Ashton's eyes fluttered open, his vision blurry and hazy as he tried to take in the movements that were going on in the room. Someone was sitting on a chair opposite him with their legs wide open and their eyes fixated on him as if they had been monitoring him and waiting for him to wake up.
Another was standing by the window peeping outside to look at something he didn't quite understand. The last of the human figures in the room was resting his back against the wall as if in a sole hibernation. His arms were folded against his chest and he wasn't looking up; rather his face was casted down as if he was sleeping on that spot.
Ashton could feel his head spinning as it throbbed heavily. He placed his left hand against his head to try and relinquish the pain but it was useless. His mouth tasted like blood and his vision was still clouded by the fog of unconsciousness. He tried to seat up properly as someone had carelessly laid his back against the wall in an uncomfortable position. The last thing he could remember was the sharp impact of a fist against his cheek and now he was already dragged carelessly to the wall.
"Ugh!" Ashton grunted as he tried to seat his butt up properly. His back was aching already as he had been left in an uncomfortable position for quite some time.
"Welcome back…Ashton." The figure sitting on the chair opposite him rasped his voice dripping with resent.
"Ehhh!" Ashton winced in pain, the affected part of his face throbbing lightly. "Remind me where I knew you from again?" He asked, propelling himself to stand on his feet.
The boy stood up from the chair he had been sitting on striding slowly towards Ashton. By now, Ashton had finally regained himself, his eyes never leaving that of his attacker.
"What are you doing here Ashton?" The boy asked, his voice stern and intimidating but Ashton seemed unaffected by whatever threat he was trying to pass on to him with his tone.
He forced a smirk, a flimsy shield against the impending interrogation. "I could ask you the same…erm what's your name again?"
The boy charged towards Ashton pushing his shoulder to make him stagger and fret at his presence. He was obviously upset Ashton didn't know his name despite what he had let him pass through.
"You really don't know my name?" The boy sneered his face mimicking anger and fear at the same time. His lips were shaking as he spoke those words in anger. "How pathetic! Bet you do not know that of Gareth."
Ashton slammed his hand away from his shoulder as he asked, "Gareth? Who's that again?"
"Try to think idiot! Remember Gareth, the boy you drove to death you fucker!" The boy cursed, almost tearing Ashton apart with the words that came out from his mouth.
Ashton did a little bit of thinking before his mind slipped on a flimsy memory about how exactly he knew this boy that was on his throat and the supposed Gareth who had died. He opened his mouth in awe as he recalled.
"Ahh" he murmured, nodding his head a bit before continuing. "You mean the other boy? The one who…"
The boy cut Ashton's words short by pushing his shoulder again making Ashton falter as he staggered a bit backwards.
*Scruff!*
"Why? Why did you let that happen?"
*Push!*
*Skritch!*
"Why did you let Gareth die huh? Why did you push him to his death? Why did you chase after us in the first place?" The boy hollered.
Ashton grabbed his hand to stop him from pushing him any further as his back will be colliding into the wall any sooner from then.
"Stop it…that's enough." Ashton warned, his voice cold and calming at the same time. He was getting bored of all the whole drama already and being pushed only makes him feel down a bit.
"You psycho!" The boy cursed, throwing a punch into Ashton's face for the second time since he had been into that room with his left hand which was not in Ashton's grip.
Ashton's brows furrowed his anger, his eyes turning alarmly dangerous as his back hit the wall with a small thud. His breathing was fast and shallow as he reeled from the second attack. He could hear the faint creak of the floorboard beneath them. As he bent, still writhing in pain as his mouth throbbed the more, the taste of blood filled his mouth, salty and metallic and he struggled to swallow the coppery liquid but he couldn't. He spat it out onto the floorboards.
The deep, dark red content stains the floor and makes the air thick with its metallic scent.
"You motherfucker!" Ashton hollered, straightening his hunched back in an attempt to retaliate as he charged forward, he could hear Marcus' clear his throat for the first time since the banter started.
"Ahem!" Marcus cleared still standing still in his hibernative position, not looking. But the time stopped for Ashton as he froze in his spot at the sound of Marcus' voice.
The only thing possible for Ashton in that moment was to move his eyes and other precedent movement of his was stopped abruptly. His eyes slowly darted about and his attacker was still alive, unfrozen like he was. He seemingly was the only one who had frozen in time in that room.
'Marcus is this powerful? He can stop time?' Ashton thought in awe as he could not even move his mouth to voice out Marcus' prowess. 'Figures, this is why Damien suddenly got mad when he challenged him to a fight.'
"That's enough Ulysses." Marcus said, standing straight walking towards them.He nodded to the boy and gave a small path on the shoulder.
Ulysses understood what Marcus meant by that and he rolled his eyes while bringing out his Jade tag. He swerved his hand in a circular motion while drawing a triangular prisms at the center then an orb flickered and soon, he disappeared within it.
Marcus heaved and moved closer to Ashton while whispering some words into Ashton's ear. Ashton couldn't quite understand what Marcus had whispered as it seemed like a long forgotten language to him. But who cares? He just wanted to be freed from this sickening stucking state.
Ashton let out a mild gasp as he was released from his frozen state. He looked at Marcus menacingly in the eye before saying,
"That was not nice at all. For a moment I felt like a fish in a freezer."
Marcus smirked as he said, "You will get locked in time if you continue like this Ashton. You have breached lots of walls in this academy and I'm sure almost every single one of the student Mages hates you now. Even your roommates!"
"You too?" Ashton asked, not bothered being the black sheep in a family of white.
*Sigh!*
"Better go to bed now. Your tests starts tomorrow." Marcus waved, turning away from Ashton to create his own orb.
"Wait!"
He reluctantly turned his eyes screaming…'I am tired! Just leave me alone!..'
"What is it?" Marcus demanded.
"That boy's name really is Ulysses? Sounds like useless!" Ashton teased, laughing out loud but Marcus seemed unamused by the joke as he just continued staring at Ashton like he was a fool or something.
When Ashton realized Marcus was not getting the joke, he straightened up and stopped laughing. "How do I create my own orb?"
Marcus shook his head dejectedly, turned and vanished after creating his orb.
"Boring dude." Ashton sneered under his breath. His mind flashed back to the night of the ritual and he recalled he had filled in his comfort materials and the thought of seeing them nearly arranged inside his personal orb made him eager to get into his orb fast.
He took his Jade tag out and tried moving his hand accordingly to how Ulysses and Marcus had created an orb portal. He tried and tried and tried, but he failed at each attempt. Almost at the verge of giving up, he noticed someone's presence in the room. Slowly, he turned around and he realized it was the third human figure that had been sitting by the window when he awoke from the drilling punch Ulysses had drilled into his face.
"It's a small circle and triangular prisms." The boy said, his voice as soft as a female's voice.
Ashton rolled his eyes at him as he examined his features for the first time. He was the kind of boy who seemed to be on the verge of blowing away in the wind. He was wan and waifish, with pale, translucent skin that showed every vein but with no doubt, he had a clear skin.
His hair was thin and fair, and his features were so fine-boned that they almost looked delicate. He had the air of a character in a fairy tale, who might turn out to be either a prince or a troll, depending on the story.
[Photo illustration]
'Looks like a weakling.' He concluded in his thoughts.
"Alden." The boy introduced.
Ashton met out a nervous smile and he turned to create the orb according to Alden's instruction. He swerved his hand in a circular motion, then some more triangular prisms, then a small flickering light that could be mistaken for taser lights, then a small vortex, then the vortex enlarged.
Ashton smiled and turned at the boy to render his thanks but he was no longer sitting by the window.
"Huh?" Ashton murmured.
He turned back at his creation to check the inside of the orb with great enthusiasm but to his bewilderment, the inside was empty. None of the things he had requested for was added to the room.
'Have I been duped?' He thought. 'Have I been lied to?'
"Nooooooo!" He roared, holding his hair with both hands in disbelief.