... And like everything else, her body was completely frozen.
"You'd better keep that promise, okay?"
"JEEEMMIIILLLYYYYYYYYYY!!!!!"
I screamed at the top of my lungs, without even thinking.
Jemily is... J-Jemily is... Jemily is...!
... No, calm down, me. I have to find a way to save her!
I went up to Jemily, leaning down next to her.
Should I try to move her away from the tree?
I touched the baton, attempting to move it, but it snapped in half instead.
No, bad idea... Very bad idea! Then...
She must be so cold, surrounded by all that ice. So she should be okay if I just warm her up, right?
I hugged Jemily, as hard as I could. The cold from her body stung, but I ignored it. I didn't want to think about what would happen if I let go of her for even a second.
"Besides, you promised me you'd always be there to protect me, right?"
I promised that I'd protect her and save her, no matter what! Jemily!
Somehow, I was eventually able to get all of the ice off her. I could finally touch and move her arm. But...
She's still so cold... Should I warm her up more?
I brought Jemily toward me and hugged her again.
Jemily!
"Heheh, you aren't tired yet? Don't worry, we can still play tomorrow, y'know."
She was still so cold. I could feel her breath, but it was very weak.
J-Jemily...!
"Yeah, let's do this so we can go and play at the beach again!"
She was still so cold. I could hear her heartbeat, but it beat very slowly.
"JEMILY!!!"
"Sérgio & Jemily... Friends Forever!"
"No matter how much I keep trying, she won't warm up! I don't know what to do!" I yelled, starting to cry. "I don't know how to save you, Jemily! Please tell me how to save you, Jemily!""Sérgio!" I heard two voices from behind me.
"Serge... Sprit..." I was kind of happy to see them, but my tears still wouldn't stop.
"Is that cootie girl?!" Serge exclaimed in shock. "Why is she all blue like that? What happened?!"
"W-what's going on, Sérgio? Will she be alright...?" Sprit added in worry.
"She's so cold... And I don't know what to do to help her..."
My tears hit Jemily's body, them freezing right before falling on her.
"Argh! Darn it!" Serge cried, then proceeded to move between me and Jemily, ending up on her lap.
"Serge!"
He turned into his usual ball-shape, and started heating up his own body.
"Don't give up!" Serge reassured me. "We'll save Jemily, no matter what!"
"You're right! I will save you, Jemily, I promise!"
I embraced Jemily tightly, me and Serge both trying to warm up Jemily's body.
"J-Jemily!" Sprit floated right beside her and started using healing magic on her. "I-I'll help you, too!"
We kept doing this for a while, until...
"C-c-COLD!!!" Serge sprang up out of Jemily's lap, knocking me down in the process.
"What are you doing, Serge?!" I asked him, upset.
"Why is she so cold?! I lost control of my heat for a second, and the cold was so unbearable that I couldn't help but jump up off her lap!"
"What made this place all icy like this?" Sprit inquired. "And who did this to Jemily...?"
"Crystana told me Darkés was here, so it would make sense if he had something to do with it..." I said, holding Jemily in my arms again. "But does he even have the power to make everything frozen like this?"
Frozen... Icy... Ice...? That ice spear!
"O-oh, that was it... But you're the one who made that ice; does your power really work that way?"
"Only for hydration purposes. It doesn't affect my overall water intake."
Then it could've really have been him! But... why? Why would he?!
"It really is you... again."
A familiar voice said from behind me.
I looked back and saw him...
"... Darkés."
"You!" Serge exclaimed furiously, running up to Darkés. "Was it you? Were you the one who did this to Jemily?!"
"Jemily... Is that the girl over there?" He asked, with his usual monotone voice. "Is she your friend?"
"Answer my question, dang it!"
"Darkés..." I uttered again. "Do you know who made the forest like this? Was it you...?"
"... Yes, that's right." He admitted.
"N-no..." I couldn't believe what I just heard. "Why, Darkés? Why did you have to do this?!" I started to cry again. "Because of what you did, Jemily is...!"
"... I told you before, didn't I?" He stated. "I wanted you to forget all about me, I wanted you to have nothing to do with me... And now you know why."
"W-what? What are you talking about?!"
"Sérgio... What do you think about your powers? About the fact that other people have powers, too? Even... evil people?"
"Huh?" I was confused about his question at first, so it took me a while to respond. "I don't know, I've always thought I could use my powers to stop bad guys... whether they also had powers or not."
"Even... something like this?" He spread out his arms, to show that he was talking about the frozen forest.
"I-I... um..."
"... Wouldn't a world without powers be better?" Darkés asked me. "Then they wouldn't be able to hurt anyone... Then, I woul-..."
"I know." I cut him off. "My mom taught me that my powers, or anyone else's, can be dangerous if not used properly. But can't they also be used to do good things too?"
"... Is that what you think? I see..." He paused. "Sorry, but that's something we can never agree on."
"Hey, if you made this mess, can't you do anything about it?!" Serge shouted angrily at him. "Fix Jemily!"
"... No."
"No!? No that you can't, or no that you don't want to?!"
"... No." He repeated.
"S-Sérgio, what do we do?!" Sprit asked me uneasily, having been trying to heal Jemily this whole time. "Nothing's working... In fact, I think she might be getting worse..."
J-Jemily...
"Sérgio, what is it you want to do now? Now that you've found out what I did to your friend, that I won't do anything for your friend..." Darkés started to say to me. "You... want to fight me, don't you?"
"W-wha?"
"I'm not surprised if you want to get your revenge. I'm sure you want to fight me... To destroy me..."
"Destroy you...? Well, it is true that Crystana told me to do that, but..."
"'Crystana'...?"
"Do you know her?"
"... No, I don't."
"Well, even though she said that, it doesn't matter." I continued. "All I want to do is what my heart truly thinks is right."
Just like Jemily told me...
"I thought that, even though you're supposed to be my dark side, I shouldn't have to fight you. I thought it would be better if we were... friends."
"And do you still want us to be friends? After what I did?" He kept talking in an emotionless voice, but it almost looked like he was starting to glare at me. "After what I could end up doing in the future? You think it can be solved by just trying to be friends with me?"
"The real world is a lot more complicated than you think, Sérgio. Everyone has feelings, whether they're good or bad... You can become a superhero if you want, but you can't do so if you just get stronger and beat up bad guys!"
"Does that mean he can't be your friend, then? You think he's supposed to be bad, but what if he isn't? Even if he has dark powers, does that mean he wanted them?"
I'm so sorry, Jemily... I promised you, that I would try to be his friend, but...
... I can't keep that promise anymore... I just can't forgive him for what he did to you!
"Sprit, there's something important I need you to do." I told him seriously. "Take Jemily and go find her dad. With that herb she found, he might be able to help her."
"I-I..." Sprit stammered uneasily. "But what are you going to do...?"
"You don't need to worry about that. Just please, help Jemily!"
"U-um, alright..."
Sprit lifted up Jemily's body, and flew out of the forest with her.
"Darkés." I stood up, and redirected my attention back at him. "I really didn't want to fight you... I really just wanted to be your friend, but... It doesn't seem like that's possible anymore."
"... So you finally understand. You finally understand... that us getting along is impossible."
So, now it's time for my "final showdown" with my dark half... But this isn't the way I wanted it to go at all!
Darkés prepared himself first, by creating an ice spear that surrounded his right hand, and pointed it at me.
"It seems like this day was inevitable." He said, keeping still his same pose. "But at the very least, I won't lose."
"No..." I surrounded fire in my hands and legs. "... I'm the one who won't lose!"
"Let's do this, Sérgio!" Serge told me confidently. "I'm right behind you!"
"No Serge, stay out of this." I said to him.
"W-what? Why?!"
"Sorry, but I've decided that I want this to be just between me and him. Please don't get involved."
Serge sighed. "Alright, fine. But at least let me do this!"
Serge shot a ton of fire out of his mouth, sending it all at me.
W-what is he...?!
My body automatically responded to the fire and absorbed all of it. It energized my fire and increased its power and size.
Ah, that's right! I lost some power trying to help Jemily before, but now I feel full of energy again!
"Thanks, Serge!"
"No problem, buddy! Kick his butt, Sérgio!"
"Right!" What's he gonna do? What should I do?! I know this won't be like anything else I've fought so far, and I know that he's powerful, so I need to be careful...
Along with his ice spear, he also took out his wings, which I noticed were bigger than mine. He then pointed his spear toward me and bent down.
W-wait, is he...?
He suddenly launched himself toward me, flying while still holding his ice spear forward.
I don't think I can dodge that! Then I've got to...
"Hrryah!"
I sent a spinning kick at him, while my foot was still on fire. It melted his spear, but Darkés was smart enough to dodge out of the way enough that he himself wasn't hit by the kick.
"... So, you really are willing to fight back, after all..."
I decided I wouldn't give him a chance to attack this time. So I attacked as soon as he stopped moving.
"Take this!" I yelled, throwing a ball of fire at him. The heat of the fire ball made contact with the snow on the ground, and surrounded Darkés in steam.
Did I hit him? I can't see anything...
Darkés then flew out of the steam at me. It looked like my attack hit him, but he seemed unfazed by it. He successfully collided with me this time, but instead of using his ice spear, he instead chose to grab hold of my hands with his own.
What's he trying to do?!
He began cooling down his hands with his ice powers, which I responded with by heating up my hands with my fire powers, our different temperatures cancelling each other out.
"You trying to freeze me too?! I won't let you!" I told him.
"... You unleash your fire with just your hands and legs, right?" He asked calmly, still struggling with me.
"Yeah, so?!"
"... I see." He closed his eyes for a second...
What's he...?
... then shot lasers from his eyes, right at my hands. Red ice formed, surrounding and trapping them.
"W-what the? From your eyes?! And why's it red...?" This surprised me, but I quickly regained my composure. "But whatever, it doesn't matter! I can still use my le-..."
All of a sudden, something that looked like a purple rope launched itself from Darkés's waist and wrapped around my legs. It closed them together and squeezed on them tightly.
"W-what the heck is that?! N-now I can't move my legs either!"
"... You know, I haven't told you this yet, but the truth is, I hate you, Sérgio. I really hate you." He told me, glaring at me, while actually seeming to show emotion for once. "Sometimes, I feel like I would be so much happier if... you didn't exist!"
"S-shouldn't that be my line?!"
"If that's how you really feel, you shouldn't have told me how you can use your powers." Darkés continued to glare at me angrily. "Because you did, I was able to corner you. Now what will you do?!"
With my hands frozen, I can't use any Fire Balls... And with my legs tied up, I can't use any kicks! Like this I can't use a single one of my techniques! How can I possibly get out of this?!
Think... What would Jalape-...
"Have you honestly been thinking your life is like Jalapeño Man's this whole time!?"
... No. I've gained plenty of experience myself now. I don't need to rely on anyone else's anymore. With all that I've learned, what can I do now?! Even when I didn't know how to use my powers, I was able to get through situations by using my head!
That time when I saved Rhinore, put out the fire in the cooking room, saved Sprit from the Ghosty Boys... And there was also the time Serge and Sprit helped me during the Sky Race! But is thinking of any of that useful right now...?
Even if it's really random, I have to think of something!
Out of the corner of my eye, I looked at the tree that Jemily had been lying under earlier.
Jemily... I'm sure she'd be really worried about me in this situation. She always worried about me, even when I was actually perfectly fine...
Like that time she thought I was sick, and took me to the nurse's office, even though I was actually hot because of my fire powers. Even when she found out I had them, she was still worried, and told mom about it... Come to think of it, that was the same day that I first trained with my fire powers...
"Heh, I see. There's nothing for you to worry about; your body is just adjusting itself to the heat of your flames." "It should regulate itself again after a short time."
"Is there anyway to see how strong my fire is?" "I really wanna know!"
"Yeah, that actually is pretty important to check... Okay, then." "Have you tried breathing fire out of your mouth before?"
"My mouth? Well, yeah, but it was pretty gross..." "You're not going to make me do it again, are you?"
"It might not seem too pleasant at first, but it's the best way to release it when you aren't used to it yet. It's a good idea to get used to doing this now, in case you need to use it this way in certain occasions." ...
... W-wait a second! That's it!
"There's nothing you can do now. You've lo-..."
I breathed fire out of my mouth, at my frozen hands. This startled him, enough to jump back and release my legs as well.
"Blegh! It's still gross..." I coughed.
"You..." Darkés began to say.
"Yeah, surprised? I've learned a lot during my time training, so I'm full of surprises!"
"... You are a fool."
"Wha? And just what makes me a fool?!"
"I admit that you genuinely surprised me earlier with that breath of fire, but why didn't you use it to attack me instead of freeing yourself?" He inquired.
"Well, it would've been a bit overboard... I don't want to hurt you that badly..."
"... Your kindness will be your downfall, Sérgio."
He created another spear of ice, and shot it at the ground next to me.
"Aagh!" What he did caused the snow next to me to fly into my face, blinding me for a second. "What are you...?"
Darkés was no longer in front of me. He instead decided to fly away... toward Serge. He prepared another ice spear as he approached him.
Serge was caught off-guard, but he didn't just sit there and do nothing.
"Flamespray!" Serge shot flames at Darkés, but he dodged by flying around him. And then...
THWACK! Darkés hit Serge hard with the edge of his spear, sending him plummeting to the ground.
"Oog... Y-you jerk..." Serge uttered weakly.
Darkés held up his spear, preparing to stab him with it.
"Sorry, but this is the end for you, round creature..."
"Serge!" I exclaimed, running toward him as fast as I could.
No! I won't lose any more of my friends!
Just as he thrust downward, I dived into the ground next to Serge and caught the spear before it hit him.
"... Predictable."
His ice spear was so cold; so cold that it hurt to touch, even with my gloves on. I refused to let go though, because it seemed like Darkés was still trying to thrust it forward into Serge.
"Now you see? If you had attacked me earlier, you would've had a chance to finish me off. Because you didn't, you've now put yourself and your friend in danger."
"Eergh!" I struggled, as he pushed the spear down with more force.
"You've no one to blame but yoursel-..."
"Arm Jab!"
Much to his surprise, Serge got up and sent his arm toward Darkés. However, he managed to catch it with his free arm before it hit him.
"L-let go!" Serge told him angrily.
Darkés didn't, and instead began to freeze it.
"S-Serge!" I screamed, watching in horror as Serge's body gradually froze, until he could no longer move. "SERGE!!!"
With his left hand now free, Darkés used it to cover my mouth this time, using it to send cool air into my body.
I tried to wiggle my legs to get free, but he used the strange, purple rope to tie them up again.
Darn it! I can't move again!
"It's over. For real this time." Darkés said, continuing to stare at me with his cold eyes. "There's absolutely nothing you can do now. Unless... you have another 'surprise' for me...?"
I-I don't... I don't have anything left! Serge's frozen, and I'm starting to freeze! My hands are so cold, and I can't move my legs...
Sorry Serge, I was stupid to try and fight him alone, after all... He's just too strong for me...
"You and your worthless kindness... can perish along with you."
... I-it's... all over...
... J-Jemily...
"It's actually one of your best 'superpowers'. It's... your kindness."
"Kindness? Will something like that help me be a superhero, too?"
"Of course. It's one of your greatest qualities, after all." ...
"SÉRGIO!!!"
All of a sudden, someone came from behind Darkés, and scratched at one of his arms, the one with the ice spear formed around it. This caused Darkés to recoil away from us, freeing me once again.
"S-Sérgio, are you alright...?" My savior asked me worriedly. And my savior was...
"Sprit!" I hugged him happily. "You saved me!"
"U-um, don't mention it..." He said, blushing bashfully. "But what about Serge? Is he...?"
"Oh, right!" Thankfully, my body wasn't cooled down enough that I couldn't use my fire powers, so I was able to use it to melt the ice covering Serge.
"Freedom!" Serge yelled in joy, bouncing up and down.
"Serge, are you okay? Did you get hurt?"
"I was able to see what was going on while frozen, y'know." Serge told us. "Including what you did, Sprit."
"O-oh, sorry I took so long to come ba-..."
"You were awesome!" Serge exclaimed excitedly. "I knew you could do it if you really tried! You're a true hero, Sprit!"
"A-a hero? Me? W-wow, I..." Sprit hid his face, blushing again. "I-I'm so embarrassed...!"
"... Your friends..." Darkés began to say, getting up and facing us, making us silent with his comment. "Are they a part of your strength, Sérgio?"
I shook my head. "They aren't a part of my strength... They are my strength! It's thanks to them that I have the confidence and resolve to become a hero someday! I know I can do anything, as long as they're by my side!"
"Jeez, that was so corny..." Serge uttered, sighing. "... But I suppose I have to agree. I definitely feel like I'm stronger fighting together with you guys, too!"
"M-me too!" Sprit added. "U-uh, I guess..."
"... I see. In that case..." Darkés created an ice spear around his right hand, and pointed at me once more. "... Show me this true power of yours!"
"Alright! This time I'll fight with all I've got!" I stated seriously. "Me and my friends!"
We all rushed toward Darkés.
"Dish out all all the ice you want! We'll just respond with double of our fire power!" Serge shouted.
"I won't use ice, then..." Darkés revealed his hidden left hand, to show it was surrounded by a dark aura.
The energy surrounding his hand... It's similar to that of the Ghosty Boys'!
"So, you really do have dark powers, Darkés...?"
He released the gathered energy in his hand toward us, it causing a explosion of dark energy to hit us and send us sprawling to the ground. While we were getting up, Darkés flew up high in the air.
"... Guess, that's a yes..." I uttered.
"Hey! What're you doing way up there?!" Serge yelled at Darkés. "Get down here, cheater!"
He surrounded his left hand with ice as well, and began shooting ice spears at us from above.
"Yah!" I grabbed Serge and Sprit and ran under a tree.
"I won't hold back anymore." Darkés said seriously.
"W-what do we do?" Sprit stammered nervously.
"We would be fine if he would stop cheating!"
"Actually, I don't think he knows that I still can't fly very well yet..."
"I think there's a lot he doesn't know about you..." Serge uttered.
That's true. Maybe I can use that to my advantage...? "Hm..."
"Hey, Sérgio?" Serge noticed me deep in thought. "Are you thinking of a way to beat him, even when he's up in the air like that?"
"Well..." I looked up at the frozen leaves of the trees we were under. "Hey, now that I take a look at them, those leaves are pretty big, huh?"
"Who cares about some stupid leaves! They won't help us beat Darkés!"
"... Actually, maybe they can. Help me melt this, Serge!"
I'll use all I've learned to win this fight!
--
After a while, Darkés gave up shooting at us.
"What's the matter, Sérgio?" Darkés began to say. "I thought you were going to fight me with full force!"
"Ready, guys?" I said to the both of them. "Let's do this!"
"You sure this'll work?" Serge asked skeptically.
"Of course! Don't you believe in me, Serge?"
"... I guess so. Don't let my belief in you be a waste, you hear?"
"Alright everyone, into position!"
"R-right!" Sprit flew to my back and attached himself to it.
I grabbed Serge, facing his face toward the ground.
"Here we gooo!"
I sent as much fire to my legs as I possibly could, while Serge charged his own fire. Then we unleashed it, rocketing us into the sky.
The force of our launch sent us through another frozen leaf, which did little to slow us down.
"W-what...?!" Darkés gasped in surprise, watching us fly past him.
We lowered ourselves down enough to reach his level of elevation.
"I told you I was full of surprises, didn't I?"
"W-why..."
"Why am I flying like this? Well..."
"Why... is that big leaf wrapped around your neck?" Darkés looked at me in confusion.
"Oh, this? It's my cape. All superheroes have them, y'know." I told him confidently. "And I'll use it to defeat you!"
"Defeat me...?" He remained confused. "With a leaf...?"
"Chaaarge!" We released a burst of energy directly behind us, to move toward Darkés.
I released one hand off Serge, and use my now free hand to grab my leaf cape. He responded to it by creating another ice spear on his arm and prepared to thrust at what I was holding.
Good, he's doing exactly what I thought he'd do! Then...
"Olé!" I flung the giant leaf at Darkés. It wrapped around him, and stayed that way because he jabbed into it while I threw it towards him.
"Whuh?" He uttered in confusion, struggling to get the leaf off of him.
Just as I thought, because the leaf hasn't melted completely, it's still hard enough to keep from ripping for a while! And while he's busy with that...
We then burst downward, sending us high up above him. We did a full loop in the air, then flew back down at high speed. I released the fire from one of my legs, directing it toward Darkés instead.
"Here's a new technique, just for you!" I directed my free leg at the heel of my foot. "Axe Kick!"
"Aaugh!" The kick hit Darkés, sending him crashing toward the ground.
We descended slowly toward the ground, Sprit letting go of me and Serge jumping out of my arms.
"Did we beat him?" Serge asked, breathing heavily from exhaustion.
"Oog..." Darkés uttered, still lying on the ground, half of his body still covered in the leaf.
"Yeah, I think so."
I walked toward him slowly, watching him lie there on the ground.
"... I've lost." He uttered again. "Now, do what you must do..."
"And what would that be?"
"That should be obvious..." He looked up at me. "... Destroy me."
"W-what?"
"I'm sure it's something you wish to do, considering what happened to your friend. With evil, destructive powers like mine, destroying me is your best option."
"S-Sérgio?" Sprit looked at me uneasily.
I continued to look at Darkés, saying nothing.
"So, what's it gonna be, Sérgio?" Serge added, trying to hide his own uneasiness.
"... No way." I finally said. "There's no way I'll destroy you."
"What?!" Darkés exclaimed in shock.
"Even though I don't know why you did that to Jemily, I still don't think you're a bad person, Darkés. I don't why... I can just tell." I explained to him. "It doesn't matter what powers you have... I think you can use them to help others, instead of causing others trouble. Have you ever wanted to save someone, Darkés?"
"Save... someone? ...!" He suddenly became wide-eyed. "I-I..."
I offered him my hand. "Here."
He looked away from me. Eventually though, he accepted it and got up with my help.
"... You'll regret this."
"No, I won't." I responded without hesitation.
"..." He turned around, taking out his wings. "... Goodbye."
He flew up high into the sky, some of his black feathers falling down to the ground. He took off to who knows where... just like always.
Jemily... I made the right decision, right?
"Sprit." I said to him, him floating by me. "How's Jemily doing? Where did you take her to?"
"Actually, while I was carrying her, I ended up at the beach. A man came by, which startled me. Without really thinking, I dropped her there and hid in a bush..." He explained. "But judging by the man's reaction when he saw her, I think he was her father. You wanted me to leave her with him, right? So I thought it was okay to just leave her there. I flew back here as soon as I could afterward, to see if I could help you two."
"I see..." I said, taking in everything Sprit told me. "Thanks, Sprit."
So she's with Mr. Ricardo right now, that's good. He should know what to do to save her, especially with the herb Jemily found.
"Let's go. I want to see if Jemily's okay." I told them.
"Me too. Even though she's infested with cooties, I'm still... u-um... kinda sorta worried about her." Serge admitted. "Just a little, though!"
"M-me three! Let's hurry!" Sprit added.
With that, we started to make our way out of the forest. But while I was running, I noticed something on the ground, and I stopped to check what it was.
"It's... a red ribbon?" I picked it up and looked at it. "Wait, is this...!?"
"You sure like that ribbon, huh? You wear it all the time, and you're always taking such good care of it..."
"Of course, it's one of my most important possessions. After all... It's the very first thing you gave me, Sérgio..."
This is very important to Jemily... I have no idea how it ended up here, but I'd better give it back to her...
"Hey Sérgio!" Serge shouted at me from afar. "What's the holdup?"
"Oh, sorry! I'm coming!"
--
We ran out of the forest, out of the cave, and made it back to the beach at last.
"Sorry you two, but you'll have to wait here." I told them, approaching the cabin. "Even in a situation like this, I still don't think it's good for Jemily's parents to see you."
Serge sighed. "I understand... Let's hide for now, Sprit."
Serge jumped into a nearby bush, Sprit following him.
I attempted to open the door, but before I could, someone came outside.
"Mr. Ricardo!"
"Oh Sérgio, hello." He said to me, looking very stressed. "Glad to see you're doing alright."
"How's Jemily?" I asked worriedly.
"Are you aware of her condition right now...?" He questioned.
I hesitated, but I eventually confirmed it by nodding.
"I see..." He paused, looking mildly upset. "... I've done all I can do, but unfortunately, she will not wake up."
"N-no..." I uttered sorrowfully. "Y-you don't know what to do, even though you're a doctor?" And what about the herb?"
"Yes, I did even attempt to use the herb she had brought back with her, but... to no avail. I've never seen a disease like this before, so I have no idea what to do..."
"S-she... She's not going to die, is she...?!" I asked in horror.
"No; if it's any consolation, her life is, at least, not in any danger." He confirmed.
That's good to hear...
"But... why?" Mr. Ricardo began to lose his cool, beginning to sob. "As a doctor, I resolved to cure all of my patients... To treat any illness, even when seemingly untreatable, so why did I have to did I have to have a patient I couldn't treat now?! And why did it have to be my daughter, of all people!?"
"I-I'm sorry..." Was all I could respond with.
"Sérgio, do you know why this happened to Jemily? If you do, please tell me..."
"I-I... uh..."
"You don't need to worry, I already know all about it." He assured me, starting regain his composure. "I know about your powers, and about the true nature of this world. So please... tell me what happened to my daughter."
"... Okay."
I explained everything to him. Even about Crystana and Darkés. He surprisingly didn't seem weirded out by any of it.
"I see..." Was all he responded with.
"I-it's all my fault..." I started to cry. "I-if I never told her about my powers... If I never brought her to that forest...!"
"You aren't to blame!" He stated sternly. "I know how much you cared about Jemily. I know you would do everything in your power to protect her." He gave me a pained, but faint smile. "I know, because you are truly your mother's child."
I sniffled, wiping my own tears.
"You don't need to worry about a thing. I'll definitely find a cure for whatever illness she has. I couldn't call myself a proper doctor... no, a father, if I couldn't do that much."
"Thank you, Mr. Ricardo..."
He's Jemily's dad, so he should be more worried and sad about her than anyone else, and yet he's still trying so hard to make me feel better...
"I'm going to go see how my wife's doing. You want to see Jemily, right? Go ahead."
"Okay, thanks."
I have to give Jemily back her ribbon, too...
I finally opened the door to the cabin, and entered it. Jemily was there, lying on her bed, and, just as I feared, looked just as lifeless as before. But there was someone else sitting beside her, someone I wasn't expecting to see.
"Kylade!" I said, as soon as I noticed him.
He said nothing, as I walked over to him and Jemily.
"What are you doing here? I thought you were at basketball practice..."
"I was, but then mom called me. She told me my sister had fallen into a coma, and didn't know why. As soon as I heard that, I rushed over here as quick as I could."
"Where is she now?" I asked him. "Your mom, I mean."
"Alone at the research center. She decided to give me a chance to be alone with Jemily." He explained. "But I bet she really went so she could cry her brains out, without me having to see it."
"I-I... I'm so sorry..."
"You know, I'm surprised you weren't here sooner. We almost thought something happened to you, too."
"I-it's my fault..." I couldn't help uttering. "J-Jemily..."
"Wait, do you know why this happened to her?" He asked me in surprise. "Tell me, Sérgio!"
"N-no... I can't..."
"Why the heck not?! Did someone force you not to say anything? Did they do this to her?" He grabbed me by my shoulders, and shaked me vigorously. "Tell me what happened while I was gone!"
"I-I..."
I explained it to Mr. Ricardo because he said he knew about my powers, but is it okay to tell Kylade...?
"Tell me the name of the person who did this to my sister, dang it!" He bellowed, both angrily and sorrowfully.
"... Alright, I'll tell you." I decided. "But it might not be something you're expecting. Not something you'd expect... to be possible."
"I'm listening." He said seriously.
"You see, there's a forest near here, and Jemily asked me to take her there, to get something for your dad. But the forest became frozen, and Jemily was in the forest while it happened. That's how she..."
"'Frozen'...? How the heck did that happen? In the middle of summer, no less?!"
"Uh..." I gulped, knowing the hardest thing to explain was coming. "It happened... because of ice powers."
"Ice powers? Now you're not making any sense, shrimp." He sighed. "That guy must've really scared you badly so you wouldn't talk, huh? To make a silly excuse like that..."
"But it really was from someone's powers! I have them, too, actually!"
"Heheh, I know." He rubbed my head playfully. "And you're using them to be some 'grand superhero', right?"
I guess there's no choice but to show him...
"Get back, Kylade." I told him, walking back a bit.
"What, you gonna show me your superpowers?" He chuckled lightly.
"Yes, actually." I said seriously, before creating a small ball of fire in the palm of my hand.
"W-whuh... What the?!" Kylade yelled in shock, jumping backward away from me. "What kind of trick is that?!"
"It's not a trick. See?" I made a bigger ball of fire in my other hand.
"Y-you... really have magical powers...?"
"Uh yeah, that's right..."
"And with those powers, you..."
"Yeah...?"
"... You did this to Jemily!?" He exclaimed, glaring at me angrily.
"W-what?! No, I didn't..."
"You just told me that it was your fault!"
"I-I know... But..." I reached my hand out to him. "Listen, I..."
Kylade reacted by covering Jemily with his arm defensively.
"Don't you touch her!" He glared at me even more harshly. "You... monster!"
"I-I'm sorry... I...!"
Kylade picked up the basketball lying next to him, and chucked it at me as hard as he could.
"From now on, stay away from her! Don't come near Jemily or anyone else in my family ever again!"
I'm sorry!
I ran out of the cabin, as fast as I could. I made it out the door, and onto the beach, still running aimlessly.
"Sérgio!" Serge and Sprit noticed me run by, and followed after me.
Eventually, I tripped, and finally stopped running.
"S-Sérgio...?" Sprit asked me worriedly. "Are you okay?"
"We heard you talking to that man about Jemily outside. But who were you talking to inside?" Serge added. "What happened?!"
I got up slowly, my eyes ending up focusing on the trees. On one of the trees, I saw something written on it.
"This is a symbol of our eternal friendship. As long as this is here, we'll be friends, no matter what!"
"Sérgio & Jemily... Friends Forever!"
"Waaah!" I started to cry. "I'm sorry, Jemily! I'm sorry I couldn't keep my promise!"
--
A couple days later...
"You're really improving!" My mom said to me, after our usual training at home. "Good job, Sérgio!"
"Thanks, mom."
"Do you want to take a break now? Your favorite show, Jalapeño Man, will be on soon, right?"
"Actually, I think I'd like to go see how Jemily's doing today."
"J-Jemily's, sweetie...?" My mom said uneasily.
"It's almost been a week since her coma. I haven't heard from her family since then, so I'm kind of worried..."
I've kept my distance until now because of what Kylade said, but...
"... I'm sorry, but you can't do that."
"Whuh? W-why not?!"
"Because, sweetie... They moved away."
"M-moved?!" I exclaimed, shocked by the news. "W-what? When? Why?!"
"Jemily's father went to another region with better medical knowledge. In hopes of curing Jemily's illness."
"A-another region?" I repeated. "Which one?!"
"I... don't know. Her father thought it was better you didn't know, so he didn't say."
"N-no..." This can't be...
I ran off, away from home.
"Sérgio, wait!" My mom called out to me, but I ignored her.
I kept running, toward Jemily's house.
You can't have moved away... You can't have gone somewhere I can't find you... If you did, how will I see you? How will I know if you're doing okay?
I want to see you, Jemily...
"I WANT TO SEE YOU, JEMILY!!!"
I kept on running, until I made it to Jemily's house...
... Or, at least, what I thought was Jemily's house.
The big sign I would always see, the "Ricardo Clinic" one, wasn't there anymore.
It can't be!
I barged into the house, the sound of my steps echoing throughout the building. Echoing because of how empty it was.
Mrs. Ricardo is supposed to be here... Saying hi to me, like always...
Then I'd head toward Jemily's room, and see her dad treating patients... Or Kylade would come up to me, and give me a noogie and call me "shrimp" or something...
After that, I'd finally get to see her... I'd finally get to see...
"... J-Jemily..."
I rested my head on the counter, as bare as everything else, and started to cry.
"... Sweetie."
I looked at the person who had come in through the door.
"M-mom..."
She saw me crying, brought me up to her, and hugged me tight.
"I-I'm so sorry, sweetie... I should've told you sooner..."
I stayed in my mom's arms for a couple of minutes, continuing to cry.
"... Mom." I eventually told her, releasing myself from her arms and wiping my tears.
"What is it, sweetie?"
I have a dream. I'm sure everyone has their own dream too, but mine is really important to me. Because, you see, I made a promise to someone. A promise I never want to break, no matter what.
"Can I ask you a favor?"
"Of course. What do you need, sweetie?"
If I were to tell anyone my dream, they may look at me funny, and even ask if I'm really being serious. But no matter what, I'll never find my dream to be ridiculous.
"Is it possible for you to fireproof this for me?" I asked her, holding out Jemily's red ribbon, which I had still been carrying around with me this whole time.
"Sure I can. But... why?"
"Because I want to always keep it with me. To make sure I never forget about the promise I made to Jemily."
What is my dream for the future? It's to be a superhero. More than anything. And to save the world, I'll get stronger, defeat all the villains harming others, and, most importantly...
... I'll give kindness to those that need it.
The End of Sérgio's 1st Adventure
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Writer's Comments:
... And that's it. That's how Sérgio's 1st Adventure ends. After all of these years of planning it out (around 14 years!), I actually finished it! Now to talk about these last two chapters...
Yeah, I know the ending may seem like a huge downer, especially considering how upbeat the beginning was like. To be honest, something changed in the middle of writing this saga, that actually made the ending even more of a downer than it was supposed to be. What was that change? Jemily's character, of course.
Remember all the way back in chapter 4, I said that I was planning on keeping Jemily out of the loop about Sérgio's powers and such? Well, because she ended up in the loop, she also ended up being more involved in the plot, hence her becoming more of a fleshed out character than originally planned as well. After all, most people would feel more sad for a character they're familiar with passing (or in this case, put in a coma) than with a character they barely know much about.
In fact, I ended up liking Jemily so much, that I actually started to feel sad and regret what I had to have happen to her in the end. But, believe it or not, her ending up in a coma at the end was one of the first things planned for her, and it was too important to the plot of the series to change. So, of course, I had to leave it as is, despite her character development. If anyone thinks of me as a huge jerk because of this, please forgive me. (I think I'm a huge jerk, too.)
Also, for anyone who was wondering why the last chapter was so short, you may get why after reading this one. The part where Darkés appeared was originally going to be the start of this chapter, and everything before it part of the last one, but I thought the way the last chapter finished ended up being better in the end. Even if it made it really short. I ended up writing all I wanted to overall anyways, so it doesn't really matter.
... So, what's next for this series? Well, I'll tell you that this series is definitely far from over. In fact, some very important characters to the series haven't even been introduced yet! Who are they? Find out in the next saga: Sérgio & Sérgia! Whenever I end up writing that one...
- CS-Masyet