Terra (3)
Fire spirits' body temperatures fluctuated with their moods. Salamanders couldn't speak, but they had body heat as an extra means of communication.
Pompeii, the Fire Spirit King, was no different.
Drip.
I wiped away the sweat already beading on my skin just ten seconds after Pompeii appeared.
It's suffocating.
The heat was intense enough to make me think I was in a sauna. It was so fierce that even Pompeii's muffler fluttered in the waves of it.
The undines and sylphs around Sia and me let out small screams as they scattered away.
[What in the world is this? I clearly said I opposed letting humans into the Spirit Realm!]
Pompeii glared at Uluru with bulging eyes.
[Is this how you ignore a fellow Spirit King's words? Are you saying the Earth Spirit King is greater than the others?]
Uluru replied with a calm, composed expression.
[I oppose that. We're equals, which is why I don't have to obey you.]
[......]
Pompeii stared at Uluru before bursting into laughter.
[Kukuku...! I really can't win against you with words...!]
It was a forced laugh, brimming with suppressed rage.
[Uluru, fallen mother of earth...!]
Pompeii shook his head slowly.
[How many times have I said it? Humans are bugs that devour and ruin us, our world.]
His heat began to subside bit by bit. His expression clearly said he was holding back because there were so many eyes watching.
"Pompeii."
I spoke up. For once, I wanted to try talking with this guy.
Pompeii ground his teeth.
[Don't make that filthy noise in this beautiful world, human.]
"Humans and spirits aren't poison to each other."
[I don't recall giving you permission to speak. If you're truly a spirit user who respects the Spirit Realm, obey the Spirit King here.]
The heat started flaring up again, but I ignored it and pressed on.
"We can hurt each other, wound one another, but in the end, we'll overcome it and become better beings."
Pfft. Pompeii let out a small scoff.
[...What nonsense.]
He seemed to genuinely find my words ridiculous; the heat died down a little more.
As if he couldn't ignore me any longer, Pompeii fixed his heterochromatic eyes on me with a sharp glint.
[Spirits don't overcome sorrow to become better. If they don't want to drown in their own tears, they have no choice but to evolve.]
"Now that the Spirit Realm and human world are connected, that's unavoidable growth."
[That's why I want to go back. To the pure Spirit Realm full of happiness, where no growth was needed.]
"You know that's impossible."
[Doing nothing just because it's impossible makes you a petty coward unworthy of being called a king.]
Pompeii's argument was flimsy. It was just a refusal to accept the changed reality, a plea to return to the past. But even so, his voice and gaze were utterly resolute.
A spirit with eyes like that...]
What on earth had happened to him?
I was at a loss for words.
Pompeii turned his gaze back to Uluru.
[Deaf mother of ours. Even after hearing that, will you side with the humans? Is what you want a peaceful Spirit Realm, or a crucible for growth?]
[......]
Uluru simply met his eyes with a faint smile, saying nothing.
That was when it happened.
[Pompeii!]
Aqua, Niagara, and Terra came rushing from the direction of the cave, using spirit power platforms. They'd sensed Pompeii's power and hurried over.
Aqua and Niagara positioned themselves in front of Sia and me.
[Are you okay?]
[Sia. Are you alright?]
"I'm fine."
"Uluru protected us."
Pompeii glared at Uluru and ground his teeth.
[Refusing to take sides to the end, huh... Fine.]
Pompeii turned to Aqua.
[Aqua. You challenged Niagara to a duel to break his will, right?]
[I did, but.]
[Then I challenge you to a duel as well.]
Aqua's eyes widened in surprise.
Pompeii glared at her with blazing eyes.
[Come to my temple. We'll settle it there. If you win, I won't say a word about that human entering the Spirit Realm. But if I win...]
Pompeii furrowed his brow, as if reaching a decision.
[Never set foot in this Spirit Realm again.]
Aqua looked shocked.
Pompeii let out a long breath and gazed up at the Sacred Mountain.
[May the ancestors on the mountain side with the righteous.]
Flap. As if his business was done, Pompeii soared into the sky.
[Pompeii.]
Terra called out, grabbing at him.
Terra glanced at Aqua—her face a mix of shock and sadness—then looked up and asked.
[What are you trying to protect so badly that you'd hurt your friend?]
Pompeii looked down silently at Aqua and Terra.
[...Friend, huh.]
Pompeii's face grew faint, as if reminiscing on a past he could never return to.
[No matter the being, everyone has something precious worth turning their back on friends to protect.]
Flap. Pompeii buried his mouth in his muffler and flew off into the distance with a flap of his wings.
The salamanders watched their Spirit King's back with dejected eyes.
* * *
It was a long while after Pompeii vanished before Aqua finally spoke.
[I can't believe it.]
Aqua's face was full of shock.
[For Pompeii to say something like that...]
I gently scooped her up into my arms. Her soft, squishy body was rigid with tension.
Pat, pat.
Sia reached out and patted Aqua's back.
Aqua pouted her lips as if begging for more comfort and turned to Sia.
Sia gently stroked her cheek.
[I have no idea what happened to that kid.]
Niagara shook his head.
[Casting out friends in the name of protecting the Spirit Realm... No spirit wants to be protected like that.]
Niagara muttered softly, as if it pained his heart.
Uluru patted Niagara's shoulder.
[Maybe we've been too indifferent.]
[...Yeah. We assumed he'd handle things himself now that he's a Spirit King, not just a successor.]
Hoo. Niagara let out a long sigh.
[He wasn't like that when that guy was alive...]
"That guy?"
I asked at the word that brushed past my ear.
[It's about the Wind Spirit King. He was close with Pompeii. No, more than close.]
Niagara looked up at the distant Sacred Mountain.
[Pompeii spent little time with his predecessor Fire Spirit King. The Wind Spirit King had no successor. Naturally, they became family to each other.]
The bond between a Spirit King and successor was akin to family.
Pompeii without parents and the Wind Spirit King without children had seen each other as family.
[Maybe because Pompeii stuck to him since he was a baby, he became the first spirit able to take two forms. Back then, it was a little lizard, not a dragon.]
Pompeii alternating between human and dragon forms was due to the Wind Spirit King's influence.
He must have started as a lizard like other salamanders.
[But... the Wind Spirit King died.]
The Wind Spirit King had died saving countless lives.
[That guy too... Leaving a child like that and closing his eyes...]
Niagara gazed at the Sacred Mountain.
Uluru and Aqua looked in the same direction.
In the human world, the Wind Spirit King was a hero. In Japan especially, festivals honored him.
But in the Spirit Realm, he was a friend, a family member.
'Humans are poison'... So that's why.
Apparently, the muffler Pompeii treasured was the Wind Spirit King's keepsake.
Wearing his friend's relic around his neck every day—what must Pompeii have been thinking?
I could somewhat understand his hostility and resentment toward humans now.
* * *
Pompeii had his reasons. I'd learned a part of them.
'But that's that, and a duel is a duel.'
I didn't want to truly fight Pompeii, Aqua's friend.
But he'd already made it clear he was willing to fight.
The chance for a peaceful resolution was gone.
Pitying Pompeii didn't erase his threat to Aqua or his demand to banish me.
If a fight broke out, I couldn't lose.
'If we lose, Aqua can never return to the Spirit Realm.'
The Spirit Realm was Aqua's precious home. We couldn't lose it.
Besides, we might be in real danger.
'If external interference is real, they might meddle in the duel too.'
No room for carelessness.
I planned to give my all and win against Pompeii.
Purifying him or uncovering the culprit behind it all—that came after victory.
I hugged Aqua and Mandu close in my arms. They'd both gone limp and listless since moments ago.
[Uu...]
[Chit...]
To encourage them, I said,
"Don't worry. We can save Pompeii."
Aqua and Mandu looked up at me. Their eyes burned with desperate eagerness to rally.
"Uluru entrusted it to us because she believes we can do it, right? If we can purify Pompeii, he'll surely go back to his old self."
Aqua nodded vigorously.
[Mm! Of course!]
[Chit!]
Mandu let out a spirited chirp too.
[Can't be all droopy like this! Sightseeing! Sightseeing!]
Aqua sprang up in my arms, shouting.
As we pondered our next destination, Terra approached.
Terra was Pompeii's friend too.
Wondering if she needed comfort too, I looked at her, but she asked something entirely different.
[Aqua. What kind of human is your spirit user?]
Her sudden question made me tilt my head at the same time a spark flashed in Aqua's eyes.
[Good question!]
Aqua grabbed Terra's hand, sat her down in front of her, and beamed.
[Hyunwoo is the best spirit user!]
Then, as if she'd been waiting for someone to bring up the topic, she poured out words in a rush.
[He's smart and strong! Last time, he even beat a spirit user contracted to three sylphs!]
[Oh.]
[And Hyunwoo is super kind and warm! You can feel it too, right?]
[Mm. Definitely.]
At the sudden gilding, I could only let out an awkward laugh.
[That's not all! Hyunwoo's parents are amazing too!]
Aqua went on for dozens of minutes without pause, praising me like she'd seized a golden opportunity. She mixed in all sorts of exaggerations, as if refusing to sink into gloom over Pompeii.
I had no choice but to listen to my own praise with an awkward face.
'Why did the conversation suddenly turn this way?'
Once Aqua's long, long spirit user brag ended, Terra slowly nodded.
[He can do multiple contracts too, right?]
[Of course! Aren't Mandu and I contracted to him?]
Terra turned to me.
And extended her hand.
[Contract with me, human.]
"......"
[......]
Her abrupt words left not just me, but even Aqua, frozen.