The wrinkled fabric at the touch of his skin, the bustling students talking in a gibberish just out of earshot, the bleak ceiling above illuminated by an orange hue---every external stimuli Colin was subjected to felt like an accumulating, oppressive weight pushed against his brain.
Colin was exhausted, forced by the compulsion of revenge to shoot himself in the foot with a shotgun to find the man responsible for that fateful day.
His slighted smile, religiously obscure robes, impossibly traceless steps---the man who had killed Colin's most authentic connection to the peace he had always dreamed of was undoubtedly a high priest of the academy's most recent threat . . .
" . . . those Bastards of Blasphemy," Colin spoke in a groan, clutching a small batch of flower petals found at the crime scene.
Without a single desire to so much as take a breather, Colin felt like it was penance to forever pry his eyelids open for the sin of inaction he had committed in spite of every forewarning he had gotten with his 'sixth sense.'
Knock knock.
A gentle rapping of knuckle rang out from Colin's front door, stabbing another pin-like pain through his head as he begrudgingly dragged himself out of his bed.
"Colin? Are ya in there? I brought some breakfast from the cafeteria, if you could let me in."
Wobbly from his sleepless nights, Colin forced his feet to walk to the door and unlocked the latch that came with it, pushing the handle down and pulling it back to reveal Akayuki's concerned face.
" . . . good morning, Yuki. I can take the plate from here." Colin spoke with a raspy voice, reaching for the plate of food before Akayuki pulled it from his reach.
"Bloodshot eyes, Colin? Eye bags, too. You've been abusing your Super, haven't you? Colin, you can't keep doing this; you'll cripple yourself of your Super if you continue."
Supers, considering how everyone might not come to the same conclusion interpreting the mystical properties of Waves and Wave Resonance, are simply the relabeled term for Manifestation abilities.
Although there are minute differences from how an average Manifestor operates in comparison to an average Super due to the nature of how Waves manifest in response to the user, they essentially still operate under the same premise of having abilities that work under specific qualities and conditions.
"I'm . . . fine. Just take it as training."
"It's not fine, Colin. If your Super mentally taxes you at a passive degree, you're going to be robbed of your eyesight actively trying to use it. Your 'omnidirectional viewing' doesn't mean anything if you don't have the mind to assimilate the information being gathered. Please Colin, listen to me; you have to move on. We . . . "
Akayuki stiffened as though hesitant in the content of her words.
" . . . have work to do."
"Work . . . ? Haha, work? Are you fucking with me? Work!?" Colin yelled as he felt his mind nearing his breaking point, "So fucking sorry if I can't get over my friend's fucking death in a day or two to haul my ass fighting junkies, Yuki! So what if that bastard's apart of the cult? I want the fucker himself! And pray tell, Yuki, what else am I using this fucking Super for if the thing I want is fucking dead?!"
Akayuki quickly tried to stick her foot into the doorway before Colin could close it and said, "Okay, so maybe that wasn't the right choice of---!"
"You think?! Fuck off, Yuki; go play hero for all the sunshine and glitter that you can make out to be." Colin spoke as he kicked at Yuki's leg, shutting the door and locking it shut once there was nothing obstructing it.
" . . . "
As the slam reverberated down the long hallway, Akayuki could only stand in the silence she felt was so much worse than the words hurled at her; though, maybe it was better that way.
[Miss Akayuki, if you could kindly give a report on Colin Desidia's physical and mental state.] An electronic voice spoke out from Akayuki's earpiece.
"He won't be able to participate in upcoming missions."
[That won't be acceptable, Miss Akayuki. Colin Desidia's reconnaissance skills are crucial for the survival of countless Supers in the upcoming raid. May I propose a day or two of mourning before trying again?]
Akayuki lowered herself down and hugged her knees, "Just . . . leave the guy alone. He just lost his childhood friend; how could you ask him for anything more? It's like you don't even care."
[Miss Akayuki, I'm just doing my job. Taking into account how I barely even know the guy, how can you expect me to share any sympathy? We live in this whole game-like facade of---]
Thud!
[---heroism when we're looking at real casualties right before our eyes! Hm? Miss Akayuki? Are you listening?]
"Shut up for a minute; Colin? Are you alright in there?"
[Excuse me? What the hell did you just---]
Akayuki took out her earpiece and tossed it to the side, knocking at Colin's door as she repeated his name a couple more times.
"Colin? Hey, Colin? If you don't respond, I'll be forced to enter your dorm room!" Akayuki spoke in an increasingly worried tone, pushing her ear against the door to ear for any signs.
Once realizing something was clearly off, Akayuki didn't hesitate to use her Super to shift through the door and stare at the limp body on the floor . . .
. . . it was Colin, clearly, and both of his eyes had popped into pulps of red as chains of red lighting were crackling outside his skull.
___________________________________________________________________________________
Theo felt a soft and crumbly sensation beneath his body; the smell of fresh soil giving him the mental image that he was laying on a fresh patch of Earth.
But no, of course not.
Although the sight that first met Theo's eyes were colorful flowers that seemed like it could soothe the souls of exploded bodies, the gray ceiling beyond that ruined any kind of conception that where he was now was definitely not the outside.
"Hey bud! Welcome back alive; how was your second rebirth? A Lily Torch-y, was it? Haha!" Dr. Sunshine's cheery voice rang out from the side, giggling like a little girl.
Theo, in response to his voice, turned his head towards Dr. Sunshine and saw a fiery flame envelop the plant stems around him, " . . . the hell? Am I on fire?"
"Oh, yes, of course! Nothing too worrisome, just an over abundance of Faith is running crazy through your body right now. In fact, it's something we should celebrate! Haha! Alex has a good eye for talents like you in the field! I could count the amount of people who had awakened their second Manifestation with my eye! Wait, I only got one eye! Haha!"
Feeling his cheeks grow rosy red from the compliment, Theo only chuckled along with the cheery doctor as he scribbled some lines on a notepad he kept at his desk.
"Anyhow, sorry to disappoint, but I can't exactly let you go at the moment. It won't exactly be a long process, just some check ups and standard procedures, but just long enough that I'm gonna have to hope my good ol' self doesn't bore you in the process. How much do you know about flowers, Theo? More so, the language of flowers?"
"I, uh, don't quite think I know much about flowers. I mean, I might've been read some fairytales about flowers with my mom, but no where near enough to boast about."
"No matter! Always jolly to help a growing bud!" Dr. Sunshine gleamed, happy at the opportunity to teach Theo about his expertise as he walked to the side of his flowerbed. "Lookie here, this one's a White Poppy, that one's a Chrysanthemum, here's a lotus flower, and this over here is my favorite flower! The Myosotis!"
Theo spoke with a puzzled look, "The Myosotis? Not the Sunflower?"
"Stereotyping a flower's likes and dislikes now, are we? You don't go saying 'I love humans!' to some man asking you what your favorite animal is, do you? But yeah, I understand the misconception. In fact, I don't regard Sunflowers to be all that high in my favorites list. Maybe it's their generic reputation, I don't know, but I definitely find the Myosotis flower to be a lot more alluring to me as a person. I guess it's just what they represent in life."
"Would you date a Myosotis flower, then? I mean, if there's Sunflower doctors, there's gotta be other humanoid flowers, right?"
Dr. Sunshine winced at the sudden reminiscence of his past memories, "Ooo, I think I'm far done with romance for a long while. Tried dating a rose once, but they got too thorny for my to keep the relationship, ya know?"
The flower pun missed Theo by a long mile
"Haha, maybe another day I'll get people to appreciated my flower jokes. Anyhow, you're good to go now. Alex wants to see you upstairs to meet the new recruit."
"Huh? I barely saw you do anything! And plus, what new recruit? Wait, no, the note said it all, but who is it?"
Dr. Sunshine spoke with an exaggerated tone, "It'll take you a thousand more years to learn of my ways, boy! But as for the latter, that's a surprise! How impatient could you possibly be to be unable to wait a couple more moments?"
"Damn bro, alright."
"Haha, just pulling your petals, man! So get off your bloom and go greet your new junior---!" Dr. Sunshine yelled as he kicked Theo out the infirmary.
Actively trying to avoid gazing down the infinitely complex basement maze just to his right, Theo swiftly moved to the staircase leading upwards into the church. He punched in the easily memorable password into the pad and pushed down on the handle to reveal that the chilly winds of winter were still active after Theo's mission.
Thus, noticing a deserted jacket that hung on the church pew, Theo held no shame in committing to a 'finders-keepers' policy and donned on his new jacket; it would be returned later, so who cared?
"Ahh, Theo, I see that your fiery Faith hasn't quite dispelled the winter cold, has it?" Alex's voice rang out from the side, prompting Theo to look towards the source and finding two grown men playing the Nintendo switch on the pedestal used for preaches.
"C'mon man, go easy on me! I don't remember shit on how to play Mario Kart!"
"Vint? You're the new recruit?"
"Hah? Why wouldn't I be? You thought Luna was gonna haul her ass to over here to play Mario Kart with you buggers? She's a busy girl, alright!"
"So what does that make you?"
"A man who hauled his ass over here to play Mario Kart, obviously. What the hell else can you get from that?" Vint harshly responded, focusing so hard on winning the game in front of him that he had forgot any sort of manners he had learned growing up.
And so, in place of Vint doing the explaining himself, Alex took charge to inform Theo while looking away from the game he was still first place in, "Yes, Vint's our newest recruit; he'll be joining us as a permanent member of this church for future missions. I hope you can display patience with him, however, as it's only recent that he's been getting his memories back."
"Memories? The hell? Vint, you have dementia?"
"Yes! YES! No, wait---! Fuck! I literally just had---! Oh, whatever. What were you saying, Theo? The dementia thing? No, I don't have dementia, just three lifetimes' worth of reincarnation blowing my brains to bits as I try to sweep them together with a bristeless broom and nonexistent sweeping pan. Boy oh boy do I got a story to tell you both."
"Oh, right, where's Carmina? I thought I'd hear a flood of obscenities coming up the stairs. Wait, no, what happened after I died?"
After seeing himself get the last place screen, Vint set down his controller and properly made eye contact with Theo, "I don't know when you died, but after the lab exploded, we returned humanity back to the lifeless cities of The State and became famous worldwide all over, solving every problem there is to consider along the way."
"That . . . sounds hard to believe."
"The hell you mean by that? You want every fairytale with a happy ending told in detail how they screwed each other till daisies and brain rot?"
"No, like, time wise, that sounds impossible, even with time dilation. I could wrap my head around 'returning humanity back to The State' but definitely not going worldwide and solving things like world hunger."
" . . . okay, damn, can't you let a man boast about his accomplishments? Makes me feel like an ass for leaving Luna to deal with all the future prospects of humanity over there."
"Oh, sorry."
"Bwahhh, don't mind it. Something she consented to, anyways. Hell, maybe we'll go on and check up on her in the future! Bring back some souvenirs, too. You think I should get her a toy from Toys-R-Us? Haha! Maybe a Barbie doll?" Vint joyfully made fun at Luna, ignorant to the passage of time.
" . . . "
"What? Why are you looking me like that?"
___________________________________________________________________________________
Having left Vint to cry over the cruelty of time by himself in favor of finding somewhere more quieter, Alex gestured Theo over to leave through the backdoor with him.
Naturally, it led to the church's backyard, and as the church's backyard, it also invoked the same feeling of a decrepit, forgotten monument of time. Well, it would have if it weren't for the church's location being in the middle of a city, to in which fast food workers could be seen throwing out corporate slop.
It was a semi-vast plot of dry grass just barely coated in snow; enough for the fantastical feeling of winter but not so much to cushion a face plant into the ground. Vegetation was lacking, aside from the occasional pine tree, and there were chain fences surrounding the perimeter of the backyard. Other than those few little details here and there, there wasn't much else to describe the church's backyard.
"So, why'd ya pull me out here?"
Alex stopped in his tracks and judged that the distance they've walked was far enough from the public eye, then said, "To train your capabilities as a Manifestor, of course. You think I took you out here because Vint was crying too loud? I just don't want to cough up anymore money than I need to repair my church, especially with your thematics with fire."
" . . . I don't need to consult with Jared to find out what my Faith does, do I?"
"Haha, of course not~! We're not in the basement, are we?" Alex spoke jokingly spoke as he puked a neck strap with Jared's name tag on it, "Anyways, Jared, would you mind assisting your junior in the basics of Manifestation?"
"Dude, what?"
Having just watched a man talk to his magical regurgitations as though he expected it to talk back, Theo was understandably left confused. But knowing of the possible shenanigans Manifestation can conjure out of nowhere, Theo was left half-anticipating the magical summoning of two eyes floating in the air.
But there was no black magic summoning or Jared to be found anywhere, leaving just a mad priest and his student to stand in befuddlement, as much as it was a relief for Theo.
Then, scratching his head and letting out a sigh, Alex crouched down to the neck strap and closely whispered to its name tag, " . . . psst, Jared, I'll give you a couple hundred of authentic souls."
No response.
" . . . I'll let you order some furbishment for your hallway if you help out your junior here."
[HoHO! Why didn't you say so in the first place, sir?]
From the circle of the neck strap that you were suppose to put around your neck came a screen of black as though it had just opened a portal to another world; a pair of eyes opening their eyelids to the snowing world that was reality.
"What took you so long? You know I don't ask you for anything extra without compensation. Almost made Theo call the cops to try to stuff me into an insane asylum, man."
Jared's voice boomed from the neck strap, [I was busy with my eye drops, sir. As the only tangible thing I quite so very have left, it is in my preference to take care of them. It was only when I heard the potential for cosmetics that I arrived so heartedly!"
"Why does he sound so much more different than from the last time I heard from him?"
Removing any real scare from himself as an eldritch being incapable of being understood, Jared didn't care for any stereotypes set upon him. He was an eldritch being free to be and do as he pleased; such was the freedom of choice.
"You just caught him in a bad mood the last time you saw him, that's all. Mood swings here and there, sure, but you can trust him to be friendlier than Dr. Sunshine if he's in a good mood."
[What did you ask of me, sir? I heard it had to do with Theo?]
"I would hope that you could teach him a couple tips and tricks about Manifestation; you tend to have a bigger expertise in such things, after all."
[Has he been taught anything about Wave control?]
"I was hoping that you could teach him a bit on that, too."
[I'm going to at least need to expect a hundred-dollar shopping spree for something as tedious as this . . . is it too much to ask for infinitely customizable doorframes instead?] Jared nervously asked as he made a bizarre attempt at puppy eyes.
"From who? The Pillar of Art? You might as well toss my wallet into an inferno."
[I guess that was too---]
"But~! If you do a reeaallly good job at teaching Theo, I might pull some connections here and there to get you what you want." Alex spoke with his iconically slighted smile, taking out a chunk of human flesh from his back pocket and dropping it onto Jared's face.
[I see . . . rough makes practical, does it? Huihui!]
A gleam of light sparkling up in his eyes like never before, Jared squealed in excitement as he stuffed his intangibly dark mass into the piece of flesh and began to terrifyingly expand on it.
It was already bad enough to see Alex pull out a chunk of human flesh---to in which Theo was too afraid to even discern it as human flesh---but the way Jared expanded on it to create a human form was simply nightmare fuel. It was as though he had trapped himself inside a bag and was pushing against its material, with each push-back permanently shaping that bag of flesh before Jared pushed outward yet more, expanding the piece of flesh until it reached the form of a black humanoid.
[Huiighhh . . . ! Ahh, haven't felt myself in the flesh in a looooong time! Though, it's still a long ways to go to make my own. C'mon, Theo, show me whatcha got!] Jared enthusiastically spoke as he awkwardly stretched in his newfound body and balled up his fists, moving as though an alien were to pilot a human body.
"I'm . . . suppose to fight you?" Theo spoke as he scratched his head, not quite sold that there would be any real difficulty or threat trying to face Jared. "Sorry, but I really don't think you're in a state where you can even throw some hands."
Jared took a misstep and fell down, [No need to worry, just give me your best shot!]
Patiently waiting for him to regain his ground, Theo simply walked up to the wobbly Jared and pushed him back onto the ground.
"Alright, alright! Let's set some ground rules! Since we want to strictly understand and utilize your Faith, Theo, using your ID as a weapon is forbidden. As for Jared, can I expect responsible use of your Mind ability?"
[Yes sir!]
"Good, now start!" Alex yelled as though to infuse Theo with the spirit of battle, but it wasn't much use considering his opponent is a fish-flopping black humanoid. "Are you gonna go?"
"Huh? What, you want me to kick him or something? Alex, I'm telling you, no amount of wordplay is going to ever make this seem like a worthwhile fight. Hell, I know every 'I've underestimated you!' cliche and this stuff ain't it. But, if I gotta . . . "
Theo, in conflict of what he should to a man already down, even if it was some unfathomable being of destruction, could barely bring himself to approach Jared without casting a look of judgment on the guy. If Jared had been acting every malformed twitch or hapless misstep, then he would've been rewarded with an Oscars long ago.
'Oh my God, that's dramatic irony, isn't it?'
[Lesson one of being a Manifestor . . . ]
'How the hell did I fall for this shit?!' Theo urgently thought to himself, embarrassingly finding himself in a cliche he's seen recited a thousand times over.
[ . . . is to never let your guard down unless your opponent is really, really disabled! Cause that'd be screwed up!]
Before Theo could understand what fish-flopping alien had said in terms of Manifestation, though beating up disabled people was already a no-go in his head, Jared twisted his body like it was foregone of joints and kicked Theo square in the stomach.
"AUuughhhh . . . oooowwwww! Ssshhhhhhhnitzel!"
[Haha, who's that? Just say shit if you're gonna curse.]
Alex spoke up as he amusingly watched the groaning Theo writhe on the snowy floor, "Jared, that's a bad influence on your juniors, don't you think?"
[O-OH! You're right, sir! Keep up those goodie two-shoes, Theo! Like you shine 'em everyday!]
Theo felt no better than a polar bear who had lost his wife to cancer, as odd and wrong as it was to metaphorically reference his own situation to the world's saddest animal.
Click.
"Uuuuaaarrrghhh . . . ? Huh? What happened? I swore I just had my stomach split in two." Theo spoke, confused by the sudden alleviation of pain as he began patting his torso.
"For as long as this training extends itself for your growth, Theo, I will not allow for any death or serious injury on your part. Although, you being kicked in the solar plexus isn't exactly something very serious, so just call that as a freebie or something."
"But what about the pain?"
"Still exists!"
"I am so fu---"
Jared spoke up and over Theo's despairing voice, [Lesson two of being a Manifestor! Never hold back against your opponent, even if they're really, really disabled! Because we're no charity when it comes to business! So gimme your best shot!]
" . . . you're not gonna tear at my guts in a counterattack, are you?" Theo fretfully asked, understanding that the next time he'd be facing a kick from Jared wouldn't be healed so easily.
[I guarantee you not!]
"As in you won't rip out my intestines guarantee or you don't know of what you'll do kinda guarantee? Jared? Jared? Can you answer me? This is reeeaallllyy important to me. Jared?"
Without a word to speak otherwise, Jared simply stood with arched eyes that, although without a mouth, still gave the face that telepathically told Theo to 'give it your best shot!' Thus, terrified of the implications of both his answer and ensuing after, Theo sheepishly approached the eldritch being with an arm over his stomach.
Now standing before the still-stood Jared, Theo had begun mentally prep himself for the worst case scenario. He began relaxing his body, making every breath he made go through his belly, and finally gripped his fists in resolve to punch Jared.
Theo made a war cry, "Hiiiiaaaahhhh~!"
Plop!
"What the hell was that onomatopoeia?!?"
[More like, the hell was with that punch? I thought I told you to do the best you got---!] Jared disappointingly spoke as he drew back his fist and slung it forward with enough force to explode off Theo's head in one go.
There, a rain of bloodied brains splattered across the snow-glazed grass and ancient tree bark of pine trees, leaving Theo to be no more than a headless corpse that flopped to the ground.
"Oh my, rather gruesome of you, Jared. Are you sure this is a proper way of teaching Theo? People don't tend to find others without a head on their shoulders to be particularly keen on learning." Alex still spoke with his slighted smile, "Though I trust that your Mind ability is being put to good use?"
Click.
[Haha, why even ask when you know? It's like you reprimand me for the sole purpose of making crude humor, but whatever. As much as I'd like to train his mental state, there's only so much that I can do in one day. It's more likely than not that it's going to impede on today's teaching, too, so of course 'freeing' him of his natural limiters is gonna be proper! Kinda weird how he thinks fear is a moral obligation, though. Where do you even find these---?]
Schwing!
Having been speaking until suddenly realizing he could speak no more, Jared had found that a fire axe had been swung into his skull and lodged deep inside his throat; Theo's trigger for murder having been easier to click than what Jared would have expected.
Jared lifted the blade of the fire axe high enough to allow himself some leeway to heal his throat and mouth, [Hey, now, that's against the rules!]
Crushing Theo's ID weapon into mere splinters and steel with his iron grip, Jared shoved his elbow deep into Theo's stomach and then kicked him off his back with the back of his heel once enough space had been made.
But unlike before, although still staggering from the pain, Theo ran forward like a thoughtless beast with fists far more fiery than before, as though it was embodying his very passion to dig Jared six feet deep into the ground.
Sadly, with only the few days of combat experience, Theo's momentum was easily used against him as Jared swung him over his shoulder and slammed him down onto the ground.
[Hot like a granny's 10,124th kiss! Sloppy, yet passionate!]
Alex raised an eyebrow, "Excuse me, Jared?"
Jared took a hot minute trying to rack his brain for a better metaphor, [Hot like fire! Sloppy, yet passionate!]
"Content wise, better, but otherwise just incorrect."
[Whateva! Sir, you don't mind if I change the scenery, would you? The church's backyard is awfully daunting for a boy like Theo to grow in, don'tcha think?] Jared casually spoke as Theo aimed his fist at his head
Alex took a glance at Theo before shrugging it off, "I'll be in the church drinking some store-bought matcha tea if you need anything."
{Huihui! You hear that, oh junior of mine? We're going on a field trip!]
Uncaring for whatever shenanigans the two-eyed freak of a humanoid was going to pull, Theo scooped up a small ball of snowy dirt and threw it in front of Jared's most defining feature, theoretically blinding him as he made himself vulnerable to Theo's following punch . . .
. . . which was once more caught in the hardened black sludge that was Jared's hand.
[Alrighty then, off we go!] Jared joyously spoke, disturbing the air around both him and Theo as his eyes spiraled with mischievous contempt.
Ddzzzzchhhhtttt!