etched with turquoise runes.
The lead Sky Guardian stood before them, mask gleaming like polished bone, wind swirling gently around its feet.
Isaac lifted a hand hesitantly.
Isaac: "Uh… excuse me, mister Guardian—"
Sky Guardian:
"I am six thousand years old. Call me Elder Zephyr."
Kael immediately whispered to Helena:
Kael: "Zephyr? Like… windy broccoli?"
Helena elbowed him. Hard.
Isaac cleared his throat.
Isaac: "Right. Elder Zephyr. We… wanted to ask something. About the powers that suddenly manifested in us."
Zephyr's mask tilted, air whistling inside its hollow chest.
⸻⸻⸻
Helena's Healing Magic
Zephyr pointed a wind-spear toward Helena.
Elder Zephyr:
"You. The girl of borrowed memory."
Helena blinked.
Helena: "Borrowed… memory?"
Zephyr nodded, wind swirling like pages turning.
Elder Zephyr:
"Healing magic is not merely a spell. It is remembrance.
A soul's instinct to protect.
Your surge of ability comes from echoes—pieces of another's knowledge intertwined with yours."
Helena's eyes softened.
Helena: "So… I'm remembering someone else's magic?"
Elder Zephyr:
"Yes. And poorly."
Helena's face fell.
Helena: "Poorly—??"
Elder Zephyr:
"You waste energy. Your stance is sloppy. Your focus flutters like a baby sparrow."
"I can train you."
Kael leaned toward Isaac.
Kael (whispering): "Translation: She sucks."
Helena kicked him without looking.
⸻⸻⸻
ISAAC AND KAEL'S REALM EXPOSURE
Zephyr turned to Isaac.
Elder Zephyr:
"You. The boy touched by two souls."
Isaac felt a shiver run through him.
Isaac: "Two…?"
Elder Zephyr:
"Your own… and one far older."
Kael stared.
Helena did too.
Isaac felt his mouth go dry.
Elder Zephyr:
"Dimensional rifts tear through the boundaries of the self.
Exposure awakens dormant affinities.
Your talent for wind is not learnt,
It is remembered."
A faint image of Irithel flashed in Isaac's mind… blades drawn, cape fluttering in ancient windstorms.
Isaac swallowed hard.
Isaac: "So I… remember someone too."
Zephyr nodded.
Then the guardian pointed at Kael.
Elder Zephyr:
"And you. Demon."
Kael puffed up proudly.
Kael: "Yes, that's me!! Kael Blazeheart, future demon wa…"
Elder Zephyr:
"You have no talent."
Kael froze like someone pulled the plug on his soul.
Kael: "Ex….excuse me?"
Elder Zephyr:
"No talent. None. Zero.
You survived because dimensional energy stuck to you like lint."
Isaac burst out laughing before slapping a hand over his mouth.
Helena tried (and failed) not to smile.
Kael clutched his chest dramatically.
Kael: "I—I am lint…? Demon… lint?"
Elder Zephyr:
"Yes."
Kael fell to his knees.
⸻⸻⸻
KAEL TRIES COOKING… AGAIN
After an hour of surprisingly intense training from the naggy guardian, the trio set up camp on a floating platform.
Kael, still emotionally wounded, insisted on cooking to "prove his worth."
Isaac and Helena exchanged terrified glances.
Helena: "Kael… you don't have to."
Kael: "NO. I must redeem myself from linthood."
He gathered ingredients: sky fruit, dried scraps from Isaac's bag, and a glowing blue herb Zephyr definitely told them NOT to touch.
Isaac: "Uh, Kael—Zephyr said that herb is unstable."
Kael: "Nature cannot be unstable. It's nature!"
Helena: "That's… not how anything works."
Kael: "Silence. Witness my culinary resurrection!"
He inhaled deeply.
Raised his hands.
And shouted:
Kael: "INFER—"
A sudden blast of wind slammed him in the face.
FWOOOOSH
His fire spell sputtered backward, igniting a floating bush, his hair, and Isaac's left shoe simultaneously.
Kael screamed.
Isaac screamed.
The bush screamed (probably).
Helena rapidly cast water magic she barely understood.
Then—
Elder Zephyr appeared instantly, materializing like an angry storm.
Elder Zephyr:
"KAEL."
"CEASE THIS FOOLISHNESS."
Kael froze mid-flail.
Kael: "Wait—this looks bad but I can explain—"
Elder Zephyr:
"YOU BURNED A WIND SHRUB.
A WIND. SHRUB.
IN A SKY DIMENSION."
Kael bowed until his horns scraped the ground.
Kael: "I am sorry please don't vaporize me~~"
Zephyr whirled around to Isaac.
Elder Zephyr:
"And YOU. Why did you allow this catastrophe to begin?"
Isaac pointed at Kael.
Isaac: "Because he said he needed to prove he wasn't lint!"
Helena: "He actually said that."
The guardian crossed its wind arms.
Elder Zephyr:
"None of you should ever cook again.
Ever."
Kael sniffled.
Helena couldn't hold back her laugh this time.
Isaac wiped sweat off his forehead.
Isaac: "Does that mean YOU'LL cook for us?"
Zephyr's mask tilted.
Then, with a resigned gust:
Elder Zephyr:
"…Fine. But if you burn my temple again, I will personally throw you off the island."
Kael whispered to Isaac:
Kael: "I think I love him."
Isaac whispered back:
Isaac: "He hates you."