Cloud leans with his back against the mirror, blindly holding onto the railing whilst he watches the Edenborn and Outworlders do things completely out of this world.
It should excite him but he can't shake the feeling of anxious dread sweating out of his pores.
Every which way he looks he finds eyes on him, gaslighting himself into thinking it's just his imagination working overtime to fuel his paranoia but soon it becomes pretty obvious that his suspicions are correct.
"Looks like you have a fan club." Casey teases, sliding his way next to his best friend with a light up Yoyo tied to his finger.
Cloud follows his line of sight, catching the eye of a guy with dark eyebrows and bleached hair trimmed and kept short in tight curls that look softer than a quilt.
His sharp eyes, plump lips, defined jawline and tall athletic physique give him a modelesque appearance but none of that truly matters when he seems so standoffish, not just to Cloud but seemingly to everyone other than his pompous group of friends.
Cloud stops Tony as he walks by, nodding his head towards the group of seven across the room who've taken it upon themselves to gossip about him to his face. "Who's the guy who keeps mean-mugging me?"
"You mean Jason Aranborn?"
Cloud frowns, wondering if he's supposed to know who that is. "Who?"
"He's Royalty, the second son of the late Queen Neyja of the Air Faction. If his half brother, Eagan Aranborn, dies tomorrow then he'd be the one taking the throne." Tony wipes the chalk off his hands with a cloth, tilting his head as his next words leave his mouth. "The guy is a bit of an ass but harmless."
Jason Aranborn leans down to whisper something to the girl standing with her back facing him.
She too has short hair, letting it grow out slightly so that it creates a naturally forming wavy pattern on her head.
She turns her large round eyes on him, setting the tone of their exchange as she raises a brow before looking away and laughing.
"I doubt that," Cloud mutters, folding his arms across his body. "He's looking at me like I just spoiled his favourite anime."
Tony laughs, dropping his head as he throws a towel over his head. "Well you're the boy on fire baby, you're on his and everyone else's radar now."
Cloud grimaces, squeezing his eyes shut tightly until he can only see the back of his eyelids. "For the love of god, please stop calling me that."
"What, you don't like it?" Tony teases, playfully flicking Cloud in the chin before sauntering off.
"If it makes you feel better, about forty percent of the laughs are probably about me." Casey voices, letting his Yoyo dangle around his thigh before zipping it back up to his hand.
Cloud opens his eyes, momentarily forgetting about the terrible nickname he seems to have picked up. "What do you mean? Do you guys know each other?"
"No but I hear my parents and the Crowns have a very long history." Casey replies, nonchalantly dropping lore on top of Cloud's head as if sharing a packet of bubble-gum. "The Greysons are responsible for like every major technological advancement the Initials have made in the last three decades, give or take."
"Are you being serious?"
"Bro you've met my parents, okay, they put the mad in scientist."
"So what, they do all these amazing things, have a falling out with the Crowns and decide to flee to Earth to live out the rest of their lives?"
Casey sways his head from side to side before shrugging his shoulders. "Yeah, that's about right I guess. I mean, they weren't exiled by force, they can come back whenever they want, they just refuse to."
Sky sneaks up on the two of them with a vibrant smile on her, still buzzing from the rush of channelling. "I'm taking five, can I join you guys?"
"No!" Casey yelps, running around Cloud to take up the space next to him. "This is a bro zone only."
Sky rolls her eyes, knowing all too well of Casey's silly antics, taking the space he was previously occupying and peering up at Cloud, immediately noticing the scowl on his face. "What did I miss?"
"Huh, what?" Cloud hums, clearly distracted by something else.
She follows his line of sight, coming up with her own conclusion pretty quickly once she catches sight of Jason Aranborn and his cronies. "Cloud."
"I'm sorry, what did you say?" he asks, charming her with a smile as if waking from a daze.
"Everybody is a somebody at this school and the ones who aren't yet will be fighting to be. So, if you want them to get off your back, you'll have to peacock a little...y'know, instead of hiding in the corner and hoping no one will notice."
The pupils of Cloud's green eyes dilate as her words brighten his smile. "You've been watching."
"I'm great at multitasking." she utters quietly, avoiding the trap of playing into his hands.
"Alright, bet." Cloud replies, pushing himself off the railing with a playful smirk. "I'll show off a little. But if the big kids bully me some more I'll blame it all on you."
"Deal."
Sky squeezes her lips together tightly as Cloud joggs backwards, barely holding onto her nonchalant demeanour with all the imaginary butterflies looping around in her stomach, letting out a staggered breath from her lungs once he makes it in line for one of the training rooms, commonly referred to as Black Boxes for obvious reasons.
Cloud takes a look through the glass, jerking his head back once a giant metal weight is thrust against the wall weighing in at three times his own body weight.
Looking back at the person responsible, Cloud meets Jason Aranborn's eyes, watching their yellow glow dissipate with the blink of an eye as sweat glistens down his shirtless body, revealing the white tribal-like markings covering his torso and arms.
'So he's an Evoker, and a powerful one too.' Cloud thinks, hearing the heavy machinery in the door grind together before a gust of steam bursts out of the room.
A second later Jason exits with his white shirt hanging loosely over his shoulder, his tan skin looking less shiny and the shadows around his eyes appearing softer outside of the harsh lighting.
Cloud takes his time going inside, looking around the strange little room that's suppose to be nigh-indestructible.
He would have found that hard to believe two seconds ago if he hadn't just seen his weight and more being thrown against the wall but now he isn't too afraid of breaking the damn thing.
Cloud kicks his shoes off his feet, leaving them by the door as he reminds himself to breathe, repeating the same mantra in his head over and over again until the words blur into inaudible static.
"Breathe in. Breathe out." he whispers, evoking the energy stored inside the Flamestone ring to generate flames, clicking his fingers thrice with intermediate pauses, using the friction to strengthen the spark.
He channels his concentration into the tiny flicker before him that lack form until he holds his hand out with his palm facing the ground.
On command, the flames combine before zipping around him and searing a perfect circle into the unprotected floor, increasing in speed the further it travels until creating a ring of fire.
Sky did tell him to show off a little and there's one move he has been dying to try out again ever since he saw it.
Cloud closes his eyes to imagining the feeling of fire emanating from his feet, visualising the amber flames flicking off his heels with every step.
He channels the familiar surge of power into his feet, imagining the spark building inside his body like a furnace until his stored energy erupts from the soles of his feet, eventually opening his eyes once he feels his body lifting off the floor and discovering himself to be levitating a few inches from the ground.
The fire churns around him like a fiery tornado as he continues to open up his arms, surprised to learn that they too can glow just like his feet, smiling with utter delight at the magical sight until that joy turns into chilling dread.
He feels the heat kissing his face as his mana starts leaking from his eyes, losing his vision as the glow spreads across his body at an alarming rate until his mouth is so dry that he can't even taste his own saliva.
He's helpless to fight against it but it's the slightest pleasure he gets from the pain that strikes a sharp note of panic on his heartstrings.
It all comes to an end once he is pummelled by foam, getting sprayed from all directions until he crashes back to earth.
Cloud holds his head, staggering as he climbs back on his feet, surrounded by a puddle of steaming foam.
He catches the entire class, including the mentors, loitering on the other side of the glass, observing him like some sort of spectacle.
"Show off." Neith tuts, choosing to walk away first with a roll of her eyes.