Shadow Color (NEW VERSION)

Chapter 5

The next three and a half hours flew by fast. The first thing Macaria remembered was reviewing the homework for the week, and then the next thing she knew, the door behind the counter flew open as Mochi ran from the backroom with a chocolate chip cookie in her mouth and Simon chasing after her. He wore a red apron and was covered with flour from head to toe. The sight greatly confused Macaria: she didn't even notice Mochi had sneaked away. After a while, Simon finally caught Mochi and handed her to Macaria. The moment he handed the cat to her, Mochi shook her fur which caused a thick dust of flour to cover everything around them. Both her and Simon had to step outside and dust themselves off on the sidewalk. Simon had explained to her that sometimes while he prepared baked goods in the kitchen, Mochi would sneak in and try to steal some of the treats and that he thought she would behave while there was another person in the building. He also explained that Mochi had slipped off the table while trying to steal a cookie and accidentally knocked a container of flour onto the ground which she then began to throw the flour at Simon while he tried to catch her.

It was an odd event for Macaria, defiantly not something she expected, but she couldn't be angry about being covered with flour. It was a funny event to witness, and flour was easy to clean off clothes. Computer keyboards were another story.

"I apologize for all of that," Simon said as he and Macaria walked back into the building. He turned around and locked the door. Mochi sat on the floor and watched him as she began licking her paws. It seemed like she was preparing herself to run in case Simon decided to chase after her again. The moment he turned around, Mochi jumped.

"I hope you enjoyed every bite of that cookie because you're not getting anything else for the rest of the month," he sounded slightly irritated.

Mochi's eyes went white as she fell back and lay still on the floor. "Is she alright?" Macaria asked sounding worried.

Simon shook his head as he walked past the cat, "She's fine, just very dramatic." He walked behind the counter, "I'm done here, grab your stuff and we can get going," he said as he untied the apron from around his waist. "You too cat, get up before that couple stops by complains that you're here."

The mention about the couple had Mochi jumping onto her feet, folding her ears back, and huffing. It seemed like Mochi didn't like this couple either.

Macaria quickly packed up her laptop and slipped her backpack onto her shoulders. Simon and Mochi were now waiting by the door. He unlocked and opened the door for her. He followed her and closed the door behind them before locking it once more. The sun was beginning to rise causing the sky to glow pink and yellow. The temperature was slightly warmer than it was when she first left, and the air was fresh and crisp. There was enough light to see where they were going, but not enough for the streetlamps to turn off. The streets began to fill with cars while people were leaving their homes and enjoying their morning walks to work. It would be a perfect morning for Macaria is she wasn't so sore after the fight from earlier.

"Lead the way," Simon said as he touched the bell on Mochi's collar to get her attention. Mochi was perched on his shoulder and was staring at a bird pecking at some forgotten crumbs on the sidewalk. She shook her head and looked straight ahead after she heard the jingling sound from her bell. As she looked straight ahead, she shoved her paw against his cheek and pretended not to notice.

Macaria smiled, she liked the bond Simon and Mochi have. It almost reminded her of siblings. They walked to a crosswalk where they waited with a few other people. Macaria stood next to a little girl who was holding her mother's hand. The little girl looked up at Macaria, but once Macaria noticed and looked at her, the girl quickly looked away. Macaria turned to Simon as the light changed, singling it was safe to walk. "So, you really think I'm an unknown?"

"It adds up. I don't think it could have been anything else," Simon replied.

"What about that pure energy you mentioned earlier? What does that mean?"

He went silent for a moment, trying to find the best way to put his answer into words so she could understand. "When this energy is pure, it means its raw. Since that was your first time using an attack like that, you just let it all out at once instead of limiting how much energy you use," he said as he looked at Macaria who looked confused. He sighed, "Maybe I went a little too far."

"What's that supposed to mean?!" Macaria nearly yelled as she jumped in front of him and blocked his path. Simon tried to walk around her, but again she jumped in front of him.

"The information is going over your head. You know very little about this," he finally answered.

Macaria crossed her arms, "That's bold of you to assume, I know the basic knowledge of unknown abilities."

"Oh really," Simon said slowly with a smirk, "How many elements are there?"

Macaria was silent for a moment trying to remember the elements. "Five," she sounded confident. Simon shook his head, "Wrong. There's nine. Fire, water, nature, earth, ice, electric, wind, light, and shadow. I can see where you got five. You were thinking of fire, water, earth, light, and shadow. Those are the first five elements, but water, earth, and light were later broken down a bit and as a result, ice, nature, wind, and electric are now considered their own elements."

"Ah," Macaria covered her face with her hands, she felt embarrassed. Simon grabbed her shoulders and spun her around telling her to get over it and lead the way. Once they started walking again, she removed her hands from her face and opened her mouth to speak.

"Are you sure you want to ask another question?" Simon asked.

"Yes," Macaria answered.

"Are you sure?"

"Yes," Macaria said slowly this time. She wasn't sure why he was asking. "If there are nine elements, what element does your ability fall under? Your ability is something I've never seen before." Mochi began to quickly wave her paw in the air as if she was trying to warn her about something. Simon glared at Mochi which caused her to stop.

"It falls right between light and shadow," he said as he looked away from the cat. Simon then suddenly stopped and grabbed Macaria's arm and pulled her towards him. As she was about to ask what was wrong, he put a finger to her lips. After a few seconds, there was a sudden burst of coldness that filled her mouth and throat. She quickly pushed him away and began to cough. Simon watched as she fell to her knees and continued to cough. Macaria opened her mouth to speak, but no words came out. A confused look came across her face as Simon grabbed her arm and helped her up. Again, she tried to speak, but there was silence.

"You should learn not to ask too many questions. Don't worry, you'll be able to speak again in a few hours or until I decide to break the curse. In the meantime, you can lead the way in silence," Simon said with a smile on his face. Macaria frowned as she stormed off. What a bitch. I can't believe he did this to me. What kind of person does that?!

Simon continued to follow her from behind, he could tell she was angry at him. He didn't mind. Plenty of people, who weren't unknowns, asked him multiple questions about unknowns. Normally, he didn't mind sharing his knowledge with people, but most of the time, there was a certain question everyone eventually asked as the conversation when on.

Mochi folded her ears back and watched Macaria as she continued to walk ahead. Simon noticed and placed his hand on the side of Mochi's face. She nuzzled his hand. After a few moments, Mochi's ears shot up. A sharp pain bloomed in Simon's shoulder which snapped him out of his thoughts. Macaria had stopped walking and was staring at something on the concrete.

"What's," Simon began as he noticed theterrified look on her face and some drops of blood in front of them. They bothlooked down an alley to their right, it was pitch dark with a flickeringstreetlamp at the end. There seemed to be a person standing in the flickeringlight. "Keep walking," Simon said as she pushed her along while Mochi watchedbehind them to make sure whatever was in the alley didn't follow them. For therest of the walk, Macaria felt uneasy and walked close to Simon.