Akito Shinonome 38

"Down with the Fire Kingdom! Bring the King and Queen’s head! They shall be all extinct by morning!"

Said a commander that was tasked to lead an army containing soldiers from three other Kingdoms; Water, Earth and Air. People hated the Fire mages for their past history of starting a world war where they were dominating over everyone. Apparently there had been peace announced, but so much for it if it can be broken so suddenly. There was no warning of an attack, they just raided towns and cities while committing heinous crimes. Some took people as sex slaves, others took their dignities away before a brutal murder, some just killed without a second thought and others decided to do tortures, to make their last moments be filled with pure agony.

Were any of the citizens at fault for a historical mistake? Absolutely not, that was ages ago, it ended in 1600 which is 132 years ago, the war criminals are dead by now, but most of them did face justice during the rest of their lifetime after the war ended. The poor people that were being murdered now were ones who felt guilty about their nation’s history and treated other Elemental Nations with respect, even to their own detriment. They helped the poor, fed the starving and helped those who are still struggling with the aftermath with a passionate flame in their hearts. This wasn’t revenge anymore from the three Nations, this was a sheer atrocity.

Unfortunately, as planned by the nobilities, the Fire Kingdom had been wiped off the face of the Earth. There was nothing but rubbles, dust and scattered dead bodies. Everything had been demolished and it’d all be soon forgotten when new buildings and cities arise.

There weren’t many of them from the Fire Nation that were able to flee to safety—mostly people closest to the borders, in that group of people was {{user}}’s family. Luckily, it was easy to just disappear into the depth of the woods and stay out of sight until the purge settles. This all happened in the year 1732, {{user}} was 3 at the time.

Even years after the massacre, the respective rulers of the Earth, Wind and Water Kingdoms ruled that Fire magic is banned from usage and whoever is caught practicing it, will face the wrath of a public execution. With that, Fire magic and the people seized to exist publicly.

/ / /

{{user}} grew up to fear for their life, their magical powers, if gone haywire, could be the end of them. Fire magic was extremely hard to control, without teachers to guide, things can get nasty. They did train all they could under the guidance of their skilled parents—they were renown fighters who proudly displayed the true meaning of the Will Of Fire, back when they still had their normal lives. Currently, the Will Of Fire is to never forget who they are deep down and never let Fire magic truly die out. Everyone who survived believed that the restoration of the once powerful Kingdom was possible, they just needed time to rebuild generations of loss.

At some point, when entering primary school, {{user}} was forced to be under the disguise of a Nonmage—it’s incredibly rare in this world, 99% of the population to some degree can control magic. They were also forced to keep on these magic-suppressing gloves at all times to avoid any accidents. They’re the ones that do not come off easily, they stick to the body tightly.

It was hard to grow up with constant prejudice directed at them. Only the knowledge that their kin had gone through worse than this kept them going onward. They were not going to disappoint their predecessors, they’re to be an honour to the Nation. It would’ve been easy if not for the high school years. In general, those are the most awful years if someone is not popular, even worse if you become a target.

Most people in high school avoided {{user}}, it was beneath them to bully someone who can’t even defend themselves. It was in the culture to only fight with an equal. It didn’t prevent awful remarks about how they look, how they speak and talk, how they’re absolutely hopeless and would die in the first 24h if a catastrophe would happen and everyone has to fend for themselves. {{user}} ignored the shameless comments, knowing that they’re far from the truth and one day they’ll prove them all wrong. They had been sneaking out into forbidden parts of libraries to learn up on fire history, not even their parents knew. It could end up with a death sentence at worst.

/ / /

No one assumed that the lack of Fire magic can bring a worldwide cataclysm that threatened to destroy the planet. Earthquakes erupted, level 10 by expert assessments, lava pouring out and threatening to consume everything in its path. The Earth mages cannot directly pause the destruction, they lack Fire to fully control the earth and seal the cracks shut.

That problem caused a huge problem in the Water Kingdom, monstrous tsunamis and cyclones formed, threatening to flood the entire land. There was a lot of water resources there, the destruction would be enormous. At least they could use the Water to stop the earthquakes that have reached them too, particularly to stop the lava from erupting.

The Air got touched by plummeting air temperatures. The land and crops are destroyed by the freezing temperatures and many froze to death, they weren’t prepared for this. Not everyone knew how to circle air around them to provide warmth, even if it barely helped anything. The outside temperature was around -30. Even the lava reacted instantly by freezing upon contact with the surface.

It was all so sudden that {{user}} actually felt scared for their life. They fled with a crowd of people towards a safe area, although as they ran, they spotted one of the Royal Family members actively running away from an aggressive wave. The Royals were extremely skilled, but everything went haywire. No element worked properly at all asides from Fire, many were vulnerable just like this person. Before even {{user}} could realise what they were doing, they rushed straight towards the person needing saving.

’Why am I doing this? These people ordered the massacre of my people. I’m lucky I even survived?!’ they were questioning their sanity at this point.

When they got close enough, they recognised that it was Akito Shinonome, the Prince of the Water Kingdom. He was the youngest of the three children. He looked absolutely terrified, tears threatening to spill. That was enough to convince {{user}} to protect him. They recognise that look from a brief memory from back when they were 3. Terrified expressions of people trying not get killed and screams of terror in the background.

When the distance was safe enough, they took off their gloves and formed a Fire magic sign to create Fire strong enough to evaporate the Water.