Standing alone in the crowded school entrance I tapped my feet impatiently as I waited for Natalie to arrive, while keeping an eye out for Fred Bowen to see if either of them were in the crowd that were leaving through the school’s entrance. I had everything planed to the tiniest detail today, both my visit and my little plan to bring Fred Bowen out of his egotistic shell.
Originally I had asked Owen for a favor to ask Natalie out for this trip to Pax; however, or shall I say, fortunately, that poor fellow who got froze by Fred Bowen actually manned up and asked Natalie to go with him. After a little prompting from me Natalie agreed that she would go with him. The thought of how well things have been working out brought a smile to my face. Although I felt bad for that poor guy, he really likes Natalie. But what I was doing is for the greater good, so he would just have to find some other girl to like. And since he actually likes her, the whole thing wouldn’t come across as a set-up.
I glanced at my watch and frowned. If they don’t hurry up I would end up spending the whole day on this and not have time to sightsee.
“So where do you want to go?” I heard a voice asked behind me and I spun around, spotting Natalie and the guy who risked his neck (albeit unknowingly) to ask her out. The question was asked by the poor boy and Natalie shrugged in respond. I could feel that she was distracted, trying to spot Fred Bowen amidst the crowd.
Feeling the familiar icy presence by the edge of the hall I turned to see that, the devil himself had indeed just entered the hallway. I wasn’t sure if he knew about Natalie’s little date with Hamish (yes, that’s his name. I nearly choked on my own laughter when I found out), but I was hoping he hadn’t yet because I would love to see his reaction when he finds out.
Fred was looking around the crowd for Natalie. He actually sent her a note telling her to meet him in a café when they reach Pax separately; unfortunately for him I happened to stumble upon the note in front of her door before she saw it and destroyed it. If he wasn’t going to confess his feelings to Natalie, he wasn’t going to get a date with her.
Fred Bowen spotted the pair when the two of them were leaving through the main entrance. He looked positively livid; a very bizarre look for him considering that he was an ice Elementalist. I had to cover my mouth to stop myself from laughing out loud.
All three of them were leaving through the entrance and I quickly sign my name on the sign-out sheet before making my way out. I kept a fair distance behind Fred Bowen, so it wouldn’t look suspicious; hopefully everyone was in an excited mood and nobody had questioned why I was not with my friends.
It was a beautiful day, not a cloud in sight with the temperate below 20 degree Celsius. It reminded me a lot of my last day in London Citybase. My mind began to wonder; were my parents doing okay? How was little Dan? Has he grown taller? And Elizabeth, was she okay? I got some e-mails from her time to time, has she moved on? What about Viktor? The head boy that was willing to sacrifice himself to safe the rest of us. If it weren’t for him I probably wouldn’t be here.
I strode along the meandered path, which lead through the school garden and out to the gates. The school itself is very secluded and the only way to enter was by air; consequently, the only way to get out of here was by flying.
Design and built by one of the old students for getting to and from town, rows of six-seaters air motor lined under metal roof on the western side of the gate. They are auto-piloted, programed to only drive to and from Pax and POE Academy. All you need to do is swipe your student card on it and it’ll take you to a rural station in Pax (apparently it’s a popular transportation means there as well, but it’s still best if we are not seen).
I couldn’t help but marvel at these pieces of advance technologies as I walked closer. They were made of a type of sleek, silver metal, with plush black leather upholstery and no wheels. They have an exhaust that looked like an enlarged USB porter that erupts blue-white flames and the seats rise low from the ground. The best part of it is they have a complete transparent glass on top that can be opened.
Despite being awed by it, I couldn’t help feel slightly disgusted at the difference in treatments between the capital and the other Citybases. There is such a stark contrast between the two, espeically technological-wise; it’s almost like they are centuries, not merely miles apart.
“Is there five or four people?” the guy in charge of herding students on shouted when it was my turn. I was starting to get agitated because Natalie and Hamish had gone on four cars in front of me, and Fred Bowen the one before.
“Here!” I heard a familiar voice shouted and the shuffling of feet as several people moved up the queue. I turned back to see Diego and his friends coming towards me. What luck.
Diego gave me a bright smile when he spotted me and I nodded at him, aware of the fact that we were at a public place with dozens of fan girls behind in the queue. I climb into the front of skymobile (that’s what it’s called, kind of weird) swiftly and put on my seatbelt, waiting for the rest of them to get on. I was actually kind of excited about going on a sky ride, despite being slightly disgusted by the extravagance of putting such a transportation system just for students.
Diego slide into the seat beside me; all of us swiped our student cars on a slot in front of me and with a bleeping sound the skymobile started rising. I immediately grabbed the side of the skymobile, the anti-gravity feeling sending a thrill through my spine. Diego chuckled beside me, finding my reaction amusing.
“How come you are going alone?” Diego asked, my eyes were darting all over the place, admiring the view as we speeded through the countryside. The area around Pax and POE Academy was probably the only place on Earth that was relatively Legre-free; hence there wasn’t any need to worry about the Skymobiles being under attack. Although the metals and glass top are said to be Class D resistant, which is pretty impressive. (As in they should be able to withstands any attack under the intensity of grade D)
“They are in the other one.” I lied smoothly. Diego gave a court nod, and we fell into a silence as I enjoyed the view. We skirted closely on top of the dense vegetation, traveling at a speed much faster than I used to in London Citybase.
It didn’t take long for us to reach our destinations. I hopped off the skymobile and realised, too late that there were three different drop off points for the skymobile. No wonder Diego looked at me weirdly when I said they went in the other one.
Feeling embarrassed, I waved goodbye to Diego and quickly set off towards the city center. Thankfully I now too have an internal navigation system so I wouldn’t be lost.
Pax is unlike any other Citybases; it does not have a wall. It’s just wide-open space that leads from wilderness to man-made structure. Apparently that used to be the same all over the world, but I couldn’t imagine that; I mean, how do you know where is safe? Even though we never had Legres back then, surely they should still have surveillance around the perimeter to monitor who goes in and out. The idea of no walls is simply absurd! Even Pax has a surveillance perimeter.
I hurried down the pavement, intending on reaching the café that I told Hamish to take Natalie to (which happens to be the same one Fred asked Natalie to meet him at) as quickly as possible.
I rounded a corner quickly and my breath caught at the beautiful scene in front of me. Sky-high set against a wondrously blue sky gleaming in the sunlight; skymobiles was flying from one tower to and other, no doubt transporting high-class passengers. Skyscrapers. I remembered seeing similar structure in District 1 (the business district in London) when I visited my grandmother; that memory had stuck in my mind for quite a long time. There are a few apartment buildings in District 9, but they are only five storeys high and are the colour of mud. These, however, are made of glass and metals. Glass and metals are precious materials after the Dark Ages, if your window broke, you will just have to glue them back together.
I continued down the main path, which led towards the city center. The buildings next to the street increase in density and height as I neared my destination, but only relative to the ones I saw on the outskirt. However, all of the houses looked expensive and well kept, complete with lawn, fence. I never saw a house with lawns before, in Citybase they try to keep the housing density high since the bigger the whole base is, the harder it is to defend the larger perimeter. And it costs more. They wanted to build apartment complexes, but there were never enough materials. I guess now we know where the materials had gone to.
By the time I arrived at the city center I was out of breath. Up close the skyscrapers looked even more intimidating. I felt dizzy just looking at them; I couldn’t imagine what it would feel to be on top of one. And I didn’t plan to find out.
Wiping some sweat off my forehead I straighten up. I had arrived in a quaint little cobble square. I frowned a little as I scanned my surrounding; Pax actually looked a lot like the big cities in the movies, except the skymobile part. It brought a frown to my face how different class is treated differently. Not that it was anything new, at least I never saw anything like those shantytown from Old Age.
I spotted my destination in the corner of the square, with a small wooden sign that said Vickram Café.
I walked over cautiously and found it to be empty. I breathed a sigh of relieve and entered.
A melodic chime sounded throughout the café the moment I opened the door, causing me to jump a little. I closed the door quietly behind me, and was glad that no one looked up from their seats to stare at me.
The café was fairly spacious, much more so then it looked from the outside. The whole décor has a forest feel to it, with everything made from wood or clad in earth-tone colour. There were only a few other customers in the place and the dark-haired barrister looked up and smiled at me.
I smiled gingerly back at him and made my way towards the counter. My eyes looked up and widened at the sight of a dizzying array of beverages available, most I had never even heard of.
Smiling at me the barrister asked in a friendly tone. “Are you new around here?”
I nodded and he turned around and started making something. I watched as he pressed several buttons on a machine, which beeped and spilled out a rich dark liquid into the cup, which I recognized as hot chocolate. He then took the cup and turned his back on me, sprinkling and adding something on top before coming back to me.
“Here, it’s on the house. Welcome to Pax.” He said, flashing a warm smile. I smiled back at him, touched by his generosity. I suddenly realised that this was my first non-POE interaction for three months.
“Thank you.” I said, noting that his name was Greg on the nametag pinned on his apple green apron. I looked at my watch and realised that Natalie and Hamish would be here any seconds and I scurried towards a corner table with my drink.
I took a sip of the hot chocolate and felt like my tongue had gone to heaven. Who knew that hot chocolate could taste this good, not that it wasn’t good before, but god! Now I am definitely coming back! There was bit of marshmallow in it too. Nom.
Sipping as much as I can without burning my tongue I pulled a magazine from my bag and covered half my face with it. And moments later, Natalie and Hamish entered through the door.
Ducking behind the magazine I slowly lowered it so only half my eyes peeked out. I could use my power, but that will ruin all the fun. Plus I really want to see it with my own eyes.
I could tell Natalie wasn’t feeling all too comfortable; her eyes kept darting towards the door. Whereas Hamish was super nervous to be next to her but was trying not to show it. It’s kind of funny how two people behave similarly towards each other due to completely opposite reasons.
They sat down on a round table near the entrance and Hamish quickly got up to get drinks for them both. Soon after he left, Fred Bowen entered the café; his face immediately brightens up when he saw Natalie, who looked shock. I tried to hold my laughter as Fred tried to sit down and realised there was a coat draped on the back of the chair. Hamish was still conversing with Greg the barrister, oblivious to Fred Bowen’s entrance.
I quickly hid my face behind my magazine as Fred Bowen glaze around the café. Sticking my head out carefully I saw that Fred Bowen was giving Hamish a death glare, whilst Natalie had stood up from her chair with a look of sheer panic.
“Fred, it’s not like that.” Natalie started in a quite voice, but Fred Bowen ignored her and stormed towards poor Hamish.
The guy in question had just paid and turned around with two steaming mug of coffee when he spotted Fred Bowen charging towards him. His face immediately paled and lost his grip on the mugs, which promptly fell down towards the floor and shattered into a million pieces, sending dark brown liquid everywhere.
Clak-Ding.
Everyone in the café turned their head at the source of the noise, including a bunch of new arrivals. I smiled when I spotted Elise in the group; I told her about this café, saying that Diego mentioned it was a great place to hang out. I knew she would eat that story up.
Out of the corner of my eyes I could see Natalie’s face had turned a shade of beetroot. She was torn between hiding under the table and helping Hamish. Fred’s face was red, too, but from anger. He took an intimidating step towards Hamish, who took a step back and almost slipped on the pool of hot chocolate.
“What. Are. You. Doing. With. My. Girlfriend?” Fred Bowen asked taking one step towards Hamish with each word, and the reverse for Hamish. Despite the warning of using powers outside school, there was still an aura of iciness around him. My eyes widened as I sensed that he was losing control; this guy has serious anger management issues that needed to be fixed. I quickly created a mind wall that cocooned around him, blocking the coldness from spreading into the café. We would all be in danger if any civilians found out he were using his power.
A collection intake of breath was issued from the door where the POEs stood, I saw several girls’ eyes bulged from their socket as Fred’s words sunk in, and almost choked on my mouthful of chocolate at Elise’s expression. They began to scan the café eagerly, causing me to duck behind my magazine once again, and finally noticed red-faced Natalie.
“Oh my god! Fred Bowen and Natalie Cheung?” they began to whisper to each other in a frantic voice. I smirked into my magazine as Natalie’s face began to grow redder and resolved to staring at her own feet. The cold air was nipping at my mind wall and I strengthened it, glad I had a hot cup of liquid to keep me warm. It’s quite a miracle that Fred hadn’t sense his power was being kept in, but I guess he was too anger to notice.
“I thought he would never date a transfer!” “Golly, that must be why he froze Hamish at the New Year’s Eve formal!” “Crap you are right!”
The group began to get louder and Natalie’s chin was almost touching her chest. However none of them sounded mean when they were discussing, merely curious and gossipy.
Fred Bowen, being the hothead he was ignored all the whispering around him. Hamish had retreated all the way back against the counter now, Greg was looking uneasy, but he knew that he had no chance against the muscly Fred Bowen. I quickly modified my mind wall so Hamish wouldn’t come in contact with it. Luckily there were a wide space behind Fred for it to spread so the frost wouldn’t concentrate around him, otherwise the white mist it generate will give it away.
Slamming his hand on one side of Hamish, who gulped loudly; a silver of cold escaped as I readjusted the mind wall and he visibly shivered; the later was actually being quite brave considering he got froze to an ice sculpture by the very guy staring menacingly at him. He hadn’t scream or ran away yet, which had to be some sort of record.
“She isn’t your girlfriend.” He said, well, more like whisper. I felt proud of him for speaking out, then I remembered I wasn’t on his side. Shame, I always preferred the underdog.
It was the wrong thing to say, Fred Bowen’s face turned even colder and I had no choice but to let some of the frosty air escape before they turn into mist. The temperature in the room seemed to drop down by a couple degrees. I could see quite a few shuddered in the cold but thankfully the door was open, so no one became suspicious.
“She is.” He stated; I could feel Natalie’s mind rejoicing; aw, looks like we had a victory.
Hamish paled even more when Natalie didn’t protest, and more excited chitchats broke out in the café. I was ready to interfere physically anytime now, the purpose of this mission had been archived; there was no need for Hamish to get hurt.
“Natalie?” Hamish, instead of fighting back, running away, or break down, called out to Natalie. She looked up from her feet and sent him an apologetic look. I winced as I felt Hamish’s heart broke. Love is a complicated matter.
“If there is any consolation, he never confirmed our relationship until now.” Natalie said; Fred Bowen was beginning to calm down now, the anger in his face dissipating and a different kind of red appeared on his face; he was embarrassed, to be seen confessing (in a way) in a public place. I snickered, slowly allowing the cold air to flow back outside the mind wall. Fred Bowen was consciously absorbing the cold back too, and I could tell he knew something was wrong, but his attention was too focused on Natalie to give it much thought.
Hamish grimaced, my heart clutched as the cruelty of the situation sank in. I sighed; I should have just asked Owen to help out and we wouldn’t be in this situation right now. At least now Natalie doesn’t have to deal with Hamish anymore.
“Let’s go.” Fred said, grabbing Natalie’s hand and barged towards the door. The group of students fled aside as they past. Natalie only managed to grab her stuff in time; she cast a worrying glance at Hamish before being dragged out by Fred.
The crowd’s glaze lingered at the door for several more seconds before turning back to Hamish, who was slumped against the counter. Greg appeared with a mop and started to clean up, he was going to comfort Hamish in a bit. Good, now the business of this trip had concluded, I could find my friends and go sightseeing or something.
Gulping down the rest of my hot chocolate in an attempt to warm up I exited the café swiftly, with a goodbye wave at Greg. Hamish didn’t spot me at all, with his head casted downwards. Elise and her friends were seated at the other side of the café and they were talking animatedly about the new gossip.
Knowing the news would have travel all the way around campus by afternoon I skipped happily out of the café. I still had five, six hours left till we were due back. Picking a side at random I strode off to my left and exited the square.
However, my peace was short-lived; Someone barreled right into my back, almost knocking me over. The boy himself didn’t even stop to apologize before storming off to the right, where Fred and Natalie’s distance figure can still be seen. Narrowing my eyes at him I realized it was Hamish.
Crap. I immediately ran after him, catching up to what he was doing. Apparently Greg’s comforting skills left a lot to desired; and I had underestimate the damage a semi-public humiliation can do to a boy.
Hamish ran fast. His power is super speed but thankfully he remembered the no power rule in Pax and kept it to a humanly possible level. However it was still a struggle for me to catch up. We rounded a corner and I could see a spectacular fountain that Holly had told me about – the Trevi fountain that was originally from Old Age Rome.It was gifted to the UGE and put here as a thank you for building the Rome Citybase. I silently cursed Hamish and Fred in my mind. I really wanted to stop and admire it, and maybe take some photos.
Momentarily distracted I ran into something hard. I looked up and saw Diego. Wait. No, it was Iago, with Veronika by his side. He looked startled and I muttered a quick apology before sprinting off again, just managed to keep Hamish in sight.
I silently cursed Fred Bowen; if only he would stay in the town center then I wouldn’t have to worry about a fight starting between them. But that idiot had to go off into the rural area, probably didn’t want any more people to spot Natalie and him together. Like that would have mattered.
By the time I arrived at the scene the two of them were already engaged in a stand down in a deserted alleyway. How Hamish was going to fight Fred I had no idea. Super speed isn’t exactly a fighting mutation. Twirls of frost white iciness dispersed around Fred Bowen as he narrowed his eyes at Hamish, whose entire body were taunt, ready to launch in a moment’s notice.
“Gail, stop them!” Natalie cried when she spotted me, she was standing almost at the end of the alleyway, a fair distance behind Fred Bowen. I frowned; if things went out of control she would be blocked in.
“You guys, what are you doing?We are not supposed to use powers outside school!” I whispered angrily, remembering to hide the fact that I know about their little love triangle. Natalie would be too sweet to assume I know anything about it, let alone planned this.
“This is none of your business Beckett.” Fred’s icy voiced replied, while Hamish didn’t even acknowledge me at all. I sighed, not expecting that to work anyway. I mentally scanned the surrounding, which fortunately turned out to be vacate right now, but there was no say how long our luck will last.
“We will get exposed.” I whispered furiously, this time even Fred Bowen ignored me. I sensed the muscles in Hamish legs moved and in a flash he speeded towards Fred.
Fred gave out an expectant cry and slapped his hands together; billion tiny bits of ice flew from his hands to create a wall creating a wall of ice right in front of him in mere seconds. I winced as I anticipating Hamish’s crush, but he changed direction at the last possible seconds and narrowly avoided crushing into the ice wall by millimeters. My eyes widened at their spectacular control over their powers. If it wasn’t for my mind sensory skills I would never be able to spot their exchange so clearly, the whole thing lasted for barely five seconds.
Fred frowned and lowered his hands to touch the ground wither side of him, frost radiate from his fingertips covering the ground five meters around him in a chilling white sheet. Hamish was circling around the perimeter of the zone; with his speed, he would slide off with a tremendously high momentum and crush into the surrounding buildings the moment he set foot on the frost-covered ground. And most probably destroy that building and die.
“Fred, stop it!” Natalie shouted; clutching her hands in front of her, concern etched on her face. Fred looked back, intending on telling her not to worry, but Hamish seized the moment and darted towards him.
I gasped; realizing too late that I should have intervened immediately the moment the two of them started fighting. Hamish careered towards Fred with surprising accuracy, he jumped just before he reached the ice circle and launched at Fred, sending the two of them flying.
I raised my right hand and put a mind wall at where they are landing, cushioning their fall. I wanted to separate the two of them, but the two of them were too tangled trying to punch and avoid being punch by each other for me to do so without ripping their clothes off.
The two of them didn’t spend long rolling on the floor. Fred push against Hamish, with his hands in ice form from wrist up. I heard a sharp intake of breath form Hamish who performed a backflip in a heartbeat, effectively detaching from Fred Bowen and kicking him in the chin. However the front of his shirt was already iced, as well as some of his muscles.
Fred let out a growl that was almost Legre like. I shuddered at the sounds and wondered how Hamish was brave enough to stand against that guy, he is a total beast.
Scrambling up Fred wasted no time in conjuring up a javelin made of ice, with a rather sharp end and threw it at Hamish.
Both Natalie and I gasped; thankfully Hamish was too fast for it and side-stepped the javelin. Before the two of them could kill each other I threw a mind wall between them.
“You two, stop! You guys are acting like five years old.” I shouted, stepping in between them. Thankfully both of them stopped in their tracks and didn’t attack me. God knows how that would have turned out.
Both of them had scratches and bruises forming on various part of their body. Where Fred’s icy hands touched Hamish the clothes had froze and disintegrated, and that area of his chest purpled from cold. The back of Fred’s shirt was also torn from crushing on the ground; it was already a lot better than it would have been if I didn’t put a mind wall there.
“Step aside Beckett, or I will attack you too.” Fred warned. His eyes never leaving Hamish, who was staring back at him with equal intensity. I sighed and gave Natalie a look, the guys are fighting for her, hopefully they would listen to her.
However, Natalie looked lost for words; she opened and closed her mouth like a gaping goldfish. I rolled my eyes and turned back to the boys.
“What is going on here?” a new voice asked, curious with a trace of suspicion; all four of us turned around to the entrance of the alleyway and saw Iago standing there, arms crossed in front of his chest with Veronika standing slightly behind him, a look of disapproval on his face.
“Abigail.” Iago asked again after a few moments of silence, keeping my mind wall between the two I turned around to face Iago.
“Nothing, it’s just a misunderstanding. Right boys?” I said, glaring at Fred and Hamish respectively, with a hint of warning in my voice. If they don’t stop now, I will have no choice but to inform Iago the predicament we were in and this will get reported back to POE Academy, landing these two in big trouble. Right now he had no prove that we were using our powers, and Iago wasn’t mean enough to rat us out. Yet.
“Yeah, it’s just a misunderstanding.” Fred said through gritted teeth, slowly relaxing from his fighting stance and moved back towards Natalie, who looked relieve. Hamish however, didn’t move and continued to stare at Fred with hatred.
I gestured for Natalie to take Fred away from here quickly, and she dragged Fred by the elbow. The two of them hastily disappeared from the alleyway leaving Iago, Veronika, Hamish and me. Thankfully Hamish didn’t attack him on the way out, otherwise god knows how that would end.
“Why are you taking his side?” Hamish asked, his voice dripping with venom, but directed at Fred. His eyes never left the spot where Fred disappeared. I sighed and lowered my mind wall.
“I am not taking sides; I am just making sure nobody gets hurt.” I said truthfully, then Hamish turned towards me, his eyes boring into mine. I flinched as I saw the hurt in his eyes, the injustice he felt.
Without a word, Hamish sped pass the three of us and exited the scene, making sure he kept to a reasonable speed. I sighed again, suddenly feeling extremely tired. I had lost all appetite for sightseeing now, I just wanted to go back and take a nap.
Iago looked at me quizzically and I shrugged my shoulder at him, keeping up with my façade.
“What happened?” He asked, Veronika was [eering over his shoulder curiously as well.
“I don’t know, I saw Hamish dropped his purse, I ran after him and saw Bowen and him arguing over something, so I stepped in, then you guys came.” I half-lied, hoping Iago would believe me. The whole thing did seem rather out-of-proportion for a mere misunderstanding; but I didn’t want anyone to get into trouble, particularly not Hamish. That poor guy had been through enough.
I could tell from Iago’s face that he didn’t really believe me, but to my relieve he let the matter slide.
“I trust you will tell me if anything happens again?” He asked, I assured him and the couple left, leaving me along in the alleyway. I looked around me and sigh. This was not how I pictured my first visit to Pax would be like. I was supposed to get Natalie and Fred together quickly, then go around the city sight-seeing, and maybe even meet up with Holly and Casey in the mall.
Sighing again I dragged myself away from the alleyway; I might as well return home. I was no longer in any mood to do anything. Hamish’s hurt expression playing over and over again in my mind. I reprimanded myself silently in my head, and hoped that the matter would end here.
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Hey :) sorry for the wait :) My new laptop has arrived! Wohoooo
However, i am SUPER busy for the next few weeks until beginning of Oct, but I will try and upload as soon as I can! I have the concert on Friday to do, then orientation camp for newbies ;P and then I am going on holiday with my mum and sister, and then I have to go back to uni :S
Hope you like this chapter - we finally have a bit of fighting and a LONG chapter ;))