Chapter 24
Cogs in the Machine
Morning arrived with the bathroom was filled with the sounds of guttural retching.
“Urgk…” Anastasia grumbled as she clutched the edges of the toilet bowl.
The sound of flushing water followed.
Her arms trembled as she climbed up the sink.
She opened a small yellow bottle and popped one of the pills into her mouth.
“I shouldn’t have… had so much... to drink last night.” She muttered in a hoarse voice, staring into her reflection, and her reflection stared back.
In front of her stood a woman with glowing, orange eyes and apple-red hair. She pressed her fingers over the large burn scar on her left eye with an irritated expression, then lifted up her bangs, seeing the white roots of her hair.
With a wooden click, she opened up the drawer behind her mirror, and looked at a dye bottle filled with dark-red liquid. But as she was about to reach for it, her fingers curled, “Not yet…”
Cold water splashed against her face, waking her up.
Flashes of the previous night surfaced in her mind — Her screams, Felix hovering above the ground, suffocated by her orange energy.
She looked at her palm. The feeling of her aura pressing against his throat was the same as having choked him herself.
Anastasia slipped to her knees and covered her face with her two palms.
“Oh god… why did I do that to him? What if he doesn’t come back for training later? What if he hates me? I don’t want my own student to hate me…” She worriedly whimpered. “Ahh, blyat.”
Pulling herself together, her fingers softly brushed against the burnt red skin over her left eye, before promptly covering it with her eyepatch.
Out in the hallway, a girl with maroon hair waved at her, accompanied by a woman clad in teal armor similar to Carol’s.
“Yo, Anya!” The girl with maroon hair greeted.
“Good… good morning.” Anastasia smiled softly before quickly covering her mouth.
“Are you okay?” The girl titled her head.
“I’m, I’m fine Saya… J-just a bit of a hangover. Just came back from your mission?”
“Yeah, was gonna drop off some documents to Chief Vivian for a bit. Wanna grab breakfast?”
“You go on ahead, I just finished eating.” She shook her head, “Besides, I have to go train.”
“Ah… Busy training the black cat? See you later, then.” Saya waved and began walking ahead.
“That’s Anastasia Frost? She looks like a wreck.” The armored girl replied.
“Sheila, don’t be mean.” Saya replied to her as they walked away.
Anastasia headed to the door, she swallowed before reaching for the knob. As it creaked open, she saw that Felix was just sitting there fidgeting with a pen between his hands, “Y-you’re early.” She greeted.
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He put down the pen and gave her a determined gaze, “Good morning.”
“So, then… let’s get started.” She replied back in her cold, professional tone.
*
Gunfire echoed through the training room as Felix darted around, narrowly dodging most of the rubber bullets. A few still struck his limbs, grazing him as he slowly adapted.
Few of the rubber bullets still struck his limbs, narrowly grazing him as he slowly adapted.
“You were taught to avoid bullets by watching where the gun is aimed,” Anastasia called out, aiming her firearm above, “But what happens when you’re in total darkness?”
She fired multiple rubber bullets into the air, which scattered to all the lights in the room.
With a shatter, darkness filled the room. Felix held in his breath and moved silently, his steps barely audible.
“Your eyes are a dead giveaway!” She shouted, her own eye glowing like an ember.
“Stop, ow! wait! Ow!” He yelped as he got shot repeatedly with rubber bullets.
“I said stop!” From his hand, a stream of electricity, then a burst of psychic energy. The bullets stopped in his palm as it burned with blue haze, illuminating the darkness.
Anastasia lowered her rifle and was all ears, “What is it?”
“I was actually thinking about last night…”
“Look… about what I did—”
“Not that… I was wondering. Is it possible to stop a person’s movements the same way I stop bullets?” He asked as he pointed to the rubber bullet in his hands.
Anastasia exhaled, relieved but still wary, “You mean like keeping people locked in place?”
Felix nodded.
“It is, but it’s different from what I um… what I did last night… It takes too much aura. It’s different from moving your own body with psychic power. Stopping someone else means wrapping their body in aura and holding them still.”
“Then… then that means…” Felix remembered his spar against Maria, “Can you give me a demonstration?”
“You’re gonna need to turn off your aura.”
“Okay.”
He did as instructed.
Anastasia nodded and raised her guard in response. Felix threw a slow strike towards her, only to find his arm being enveloped in a bright orange haze.
The bright aura quickly enveloped his entire body, rendering him immobile.
Felix stood frozen. He tried to pull back his arm, but it felt like a hundred hands gripped it in place. He tried to push forward, and but his fist was pushed back.
“Like that?”
He exhaled, “Yeah, like that.”
“Keeping someone locked in place is different from just shoving them or lifting them in the air.”
“I understand.” He responded.
The orange haze around his body dispersed.
She left an orange flame burning in her fist, illuminating the room just enough to see. And she saw him with a puzzled expression, with his hand on his chin.
“Is something wrong?”
“That felt completely different.”
“What do you mean?”
“It just feels like being submerged in water. I couldn’t move, but… I can still feel my body in control.” A blue flame emanated from his hand, “But when I was up against Maria, I— ”
“Hurk… urgh.” Anastasia clutched her mouth, “I think we should… skip training for today.”
The two exited the room.
“I asked Murphy to make you some herbal tea. Should help with your hangover.” Felix said with two mugs in his hands, before sitting beside her.
“You could tell?” She asked in an embarrassed tone.
“The smell of alcohol was all over you since last night, so yeah… I could tell.” He replied as he sipped from his coffee.
She sipped her tea, “Look… I’m sorry about last night. I’ve had some time to cool my head, and to tell you the truth… Two of my men died recently on a mission. My team was pinned down, and I ran out of energy protecting everyone. One second, they all stood by my side, and in the blink of an eye... they were a puddle. I guess I lashed out on you because of it.”
“It’s no problem. Nothing you said was wrong, and I can’t imagine how that could have felt like.” He paused, remembering how Maria’s blood splattered down his face, “Well… maybe I can. Just a bit. It’s just that I can’t control it yet. I don’t want you to think that I’m not trying my best.”
Anastasia flattened her lips, not having the heart to tell him about who died. She then chopped him on the head and showed a relieved smile.
“Ow.”
“My adorable little pupil is worried. You’re learning much faster than I did, so I’m glad. Truth be told, I’m actually a little jealous of the others. They learned how to effectively use their powers in just a few months.”
“No one had to teach you.”
“True. Still. I shouldn’t have done what I did.”
“Maybe you could go a little easier on me next time.”
“Yeah. I’ll try not to almost kill you next time. Hopefully you won’t have to learn the way I did.” She chuckled as she got up and stretched out her arms, her face then immediately turning green again.
“Anastasia…”
“Call me Anya…” She pushed the bile down her throat, “Actually, because you chose me to be your mentor, address me as Anya-sensei.”
“Okay… Thank you for putting up with me, Anya-sensei.” Felix replied with a smile.
“Eh… was that not funny?” Anastasia put her hand over her head and mumbled to herself. “Am I out of touch?”
The two of them look as Murphy walked up to them, “Miss Anastasia, Sir Felix. Chief Vivian summons you.”
~