FSE

Furry search engine

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-L-

"C-Chaos...!?" I repeated, the name sounding so typical of some evil force.

"That's right. Chaos .... He is the very form of evil. Wherever he treks, evil follows him. His ultimate goal is to bring down The Elements, though ironic that he's also an Element," Silnis informed me, his expression still firm and serious. It's strange how he changes personalities so fast. He can be the cute, nice Silnis one minute and serious, strong Silnis the next.

"But...if he's an Element, then why does he want to destroy the other Elements? Aren't they all supposed to be working together to bring order and peace?" I asked, confused.

"That's what you would think, but it's just like the old saying of: 'Good cannot exist without evil'. Without Chaos, there would be no balance. And there would be no balance without Chaos. Think about it...," he clarified somewhat. Now that he said that, it would make sense that without any bad in the world, everything would be all good and that would get kind of boring. And if there were only bad in the world, people would want a light and rise up to form good. Both elements needed each other to exist.

"Huh...I guess you're right," I agreed, thankful to have a smart person like Silnis as my friend. He nodded his head and smiled before walking back towards the Private Quarters, leaving me partially dazzled by his smile before it registered to me that I should be getting home too. Walking to the portal, I stepped through it and found myself outside my house, the sun just about to set. I knew my parents would be on their way back from work so I had half an hour to change into my lounging clothes and get started on my homework.

As I sat in my room, reading from textbooks and writing down notes, my mind constantly flashed back to the events of this afternoon. It was fun meeting all those people. Never before have I been introduced to so many people at once. It was overwhelming, but worth it. My mind went through everyone's faces who I met today, remembering their names and elemental attributes. Silnis' face particularly stuck to me. His warm smiles, bright personality, and cuteness brought a tingle to my groin. Was I attracted to Silnis? No...it couldn't be. Maybe it was just an attraction to Silnis as a friend. That's probably right.

"Lance, dear, your father and I are home!" my mom shouted from downstairs. I went to greet them and their jaws dropped when they saw me. Puzzled at their reaction, I suddenly recalled again about my new body physique and knew that it was probably the cause of their reactions. My clothes were a little tight with all the new muscle mass I grew and clearly showed off my musculature.

"Hey Mom, Dad, welcome home," I casually greeted them, smiling.

"L-Lance! H-How did y-you...?!" my mom asked before I stopped her.

"I've been working out at the school's weight room Mom. And also...I think puberty and my growth spurt hit top speed at the same time," I lied to them, not wanting to tell them the truth for obvious reasons.

"Wow! You really put some work into it didn't you son? See Janna, I told you my genes were going to work the same wonder on our son as they did on me!" my dad said proudly. My dad has always been bragging that when he was my age that his "amazing" genes helped him get a fit and athletic body that got my mom. She denies it and says that it was his sweet personality that attracted her to him, but he still teases her about it. She even admits it once in a while that my dad's body at the time was only a small part of her attraction to him, usually followed by a blush from her.

"Yeah...I put a lot of effort into it," I lied again, feeling terrible, but necessary.

"Just watch son. Soon all the ladies are going to be swarming to you like moths to a light," my dad said to me, patting my back as he walked up to his room with mom behind him.

"Ladies...yeah...," I muttered, the idea strangely sounding unappealing to me. I went back to my homework, trying to keep my mind focused on work besides girls and Silnis; but no matter what my head continued to question if I was straight. All my time in high school so far, I've never really seen anyone who've I liked before. Trek was always bullying me so that took up a big part of my time and attention. My life was so messed up then that I didn't even consider the fact if I liked girls or boys. I groaned, wanting to forget this topic of mind. Shutting off my lights, I stripped off my clothes to my boxers and curled into bed. Images of Silnis invaded my dreams and I was left sleeping with a tent in my boxers. Damn...why do you have to be so cute and attractive Silnis?

*****

I waited in the front gardens of the school, thinking. First of all, I tried hard not to think of Silnis throughout the school day as just the mere mention of his name brought a sensation in my groin area that was unwanted in some cases during school. And secondly, I was wondering how to get back to Pacema's Sanctuary. I didn't have any homework today and it was a Friday so I had the rest of the week off. Now...how to get there? I certainly can't walk all the way to New York City and ascend the Empire State Building. I was considering the option of just flying there until I heard a familiar voice.

"Hey Lance, what are you doing?" Necross stood in front of me, his arms crossed with a grin on his face. He wore a dark purple t-shirt and blue jeans that hugged his body well and showed it off. A few girls passed by and gawked at him, getting some snapshots from their phones and no doubt posting it on Facebook.

"Oh, I was just wondering how to get to the sanctuary. I thought Silnis would come, but I guess not," I said to him, my hands on my chin.

"Dude, it's easy getting to the sanctuary. Here, I'll show you," Necross said, offering a hand as I took it and letting him lead me to a private spot. Once he knew that no one was around, he held a hand out and waited for a few seconds before a portal soon swirled and shimmered in front of us, "See, easy. All you have to do is call out to the gateway and it'll come to you."

"Wow...thanks Necross," I said to him, offering my hand as a sign of thanks.

"No problem bud," he said, gripping my hand and shaking it. I looked at his eyes and was shocked to see them orange! Was that normal? I mean...Silnis had silver eyes but I've never had the chance to ask him if they were colored contacts or not.

"What's with your eyes?" I asked, not trying to sound rude, but it was too curious. He blinked at me a few times before finally registering my question.

"Oh, my eyes, yeah...they change colors according to my emotions. They're kind of like a mood ring or necklace and are a dead giveaway to my emotions. I wish I could give you a list, but what fun is that! Everyone already figured the colors and their associated emotions so you'll have to do the same to!" he told me, putting on a toothy grin before his eyes shifted to a yellow color. Yellow...was he happy? I could assume at this point as I was in his guessing game.

"Umm...I'll try...," I replied, seeing the portal close behind him, "Should we be going now?" Necross looked behind him before realizing that the portal was closing.

"Better get going!" he said, grabbing my hand and pulling me through with him. We popped out at the other end, arriving back in Pacema's Sanctuary. A few warriors and champions went about their businesses, waving us hello as they passed by. Cody walked by and didn't notice us until Necross called out to him. "Hey, Cody, is Silnis here by chance?!"

"Oh, hey guys! No...Silnis isn't here now, but he will be eventually!" he told us before continuing walking towards the kitchen.

"All right then, I guess we'll have to start without him," Necross said to himself, seeming not to mind Silnis' absence.

"Start what?" I asked.

"Your training of course! Every champion and warrior is expected to train themselves for battles! You can't always depend on your Element to help you fight. We all need to hone our skills for any upcoming attacks," Necross clarified. Oh...that made sense. It would be bad of me to always count on Ignis to grant me his strength in battle. As a champion, I had to make my own strength and power and count on Ignis only when needed.

"All right...training.... I can do that. So...where do we start?" I inquired, not recalling any training room that Silnis mentioned on my tour yesterday.

"Back out there," Necross pointed back to the portal, "we only came here to see if Silnis was available, but I guess we can start without him." Playfully pushing my back into the portal, I stumbled into it and appeared out the other side in a completely different area, looking quite familiar.

"I-Is this the Grand Canyon!?" I asked, seeing the vast ravine snake through the land with the Colorado River inside it.

"Well...there is only one, right? But yeah, it is," Necross confirmed, taking in the beautiful sight. The Grand Canyon was a sight to indeed. The horizon was lined with the distant Rocky Mountains, the colors of the earth blending well together to create a work of art. I've only seen the Grand Canyon in pictures, but seeing it with my own eyes was breathtaking.

"This is where you guys train? Aren't there supposed to be tourists around?" I queried, looking around for the large mass of people snapping photos. Necross chuckled heartily at my question, shaking his head in response.

"No...there aren't any tourists around these parts of the Grand Canyon. If there are, they won't see us. Silnis placed several illusionary spells around this area so people will mistake us for some plants or rocks. I wouldn't worry about it Lance," he enlightened, "Now...let's get to training!" Necross' body shimmered before his armor and weapon equipped onto him. His armor was dark violet and an aura of pressure pushing down on everything around him radiated. A great war axe was slung over his right shoulder, his hands gripping the pole for balance. Necross looked even more intimidating with his armor on than he was without it!

"Better shift to battle mode Lance. They're coming," he warned me, gesturing with his head to the side where several fumes of dust blew out from the ground. Looking at the fumes closely, I realized that the dust was coming from something that was tunneling underground-something that I was sure I didn't want to meet without my armor and weapon. I didn't have to do anything as flames erupted around me and my equipment prepared itself for me. My armor attached to my body and my sword slipped into my hand, waiting for battle.

Striking my battle pose, I was ready for whatever was coming at me. Necross, on the other hand, didn't look concerned at all and just smiled at me, giving me a thumb up for a wish good luck. So this was my own battle? All right...I can do it. Just focus Lance.... Breathe....

The first of the creatures lunged out from its tunnel, revealing to be giant demon mole the size of a car! I quickly dodged out of the way, making the demon mole crash into my previous location. Two more demon moles lunged at me from their tunnels, dodging them easily. Getting a closer look at these guys, they looked exactly like a mole, all except for the pairs of horns protruding from their heads, razor sharp claws, and flaming fur.

"Um...any advice you want to give me!?" I asked Necross who stood in the sidelines and watched me.

"Hmm...," he contemplated for a minute, "Avoid the claws and don't make too much noise. Oh! And also, stay away from the flaming fur, though it shouldn't be a problem for Ignis' champion." He smiled at me again, not in a mean way, but more of a good-luck-and-have-fun-way. I don't if it was me, but I did see something else behind that smile. I didn't have time to decipher what it was because the three demon moles had recovered and were sniffing me out.

They were poor of vision so that I had to my advantage, but they're senses of hearing and smell would be excellent. Holding my blade up, I crept slowly to the side of one, being careful not to make my armor chink or clink in any way. When I close enough to it, I could feel the intense heat of the flaming fur. At this distance, the heat should have burned, but it didn't for me. I could feel the heat, but it did nothing to me. Ignis must be protecting me as his champion. With nothing to lose, possibly my life, I pierced my sword through its skin. My sword went cleanly through, but that alerted the mole and it swung its claw at me. It knocked me back a few feet and left me with some oozing gashes on my left shoulder to my chest. The wounds stung, and I was about to call it quits there, but I knew that couldn't give up. Necross still stood there, looking at me with concern in his now indigo eyes. He was about to butt in and help me, but I gave him a look to back off. It wasn't anything personal, but I wanted to do this on my own. I wanted to show that I had the strength to defeat my enemies.

Picking myself up, the mole that I attacked alerted its two friends to where I was, smelling the scent of my blood in the air. My sword was still impaled inside the mole, out of my reach. I was weaponless, but I wasn't defenseless. Taking another chance, I ran at the mole head on, making it react and swipe at me. I quickly dodged its claws and jumped on its fiery back, pulling my sword out and stabbing down the mole's neck. That killed it instantly and it slumped down, lifeless. The other two smelled more blood and, not realizing that it was their friend's, charged after the scent, crashing into the dead mole and rending it into pieces with claws. I went to work on the other two quickly and repeated the tactic I used on the previous one. In less than five minutes, the two other moles fell dead at my feet, their fires burning out.

Necross clapped in applause, coming up next to me and patting me on the back, "Good job comrade! You really did well!" His eyes shifted to yellow again, obviously meaning joy. I just smiled at him before collapsing, everything getting all dizzy. He caught me before I could hit the ground. "Hey, you still have those wounds on you. Take it easy. I'm no expert on healing magic, but let's get you back to the Sanctuary and get you hooked up with Jace. Now that rhino is one heck of a healer."

Necross helped me back to the Sanctuary, my head starting to spin and my body feeling really weak. We were fortunate that Jace had arrived minutes earlier before we returned and got me healed up while I laid on one of the living room couches. The healing process was fast, but I still felt weak and dizzy. Necross said next to me and offered me some food to get my blood replenished. I graciously accepted the food and chowed down, eating slowly as my energy had not returned yet.

"So...what do you think of Silnis?" he asked me out of the blue. It took me a minute to relay the question to my brain before I could respond.

"Umm...well...he's a good friend. I like his sweet, upbeat personality, but also his strong, leader-like traits. He kind of inspires me and makes me feel warm at the same time. I don't know why...but I always get this pleasant buzz whenever I'm near him. Is that normal?" I explained to him, seeing another small smile on his face.

"Yeah, it's completely normal. Silnis always has that effect on everyone around him. It's different for everyone, but they always end up feeling happy and cheerful around him. His smile and personality is just that contagious. The way he smiles can light up all of New York City. And his personality never gets boring. I could spend all day with him and I'd be the happiest person in the world," Necross told me, his eyes blending to be a mix of pink and yellow. I was clueless to the color pink, but yellow was certain to me.

"You sound like you've known Silnis for a long time. Do you know him?" I asked, curious.

"It's nothing long-term like childhood, but yeah...we know each other pretty well. He and I met when I had first become a champion. Back then, I didn't have an easy life. My parents were poor and were always in debt. I didn't need to go to school because I was a prodigy and genius, but no job would accept me unless I had proof that I had an education. So I went to school and quickly advanced to high school in no time, and when I was about to go to college to get my Master's Degree, tragedy struck my parents. My mom had been cornered and raped by some gang. She was too devastated that she killed herself, making my father seek out the gang for revenge. I tried to stop him, but he went anyways and got himself killed. My parents were taken away from me just like that and my life went downwards after. I struggled with life and couldn't find peace. There was a point where I was about to commit suicide, but Agravitas intervened and led me to him. He offered to change my life and I accepted, becoming his champion. Silnis came to greet me and just seeing him smile made me want to smile. I liked being around him because he made me forget my terrible past and replaced it with happy memories I made with him. He's become one of my closest friends and someone I really treasure...," Necross described his past to me. His eyes were blue and gray, hinting to me that he was lost in thought on his past now.

"D-Do you...like him?" I questioned, his story hinting some speculation.

He looked at me with eyes of rose pink and answered, "More than like him...I love Silnis...." My eyes widened at his bluntness for admitting that to me. Wow...he was serious. I could never say anything like that straight to anyone. He must really treasure Silnis as more than a friend.

"Have you...told him?" I inquired. He shook his head, staring at the apple he held in his hands.

"What about you? Do you like him?" he asked me in return, catching me by surprise just a little bit.

"I-I'm not...so sure.... I mean...I've thought about it, but I get all confused. I've never had a love life before so I'm clueless on whether or not I like him. But...Silnis...he makes me want to smile and be close to him like you. I don't know what to call it.... Love? A crush? I just don't know...," I confessed to him, blushing somewhat red at my words.

Necross chuckled softly, punching my arm lightly. "You know...you're kind of cute. I've always wanted Silnis just to myself, but I think a three-way relationship would be all right with me. Who knows? Someday, when you, Silnis and I are in bed together, we can have a lot of fun." He smiled at me one more time before walking away, leaving me even more flushed and confused.

*****

I fell asleep after my talk with Necross and found that my body wasn't as weak and dizzy as it was before. Getting up, I heard some talking nearby, recognizing Silnis' and Necross' voices, but another one that I heard before, but couldn't put a name on. The voices led me to the dining room where Silnis, Necross and Tec were conversing, the latter showing the formers a map of an area. Necross noticed me and waved me over, giving me another one of his smiles.

"Ah! Lance! You're awake and just in time for my new battle training plans!" Tec said to me, showing me the map of some unknown area.

"Where is that?" I asked, not recognizing the place.

"It's nowhere! It's a map of an arena I've been building in my spare time as a battle arena for the champions and warriors! Isn't it magnificent!?" he explained, making my eyes widen.

"That's an arena!? It's huge!" I commented, seeing that it was larger than Central Park.

"Indeed! It will be used a training ground or, for the fun of it, a battle arena! I've already had Jace, Kia, and Sandra collect some monster specimens for the arena, though they are contained in magical cages and will only be released when needed. Cody has suggested to me to have the arena be used as some sort of gladiator game! Yes! I can see it now! Teams of champions and warriors fighting against each other! This will increase our battling skills to a new level!" Tec was lost in his thoughts, talking to himself and giving out random remarks about the arena. The way he thought just made me want to fear him more.

"What he's basically saying is that instead of fighting monsters all the time for training, we could battle each other and improve that way. Don't worry; we won't kill each other, only until one or the other surrenders. I have to admit though, the idea does seem kind of fun! It'll be a good challenge for all of us. Don't you agree Necross?" Silnis smiled at Necross, making the larger dragon nod his head in agreement, but bringing some pink into his eyes. Silnis didn't seem to notice as he studied the map, already strategizing for future events.

"So, um, where is this arena anyways?" I asked Necross since the other two were busy.

"Like Tec said, it's nowhere on Earth. He managed to construct it in The Void, a realm with nothing inside it besides empty space. The only things living there are wraiths and spirits, but they don't really pose a threat to us. All they mostly do is drift around The Void, scaring a few people if they pop up behind you," he described, impressed with the raccoon's handiwork.

"So...Tec, when will the arena be completed?" Silnis asked him, snapping Tec out of his thoughts.

"Why, it's already finished! I just wanted to present it to you! Oh, speaking of which, everyone is already gathered there! The first game is about to begin! Come!" Tec said before grabbing his map and dashing off towards the portal, gesturing for us to follow. Silnis, Necross, and I looked at each other before following after Tec, excited and curious to see this place.