Echo

A songfic about Heatnix and Tenshi, and a very important moment for them.

 

Heatnix was pretty unhappy. Fighting the monster was taking its toll, slowly but surely. It wasn’t that the thing was hurting him, or Tenshi, for that matter. It wasn’t even that strong of an opponent, to tell the truth. It was the sheer size of it. The Colossus of Hunger only stood about twenty feet tall, much shorter than its brethren colossi. But the thing had to be at least three hundred feet around. Its belly was massive. It looked like a giant mass of black hair, with a tiny head, with green, glowing eyes of stone. It moved along on six short, stubby legs, eating through everything with the massive, vertical stone mouth on the front of its stomach. It had been eating its way through the countryside for a couple months now, taking up the food supply of small towns.

 

Heatnix had heeded the call to stop the beast, and Tenshi had come along to help. He had to be honest, after fighting the last colossus with her, he really didn’t want her to come along. He didn’t want her to get hurt. They had both almost died in the battle with the last one, and it was very possible here, too. Once they had attacked the beast, it started shooting energy blasts from its small arms. Luckily, it had trouble seeing past its huge gut, so dodging wasn’t always that big of a problem. But through that mass of fat and hair, it was difficult to even land a blow on the beast. Heatnix just prayed it didn’t eat Tenshi.

 

He was amazed at the fact that as soon as she heard about the trouble, she was in, no questions asked. He had wanted to take on the challenge by himself, but she wouldn’t let him. Why?

 

Close my eyes

Let the whole thing pass me by

There is no time

To waste asking why

I'll run away with you by my side

I'll run away with you by my side

I need to let go, let go, let go, let go of this pride,

(Asking why)

 

Another large energy blast came toward Heatnix. Tenshi jumped and grabbed him, taking the two through a portal, landing safely on the other side of the beast. He needed to stop distracting himself with thoughts of what had already gone on. He needed to focus on the battle at hand. But Tenshi’s eyes…they were so beautiful. He stared into them as they landed. It was several moments before the two realized they were still holding each other. As he did, he completely regretted ever deciding that the two should wait before starting a relationship. He was devoted to her, anyone could tell. And he knew she felt the same about him. The two had even kissed on several occasions. So why hadn’t they taken any further steps? And why could he not focus on the battle at hand?

 

I think about your face

And how I fall into your eyes

The outline that I trace

Around the one that I call mine

Time that called for space

Unclear where you drew the line

I don't need to solve this case

And I don't need to look behind

 

It wasn’t time for reminiscing. He could do that later. Now, he had to take care of this monster as fast as he could, before it devoured everything. He broke the embrace with her, calling the Masamune to his aid. With a nod to Tenshi, the two dashed to either side of the monster. He sliced away with his nodachi, and she attacked with the katana Heatnix had made for her several months prior. Once again, it was like chopping at a gnarled mass of seaweed or some similar, tangled substance. A few fireballs to the beast’s side revealed that the hair on its body was much thicker than Heatnix originally anticipated.

 

Sensing the flame on its body, the beast lurched to the side. Making a quick swipe with its mouth, it almost devoured Heatnix’s right arm. He pulled away at the last moment. As he did, the beast’s teeth caught the armor plate on his forearm, ripping off his entire sleeve. He moved back as quickly as he could, expecting the beast to follow. He heaved a sigh of relief as he saw that Tenshi had frozen its feet to the ground and was now attacking its back with small bursts of violet fire.

 

An awkward thought crossed his mind. He knew that, somewhere deep in his mind, he wanted to take the colossus on alone. Had Xenith been the one freezing its feet to the ground, Heatnix might have resented it a bit. But with Tenshi, it was different. He was more than thankful not to have lost his arm and his rune, but at the same time, just knowing that she was there made him feel warm inside, in a way he wasn’t used to. He was stupid for wanting to fight alone, that’s all there was to it.

 

Close my eyes

Let the whole thing pass me by

There is no time

To waste asking why

I'll run away with you by my side

I'll run away with you by my side

I need to let go, let go, let go, let go of this pride,

(Asking why)

 

“It’s going to be a long battle ahead. As much as I like you, I don’t want to make a commitment if there’s a chance I could die in battle. I couldn’t do that to you, and I know you wouldn’t want to do that to me. So…I guess the phrase here is, ‘to be continued?’ At least…until after the battle. I’ll protect you until then, but until that day comes…will you wait for me?” That was what he had said all those months ago, in that field of snow. Heatnix could still remember seeing Tenshi for the first time, the day before he had said that to her. He’d always thought she was beautiful, even as he’d almost landed on her, falling from a tree.

 

These flashbacks had to stop especially now. The beast was immobile, but still very dangerous. Sensing the direction Tenshi had been firing from, it pointed its arms backwards and fired two very large energy blasts at her. At the same time, an even bigger blast was fired from its mouth at Heatnix. He had to think fast. There was no way the both of them could dodge this.

 

Do I expect to change, the past I hold inside,

With all the words I say,

Repeating over in my mind,

Some things you can't erase, no matter how hard you try,

An exit to escape is all there is left to find.

Close my eyes

Let the whole thing pass me by

There is no time

To waste asking why

I'll run away with you by my side

I'll run away with you by my side

I need to let go, let go, let go, let go of this pride,

Until this echo, echo, echo, echo in my mind

Until this echo, echo, echo, echo can subside

 

A quick jet of fire took him out of the mouth blast’s direct line of fire, but Heatnix couldn’t dodge the explosion. That helped him, though. The force of the blast pushed him closer to the beast’s backside, and closer to his love. Yes, his love. If he wasn’t going to admit it now, of all times, he’d never be able to forgive himself. That was why those thoughts kept recurring to him. And they would keep coming back if he didn’t let himself realize that one simple truth. He was madly in love with Tenshi, more than he had ever been with anyone.

 

A tingling sensation crept up his arm with the red marks that signified the activation of his rune. Taking Tenshi in his left arm, he flung his right arm out in a wide arc, releasing forth a swath of white fire. This technique was one of his most difficult, especially when using it so quickly. To get a fire hot enough to turn the flame white was no easy feat. But this flame, known as the White End, was hot enough to burn through anything. Even energy.

 

The makeshift shield flashed and disappeared as quickly as it had come, singeing the hairs on Heatnix’s arm. He looked into Tenshi’s eyes deeply again. He couldn’t help himself. He loved her too much to let this potentially last moment get away. He kissed Tenshi quickly and deeply; she returned the gesture. Feeling the sweat on her cheek, he knew that she had been nervous, probably fearing as much for him as he had for her.

 

(I know I always loved you)

(I know I always loved you)

(I know I always loved you)

 

Breaking the kiss, he spoke to her. “Remember that idea we talked about that we’ve never practiced? I think it’s time to try it.”

 

“But we’ve never tried it before!” she interjected.

 

“I know,” he replied. “That’s why it’s going to work.” She nodded in agreement, and began to summon her power. He did as well.

 

The red markings of the Incendius Totalis rune crept up to his elbow as he fully activated it. A large, blue ball of flame, nearly as big as Heatnix himself, began to form in front of Heatnix’s outstretched hand. As he further pressed his power into it, the ball began to shrink. “Shinsei Atsu: Choushinsei,” Heatnix said. As he spoke the name of the attack, the giant ball compressed all at once into a small ball of intensely hot white flame; a miniature supernova. He nodded to Tenshi to signal that he was ready for her part of the attack.

 

Being the guardian of the Ice Stars, Tenshi, at her peak, has the ability to turn normal stars into stars of ice. In theory, reversing the principle of the star that Heatnix had created would also reverse some of the affects of the attack. She gently placed her hand on Heatnix’s wrist. The immense heat of the miniature star immediately made her palm begin to sweat. She allowed her own power to flow into the attack. Its white, burning structure soon crystallized into a ball of white, radiant ice. Its structure still flickered and flowed in the same way the regular fireball would have, somehow. There was no doubt about it: the attack was as beautiful as it would be deadly.

 

As the two prepared to launch the final attack, Heatnix placed his left hand on Tenshi’s cheek, kissing her once again. He looked down a little as he finally admitted to her, “I love you.”

 

Tenshi blushed and smiled, looking down a bit as well. Heatnix felt his face grow hot for a moment before she returned the sentiment. “I love you too,” she said.

 

Feeling empowered, Heatnix looked at the beast. He knew where the attack had to go. The two rushed around the gargantuan beast, still holding the newly-formed attack between their hands. As predicted, the beast opened its mouth as it sensed movement by its belly, revealing jagged, uneven stone teeth that had destroyed so much in the last month or so. The lovers thrust the miniature ice star into the Hunger Colossus’ gullet, and retreated as quickly as they could. Whereas the attack normally absorbed the surrounding heat, this form of it absorbed all the cold in the area. The ice at the beast’s feet instantly sublimated into water vapor. Streams of airborne frost and ice could be seen making their way to the creature as ice formed over it. A low-pitched rumble escaped from the monstrosity as it cried its last, and spires of ice erupted from its body. As the last bits of cold from the surrounding area left the air, the ground surrounding the colossus caught fire, a fire which burned stronger the longer the attack lasted. It was done. The monster was dead.

 

So I close my eyes

Let the whole thing pass me by

There is no time

To waste asking why

I'll run away with you by my side

I'll run away with you by my side

I need to let go, let go, let go, let go of this pride,

Until this echo, echo, echo, echo in my mind

Until this echo, echo, echo, echo can subside

 

Tenshi embraced Heatnix. He closed his eyes as he wrapped his arms around her shoulders. “I love you so much,” he repeated. “I have for a long time now.”

 

“I know,” she said. Upon further inspection, Heatnix realized she was crying. “I’ve loved you for so long, too.” They embraced each other tighter.

 

“So, even after all this time, you’ll still have me?” he said.

 

“Of course I will. I’m tired of waiting. The battle’s over, isn’t it?” she replied.

 

“It is,” he laughed. “Let’s go home.” The two kissed again. It was the long, passionate kiss of two young people who had just admitted true love to one another. And for the first time in a very long time, Heatnix was completely happy.

Reviews

[TLK]

Aww.