Six Warriors

Shell - (Miguel)

Miguel straightened up again, that dark thought in his mind. In his current state, he wasn't going to be able to beat Evagore.

"We can stop this right now." Said the girl, "just give me the crystal."

"I don't think so," Miguel replied.

"So you really think you're worthy..." Evagore smirked.

"I don't think anything...but I won't deprive myself of so much knowledge that I can acquire with this power. The knowledge of the legendary realms of the past."

"Is that the question then? The only way you can have it then is to beat me." The girl emerged from the water like a dolphin, but the most surprising thing was later, she landed in the water and stood over it, looking at Miguel with a smug smile.

"Yes, I know, you still have no idea how to get this control over your powers, you have no idea how to stand up in the water." The girl opened her arms as if calling Miguel to action, "come on, come get me if you can. Come on, if you can get to me, I won't do anything to attack you. Better yet, I'll let you give me a courtesy attack even. All you have to do is come to me, but without swimming, if you submerge on the way here, I'll finish you."

Miguel knew what she meant, for him to walk through the water like her, as if it was something easy like concentrating the chakra in the foot or something. Was not. He had no idea how to walk there. He looked around, playing for time, trying to come up with a plan. He didn't have to, he saw something that could serve...

"So you promise, don't you? Promise you won't attack me as long as I don't submerge."

"Fearful little boy" she gave a smile, "very well, I keep my word, I won't attack you as long as you manage to come to me without submerging, so I'll let you give me the courtesy attack and then we continue to fight normally. But you know what? I doubt you can even make it come here."

Miguel gave a smile. Then he ran to a small canoe that was there, on the banks of the lake. It was old but it would certainly do. He untied the canoe, took the oar and began to row towards his opponent, not worrying about being attacked.

"Is this serious, boy?" Evagore couldn't help but laugh, "You look ridiculous from here. Okay, it's time to turn this canoe." She prepared to cast magic, but Miguel just pointed a finger at her and yelled:

"No, none of that, I'm not underwater. You made a promise, remember? You didn't say anything about boats, just not going swimming."

"Well…okay, you're really right. Well thought."

Miguel got close enough to attack, he dropped the oar and pointed his fist towards his opponent, holding his forearm with the other hand.

"Is it time for your attack? All right, come on, buddy, attack with all you can, but be prepared. If I emerge from these waters one more time, it will be the end of you."

"You won't surface again after this," Miguel growled. He concentrated hard and took a deep breath, tried to feel all the moisture that surrounded him, it helped his water magic... "This... has to be my ultimate attack... I can't fail!" thought the boy, then he yelled: "AQUA g*n!!" The shot that was the size of his hand went towards the girl, hit her in the stomach, causing her to scream and be thrown back. She flipped twice over the water before finally sinking into the lake.

Things went silent after that. All that was left was the sound of the night, crickets, owls every now and then... peace. The lake was a big black sheet with only micro movements on the water caused by the wind. No mention of bigger moves, no strokes, nothing, just peace and silence.

"I won?" he thought... seconds before a very fast creature jumped out of the water, tearing the canoe he was into pieces and knocking him into the lake. As he sank, still not understanding what had happened, he saw the creature dive once more into the cold water lake, dark because of the night. The creature moved fast, it was fast as a torpedo, it hit Miguel once, then it swung around and hit him again. With each attack Miguel lost more and more breath. He tried to swim one more time to the surface, but the creature stopped him with one more blow, and then, as if granting his wish, it swam deeper into the lake and came at an amazing speed, striking him from the bottom up, throwing it high to the surface. The creature also emerged onto the surface, leaping like a mixture of an underwater torpedo and a dolphin. Miguel, still dazed, could see in milliseconds Evagore emerge against him and hit him with a quick blow to the stomach in midair. After that, the Guardian used the boy's body to take off and get on top, casting her magic technique in mid-air while Miguel fell, stunned.

"CROCODILE BITE!!!" Then the motorcycle-sized mass of water that distortedly mimicked the open mouth of a crocodile hit Miguel in full seconds before he fell into the lake, causing an aquatic explosion that not only suffocated the boy, but also hurt him badly, by being an incredibly heavy attack.

Miguel started to sink in the waters of the lake, without strength... he didn't know if everything went dark because the lake was dark, or because his eyes were closing because he was fainting. Evagore once again dove into the water, she didn't swim like a human, she glided under the water like a naiad or something, she took the crystal that had come out of Miguel's pocket, that was diving into the water. She just took the crystal, let Miguel sink and again swam to the surface.

"So that's it? I lost... am I going to die here?" He felt his heart sink in sadness, as he sank into those dark waters, "Who would have thought I would die like this? Well, I didn't want to die like this, I don't want to die like this... I wanted to figure things out, to know the mystery surrounding the existence of these crystals and this parallel world... instead I failed... am I really going to die? I think... I think Mom will be angry."

In the midst of all that darkness, he saw a small speck of blue light shining near the surface, still inside the lake, and then she seemed to emerge, just like whoever was carrying her... what a prettier little light... what was that little light? Was... was it the crystal?

"Ys it over? Does youre thirst for knowledge ende here?" The waters seemed to reproach him, the voice seemed to come from all the water that welcomed him moments before death, it also seemed to come from that pretty little light in the crystal and, above all, it seemed to come from his own mind and they sounded like several voices at once, low and high, male and female.

"Yeah…I think it's over." He thought back, not even understanding everything, he just let himself sink into the water like in a dream that you don't even understand... he didn't even seem to feel the lack of air in his lungs anymore.

"Water quenches thirst, alright... but that's not the wey us expected ye to quench youre thirst for knowledge. That's not right, not al the water around ye will doon that. What ys a smale lake of knowledge whan ther ys a whole ocean to knowe?"

"There is nothing in death. There will be no thirst for knowledge, there will be nothing else to know... just the eternal silence and darkness, like the bottom of this lake."

"Thou are wrong! Liketh so manie oother times thou've byen! Death ys juste the bygynnyng of an evene greater mystery for yow, a mystery that thou are not ready to question yet. Thou have to knowe more thyngs yn life bifore thynkyng about facyng the mystery of death, and ther ye have it, youre chance now, slippyng through youre fyngers liketh runnyng water, youre chance of superior knowledge eludes ye now, and ye will come bifore the mystery of death unprepared and without knowledge. Ys that what thou want?"

"No. I think you are right."

"Yes we are! And we won't accept that we were wrong about choosyng thou! We were right! Prove it to us! Goon fight for more wisdom!"

"Yeah…right then. And oh! You guys talk weird!"

Miguel opened his eyes, he felt different now... he still couldn't see in those dark waters, but somehow he felt everything around him and knew what he should do. He swam to the surface, his body going fast, almost as if that lake wanted to spit him out. When he emerged from the waters, he saw Evagore still standing over the lake, staring at the crystal with curiosity about its intense glow. She then realized he was there and looked very surprised.

"So that's what the crystal was indicating. It doesn't quite belong to you yet, but it looks like it wants to." She turned fully to him, battle stance, "but the will of the crystal must not be taken into account, but the will of our order."

Miguel was standing on the water... he didn't know exactly how yet, he just felt, felt as if all that dampness was part of him... and there was something latent in his mind, like a new creative wave that was in the mood to escape in a new magical technique.

"CROCODILE BITE!!" Declared Evagore, attacking him with her spell.

Miguel took a deep breath and then let out that whole creative wave.

"AQUA SHELL!!" He roared, raising his arms parallel to the water. The liquid from the lake emerged in bodies of water in the form of semi-circles that rotated so fast that they formed a kind of shield or barrier. Evagore's magic even tried to break through that shield, but it shattered into thousands of drops when it collided with Miguel's magic, which seconds later compressed a little, only to expand and explode powerfully like a water grenade in the next moment. The Guardian was knocked away by the force of the impact, she was thrown out of the lake and fell unconscious.

Miguel, now more experienced, walked over to where she was and picked up her crystal, which had stopped shimmering so much.

"I'm ready...ready to unravel all the mysteries that await me."

Exhausted by extreme exertion, he just dove once more, only this time on firm ground, into a deep sleep.