Previously:
... Jaxon and the other members of the Gifted Six signed up for a tournament that includes duels weakly. Nora and Jaxon continued to train with an underwater segment but Jaxon accidently froze the water with Nora in it...
I break through the layer of ice and pull myself onto the pool deck. Nora sits there, her eye brows raised. "Nice try." She smirks. "We'll try again tomorrow." And she stands up her height equivalent to my chest. Nora was short, and that must help with her 'signature move'.
"Show me your signature move again," I say out of nowhere while I focus on making my ice warmer and warmer.
Nora looks to me. "Why?" I shrug.
Nora walks to the center of the walk way. Her back is to me as her hands start to glow. She pushes herself off the ground creating a razor thin block of ice that she bounces off of. Her feet land on another shard of ice and I watch in awe as she twists in an arc. She lands a foot away from me and slips. I reach out my arms to catch her and pull her up.
She looks up at me, her eyes wide. "Thank you." And she rushes off to the female dressing room.
I walk my way to the male wash room, a fairly large area. There are two ways to enter, separated by a wall. I walk around it into a dark room. The lights flicker on and I take it in. Three sinks stand against the wall that separated the entryways and a large bench goes down the length of the room. The far end is made of stalls and another pair of sinks. I grab a towel and sit on the bench.
What had I just felt? Nora had slipped and fallen into my arms, yes, but when she had looked into my eyes, my heart skipped a beat. Her icy blue eyes, both calm and energetic, the color of the sea, the sky, ice, and tears.
I shake away the thought as another pair of eyes dance into my head. Roses. I smile at my girlfriend's dark blue eyes, the color of... the color of what? The darkest part of the ocean?
I push the thoughts out of my head as I dry off a bit and walk back into the pool.
Nora canceled the next training session. And the one after that. This was told to me by a note she had pushed under my door. And then she canceled training altogether. And I miss it. Two weeks pass, filled with the same laborious routine. Over the time, Ella and John had returned to being a couple again, and John seemed to at least make the effort to not be rude to me, which I ponder is the effect of Ella. His friends had also seemed to have left his side, though two still remained, one of them I had dueled, the other a red haired boy with a chiseled. He was tall about 6 foot, though he seemed to lack the usual very muscled tone of most people here. John also spent more time with Ella in public, and I had even walked past a small hidden area that I sometimes curled ice around my finger to see them making out passionately.
It was during that time the absence of a hand to hold really started to kick in. And though I had Rose we were a thousand worlds away.
Nora had also moved her seat in our classes and I now sat alone in Elemental Control, and she didn't speak to me at all during Elemental Attacks and P.E.
The start of the fourth week of school Mrs. Aneltt finally revealed the lists for the supposedly traditional duel teams were released.
I walk into the hub from the cafeteria to check to list. I was hoping at least one of the other Gifted Six members was on my team, though I knew it unlikely. I flip through the third year pamphlet. Going through the pages I scan for my name to find it on the last page. On the page are two groups only, the top one mine.
I read the names:
Fire: Leo Tomas
Water: Cassia Bristlewood
Earth: Cassian Thomson
Air: Chelsea Modig
Lightning: Mackenzie Hornblale
Ice: Jaxon Hill
PRACTICE TIME: 4:00 PM - 5:00 PM SAT.
I close my eyes and walk away. Though I was some what excited to meet the members of my group, I also was dreading the high chances they would be masochists with a compulsion to hate me. I had Elemental Control first thing today, for it was Monday, which meant I would get to see Nora. I hadn't spoken to her in two weeks, and the pain of the loss of friendship was growing. I climb the three flights of stairs and turn into the 'hang out' room that overlooked the hub below. I watch the small people walk to their classes and talking to the odd friend. The tree is alive with birds and butterflies their vibrant colors swarming around the tree like bees to a hive.
"It's my favorite place." A voice from behind says.
I turn to find John staring at me. I nod slowly.
"How are classes?" John asks slowly his eyes darting from the world below to my eyes.
"What do you want?" I question aggressively.
"Nothing," John says, his glassy blue eyes showing a sign of hurt. He then walks away leaving me alone.
Just because John had come out as bisexual didn't mean I was going to be all of a sudden nice to him. And just because John had some sort of bipolar issue with him talking to me didn't mean I was going to be nice to him. Sure he had saved Ella and me's life, but this was also the same person who made it so our lives were in more danger than usual.
Walking into the class room I sit in my usual spot, the chair beside me empty. Nora steps into the room and walks towards her own desk, only to pass it and sit in the back corner of the room.
The lesson starts, it's subject already known to me.
Saturday comes sooner than it should have. The week was quite boring, most of the topics already know to me. Nora hadn't said a word to me, and I doubted she will soon. I walk towards the training room, my hands grasping each other nervously, made invisible by the pocket surrounding them as I climb up to the second and a half floor (only accessible via stairs on the second floor) I climb up the ten stairs the lead me to the arena and walk in. Four others are already there, and one more person comes directly behind me.
"Let's form a circle and tell each other about ourselves." Calls a guy with long chocolate hair.
"Who made you the boss." Says another guy, he has dark skin and his hair is short, pretty much the polar opposite of the other guy.
"Ladies shut up." Says a girl with such deadly tone the two 'ladies' listen to her. She plays with Lightning in her small hands. Her hair is long and dyed red at the tips and she wears a green military jacket with combat boots and athletic tights.
We do eventually form a circle.
"I'm Cassian Thomson." Says the guy who had suggested we make a circle. "I control Earth." He stretches out his hand and tucks his finger in and then pushes them out. Two sticks push out of the dirt twisting around each other. It finishes twisting at head height and breaks off into six branches growing out. Twigs grow out of and they sprouting buds that turn into leaves in a matter of seconds.
The other members of the group nod their head in approval. "I'm Leo Thomas." Says the dark skinned boy. He sends a vengeful blast of fire that engulfs the tree in flame. The tree burns in the middle of the group slowly as a girl speaks:
"I'm Chelsea Modig." Says a girl with a Norwegian accent. "I control air." Her hair is short and wavy, going down to her shoulder. She twists her hands and sends a gust of wind blowing at the burning tree. The fire blows towers an area where no one stands. The fire dies down a bit though it still burns.
"I'm Mackenzie Hornblale." Says the girl with black and red hair. She strikes her hand through the air and sends lightning at the tree. The lightning causes the more flame to spark.
Then another girl steps forward.
"I am Cassia Bristlewood." She says. Her hair is blond and wavy like Chelsea's hair but goes down to the center of her back. She sends an arc of water from the waterfall behind me over to the tree.
Quickly I freeze the water as it coats the tree. "I'm Jaxon Hill," I say as if they didn't know my name.
Leo burns down the tree and snuffs his fire out with his powers and we get to training... or attempting to train.
"We should try to use our powers as a team, not just an individual," I suggest.
Chelsea and Cassia nod in agreement though the two other males continue to attack the wall lethally. Mackenzie stands in the corner picking at her nail like she has something better to do. She shifts her gaze to me.
"What?" She sneers.
"We're just doing some team exercises, would you like to join?" I ask.
"I don't need practice." She smirks and stalks out of the room. Leo and Cassian had now started to duel each other. I turn my head to see blasts of fire hitting an earth wall. It crumbles and flies at Leo only to be engulfed in flame. And send back at the earth boy. He swivels ducks under the flaming rocks twists and stomps his foot on the ground. Earth spikes burst from the ground and blast Leo off the floor.
Leo tumbles to the ground though stands swiftly. He sends an inferno that would charm anyone's skin. The fire blasts towards Cassian like a raging storm, and I step into the duel.
I swipe my arm up. A solid wall of ice rises from the ground. It's about a meter thick and seven feet high before the fire hits it. The fire spreads across the wall and I keep my hand up to keep the wall thickness. As the fire extinguished itself I shatter the wall and send its shards to the waterfall to melt.
Leo storms out of the room his hands on fire before the door he turns and sends a throwing ball of flame at both Cassian and I. The door slams as Chelsea blows the fire away.
"Someone has a temper," Cassia announces.
The four of us laugh. "We really should train as a group." Reasons Chelsea.
We all nod. "But whats the point if Mackenzie and Leo aren't here?" Cassia replies.
"Thank you by the way," Cassian says looking at me.
"I'm sure you could have done it,"I respond.
"You're right, but not after the move I had just done." He admits.
"I have to say Jaxon," Cassia says. "That was pretty impressive."
"I know," I smirk jokingly.
"Why are you such a conceded person." Chelsea turns to me aggressively.
"It was a joke." I reason.
"Sure," Chelsea smirks and walks off.
And three were left.
"We're never going to get anywhere like this." Cassia groans. "We're going to fail the tournament."
"You're probably right," Cassian says.
"Well if you hadn't tried to be a boss and aggravate Leo then maybe everything would be fine."
"Oh, so it's my fault?" Responds Cassian.
Cassia v.s. Cassian it was then...
"Hell yes," Cassia says, a German accent picking up in her voice.
"You're German?" I question.
"Is there a problem with that." Cassia turns to me. "Probably so, because Germany is a Death Hunter country, and you have to kill my family and I because it is your job."
"No-" I start.
"You see this." Cassia sends a slice of water that was oddly sharp enough to cut skin. Black blood oozes from her arm slowly.
"Black Blood." She spits. "You would kill me and my family if you had a chance." And she leaves.
"She's probably right." Cassian turns to me.
"She's not," I say looking to the ground.
"I'm never killing a Death Hunter unless it's a life or death situation," I say.
Cassian looks to me. "My brother is a Death Hunter."
"Are you?"
"No."
"How old is he?"
"Seventeen." And Cassian leaves.
Seventeen? That was still school age. And that pledge I had just made, to never kill a Death Hunter... I had a strong feeling that that would come back and haunt me.
"How's your group?" Denen questions me.
"Horrible," I reply with out lie. "How's yours?"
"Pretty good actually," Denen admits.
We sit on the floor of his dorm room. The Lightning common room was almost as cool as the Fire common room. The roof was made of storm clouds the zaps of Lightning flashed in. A large pillar stood in the middle of the room, that the longer Lightning bolts would be attracted to. The dorm rooms were quite boring though, the same as my own (with yellow furnishing) but with a window over looking jagged rocks.
"We got a solid hour of training in." Tells Denen.
"My team had fifteen minutes of arguing, not to mention a fight." I sigh.
"If it comes down to it, I'm sure you can get your group through by yourself." Denen comforts.
I shrug, probably true. A duel would be taking place tomorrow at 12:35 for my group. We were apparently going against one of Johns 'ex-friends' or that was at least what Ella had told me.
"Who's the strongest on your team, besides you of course?" I question.
"Probably Mikaela Flane. She's a water Elemental." Denen says. "She's also really cute."
"What color hair?" I question.
"A mix of blond and brown, and her eyes are like the sky."
"Ask her out," I suggest.
"She hates me," Denen says sadly.
I laugh. "Does her blood run black?" I ask.
He nods.
I got to sleep in today luckily. Denen and I ha talked until curfew, and then I had gone to sleep. My feet touch the cold stone floor. It was getting hotter and hotter and I had now made my way to wearing shorts and t-shirts for it was already October. The Gifted Six and I had booked our tickets for our plane through the office, which was kind (unlike the rest of the school) and was happy to keep our flight secret. It wasn't that paparazzi would attack us, it was more a safety per caution that Darkness didn't know. An attack in the sky would be fatal and the chance of survival would be slim, even though Aira would be with us.
I walk into the cafeteria. Sitting at the table Haley had made I serve myself a muffin and a smoothie, which was now my regular meal, and eat slowly. Though I had slept in I was still sleep deprived by force, and the lack of coffee in the cafeteria had finally driven Ella and me to go for coffee. We walk along the path. A light drizzle of rain falls from the light gray sky. The sun hides behind a large plume of smoke like a cloud that slowly makes its way towards the area. The waves of the village lake crash against the sandy bank, some kids, not yet of school age twist water through the air. I knew back at the Academy the few kids who lived in the village were given education by the Academy, but with Math and Science, English and S.S. not on my schedule I wonder if they even have human classes.
"Do they have human classes?" I question Ella.
She nods. "Yes, but they are taught later in the year. And because they have the odd little gaps in the school year instead of large gaps it's taught in what they call term 4."
We enter the same coffee shop we had the previous week, this time, not as many eyes diverting to us.
"Caramel Machiatto?" Ella asks me.
"Sure," I say with a smile.
I go fishing out my wallet. "I forgot my wallet," I say with a sigh.
"Don't worry." Ella shrugs. "I'll pay."
"No, you don't have to-"
"I'll have two Caramel Machiatto's." Ella orders.
A blond haired boy nods and prints out a small piece of paper and put it on the counter behind him. We move to the waiting area.
"You know you really didn't have to do that," I say.
"It's what friends do." Is all she says and she hands me my drink from the counter.
I walk down the old metal stairs. It was currently 12:20, so if everyone in the group was here everything would be... alright...
Stepping down onto the dirt floor I walk to the change room door and step in. The three people I expected were here. Chelsea, Cassia, and Cassian. But Mackenzie and Leo were unsurprisingly nowhere to be seen. Cassia had already gotten changed so Chelsea went to the girl change area and Cassian and I went to the male side.
"Is Leo going to show up?" I say slipping into the suit I had brought from my dorm. "I don't know?" Cassian sighs. At least Cassian and I seemed to be friends.
Each student had two different tech suits, one white with gray hexagon print, with two light blue stripes going down the side of the arms and legs, and a black variation with a solid thicker line going down the side. Each was tightly fitted and were apparently fire proof and would protect us from any 'serious' harm.
Right now I was in the black suit, though I had never warned it I already liked it more than the white. Black was better for sneaking around.
The door slams shut and Leo brushes past me to change into his clothes. Cassian and I look at each other and he whispers to me:
"Someone must be going through that time of the month again."
I snort.
"Shut ass wipes Leo says from the change area a ball of fire hurling at us. I snuff it out with a plume of icy power.
"Please get ready." A speaker says from the hidden speakers above.
"The match will start in 1 minute."
Leo, Cassia, Chelsea, Cassian, and I join each other at the door.
Where was Mackenzie?
There you guys go! I love giving you guys cliff hangers!
So as of the 1st I will be taking a 9 hour flight to London UK! I'm super excited and I will probably get tons of inspiration! Anyways... I have already written a chapter for next Friday, and I am hoping to write another chapter on the flight there. If not then I will post it ASAP, and will also post a message on my profile.
Question of the Chapter:
So far who do you hate most out of Leo, Cassian, Cassia, Chelsea, Mackenzie, and Jaxon?
(Mackenzie, she is just the arrogant type of person I hate)