Cassius came out of his cloud of anger. The targets were nothing but burnt pieces of wood and his pent of energy faded away. He felt relaxed, almost as if he were ready to go for more.
This was what he'd needed. Even if this wasn't Iza's way of calling him before shit hit the fan, he was okay with it. He wouldn't say he felt something was off, but there was a different feeling to this training session.
The magic in the air—what was left of it anyway—was stronger, crisper than the magic he was used to. This might have been the effects of a new magical current, but it was never like this before.
He wondered if Felix could sense it. The magic was pulling him toward it though it wasn't as strong as it could be.
The magic felt dangerous. Yet, he couldn't decide if he should be afraid or worried. It just felt like it was bringing trouble.
It confused the hell out of him.
Cassius flexed his hand, gazing down the path of the burned targets. The magic had been stronger than he realized. He had his anger to blame for that. The frustration and the humiliation paired with one another had set off a bomb inside him. It was more concerning than losing control.
With the Dissipator, his energy shouldn't have been this strong. It shouldn't have replenished so fast either. Usually when he was on a mission he could bounce back after setting off a blast like that with no problem. But when the Dissipator was doing its job, he had to wait almost minutes before he could strike again. That was if he was using a less considerable amount of magic. The Dissipater blocked most of his magic. That was its job.
How was he going to hide the fact it wasn't working?
He knew he wouldn't be able to keep the secret hidden for long. However he managed, he would try until the end, just to save himself time. It could be in the next hour or days down the line. He was prepared for the questions and the consequences that would follow. All he needed to do right now was keep a low profile. But he obviously wasn't doing that.
The targets conveyed that more than anything else.
Felix was watching him from the corner of the yard. He saw everything and yet he hasn't said a word. Cassius can't tell if he's ignoring the chaos or if he knows more than Cassius does. The silence he hadn't expected was nagging at him like an itchy scab. He wanted to know everything, but he knew better than to open his mouth. When things boiled down to it, keeping his mouth shut was his best option. Even if it was difficult at times.
There was this unsettling feeling of being left out. It seemed like there was something he should know or should have noticed when he walked in. Felix was calm and even after he took out his rage, Cassius was still thrumming with power. It should have concerned Felix. It was his job to know when Cassius was getting worked up and might destroy something.
But he was just standing there.
Cassius thought about hurling a shot at him just to get a reaction. Maybe then Felix would pay attention.
He dug within himself. He sought out the steady pulse of his magic beneath his flesh and blood. The stream, interlocked with him sense his birth and the beginning of his consciousness, understood what he wanted without being told. It seemed sometimes that it knew what he wanted and needed before he did.
It touched the Veil. The thin wall welcomed him. It was a struggle sometimes when the Dissipator was active. Like a shield, it forbade him access to the one thing that kept him sane. The Veil's distance magic touch almost took his breath away. The feeling had never dulled over time. No matter how many times he entered the Veil, it felt the same. Like home.
But he stood on the outside of the thin wall.
He wasn't entering nor was he gathering information. It was all to feel the comforting touch. Gathering warmth and trying to steady his running thoughts.
The Veil wasn't a being and neither was the Third Eye. He didn't know what they were as no one did. The Veil and the Third Eye were just two sources they could all feel. Like sunlight and water.
The Third Eye was a step ahead of the Veil in many ways though. The Veil was simply a product of the Third Eye. A reflection maybe, though Cassius wasn't sure how he couldn't describe it to anyone. Exterus and Mekiah alike could enter the Veil, but only Mekiah could withstand the magic for so long.
And Cassius was the only being that could do more than feel the Third Eye.
He could communicate with it.
It was just another confusing thing he didn't understand.
And beyond his own puzzlement, Xtavia and the modern world still had their superstitions. It was the main reason why the Mekiah were enslaved. Cassius didn't believe most of the crap his fellow cadets had ranted on about. Most of it was make him scared of them—not that it didn't work.
There were myths about demons and how the Mekiah had descended from them. He saw the resemblance in paintings and statues, but he also saw how similar he looked to the Remu and the Exteru. For all he knew, they could all be from the same ancestor. From one powerful being that had existed before them.
Neither the Remu or the Exteru would want to hear that. They wouldn't let anything disturb their normality, no matter if it was the truth.
The Veil opened. He waded thought the dark space, submerging himself in the silence, basking in the pulsating energy. They never described this feeling to him when he was in the HIVE. When he was with his mother and his many siblings, he never felt the electric connection he felt when he was connected to the Veil or the Third Eye.
It was like they didn't know there was supposed to be emotions or feeling behind the power. Magic made things easier. While it was mostly used in destruction, just having it flowing in his body healed him.
The Exterus didn't care. The Remu didn't either, but the only Remu Cassius really knew was Iza.
The man hardly liked anything at all.
Cassius opened his eyes. They focused on the burnt targets. He fed his magic toward them with a gentle hand. The target's red paint returned to its cherry red and the white inner rings were no longer tainted with black burn marks. The ash drifted from the grass, pressing back into the circler shape that was one of the targets.
What was once destroyed was brand new.
He let out a sigh. Relief fell over him in a soft wave, leaving him fulfilled and accomplished. The side affect of using his magic without destroying something was addicting. Seeing his success gave him energy, but he had to hold back. If he really unleashed his magic, they would know.
But the certain risk made him more excited.
Felix was watching him. Cassius had to urge to turn around and meet Felix's eyes. He shook his head.
The moment wasn't right and his magic was burning in his veins. He could feel it getting out of control and if he confronted Felix he might not be able to hold it back.
The Exteru wouldn't have a problem beating him to a pulp if he acted out. It would be Felix's pleasure.
He doesn't look. He doesn't give in to his hot-head-self. His magic is all too ready to start a fight. He would have to be content with the damage he'd done to the targets.
And he's fine with the quiet haze and the fullness inside him. Felix probably expects more. Though Cassius could give him a show, he doesn't care enough to exhaust himself further.
Fuck Felix.
He turned on his heels to head back inside when he felt it.
It was a slight pressure on the back of his head. He reached up, touching the spot, but there was nothing.
The feeling increased and he recognized it as more of a tickling feeling inside his head. Like he was trying to remember something and it wasn't quite in his grasp.
Cassius furrowed his brows.
The alien touch sent a shockwave down his spine. His body jittered at the sensation. He wanted to scratch and itch, but he couldn't.
He didn't know where it was. It was just there.
The feeling threw him. It hit him like a brick. He stumbled, catching himself at the last second. He stood there, fumbling to understand what exactly he was feeling. A headache formed at his temples, pulsing like an open sore.
There was someone here.
That was what he couldn't place. Foreign magic. It was distance but getting closer. It resembled an Exterus, but it was different in a way Cassius couldn't place. It was hard to tell when it was this close. The new open vein of magic blocked out his own and forced its way onto him.
Felix noticed it.
His stiffened and scrunched his nose. "Fucking hell."
Cassius knows what Felix is thinking. Whoever is blasting them with their magic knows the effects. They know what they're doing. It was an obnoxious way to greet others and to know someone had arrived.
A blatant show of dominance.
Felix was seething by the time the wave of magic passed over. He gave Cassius a look. "Don't leave the training area."
He turned and headed back inside the building.
The magic was still there, but it's a faint beat. Cassius suspects it's an Exteru come from the Capital or a visitor from the lands beyond Xtavia.
His stomach aches at the prospect of seeing a new face. The last person he'd met was Katson and that didn't turn out so great.
He wasn't expecting this.
There are worse things that could happen on short notice. He shouldn't worry about it unless it directly involves him.
Which…
He turned to face the targets once more. He pinched his bottom lip between his thumb and pointer finger.
This could be about their last mission. Iza had to turn in the reports. Could it be possible that they had already received them? It seemed impossible that the Capital had already reviewed it. How was it that someone was already here?
If this was about the case, were they going to ask him about the Veil? Would they suspect something had gone on with the demon?
It was hard to not think about it once he started. If they found out he was hiding information, he'd be a goner.
He could kiss his chances of escape goodbye if that happened.
He looked at the entrance and closed his eyes. It was a risky move to connect with the Third Eye. Even more so when there was a more powerful presence so close by.
But he had to know who this person was. And if they were here for him. It would only take a quick second to connect and scour the Eye for the information he needed.
Through the hazy darkness, he stretched out his mind and magic, offering his thoughts and feelings. The exchange was quick and uneasy on his stomach. He was thrown around in a palace of sharp needles, jolted with every turn. The Eye scraped him hallow before it let him access its large expanse of knowledge.
He felt for the magic by the visitor. It didn't take long since it was still wrapped up around him. He grasped onto it. His stomach did a little flip.
He furrowed his brows at the curious reaction. He shook his head and yanked the information out of the Third Eye and through the Veil.
He was standing in the exact spot he'd been when he entered the Eye.
And there it was. On the edge of his thoughts.
General Mica Rexton.
Cassius knew his name, age, status, and his relation to the Capital. But there was something that made Cassius's skin crawl.
In between all the information, there was a large gaping hole. A blank space among the facts like the Eye had been stamped with a cookie-cutter. There'd been someone here.
Inside the Third Eye.
A feeling of doom looms.
Dread falls over him and he has a feeling he's going to find out why soon.
General Rexton must be the source of the giant hole in the Third Eye. He's definitely behind the toxic power spreading through the base. It's like breathing in pure alcohol. Dousing the place in his scent not only let Cassius find him quickly, but it all warned Cassius about Rexton's visitation. He didn't know much since half of Rexton's existence had been wiped clean from the Third Eye.
But he could make do with what he now knew.
Rexton was confident and probably had an alpha personality.
He'll fit right in.
Cassius laughed darkly under his breath.
Iza and Rexton would chew each other's faces off. It would be a miracle if either of them made it out alive when they met.
The problem though was that Cassius couldn't be absolutely sure Rexton was able to enter the Third Eye like him. It was unheard of that he knew of.
Cassius walked along the walls of the training yard. He felt for the magic and followed the trail left behind. It wasn't as strong, but it was the strongest at the moment. Everything else were mere spots of energy while Rexton's magic was a river drowning the entire base.
Cassius could barely breathe through the thick layers of magic being pushed out. It seeped through the walls and polluted the air.
It was fading in and out now. Cassis could barely feel it and he wasn't sure why it had changed. Once moment it was suffocating and the next it was a ghosting breath.
He was fine with that. He wasn't going to complain though it made him very curious.
General Rexton seemed more than just a mystery.
He felt dangerous.
And it wasn't a thing Cassius could just feel from magic. This was a feeling that was beyond what he could feel and sense. The fact that pieces were missing from Rexton's history in the Third Eye made it obvious there was something troubling about the man.
Yet, all that combined didn't give Cassius a reason to be so invested in figuring out this small mystery.
It was his damned curiosity that was making it hard for him to drop the subject all together.
He stretch out his magic once more, building up for another attack on the defenseless targets, when he felt the air ripple.
He knew who it was. It wasn't hard to guess.
The moment General Rexton entered the training yard, Cassius could feel it. Electric fire shot through him and his remaining connection to the Third Eye blitzed out.
Cassius froze where he stood. He faced the far wall. Quickly, he drew up his magic to do some fire tricks for when they walked in.
Cassius couldn't ignore the filthy magic curling around him like flames. He tried to fight back against the wandering strands. It wasn't easy. Each time he thought he'd escaped Rexton's touch, it was back again, stronger and prepared.
It was worse when Rexton finally stepped inside.
The magic ran back to its source, sucked up in a vacuum Cassius could feel.
Rexton walked in with his head held high. His wavy brown hair was swept back from his face. It was a few shades darker then his golden tan skin. His matching dark brown eyes surveyed the training yard with a flicker.
It was obvious without the Third Eye's help that this was the man behind the suffocating and strong magic.
Cassis looked at him and saw it all. It was radiating off him, blinding but addicting. If there was one thing he could compare Rexton to, it would be the sun itself.
But he couldn't stand it.
He recoiled inward. He couldn't even think about what it would be like to touch Rexton. He was sickened by the magic's residue, as if it were clinging to his skin.
There was power and uncertainty when it came to that much magic inside someone—even more when it was a Remu—and it was something Cassius didn't want to be bothered with.
Iza was looking at him. Cassius didn't move an inch.
He was to greet them like the perfectly disciplined Mekiah. He wanted to ignore the look, pretend he was blind to the world and the stranger standing with his general. It would be his fault when he was punished.
He wasn't going to do it, no matter how much he wanted to lash out.
He'd promised himself he would be good, to play the part that had been beaten into him. That had been the plan.
He kept his back to them. Their voices, soft low words, cut off after a clipped sentence. The training yard fell back to its usual silence.
The white noise melted into Cassius's thoughts.
Cassius ran through boring exercises that gave his magic barely any room to stretch. He drew up balls of fire and cast them into the air. He blew them out with a gust of wind.
He played and played.
All the while, he pissed off the men who were holding his life in the palm of their hands.
It was a small taste of bravery, one he knew he would have to pay for in the future.