An Unlikely Friend. part 1

Chapter 17: A Disappointing Purchase

Nero

Nero slips out of bed and into his clothes as the sun is just beginning to break the night’s hold on the sky. He sneaks out of his room where the other boys are sleeping and down the hallway where he sees Thea sitting on the stairs.

She turns towards him and he freezes. “What are you doing Nero?”

“Nothing… what are you doing?”

Thea looks down. “I had another bad dream… or at least I think it was. I just know it didn’t feel good.”

Nero sits next to her on the stairs. “How long have you had them?”

“They started when we ran away… Sometimes they’re not so bad, but sometimes they wake me up.”

“I’m sorry. Remember it’s only a dream and it can’t hurt you. No matter how horrible it is.”

Thea nods. “It just felt so real. I was talking to a man that wanted me to run away so that I could help him. I wanted to so badly even though something about it felt wrong…” They sit in silence for a while until Thea turns to him. “You haven’t been around much… I miss hanging out with you. What have you been up to?”

“I don’t know… just stuff.”

“Yeah but what do you do in the mornings by yourself? I always hear you coming back before our morning exercise and you’re acting different.”

“Uhh… I just kinda go to the park… and run around a bit…”

“Could I come?”

“Uhh…” Nero looks down. Would it show up if she were with me? “It’s not really that fun. It’s something I like to do just by myself.”

“Okay,” she says with a tinge of hurt. Thea stands up and walks back to her room.

Maybe I should have let her come… It takes him a moment to collect himself before he leaves.

*****

Nero runs through the park and grabs the broomstick that he stashed in the bush the day before. No sooner does he have it in his hand, a bolt of energy zips over his head. He blocks the second and third, and rolls out of the way of a fourth, kneeling behind a tree. The broomstick vibrates gently in his hand.

This must be Aether... Could I use it? He shifts his perspective and sees that the stick is glowing with a green Aether and when he relaxes, he notices that somewhere in his mind, he is resisting the Aether. He stops fighting it and a tingling flows through his hand, up his arm, and under his scalp, invigorating him as it goes.

He jumps out from behind the tree with an excitement that carries him well past his balance and expected strength. He tumbles to the ground and lands on his feet. The Entity is flickering in brightness.

What are you flickering about? “Think that's funny?”

Nero jumps after the Entity and they begin to spar and play at an increased level. The Entity easily compensates to Nero's new speed and strength.  

*****

After Nero's exercise with Sosimo he hurries back to Saraf's, well exhausted from his morning activities. When he arrives, Saraf is just showing out an exceptionally large Borukin man and the girl that Nero has seen leaving his shop before. The girl walks past and away from Nero without paying him any mind, but the man looks at Nero briefly before he follows after her.

Saraf beckons Nero in. “You’re breathing awfully hard boy, are you sickly?”

“I just ran over here so I wouldn’t be late. Who were those two?”