Coral
Cammy seemed nice enough. Xenus had told me all of these stories about how witch-hunters were evil and stuff but I was definitely enjoying myself right now. I tried to act normal in front of them, I didn't want them to see my fear. It would only lead them to them figuring out about me and ultimately, my death. I was sure that if I just didn't use my shapeshifting, they wouldn't take a second glance at me. I could help them in a way I had only dreamed of.
I got out of the car and put my air pods back into my blazer pocket. I walked alongside Cammy to the train. It was just like any of the others that led through cities and countries. A large tunnel with a long cylinder train that when powered on, could travel faster than most things you have ever seen. The only difference about this train was it was guarded by about twenty witch-hunters. Cammy told me that all capable witch-hunters took a shift here for an hour. There was a huge timetable for it in the mess hall.
At least it's only an hour, I thought. Any more and I'd fall asleep on duty.
I nudged Cammy as I stepped onto the platform. "Hey, how long is the ride to Tassie?"
He frowned. "Not as long as the car ride, that's for sure."
I laughed. "Right, that's reassuring. If it was for that long I think I'd be a corpse before I even reached the place!"
He smiled, "Lucky it's not then."
By the time they'd stepped onto the train, the doors closed right behind them and the train was already speeding through the tunnel, the blue lights that were in the tunnel every hundred metres seeming like a blur.
I took my phone out of my pocket and put in the password I had memorised after doing it billions of times.
8 7 5 1 0 8 9
Opening my phone I dialled Harvey's number without a second thought. The phone picked up on the second ring.
"Oh my gosh, Coral? Are you okay? I've been worried about you all morning but you're basically a living hero to the school. Everyones talking about you."
"That's cool," I answered. "So, uh, are you ringing me in class? If this is a bad time I'm happy to–"
"No, no! It's fine. When I started to feel the phone vibrate I went to my locker saying I needed to get my drink bottle."
I grinned. "Damn, which teacher believed that one?"
"Well, they're all letting me do anything today, I think they feel sorry for me," Harvey explained. "Anyway, where are you?"
"I'm on one of the tunnel trains heading right for Tassie as we speak."
"Do you want me to send you anything, like, uh, food or..."
"No! I'm fine man," I assured Harvey. "Why would you send me something? They have everything you need down there."
"Well," he answered meekly. "You saved my life this morning Coral. Or at least you saved me from having major injuries these past few months and, now it's like I know the truth about the world - I was told about witches and witch-hunters like it was no big deal, and I know I would have been kept in the dark my whole life unless you did what you did today. I want to return that favour some way or the other."
"Then just assure me you won't get beat up by those kids again, that should be enough," I answered. "I was worried as hell for you this morning and didn't even think before using my powers."
"Oh right, your gifts!" Harvey exclaimed.
Coral cringed, partly from the fact that he had just been shouted at right into his eardrum and because just hearing someone say he had a gift, they both sounded so wrong. He had a curse, and that knowledge would never leave him, even when he became a witch-hunter and fought for the best of humanity.
"What other gift do you have? Have you already know about your gifts all these years?" Harvey asked.
"Well... yeah. I just wanted to lead a normal life so I didn't tell anyone about my powers."
Partly true. That, and the fact I could be found out and killed, I thought.
"My other gift is fire, but it doesn't do much."
"Are you kidding?" Harvey said, incredulous. "Fire's amazing dude, you could knock down a witch with that. And then with your healing, you'd practically be impossible to beat!"
"Yeah, I guess so," I answered, trying to sound enthusiastic.
That wasn't true really, I needed energy and a few seconds to get healed, if I was given one life-threatening injury I probably wouldn't be able to use any of my powers.
Curses, I heard myself correct.
"Yeah, well, you better get back to class, I'll call you tomorrow," I didn't feel like talking anymore.
"Okay," Harvey sounded disappointed. "See you then."
"See ya," I hung up the phone and took a deep breath.
"You okay?" Cammy asked.
I smiled. "Yeah I'm fine, just feels weird about starting a new life. It'll be so different."
Cammy put an arm around my shoulder. "It's fine, you'll get used to it."
I shouldered him teasingly. "You won't though, you're gonna have a hard time trying to keep me in line."
Cammy yawned and wiped his eyes like he was tired. "Nah, I'll just leave that up to Jade and her belt of weapons."
I grinned, "you wish."
The train ride seemed to go on for ages. I played music through my air pods some of the way, did some games on my phone and I'd just been chatting with Cammy for about half an hour when the door to our part of the train opened and both me and Cammy froze.
We watched the door knob rattle a few times before it opened swiftly, revealing behind it a guy that looked about three years older than us, just standing there in the doorway. His light brown hair was cut short and even, like a commander or something. He had light blue eyes that looked straight at me, unwavering and not betraying any sign of emotion or thoughts he was having. His mouth was set in a straight line like we were in a life or death situation. It didn't help that he towered over me and looked like some sort of war professional.
"Whoa," I muttered. "You need to chill out."
Cammy stood and looked in confusion at the new guy. "Cason, what are you doing here? I thought you were still in Tasmania with the others. Weren't you meant to represent our squad at that meeting?"
"I let the twins take my place for the time being," Cason answered in a very matter-of-factly tone. "Jade needed me here to see the new recruit and give her a report on where he's at."
"So what have you been doing the past hour on this train?"
Cason shrugged. "Studying, thinking of battle strategies, preparing the test for the new recruit based on his powers, what else?"
I looked between Cammy and Cason in confusion before crossing my arms over my chest. "Okay, hold up a second. So this dude Cason, what is he? Like a witch-hunter general or something? Also, what's the squad, why do I need to take a test, I really hate them, and why the heck is this Cason dude even here?"
Cason turned his unwavering gaze to me. "So this is the new recruit?"
"Yep," Cammy agreed. "Just got here today but he's a load. Even managed to get Jade annoyed as hell, especially when he didn't react to her superior attitude."
"Well, you have a lot of information to tell him." Cason looked at me thoughtfully, "Basically, I am not a war general, I am one of the members of the squad you're about to be assigned to. The squad is a group of witch-hunters from all around the world that were born in the same year. There aren't as many as usual in our squad though. Usually, a squad would have around twenty or so members the same age. Our age group only has 10 members but is about to have 11 with you included. I'm here today because I am the student leader of this squad and I have been asked to conduct your test. Don't worry if you hate tests, this will be much different from school tests as it will be based on your powers and how well you can use them. It is a necessary thing to do for each new recruit so we can see what level you are at and how best to improve your powers to the best of your ability."
"Okay!" I clapped my hands together. "Didn't really need the long speech but let's go! It's a better way to spend the ride than sitting there being bored."
"Yeah," Cammy agreed. "I'll help you Rock, just need to go ask Jade if we can begin."
When Cammy had gone I turned to Cason. This was starting to get really confusing now. Was this guy Cason, Rock or what? I hadn't even been expecting to take a test. What if in the test they'd find out I was a witch? My heart beat quicker, why did I even heal Harvey? That was the worst decision of my life and would now probably be one of the last as well. They were going to kill me when they figured out my identity, it was only a matter of time... calm down, I told myself. Even if I do die at least it's not next to Xenus's stinking face. I can get through this. I just have to act normal.
"So, what do I call you?" I asked Cason. "Like, Rock or Cason or..."
"Well, Rock is the shortened name I was given."
"So it's your nickname?"
"Some would say. It is a name based on personality and emotions."
"Yeah, well, it does sound a lot like you."
Cason looked at me sharply. "Do you have a... 'nickname?'"
"Well, my name's Coral so maybe you can just call me bleached."
Before Cason could say anything more Cammy came back in. "Jade says we're all set," he told us. "Let's do this."
The test was different from what I expected. It started off with them seeing how hot I could make my fire, which ended up to be 4000° Celcius, my fire was so hot it turned blue. Then we ran a fitness test for my running, (on a treadmill since we were on a train, of course) a test to see how much I could heal (which I was also pretty good at) and then what I would do in case of scenarios. I was okay at this, but I still wasn't the smartest so I doubted it would be top level or anything. When we'd finished all of that Cason wanted to see how accurate I was with my fire which I even impressed myself with. I managed to make shapes out of flames and through them right at the bullseye, it was just like throwing a large ball. Cammy seemed pretty happy at the end and slapped me on the back.
"Damn, you did good. Have you practised your gifts before?"
I grinned at him. "What do you think? I knew about my powers for years and didn't even try them out till now?"
He shrugged. "Okay, my bad. But you never know."
"So that's all of it? It's all done?" I asked, turning to Rock.
He shook his head. "No, you have one last section of the test to complete. Maybe one of the hardest yet."
"I can handle it," I answered with a sly grin. "I'll run through this next drill easily."
"No, it's not like that," Cammy explained. "It's not a physical test, it's more of a mental one."
I hid my fear with an easy smirk but couldn't help myself asking. "What do you mean mental?"
Rock met my gaze, his eyes looking right into mine as if he were trying to search through my mind, finding my deepest secrets. "The next part of the test is one of the most challenging, it makes you vulnerable and is a protocol to make sure you are no threat." he paused. "The next part of the test is the Haven of Truth."
Even those few words were enough to make me shiver.
A/N: Welp, don't get too mad about me from the cliffhanger guys, there's lots more coming at you! >:D Anyways, have an awesome day! <3