Year: 3205
The Military Academy
Breeze:
It happened again. I can't seem to get that moment out of my head. It appears in my head the same way that you would feel a sudden stab in your chest. The moment when you hear or see a human-body turn to dust, the moment that you see your own friend and Elemental partner, burn your Senior to the unrecognizable. The worst part about it all is that she doesn't even know what she's done so I can't tell her about what's actually bothering me. I can't share my dreams or struggles...I have to lock her out of my head because if I do share it with her, I'll also be sharing it with him – the person responsible.
Of course, it doesn't take a genius to see that something's going on. Aqú has pointed it out that if one looks close enough, one will see that something's bothering me so it was only a matter of time before Blaze mentioned it. She's not stupid at all. It's been two whole months since everything happened, and during the first month, she kept asking what was going on inside my head. She noticed that I was locking her out and she wanted to know why. I never gave her a straight-forward answer. I just kept on locking her out while she was standing right in front of me.
Eventually, during this past second month, she's given up. It's like she doesn't even care about what's going on, which on one side is good because blocking someone out takes up a lot of energy, but at the same time I find myself wishing that she tried harder, that she didn't give up because normally I know she isn't a quitter. She's supposed to be such a pain that I eventually just tell her to make her shut up about it. However, I am slightly afraid about what will happen if I do, but then again...the longer I keep this from her, the worse that reaction is going to get.
After the second night down in the armory, the Seniors moved all of us over to a more suitable area for a larger amount of Elementals to be spending their nights. It didn't take as long as most of us thought. Who would want a bunch of Elementals sleeping down in the armory in the first place? Blaze and I are still sticking to Rain and Ember, but we're split in who we choose to spend our time with. I spend more time with my own brother than Ember, while Blaze seems to connect more with Ember. I'm guessing it's got something to do with them being girls...I don't really know.
I'm careful about my surroundings, that's for sure. I talk a lot with Aqú, whom I can tell anything and everything to, and my brother, whom I can almost tell anything to. He doesn't know about Senior Pool being dead or the fact that Blaze was manipulated by the Grand Master to kill him. I don't even know if I should. I'm afraid that it'll put him in danger and I don't want to be responsible for that. However, he's good at dragging those things out of me, so I'm guessing that's only a matter of time.
Right now, I'm sitting up on the mattress, slightly looking over at Blaze who's holding the melted necklace in her open hand next to her head. I remember how I found it in what was left of Senior Pool's hand after Blaze burned him to dust. She thought she had lost it. She 'woke up' from her sleep and she thought she had lost it, but I placed it right next to her mattress after returning from the site. She must've had some thoughts about her necklace being so burned and nearly ruined when it just lied there right next to her, especially if she doesn't remember anything. I haven't asked her about it though. I've tried to enter her mind, but she's more guarded than ever, even against me. But, I fear that there's a certain someone that can still breach her blockades.
I can't keep sitting here, rambling on with my thoughts. This happens every night. If I try to just lie back down, I'm not gonna sleep so I usually take a walk. I carefully sneak out of my bed, grab my boots and sneak my way down this open area, clear of beds before I get to the door, sneak out and stop by one of the hallways. This is where I always put my shoes on before I keep on walking. They are noisy bastards that's for sure so I've got to be careful with them. Usually there's nobody here so I put them on and start walking.
There's no place else in the Military Academy, where I can focus my thoughts so directly as here. All of the images from back then reappear in my head, so clear but yet so blurry. It's almost like I was right here watching everything, but still missing something. I focused so much on Senior Pool's death that I feel like I've missed out on something else that happened at the same time. I've mentioned this to Aqú, but he's not the wisest guy I've ever met so I don't talk too much about it. Either it's like he doesn't really know, or he does, but doesn't tell me for some reason.
No matter what the reason for that is, I play around with those thoughts inside my head, as guarded as I possibly can be. I have noticed from time to time that something or someone has been trying to enter my head, slip past my defenses and gain access to my thoughts and memories, but my defenses have been solid enough to keep whoever or whatever it is, out. Senior Pool taught me some valuable tricks that I now stick by because they work so efficiently. Obviously, I have suspicions about who this somebody is, but I haven't seen him around lately. Either way, I'm almost certain that when we meet face to face, that'll be enough to tell him that I will know that he knows that I know.
"You do a lousy job at trying to sneak out at night, little brother." I turn around surprised to see Rain leaning against the frame of the opening. I'm standing a few meters away from him. "I consider myself to have been pretty good this past couple of months..." I point out, but he shakes his head before I even finish. "Nope...I've heard you every single time." He answers before he walks up to me. "I'm a light-weight when it comes to sleep, little brother. I've heard you every single time. I've followed you, but never walked up to you before now." He goes on. "I've been curious about what you've been doing around these hours but by the looks of it...it's not much."
I take a deep breath as I look back towards the pile of dust that looks more like normal sand now. I hear him walk up next to me after a moment. "What are you even looking at here, little brother?" He asks me. He's been curious about my distant figure lately. As I've mentioned earlier, I haven't told him much and I'm struggling to keep it that way. "There's just this recurring dream and it's got something to do with this room. There's nothing more to it than that. A few minutes here usually does the trick." I answer, but he shakes his head again. "More like a couple of hours..." I turn my head towards him.
"You're holding back on me, little brother. I can see it in your eyes despite of how well you close your mind from everyone." He starts before he takes a deep breath. "Like I said on the craft heading here, I know you're on a specific path that is different from mine, but I can see when that path weighs down on you, possibly more than you can handle on your own." I take a deep breath to myself. What do I do? Do I tell him everything? Do I tell him that Blaze murdered Senior Pool under the Grand Master's influence and make him a target too? As much as I don't want to tell him anything, he's not gonna stop until I do.
Rain:
He looks tormented by the responsibility that he shouldn't be having at this point in his life. I can tell by the look in his eyes how much it weighs down on him. He's avoiding my gaze and avoiding my questions. He knows I'm right. He's not a stupid one, that much I've come to learn lately. The only thing is, I can see him battling himself over whether or not he wants to tell me. A part of me has actually been hoping that we've grown close enough to trust each other again. The first three years in the Northern Academy obviously didn't do much to help on that end, but since we left, he's grown, I've grown...we're somewhat back to being brothers again. For some reason he still doesn't let me all the way in.
"You know, little brother, whatever it is that you're trying to keep away from me, will be visible to anyone looking for it in you. If you're in trouble with someone, like say the Grand Master that I know you feel shady about it, he's going to find out. If I were you, I'd like someone to have my back." I go on as he turns his head slightly towards me. "Someone does have my back already, Rain." He answers. "Great, then who? I know it isn't Blaze because you two hardly speak to each other...at least not since Blaze gave up trying to get inside your head." I go and I know I'm hitting the nail spot on as I see his facial expression and hear his deep sigh.
"I can't tell you who it is, Rain. It's for your own good. The less you know about everything, the better." He answers as I sigh to myself. This isn't supposed to be the way things go down. "That makes my big-brother-role a little hard to perform. I'm supposed to be the one protecting you, not the other way around." I cross my arms in front of my chest to prove a point and make him break at the same time. However it doesn't quite work. He's quite intent and headstrong on not telling me. As much as I want him to be this strong, he makes me slightly frustrated.
"And you've been doing a great job at that, haven't you? For quite some years already..." He answers back sarcastically. Wow, ouch. Something is definitely bothering him. He would never attack me like that. "...at least I succeeded to a decree with what I was trying to do, which was making you stronger on your own. Unfortunately, our bond clearly doesn't contain an ounce of trust towards me..." I answer rather bluntly as I find myself giving up and I'm about to walk away. "I do trust you..." I hear from him. I stop for a moment before I turn around to see how desperate he actually is.
"It doesn't really show, Breeze. I've opened up to you, I told you things that I had heard because I thought those things would spark something in you, and clearly it has. However, what you've got going on inside your head doesn't come out to me. If you really did trust me, you would've told me what was going on with you." I answer. He's shaking his head before I even finish my sentence. "Rain, I do trust you. It's just that I don't want to involve you in this and put you in danger...the Grand Master doesn't mess around if he wants to take someone out. He'll be sure to do it." He answers.
"What the hell have you gotten yourself involved in, little brother?" I ask him exasperated as I walk over to him. He keeps his mouth shut for a moment. I don't think he expected me to be so direct, but I was. He's staring at this big pile of dust right in front of us. "Something way bigger than any of us dared to imagine." He answers as I see this sadness in his eyes. "Breeze, tell me, what's happened? You look like you're mourning someone by the way you're looking at that pile of dust." I answer. That's when I see something different. It's almost like I've offended him.
"Senior Pool is dead..." He says unexpectedly. "What?" That's my first natural reaction to his words. Pool came here with us. How is he suddenly dead? I mean, sure it's been two months and I haven't seen him. I didn't really expect to see much to him while being here. "Senior Pool is dead. He's been dead for the past two months." Breeze goes on as he looks at me. In his eyes I see something, a rage that is ready to serve up some elemental storms someone's way. "How do you even know that?" I ask him after a while. "Because I saw and heard it happen from right behind the wall by the opening...he was burned to death. The pile of dust over there...that's what's left of him."
I turn back around to look at it. Damn, I've been such a crown-idiot. "Breeze..." I let out before I turn my head back towards him. "Why didn't you tell me about this? This is not something you carry around on your own..." I ask him, both in frustration and shock. "I wasn't supposed to tell anyone, Rain, and now I've told you." He goes on, but he confuses me. "So Blaze doesn't know?" I sense something build up inside my chest, but I force it back. "Breeze, she's been wondering where the hell he's been all this time! She's waiting for him to come back because she needs to talk to him. You've got to tell her!" I let out immediately.
He turns panicky the moment I say that, and man, I'm just getting more and more confused by him. "No! Rain, no, you can't go and tell her. You need to trust me." He almost pleads. "What's gotten into you, little brother? She's got the right to know!" I answer at first as I just look at him before turning around, about to make that walk when he grabs a hold of my arm. "You need to trust me and not tell her. Her subconsciousness is unstable. If she finds out, she'll lose control and kill us both or worse..." He lets out. "What can possibly be worse?" I ask almost too smugly I sense.
"If she knows, the Grand Master knows. Rain...he can't know that either of us knows this." He answers. What does he have to do with this? "Breeze, what's his involvement in all of this?" I ask at first. "Why can't we tell Blaze about Senior Pool and how is the Grand Master involved in this?" There are two heavy questions in there, but I know he has the answer to the both of them. This is bigger than I originally thought. Slowly, I'm getting the feeling that Senior Pool wasn't just randomly killed.
"Blaze can't know that Senior Pool is dead because..." He then starts. I sense my heart pound in my chest. "Why, Breeze?" I ask him as his silence is too much to cope with right now. "...because she was the one that killed him. She doesn't know it herself, but she did." He answers. "Wait, she killed him?" I ask him in shock. He nods his head weakly. "But how...how doesn't she know of it? How is that even possible?" I ask. That's when Breeze immediately looks me dead in the eye.
"The Grand Master mind-manipulated her into doing it..."
A/N: Here we go again folks! Back to our Elemental favorites and non-favorites! What is your take on the first chapter to the sequel? :D