The Search For Peace

Chapter 8

Kevin Jennings. An intelligent young man, if not for the few screw looses he had. One of those was talking in various accents, and the other, was having an impossible crush on Ultima Silverblitz. 

"So what you're saying is..." He proceeded to say in an Australian accent, the four of them standing in the school courtyard, no one but them there in the after-school hours. "You don't know how to use your powers at all?"

"Nope." Alyssa replied with conviction as she stood in front of the boy by the fountain, and his smile slipped. 

"I see..." From the corner of his eye, he stole a glance of a bored looking Ultima, not bothering to look at the excited idiot beside her. "While I am touched that my dear Ultima recommended me, I'm not sure I'll be able to meet her expectations."

"Ah, put a lid on it, ya' stupid drama queen." Harmony snarled. "You're a G3, for god's sake."

 Alyssa was confused. "A G3?"

"It's a person of high ranking, basically." Ultima answered her, pointing to herself. "I'm also one."

With a proud smile, Kevin added: "That's right. And if our friend Harmony here had tried a little harder, she would've been one too."

Although, he ultimately regretted it, when an awfully dirty shoe came his way and smacked him in the face. 

"Anyways..." With an imprinted cheek, he faced the oblivious girl in front of him and sighed, ditching the accents for the time being. "Judging by what I've seen so far, you're clueless about this, so I'll have to start from the beginning. You see, we Virgo clan members have the power to connect to nature, with the energy within ourselves. Well, actually, we are nature itself. We talk to it, produce it, and manipulate it." In the palm of his hand, a light shone, and the stem of a plant slowly grew out until it was long enough to reach his feet. "You just have to learn to embrace it."

"Uuuuhhh........" Alyssa darted her eyes from the boy to the vine. "All confusing things aside, how do I do that?" She gestured with her hands.

"Ugh, kids." Kevin mumbled as his shoulders slumped. "Fine, then. I want you to make a vine with your hands, just like I did." He ordered, crossing his arms.

"Wait, how?" 

To that, he shrugged. "Just do it."

"Aw, c'mon, now your'e just being mean!" Harmony made a face at the boy, but he paid her no heed. 

Though despite her doubts, Alyssa held out her hand and closed her eyes, picturing a god forsaken weed gushing out of it. But she had to do more than that, she knew, so she replayed the odd things the boy had said earlier, and unintentionally squirmed on the spot.

"It's like she has to go to the bathroom." Ultima remarked, her friend bursting out with laughter.

"Focus, child, focus!" Kevin's accents had returned, this time in Scottish. "Let the energy flow to one point!"

"I'm....trying...!" The girl held her breath, and, after struggling a bit more, she finally felt something in her palm. Opening one eye, she peeked at the little flower poking out it's little head, and gasped with joy. "Oh my god, I did it! I really did it!"

"Yes! Bravo, child, bravo!" As she and Kevin had a little celebration over the bud, Ultima laid eyes on the girl that had suddenly appeared behind them. Her fists were balled, her green eyes shooting daggers at the back of her friend that was jumping about. Juliet Abbot was definitely pissed. 

And Ultima was about to warn them, too, but was cut short when she sneered: "Just what the hell are you doing?"

Alyssa's head jerked at the sound of her voice. "Juliet? I...I thought you went home already..?"

"I decided to wait for you." All stood silent, the girl's demeaning frown enough to keep them quiet. "Are you crazy?" Her accusation was directed at Kevin, who raised a questioning eyebrow at her. "Teaching her something like that in broad daylight. What if someone sees you?"

"It's okay, though." Ultima got up and walked towards her. "It's not like nobody knows what we are."

"Well, do you think they accept us for what we are?" She pressed her heel on the ground firmly and tilted her head, her twisted hairdo falling to one side. Her stare was holding, as if to intimidate the black haired girl facing her, but she just stared harder. 

Meanwhile, Harmony and Alyssa gulped, wondering when this staring contest would end. And finally, someone spoke.

"Now, now," Kevin clapped his hands together and beamed, "let's not bicker like preschoolers who stole each other's candy." Ultima spared him a glare, wondering where in the world he got those silly expressions from. Even so, it did help break the tension.

"Whatever, I'm going home!" Juliet declared to no one in particular, before swiftly turning and heading the other way.

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"I really can't thank you guys enough for today." Alyssa all but bowed at the two girls, the school gates bathed in an orange hue by the sunset. 

"Don't worry, we had fun." Harmony showed her a wave of her hand. While she and Ultima had a ride and lived close by, Alyssa had to take the subway to get home.

Concerned, Ultima took out her phone. "Just in case something happens again, I think we should exchange numbers."

"Oh, you're right! I can make a group chat too, since I probably wont have time to message the both of you individually."

She snorted at that. "You're awfully prepared."

The girl laughed sheepishly, scratching the back of her head. "You can never be too careful, right?"

Although, when she sat down all alone on one of the benches in the station, she mentally kicked herself for saying that. Even though she usually went home like this, the eerie quiet shrouding the train tracks and the subway was beginning to freak her out. "I-I know!" She stammered despite speaking to no one but herself, and pulled out her phone from the pocket of her bubbly jacket. "I'll add Juliet to the group chat, too!"

But as soon as she did, a shadow appeared by one of the brick pillars not too far off. She looked up, but saw nothing as far as her gaze took her. The sky was darkening, her train later than usual. Gingerly getting onto her feet, she stepped up to the yellow bar and poked her head out, checking for any signs of a train coming through the tunnel.

The girl stared anxiously at the screen of her phone, a chill running down her spine. She didn't want to believe it, but she could feel that someone was behind her. The sound of the person's breathing shook her ears, her heart racing as she started to type something with trembling fingers.

But, before she could finish, a rough hand grabbed her from the mouth, muffling her scream as it pulled her into the darkness.