The chains binding Kairo glowed faintly with Dune's ancient powers — meant to drain his power, keeping him a shell of the once-feared Aqua prince.
Glacius carefully examined the runes, his icy fingers tracing the shimmering symbols. "These chains... they're not just elemental suppressors — they're leeching his very life force."
Peggy's wings fluttered with tension. "We need to break them now."
Yuki clung tightly to Kairo, her forehead still pressed gently against his bloodied face. "Please... please..."
Kairo, barely able to keep his head upright, muttered weakly, "You... can't... Dune's power... too strong..."
But Glacius's cold blue eyes narrowed. "There's always a way."
He summoned a spike of ice — not to break the chains directly but to freeze the glowing runes on them. "These chains are alive with magic — so if we freeze the enchantment..."
Peggy caught on immediately. "It might weaken the magic enough for me to shatter them."
Glacius nodded. "Exactly."
The room's temperature plummeted as Glacius focused his power, frost creeping along the chains, dimming the runes' glow.
"Now!" he shouted.
Peggy unleashed a concentrated blast of light beam, striking the frozen chains. With a loud crack, the weakened metal shattered — the runes flickering one last time before dying out.
Kairo slumped forward, and Yuki caught him, holding him even tighter. His breathing was still ragged, but the draining magic was gone.
"...You did it..." Yuki whispered, sobbing softly.
Glacius, still catching his breath, finally stepped closer to Kairo — and that's when it happened.
His eyes locked onto Kairo's bloodied face, and an icy chill ran down his spine. His body tensed. His fingers trembled.
"...It's you," Glacius whispered, his voice hoarse with disbelief.
Kairo, though barely able to keep his eyes open, lifted his gaze and let out a faint, bitter chuckle. "...So, the ice teen... is still alive."
Peggy blinked. "Wait — you know each other?"
Glacius's mind spun back to a time long before this... to his youth.
Years ago, when Glacius and Arson were still teenage rivals — both hungry to prove their dominance over the neutral territories — they had met an Aqua man.
Back then, Glacius and Arson's rivalry had driven them to the brink of obsession. They would compete constantly — conquering neutral villages, testing their strength, seeing who could conquer the most, who could claim the most land.
One day, their ambitions soared too high.
Arson, his fiery spirit uncontainable, had turned to Glacius and said, "If we combine our powers — fire and ice — we can take down something bigger."
Glacius, young and arrogant, had smirked. "Like the Aqua tribe's territory."
Without hesitation, they launched a raid on the outermost villages of the Aqua tribe by sneaking into there underwater territory (which was accessed by stealing a submarine). The first few battles felt too easy — the villagers they fought were weak, untrained. Arson set their homes ablaze, and Glacius froze whatever water they used to douse the flames.
Victory seemed within reach.
Until they went deeper into Aqua territory.
That's when the stronger warriors appeared — fierce, disciplined, and merciless.
Glacius and Arson, overwhelmed, fought back but were quickly overpowered. Within hours, they were surrounded and captured.
Bound and humiliated, they thought it was over — that they'd be executed or imprisoned.
But then, a hooded man emerged from the crowd of Aqua warriors. His voice, calm yet commanding, echoed through the air.
"If you want this land," the man had said, "beat me."
Desperate, Arson and Glacius saw it as their last chance at freedom. They attacked together — ice and fire combining in a destructive dance.
But the hooded man didn't flinch.
He toyed with them — dodging effortlessly, countering every move, never even breaking a sweat. It was as if he wasn't just defeating them — he was teaching them.
Then, with one massive wave of water, he blasted them both across the battlefield, leaving them soaked and trembling in fear.
They thought they were done for.
But instead of imprisonment, the hooded man knelt down and smirked.
"You two," he said. "You have ambition."
Arson, confused yet defiant, growled, "What's it to you?"
The man chuckled and removed his hood — revealing a young Kairo.
At the time, neither Arson nor Glacius knew he was the prince of the Aqua tribe — only that he was strong.
Kairo had said, "I like ambition. Even if you're from opposing tribes, you're not so different from me."
He then revealed his own goal — the most audacious ambition they'd ever heard: to drown the entire planet and claim it for Aqua rule.
It was a dream so massive, so bold, that even Arson and Glacius were stunned into silence.
But Kairo wasn't done. "If you want to conquer anything worthwhile, you need strength — and I could use a few rivals strong enough to make things... interesting."
Instead of punishing them, Kairo offered to train them — not out of kindness, but because he wanted worthy adversaries for the future.
So every day, Arson and Glacius snuck into Aqua territory, hooded, meeting Kairo in a hidden place far from prying eyes.
He was brutal — every mistake was met with a merciless strike. Yet, behind that cold exterior, there was a strange fondness.
They never called him by name.
They only called him Master.
And over time, the strength they gained from Kairo's harsh lessons propelled them to become the feared princes of their respective tribes.
Back in the prison cell, Glacius's voice cracked with a mixture of awe and pain. "You... you were him — the man who trained us... who made us what we are..."
Kairo gave a weak smile. "I wondered... if you'd remember me."
Peggy stared in shock. "Wait — you're saying Kairo trained both of you?"
Glacius nodded slowly, his mind still reeling.
Even in his weakened state, Kairo had that same calm, unyielding presence — the same man who once dreamed of drowning the world, now chained and broken.
Yuki, still holding him, whispered softly, "He's more than that... he's kind..."
Glacius didn't respond. His heart was too tangled in the memories of the Aqua prince who had once been his master.
And now, Kairo was the one who needed saving.
The air in the prison cell hung heavy — a suffocating silence following Glacius's revelation. Kairo, barely able to lift his head, let out a ragged breath. Yuki kept her arms wrapped around him, as though her fragile frame could shield him from every pain he had endured.
Peggy's wings quivered with a mix of disbelief and urgency. "We don't have time to stand here in shock — Dune could find us any second."
Glacius shook himself out of the haze of memories. His face, usually cold and composed, was a storm of conflicted emotions. "You're right. We need to move."
But Kairo weakly rasped, "Leave me."
Yuki's grip tightened around him. "No!"
Kairo's dull blue eyes flickered with a painful mix of resignation and sorrow. "I'm slowing you down. If Dune catches us, you'll all be thrown into chains."
Glacius clenched his fists. "We didn't come all the way here to abandon you."
Peggy stepped forward, her voice firm but compassionate. "You didn't give up on Arson and Glacius when they were just reckless teens. We won't give up on you either."
Kairo's lips parted slightly, his pride warring with his despair.
Yuki pressed her hand gently to his heart. "Please... let me protect you for once."
Kairo's breath hitched.
For years, he had been the untouchable prince — a force of nature that others feared. But now, with Yuki's soft hand over his heart, all he could feel was the unfamiliar warmth of someone who truly cared for him not as a conqueror, but as a man.
Glacius, ever the strategist, swiftly turned to the others. "We need a way out. The problem is, Dune has the entire fortress sealed off. The only way back up is the route we came from."
Peggy's mind raced. "Is there a hidden route?"
Kairo's voice, hoarse but steady, said, "There's an underground way... but it's heavily guarded. It leads to a hidden exit outside the fortress."
Glacius's eyes gleamed. "That's our way out."
Peggy nodded.
Kairo said. "I... I trust you."
Yuki smiled faintly. "I trust you too."
The plan was set.
_ _ _
Kairo, weak but leaning on Yuki for support, now moved with the group toward the underground way entrance. Each step sent a sharp pain through his body, but Yuki never once let go of him.
As they approached the tunnel, the distant sound of clashing powers echoed through the fortress — Sylvia and Arson still battling Dune, keeping him away from the prison.
The clock was ticking.
Yuki took a deep breath. "Let's end this."
And with that, they stepped forward.