Day was breaking in town as more and more people began to shuffle about. The atmosphere of the area brought about a tranquil sensation unlike anything Xander had ever felt before. From the strange allure resonating from the structures to the simultaneously familiar and foreign creatures wandering on the street, Xander was finally getting a chance to take it all in without being rushed anywhere else. Kylo kept his pace beside him, feeling healed after a night of rest. They stopped in front of a bakery's entrance and poked their heads in, reading the menu.
"Croissants, cinnamon rolls, bagels… They seem to have what bakeries I'm familiar with would carry." Xander stared at the board, unsure of what he wanted for breakfast.
Kylo stepped forward and the woman at the register perked up. "What'll you have?" She seemed energetic for it not even being seven o'clock.
"I'll take an everything bagel," Kylo pulled out his wallet. "Do you want anything, Xander?"
"...I guess I'll do the same." Xander settled, a little bit rushed.
Kylo handed the woman a handful of silver coins and received two bagels.
"Have a nice day!"
The duo exited the store and made their way to school, which would open in around an hour.
After taking a bite from his breakfast, Xander made a comment. "I didn't really expect there to be this many similarities between the earth I'm used to and this one," he said, glancing from the people to the buildings.
"On the surface, they are very similar. I agree. Aside from very obvious structural differences and the many unique species of people and animals found here, the two worlds are almost the same. However, there are many other key differences, especially when it comes to the inner workings of the world," Kylo responded, finishing up his bagel and brushing off his hands on his pant leg.
They rounded a corner and were on the street that led straight to the school. This wasn't the first time Xander had laid eyes upon the grand building, but he was still impressed by its sheer size.
"It puts your old school to shame, doesn't it?" Kylo asked with confidence.
"Yeah," Xander responded, taking one of the final bites of his bagel. "You went to that school for a while too, you know. It must've been rough transferring from this castle to that."
"Eh, it really wasn't all too bad. I got to hang out with you all day. Then again, you were pretty gloomy," Kylo chuckled and elbowed Xander in the side.
"Hey!" Xander shoved him back and laughed a little back.
They were almost to the entryway of the building when the doors slowly swung wide open. Xander jumped.
"Haha, scaredy-cat. Don't worry, the doors automatically open when the building opens up for the day and basically stay open. It's not very secure, I guess, but I don't think anyone with a brain would want to infiltrate a building filled with elite magic users," Kylo laughed. They made it through the archway and made their way down the hall.
Even though Xander had been here only a handful of times by now, he was still mesmerized by the enchanting attraction of the architecture. Beams of sunlight shone down from the windows and illuminated rectangular areas, beginning on the floor and climbing up the walls. Xander took the time to take in the sights again. Suits of armor lined the walls, in between a handful of windows, with grand curtains drawn back. As overwhelming as it was, Xander loved it.
"Want to be the first ones to Max's room today?" Kylo asked while running off, which answered the inquiry for Xander.
Xander shrugged and walked after his friend, who was now around the corner. "He's pretty impulsive." Rounding the corner himself now, Kylo was at the far end of the hallway which Xander had just turned into, jumping around, flailing his arms, and yelling for Xander to pick up his pace. Xander groaned. "I just ate, man." He picked up his pace to a light jog and made it to the end of the hall.
"Took you long enough. I thought I'd be graduated by the time you got down here, jeez" Kylo mocked. Xander rolled his eyes at the remark. The two found themselves in front of Maximillian's class, the door ajar with multiple people already inside.
As soon as Xander stepped through the door and saw the people inside, he felt his heart stop. He recognized the eccentric yellow and orange dyed hair on the boy wearing a perfectly tailored suit, with a golden silhouette of a hawk or some other intimidating bird.
Joules stopped speaking and turned his head towards the door, Max doing the same.
"Hey, guys! I'm getting acquainted with our teacher Max here!" He said with a beam.
"I'm supposed to be the one watching them, they were ruled schedule one delinquents and I, due to that, have been ordered to watch them to ensure they are on their best behavior before they're either sent back or entirely freed and placed back into this school" Max added.
Kylo objected. "Joules- that boy you were just talking with… Do you not remember what he did? Back in the first semester?"
"Now, now, friend. I don't recall what you are talking about, could you jog my memory maybe?" Joules calmly addressed Kylo's outburst, leaning himself back onto Max's desk, who promptly pushed him off of it.
"A couple of weeks after school started back up, you and your followers blew up an entire hallway and made dedicated efforts towards harming Jinx. That's what, ring a bell?" Kylo snapped.
"Excuse me? Followers?" A girl in the group of delinquents snapped at Kylo.
"Stop." Joules snapped back. He then spoke, turning his attention back to Kylo. "It's no wonder I don't remember the event you describe, I didn't do it! I'm sure Max can enlighten you about what really happened. After all, it was Perses' own freak accident." Joules replied smoothly.
"Yeah. Our report from the headmaster claims that Perses has a power that he cannot fully maintain control over. The incident Kylo just mentioned was a result of that. The headmaster, just as a precaution, has put me in charge of watching over them which means they will be with me, even in class. The main concern is over Perses. Regardless, the Council of Elders has decided to let these four out of detention on that basis, under those conditions." Max explained.
A boy with spiky blonde hair who wore the same form of a suit as Joules hastily stepped forward. "Just to avoid any confusion, I am Perses."
He immediately went back to where he was standing originally, which was in between two girls. One of the girls had glasses and long, alluring yet jagged, deep purple hair that ran down to her mid-back and an unbuttoned suit that was too big for her, with a halter top underneath and a skirt to match. The other girl had silver hair and wore her suit like normal.
"So… You mean to tell me that tormenting Jinx was a misconception? Even after she passed around notes warning us about you four?" Kylo, stepping forward, couldn't contain himself anymore.
"That's enough, boys" Max's voice erased the tension in the room. Kylo scoffed but did nothing else. "It's settled, and we cannot change it. If you don't like it, keep it to yourself. The Elders have decided."
"Excuse me," A sweet voice sounded from behind Xander. He stepped aside and into the room came Aspen, followed by Jinx, who was staring down at the ground. Aspen stopped short of where Kylo was and gasped as she held out her arm, beckoning for Jinx to stop walking. Jinx looked up slowly, then started to tremble.
"What the hell are you doing back here?" Aspen had the same reaction as Kylo.
"Max will explain it.." Kylo answered, still a little aggressive.
"So… we are going to have them in our class for the foreseeable future? Keep them away from Jinx, Max. You have to!" Aspen said defiantly. Max slowly nodded. Jinx tugged on Aspen's blue coat sleeve and muttered something. "We'll be going to our desks now." Jinx crept to her seat and slumped down into it, putting her head down between folded arms.
"What I can gather is that Jinx does not like these people and that they did something that was seen as an accident or a planned attack, depending on the side. The students don't seem too keen on letting them into class while the staff believes it was an accident, one of which requires Perses to be trained. What is going on?" Xander pondered it over in his head as he headed over to a desk, Kylo seated behind him.
Apollo came bursting through the door, flames roaring behind him, zipping towards a random desk and lounging in it. "I hope I'm not late, Teach. I ran into some traffic on the way here."
"What traffic? We got here at the same time," Aspen commented.
"The traffic," Apollo repeated and, as if planned out, a sizable crowd of people came down the hallway, chatting with one another. Apollo grinned. "See?"
"I do see… what's going on?" Aspen curiously asked, trying to look out the door from where she was seated.
Max walked to the door and poked his head outside, listening to what was being said. "Tomorrow is when the expedition students are coming back, they're setting up preparations."
At those words, every student in the room with the exception of Xander, who was confused, perked up. In the same instant, the occupied desks were thrown to the side as each student hastily made their way to the door where Max stood. The students in front of Max's desk also moved to the doorway, seemingly equally eager to see the returning students. Xander decided to make his way out the door as well just to try to get caught up with what the commotion was all about when he heard the headmaster's voice in the hall addressing the masses.
"I am well aware that each of you is interested in seeing a friend or relative who chose to go on the expedition trip instead of taking part in the exam battles. I request patience from everyone because they will not return until lunchtime tomorrow when the spatial gates open, inviting them back to my institution. Save your excitement until then, thank you. Carry on with your day, now, class officially begins in under a minute."
The crowd outside began to groan.
"Argh, man, I want to see Milo…" Kylo trailed off.
"Natasha, Faye, Amiel… We'll have our class back together when they return! Everyone!" Aspen said, happily pointing to each desk the corresponding absent student was assigned.
Joules ran a hand through his hair and grinned. "Hear that, guys? Ken is coming back tomorrow." With that realization, the silver-haired girl began to blush.
"Ken.. Oh I can't wait to see him again" she blushed.
"Way to immediately make the situation awkward, Shiro. No more about your boy toy," Joules barked. She crossed her arms and turned her head away.
Returning to their spots, the room was quiet. Max took center stage at the front of the room and started to speak; "Has anyone seen Adrian?" he asked, looking around the room, taking a mental attendance. A handful of people shook their heads. "No? Okay, I guess he's a no-show."
Kylo tapped Xander on the shoulder and whispered. "He must be so embarrassed by losing to you that he didn't come to school-" He was cut off by Max clearing his throat and glaring at Kylo.
"Carrying on… You all have noticed that some old students will be rejoining us for the next while, so let's get reacquainted with each other so we remember who they are. Joules, you lead."
Joules stepped up and spoke diligently. "I am Joules Cornelius. I am back where I belong, in the elite class. I am sure all of your guys' skills will grow exponentially with me here as you all scurry to catch up to my talents." Dignified, he took a bow and walked to a desk at the front of the room where he sat with his feet propped up on the desk beside him.
The boy named Perses spoke clearly and loudly. "I'm Perses."
Kylo leaned into Xander and commented, "There wasn't much to that now was there?"
The silver-haired girl spoke boldly. "You all remember me as Shiro Hakagawa. I'm a transfer student from another world's very own Japan."
Xander remembered his old world for a second. "That Japan?" Xander raised his hand.
"What is it, walnut?" Shiro shot, insulting Xander for seemingly no reason.
Xander's heart stopped for a brief moment before he responded. "By Japan, do you mean on the earth I'm from? You know…the non-magical one."
Taken aback by the question about her world, she cleared her throat and collected herself. "Earth Zero? That's the official term our scientists came up with. It's fairly new so it hasn't caught on yet. I guess it is called that not because it was the original earth but because there's nothing interesting on it. No magic, no mythical elements, nothing. Yes, that earth. If by that you mean the one that doesn't have magic, then yes. Why?"
"I was wondering because I've lived there for most of my life and only just recently came here."
"So you're weak?"
"Eh?"
"So, you're weak."
"Ehh?!"
Max stood in front of Shiro and held his arms out, beckoning for her to stop. "That's enough," he laughed.
"But he's weak. Why is he here? He doesn't belong," Shiro cocked her head slightly.
That was it. Xander had enough of people telling him where he is supposed to belong. He decided to stand up for himself at least once. He spoke up. "I may be weak, but wouldn't that mean the exact same for you? As someone from that earth, you come from the same humble beginnings as me, weakling." He spat. It came as a shock to everyone, including himself. He didn't mean for that to come off so aggressively. Shiro's words seemed to anger him more than he thought they did, and his confidence immediately sank into himself.
"What did you just say to me?!" Shiro said, marching towards Xander.
That was until a series of traffic cones shot across the room and in between the two of them. They seemed to have come from Max's direction.
"I'm supposed to watch over him. Just like you all. Because the school thinks I'm some babysitter or something…" Max trailed off before shaking his head to focus. "Final student, introduce yourself." He pushed Shiro to her desk while she stared into Xander's soul from the front of the room.
A cold, piercing voice came from the purple-haired girl at the front of the room as she delicately moved to sit on Max's desk. Gushing, she shouted "oh! It's great to be back!!" Wryly grinning; "Iris Selle at present." She started to kick her legs and move her head to a rhythm.
"Iris Selle.." Xander looked at Jinx, immediately realizing something. "Jinx?"
Time in the room came to an immediate halt as Aspen's eyes shot icy daggers into Xander's very soul. He looked back at her and had a confused look on his face. His attention was quickly drawn back to the front of the room when Iris started to speak again.
Fixing the positioning of her disheveled and oversized suit top, she responded both gently and condescendingly. "Astute observation, disgusting. I will have you know that I am, in fact, related to her by blood. Don't relate me to that thing, though. I'd rather not my name be sullied." She hopped down from Max's desk and elegantly walked to her desk.
Xander had a confused look on his face. "This group is definitely trouble. They all seem to have woken up on the wrong side of the bed." He heard a noise, looked to his left, and noticed a puddle on Jinx's desk. Aspen tried her best to do what looked like comforting her.
Kylo tapped Xander's shoulder and motioned for him to come in closer. Xander complied.
Whispering in his ear, Kylo announced to Xander, "Iris and Jinx are related, but they hate each other. Don't ask me why, but don't mention that. Or Iris in general. Unless you like getting on the icy side of Aspen." Kylo chuckled at his stupid pun but quickly regained his seriousness. Xander nodded understandingly.
Max clapped. "Now that the introduction business is out of the way, let's go to defense arts and get some action in!"
With that sudden shift in subject, they all made their ways to the gym once again.
Entering the gym, Xander was surprised at how it was completely undamaged by the events that happened yesterday.
Kylo noticed. "That's the power of hexes and all that. They're not ideal for combat but they are great for everything else, from buildings to recon missions."
Remembering vague details about this, Xander nodded and kept walking when he was stopped, getting goosebumps as he felt the air become denser. A familiar voice boomed from the other side of the room.
"How had I not noticed him before? He's right there."
At the other end of the room stood Cain. Visions of the fight between him and his Copycat ability pitted against Kylo played in the back of Xander's mind.
"Good morning everyone! I assume we are here to hone our skills?" he boomed.
"Something like that, bro," Kylo said, running off towards Cain. The two gave each other a powerful fistbump, creating a shockwave felt at the end of the room the rest of the students were in.
"That was a sick fistbump. My turn!" Max shouted, and within the blink of an eye, he was at the opposite end of the room and punched Cain into a wall. "Feels great to get rid of some stress with a solid punch, huh Cain?"
"The hell was that?" Joules questioned, confused and disappointed.
Cain got up just fine and laughed, brushing pieces of rubble off of his shoulders. "That was unavoidable, man."
Max turned to face the students and projected his voice to them. "You hear that, guys? Unavoidable!"
Joules shook his head. "The teacher is a little stupid."
"Watch your tone" Apollo hissed.
Slowly looking towards Apollo, Joules stuck his tongue out. "'Watch your tone.'" He said in a childish, mocking voice.
A fire enveloped Apollo. "We are in the gym. Do you really want to do that? Free-range sparring here."
Joules backed down and, using the same voice a mother would use to a crying baby, said, "I don't want to hurt you."
Apollo's fire roared. Then they were gone and Apollo was covered in foam.
"Eurgh, what the hell-" Apollo exclaimed, wiping away the substance from his eyes, only to see Max holding a fire extinguisher.
"Let's not kill each other just yet," Max laughed nonchalantly. "You all have only just entered."
Re-approaching the group was Kylo, accompanied by Cain.
"We are going to practice our own magic individually today. After yesterday's exams, I noted that we have a couple things we should work on."
With a clap, Cain dispersed everyone to wherever they wanted to be. Xander went to a corner on his own, Kylo joining him.
"Your match yesterday was pretty chilling to watch. How did you even counter that giant tidal pool thingy Adrian cast?"
Pausing for a second, Xander answered the question. "I don't actually know. I wonder if he just got careless."
"Adrian isn't really the type to be careless."
"Hmm.. Okay."
Cain walked over with a smile. "You boys put on some great shows yesterday, but there are some key things I'd like to point out to both of you."
Xander and Kylo nodded.
"Firstly, Kylo. You leave yourself open and predictable. I know my Copycat magic is the ideal counter to your physical skills. It is possible to strike me, but it takes great talent alongside speed. Think of Copycat as a skill that learns other fighting styles from observing. Once I figure out about the styles and techniques, I can basically copy its moves as they come. Try learning multiple styles of fighting, keep your opponent on your toes. I would think of it as trying to fight yourself. If you were to fight a clone of yourself, how would you beat him? That type of thing."
Kylo raised his hand. "Does it have anything to do with the speed at which I move?"
"No, it doesn't. The answer is simple: be unpredictable. In battles where the area isn't very open, use that to take your opponent off guard. Feigns, although Copycat counters these automatically, are great. They are harder to pull off against higher-level opponents. What I want you to practice today is feigns, and I'll be the dummy."
Kylo slowly nodded, accepting the challenge.
"And you... Xander. You did a lot of standing and running. There wasn't any strategy to your movements, they looked very sporadic. Think over tactics for certain situations, run them out after thinking, and then practice, practice, practice!" He clapped.
Xander nodded. "Sporadic, huh? It was my first fight, so I guess he's starting me out small on what I need to work on. Let's get to thinking I guess."
Xander closed his eyes and breathed. He opened his eyes and scanned around the room. Aspen and Jinx were in a corner that was covered in a growing ice, Max and the four he was told to watch over were against a wall, talking. Apollo was nowhere to be seen, his presence only hinted at by an entire corner of the room engulfed in a powerful flame.
Focusing back on himself, Xander thought about what he should work on first. "There was a lot of distance between us multiple times in the fight. I tried doing a speed maneuver using my wind. It's a linear path, though… I wonder if I should practice that but incorporate a more 3-dimensional plane to my movements."
Xander got into a set position and the air around him started to move. "How do I compact all this space behind me so I can move?" Xander focused and felt the air around him become denser, and then expand back out again. With a gasp, Xander fell. "Does my ability not generate air, but move the existing air? So, hypothetically, a vacuum space is created around me as I take the air away and move it closer to myself."
Just like that, Xander got an idea. "I could create a vacuum space around my opponent and use that to my advantage. I would control the space in that scenario." Then he scoffed. "The pressure on my body from the compacted air around me would be nothing to joke about, though. Maybe creating a cutoff space around me where the air is normal and where it isn't?"
Xander envisioned a multi-layer air shield around him and grinned at the idea. "That's it."
Xander got back up and stood still, concentrating on his breathing. "All I have to do is create a normal air space, a dense air space, and then a vacuum in that order, all around me."
Xander motioned with his hands where the air should move, and he felt as it did as he said. Just then, Kylo came crashing down towards Xander. Xander winced, but Kylo was stopped by something. He was completely motionless in the air, as if time had stopped for only him. Realizing what this meant, Xander partied a small bit. He slightly lost his grasp on the air and accidentally dispelled the space he constructed, letting Kylo fall directly onto Xander.
"You.. What was that?" Kylo asked, getting up and off of Xander..
"I can't do the speed maneuvers you and Max can pull off, so I thought I'd take a more defensive approach. Condense the air around me and create a shield of sorts. I planned on making a vacuum outside of that, too, but I don't think that'll be easy to go about doing."
"I see… I've never heard of that. Unique. Perhaps you could take a similar approach to attacks on the offensive side of battles, too. Using the dense air as a ranged attack like invisible bullets, or a sword."
Xander's eyes went wide with realization of the limitless things he could do with the wind alone.
"Let's see you try to hit me with something, then" came Cain's voice as he walked towards them. "I saw Kylo sitting here for quite some time and thought I'd make a visit over here as well. I couldn't help but overhear your ideas."
Xander slowly got to his feet, recovering from Kylo's full-body impact. "What should I try to do?"
"Strike me from there," Cain said, pointing at the space between himself and Xander.
"Okay.." Xander replied, nervously.
Concentrating on the air and controlling it, Xander envisioned a fist of air. Feeling a strong rush of a breeze on his skin, he knew he was doing something right. He didn't have any way of knowing if he actually made it right because air isn't visible, he just knew he was doing something. He could feel it in his soul. Xander tensed his muscles to help himself visualize the air space tightening into an invisible fist, then thrusted his arm forward.
Cain's stance shifted, but not by much. "Is that really all you have? I sensed strong pressure coming from around you and was bracing for that impact, not a gentle Spring breeze. It's a miracle you beat Adrian with this."
"Right." Xander ran possible solutions for the loss of power through his head, visions of Adrian dancing about.
"From the top!" Cain said.
Xander nodded and pushed the air together, a considerable air current pushing its way through the room. Cain's expression turned to a giant smile. "Hit me with all you got!"
Xander threw his fist forward just as he did before. Suddenly, water. Cain's stance shifted a considerable amount but still did not knock him over.
"What the-" Kylo exclaimed. Xander looked at his hands and back at the now drenched Cain.
"What-"
"Xander, what's that on your hand?" Kylo inquired, pointing at Xander's left hand.
"What do you mean my left.." Xander asked, before trailing off. "I've seen this before, I don't know what it is."
Cain came over, too, dripping from the water. "Are we good over here?"
"Do you know what this mark is?" Kylo asked, pointing at Xander.
"Let me see," Cain commanded, Xander promptly showed Cain his hand. Cain remained silent and examined it.
"Well, what is it?" Kylo inquired.
"..." Cain frowned. "Let's go see Max about this."
"Would he even have an answer?" Xander wondered.
"Maybe, maybe not. We won't know until we ask." Cain turned to walk to where Max was, Xander and Kylo following suit.
Speaking with Kylo, Xander let his thoughts out on him. "Where did the water come from?"
"That's one of the things that I'm wondering about, too. Don't expect me to have an answer."
They made it to Max and his group. Perses and Max were chatting away, their conversation seemed to carry an air of importance. Shiro was laying down with her eyes closed, probably asleep, with Iris and Joules leaning against the wall thirty or so feet away.
"Max, have you ever seen this before?" Cain inquired, moving out of the way to present Xander's hand, which still bore a mark.
"..." Max's eyes widened. Perses, also looking to have a piqued interest, stared at Xander's hand.
"Max, what is it?" Cain asked in a concerned voice.
"Miradyna…" Max whispered, staring at the mark.
"What?" Xander asked.
"Miradyna, your mother. This is her family crest." Max explained.
"My… mother?" Xander was confused. He had never known his real parents. He had also never seen that crest before aside from when he fought using magic. If it was of any connection to his real mother, he wanted to know. He wished to ask Max more about this, but he continued explaining.
"A family crest in this world is more of a spiritual thing. The origin of crests are unknown, nor is it known if they even mean anything. The fact that you have one is pretty neat, though."
Perses leaned closer and looked carefully at the crest, as if it reminded him of something.
"Yeah, I guess so. It appears when I use my power," Xander added.
"Don't forget to mention the water that appeared just now," Kylo interjected.
"Oh, yeah. I was trying to use my wind magic and water appeared at the end of where my 'air fist' was."
"What?" Max furrowed his brow.
Cain pointed to his hair. "If you need proof, let this be proof."
"I haven't seen a case like this before, we should go to the headmaster for this," Max threw the suggestion out, before putting his hand on his chin. "I wonder if he might know what's going on."
"We can go after school wraps up today when we aren't so busy."
"We aren't really doing much right now, though-" Kylo began, but was cut off.
"Caspian might be."
Kylo nodded and put his head down. "I'm just eager to possibly find out what's going on with Xander, here."
"I'm not being harmed by it, or at least I don't feel anything bad. I'm sure it'll be fine to hold off for a few more hours." Xander tried to alleviate Kylo's doubts.
A loud crash sounded from behind the group.
"What the hell was-" Kylo exclaimed, whipping around just to be faced by a cloud of dust.
"Perses-!`" Shiro's voice shouted from within the dust.
In a blink, Max was gone, as was Cain following suit. Kylo and Xander stood idly by, unsure what to do, nor what was going on.
The cloud contorted and vanished just as the smoke did during Apollo's fight with Max. Sure enough, Max was in the center of the spiraling smoke, accompanied by a crater and a gaping hole in the wall.
"Perses… I- Don't take him away. don't take him away! don't take him away! He didn't mean to-" Joules knelt within the crater, tearing up, Shiro kneeling beside him, behind a figure sprawled out on the ground.
"Please, try to calm down and tell me what happened" Max got down to their eye level, checking on Perses' bodily conditions, trying to gauge the situation.
"Ah, jeez…" Joules breathed heavily, attempting to come down from his panic. "Well.. he-h-he uhh.."
"Take your time," Max calmly replied.
"He came over here… and he seemed a little upset. I don't know why. But he gritted his teeth and punched the wall… and the rest is… I don't know. But this is the result." Joules was crying. "Please don't take him away."
"I see… and you're saying he can't control his power? I mean, you did say this happened before, right?" Max inquired further.
"It did, yes. He hasn't been the same since a little before that day. I'd think that was his awakening. He has never shown us this power before."
Max scratched his chin. "What is his magic?"
Joules thought. "He has never told us."
"Let's ask him when he wakes up. Cain, transport him to the nurse to watch over him."
"Yes, sir." Cain scooped up Perses, still unconscious, and made his way out of the room.
The tension in the gym seemed to dwindle with Perses being removed from it, but the panic within Joules and Shiro only grew.
"Please do not take him away!" Joules spiraled. Shiro sighed and sank a little where she knelt.
"Listen. I know it's traumatic to have this… for lack of a better word, 'random bomb' accompanying you, even wrongfully landing you in detention. But, the headmaster moved to get you four out of detention, so he understands. Plus, he placed you under my supervision. You'll be fine," Max turned to look at Xander and Kylo. "Right, guys?"
"Tch- yeah, right." Kylo barked in pure disgust.
Xander stood idle, unsure what to do, given the wide range of reactions.
Max turned his focus back to the two panicking students. "Don't worry about them, they're just tired," Max laughed, then looking up.
Iris was still leaning against the wall, completely unbothered from the situation.
"You there, are you good, too?" Max asked.
Iris stood by, not responding.
"Okay… Let's get back to the classroom, then. Down here will be marked off as a hazard, due to the gaping hole in the wall." Max laughed at the missing section of the wall.
Helping the students up, they turned to leave the room. Iris finally started moving and joined the group.
"And we're off!" Max exclaimed in an adventurous tone of voice.
"Actually, you all head back, Xander and I were going to go meet up with Aspen and Jinx." Kylo retorted.
"Huh-" Xander asked before Kylo grabbed his wrist and ran off.
"Wait, guys, you can't just leave like that!" Max replied. "Oh nevermind, they'll be fine," he said, realizing they were already too far away to be heard.
After reaching Aspen and Jinx, Kylo let go of Xander's wrist, which was now red. Apollo was also with the group.
"What happened boys?" Aspen inquired upon their arrival.
"Perses lost it again," Xander answered, Kylo was too lost in thought to answer. However, right as Xander went to continue speaking, Kylo interrupted. "Yeah, he did. Why did they let that guy back into the school? He's only a liability and cannot be trusted to keep his powers in line."
"Hey, that force was nothing, we shouldn't worry about it. Last time we were inexperienced. Now I'd say we are ready enough to handle it," Apollo commented with an air of confidence.
"And what happens when that power goes completely out of control and you end up dying, candle-boy?" Kylo responded.
Readying his stance, Apollo argued back. "I'm not so weak I'd die from someone like him. We could fight to see if we're strong enough to take care of it though. Or are you too scared, ninja-boy?"
Aspen placed herself in-between the boys. "Stop fighting please! How do you think this is making Jinx feel?"
The focus in the group shifted from the boys to Jinx, who was sitting on the floor, crying silently to herself.
"..." Kylo stared at Jinx, his eyes widened. "Jinx..-"
"I'm sure you all remember what they did to her. Don't make her see you two as reminders of them" Aspen said, with a cold bite in her tone.
Stepping up to Aspen, Xander let her know about his confusion. "I don't actually know what they did, I just know that they did something."
Aspen clicked her tongue and looked at Kylo. "Who should tell him?"
"You should," Kylo answered.
"Yeah, alright," Aspen stepped to the side and motioned for Xander to follow. Her face became solemn. "Back at the beginning of the school year, those students were notorious for getting in our way, especially for Jinx. They called her vermin, they said she stole something from Iris, and, simply put, were bullies to her. Horrible bullies. Iris seems to care the most about making life hard for Jinx, and the rest of them follow her. Anyway, I've gone astray from the main point I wanted to talk about. What happened back then… All of us except for Jinx were away from the classroom. We wanted to watch the prime minister's procession because he was in town that day, on his way back to the capital city Riviera. It is not common for him to visit Stargazer's Retreat, and his guard is so pretty, we just had to see it. While we were watching that, Iris had used our absence to her advantage and locked herself and her group in the room with Jinx. Max stayed behind and wanted to try to get a chance to talk to the prime minister, so we left without him. We were on our way back to the classroom when we heard an explosion and saw debris scatter about everywhere. We ran as fast as we could only to find five people sprawled out everywhere around the destruction site."
"So… Iris is the leader, huh? I always thought Joules was with the way he acts but whatever. How exactly did she know who would go and who would stay?" Xander pondered it to himself after asking.
"You'd be right, she is the leader. Now that she's been thwarted I doubt she can carry herself like that, but you're right. It is strange how she knew that only Jinx would stay behind. I never really thought of that…" Aspen's demeanor sank as she also fell into deep thought.
Slowly lifting her head, Jinx looked at Xander with scared eyes.
Xander looked down at her. "What is it?"
She continued to stare until quickly burying her face right back into her arms.
Tilting his head out of confusion then looking back at the rest of the group, he made an exclamation; "Well, you all have experienced their wrath once, right? You've figured out how crafty they can be, and their motivation, which seems to be something about Jinx. Plus, Max is keeping watch over them. I am sure it will be fine this time. They are probably the most supervised group in the school right now,right? It should be really hard for them to do anything. On the off chance that they did do something, I am sure this school is equipped to deal with it. They have tabs on them."
The silence in the room was deafening. Kylo turned to leave but stopped. "It can't happen again. I won't let it. It is our own fault. We left Jinx unguarded and that was the result. Why else do you think Aspen is always with her? We were stupid for leaving her alone knowing the situation. From then on I decided that we wouldn't let a situation like that happen again, but here they are, destroying parts of the building again. We cannot trust the higher ups to keep them in check. We have to do it ourselves," Kylo barked at Xander. "It's a rough topic for all of us, so just stop talking about it." The behavior Kylo was exemplifying, which was completely unlike him, battered Xander, so much so that he lowered his head and looked at Jinx.
This situation reminded Xander of Annalise. Damian would always pick on them, but Xander knew of the terrible things he did to Annalise specifically. Even still, he left her alone one day and it resulted in his social life being destroyed forever, and worst of all, problems for Annalise. In a way, Jinx reminded Xander of Annalise herself. The two were both very timid, but bold when it mattered. Xander found it kind of charming.
"Well, now that he is caught up and knows it's a done deal, I think we should get going back to class." Kylo finally started to walk away from the group.
"Yeah, we should. Let's go, guys," Aspen looked at her brother.
"Yeah," Apollo responded calmly.
"It's a pretty heavy topic for them. Their happy-go-lucky demeanors faded with just one mention of it and got worse when I motivated them… I guess we all have our own problems inside. Theirs just happens to be the same issue," Xander thought to himself.
Jinx didn't stand up.
Aspen turned and sighed, realizing that either someone has to force Jinx to follow suit, or has to stay here with her.
Xander looked at Jinx and spoke up. "I'll stay here for a little bit. I don't really want to be in class with that Shiro girl anyway, after that whole thing in the classroom earlier," he laughed quietly.
Aspen nodded and walked out alongside her brother. Jinx looked up at Xander and was about to speak up before she was interrupted by Xander.
"Annalise-"
Jinx cocked her head.
A soft, almost angelic voice spoke: "Who is that?"
Xander's breathing became heavier. "She- uh- she's…" "What the hell am I saying?" "She's someone from my world. No one important."
"She's on your mind though," Jinx spoke quietly.
"..." Xander nodded. "I guess she is important, then. She used to be my best friend but things happen. You know?"
Jinx nodded and spoke a tad bit louder. "I do. I'm still trying to get over it myself, my old friend."
"That so?"
Jinx nodded. "Mhm."
"May I ask about it?"
Jinx opened her mouth slightly but nothing came out. It closed as she shook her head.
Feeling bad, Xander stood up and reached out a hand. "Sorry, I didn't know it was sensitive. How about I walk you to your room?" He felt so at home talking with her, even for just a few seconds, that he didn't want it to end. However, he hesitated. The thought of his loss of Annalise as a friend still stung, and he was still hurt from the way he was seen by her. For some reason, he thought Jinx would look at him the same way. His arm slowly started to go back to his side, before quickly being snatched by a small, soft hand.
Jinx grasped Xander's hand and pulled herself to her feet. She was extremely lightweight. Still looking down, she fixed her hair.
"Let's get going, I'm sure it's a little dark now." The truth was, they had been in that gym all day, although it hadn't felt like it. At this school, the teachers chose the schedule every day and, after the plans were finished, students could roam as they pleased. It was pretty neat.
Silently, they walked through the hallways together, still holding each other's hand. Xander noticed and instantly let go and pulled his hand away, his heartbeat blowing up his ears.
Without a word spoken, they made their way to the entrance of the school and descended down the entryway stairs.
"Iris is a good person," Jinx randomly said.
"Huh?"
"When we were kids she was the most caring sister in the world."
"That's who she must've been referencing in the gym." Xander pieced it together in his head.
"Starting around this time of year last year she changed. She left with my father one night and returned with a completely different feel to her. We had just awakened then, too."
"I see…"
"My dad started to become more belittling with me and my sister was just as cold, if not worse. It was as if she had been told a dirty secret about me, one that could destroy our bond as siblings…" Jinx's words trailed off.
` "I'm so sorry… Do you have an idea of what this 'secret' was?" Xander asked, looking at Jinx's somber expression.
"I don't really know. They kept calling me names like 'thief' and 'vermin.' I throw dirt on the family name according to them.
Xander remembered earlier in the day, during introductions, when Iris had talked about Jinx. "That's horrible," he said.
"I don't know. I'm happy I am at this school now and have my own dorm. Now that the school is aware of their behavior, they aren't allowed within one-hundred and fifty feet of my room, they cast fencing magic around it."
"Fencing magic is a thing?" Xander laughed.
"That's what it is called, yeah. It's a funny name, I agree." She giggled. After walking a bit more, Jinx pointed. "My room is just through there."
"Through the shady alley?" Xander asked jokingly.
"Yeah. Are you scared?" Jinx teased.
"I'm surprised she's showing so much emotion right now. Normally she doesn't speak at all," Xander thought to himself. "No, I'm not scared at all, of course not," he said, slightly stuttering over his words as he realized he may in fact be a little bit scared.
Running ahead, she laughed and vanished past the corner, taunting "then catch up!"
Xander sighed while smiling. "Does everyone at this school do this? Aspen and Apollo are the only two who haven't run off ahead although I am sure Apollo has and will do that at some point," he thought. "I'm typically not very competitive or anything but maybe it'll make Jinx feel better." "You're on!" He exclaimed as he picked up his own pace and chased after her.
Running after her was surprisingly difficult, she was always several strides ahead of him. She came to a stop a little before the gate to the dormitory area and turned around. "I'm just through here."
Xander dropped his hands to his knees and breathed heavily. He struggled to catch his breath while trying to speak. "How… ahh.. How are you- how are you so fast in that... That dress?"
Jinx tilted her head in confusion. Then "Oh! Yeah, that. I just practiced some hexes on my clothing and now it's pretty easy to move around in them. Even if they don't look the part," She beamed. The setting sun illuminated her purple presence brightly.
"That's pretty cool, Jinx. Is that what you did during the exam match?"
"You mean with the rocks? I used movement related hexes, yeah. More specifically, I imbued the vectors of the rocks with it and activated it once they aligned with my target. It's the same thing with my shoes, only they activate on impact with the ground, propelling me. It makes everyday walking a little difficult at first, but I have the hang of it now." Jinx proudly explained what she had done, and then covered her mouth. "Haha- you didn't really ask for all of that now did you?" She giggled.
Xander, struggling to process all of the information just thrown at him, shook his head. "Nah, it's all right. You sound so cool with your strategy there, you had it all planned out. I'm jealous of that, you sound talented."
Jinx's eyes widened. "Thank you!" she exclaimed, smiling.
Ruffling his own hair and smiling, Xander asked: "Where is your room? And please don't run off again. I'm not very good at sprint races. I'm more of a distance kind of guy," he said, parodying the athletes of his old school.
"It's the second one down on the left," Jinx pointed down the walkway with small modern medieval houses lining both sides.
Jinx stopped and turned around. "Thank you. I trust you a little now, welcome to the class," she smiled. The glow of twilight danced on her skin, and Xander fully realized how beautiful she really was.
"Try showing your face more instead of hiding it, it'll make everyone so much happier," he said, complimenting her.
Jinx blushed, but it was hard to tell due to the lighting already making her face look reddish.
Then she spoke: "You know… we're all unique but we are also the same. Just people who want to live happily. What you see on the outside is just how everyone presents themselves."
"How do you want to present yourself?" Xander asked.
"Well…" she trailed off.
"I've only known you for a few days, but I can already tell, you're fine the way you are. Maybe stop acting so gloomy all the time, though," he smiled.
At those words Jinx started to tear up. "I, uh… I should probably go," she said smiling, attempting to hide her tears.
"Oh, well alright. See you tomorrow, Jinx," Xander said, waving goodbye to his new friend.
"See you… Oh and Xander?"
"Hm?"
"I'm looking forward to spending class with you this year,"
"Yeah, me too," Xander was caught off guard, and stuttered as he spoke.
The two waved goodbye to each other, and Jinx walked inside her dormitory, leaving Xander alone to think about what happened. He immediately went red in the face. "Oh my God, did that really just happen?" he thought to himself, smiling. He walked himself back home to his dorm.
In an abandoned wing of the school cloaked in complete darkness aside from a dim light shining through the eastmost tower's window, someone shuffled about.
"Did anyone notice that you were acting differently today?" A brittle, hollow voice asked from the darkness.
"Oh, please, My illusions are top-quality. Not even the strongest appraisal skill can see through them," Iris rolled her eyes. "I think I have located the Potential-"
The brittle voice piped up almost immediately. "You did? Wonderful."
"Now where's my assimilation slate, as promised?" Iris snapped.
The mysterious voice chuckled. "Do not be so hasty. You only say you have confirmed. We need them in our possession. Once we have the Potential you can have your slate and take back what was rightfully yours." Dark purple balls of light shone brightly, revealing a skull, of which the balls of light are the eyes. "'In the shadow of the Dark March, may our will be bound to the eternal night.' Thank you for your unwavering loyalty to our cause."
"'In the shadow of the Dark March, may our will be bound to the eternal night.' Tomorrow is the day, then?" Iris asked.
Equally as intrigued, the raspy voice confirmed. "Felix will take care of it. Take this with you and break the locator crystal on it when you have them in a strategic spot. We will show up after you break it." From the darkness and into the dimly lit floor a pendant was thrown, a red claw-like crystal coiled by silver.
Picking it up, Iris nodded. "Understood."
Turning to leave, Iris grinned wryly. "That vermin will pay for what she did to me. All I have to do is get them what they want and I get what I want. It's simple!" A sadistic laugh echoed throughout the corridor as she walked her way through the boarded-off halls.
Chapter 7 END
-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-
Join the Discord for news, updates, and more!
[https://discord.gg/2z66ZGEEj9]