ã€ŠEmblemã€‹


 Jay Jeremy Jones

    When I was 8 years old I lived in a magic shop, and discovered magic was real the day that shop burned down. Searing heat made my skin feel like wax, my nose filled with the scent of smoke. My eyes were incapable of making out the details of my house due to bright flames licking every surface they could access. My dad¡¯s screaming was overshadowed by the roar of the fire. My mom¡¯s glassy eyes shone in a pale face, black soot smearing her cheek. ¡°Mom?¡± I remember saying quietly, just looking at her and waiting for her to tell me that she was ok. I waited for her to tell me that we were going to be okay and that this was just a magic trick gone wrong. I knelt next to her and poked her cheek, prodding for some sort of response.

    My dad¡¯s hand firmly landed on my shoulder and brought me back to reality, and despite the incredible heat surrounding me I swear his hand was hotter than the fire. I looked up to him, but my dad was staring past me and looking at my mom. His face quickly grew pale to match her own. He didn¡¯t say anything, he just picked me up. Running through the shop to try and find an exit. I don¡¯t remember how he did but he must¡¯ve, because the next thing I remember was sitting outside with my dad as we watched the inferno that was once our family magic shop light the night. When I looked back to my dad I just quietly asked him about mom, and he shook his head without looking back at me. My lower lip trembled and I started to cry, silently, before I turned back to watch the blaze.

    One of the walls collapsed, and it was my mom¡¯s corpse crashing through it and falling to the ground in front of me, though not until flying another 40 feet to close the distance. My dad shrieked, yet somehow I knew that was going to happen, so I smiled a little.

    My mom was still dead. But she was here now! In front of me, and I summoned her. On her cheek, where I was poking, the soot had changed to a symbol that vaguely resembled the wings of a butterfly dissolving in a symmetrical manner. That¡¯s my mark, that¡¯s my magic, and that happened half my lifetime ago.

    - - - - - - - - - - -

    ¡°Pops, I¡¯m heading out!¡± I call out to our small apartment, the silence of my dad meeting me in response. He hasn¡¯t really been too interested in my day to day life. Contrasting him rather sharply was Mrs. Autumn, our neighbor who lives next door all by herself, and is VERY interesting in my life. I leave the apartment, and her face is the one that greets me. Her skin seems almost annoyed with her for having not died yet, as it hangs loosely and gravity appears especially powerful today for her. In spite of the loose wrinkled skin her eyes shine brightly at me, a beautiful shade of blue that¡¯s as sharp as somebody a quarter her age.

    ¡°TJ! What do you think that you are doing!¡± She croons out in a voice that feebly manages to reach me. I put my hands in the air with a giggle escaping me, she plays this game with me every day.

    ¡°School madame, and may I just say before I¡¯m on my merry way that you somehow still manage to brighten any place you visit with your beautiful smile and sharp eyes.¡± The words escape me right as I think them, but they¡¯re totally worth it because the words make a smile appear on her face and give her a laugh to brighten up her day.

    ¡°You young charmer you, don¡¯t try to deceive me. I haven¡¯t been a catch to men¡¯s eyes since the 50¡¯s. Far before your father was even a thought!¡± While she talks, I start heading through the hallway towards the elevator, nodding along to her words.

    ¡°Don¡¯t beat yourself up like that Auntie!¡± I start, a smile on my face. ¡°After all you managed to draw the 7 of hearts!¡± I mention, stopping in front of the elevator around 20 feet away from Mrs. Autumn. I pull out the deck of cards that I always keep with me and pull the 7 of hearts that she pulled 4 years ago. ¡°Lucky 7 and passionate hearts, you¡¯re quite the catch.¡± I finish with a slight chuckle, heading into the elevator. ¡°Wish me luck at school auntie!¡± I call out, waving at her with a smile.

    ¡°Yes yes, goodbye TJ! Have a good day in 8th grade, big year! I remember wh-¡± Her voice is cut off by the closing of the elevator, and the quiet music from at least 1960 soothes me in the elevator as the smile disappears off my face. I fall to the ground and sit against the wall of the elevator, looking at my hazy reflection in the unpolished copper walls of the cramped elevator. I don¡¯t look too great. My white skin and my messy brown hair are all that¡¯s exceptionally clear to see, that and the fact I look pretty tired. School starts at 7:15 AM, I have a 15 minute commute to school, Dad can''t make me breakfast or wake me up himself for obvious reasons, so it''s all on me. It¡¯s exhausting. You¡¯re probably thinking to yourself ¡®What middle school starts at 7:15?¡¯ That is a valid question, and may I just take the time to catch you up a little bit. Hi, I¡¯m Jay Jeremy Jones. My friends call me TJ, because, you know...Three J¡¯s. I¡¯m 16 years old, in my junior year of high school. Auntie Autumn is great, she¡¯s also crazy.

    That sounds bad. She just has a terrible memory, which is why we¡¯ve gone through that same conversation every day for the last 3 years. The first year conversation we ever had was me introducing myself as TJ, the new neighbor in 8th grade. I¡¯m impressed that she¡¯s remembered she drew the 7 of hearts. The very same 7 of hearts floating just above my hand, my magic mark resting on the back of it. ¡°Ughhh.¡± A groan escapes me as the elevator dings, and I stand up while taking the card and shuffling it back into the deck. I can¡¯t afford to be tired, today¡¯s huge. Today is a massive day. Because today, we¡¯re taking a test.

    Not a hard, mentally testing, stupid little school test. No no no, it¡¯s a test that will assure I live like a king for the rest of my life.

    One short hop skip and bus drive over to school and first period is delayed, for the aforementioned test. ¡°Good day, good day, good day,¡± I can¡¯t help but whisper with a bright smile on my face. I sit down in the bleachers of the gym, and I can assume my tired face lights up with excitement. Pretty much everybody else is looking at me, annoyed. They weren¡¯t going to pass the test, and they knew that. They also knew I was going to pass the test, because I was the only person in the state that has an Emblem.

    My Emblem is my magic. I¡¯m not sure exactly what it is, but once I pass the test I¡¯ll be accepted into the U.S.E.F. and my whole life is going to turn around. Girls? They¡¯ll love me. Guys? They¡¯ll envy me. I¡¯ll be the talk of the town for centuries.

    Principal Adams walks out to the center of the gymnasium, stopping in front of a microphone and holding a small green crystal. ¡°This is Vein.¡± He says lightly into the microphone, my cheer being the only noise in response to him.

    ¡°Whoo! Woohoo! Ye-yeah¡­¡± My vigor was quickly interrupted by the silent glare of the rest of the school. They¡¯d forgive me when I got the town a few million dollars though.

    The Principal coughs into the microphone, before he continues, ¡°Vein, is a sort of core of the world that baffles scientists to this day. All information on it is highly secretive, however what we are allowed to know is that if you have an Emblem you will know after interacting with this crystal. An Emblem, of course, is a power certain humans are born with, and awaken after certain trauma or testing. The evolved are more than willing to accept anybody who can prove they have an Emblem into their ranks, and in doing so offer near unlimited money and power to the person in question. Of course, this does come with some detriments. You will be forced to join the E.E.E. squad of the Evolved, operating as a leader of their private armies. Now, does anybody want to try-¡±

    I¡¯m stunned I¡¯ve sat still this long, especially when it was Principal Adams'' bland monotonous voice echoing throughout the gym saying words most people knew. ¡°SIR I want to! I have an Emblem!¡± I exclaim, pulling out my deck of cards and suspending them under my hands in mid air. Principal Adams sighs, and gestures for me to join him. I clap and in doing so gather all my cards, running down through the bleachers 3 at a time and putting my cards in my pocket. The entire school has their eyes on me and the clanging of the bleachers as I move is the only real source of noise in the gymnasium. It felt super cramped in the bleachers but as I step out onto the gymnasium floor my situation flips and I feel extremely open. A little bit too open. Regardless I take my place next to the Principal, and hold out my hand for the crystal. Or a handshake, either works. ¡°Junior, TJ.¡±

    ¡°Yes, I¡¯m aware, Mr. Jones.¡± The Principal responds, with a sigh escaping him, obviously wanting this to be over in a very different way than me. He drops the crystal into my hand. It has a dim green glow that emanates from it the second it comes in contact with my hand, and there¡¯s no way that I¡¯m not going to be smiling. It isn¡¯t heavy at all, if anything it doesn¡¯t feel like I¡¯m holding anything at all. Looking at my thin reflection in the crystal, I come to two realizations. I look a little better right now, with my brown hair getting under control and a distinctive lack of bags under my eyes. The second realization, which wasn¡¯t quite as egotistical, was that I have no idea how to use Vein to pass the test.

    ¡°First, I¡¯d like to take a moment, thank you guys for your time and support while I¡¯ve been a student here. Honestly it¡¯s been pretty cool, and I do appreciate-¡± I started talking, really with no outline in my head and just letting words flow out of me as if I was breathing. Of course, it was to try and buy time while I figure out what to do with the Vein, but to my surprise I really meant everything I was saying. I am going to miss this school, and people have been really cool here. ¡°So, basically, what I¡¯m trying to say here is...Thank you. You all have been a huge and irreplaceable part of-¡±

    ¡°SHUT UP ALREADY!¡± My friend Allie calls out from the bleachers, a smirk on her face. ¡°Just pass the test and leave, dork.¡± She adds lightly, before the rest of the school slowly starts joining her.

    ¡°Come on TJ!¡±

    ¡°Snap snap, bro I¡¯ve got classes to sleep through!¡±

    ¡°Let¡¯s gooo! Sooner you pass sooner this town becomes rich!¡±

    The entire student body that occupies the bleachers stands up and starts teasing me, almost all of them smiling and matching my own grin. ¡°Haha...Yeah. Sorry guys, be back sometime!¡± I call out with a chuckle escaping me, and wiping my eyes with the back of my arm. They were just a little itchy, that¡¯s all, I swear. ¡°Now, behold!¡± I exclaim with some bravado, managing to make myself heard over the noise of the student body. I like to think it¡¯s because of my incredible charisma, but in all honesty it was the microphone that did the heavy lifting. I mark the crystal with my magic, all I have to do is make direct contact with something and wish to mark it. Then I toss it in the air lightly. I try to make it float in mid-air, only for it to disintegrate in the air while a sudden tornado of wind takes its place.

    My cheeks sting and my clothes billow about me, my hair whipping around in the air. I look over to Principal Adams, who¡¯s probably happy he doesn¡¯t have any hair to get caught up in the wind. The roar of wind lingers and fills my ears, drowning out everybody else in the gym. Slowly it starts to die down, before completely disappearing and leaving me standing alone with the Principal in a now completely silent gymnasium. ¡°So...Ah...I take that to mean I¡¯ve passed?¡± I ask Mr. Adams.Stolen from its rightful author, this tale is not meant to be on Amazon; report any sightings.

    Another moment of silence passes, which seems to last a thousand years as my stomach continues to flutter about and gets tied into a knot. When the silence is broken it¡¯s again by the student body, ¡°GOD-DAMN RIGHT THAT¡¯S PASSING!¡± Shouts my friend Harrison, and cheers erupt from the bleachers again. Which was fair, that was pretty awesome.

    Trying in vain to calm the students down was Principal Adams at the microphone, and when he realized that wasn¡¯t working he walked over to me specifically. Scarcely, I make out his voice from the encore of screams in the gym. ¡°Mr. Jones, please report to the office. I already called the organization before school today, there should be somebody there who watched this from the cameras. I do believe you¡¯ve passed, good luck.¡± He¡¯s forced to shout into my ear just so I can make it out, before taking my hand and firmly shaking it. I look up at him, smiling excitedly.

    ¡°Come on, don¡¯t give me that formal snazz.¡± I murmur with a laugh escaping me, before I jump him and pull the Principal into a hug. ¡°Good luck dealing with the school!¡± I shout back at him, hopefully being heard, before I get out of the gym.

    Now, it was actually very difficult to get out of the gym, because students were flooding the doors. I got pulled into several different hugs, a variety of handshakes, and a very surprising kiss from my homie Jerome. I was shocked, but hey, given that I saw him getting paid significant money afterwards I¡¯m assuming it was a dare and not an impulsive action for love. Eventually, I channeled my inner Moses, and parted the student sea, managing to get into the hallway. From there it was a simple walk that took less than a minute, which led me to the office.

    ¡°Oh my god¡­¡± I lament to myself, a nervous grin appearing on my lips and a bead of sweat falling from my cheek. I look down at my hands that are slightly shaking from the remnant adrenaline coursing through my body. ¡°Jesus Christ, this is real.¡± I whisper to myself, running my fingers through my hair in effort to calm myself. Pinching would be the action most people would expect, because you know...Dreaming. But I¡¯m a little bit cooler than that, and draw the king of clubs from my deck of cards. I run my finger along the edge of it, and with a sharp sting a splash of blood escapes my hand proving that this is real. ¡°Damn.¡± I shake my hand loosely, before sucking on my finger to get rid of the blood. ¡°Guesh today¡¯sh the day.¡± I call out to myself even as my finger gives me a lisp.

    I open the door in front of me to the office, and I¡¯m greeted by the familiar room of Principal Adams. Papers flood the desk in an unorganized cluster, and a bookshelf taking the majority of space in the room is filled with trinkets and novels that I doubt Adams has ever read. Sitting on top of his desk, with their legs crossed and an indifferent expression on their face, was somebody I¡¯ve never seen. They have sandy brown hair that¡¯s cut short, but still somehow seems to be messier than mine. His skin is a tanned, and his eyes are an icy blue that stare sharply at me through an apathetic face. He shoves off the desk and towers in front of me. He¡¯s probably a foot taller than me, and I¡¯m 5¡¯8¡±. Not to mention he¡¯s pretty athletic, and he has quite the intimidating aura about him. He doesn¡¯t even look like he''s much older than me, maybe he¡¯s got 9 or 10 years on me, but he''s not the old office-worker I was expecting to meet!

    I hold out my hand for him and smile broadly, ¡°Hey! Nice to meet you, I¡¯m Jay, call me TJ, are you from the U.S.E.F.?¡±

    A smirk manages to pierce through the indifferent expression on his face, and he shakes my hand calmly. ¡°Yeah. It¡¯s nice to meet you TJ, I¡¯m-¡±

    ¡°WAIT!¡± I exclaim, taking my hand back and holding up my other hand to stop him. I reach into my pocket and pull out my deck of cards, shuffling it before holding the deck out to him. Can¡¯t believe I almost let my giddiness let me forget something so important! ¡°Pick a card for me! Please and thank you.¡± I smile at him.

    ¡°Hahaha!¡± The man laughs brightly after pausing for a moment, a full grin on his face now and a weird glimmer shining through his blue eyes. ¡°Alright, alright.¡± His eyes flicker across the cards that I¡¯m holding face down to him, and he seamlessly moves to pick out one. He takes it and looks at it, before looking back at me. ¡°Do I...Just show it to you?¡±

    ¡°Yessir! Also, you can tell me your name now, sorry about that. Little habit of mine, haha!¡± I hold my hand out to him, waiting for his card while apologetically smiling.

    ¡°Alright.¡± He says quietly, a look of amusement and strange familiarity on his face as he examines the card. He¡¯s probably a little caught off guard by my habit, but I¡¯ve done it with everybody I¡¯ve met and talked with. ¡°My name is Leonidous C. White.¡± He says casually, placing his card back in my hand. ¡°And I guess I¡¯m a joker.¡± He brings up with a small smile.

    ¡°Woah...That¡¯s cool, I¡¯ve never seen anybody pull a Joker before! Would you wanna...Pick again?¡± I ask, shuffling the card back into the deck and offering the cards to him with a slight nervous smile. That seemed to really amuse him, and when I offered him the deck he moved fluidly to pick a card again...And he redrew the Joker.

    ¡°Look at that...guess I¡¯m just cool.¡± Leonidous says with a smirk, giving me back the joker. I¡¯m not going to lie, that was totally cool. Maybe I¡¯d seen somebody pull a joker once before to be perfectly candid, I can¡¯t remember, but I know for a fact I¡¯d never seen somebody pull it twice! I couldn¡¯t use my signature card reading on somebody who drew a joker, which in its own way was awesome.

    ¡°That¡¯s, SO cool!¡± I exclaim, taking the card and shuffling it back into the deck. I know I¡¯m pretty much playing to the beat of my own drums but I don¡¯t even care, this guy is fascinating and from the U.S.E.F.!

    ¡°At any rate TJ, you¡¯ve got an Emblem. That¡¯s why you¡¯re meeting with me right now.¡± He brings up, putting a hand on my shoulder and walking out of the room. ¡°Let¡¯s talk in the car. We¡¯re going to be heading out. Do you need to talk with your family before you leave for boot-camp? It¡¯ll be two more years of school, where you live there with other Emblem users. Granted, most of them have been there since they were born but hey¡­¡± His blue eyes flash with a knowing light, ¡°You seem like you¡¯ll catch on quick.¡± He finishes, as he heads out into the halls of the school and starts to the exit. I¡¯m breathing heavily, which I didn¡¯t notice until now, from the raw adrenaline in my system. I jump up softly and fist bump the air, before chasing after him.

    ¡°Yeah we don¡¯t need to talk to my dad he¡¯ll be fine, I told him about this the other day.¡± I did not tell him about this the other day. ¡°What car do you drive? Is it cool? It¡¯s gotta be pretty big, do you-¡± I¡¯m cut off by my jaw going slack, because when he opens the doors to the school there¡¯s a crazy sports car I¡¯ve never seen before sitting in the parking lot.

    ¡°Well, it¡¯s custom made for me. So I guess it¡¯s pretty big, yeah.¡± Leonidous brings up casually, walking to the car and unlocking it as though it was no big deal.

    ¡°DUDE! This car is AWESOME. Are you serious!?!¡± I shout while running over to it. It¡¯s got a pitch black paint job that¡¯s decorated with deep blue trimmings around the windows and wheels, both of which are as black as the car. He opens the passenger door for me while rolling his eyes and with a small smirk.

    ¡°Well, she¡¯s a little slow for my liking. She gets the job done though.¡±

    ¡°Slow?! Come on, how fast can this car go? It¡¯s at least 180 mph.¡±

    ¡°Oh, don¡¯t underestimate dark lightning here. She can get up to 280 without much issue, and accelerate from 0 to 170 in a second or so.¡± Leonidous responds casually with, as I enter the car. Before he shuts the door on me I stop him.

    ¡°THAT¡¯S SLOW!?¡± I exclaim with my eyes basically popping out of my head at this point. He snorts before shutting the door on me and walking to the drivers side. It gives me a chance to look around the inside of the car, which matches the outside. Black seats with blue trimmings and buttons where the radio typically is that glow a soft white. Basically, this car was ripped out of a James Bond movie.

    Leonidous enters his side of the car and turns to me with a smirk, ¡°Watch this.¡± He says, before he turns the car on. Luminescent lights glow to life throughout the car as though they¡¯re veins keeping it alive, and a voice echoes through the car in a very soft Russian accent.

    ¡°Leo, pleasure to have you back. Where are we going today?¡± It asks, and I was already on the verge of losing my mind before the car was revealed to have an AI system. Leo looks at me and puts a finger on his lips, winking as he does so.

    ¡°Rasp, would you please take us to the launching site for the U.S.E.F.? Play some music for us if you wouldn¡¯t mind as well. Whatever you¡¯re in the mood for.¡±

    ¡°Of course sir, right away.¡± It responds, before some smooth jazz starts playing in the background.

    ¡°LEO, dude, I¡¯m losing my mind here man! Do I get a car? Where are we going? Do you have an Emblem? How does this car have an AI? Did-¡± He quiets me by putting up his hand.

    ¡°All in good time TJ. Now¡¯s as good a time as any though, so let¡¯s go through the checklist I was given.¡± He says casually, leaning into the back seat and picking up an iPad. ¡°Real quick as for the car questions, I doubt it. I got this as a present from my uh...friend...when I was 18. The AI is named RASP because it¡¯s a Really Awesome Science Project.¡±

    ¡°Rasp...Haha almost like Rasputin!¡±

    Leo doesn¡¯t even look up from the iPad when I commented that, ¡°I should¡¯ve thought of that, and given it a Russian accent. Foolish little me.¡± He says sarcastically to himself, and I can¡¯t help but chuckle. ¡°At any rate here we go. Are you ready for the speech?¡± He asks, looking up to me as the car starts moving.

    ¡°Oh my god the car has an autopilot.¡± I blurt out dumbly. Obviously if it had an AI it could drive I was just...It¡¯s a lot to take in! ¡°Anyways, yes. Yes I¡¯m ready.¡± I say, meeting his eyes with my own.

    ¡°So, this is a great honor being inducted into the U.S.E.F., blah blah blah. Consider yourself blessed to join the lucky few, whatever whatever. The gist is that we can¡¯t just let you join without any education, so you¡¯ll have to attend a boarding school until you¡¯re 18. It¡¯ll educate you on your typical core courses but also have a few extra classes about Emblems, Vein, and combat training. You¡¯ll be a little bit behind the majority of the class, especially in Emblem and Vein classes. Luckily, Vein classes are only taken the final year so you won¡¯t have to deal with any of it for a while.¡± He pauses and then glances out the window. ¡°Oh, yeah. I should probably catch you up so you don¡¯t freak out when we get there. The facility is on a rather elaborate flying island.¡±

    Those words spilled from his mouth casually, his face without a care in the world as he dropped on me the legendary fact I¡¯m about to go to freaking never-land from Peter Pan. ¡°Just a, small detail? One you almost forgot to mention?¡± I¡¯ve got a huge grin and my chest feels bubbly. ¡°Nothing big? Just another AWESOME thing?¡±

    ¡°Sure, sure.¡± Leo says with a shrug, looking over at me with a flicker of devious light in his blue eyes. ¡°I¡¯ll give you 5 bucks if you can guess how we get there.¡±

    All signs pointed to us ascending through something akin to a jet, but I like to bet on the minority. ¡°A giant glass elevator! Like from Charlie and the Chocolate factory!¡±

    ¡°Hahaha, yeah no.¡± Leo says with a smirk and slight chuckle. ¡°There¡¯s a kid named Jasmine, she¡¯s around your age. Little younger actually. She has an Emblem like you, but hers is way more useful. She can connect any 16 things she touches, and allow anybody who comes across those places to basically teleport to one of the other 16. It¡¯s a very useful power, she doesn¡¯t have to go through the same training as you guys because of that. She just chills as a support to us truly evolved.¡± Leo says, as the car stops in front of an airport. ¡°Unfortunately, there¡¯s no mark in Nevada. We¡¯re catching a flight to LA.¡± As he finishes talking the doors of the car both open, and Leo pokes my shoulder prodding me to leave.

    In a trance I head out of the car. Unfortunately, my brain is slightly overloaded with awesomeness. As such, I barely notice as we head towards a terminal and basically speed run getting onto a plane. It¡¯s only when we¡¯re taking a seat in first class that I think to ask, ¡°What about the car?¡±

    ¡°It can drive itself to my house.¡± Leo says indifferently, as he pours some apple cider into two wine glasses and offers one to me. ¡°Congrats by the way. Cheers to the U.S.E.F.?¡± He asks, raising one glass to me and placing the other down on the table between us.

    I take it gently and tap it against his glass, the bubbling yellow liquid inside swirling around lightly. I take a sip of the glass and realize this is real. The apple cider burning down my throat, the comfy seat of the plane I¡¯m sitting in, all of this is real. I¡¯m not even dreaming. I have no idea, absolutely NO idea what¡¯s going to be waiting for me at the boarding school of the U.S.E.F.. But I can¡¯t wait!

 Mercury

    I wake up to the same ceiling I¡¯ve woken up to every day of my life. The gray-painted ceiling has never changed. The single ventilation shaft in the center pumps air into my room. The same stupid bed that¡¯s garishly decorated with my family¡¯s crest. The same walls are decorated sparsely, only a banner and a framed photo. The photo is of me and my family all forcing smiles on our faces, updated every year as if clockwork. I¡¯m lucky today though, because I woke up earlier than they wake me up. According to my watch, which rests on my nightstand, I¡¯ve got 12 minutes before my day starts. My bones still ache from yesterday, my mind is still on the border of giving up completely and just becoming a yes-man to the U.S.E.F.. There was something else about today that was supposed to interest me. I can¡¯t remember.

    I hurl myself off my bed, unable to muster the energy to actually rise. Hitting the wooden floor with a hard thump doesn¡¯t hurt, not after everything else. When I do stand up though, that¡¯s when I¡¯m confronted with the incredibly hard question of what to do. I don¡¯t know. Free time sucks. Doing things sucks too. It¡¯s way easier to be brain-dead. Which is why I¡¯m on autopilot as I put on my clothes and get myself ready for the day.

    I¡¯m brushing my teeth when my door opens and sends light cascading into my dark room. I wince from the abrupt shining light and put up a hand to shield myself. ¡°I¡¯m up. I¡¯ll be ready to go soon.¡± I respond in a muffled voice to the wordless question of the shadowy figures that I know to be my Math and English teachers.

    ¡°English is in 15 minutes, don¡¯t be late Mercury. We have to look good today.¡± She says coldly, before leaving with her husband and closing the door behind them. Why was today special? I can¡¯t quite recall...I know I was told something important was happening today. It hits me as I spit out the liquid from my mouth. We had a new kid coming in today. Hopefully their Emblem isn¡¯t something stupid, like turning into a worm or some other stupid shit.

    ¡°Poor son of a bitch.¡± I say to myself, pitying the fate of the kid; whoever they are. Regardless, I head out of my room after a few more minutes, and navigate through the labyrinth of stupid hallways that serve as our school. I see a few other familiar faces as I get to the classroom, and I¡¯m waiting for the one that I don¡¯t recognize. I can¡¯t find anybody like that. However, there is one irregularity. One other student that isn¡¯t here at the moment, when she''s typically the first in class. ¡°Where¡¯s N-?¡±

    I¡¯m cut off by a giant crash, and the wall seperating the classroom and cafeteria explodes, with a kid I don¡¯t recognize crashing through it. He has short, messy brown hair and pale skin. The next victim of Nia. The classroom is deathly silent for a moment before the students start to chant quietly. They¡¯re rising in volume, because of course they are. They¡¯re stupid teenagers...Like me. I¡¯m also chanting, ¡°Fight, fight, fight, fight!¡±

    The kid stands back up, which is actually quite impressive, and has a bright grin on his face. His smile is slightly jarring given the blood dripping down his swollen nose, and his shirt has a hole burned in the center of it. ¡°I¡¯m not one to disappoint a classroom! Especially when they¡¯re chanting for me.¡± He shouts loudly. He snaps his fingers, and abruptly a deck of cards fly into his hand from the hole in the wall. He tosses one of the cards, and it flies quicker than I can follow.

    ¡°OOOWWWW!¡± Nia¡¯s shrill voice screams. Bad move, just take the fall when Nia chases after you. She finally comes into view of the classroom, standing in the hole.

    ¡°Pft.¡± I chuckle quietly. Nia''s normally pretty, I guess. Curly black hair that falls just under her shoulders, relatively tan skin and eyes that are a stunning shade of red (but are often filled with the fire of rage). Ruining her look, however, is a playing card sticking out of her forehead. Some crimson beads of blood fall down that pretty face. Additionally, there¡¯s this weird little tattoo that seems to be on top of her clothes, and it looks like a butterfly with its wings disintegrating.

    ¡°Calm down, King of Hearts,¡± The new kid says, still smiling because he must not understand the situation. ¡°A prideful, yet passionate king. If you apologize I might just be tempted to ask you to prom!¡± He teases Nia, which is an idiotic move. She has one of the strongest Emblems in class, and she¡¯s not scared to use it. Plus she can¡¯t really get in trouble because of her family.

    ¡°I can¡¯t believe you! You went out of your way to ruin my breakfast, AND you¡¯re talking shit. I¡¯ll never forgive you, MUCH less date you!!¡± She shouts angrily. Clearly, he pissed her off. Her hair glows amber and her eyes follow suit. Her fists shine before igniting into flame. She chases after him incredibly quickly and kicks at his head, but when she¡¯s inches away from hitting him she¡¯s repulsed backward by a force I sure as hell couldn''t see and flies back through the newly made hole in the wall.

    The new kid winces, ¡°Sorry!¡± He calls out with an apologetic smile. His eyes turn over to us and he waves gently. ¡°Also, hi, it¡¯s nice to meet you guys! My name is TJ, if you want to you can call me-¡± He¡¯s cut off by a fist that comes in contact with his cheek and sends him flying after Nia into the cafeteria.

    The class goes completely silent, as the teacher¡¯s aid stands looking outside through the wall at those two. He sneers and walks out after them before the teacher herself walks in. Mrs. Kraus taps the wall that was broken by Nia, and it begins to reassemble itself via her Emblem. ¡°Now¡­¡± She says, with an extremely sickly sweet voice that sends shivers down my spine. ¡°Does anybody care to explain what has happened?¡± She asks, a smile forced onto her wrinkled face. Not a soul would dare speak, much less a soul inside a body like me. ¡°No? Then I suppose we¡¯ll have to get the story from Nia directly. It¡¯s my, absolute, pleasure to introduce Jay Jeremy Jones to the class.¡± She says, the smile almost disappearing from her face as she says the word ¡®pleasure¡¯. Almost.

    TJ is crazy. That¡¯s for sure. I have no idea what the fuck he did or how shit went down, but if nothing else he¡¯s incredibly amusing. I kinda hope he doesn¡¯t get in trouble for what he did.

    After a few more minutes of silence, the bell rings and Nia comes back into the class with the aide. She¡¯s already fully recovered from every injury, but judging by the slight blush on her face she must have gotten a fair few bruises from the new kid. The tattoo thing on her body has disappeared as well. The teacher¡¯s aide was holding TJ over his shoulder. ¡°TJ hasn¡¯t gotten his shots yet. I forgot about that when I hit him, so he¡¯s out cold. I¡¯m taking him to the nurse. Sorry Ma¡¯am.¡± He says, nodding to Mrs. Kraus before leaving the class.

    Mrs. Kraus glides over to Nia and puts both hands on her shoulders, ¡°Nia dear, what happened to the wall?¡± She asks quietly, the entire classroom is filled with silence as though a single wrong move would result in our throats being ripped out.

    ¡°TJ, the new kid. He broke it.¡± She says quietly, not making eye contact with the teacher. She¡¯s a terrible liar.

    ¡°Wrong,¡± I say almost without realizing I¡¯m talking. In fact, I didn¡¯t realize. When the class turns their attention to me, the teacher included, I realize I spoke out loud. ¡°Uh...TJ was punched through the wall. He didn¡¯t break it.¡±

    ¡°His body did!¡± Nia shouts out at me, sticking out her tongue because she¡¯s a stupid 16-year-old girl.

    Mrs. Kraus grows pensive as she looks back at Nia. ¡°Nia, darling, take your seat. And don¡¯t lie again,¡± She says quietly, before taking her place at the top of the class. She starts preaching, talking about English and making sure we were all regretting not bringing a blanket and pillow. Just as the thought was coming to me that maybe it wouldn¡¯t be so bad to start a riot in class, the teacher¡¯s aide walks back into the class and takes a seat by the wall.

    The teacher¡¯s aid position is so dumb. Our grade has cycled through 8 of them since I can remember being in school, which traces back to when I was around 7. We¡¯ve only ever had one that was relatively cool. They¡¯re not actually meant to be a teacher''s aid, they just serve as the muscle of the classroom for when the teacher¡¯s Emblem isn¡¯t strong enough to keep us in line. Teachers like Mrs. Kraus, whose Emblem wasn''t fully evolved. She''s just a support class. Her emblem is that anything inanimate she touches will revert to the state it was exactly 5 minutes ago, which is one of the stupidest Emblems I''ve ever heard of. It''s a wonder she''s still kicking.Love this story? Find the genuine version on the author''s preferred platform and support their work!

    - - - - - - - -

    The rest of the day has gone by without anything big happening. In combat training, Nia was more aggressive than usual, still probably fired up from TJ. The big fight was Nia versus Thomas, those two are top of the class in terms of battle prowess. When they get scheduled for the one on one fights it¡¯s always a huge deal, and this was no exception. It was a really hard fight but Thomas ended up getting the edge on Nia, and then the battle was called. The teacher said Nia won because she took less damage even though Thomas hit her more. Whatever. I just froze my opponent and went on with my day.

    It was another exhausting day, and I lay back down in my bed with every intention to fall asleep instantly. I just got off of the last class, and it¡¯s past 10 pm. I don¡¯t even care that I¡¯m lying in the same bed, having dealt with the same school day, I just want to sleep. Honestly, it was a little better than normal today. Just a little. Maybe the new kid isn¡¯t that bad. He still seems like another stupid teenager though, after-

    ¡°WAOHH!¡± I hear a scream and hear a thud against my floor, which makes me shoot up off my bed. TJ is lying on the floor of my dark room, his nose fixed. The vent in the center of my ceiling is broken, did he...Fall through it?

    ¡°What are you doing?!¡± I hiss at him quietly, my tired body being rejuvenated with the ever elusive ¡®what-the-fuck¡¯ reaction.

    ¡°Well, I was crawling through the vents because I was bored, and then I fell. Pretty one-two in all honesty.¡± TJ responds with a slight chuckle. I turn on the lights and narrow my eyes at him. This kid isn¡¯t normal. He¡¯s weird, he¡¯s special. Not in a good way. ¡°Anyways hi, I¡¯m TJ! I don¡¯t know if we¡¯ve met, I have an Emble-¡±.

    ¡°No shit you have an Emblem, this is the U.S.E.F. school, the only person here who doesn¡¯t have an Emblem is the janitor. What were you doing in the vents!?¡±

    ¡°Ah, you see, I was bored. I may have explained that before. I forgot to bring anything with me from my home, and there was basically nothing to do but study in my room.¡±

    ¡°So why didn¡¯t you study?¡±

    ¡°Hahaha! Yeah, well, the bathroom vent looked surprisingly big so I snuck into it and hey. One thing led to another and now I¡¯m here. Could you draw a card?¡± He asks of me abruptly, pulling out the same deck of cards from his fight and offering them face down to me. There is no explanation provided to me for anything about this kid, but you know what? Sure...He¡¯s pretty entertaining, even if I¡¯m on autopilot. ¡°Any card!¡± He adds as I think.

    I pick out one at random, and look at my card. The jack of spades. ¡°So, do I do anything with this card?¡± I ask awkwardly, not really sure of the next step.

    ¡°Nope!¡± He says brightly, snagging the card back from me and looking at it. ¡°Aha, the jack of spades! Wonder if you''ve found your king yet? Nice to meet you! Also, what¡¯s your name?¡±

    ¡°...Mercury. Mercury Theta.¡± I offer to him, hesitantly putting my hand out to him. He takes it enthusiastically and shakes my hand.

    ¡°So, you have an Emblem too? That or you¡¯re a janitor, either way I can ask you about the layout of the school.¡± He brings up, his green eyes glittering with enough optimism to make it impossible for me to say no to him. He¡¯s such a¡­.

    ¡°Weirdo.¡± I murmur with a smirk spreading across my face, without having been given permission. ¡°Yeah I have an Emblem. We¡¯re all technically Evolved, but I¡¯m actually from a family so I¡¯m way further along the evolutionary track than you.¡± The way TJ¡¯s face reacted to each word I said, as if he was hanging on to each word, almost drew words out of me. My opinion totally controlled this kid, he was an idiot. That¡¯s awesome.

    ¡°Evolved? Hehe..¡± He snickers, taking a seat on my bed as though this is his room. ¡°That¡¯s a touch pretentious. Granted, Emblems rule. Does anybody else have markings like me?¡± TJ asks me, tossing his deck of cards in the air and suspending it above his hand. He flicks the corner to have them rotate, the jack of spades on the bottom and that weird disintegrating butterfly on the top. It looks identical to the weird symbol on Nia earlier today.

    ¡°...Nah. Nobody else has your power. Nobody who¡¯s alive at least. The reason they¡¯re called Emblems is because each person¡¯s power is wholly their own and unique. Emblematic of the user, or whatever.¡±

    ¡°Sooo, what¡¯s yours? Mine is the whole marking thing as you can see. I can touch objects and imbue them with my mark. I can control the ability of anything that has my mark on it, to attract and repel directly to me or any other thing I¡¯ve marked. Pretty badass isn¡¯t it?¡± He brings up with a confident smile. Anything he touches? Nah, he probably just hasn¡¯t discovered the limitations of his power.

    ¡°That is pretty cool actually. Granted, I¡¯m cooler. Anything I directly touch I can freeze solid.¡± Hearing my Emblem TJ laughs and lightly punches my shoulder.

    ¡°Haha! What? Dude that¡¯s lame! I¡¯m so much cooler. I just stay 5 feet away from you and I¡¯m safe.¡± TJ says, still snorting with the smile very slowly falling off his face. He¡¯s just, such a¡­

    ¡°Dumbass. You can¡¯t see the applications of my incredibly awesome power. Anything I touch. Anything, freezes.¡± I sit down next to him on my bed, and raise my hand. I freeze the air around my hand and the temperature of the room falls instantly, and when I swipe my hand through the air I leave a white streak of ice in the air. I hold a small frost blade, incredibly sharp and ridiculously cold. Shit, I¡¯m smiling. I can¡¯t help it though, the honest to god admiration in TJ¡¯s eyes are refreshing. Just caught me off guard, that¡¯s all.

    ¡°Wooaaahhhh! That¡¯s awesome! And you can make tons of it, that¡¯s actually so crazy! What happens if you touch the earth? Haha! Ice age 2.0?¡±

    ¡°No, no ice age actually. If I touch something like a house I only freeze a region of 10 square feet around the point of contact. Additionally I only freeze the surface level in that case, which means I¡¯m not freezing a human solid or killing them instantly. Kinda annoying, but it¡¯s just one more step that takes a few seconds.¡±

    ¡°Wait wait wait, hold the phone. That¡¯s still awesome, but I¡¯m not sure I¡¯m game with the way you¡¯re talking about murder so casually. You¡¯re joking around, right?¡± TJ hasn¡¯t been alive long enough if he¡¯s that na?ve. Actually he¡¯s never been here before now, so I guess...Maybe his morality is the normal one. God. He¡¯s so¡­.

    ¡°Refreshing.¡± I murmur quietly, to myself, before I realize I¡¯ve said that out loud. I shake my head and cover my words with a cough, god it¡¯s getting a little hot in here. ¡°Sorry, sorry. Yeah, uh, sure. Messing around.¡± A quiet bell chimes in the room, and TJ pulls his watch out of his pocket.

    ¡°Ah! My bad, I¡¯ve got to get back to my room. Leo thinks I¡¯m using the bathroom and this encounter has lasted long enough for a constipated person to make a significant amount of progress.¡± He throws a card into the empty vent of my room, before flying up through my room into the vent shaft. He struggles to climb in for a moment, kicking my ceiling as he pulls himself fully into the vent. He pokes his head back into my room, ¡°Night Mercury. It was cool to meet you! Sorry about falling through your roof, see you tomorrow!¡± His head is swallowed by the darkness of the vent and leaves me alone, before I even get a chance to respond.

    ¡°Yeah...Goodnight TJ.¡± I murmur to myself, staring blankly at the hole he¡¯s left in my ceiling. Some janitor will fix it tomorrow while I¡¯m in classes, classes with TJ. Classes...Are going to be with TJ from now on. A slight stupor falls over me as I turn off the lights and look up at the roof of my little room.

    TJ was going to get screwed tomorrow. Every time a new kid comes into this place they do, the only exception was Thomas. They don¡¯t get how this place works, they don¡¯t get we¡¯re not allowed to do whatever we feel like. They usually end up disappearing within a few days. They usually cry in combat class. They usually piss me off, and fall quiet really quickly when the teachers start teaching; as though the classes here were different from other classes. They weren¡¯t. I guess..I haven¡¯t really been outside of this place before though. With the exception of ¡®family outings¡¯.

    TJ has though. TJ¡¯s been outside of this place, but way more important than that he doesn¡¯t seem like the others. I don¡¯t think he¡¯s going to disappear, and I don¡¯t think he¡¯s going to cry in combat class. As long as I can help him keep his mouth shut during the teacher''s lessons I think he¡¯ll actually entertain me. He¡¯s a teenager like me. He¡¯s a dumb teenager¡­.but I don¡¯t even care. I¡¯m smiling as I¡¯m falling asleep.

    - - - - - - - -

    When I wake up I¡¯m still smirking, even though I¡¯m greeted by the same ceiling. The same stupid room in the same school that I¡¯ve been in since I can remember. The same bed that¡¯s witnessed me grow from a kid to now, and the same stupid picture and banner on the wall. But it¡¯s different today. I¡¯m not as tired as I should be, and when I get up and look at the clock I¡¯ve still got 30 minutes before I have to go to school for the day.

    There¡¯s something else about the ceiling that¡¯s a little bit weird. When I look a little closer I realize what it is. ¡°Huh¡­¡± I¡¯ll be damned. There¡¯s a dent on the ceiling, close to the fixed ventilation shaft. Janitor came in while I was asleep, to each their own I guess. The dent is my big point of interest. It¡¯s not the same old ceiling, with the same old pattern. Not anymore¡­.Because TJ¡¯s been here now.

 The New Cycle

    Crawling through a vent is shockingly difficult, especially when you have to make as little noise as possible because you¡¯re not supposed to be crawling through a vent. Just a fun fact for you. Anyways, as things currently stand I¡¯m crawling through a vent. It¡¯s dusty, cramped, cold, and I¡¯m simply ecstatic. Mercury is so cool, I¡¯m lucky I fell into his room and not Nia¡¯s.

    GOD Nia is so annoying! Leo was showing me the facilities of the school, helping me acclimate to the new environment, being a good guy. Then, in the cafeteria, I took a baked potato. Apparently, that was a bad idea, because the chefs who work here make a specific meal for each person each day and that was Nia¡¯s. She couldn¡¯t take a joke, honestly. I took a bite of it before she even walked over, so I thought it was funny when I took another bite after she explained the situation.

    She has no sense of humor. She just immediately attacked me!

    My attention is required in the present again, because I¡¯ve arrived back at the vent in the bathroom where I left. I climb back down through it carefully, a small smirk on my face because I¡¯m such a ninja prodigy. I flush the empty toilet to throw anybody off my trail, and open the stall confidently.

    ¡°So. The baked potato ruined your digestive track then?¡± Leo says casually, appearing from out of nowhere. He¡¯s standing by the sinks, looking indifferently at his iPad.

    ¡°Oh Jesus¡­¡± I whisper quietly, my hand snapping to my chest as my heart explodes momentarily. ¡°Yeah, yeah. Sorry about that. So, back to my room?¡± I say with a nervous smile. He didn¡¯t see me, and he had no proof I did anything wrong. I shuffle slowly around him to get to the sink.

    ¡°Well, you know.¡± Leo says, yawning and putting away his ipad. He seems a little confused and looks up at the ceiling, with a finger thoughtfully put against his chin. ¡°I don¡¯t think people typically piss in the vents.¡± Uh-oh. There it is.

    ¡°Am I in trouble?¡± I say quietly, my face feeling hot and my shoulders rising as I look to the floor to try and hide my face. Literally my second day here, and I¡¯m already going to be kicked out..

    Leo puts his hand on my shoulder, and pushes me back playfully. ¡°Nah.¡± I look up at him, my eyes wide, only to see him smirking at me. ¡°If anything this school needs you all the more. Nobody¡¯s used the vents like that since my graduation. Maybe don¡¯t try and go under my nose again.¡± Leo heads towards the exit to the bathroom, and pauses before he leaves. ¡°I don¡¯t care if you lie to your teachers though,¡± he adds without looking back to me.

    I blink at the door that shuts behind him, and then look at myself in the mirror. I¡¯m...Pale. And I¡¯m more jacked than I was a few days ago. Am I imagining that? I look closer, no I¡¯m definitely not imagining that. I don¡¯t know how long I was out after Mr. Robins knocked me out, but there¡¯s not a mark on me. ¡°The shots...That¡¯s real?¡± I murmur to myself, a giant grin spreading across myself. Oh god, is that what I look like when I smile?! ¡°Hey! Leo!¡± I shout lightly, my eyes lingering on the reflection of myself as I head after him. ¡°You were serious about the shots?¡± I ask, opening the door and coming face to chest with the unreasonably tall guy.

    ¡°Yeah. Every person who has an Emblem is given experimental drugs that boost your immune system, cellular regeneration, ATP production, and neural processing. Otherwise you could be killed by any random person with a gun.¡± He responds to me, shrugging lightly. ¡°Get with the program.¡± He says, almost teasingly.

    ¡°Wait, but Leo, I look¡­¡± I poke my bicep, unable to quell the smile that my face evolves into. ¡°Well, how do I say this formally¡­ I look great! Athletic? Strong! Cool, you know?¡± In response to this, Leo actually laughs, before he heads towards the elevator that would take us back to the first floor. Also known as the room where us students and the basic classes are.

    ¡°Whatever. You do know where you need to go tomorrow, right? If you don¡¯t, the Principal will get all pissy with me.¡± He mentions offhandedly, and I got the feeling he wasn¡¯t asking out of concern for me but out of obligation. I¡¯ve gotten that feeling a lot about Leo.

    ¡°Leo, why do you work here?¡± I blurted out as I joined him in the elevator. Maybe it was a bad question to ask, because as the doors shut in front of us Leo¡¯s blue eyes widened and just stared at me quietly. The moment of silence grows into almost a minute, and I can''t take it anymore so I blurt out, ¡°You don¡¯t seem too enthused about watching boys like me grow into exceptional men with great talents. Not to imply I don¡¯t already have talents, but you wouldn¡¯t happen to be here for the-GASP-You¡¯re totally here to pick up chicks aren¡¯t you?! Soon as they turn 18 your plan is-¡±

    ¡°Alright, you¡¯re pushing your luck.¡± Leo says, cutting me off and playfully dropping his fist on the top of my head. ¡°I¡¯m working here because I have to. You¡¯ll get it pretty soon.¡± Leo mentions with a knowing expression on his face, as a glimmer of light that I don¡¯t really like in his emerald green eyes.

    ¡°Oh...Gotcha, gotcha.¡± The doors open up the elevator and Leo finishes escorting me to my room, less so because I needed an escort and much more so because I was totally going to run off on my own if he let me. So...Maybe I did need an escort. ¡°Well, I¡¯m going to bed, you can go now!¡± I bring up with a grin, standing in front of my door and waiting for Leo to head off. I wanted to find out which room was Mercury¡¯s¡­Maybe which room was Nia¡¯s too.

    ¡°Sure, but if you do anything else before going to bed I¡¯ll lock you in your room after your classes every night you stay here.¡± His voice was cold, and his eyes told me not to mess with him. So, of course, as he was walking away, I was tempted to mess with him. Then again, as I peered into my room and spied my bed, sleep wasn¡¯t sounding all that bad either. I closed the door behind me and jumped into bed, kicking off my shoes in the process.

    ¡°Hey mom!¡± I whisper excitedly, my face in a bright grin and my eyes shut. ¡°I¡¯m at this super cool school, you¡¯ve been watching you¡¯re probably all caught up. I hope you¡¯re doing great! I got into a fight, you¡¯re probably a little annoyed about that. But I also made a friend! I think. I know you¡¯ve probably got a lot on your plate, but if you wouldn¡¯t mind, I¡¯d really appreciate it if you could find dad! Now that I think about it, this is the first time since the funeral that I¡¯ve asked you to find him¡­¡± I open my eyes and sit up, looking over at the light switch and throwing a card to turn it off. I pull the card back to me with my Emblem, and look at the card. I picked it at random, but I really wasn¡¯t surprised when it was the queen of hearts. ¡°I love you mom.¡± I finish, putting my head back on the pillows and falling asleep.

    - - - - - - - -

    A bright arena, almost a colosseum, with stands that tower high into the sky and vibrate with the movement of millions of people. It¡¯s unbearably hot, and the area I¡¯m standing in is covered in coarse sand. ¡°This sucks¡­¡± Somebody murmurs next to me, and I turn to see Mercury. His gray hair and blue eyes are unmistakable, even though his face seems to be a little bit more akin to George Clooney. When I reach out I realize I¡¯ve gotten a pedicure, or manicure? Whichever one is the hands. And my skin¡¯s pretty tan too. And...I have...Boobs. Hm. ¡°Nia, we¡¯ve gotta go.¡± Mercury says to me, picking up a large lumpy body bag that appeared out of nowhere. Also it confirmed I¡¯ve become Nia. I run along with Mercury, moving through the huge desert that served as where we were standing, before we¡¯re stopped by Leo.

    ¡°I can¡¯t let you guys go.¡± He says, his hands in his pockets but his face ready to kill. Mercury tsks and takes a step back, looking at me and then back at Leo. ¡°Get ready.¡± He says, pulling his hands out of his pockets and cracking his neck. I put my hands in two fists, and then Leo¡¯s appeared right next to me. ¡°Alright. You guys go. It¡¯ll be fine.¡± He says, patting my shoulder and walking past us. I turn around and see a huge tidal wave of darkness approaching us, and I dash forwards without thinking.

    Mercury is right with me, still holding the body bag. I can''t afford to turn around and check up on the darkness, and my chest is starting to burn. Mercury shouts out, ¡°He¡¯s waking up!¡± Before he throws the body bag over to me. I skid to a stop and catch it, the body bag dissolving away. I look into my own eyes, I¡¯m holding myself.

    ¡°I¡¯m waking up?¡± I murmur to myself, furrowing my brow before being hit with the wave of darkness that has caught up with me.

    - - - - - - - -

    I jerk awake, and blink a few times. ¡°Wha!?¡± I murmur, my mind not really processing my dream. I look around the dark and barren room, then look down at myself. I¡¯m me! I let out a sigh of relief and then flop back down onto the bed. ¡°...Haha, what was that?¡± I wheeze out, realizing how weird and honestly funny my dream was in hindsight.

    It¡¯s unbelievably tempting to go back to sleep, but instead I do actually get up. I go to the bathroom to brush my teeth, throw on some clothes the school provided for me, and look at myself in the mirror. I definitely look stronger, and my green eyes sparkle more than they ever have before. A small smile starts to appear on my face, but I move on before I have to face the reality that I look terrible when smiling, again. When I come out into the main room, the creak of a door meets me and Mrs. Kraus enters. She¡¯s paired with her husband, I met them both once when Leo was showing me the rounds of the school. ¡°Hey! I didn¡¯t oversleep, did I?¡± I call out to the two of them, flashing an apologetic smile. Mr. Kraus takes the initiative over his wife, stepping to me and putting his hands on my shoulders. I look blankly at his hands and then back up at him, ¡°Can I¡­.Help you?¡± I mumble awkwardly. Then a searing pain permeates through my shoulders to my arms, and my entire body screams out in agony. It feels like a thousand needles are being stabbed into both my arms, and my shoulders are in such white hot pain it feels more like they¡¯re on fire. I can¡¯t even muster up the energy to scream, and with my eyes wide as dinner plates I fall trembling to the ground.

    Mrs. Kraus¡¯s face enters my view, a sickly sweet smile on the decrepit woman. ¡°You can actually. Please do consider this a strike, for your violation of conduct yesterday. If anything like that happens in either of our classes, you will face more dire consequences Mr. Jones. I do hope I¡¯ve made myself clear. You¡¯re a mongrel who we¡¯ve picked up off the streets. There won¡¯t be any complaints if you happen to disappear one day.¡± With those words she leaves the room, with her husband following her. I wish I could say that I valiantly stood up to the two of them, but I was still kinda paralyzed with pain from whatever Emblem Mr. Kraus used. It took me ten minutes to stand up again, another five before I could talk, and as I was walking to my first class my arms were still numb.

    When I got into the class, I was stunned to find only a handful of other students there. Including me there were only six, and I know there were more yesterday. ¡°Am I early?¡± I call out to them, glancing around and trying to find a clock. They didn¡¯t have one in my room, which was rather annoying.

    ¡°Yes, actually.¡± Mrs. Kraus¡¯s voice responds to me from the head of the classroom, a smile on her face as though earlier this morning never happened. ¡°But it¡¯s quite alright. Take a seat next to Thomas, you¡¯ll be sitting between him and Mercury. Mercury isn¡¯t here yet though, so introductions between the two of you will have to wait.¡± She waves passingly at an empty chair, motioning for me to sit. Next to my seat, a boy who¡¯s mop of black hair was all that greeted me. His head was face down on the desk,

    After staring at her for a moment, I give a curt nod. ¡°Yuuuup.¡± I mumble in response to her words, giving a hesitant thumbs up and sliding into my seat next to Thomas. He looks up to me, pulling his head off the desk and shooting me a glare. He¡¯s friendly. I pull out my deck of cards and start to shuffle them, ¡°Sooo, I¡¯m TJ! I don¡¯t know if you remember, I¡¯m the guy who popped in the other day with Nia?¡± I fan out the cards with a smile, holding them out to him. ¡°Enough about me though! Pick a card, pleaseee!¡± This tale has been unlawfully lifted from Royal Road; report any instances of this story if found elsewhere.

    Thomas¡¯s glare continues to bore through me, and I respond with an awkward smile. It takes him a minute, instead of picking a card he sets his head back down against the desk. ¡°No.¡± A deep, hoarse voice responds to me. That Thomas, isn¡¯t he just a sweetheart?

    ¡°Well, as tempted as I am to take that for an answer, I¡¯m gonna have to add some sugar on top of my please. What now? More willing, perhaps? Mayhaps the addition of a cherry as well?¡± I respond with a small chuckle and a smirk. I reach out and poke him with my cards, prodding him to pick one of them. ¡°If you do I¡¯ll show you a magic trick!¡± Now I¡¯ve revealed my trump card, everyone wants to see a magic trick!

    Thomas looks up, and then sits up, pushing himself away from the desk slightly. I get to see his dark brown eyes, and the huge bags under his eyes that stretch across his face like he¡¯s a part of the band KISS. He reaches out one of his pale hands, holding it under the cards. I wave them around with a grin, because I¡¯ve got him now. Then his eyes flicker away from me to the teacher, and he takes back his hand. ¡°After class.¡± He murmurs indifferently, before slamming his head back against the desk and turning away from me.

    ¡°TJ.¡± Mercury calls out, walking into the classroom. I snort into my hand, unable to stop it when I see his outfit. He¡¯s wearing a jungle green polo, with a red bow tie on top. A baggy, dark brown pair of sweatpants decorate his legs. He walks over to me and takes the free seat to my left.

    ¡°Dude¡­¡± I snicker again, pointing at his outfit with a smirk unable to be stopped from showing up on my face. ¡°You look like a Christmas tree.¡± I bring up, pointing at his shirt.

    His face lights up redder than his tie, and his blue eyes widen. ¡°What!?¡± He hisses quietly at me, batting away my hand. ¡°No-what! No! Shut up, this is stylish!¡± He said something after that, but I¡¯ve been completely distracted by the most incredible thing.

    ¡°Mercury¡­¡± I murmur, my smirk broadening into a childish grin, ¡°Your silver hair works as a star!¡±

    - - - - - - - -

    My cheek still hurts from Mercury''s smack as the bell rings that ends the first class. English was never my forte, and when taught by a teacher that looks like a wolf wearing an elderly woman¡¯s skin as a cloak it doesn¡¯t help me all too much. The second the bell rings though, ¡°Thomas! Card, now!¡± I bring up with a childish smile on my face and equally childish demand. I fan the cards out to him, and he looks apathetically at me. A heavy sigh escapes him, like this is the most taxing thing he¡¯s going to do all day, and he reaches out to the cards.

    Mercury watches from over my shoulder, no doubt as curious as I am to figure out what card Thomas is going to pick. Thomas hovers his hand over the cards, and then smacks them out of my hand onto the floor. ¡°No.¡± He says with a snicker escaping him. He turns around and heads to the door, my eyes still focused on the floor where my cards have scattered all over.

    ¡°What a dick.¡± Mercury murmurs from behind me, almost pushing past me to go after Thomas. My heart basically melts, seeing Mercury move after Thomas on my behalf. I reach out and grab his hand, a smile forming on my face as well. I look up at him, and stick my tongue out playfully.

    ¡°Nah! It¡¯s the first time I¡¯ve seen him smile all day. Plus, if you leave, nobody else will help me pick up my cards.¡± I mention offhandedly, crouching down and getting started on picking up the cards. A moment of silence passes before Mercury sits down next to me and helps me to pick them up. I glance up to him once we¡¯ve finished picking up the cards, ¡°Thanks Mercury.¡±

    ¡°Yeah...Whatever.¡± He murmurs in response to me, looking away from me and focusing on the door. He gets up and pats the dirt off his pants, before holding a hand out to me. ¡°We¡¯re going to be late, let¡¯s go.¡± I take his hand and stand up, before realizing something a little sad. He took off his bow tie.

    ¡°Did¡­.Did I bully you into taking off your bow tie?¡± I ask with a disbelieving smile plastered onto my face. He doesn¡¯t even look back at me, and just pushes me back onto the ground.

    ¡°I take it back, you¡¯re going to be late.¡± He responds to me, headings through the doors of the class. I laugh before getting up and chasing after him, the only thing serving as a reminder of this morning was the icy glare Mrs. Kraus sent after me as I left.

    Honestly I have no idea what we went over in the second class. Something about math, probably. I mean that was the topic, but letters got involved in the equations and I just zoned out at that point. Besides, I was so excited for period three that it wouldn¡¯t have mattered even if math was comprehensible.

    Walking with Mercury through the halls of the first floor towards the elevator, I decided to ask him, ¡°What do we go over in our Emblem class? If each person is unique, what could a teacher show us?¡±

    Mercury gives me an interesting look, ¡°Weird.¡± He mumbles to himself, before shaking his head and answering my question. ¡°Yeah, uh, it depends really. Sometimes you can use it to practice using your Emblem. Sometimes you¡¯ll study your past life, or dangerous Emblems other countries have. Learning to abuse the weakness of certain Emblems and that stuff.¡±

    ¡°Wait what was that?¡±

    ¡°Abusing the weaknesses other Emblems have.¡±

    ¡°No no, before that.¡±

    ¡°The uh¡­¡± Mercury furrows his eyebrows as we enter the elevator with a group of other students. ¡°The past life things?¡± He asks me, as though that wasn¡¯t obviously what I was asking about.

    ¡°Yes, the past life thing!¡±

    ¡°Jesus, look TJ just calm your tits ok? The teacher would love to talk with you about it, good things come to those who wait and all that.¡± Mercury claims, seeming a touch annoyed. I just don¡¯t think he knows. The elevator doors open up and let us out, me and Mercury heading in a beeline to the end of the third floor. Facing us are the large black doors labeled ¡®Professor Delta¡¯. Delta...I looked over at Mercury, Mercury Theta. There¡¯s some correlation there, I can¡¯t quite put my finger on it though. ¡°Just...Follow my lead here.¡± He murmurs to me, opening the doors and walking into the classroom.

    I enter the room after him. It¡¯s massive, and basically an auditorium. There¡¯s a stage at the end of the class, and we¡¯ve entered at the highest point of the room with a downward slope towards the stage. There are desks that line the room facing towards the stage, and there¡¯s a huge ornamental desk on the stage. A woman with curly black hair and brown skin lies down in a chair behind it, her eyes are shut. I think she¡¯s snoring. Nia and TJ are both sitting to the left of us, Nia in the front row and Thomas sitting in the back much closer to us. Mercury tsks before putting his hands in his pockets as he heads to the right. I follow him after a moment, looking around the room. It¡¯s made of super old stone that has moss growing in the upper segments. ¡°Mercury¡­¡± I whisper to him, my voice echoing throughout the room and bouncing back at me. ¡°Is she Professor Delta?¡± I ask him, gesturing to the woman on stage.

    He nods in response, ¡°Yeah. She¡¯ll call you to grab your book in a minute, so take your seat before you do.¡± Mercury responds to me while taking a seat. He gestures to an empty one on his right, looking up at me with his icy blue eyes. With a bright smile I take my seat, still giddy about the rest of the class.

    ¡°No...We can¡¯t¡­.¡± The professor murmurs in her sleep, twitching on the chair. I look over to Mercury who acts as though this is totally normal, reaching into his desk and pulling out a thick book.

    I reach into my own desk following his lead, and find nothing in mine. Oh, wait, ouch, I lied. I pull back my hand and see a spider. I inhale through my nose, with my finger starting the throb. ¡°...Owwwwwwwww¡­¡± I complain to myself, flicking the spider off of my finger and shaking my hand. I look at my hand, and my finger starts to swell up a little bit...Which is weird. This is a normal spider, right? I look over to where the spider crawled off too and examine it closer. ¡°Oh. What?¡± I murmur to myself, noting a red hourglass on the bottom of the spider. I look back at my finger nervously, but the swelling is already starting to fade. My finger looks almost normal again, and it¡¯s rapidly approaching that coveted normal status. ¡°Oh. What?¡± I exclaim to myself, my finger completely normal now. I smile brightly, ¡°Mercury!¡± I call out, kicking out at his leg.

    ¡°What?¡± He hisses back at me, seemingly a little annoyed.

    ¡°Dude, I just got bit by a black widow. Check it out.¡± I show him my finger, which is completely normal except for a single little white dot. ¡°It¡¯s totally fine! The shots are so cool¡­¡± I mention, looking at my own finger and in doing so missing the teacher waking up.

    ¡°....Do we have our new student, Jay Jeremy Jones?¡± I hear the teacher call out. I blink and stand up, raising a hand.

    ¡°Yeah! I¡¯m here!¡± I exclaim, looking down at the teacher. She nods and writes something down, her brown eyes flickering down from me to the attendance chart. Before she can move on, I vault over my desk and jog up to her. I have a grin on my face as I hold out my deck of cards to her, not paying attention to the weird looks I get as I walk past the other students, ¡°Could you pick a card? Any card!¡± I ask of the professor, fanning out the cards. She looks back to me with a small smile showing up on her face. She¡¯s around my height, so she doesn¡¯t have to reach up or down to pick out a card.

    ¡°Alright.¡± She says, holding the card and raising an eyebrow. ¡°And now¡­¡±

    ¡°Oh! Yeah.¡± I summon it back into my hand, the card spinning out of Professor Delta¡¯s hand and back into mine. ¡°Woah...The 5 of diamonds. How interesting!¡± I exclaim, before I¡¯m pulled backwards by an unknown force and start being dragged back up the room. ¡°Blegh, agh, wait!¡± I reach to the collar of my shirt, trying to stop it from choking me out. I turn around and see Mercury dragging me back to my seat with a blush on his cheeks.

    ¡°You. Are such. A fucking idiot.¡± He snarls at me, throwing me back into my seat and taking his own. He buries his face on his hands and I can hear a few chuckles still spreading through the classroom. ¡°I literally took my attention off you for a second. I grabbed my book, and went back to where I left off. In that timespan, you have given me a near death experience from embarrassment.¡± He laments, not to me directly but more so just throwing it out there.

    The teacher continues on with attendance, and I flick the 5 of diamonds into the air, catching it back in the rest of the deck. ¡°It¡¯s not that bad! Plus, don¡¯t be jealous. She just got the 5 of diamonds, your jack of spades is way cooler!¡± I respond to him, figuring he needs a little booster. The blush on his face still hasn¡¯t faded, and with a grin I turn back to professor Delta and listen to her rattle off the names on the attendance sheet. I think it¡¯s really cool how I can just do one thing, and all of a sudden everybody in class takes a glance at me and starts whispering to their friends. I¡¯m a conversation starter! I can¡¯t help but smile thinking about that.

    - - - - - - - -

    ¡°...Now, in conclusion, when facing an enemy that has an unknown Emblem what¡¯s the first course of action?¡± Professor Delta asks the class, peering across the room.

    Mercury sighs with his hand basically morphing into his face, murmuring, ¡°Run away.¡± Quietly, as though he hasn¡¯t realized he¡¯s said it. After I chuckle at his response, he kicks me under the desk.

    ¡°You retreat, gathering reinforcements, and then you try to achieve long distance reconnaisence until you discover their Emblem.¡± Nia calls out, standing up and crossing her arms with a stoic expression on that stupid pretty little face of hers. ¡°After all, when facing an enemy that you¡¯re unaware of, you should always assume the worst. They may know about your Emblem, and if they do you''re instantly at a disadvantage. Since their Emblem may be long range, trying to avoid detection and evacuate the premises is the correct course of action.¡± She says, before sitting down with a self-satisfied little smirk. She¡¯s unbearable!

    ¡°A picturesque answer Ms. Cadmium. With that, class is dismissed. Jay, if you wouldn¡¯t mind coming to see me?¡± The teacher announces, the bell ringing as she¡¯s calling out my name. I sigh and get up, feeling like a salmon as I push my way through the cavalcade of students that are exiting class. I¡¯m pushed back abruptly, falling onto my butt with a smack.

    ¡°Thank you Nia.¡± I murmur, standing back up as a few students chuckle at me and Nia barrels through the other students. I push past them as well and get to Mrs. Delta. ¡°What¡¯s up professor?¡± I ask with a small smile. It¡¯s not that I¡¯m nervous, it¡¯s just that earlier today the other professors really proved they¡¯re a little bit too caring. Not sure if that¡¯s the exception or the rule.

    Mrs. Delta shuffles around the table, ¡°Ah, well. Your book.¡± She says casually, her eyes seeming to be half shut. ¡°You are new here, so in case you didn¡¯t know let me elaborate.¡± She mentions while handing me the book. It feels like she¡¯s not looking at me, even though her eyes are meeting my own. ¡°There have been five users of your Emblem who have lived here, and kept data and track of your Emblem. They¡¯re your predecessors. Nobody else reads these books. Your homework today isn¡¯t to study Emblems, instead you need to write your introduction in the book. For the next user. I¡¯m sure you¡¯ll understand what to do. Don¡¯t discuss anything that you read in the book with anybody else, it¡¯s sacred to you and those that share your Emblem. Future and the past.¡±

    I gulp at the words that she says so casually to me, and stare down at the book. It¡¯s old, and bound in coarse leather with a tight chain that keeps the book shut. There¡¯s a silver key already in the lock that holds the chain, and there¡¯s a symbol in black ink on the front page of the book. It¡¯s my mark. The disintegrating wings on a butterfly. The book can¡¯t be heavier than two pounds, but it seems to weigh so much that it¡¯s hard to hold. ¡°Oh...Yeah.¡± I murmur quietly, with a nervous grin on my face as I take a step backwards. ¡°Thank you.¡± I call out to Professor Delta, before heading out into the hallway.

 Nia

    I clench my fists as I stare towards the door to combat class. TJ was going to be late if he didn¡¯t show up soon, and I already bribed the teacher to have him paired with me today. He¡¯s the most unbearable, self-important, brash, idiotic, cocky, ignoran-

    ¡°Haha! I can¡¯t believe there¡¯s actually combat class, this is going to be crazy fun.¡± I hear his voice echo out from behind me. I didn¡¯t even realize I¡¯d shut my eyes. I just, I can¡¯t deal with him! I turn around and sneer, his stupid smile and the strange sparkle that¡¯s always flashing in his green eyes. ¡°You¡¯ll be my partner, right Mercury?¡± He¡¯s so stupid, Mercury is one of the laziest people ever. Mercury would never willingly-

    ¡°Sure. But there are sparring matches randomly assigned each day. It¡¯s on the white board.¡± The tapping of Mercury¡¯s finger against the whiteboard draws TJ¡¯s attention to it. Whatever, I¡¯m going to be allowed to crush his face into the dirt soon.

    A hand appearing on my shoulder causes me to jump, and I tsk as I swat it off. ¡°What do you need, Crystal?¡± I turn my attention to the pale skin and long blonde hair that makes up her face.

    She gulps lightly, ¡°Well...Um, you promised me you¡¯d give me some pointers in hand to hand combat today. Are we still doing that? I mean, it¡¯s fine if we don¡¯t. I was just thinking about it¡­¡± She murmurs lightly, looking away from me as she talks.

    I sigh, it¡¯s hard to stay mad when somebody like her talks to you. ¡°Fine, I guess. But don¡¯t cry for god¡¯s sake.¡± I can¡¯t stand it when people waste energy on crying. Seriously, if you¡¯re going to cry instead of work you might as well go die.

    ¡°Alright class. Settle down, settle down. We¡¯re focusing on combat today, specifically without the use of Emblems.¡± Mr. Virgo exclaims, clapping his hands and quieting down the buzz of the class. ¡°More well known as martial arts. Of course there are a variety of different subsidiaries, boxing, karate, kung-fu, jiu-jitsu, just to name a few. You¡¯ve all been assigned your own martial art to study, hopefully you¡¯ve been doing so. Jay Jeremy Jones, are you here today?¡± The teacher asks, a small smirk on my face as TJ stands up.

    ¡°Ah! Wait, sir!¡± He exclaims, dashing up to the Professor and holding out a deck of cards¡­.Why does he do that? ¡°Pick a card please!¡± I¡¯m going to rip those cards to shreds...That would be really funny. It would be stupid fun as well. It would probably make TJ cry too. A smirk spreads across my face, and I impatiently tap my finger against my arm. I can¡¯t wait.

    - - - - - - - -

    ¡°Alright everybody, let¡¯s bring it back.¡± Mr. Virgo calls, clapping his hands again as the heavy breathing of the class subsides. I smile and walk over to the teacher, leaving Crystal back on the sparring mat that we were on. ¡°It¡¯s time for the one on one sparring matches. Check back up on the white board if you¡¯ve forgotten who you¡¯re against. Remember, those of you with the higher rankings in the class get to pick your teammates first.¡±

    ¡°Teammates?¡± TJ asks, raising his hand as he asks the question, defeating the purpose of raising his hand. He¡¯s legitimately the most ignorant person I¡¯ve ever met. I can barely believe that he¡¯s an evolved.

    ¡°Teammates, yes.¡± I say with an annoyed sigh, crossing my arms and blowing some of my hair out of my face. ¡°We¡¯re all evolved, but that doesn¡¯t mean we¡¯re all equal.¡± I say while staring coldly at TJ. I¡¯m definitely not equal to him. ¡°Some Emblems are more fit for combat, but a lot aren¡¯t. If your Emblem or ability to use it aren¡¯t fit for combat then you¡¯re put into an underclass of supporters. As a supporter, you will be picked at some point by the actually evolved of us, and help us to complete our missions.¡± Everybody knows that. I can¡¯t believe he even has to ask about it.

    ¡°That¡¯s...kinda mes-¡± TJ starts his response before clutching his side and wincing. I narrow my eyes. Mercury must¡¯ve hit him or something, which is fair. I wanted to myself, and I¡¯m going to get the chance soon.

    ¡°Thank you, Nia. Now, everybody separate into your groups and head to the corresponding sparring mats. Sorry for the longer introduction today, had to make sure we catch up a new kid.¡± Mr. Virgo announces with a small smirk, the class chuckling at his reference to TJ. I chuckle too, looking over at TJ, which makes me stop chuckling. Because he¡¯s laughing too.

    ¡°So stupid.¡± I murmur quietly, cracking my knuckles and walking over to TJ. He looks completely lost as the class rearranges itself to be properly matched up. He¡¯s not even looking at me, so I punch his gut. ¡°You¡¯re with me. Try your best not to cry.¡± I say with a smirk, before walking over to the fifth mat.

    ¡°Isn¡¯t the proper saying, ¡®try not to embarrass yourself¡¯?¡± He calls after me, a small smile on his face.

    ¡°Sure.¡± I respond, turning around while stretching my arms and watching him carefully. ¡°But I¡¯m going to embarrass you. So it¡¯s a waste of energy for you to try not to get embarrassed,¡± I add with a smirk. If I can provoke him into attacking me, I¡¯ll destroy him. He¡¯s a rookie after all.

    ¡°Haha, alright alright. Remember what happened last time though? There¡¯s no teacher¡¯s aid to bail you out now. Do I just start whenever I want?¡± He asks with a teasing smile, sticking his tongue out at me.

    ¡°....Yeah. Your funeral after all.¡± I say coldly, watching and waiting for him to try and land a hit on me.

    TJ jumps at me and tries to punch me with his left hand, and as it sails through the air I smirk. He¡¯s dumber than I thought. I reach out and tilt my head to the side, the fist falling harmlessly through the air. The arm I¡¯ve extended out grabs his arm and I pull hard, slamming TJ over my shoulder into the ground. I let go and take a step back, watching TJ squirm on the ground in pain.

    He stands back up, and attacks me again. He kicks up at me, trying to slam his foot into my jaw. I lean back and grab his foot. "Hey! Let go!" TJ exclaims, awkwardly hopping on one leg while trying to pull himself free. Oh yeah, this is fun. I take a step forwards, lifting TJ''s leg higher up and forcing him into an uncomftorable splits. I take another step forward, then dive forward and slam and him into the ground again. His back hits first, and I fold his legs over top of him while slamming into him again. A crack snaps through the air as I feel something snap in his body. When I stand up TJ doesn¡¯t. He groans and puts a hand to his back, ¡°Holy...Shit...That hurt a lot.¡± He murmurs to himself while his face contorts in pain. He¡¯d get over it. After this, there¡¯s no way he¡¯d stay in our class. He¡¯d be pushed back into the support class. Maybe I¡¯d even pick him, and torment him further.

    ¡°Get up. We have another hour to fight.¡± I murmur, giggling brightly and crouching next to him. ¡°I¡¯d prefer you to fight back, but I can deal with it if you¡¯d prefer to just pass out or die.¡±

    TJ¡¯s eyes open and his face contorts through the pain into a small smile. Why is he smiling at a time like this? What the hell? Whatever, I can still break him. ¡°Just, give me a second.¡± He says, trying to push himself back onto his feet. He just got his shots a day or two ago. There¡¯s no way he can heal that quickly. He¡¯s the worst. TJ, such a stupid kid. What the fuck gave him the right to smile the way he does? Why the fuck does he get to be so fucking happy when he¡¯s so fucking weak.

    I kick his side as he¡¯s trying to stand up. ¡°Shut the fuck up.¡± I murmur coldly, watching his body collapse after my kick. ¡°This is combat training. I¡¯m not giving you anything.¡± I say coldly. I walk to him and kick him again, and again, and again. I kick him harder each time, until blood starts to spill out of his mouth with every kick and his body starts convulsing. That¡¯s when I start smiling again. ¡°What''s the matter TJ? No more quips?¡± I ask, pulling my leg even further back and kicking him at full force. This is great. I¡¯ve never been allowed to do this at school before. I should bribe Mr. Virgo more often, maybe I¡¯ll finally put Thomas in his place as well.A case of literary theft: this tale is not rightfully on Amazon; if you see it, report the violation.

    Why am I lying down on the floor? What did he do? ¡°I think you punctured my lungs with my own ribs. Give me a second and I¡¯ll come up with a few more.¡± TJ wheezes out to me, and with a glare I stare up at him. He¡¯s standing up, with that same unbelievably stupid smile on his face, even though there¡¯s blood falling down either side of his lips and one of his eyes is swollen black and shut. He¡¯s got a hand on his side, supporting himself. Even though he¡¯s standing he seems shaky.

    ¡°You¡­.You¡¯re¡­.¡± I clutch the pad we¡¯re standing on, clenching it up. ¡°I¡¯m going to kill you. We¡¯ve still got almost an hour.¡± I take a deep breath. I¡¯m trying to calm myself down, and it¡¯s barely working. Why is he smiling? How is he smiling, how can he have any sort of fun in this situation? I¡¯m not having fun, there¡¯s no way I can let this brat have any. I take a step forward and kick sharply at TJ¡¯s head, trying to send him falling back to the ground.

    That¡¯s when I realize what he did last time. He didn¡¯t use his Emblem, which was my initial thought. I barely notice him move his foot, but he pulls back the mat to literally shift the ground under me and throw me off balance. My kick goes above his head, and TJ grabs my leg. My eyes widen, ¡°Wh-¡± He lifts me off the ground and then slams me back down. My vision goes black and I see only stars, accompanied by a loud crack and something shifting in my back. He broke my back. It hurts, a hell of a lot. ¡°FOUL!¡±

    TJ''s lying back on the ground, the teacher sitting down on him and holding his left leg up in a pin. Mr. Virgo looks bored, and asks me casually, ¡°What was the foul?¡± While ignoring TJ under him, who¡¯s writhing in pain. I stay on the ground, letting myself heal from the broken back...It was going to take me at least an hour.

    ¡°He broke my back.¡± I say with a smirk, staring at TJ who¡¯s eyes widen. His smile is completely gone. I should¡¯ve done this earlier, just to show him his place.

    ¡°That¡¯s a foul alright. TJ, Nia gets to resume the fight with a pin on you. Now-¡±

    ¡°FOUL!¡± TJ shouts out, shooting me a glare. ¡°Nia broke my back!¡± He says, to which the teacher looks about as annoyed as I feel. Several of the nearby students have stopped fighting and are watching us, there¡¯s no way he could get away with such a blatantly unfair move in front of all of them. He might lose his job.

    ¡°...Hmm..¡± Mr. Virgo sighs and then stands up off of TJ¡¯s back. ¡°That''s a foul. The fight¡¯s over at any rate if both of you have broken backs. Looking at the state of things it¡¯s a win for Nia. She dealt more damage than TJ, so that means that-¡±

    ¡°Foul.¡± Mercury says flatly from the mat across ours. The teacher sighs and turns to him, ¡°Nia committed unnecessary violence. Instead of pinning TJ, she kicked him. Check the cameras if you need.¡± The teacher tsks and looks over at Mercury¡¯s opponent. She¡¯s been frozen in place with a thin layer of ice covering her.

    ¡°FOUL!¡± I shout, ¡°Mercury used his Emblem against his opponent!¡±

    ¡°Be quiet, all of you.¡± Mr. Virgo says, with his voice teetering on the edge of snapping. He pauses for a second and then sighs, ¡°Look. Nia and TJ will draw, with no further long lasting punishments. Mercury, you can¡¯t win your battle due to your foul. If you win once she¡¯s unfrozen, then it counts as a draw. Now everybody back to business, TJ and Nia¡¯s fight is over. TJ go clean yourself up at the nurse¡¯s office.¡±

    Mercury looks annoyed and walks to his opponent, punching her still frozen face and sending her falling to the ground knocked out. ¡°I won. So I tied. TJ can¡¯t walk, I¡¯ll take him to the nurses.¡± He explains flatly, before leaning down and helping TJ stand.

    TJ smiles brightly and then chuckles weakly. ¡°Thanks Mercury! You¡¯re actually the best.¡± He¡¯s so pathetic, he can barely walk on his own. He¡¯s basically wrapping himself around Mercury like white on rice.

    Mr. Virgo holds his hand to me with an apathetic expression. ¡°I don¡¯t need your help.¡± I mutter back at him, shoving myself up off the ground only to find my back exploding with sharp pain. It feels like I¡¯m filled with thousands of needles stabbing against my skin. I can¡¯t stay standing, and so I fall back onto the floor. Holy shit...TJ tried to keep fighting after this? He¡¯s a bigger idiot than I thought.

    ¡°Nia...If you¡¯re done, do you want to go back to your room?¡± Crystal asks from above me, holding a hand out with a nervous smile. She has a new bruise over her eye, and that black hair she has is kept up in a ponytail.

    ¡°Sure.¡± I take the hand she holds out to me and stand back up, wincing as I do so. Crystal doesn¡¯t say a word as I lean against her, and we start to walk back towards my room. ¡°...Hey Crystal, have you ever broken your back before?¡± I ask quietly.

    ¡°Yeah...You broke it a few years ago, and when I first evolved I¡¯d get broken bones every week or so.¡± She says lightly in response to me. That was weird...I¡¯d never gotten my back broken before today. It sucks.

    ¡°Oh...Sorry. About that.¡± I mumble quietly. It feels like I¡¯m the smallest person in the room. I broke Crystal¡¯s back? That¡¯s low, that¡¯s stupid.

    ==================================

    ¡°Dude, I¡¯m fine. Seriously! Stop worrying about it haha!¡± TJ exclaims from the bed of the nurse''s office. His face was smiling brightly, which was so dumb. He¡¯s going to be in the bed for another two hours. His spine was broken, four of his ribs were shattered, his nose was destroyed, his left shoulder was dislocated, right forearm fractured, and he tore his hamstring.

    ¡°Let¡¯s say that this is fine,¡± I start, pointing up to just above my head. ¡°You¡¯re over here.¡± I finish, patting the floor.

    ¡°I heal quick! I told you about the spider didn¡¯t I? It was a black wi-¡±

    ¡°Shut. Up. TJ.¡± I interject, hanging my head and staring at the smooth floor beneath us. ¡°It doesn¡¯t matter that you heal quickly if you die. You¡¯re already a pain in my neck. Don¡¯t make me come to your funeral too.¡± I add on, looking up at TJ. He has a soft yet genuine smile on his face at my words, and his green eyes are warm. I can¡¯t put my finger on it but something I said was embarrassing, so I turn away from him in an instant. It¡¯s getting pretty hot in this room¡­

    ¡°Thanks, Mercury.¡± He says quietly, leaning back in the bed and closing his eyes. ¡°I¡¯ll relax here ok? Head to class. I¡¯ll see you later tonight!¡± TJ¡¯s pale face wasn¡¯t as chalky white as it was when he first got into the bed, his complexion was way better. He still looks strained though.

    ¡°It¡¯s fine. Anatomy is stupid anyways.¡± I¡¯ve got a bad feeling about leaving TJ alone right now. I¡¯ve never seen anybody just power through a broken spine like that, much less break Nia¡¯s back.

    ¡°No, you should get to class Theta.¡± A hand is firmly placed on my shoulder, and I turn around before having to look distinctly up. His sharp blue eyes and lazy face are unmistakable. ¡°I¡¯ll make sure TJ doesn¡¯t die.¡±

    ¡°Oh...Yeah. You¡¯re right sir.¡± I mumble quietly, looking down to tear away from him. ¡°I¡¯ll be on my way.¡± Holy shit, it¡¯s Leonidous. Leonidous White. He¡¯s one of the most influential people in the USEF, he¡¯s carried out over 437 missions to perfection and taken down several governments across the entire globe. Why is he back at the USEF? Isn¡¯t he supposed to be deployed in Norway? Why is he HERE at the school? If he¡¯s here-

    ¡°Aww you came to see me? Aren¡¯t you a sweetie Leo! Do you uh...Know the story per say? As to how I arrived at this predicament?¡± TJ¡¯s flippant attitude doesn¡¯t change in front of Leonidous. His stupid mouth is going to get him killed! I turn around with my eyes wide and reach out, my mouth open and ready to interject into the conversation and apologize on TJ¡¯s behalf.

    ¡°I¡¯ve heard a version of the story, but I¡¯m more interested to hear it from you. Nia seems like a pretty biased source.¡± What? He¡¯s ok with that? ¡°Mercury, head to class. Or should I call in an escort?¡± Leonidous calls out without turning to look at me, a smirk on his face. TJ flashes me a grin and gives me two thumbs up, which is hard to say no to. It¡¯s fine...Leonidous can handle this. I hesitantly step back and leave TJ, heading to anatomy.

    I shove my hands into my pockets and tsk, kicking the wall as I pass by it. It¡¯s so annoying to have TJ here. He¡¯s gotten into a fight with Nia, Thomas has already tried to start a fight, he¡¯s embarrassed me several times, and he might have given me a heart attack. He¡¯s taking so much effort to watch over, he¡¯s taking so much of my energy. I reach the elevator, staring up at the ceiling while I wait for it. TJ¡¯s annoying. He¡¯s on my mind way too much lately. I walk into the elevator. Even though I¡¯m doing all this for TJ...It¡¯s not like I regret any of it ¡°...No way.¡± I mutter quietly, my eyes widening as a realization hits me. The elevator dings and the doors start closing as I hear TJ¡¯s voice echoing through the hallway. ¡°No fucking way.¡± I whisper to myself while running my left hand through my hair. The silver door shuts and I see my reflection staring back at me. My nearly white hair and my blue eyes, my slightly pink lips that for some weird reason are quivering. My black t-shirt, white shorts. ¡°I can¡¯t...I can¡¯t be,¡± I mutter the word quietly and feel butterflies pleading to get out of my stomach. I might be¡­

 Administration

    Leo¡¯s eyes flicker constantly between me and the clock on the wall of the room. He nods occasionally as I¡¯m telling him the story but he doesn¡¯t really seem all that surprised which is surprising. I got my back broken! That¡¯s pretty big, isn¡¯t it? When I talk about the chain reaction of people calling ¡®foul¡¯ and Leo still only gives an indifferent nod I call him out. ¡°You¡¯ve heard this before, haven¡¯t you?¡± I ask, crossing my arms and pouting a little.

    His eyebrows ascend and the corners of his mouth follow suit to make a small smirk. He raises his hands in surrender and leans backwards in the chair he¡¯s sitting in. ¡°You got me.¡± He says casually, ¡°What gave it away? I was listening to your version of the story.¡±

    ¡°You didn¡¯t laugh when I called Nia a witch with oil for hair and hellfire for eyes.¡±

    Leo snickers lightly, ¡°Wait, did you actually say that?¡±

    ¡°Nope! But if you acted like I did then I would¡¯ve really known you weren¡¯t listening.¡± I explain with a grin. ¡°What¡¯s actually up? Why did you come see me? I know you can¡¯t bear to go without seeing me every day-¡±

    He stands up, which actually concerns me. ¡°Alright, if you¡¯re lively enough to joke around like that we can go see the Principal.¡± Leo says, his eyes cold as though he¡¯s remembering something unpleasant. ¡°Let¡¯s go TJ. Try not to be so...You. It might get you killed.¡± He says flatly, holding a hand out to me.

    ¡°My back still hurts?¡± I respond nervously. This Principal guy doesn¡¯t sound like the most fun person to hang out with, and given how I was greeted this morning I don¡¯t think me and the staff here get along that great. My protest doesn¡¯t amount to much though, as Leo snags my wrist and pulls me out of the bed regardless.

    ¡°That¡¯s fair.¡± He says indifferently, throwing me over his shoulder and starting to walk out of the room. ¡°But, we¡¯re on a touch of a time crunch. So, bear with it.¡±

    ¡°I¡¯m going to be honest with you Leo¡­¡± I murmur as he carries me through the halls. Surprisingly, I¡¯m not that embarrassed. Granted, nobody else is around so that may have something to do with it. ¡°I don¡¯t think the teachers here like me all that much. Nia definitely doesn¡¯t, and I don¡¯t think Thomas does either.¡± We arrive at the elevator and wait for it to come pick us up.

    ¡°Your point? I doubt you care what people think of you.¡± There''s a ding as the elevator doors open and we walk in, a small smile showing up on my face again.

    ¡°Yeah¡­I guess you¡¯re right.¡± I admit with a chuckle, pushing myself off Leo¡¯s shoulder and standing on my own two feet. ¡°Wow!¡± I exclaim with a grin, stretching my back slightly and feeling it crack at least a thousand times. ¡°I would rather be dead than walk another foot right now!¡± I add on, with tears of pain from the effort it takes to stand. The doors open as Leo erupts with laughter, and then he picks me up much more sincerely. This time I feel much more like a princess, and much less like a sack of potatoes. ¡°Truly, you spoil me Leo.¡± I mention with my grin now directed at him.

    ¡°Don¡¯t I?¡± He says quietly, a small smile on his own face when he looks down at me. His crystalline blue eyes flickering warmly for a moment before he continues on his way. This floor was weird, I¡¯ve never been here before. He didn¡¯t cover it in the tour of the academy. We¡¯re walking along a pretty narrow hallway with sparse decorations of doors once ever maybe 50 feet, and just enough light sources to keep any place from being covered completely in shadow. The light almost has a green tint, and if it weren¡¯t for the fact walking wasn¡¯t on the table for me right now I probably wouldn¡¯t be spending much time here.

    ¡°The uh, the Principal. What¡¯s his Emblem?¡± I ask quietly, Leo¡¯s footsteps reverberating down the hall and serving to be the only answer to my question for many more feet.

    ¡°Hate to say it, but it¡¯s classified. Now remember what I said.¡± Leo responds casually, glancing around as though to make sure nobody else was here. His eyes focus on me and he says firmly, ¡°Don¡¯t be yourself. Please.¡± He was serious, and I took him seriously. Couldn¡¯t put my finger on why, but something about the situation told me I shouldn¡¯t be messing around. I nod firmly at him, and then he kicks open the door at the end of the long hallway, his hands full of me. He walks into the room, which is really dark. It¡¯s incredibly hard to see, and I don¡¯t know if we¡¯re alone or not. Leo walks without fear though and eventually places me down on what I can only assume to be a sofa in the room. ¡°This is TJ. Shall I take my leave?¡± He asks nobody I can see.

    ¡°No, Mr. White. You can stay for now. Perhaps stand by the door, so as not to distract Mr. Jones from our conversation. Turn on the lights if you wouldn¡¯t mind as well, our young friend does not have the same night vision as those of us who have fully evolved.¡± Goosebumps emerge from my skin and I can instantly feel myself tense up. My hairs stand on end and my eyes grow wide, just from the voice alone. It¡¯s not coming from a single person, or maybe it is, I can¡¯t tell. The voice reverberated through the room and I can swear it surrounded me. There was no threat in the words but I instantly understood what Leo meant, this was not the time to screw around.

    ¡°Yes sir.¡± Leo responds coldly, turning the lights on in the room. The couch I¡¯m sitting on is made of pale leather, and the walls are decorated with paintings. I see a man eating a feast by himself, the man the size of a blimp. One mural depicts a marriage, with the suitor¡¯s eyes focused on a girl in the audience. Another has a woman screaming at nothing while pulling a knife out of a man¡¯s chest, blood splattered all over in the painting. But what catches my eye most of all is a black chair directly in front of me. The back is facing me, and I can see the legs of the Principal hitting the ground. He appears to be wearing a black suit, his left hand hangs to the side of the chair holding a glass of crimson liquid I assume is wine. His hand is a sickly white, with fingers much longer than his palm, and nails that for some reason or another have turned black as coal.

    ¡°Jay Jeremy Jones. Your Emblem is magnesis. You were born in Aurora, Colorado circa 2005. You lived with your parents in a magic shop which burned down when you were 8 years old, during which your mother died. This woke your Emblem. Your father turned to alcohol to cope and died when you were 14, leaving you alone in his apartment. You told nobody about his death, and buried him yourself to ensure you could continue the small little life you had. Estranged from your mothers side due to her passing and your strange ability, furthermore abandoned by your father¡¯s due to their distancing from him after his drinking, you lived making as much money as you could however you could. Tell me Mr. Jones, how much money did you make illegally gambling, and winning with your Emblem? Poker was your favorite, was it not? With those cards of yours.¡±

    ¡­.

    ¡­.

    ¡­.

    This wasn¡¯t supposed to happen. ¡°Enough to pay the apartment rent, and bury my father, sir.¡± I responded quietly, realizing that my voice cracked when I spoke. That hasn¡¯t happened for a while.

    The hand swirls the glass of liquid, and then brings it out of sight. I can only assume they¡¯ve taken a drink, the silence in the room mounting. I can feel beads of sweat forming on my forehead and falling down my neck. Just when I think I¡¯m going to go insane from the quiet the hand reappears and the Principal speaks again. ¡°Magnificent, the mind of a child, isn¡¯t it? You dealt with all that by yourself, you poor thing. You had so many hardships, and you worked so hard to ensure that nobody would worry about you. How long did it take you before you mastered your ability to smile instead of cry?¡± I open my mouth once and then close it, looking down at my lap with my heart about to explode out of my chest. ¡°Stand up Mr. Jones.¡± I stood up before he finished talking, and maybe it¡¯s because of the adrenaline, but I can¡¯t feel the pain in my back anymore. ¡°Look down at your feet, and walk over to me.¡± Again I do so without complaint, and almost without giving my body permission to do so. I see his shoes and his pants in complete clarity, if I look up just a touch I could see his face and torso, but there¡¯s not a chance I would. ¡°Mr. White, please wait outside.¡± He calls out, the sound of the door closing following his words.If you stumble upon this tale on Amazon, it''s taken without the author''s consent. Report it.

    I think I¡¯m going to throw up. I have nothing to say, I just stare at my shoes and tremble slightly as I wait for the next words of the Principal. I can hear him rise and see his legs extend upwards. ¡°You won¡¯t have to worry any more Jay.¡± He whispers gently, putting his arms around me and pulling my head into his chest, hugging me tightly and placing his head on top of my own. ¡°You¡¯ve done so much. You¡¯ve worked so hard. I understand Jay, I do. We will take care of you, Jay. You don¡¯t have to worry about your old family anymore, you¡¯re evolved. You are special, you are unique, you have an Emblem, you¡¯re a part of our family now. All you have to do is listen to your new father. Do you understand what I¡¯m saying, Jay?¡± His voice wraps round me and tightens around my throat.

    I can feel tears appear in my eyes, as I continue to stare at our shoes. ¡°...Yes sir.¡± I mumble quietly, feeling myself start to shake violently.

    ¡°Good, good. I¡¯m glad Jay, truly I am.¡± He continues holding me, and tightens his one handed hug, taking a sip from his drink with the other hand. ¡°You poor thing, I¡¯m so sorry for you. This school was not kind to you today, was it? I warned the teachers not to mess with my family anymore, yet look at what they did to your shoulder.¡± He frets lightly, separating from the hug and placing a hand on my shoulder. The burning sensation of this morning is repeated and my mind goes completely blank with pain as I fall to my knees. ¡°Nia, that lovely new sister of yours...She¡¯s such a mischievous daughter of mine. Truly, breaking your back during a sparring match?¡± He reaches down and his fingers wrap around my shoulder, before he brings me back to my feet. ¡°Unbelievable. Tell me Jay, do you have anything you wish to ask of me? I feel just awful, being the only one speaking.¡±

    ¡­¡­

    I can¡¯t remember what I just said. I don¡¯t know what I¡¯m doing, but I can guesstimate pretty well given his spindly fingers are holding out the king of spades to me. ¡°...Thank you sir.¡± I murmur quietly in response, taking the card and putting it back into my deck.

    ¡°Of course Jay, anything for you. Now, unfortunately your father is very busy. I can¡¯t continue our conversation much longer. Please pay attention to my last parting words.¡± He explains quietly, taking a seat once more in his chair. ¡°I hope you will behave yourself Jay. I expect great things from you, you are my child after all. You''re an evolved Jay. Remember to listen to your dad. You¡¯re special...My final question for you today Jay. If you had to say, which of the seven deadly sins are you?¡±

    ¡°...Envy, sir.¡±

    ¡°Really? What an interesting choice¡­¡± He murmurs quietly, crossing his legs and raising his glass to his lips. His lips!? My eyes unconsciously followed the glass of wine as he raised it, and I¡¯m able to se-¡°Ah Ah Ah.¡± He says lightly, his other hand pushing my head back down to the floor. My heart collapsing and my lungs burning, my brain going into overdrive to think of anything to do in the situation. ¡°I didn¡¯t say look up, Jay. Mr. White will be waiting for you outside my office. You may go.¡±

    ¡°Yes sir.¡± I turn and begin heading towards the door, each step taking me a century to traverse.

    ¡°Jay, please, the formalities are unnecessary. You¡¯re my child.¡± His thick voice seeps towards me from behind, thickening around my body and making progression towards the door nearly impossible.

    ¡°....Understood.¡±

    ¡°Understood who?¡±

    ¡°Understood, Dad.¡± I murmur quietly, the words coming out of my mouth without weight to them. I barely register the rest of the walk to the door, and when I open it Leo¡¯s standing next to the door. He reaches over and shuts it behind me gently, and as if that¡¯s a signal I turn to him. My face feels hot and I¡¯m sweating through my eyes, my fists clenched, each breath is really hard and I can hear the blood rushing around my head.

    ¡°Hey..¡± Leo murmurs lightly, his blue eyes gentle as he puts a hand on my good shoulder and raises his other to his lips. ¡°Cry, collapse, complain, shout, but not now. In a second, ok?¡±

    His words barely register, and I give a shaky nod while each breath I take becomes louder than the last. He takes me by the hand and basically drags me to the elevator we came in.

    The door opens, and Leo takes me inside, his finger still over his lips. My eyes are focused entirely on that hand, my body on the verge of collapse with just my focus on his hand keeping me upright. The doors finally shut, and Leo drops his hand.

    With that hand drop my entire guard drops as well, my body falling towards the ground. Leo reaches down and grabs me lightly, pulling me into a hug, resting his chin on my head.

    ¡°Hey, TJ, you¡¯re ok. It¡¯s ok, I¡¯m right here, you¡¯re fine, nobody¡¯s gonna hurt you. You¡¯re strong, you¡¯re going to get through this alright? Just let it all out right now, let it out, it''s ok.¡± Why¡¯s he consoling me like that? What is he talking about?

    Ohh..Yeah...I¡¯m sobbing into his shoulder. I¡¯m totally incoherent aren¡¯t I? I can¡¯t really...stop it though. It¡¯s just spilling out, like I¡¯m a cup filled with too much for me to handle. He heard everything didn¡¯t he? That I gambled with my Emblem. That I buried my Dad alone so nobody would worry about me. That I¡¯m a psychopath.

    ¡°No you¡¯re not. You¡¯re great TJ. Honestly, you¡¯re way more admirable than me at least.¡± He separates from me slightly, giving me a smile while his hands rest on his shoulders. ¡°You¡¯re so strong, you have so much going for you. You¡¯re going to do great things TJ. Take things one day at a time man, alright? Your past doesn¡¯t define you, your actions do. Your intentions do. The future isn¡¯t worth the trouble to speculate on.¡±

    The doors ding open, and Leo gently pushes me forwards. His hands are still resting on my shoulders, and I can¡¯t focus on anything except my feet as I move forwards. Before I know it I¡¯m at my room, and then in my bed, Leo sitting at the foot of it. He looks at the wall casually, looking cool. He¡¯s not annoyed, he doesn¡¯t seem stressed out, he seems...Content.

    ¡°...What should I do Leo?¡± I murmur quietly, my voice hoarse.

    He makes a face, raising his eyebrows and shrugging. ¡°I couldn¡¯t say. You¡¯re unique, how could I tell you what to do?¡±

    ¡°What would you do then, Leo?¡±

    ¡°I don¡¯t think that¡¯s the question you should be asking.¡± He murmurs lightly, leaning back until he rests against the wall. He looks up lazily at the ceiling and waits for me to talk again. Not the right question..? I¡¯m unique, so he can¡¯t say? Me...Me, and my unique Emblem.

    ¡°Did you know the person who had my Emblem before me?¡±

    Leo smirks and turns to me, a glitter in his eyes, ¡°Now you¡¯re on the right track.¡± He starts quietly, coughing slightly and getting louder. ¡°Yeah. Yeah I did. Mavis.¡± He looks wistfully at my eyes for a moment, which is weird but I¡¯m too enamored to pay that any attention. ¡°She was my uh..She was my teacher actually. Well, she was in charge of me and a few others when we were really young.¡±

    ¡°What was she like?¡± I¡¯m fascinated actually. I¡¯m so fascinated I don¡¯t even care that my last life was a girl.

    ¡°She was like you in some ways, vastly different in others. She was nice, and didn¡¯t really fit in as an Evolved. At the same time though she was...Human. She had a certain charisma about herself that just drew people in and made them like her. Smiled all the time. Never let people know when she was sad or going through anything. She could understand where most people were coming from, but I remember she got along exceptionally poorly with the Principal. Kinda threw the place in upheaval when she ran away, but because she did we got you TJ.¡±

    ¡°Why did she run away?¡±

    ¡°Why indeed.¡± Leo mutters quietly, closing his eyes. ¡°You got your Emblem book, you can probably figure out more than I can.¡±

    ¡°Was she strong?¡±

    ¡°Ha!¡± Leo laughs and pushes himself off the wall, standing up and smiling at me. ¡°There are usually 20 people in a year, 12 of which would become a support and 8 of which are Evolved. Your year, the year she ran away, has 74 students, a record. Currently 27 evolved.¡±

    ¡°Woah...So she killed like, 50 people when she ran away?¡±

    Leo shakes his head, ¡°Nah, she killed way more than that. 50 of them had Emblems though, the other 80,000 were members of the USEF military.¡±

    ¡°WHAT!?¡± I jump up out of my bed with my jaw hitting the floor, my eyes wide. ¡°T-T-THAT¡¯S LIKE A NATIONAL TRAGEDY! I would¡¯ve learned about that in school!¡±

    ¡°There are a lot of things you¡¯ll learn here you wouldn''t learn in public school TJ. Now go to sleep. You''re going to be going through hell for a while."

    ¡°Wait wait wait! One last question.¡± Leo stops and raises an eyebrow, heading to the door and leaning against it while crossing his arms. ¡°What would she do in my situation?¡±

    ¡°Run. But that didn¡¯t go so well for her given you¡¯re here, did it? Night TJ.¡± He says with a smirk, before heading out of the room.

    ¡°Oh...Yeah.¡± The door is shut but I can¡¯t quite take my eyes off of it. I reach out and turn the lights off, leaning back in my bed while staring at the ceiling. ¡°She didn¡¯t have you though...Or Mercury. Or my deck of cards¡­¡± I pull my cards out and twirl the queen of hearts in the air. ¡°Right Mom?¡± I murmur quietly, closing my eyes and holding the cards against my chest. ¡°Right Dad?¡±

 Accustomed

    My eyes open and I awaken to the beautiful world we live in, filled with color and majesty. Now, it¡¯d be great if my eyes showed me that stuff. Instead I¡¯m presented with a pretty bland ceiling and the general darkness of my room. ¡°Welp, nothing to do but get moving.¡± I exclaim with a grin, sitting up and shoving myself out of bed. I whirl through my morning routine and barely finish drying my hair from my shower when the door opens. ¡°Morning teach!¡± I call out, turning to face Mr. Virgo.

    ¡°Mhm.¡± He says despondently in return, leaving my room without a word. It took a while but I figured out that the teachers rotate each day of the week to check on the students. Mr. Virgo¡¯s the most calm, and the Kraus¡¯s were the worst. They had a vendetta against me for no reason! I swear, they fail me on purpose. I close the door behind Mr. Virgo and can¡¯t contain a small chuckle.

    ¡°Holy shit you were right.¡± Mercury murmurs from under my bed, pushing himself out from his hiding hole onto the floor. ¡°Why didn¡¯t he check the whole room?¡± Mercury whispers to himself in disbelief.

    ¡°Dude it¡¯s been like four months, I¡¯m a genius. I got a psychological profile on the guy ok?¡±

    ¡°Yeah I¡¯ve known you for four months and I don¡¯t believe you actually know what a psychological profile is. Now get me back to my room before they sound an alarm.¡± Mercury¡¯s annoyance is shown bluntly on his face, but his gray eyes show off a little thing I like to call tolerance. It is my saving grace.

    ¡°Haha! Yeah yeah yeah, let¡¯s get to it then.¡± I jump onto the ceiling and walk along it towards my vent. Fun little trick I learned with my Emblem! One of my old lives came up with it, but basically as long as I can get one mark on a surface I can walk on it, by just placing and using marks each time I take a step. ¡°Viola!¡± I exclaim, opening the vent and reaching down to Mercury. He rolls his eyes and takes my hand, getting into the vent and sliding along it at crazy speeds. He uses his Emblem to generate a thin layer of slick ice along the vent shaft, and he already has one of my marks on him, so I simply repulse him and he can slide through the vents between our rooms in a few seconds.

    ¡°You two are children.¡± She kicks open my door, would¡¯ve knocked it off the hinges if I had locked it. Her arms are crossed and those red eyes are accompanied by their signature red flare of anger.

    ¡°Nia! This might look bad but consider the following.¡± I begin stalling for time by just spewing verbal garbage, watching her face to see when what I say hits a chord with her if anything does. After a minute of my talking she rolls her eyes and walks up to me. ¡°-the scarcity of interaction between mammals such as ourselves is something that we as a species should be more aware of. I mean if we go our whole lives only knowing about our family-¡±

    ¡°Shut up.¡± She says coldly, bringing her knuckles down on my head. ¡°If I report you two I can get you kicked out of the class.¡±

    ¡°But!¡± I refute, a hand on my head to try and calm my pounding head. ¡°If you do that, then they¡¯ll hear about the time that you broke into-¡±

    ¡°WHATEVER! That was one time and it was barely even a felony, you goaded me on and Mercury was an accomplice so you can¡¯t even act like that would completely absolve you of wrong-doings!¡± She scoffs, cutting me off and turning around, storming out of my room and towards our first class.

    ¡°She¡¯s nice.¡± I think out loud to myself, probably joking. She¡¯s gotten nicer, at any rate. Objectively nice is totally a stretch.

    =================

    ¡°Mercury?¡± Mr. Virgo calls out, and with my heartbeat fast but my breathing controlled I sit up in my bed as though I¡¯d been there all night.

    ¡°Yeah. I¡¯ll get to class.¡± I respond, pushing myself off my bed and starting to get into more reasonable clothes. When he leaves I sigh, because the idiot forgot to close the door. I reach out with my foot and push the door shut, leaving me alone in the same stupid room I¡¯ve had for years. I turn to my sink and look at the mirror, which is outlined almost entirely in stupid sticky notes that TJ left. They all have something on them. Stupid drawings, or little phrases and stuff. I brush my teeth slowly while reading through my favorite one that just says, ¡®Why is it called a building if it¡¯s already built?¡¯ It¡¯s so stupid. Just like him.

    ¡°Blegh.¡± When I spit out the toothpaste some of it splashed up and almost hit me, which would¡¯ve been just my luck. ¡°Gross.¡± I murmur, putting the toothbrush away and walking out of my room to get to class. I¡¯m exhausted, I made such a stupid choice. TJ wasn¡¯t tired last night and asked me to sneak into his room, and when I didn¡¯t do that he snuck into mine and basically dragged me through the vents. He ranted all night about actually nothing, but he never stopped talking. It was the worst.

    ¡°I¡¯m not in the mood today, I swear if TJ doesn¡¯t keep his mouth shut at the lecture I¡¯m gonna kill him.¡± I can¡¯t help but overhear Thomas rambling to his only two friends in the school. I speed up and step on the back of Thomas¡¯s shoe, causing his foot to tumble out of it as he stumbles forwards.

    ¡°Whoops. Sorry, didn¡¯t see you there.¡± I lie without a change in my expression, moving forwards past Thomas. I mean for goodness sake, he¡¯s such an¡­¡°Asshole.¡± I murmur quietly.

    Thomas glares at me and gets his shoe back on his foot, ¡°What did you say?¡± I didn¡¯t say that out loud did I? Given his two cronies who surround me I guess I did. ¡°Mercury you¡¯re just some snide rich kid acting like he¡¯s gone through everything, thinking that you¡¯re above all of us. I¡¯m not an asshole, you¡¯re just egotistical.¡± He says flatly, walking up to me with his fists clenched. ¡°I¡¯m gonna show you that we both inhabit the same world here.¡± He adds on coldly, reeling back a fist.

    There¡¯s no way I can win a three on one, I might not even beat Thomas one on one. So whatever, it¡¯s not like he¡¯s gonna use his Emblem. Plus, given how stupid his retort was, I already won any psychological fight here when I just said one word. When he punched me it became really clear I was losing the physical one, and the tears in my eyes accompanied by the crazy pain in my nasal cavity told me that I totally had a broken nose. The scent of metallic water and the warmth of blood spill out of my nose and onto my body.

    ¡°Go rot.¡± Thomas demands, walking past me and getting to our class. I reach up and feel my nose, the blood that meets my fingers showcases the broken nature of my nose. Whatever, it would heal in a few minutes.

    ¡°Mercury! Been a while.¡± TJ exclaims with a smile, jogging over to me and playfully punching my shoulder. ¡°Woah woah wait look at me,¡± He demands, taking my chin and angling my face to stare right at him.

    I bat his hand away and tsk, looking away and rubbing the blood off my nose. It¡¯s stupid hot in this place. ¡°Dude calm down. I tripped off the elevator and got a nosebleed, thanks for making the whole place aware.¡± I say flatly, getting into a staring contest with the wall.

    ¡°Oh? A likely story I suppose, but also something that a liar would say! What actually happened?¡± He pesters, god he¡¯s so annoying. It¡¯s nothing of consequence, I don¡¯t need him doting over me.

    ¡°It¡¯s nothing. Honest. Stop acting like my mom and let¡¯s get to class.¡± I respond. TJ¡¯s emerald eyes flicker with concern and his mouth is in a childish pout because I¡¯m not giving him a satisfying answer.

    - - - - - -

    I couldn¡¯t tell you when the cafeteria became so loud. It was quiet a majority of the time in my memory, people just eating by themselves. Siblings eating together, two teachers standing by the entrance and watching the situation with unfeeling eyes. White floors, gray walls, gray tables with dark blue chairs. Nothing about the cafeteria has physically changed. There¡¯s still the support group that eat in the back at their designated tables. The teachers still stand by the entrance, and the food is still first come first serve.

    ¡°Mercury let¡¯s go! Chicken sandwiches today, and I know for a fact Nia¡¯s gonna take 6 of them.¡± TJ exclaims with a grin, dashing through the cafeteria and disappearing into the horde of people.

    ¡°Dude¡­¡± I sigh and shove my hands in my pocket. We get our own breakfasts and dinners, tailor made for ourselves. Until two months ago we got unique lunches as well, but TJ got in a huge argument with Mr. Kraus. Something about the support class not getting equal treatment, and the disregard of these things called the Geneva conventions to acquire new Emblems for the US. As a result, nobody gets their own unique lunch. I guess that¡¯s fair, the support type never got them. People got pissed for about two days, even I chewed him out for a day, and I remember something happened to TJ with Mr. White ended up having to step in. Everybody ended up kinda getting over it though, it¡¯s small, and TJ didn¡¯t bring that up again.

    ¡°MERCURY!! DUDE WE HAVE KETCHUP PACKETS TODAY!!¡± He shouts back at me.

    ¡°GET OUT OF MY WAY!!¡± I shout at the dense group of people between me and those sweet succulent ketchup packets.

    =================

    ¡°They¡¯re so immature.¡± I murmur to myself while watching the mob of people crowding around the lunch-line. TJ¡¯s face is unsurprisingly enough in the middle of it, but Mercury¡¯s pale face is actually kind of surprising to find in the sea of people. ¡°Whatever. Crystal, let¡¯s go.¡±

    I hate eating in the cafeteria, it lumps everybody together way too much. I don¡¯t deserve to be eating with these idiots. ¡°Ms. Cadmium, where are you going?¡±

    ¡°My room.¡±

    ¡°Why is that?Unauthorized use: this story is on Amazon without permission from the author. Report any sightings.

    ¡°To eat.¡± Obviously.

    ¡°With Ms. Lopez?¡±

    I turn and look over at Crystal¡¯s slightly nervous face. ¡°Yeah.¡± I respond, looking back over to the teacher while raising an eyebrow. They¡¯re new. I think they¡¯re in charge of the class three years under us. ¡°What about it? Gonna stop me?¡±

    ¡°Yes, actually. You¡¯re not to-¡±

    ¡°Shut up.¡± I intervene, stepping to them with a glare. My black hair starts feeling slightly lighter and I can tell I¡¯m burning the ends of it, which happens all the time when I¡¯m pissed. ¡°I¡¯m Nia Cadmium. My grandfather Steward Cadmium runs the USEF, my mother Kandace Cadmium is a member of the E.E.E. squad, my father Jackson Cadmium is the leading Vein scientist for the United States. My hair costs more than your job, and my life is incomparable to your own. Thank you, and kindly, do fuck off.¡± Their eyes grew wider with each addition I made to my family line, and he kept his mouth shut as I walked out of the cafeteria dragging Crystal along.

    ¡°Nia¡­¡± She begins as we get to the elevator. ¡°They are a teacher, that might not have been a good idea.¡± Technically, she¡¯s right. For anyone but myself.

    ¡°Everybody who¡¯s ever heard that speech shuts up and backs off. Especially in this boarding school, which my grandpa funds. There¡¯s no way he was going to do anything.¡± Well, technically everybody but one. But he¡¯s the biggest dumbass I¡¯ve ever met, so it scarcely counts.

    The rest of lunch went by too quickly, and led us into the fourth block of the day. Combative training. I was the first one to show up, Crystal basically attaching herself to me and showing up second. Today is an important day, and I take my seat while staring blankly at the clock. We¡¯re going on our first real mission tomorrow. Out of country, that is. We have to collect the lightning Emblem from India, and since the EEE is going to be taking care of the military themselves and separating that Emblem from the others our class is getting this mission. It¡¯s just an unfair fight, apparently the current evolved is only 17. Another reason our class was picked - Same age. Granted, only the members of class with a winning record in the sparring matches would be going.

    My eyes flicker over to the whiteboard where all our names and records are written out, and with a sigh they linger on my own. 49-1-3. I was the best in the class by a few wins, and Thomas was right behind me. It drives me insane somebody as brutish as him can manage to actually win fights in this classroom.

    ¡°Hey Nia! Today¡¯s the big old rematch huh?¡±

    ¡°TJ, if you say one more unnecessary word to me in class nobody will be able to find your corpse.¡± He¡¯s actually stupid. I can¡¯t believe he¡¯s one of the only people who I¡¯ve never beaten in a fight. Especially because his record is awful. He¡¯s literally not going to go on this mission, he¡¯s 15-1-14. Once he loses to me today he¡¯s dropping to an even record, and not coming with us. ¡°Mr. Virgo, can me and TJ fight before everybody else?¡± I call out, raising my hand and watching Mr. Virgo coldly. He¡¯s going to say yes.

    His eyes meet mine and I can see his tongue stretching out his cheek. ¡°Hmmm...TJ, is that alright?¡± What?

    ¡°Yeah! Sounds great, if I win I get to go to India with everybody, right? So it makes sense that they should watch haha!¡± Eh? Why did he ask TJ, I already asked. Whatever, it¡¯s not a big deal . He¡¯s gonna be overconfident coming into this fight, so I¡¯ll be able to destroy him without a problem. Plus he already said yes, like an idiot.

    ¡°Good luck Nia.¡± Crystal calls out with a soft smile.

    ¡°Yeah. Thanks.¡± Granted, I won¡¯t need it.

    ================

    ¡®You¡¯re fucked.¡¯ He says. ¡®She¡¯s way more skilled than you.¡¯ He complains. ¡®You¡¯re the stupidest person I know.¡¯ He groans. And yet, it¡¯s my choice to make, stupid though it may be. ¡°I¡¯ll be fine Mercury! Worst comes to worse, I¡¯ll like¡­Die. But come on! Let¡¯s be optimistic here, if I win I get to come with you to India!¡± I exclaim with what I can only assume to be an award winning smile. It lingers for several seconds, and Mercury¡¯s face doesn¡¯t turn any less annoyed or pale. ¡°Dude, I¡¯m flashing you an award winning smile. What gives?¡±

    ¡°I¡¯ll bring you a souvenir from India.¡±

    ¡°Shut up and watch me win.¡± I respond with a small laugh, turning to Nia and walking towards her. She has her arms crossed, a sneer on that disappointingly beautiful face, and anger omnipresent in those jarring red eyes. It¡¯s almost like I¡¯m facing down Diablo, given the tone of the room. Well, we can¡¯t use Emblems, so there¡¯s actually nothing that bad that could happen. Plus me and Mr. Virgo are pretty chill with each other. I¡¯ve had to do a lot of make-up training with him and Leo given that almost everybody else here has been here their whole life. I¡¯m close though! I¡¯m basically average in the class now and it¡¯s barely been four months. It¡¯s a shame Leo can¡¯t help me out anymore, but Mr. Virgo said he¡¯d love to keep giving me private lessons. At any rate, I¡¯m fairly confident I can get to a draw with Nia. I''ve won 10 of my matches in a row and Mercury¡¯s only had to escort me to the hospital ward like 4 times in the last month.

    ¡°Oh, since this match is going to dictate if you can go out to India, Emblem use is allowed. If either of you die though there will be severe consequences.¡± ¡­.Eh?

    ¡°Oh¡­¡± Nia smirks and her eyes seem to glow like embers, with that raven hair flickering with auburn shades as it seems to defy gravity. She uncrosses her arms and her fists burst into flames. ¡°Oh, I feel really good about this development.¡±

    ¡°I don¡¯t.¡± I remark with a nervous smile, kneeling down and marking the floor under me to be about my body length in radius. ¡°If anything I think I¡¯m definitely against that, but I get it.¡± Damn you Mr. Virgo. It was bad enough to have to just play with Nia, but to have to face off against her Emblem too? Look if I was facing Diablo before, now it¡¯s just objectively Satan.

    ¡°That¡¯s ok, I¡¯ll feel good enough for both of us beating you senseless.¡±

    ¡°Thank you for proving my point.¡± I murmur with a chuckle, standing up and hopping once or twice on my mark. ¡°Well, no point delaying the inevitable, eh?¡±

    ¡°TJ, Nia, start on 3. 1¡­2¡­3!¡± The world turns to a colorful mush as I whirl through the air and land on the ceiling, placing my hand on it and sticking to a mark I place simultaneously. I repulsed myself from the first mark I made to get this started, a wise call because I can feel Nia¡¯s flame even from 20 feet above her. She totally would have landed that first punch if I didn¡¯t use my Emblem. It¡¯s crazy, she has a physical enhancement Emblem that ignites her body as well. I only take slight satisfaction from hearing her tsk at the first try not drawing blood.

    ¡°You wouldn¡¯t be so kind as to go flame off, would you?¡± I¡¯m not the biggest fan of touching fire personally.

    ¡°I¡¯d love to.¡± She says with a flat smile and a monotone voice, with the flames licking her body dissipating into the air. Huh. Guess I was wrong earlier, she really has gotten quite nice. I kick off the ceiling and dive towards her while reaching out a hand, the world besides her turning into a blur. ¡°Dumbass.¡± She lights back up, which was to be expected honestly.

    ¡°What a cruel mistress,¡± I rebuke with a grin, suspending myself in mid air by repulsing my body from both of the marks at once, causing the kick Nia had planned to meet me with to hit only air. Before she fully regains balance I get myself to the ground and totally kinda scamper away to get some space. She could knock me out in one blow, I¡¯m pretty confident in that. But if I can get my mark on her I win, but to get one of reasonable size and power on Nia I¡¯d have to be in contact for just over 2 seconds. Not happening, under normal means. Ok! Now that the planning is finished I can turn back to the fight and realize I¡¯ve totally ignored that Nia¡¯s right next to me and has a huge punch wound up. ¡°Tsk.¡± I bend back while reaching out, and as soon as my hand touches the ground I get a mark going. Her fist is already coming into contact with my chin so regardless of its size I use it¡¯s attractive property to slam myself against the ground before she can fully hit me. Thank god we have some protection against extreme temperatures due to those ¡®evolved shots¡¯ or whatever. I push towards Nia and repulse from my mark to bullet across the floor and take out Nia¡¯s foot, her other one was raised to try and stomp my stomach. I get back to my feet in time to see Nia¡¯s fist again taking up my whole vision. I don¡¯t even have time to get a mark going so I blindly throw my hands up to lessen the impact, the acrobatic witch I¡¯m fighting must¡¯ve used my leg sweep to flip in the air and land cleanly. Or something?

    My arms burn, and then I swear they shatter and I fly backwards crashing pretty definitively into the wall and making a rather large dent in it. I think the fire in my lung is the most surprising part, after all I was expecting my arms to be totally out of commission. The blood I cough up is surprising though, not quite as shocking as my hands, which I move around and figure out I can still clench shut and open. ¡°My nerves aren¡¯t fried.¡± I murmur with a smirk, glancing up at Nia who¡¯s laughing at me.

    ¡°Hey TJ, want to resign? It¡¯s the only out I¡¯m giving you.¡± Oh boy, quite the dubious plot hatches in my brain. With a hesitant smirk I look up and raise my hands, holding one out to her. She turns off the flame and walks over, holding her hand out to help me up. I take it and instantly instill my mark into her, because, I am quite the rat boy. I¡¯m supremely stupid, and honestly, I¡¯m an, ¡°Idiot¡­¡± Nia murmurs with her eyes wide, either getting one last insult in on me or having a moment of self-reflection.

    ¡°I¡¯m good, thanks though.¡± I say with a smirk, Nia¡¯s arm gaining what looks to be a tattoo of black ink spreading and writing across it, climbing to her shoulder before her hand snaps away from mine and flies towards my mark on the ceiling. She impacts against the ceiling with a crash and a small cloud of dust falls to the floor. I mark the wall behind me and summon Nia to it, reaching out my hand casually to basically high five her stomach as she flies by and crashes into the wall above me. I get to my feet and start jogging away from her, summoning her to the first mark I made and again light tapping Nia as she soars through the air. Each touch means a mark, and with that, I think my victory is assured since I can simply attract the blood around Nia¡¯s body to those marks. She¡¯ll pass out in no time, but that technique was technically made by my uh¡­Third former life? Whatever, point being she made it to kill people, which I find in poor taste. ¡°Nia, Nia, Nia.¡± I say lightly, walking over to her with a small smile on my face, because, I won! ¡°Now I have the winning record between the two of us!¡± I exclaims brightly, sticking my tongue out towards her and taunting her by standing a few feet away from the mark. So close, but so out of reach, since she¡¯s still bound to it. Hey wait, how come I¡¯m replaying the scene where her fist took up my whole view from earlier? Ohhhh wait no I get it. Nia¡¯s Emblem makes her require way more of my mark¡¯s force to keep in place, since I diverted the energy to 4 different marks she broke relatively free of it and managed to-

    - - - - - -

    ¡°My nose hurts¡­¡± I murmur quietly, opening my eyes to the now pretty familiar hospital ward ceiling. A very pleasant sky blue actually. The rest of the room actually seems to be in a state of disarray, with ash on the floor in a few places and soot smeared across the wall.

    ¡°Makes sense, your nose was completely shattered and your skull got fractured.¡± Sitting at the foot of my bed going through some document or another on a tablet is my guardian angel. His skin is significantly paler than when I first met him, but his piercing blue eyes and indifferent face remain the exact same. ¡°The real challenge was keeping Nia from killing you. Apparently, you pissed her off with some low blow or another. Mr. Virgo called me in until you woke up, in case she got any ideas.¡±

    ¡°Did she?¡± I blurt out, my eyes flickering to the black stains around the room.

    ¡°Oh¡­¡± Leo snickers and then places the tablet face down on the bed. He puts a hand to his chin and closes his eyes, furrowing his brow and bringing his face to a standstill of emotion. ¡°No, no¡­None of consequence to you at any rate, but of enough consequence to prod me into asking what you did to piss her off that much.¡±

    ¡°Well, she was winning the fight and pushed me against a wall. Ever the egotist, she told me to surrender and I smiled while holding my hand out. Now, I never agreed, but I may not have been in a big rush to correct Nia into thinking I did surrender so¡­She took my hand I used my Emblem and kinda rag-dolled her for a few minutes there.¡± Leo opens his eyes and turns to me with a smirk, pushing himself off the bed and then picking up his tablet. He does some quick typing on it, and then reaches a hand out to me.

    ¡°You¡¯re a smart ass, but a clever one. Lucky for you I¡¯m on your side. Jay Jeremy Jones, it¡¯s my pleasure to announce that you have been selected to the mission of lightning retrieval, overseen by yours truly, taking place in Ahmedabad, India. Pack whatever you want, we¡¯re leaving tomorrow morning.¡±

 India (Part 1)

    ¡°Thanks Jasmine!¡± I exclaim with a grin, waving goodbye to the girl. She¡¯s a little younger than us and a whole lot shorter. She never talks and barely looks people in the eyes with exception to Leo. She nods at me and turns around, her blonde hair waving after her and reflecting the sun for a moment before she¡¯s gone. ¡°Teleportation is so crazy, isn¡¯t it Mercury?¡±

    ¡°Whatever. Makes me feel sick.¡± He says meekly, crouched over with his hands on his knees.

    I reach over and put a hand on his shoulder, ¡°Let¡¯s go, you¡¯ll feel better when you start moving.¡± I drag Mercury by his shoulder, ¡°Plus we¡¯re in India! Dude have you ever been here before? Place looks awesome, I wanna eat some kheer!¡± I can¡¯t stop my smile when I think about that sweet rice treat, topped with dried apple. Maybe some nuts on top as well for a variety of texture and then some pear to balance out the creamy rice, boiled in milk? It sounds heavenly!

    ¡°TJ, calm down. We¡¯re on a mission. Let¡¯s get situated.¡± Leo says flatly, rapping his knuckles against the back of my head. He¡¯s decked out in military garb identical to the outfits we all have, save for a golden bar on his chest pocket. Intercoms are attached to the shoulder of our bullet proof camouflage jackets, thin black tank tops underneath that I think are like, fireproof or something? Then our baggy pants which I know for a fact are fireproof and tear proof. Our combat boots have jagged metal sticking out along the bottom for grip, I feel like we could run up a sheer cliff. ¡°As established earlier today, we¡¯re splitting into groups of two to search for the target as early reconnaissance. Get with your partner and look. If you find the target let us know and don¡¯t engage. Remember, the EEE squad is causing a militaristic skirmish tomorrow at noon to isolate the target from help. That''s when we strike.¡± Leo pauses for a moment and looks over to our class, I can swear his eyes linger on me the longest though. ¡°And¡­¡± He sighs and becomes really distracted with the sky. ¡°Good luck. It¡¯s your first mission, so things might get messy or feel hard. But try not to die,¡± he murmurs quietly, a light breeze causing his jacket to shift around as we register what he said.

    ¡°Thanks Leo! You¡¯re the best, I¡¯ll let you know if we find anything right away now don¡¯t die or do anything crazy like that ok? Bye!¡± I exclaim while waving one hand and grabbing Mercury with the other, basically bolting to get into the nearby city of Ahmedabad.

    - - - - - - - -

    ¡°Don¡¯t I look like a new man?¡± I ask Mercury with a grin on my face, striking a pose and waiting for his sour face to turn into approval. It¡¯s already midday, so I can¡¯t afford to NOT buy a change of clothes. Plus we were getting weird looks for wearing those outfits in the city.

    ¡°It¡¯s still against regulation.¡± Mercury says flatly, facing me but staring at a sherwani hanging in the store¡¯s display window.

    I slither over to him, putting my chin on his left shoulder and my hand on his right. ¡°Dude, you would rock that outfit. Plus, nobody is ever going to know that you did it. It¡¯s all for reconnaissance purposes, right? We¡¯re just blending in more with the locals¡­¡± He pauses and glances over to me, then to the intercom sewn into his jacket. He crosses his arms and furrows his brow as he engages into a staring contest with the outfit.

    ¡°No. I couldn¡¯t. It¡¯s against article-¡±

    - - - - - -

    ¡°You look so good!¡± I compliment with a laugh, Mercury coming out of our hotel¡¯s bathroom in a completely new outfit. He¡¯s wearing large peach colored pants, but you can only see the lower half of them due to his sherwani. Which, by the way, is in essence a long coat that falls to his knees. It¡¯s colored a mint green, with golden threads spread throughout. Yet, for some reason, I couldn¡¯t get him to take off the uniform¡¯s jacket. Whatever, the camo kinda works on the outfit. In a Mercury type of way. Which is to say, ¡°You actually almost pull it off!¡±

    ¡°Almost?¡± He asks incredulously, raising an eyebrow. ¡°TJ, you just don¡¯t know the intricacies of fashion.¡± Mercury shoves his hands into the coat pocket and starts walking down the crowded street away from me.

    ¡°Heyyy!¡± I call out with a smile, pushing my way through the crowd and kicking up a little bit of dirt from the road. ¡°Come on man, don¡¯t be like that! I couldn¡¯t come close to pulling it off, but you¡¯re super close! That¡¯s a compliment! Nobody actually could pull that off!¡± I exclaim, catching up to him right as I realize my words didn¡¯t really make the situation any better for myself. ¡°I¡¯ll-¡± I wheeze and get cut off by a fist he firmly plants in my stomach. ¡°I¡¯ll¡­Buy you some kheer?¡± Mercury rolls his eyes at my words but I can see the ghost of a blush on his cheeks.

    ¡°Fine. Then, and only then, are we even,¡± he retorts with a small smile, heading into a restaurant while I¡¯m still doubled over. Man, that guy can pack a punch and a half! It¡¯s no wonder he¡¯s one of the top in our class, if he actually cared about what he was doing most of the time he¡¯d be a superstar.

    ¡°Mercury, good friend, old dear pal of mine, wait up!¡± I call after him, rushing into the restaurant after catching my breath.

    The place is awesome, with a golden Hindu statue in the center of a dark circular lobby with black velvet decorating the walls. The statue stands just over two feet tall and has a face with way too much detail, a disturbing smile plastered across its face. The tables surrounding the statue are all taken but ones against the walls are free, and we have a waiter come over to us dressed up in a two piece suit. ¡°Table for two?¡± He asks in slightly stilted English, flashing us a nervous smile. Instantly, I¡¯m intrigued.

    ¡°Yep! We¡¯ll take the table right here,¡± I start, patting on an empty table with a grin, ¡°How did you know we only speak English? How¡¯d you figure that out? I mean I guess it¡¯s kinda not hard given our jackets and stuff, but that¡¯s still cool! How long have you been practicing English? Did you ever live in America or the UK or something like that? Oh also could we both get a watER!¡± My voice raises and cracks sharply at my last word, because Mercury stomped on my toe. The metal tread of his boot stabbed through my shoe, and it hurts like crazy! But I have to finish the order, ¡°Sorry about that. Two waters and some apple kheer. What¡¯s your name? Oh! Also draw a card!¡± I exclaim to the slightly overwhelmed waiter, who simply stands there motionless for about 12 seconds before blinking twice.A case of literary theft: this tale is not rightfully on Amazon; if you see it, report the violation.

    ¡°Two waters, an apple kheer. Ok. I¡¯m Rahj, your waiter today, and uh¡­¡± He reached out gingerly and gently picked a card out. ¡°What should¡­I do with the card?¡±

    ¡°Natta!¡± I exclaim, snagging it from his hands and admiring the 4 of clubs. That¡¯s a fun little pick from Rahj! ¡°Thanks though! Are you super busy or do you have some time to chill? I wanna hear about some hot spots for tourists!¡±

    Rahj blinks and then looks around a little nervously, ¡°I¡¯ll check while getting your orders put in.¡± He responds, nodding his head once to us before heading to the back kitchen. He¡¯s got pitch black hair and chocolate brown eyes. There¡¯s a little mustache on his upper lip but given how weak it is he couldn¡¯t be anything but a teenager. He¡¯s also maybe a little too skinny, he should eat something with us!

    ¡°He¡¯s nice.¡±

    ¡°And you¡¯re crazy! We¡¯re not here on vacation, we¡¯re not here to celebrate and have a grand old time. This is our job, we have a mission to uphold.¡± Mercury hisses quietly at me, while tapping his foot against the ground anxiously. The waiter comes back and hands us our waters, before pulling a third chair along the table and sitting down awkwardly.

    ¡°Hey Rahj!¡± I announce with a grin, my eyes still trained on Mercury, ¡°Do I remind you of a crazy guy?¡± I ask lightly, waiting for him to say no.

    ¡°Well. Yes.¡± Oh ok. My face falls and I turn from Mercury¡¯s amused smirk to Rahj¡¯s anxious face. ¡°In...In the best way?¡± He adds on hesitantly.

    ¡°No no, the damage is done.¡± I respond slowly, my shoulders falling. ¡°He¡¯s not going to let me live that down for a while.¡± Turning to Mercury¡¯s ever growing smile, the light in his blue eyes twinkle brightly. ¡°We are teenagers after all, it¡¯s only right for there to be some infighting betwixt friends.¡±

    ¡°Betwixt?¡± Mercury murmurs in amusement, a grin now plastered across his face.

    ¡°I¡¯m also a teenager, I¡¯m 17, I hope we will get along? It is your first time in India?¡± Rahj interjects into the conversation with apprehensive eyes. His hair is messy and short like mine, but black instead of brown. His eyes are a warm brown and despite obviously worrying a lot of the time he doesn¡¯t have any wrinkles, rather his skin seems really surprisingly smooth with the exceptions of a thin mustache on his top lip and a small patch of acne on his left jawline.

    ¡°Yeah, a little business trip our¡­parents brought us along for.¡± Mercury says in a slightly off-putting tone. He picks up the water and twirls it in his hands, furrowing his brow while he stares at it. It¡¯s kinda funny they didn¡¯t put ice in his glass, but it¡¯s a quick and easy fix for him.

    ¡°Regardless, Rahj, what does-¡± I bring up a fun conversation about his favorite foods and whether he¡¯s ever been to America before. As it turns out he was born in America! That¡¯s really cool, he moved here when he was just a few days old, and lives with an adoptive family. He¡¯s very sweet, when he mentions his family his eyes grow soft and his face riddled with anxiety becomes soft and warm. Mercury shot a glance to me when Rahj brought up his dad but I wave him off. Mercury worries too much about that. I¡¯m a strong person, and I don¡¯t want him to worry. It¡¯s not a big deal, my Dad and I. He¡¯s dead and that¡¯s all there is to it, I just didn¡¯t tell people for a while.

    Mercury doesn¡¯t even have a family, or I guess technically he does. He¡¯s a Theta, which means he''s from a line of people exclusively born to inherit emblems. His family¡¯s adoptive in a manner of speaking, because it''s better to think of the ''Theta'' or ''Beta'' or ''Alpha'' families in the school like a clan more than like families. They accept people into their fake families if they''re strong, and kick them out if they''re weak. Apparently their ¡®family leader¡¯ Benjamin Theta found out about our mission in India, and Mercury''s going to be in some serious trouble if things go poorly. And also, apparently Benjamin Theta is the worst. I¡¯ve never met him, but Mercury¡¯s told me all about him.

    Why is everything quiet? A lull in the conversation? Not on my watch! ¡°Rahj do you wanna see something really cool?¡± I ask him with a grin, giving a signal in the form of a look to Mercury,

    ¡°Yes, I suppose, I would.¡± He says nervously, as Mercury flashes a big ¡®X¡¯ with his arms and shakes his head furiously.

    ¡°Alright, awesome, check this out.¡± I chuckle, waving Mercury¡¯s worry out of my mind with a wave of my hand as I stand. I walk over to the wall of the restaurant and knock inconspicuously against it, leaving my marks where I knock. ¡°Now, Behold, Rahj!¡± I exclaim, chucking my deck of cards and activating their marks, the metal cards slicing into the wall and sticking out of the wall to form letters that spell ¡®Rahj!¡¯. ¡°I am a magician.¡± I exclaim proudly, wearing my inspiration on my shoulder.

    ¡°You are a magician...¡± He murmurs quietly, his brow raises in what appears to be worry but must simply be awe.

    We go back and forth continuing the conversation for a while, our food comes out after another minute and I plow through it with Mercury.

    ¡°I need to go, return to my family. Thank you though,¡± Rahj announces quietly, he¡¯s been pretty quiet since my magic trick, but I guess he¡¯s just been a little more nervous since he knows I¡¯m a magician.

    ¡°Haha, yeah no problem! Have a good one man, thanks for humoring me.¡± I announce with a broad smile, watching him leave the restaurant and instantly meet up with three of his friends, and they hurriedly start talking. It¡¯s kinda funny how much he talks to them, given how quiet he could be with us. He¡¯s nice though. ¡°He was pretty nice, huh?¡± I ask Mercury, turning to look back at his cold blue eyes.

    ¡°Yeah I guess.¡± He says quietly, slouching a little lower in the chair and taking a sip of his water with his eyes almost fully shut. ¡°He was whatever.¡± Mercury murmurs, as though it would be a crime to put him on the same level as us.

    I laugh and lightly shove his shoulder, ¡°Come on man, give the dude some credit! He ended up paying for our kheer, and you gotta admit that it tasted good.¡± He groans and falls further down his chair into his jacket.

    ¡°Sure, whatever. I¡¯m jet lagged, let¡¯s go find a place to sleep.¡± He complains in his slovenly state, lying his butt off about being tired.

    ¡°You are not jetlagged.¡± I retort with a snort, swirling my own water in my hand. ¡°You¡¯re just, always tired.¡± I add on, glancing to see Mercury giving me a stink eye which I delightfully ignore while sipping innocently at my water. ¡°Why didn¡¯t you freeze your water? You hate water without ice.¡±

    ¡°Unlike you, most people hate being the center of attention. I¡¯d basically announce I had an Emblem, which you practically did.¡± Mercury pushes himself up off the chair and smacks the side of my head with the back of his hand. ¡°You¡¯re not supposed to do that. Now come on, we¡¯re going to bed.¡± He states, heading out the restaurant while yawning. I stifle a laugh at his comment about being the center of attention. I don¡¯t care how tired he is, when he rocks an outfit like his he¡¯s absolutely going to draw the gazes of basically everybody.

    ¡°Sure, sure, sure.¡± I remark, chasing after him. "Let''s get some sleep for tomorrow."

 India (Part 2)

    Why am I awake right now, but not being harassed? That¡¯s not normal, TJ always forces me out of bed early in the morning so he can go screw around and make me watch or force me to participate. I open an eye hesitantly, and sure enough the sun is shining. This isn¡¯t my room, yesterday runs through my mind quickly. ¡°Damn¡­¡± I sit up and yawn, cracking my neck and tossing the blanket off me and onto the floor, where it thumps against TJ¡¯s sleeping body. He went back out last night when I went to bed. I have no proof, besides the various souvenirs that now decorate the dresser of our hotel room that were definitely not there before. I can¡¯t believe he coaxed me into buying some clothes, I feel like such an idiot. With that being said when I open the dresser I admire my new sherwani. Never even heard of it before now, but I can¡¯t imagine my dresser without it anymore. Looking in the mirror, my hair¡¯s pretty disheveled, and my eyes are kinda bleary, a sign I slept too long. ¡°What¡­¡± I murmur deliriously, looking a little closer at myself. I stretch my cheek a touch to make sure I¡¯m not imagining it, and sure enough somebody decided it would be a good idea to graffiti my face. Red dots are all over my nose and cheeks and I have the word ''dunce'' in black sharpie on my forehead. ¡°Oh,¡± I¡¯m rapidly waking up now. ¡°Oh, TJ!¡± I call boldly, turning around and clenching my fists, ¡°TJ, old buddy old pal.¡± I loosely quote him, as I stalk the bedroom over to him and kick off his blankets. He snaps up, his hair standing up with several cowlicks, waving dramatically with every moment he makes.

    ¡°Hm?¡± His bleary green eyes look up to me, and then his face breaks out into an impish grin. ¡°What¡¯s wrong old buddy old pal?¡± He says with a small hint of a nervous undertone to his voice.

    ¡°I don''t know, maybe my FACE?! Given you¡¯re the only other person in this room, there¡¯s exactly one person to blame. Do you understand my line of reasoning?¡± I explain, trying my best to keep my rage and annoyance out of my voice. TJ puts a finger to his chin and thinks pensively, nodding quickly.

    ¡°Ah, yes yes yes, I understand the rough situation. I¡¯ve gained a good grasp of it. And, you know, WOAH DUDE LOOK OVER-¡± He points behind me and then makes a mad dash to the door, but his stupid tactics haven¡¯t worked on me for a month. He doesn¡¯t make it three feet before I tackle him onto the bed and we start battling. It¡¯s more accurate to say I just started beating him up, given he seems to have accepted this as his punishment and doesn¡¯t fight back. While he does scream some stuff about how unfair this was and how irrationally angry I was, I don¡¯t think he minds too much. Which is good, because after a minute of playful punches and actual slaps I feel much better. ¡°You done?¡± TJ asks brightly, sitting back up from the bed and staring at me like a hesitant rabbit.

    ¡°I hate you.¡± I remark with a tired smile on my face, shoving him in his chest back onto the bed. ¡°I¡¯m taking a shower. Pack up while I do, we have to be ready to leave by ten.¡±

    ¡°It¡¯s the words that hurt you know?¡± He calls after me, laughing in the bed while rolling around like a kid. ¡°I call the bed next time we go on a mission ok? The floor was hard.¡±

    ¡°Go rot.¡± I tease while rolling my eyes, heading into the bathroom and shutting the door.

    I shower and clean my face, get my hair moderately styled, and then have to make a hard choice as to what to wear. I have no idea, which is why when I head back out to meet TJ I¡¯m just wearing our uniform that we came to India in.

    ¡°You¡¯re such a goodie two shoes man! Why do you always wear that stuff?¡± He calls out with a smile, sitting on the bed with his legs up on the wall.

    ¡°Theta, Jones, this is White. Do you read me?¡± The intercom sown into our jacket¡¯s shoulder screeches out in a muffled voice.

    ¡°That¡¯s why,¡± I remark to him with a smirk as he rolls his eyes, defeated. I respond to the communications, ¡°Yeah we hear you White.¡± I have to stifle a snort as TJ desperately rummages through his pile of clothes which he somehow accumulated over one day to find his jacket.

    ¡°Loud and clear Leo!¡± He exclaims loudly having finally found the uniform.

    ¡°Call me White, TJ.¡± The intercom echoes over to him, and I have to make an effort not to retort about the obvious hypocrisy of Mr. White calling TJ¡­TJ.

    ¡°Understood, White, what¡¯s up? Why¡¯d you ring? Miss my voice?¡± TJ says brightly, sticking his tongue out playfully to me. He was trying his hardest to get me to laugh on record, but lucky for me I¡¯ve had some time to adjust to all his stupid tendencies.

    Mr. White laughs sharply on the other line, ¡°Not quite, right now we need you guys. Target¡¯s been spotted on the Narol-Vishalla bridge.¡±

    ¡°Understood, on our way.¡± I respond to him, giving a small sigh as I look around the room that¡¯s not packed at all. ¡°TJ, go find the bridge, and if you get lost I¡¯ll kill you. I¡¯ll pack up, summon me when you¡¯re there.¡± I barely finish my sentence before he¡¯s out the door, like a kid who thinks I¡¯m gonna forget he didn¡¯t pack up just because he¡¯s not in the room. He¡¯s so irritating. There are so few redeeming qualities and moments about him that it astounds me, I¡¯ve met nobody like him before. I can¡¯t tell whether I like him because he amuses me or because he¡¯s a good guy. Honestly I don¡¯t think I like him much at all.

    Granted I can¡¯t really keep him off my mind, but that¡¯s more because his presence has become so synonymous with mine that we¡¯re kinda brothers. ¡°Bull.¡± I say to myself, sitting on the bed and lying for a moment to think things through. When I do end up packing our stuff I notice a small trinket TJ bought, wrapped as though it¡¯s a present. ¡°Who..?¡±

    - - - - - -

    I stand on the roof and let the wind baptize me. ¡°TJ, it¡¯s almost noon¡­¡± I call out to nobody, admiring the city while I shift my weight from foot to foot. I can¡¯t help but get annoyed at the distinctive lack of TJ summoning me to the bridge. Something specific to get annoyed about I know, but here we are. The mark on my chest suddenly lurches and my stomach feels tight, before I start flying through the air above the city roofs towards the large concrete bridge that stands over a broad brown river.

    TJ¡¯s the first person I make out, given he¡¯s waving to me and I¡¯m on a direct collision course with me. I slam into him and we both fall to the ground with a thud, but at least I could quickly get across the city. ¡°Mr. Theta, TJ.¡± Mr. White calls out, a small smirk on his face as he crouches next to the two of us. It never fails to baffle me how such a tall person can simply appear and disappear at will. It has to be his Emblem.

    ¡°Hey Leo!¡± TJ exclaims with a grin, shoving me off of him and rising to his feet in a boxing stance. ¡°I¡¯m ready to go, who we killin?¡± He asks with a Brooklyn accent he¡¯s never shown off before.

    ¡°My dignity, to start.¡± I murmur quietly, getting up myself and brushing the dirt off of my uniform. Seriously, TJ¡¯s such an, ¡°Idiot.¡±

    ¡°Both of you, are idiots.¡± Nia pipes up from behind us, her arms crossed and an exasperated expression filling up her face. ¡°Get it together, the bearer is already in labor. The doctor¡¯s on standby. Now let¡¯s go, the target¡¯s being led to the bridge by Crystal.¡± When I turn around I see our entire class, my face instantly flushing. They actually just saw us enter that way, didn¡¯t they? I can already hear Thomas snickering.

    ¡°Oh, great¡­The gang¡¯s all here.¡± I whisper to myself, shoving my hands in my pockets and raising my shoulders in a vain effort to try and hide myself.

    ¡°Awesome! The gang¡¯s all here!¡± TJ shouts over my shoulder, an impish grin on his face. Why was I even remotely worried? He¡¯s here, people are barely going to take notice of me. Why is everybody here? I get that it¡¯s our first mission but in all honesty it seems a little extreme. There¡¯s only one target, if anything this feels way too much like a field trip.

    Mr. White starts explaining our offense, and I¡¯m doing my best to ignore this annoying whisper in my ear. ¡°Mercuryyy..!¡± It whispers a little louder.

    ¡°What!? I¡¯m trying to pay attention, this is really important.¡± I curtly respond with perhaps a touch of hostility. He needs to take this seriously, we have a mission to accomplish.¡±

    ¡°I¡¯m multitasking, listening and talking.¡± He defends himself with a small smirk, ¡°But anyways, what¡¯s a bearer? Is that a person?¡± He asks innocently. He¡¯s such an¡­

    ¡°Idiot¡­¡± I mutter under my breath with a small sign, before I turn to him and pull his head down so we can talk a little louder. His green eyes are staring intently at me like I¡¯m a zoo exhibit. ¡°Look, a bearer is a girl who¡¯s pregnant and kept in a catatonic state. They have a doctor on standby to deliver the child exactly when we kill the target, and a shelter to stay safe in.¡±

    There¡¯s a loud crackle, as though a thunderstorm started right next to us. My head snaps back up to attention, and I spot Crystal dashing down the bridge. She glances back for a second, and then looks forward to us desperately. ¡°Move. Now.¡± Mr. White says flatly, before disappearing from my vision and moving in front of Crystal. He pats her shoulder once as she runs by him, and she nods in response to something he said before turning invisible. Our class moves into our most aggressive formation, even TJ moving without a word.

    ¡°¡­.No way¡­¡± I whisper to myself, my eyes wide as I see an Indian with a thin mustache come to a stop in front of Mr. White. The whole bridge goes silent, several members of our class were ensuring that everybody in the vicinity leaves. Plus¡­Something just seemed off, given the way those two were looking at each other after Crystal¡¯s mad dash. But there¡¯s no way that¡¯s our target, he¡¯s too skinny. His eyes are too warm, almost like melting chocolate. Rahj couldn''t possibly be the person we have to kill.

    Mr. White¡¯s jacket shifts around slightly in the wind, making the US flag plastered across his back seem to wave in the breeze. Rahj¡¯s black hair and his baggy clothes both follow suit, and he has a nervous expression on his face that contrasts immensely with Mr. White¡¯s confident smile. The two start having a small dialogue, and I¡¯m sure they¡¯re clearing up the confusion here. A small laugh escapes Mr. White, he turns around and starts walking away. He raises his left hand and mimics shooting the sky. It¡¯s the signal. Rahj is our target, not a person. The asshole tried to trick me.

    Thomas is the first to initiate an attack, he had retreated under the bridge and used his Emblem to collapse it. The ground under me shakes and a nearby lamppost falls to the ground with a crash, but Nia does her duty and leaps across the railing. She catapults towards the target with a fire in her eyes, and a flaming kick sails towards the guy. He does his best to regain his balance on the bridge, and in his efforts to do so can only throw his arms up to try and defend against Nia. She slams into him and he flies back, collapsing against the metallic railing which folds like a bendy straw. TJ¡¯s right there next to him, and kneels next to him with a pale face, grabbing his arm and shouting something or other. The target¡¯s eyes widen as well and after a moment he nods, then he gets back to his feet. Why isn¡¯t TJ attacking the target? Our mission isn¡¯t over. Stolen novel; please report.

    Two of our classmates rush towards the target, and there¡¯s a moment of tranquility while those three fight that I abuse to run towards TJ. ¡°Hey, what was that? Nerves? Come on, you could¡¯ve killed the target there.¡± TJ looks up at me with a pale face and his eyes shake slightly.

    ¡°The¡­Target?¡± He says slowly, seeming to be really surprised. I get it now, he was just being stupid. I can¡¯t help but snicker as I grab his arm and pull him to his feet.

    ¡°Dumbass, that¡¯s the target. Now let¡¯s go, we gotta kill him.¡± I explain, before turning towards the target myself. One touch is all it¡¯s going to take. The target¡¯s getting overwhelmed by two of our classmates, but then he screams out and activates something crazy. Lightning. It arcs off every part of his body and slams into the two close to him before they can react. I barely have time to freeze the air in front of me to create a shield against it, which explodes upon contact and sends me back into the lamppost that crashed before. I felt my back crack and my neck hurt from some whiplash, but nothing broke, so I just spit out some blood and got back up. That destructive power is crazy, no wonder we¡¯re trying to get that Emblem.

    ¡°HEY!¡± TJ shouts loudly and flies towards the target, before landing a solid punch to his stomach and sending him flying through the air. He must¡¯ve used his Emblem to repulse the target away, because he actually disappears from our view. TJ looks down at the classmates and reaches down before looking up to Mr. White who¡¯s only watching from a distance. ¡°Leo! What were you doing!? Tristen and Irene, they don¡¯t have a pulse! They¡¯re not going to die, right? Come on, do something!¡± What¡¯s he talking about? I walk over to him but Nia gets in my way, staring daggers into my eyes with a cold face.

    ¡°Leave it Mercury. You can save him in class, but he¡¯s on his own here.¡± The air around us gets hotter, and that raven black hair starts to slightly rise, giving Nia the appearance of a predator.

    I clench my fist and the air around us cools. ¡°Nia, get out of my way. Go kill the target, get some more credit. Don¡¯t tell me-¡± The floor smacks against my ear and my jaw splits open, blood spilling out for a few moments. My eyes are wide and I reach to my cheek, which is swollen from Nia¡¯s punch.

    ¡°He¡¯s going to get in the way of things as things stand, and then the Principal is going to kill him. So leave it.¡± She announces flatly, and I sit up slowly as my chin starts to heal up. She might be right¡­But TJ¡¯s going to be fine. He¡¯s not going to do anything that¡¯ll get himself killed. Mr. White is standing with him over our classmates.

    ¡°Their pulses have stopped, yeah, that¡¯s a good way to put it.¡± He remarks casually, standing up and talking into his intercom. ¡°Tristen Charlie and Irene Mew have both been taken out by the target at 18:12. Moving forwards with elimination.¡±

    TJ grabs Mr. White¡¯s arm, and the two stare at each other for a moment. ¡°That¡¯s it?¡± TJ whispers to him, ¡°They¡¯re dead, and all that means is a report?¡± His head rises and he tries to stand tall in front of the imposing Mr. White. ¡°Why didn¡¯t you help? Why didn¡¯t you do anything?!¡± TJ exclaims, with a hint of desperation in his eyes.

    Mr. White simply grabs TJ¡¯s hand and takes it off his arm. ¡°We¡¯re on a mission, this is what you¡¯ll be doing until you die TJ. Get used to it. I won¡¯t help, I¡¯m a supervisor, you won¡¯t have me all the time. Why didn¡¯t you pin down the target earlier? You could¡¯ve saved their lives TJ. What¡¯s your excuse? This isn¡¯t a game, there aren¡¯t any safety nets.¡± The words echo across the broken bridge and TJ falls backwards like he received a physical blow, turning towards me with a desperate expression.

    ¡°Wait¡­No but, it¡¯s Rahj. He, I couldn¡¯t¡­¡±

    A stomp silences his words, and Mr. White leans over TJ. ¡°You could. You didn¡¯t. If you don¡¯t kill Rahj those two will die for nothing, and then the academy is going to ensure you¡¯re killed and replaced with a better user of your Emblem." Leonidous''s face softens slightly, "So, prove they shouldn¡¯t do that.¡± He leans a little closer and whispers something further to him. TJ gets up shakily, and takes a few steps backwards, before falling down again, tripping over nothing. Thomas isn¡¯t even laughing, he¡¯s just looking annoyed while he sits on the bridge¡¯s rail and watches him,

    ¡°Nia. Get out of my way.¡± I stare defiantly up to the girl, and she crosses her arms with just as much determination. What the hell is she doing. I¡¯m going to kill the girl if she doesn¡¯t move. It doesn¡¯t make sense to pile on TJ like this. ¡°Now.¡± I say flatly, getting to my feet and walking into her, our foreheads banging against each other.

    ¡°Mercury.¡± TJ calls out with a slightly weak expression on his face, turning towards me. I glance over to him, looking over Nia. ¡°Will you kill Rahj if I distract him?¡± He asks meekly, a confused smile on his face.

    ¡°Yeah.¡± I¡¯ll kill the target. That¡¯s not a big deal. I don¡¯t understand why he¡¯s making such a big deal out of this.

    - - - - - -

    I¡¯m surprised that TJ came up with our plan, it¡¯s too high risk and high reward. The target¡¯s in a lake, we have visual contact, TJ found him no problem because of his mark. Then he refused to report it back to Mr. White, probably because he still feels guilty over the bridge earlier. I have an ice Emblem, this seems like an easy capture, but he has a lightning Emblem. It suddenly becomes way more complicated. Which is why TJ¡¯s going after the target first, I¡¯m coming in as back up to freeze the water if things start to go awry. ¡°TJ, you can do it. I¡¯ll intervene the moment he uses an Emblem. Set your marks.¡± I call out, before submerging myself in the mud of the shallows, breathing through a small straw. I feel like a ninja. I remember TJ talking about that when we took the lesson over stealth and surprise attacks.

    TJ nods curtly, sloshing through the lake and moving towards the target, who finally notices him. TJ throws his hands up, and smiles. The two start talking, for some reason or another. It kinda reminds me of something Mr. White would do.

    TJ talks into his jacket, saying something I can¡¯t quite make out from underwater. Probably reporting in, given that the target¡¯s eyes widen.

    The first blow wasn¡¯t TJ. The target¡¯s arm bullets towards TJ¡¯s chin, in response he reaches out. The hit lands hard, and TJ¡¯s finger caresses the target¡¯s chin and his mark appears. TJ falls back and bounces across the lake for several meters, clawing against the muddy water to finally get some footing. He glares up and dashes, throwing an uppercut that flies forwards in a predictable line. The guy tries to dodge him, but there¡¯s no such luck. His chin juts forwards suddenly, slamming into TJ¡¯s fist and starting the world¡¯s most brutal game of bounce back. It takes four firm hits before the target regains composure, and throws his arms out, screaming something incompressible as lightning arcs off his arms. TJ flies into the air straight over me, repelling from his marks, and my time strikes. I lurch out of the mud and reach out, freezing the air in front of us. I¡¯ve never technically done this before, but it should work. I can freeze solids, I can freeze liquids, and even gas. Why should plasma be any different?

    The lightning zaps my hand and sends my hairs standing straight up, trying to jump out of my skin. There¡¯s a small moment of suspense while our two Emblems clash, followed by a second of silence. The lightning is encompassed completely in a veil of ice, beautifully arching through the air and stopping at the target¡¯s and my own hand.

    His eyes widen and then narrow as he shoots a glare at me, opening his mouth to talk. It¡¯s drowned out by a large explosion from the lightning popsicle the two of us were holding, sending me back into the mud and taking him out of sight. When I manage to spot the target he and TJ are together, both have an arm on the other''s chest. TJ¡¯s smiling brightly, or looks like it. I can tell he¡¯s faking it, his eyes aren¡¯t all there. The two simply wait while staring at each other, and then the target drops his arm. ¡°I could¡¯ve killed you. Why? Why would you put your life in my hands like that?¡± He murmurs.

    TJ laughs, his arm still not moving. ¡°Because Rahj. You¡¯re a nice guy! I really like you, and if I don¡¯t want to kill you I bet it goes both ways.¡± What the hell is TJ talking about? He needs to kill the target right now, this is a golden opportunity.

    ¡°Yeah¡­? You¡¯re nice too. Thank you, TJ.¡± The target says with a small smile, his nonexistent mustache spreading thinner across his upper lip. He turns around, and takes one step.

    ¡°No¡­No I¡¯m not Rahj.¡± TJ whispers, I barely manage to catch it, I could¡¯ve imagined it. He leaps forward and reconnects his arm to torso, this time his back. The target turns around with his eyes wide, and before he can do anything else I see his eyes fade to a glossy fish-like state. His shirt suddenly seems three sizes too big as his stomach and chest both cave in on themselves as if a hydraulic press powers through him. The target falls to his knees, and then splashes into the lake. His body spreads a crimson color to the otherwise light brown water. When the body passes me I have to wade through a warm patch of water to get to TJ. He¡¯s on his knees, and he¡¯s giving himself a small hug.

    ¡°Target down," I report, before wading over to TJ, "TJ, come on.¡± I kneel next to him and put a hand on his shoulder. He¡¯s pale, and he¡¯s shaking. The warm water comes up to our stomachs and soaks our clothes, the mud making movement annoyingly resisted. ¡°We have to go.¡± His eyes are locked on the target¡¯s body floating lifelessly in the lake a few meters away from us. I¡¯ve never seen him this quiet, his green eyes are always sparkling and enthused. He always has an energy about him, like a flame that wouldn¡¯t go out no matter what. I don¡¯t get it, what he¡¯s doing right now. We did it, we did our mission, now we need to go home. ¡°We get to go home, come on.¡± I say boldly, putting some force into my words and pulling him up out of the water. He instantly reacts, smacking my hand off his shoulder and splashing back down into the now red water, dyed with the target¡¯s blood. ¡°TJ?¡± I murmur lightly, the water splashing around my feet being the only noise that interrupts the silence the two of us maintain.

    He shakes his head slightly, reaching up and wiping the target¡¯s blood from his face gently. He stares back down at the lake and holds himself, sitting down and starting to shake slightly. I¡¯m supposed to do something about this. I¡¯m supposed to report him, or something, and force him to come back to the meet-up spot with everybody else. Check the new baby, make sure he¡¯s evolved, get back to Jasmine and head back to the academy. I can¡¯t though, I can barely think straight, why is he acting like this? He did great, we did perfectly. Is the target still alive?

    I go back over to it, and reach out, touching the neck. It¡¯s cold and without the fluttering pulse of life, his stomach is concave with blood spilling out into the lake. His jaw is hanging on by a thread, flesh dangles down from his upper teeth. ¡°He¡¯s dead, for sure. We can go, TJ.¡± I trod back over to him and hold a hand out, and raise an eyebrow. He doesn¡¯t take my hand, and I look at it, maybe it¡¯s because of the blood that¡¯s stained it. I wave my hand around in the water and then reach back out to him. ¡°Come on.¡± He still doesn¡¯t take my hand, and I don¡¯t know what to do in the situation actually. He¡¯s usually good about keeping the ball rolling. Making sure we¡¯re moving and going things, why does he look¡­broken?

    ¡°Theta, Omega is a success. Where are you, report now.¡± The voice crackles through our intercom, and I take a step back. My mind feels blurry, and my vision is cluttered. TJ still is down, but the target¡¯s dead. The mission, it¡¯s successful. Our evolved got the Emblem.

    ¡°Battleground. TJ¡¯s down, but physically he¡¯s fine. I don¡¯t get it, I think..I think maybe the Emblem fried his brain for a minute? I¡¯m not sure.¡± I report back, barely thinking about my words.

    Silence greets me, broken by brisk wind that hits hard against my wet uniform. I barely process that it¡¯s cold, and look up at the orange sky as the sun starts to set. I don¡¯t know what to say. I can¡¯t say anything actually, I try to talk to TJ and my throat just doesn¡¯t let me. I sit down next to him in the lake, and I reach out gently. When my hand reaches his shoulder I keep it firm to contrast his shaking body. I try to say his name, but I can¡¯t, so I reach further and wrap my arm around his shoulders. He stops shaking for a minute, and looks up to me, his eyes wide. I didn¡¯t notice that before actually. His eyes, they¡¯re wide. He looks almost like a rabbit. ¡°You ok?¡± I whisper down to him.

    He looks back over to the target, and he shakes his head. ¡°Mercury, we killed Rahj. He lived a life, he had a job, he had a family, he influenced other people. People liked him, I liked him, he probably helped a lot of people, but we killed him just because we were told to. That¡¯s all. What gave us the right to kill him? He was a person, just like everybody else.¡±

    ¡°We had to.¡±

    ¡°Why?¡±

    ¡°We were told to.¡±

    ¡°Why?¡±

    ¡°Because he could¡¯ve attacked us with that power.¡±

    ¡°Does that justify murder? What are we going to do with that power? He was a good guy, we shouldn¡¯t have killed him.¡±

    ¡°He could have misused it.¡±

    ¡°But he didn¡¯t, that¡¯s just a stupid unfounded fear. We killed a person, he wouldn¡¯t have died today if not for us.¡±

    ¡°¡­.Maybe not.¡± The target drifts by us in the lake, before it finally starts to move away and out of our sight. Maybe he¡¯s not a target, he¡¯s just a person at the end of the day. And we did kill him. We killed a person, I think I see where TJ¡¯s coming from. If somebody killed TJ I¡¯d be pretty mad, and if another country did it to steal his Emblem I¡¯d be pissed. What¡¯s different between TJ and this guy? Between TJ and the target? TJ and Rahj?

 Awakening

    Murder is weird. It¡¯s such an innocent thing actually. I don¡¯t know if I can define it, even if that goes against what grandpa told me. He would want me to say murder is good when he says it is, and bad when he says so. I used to believe him, but my mind¡¯s been changing recently, within the last few months.

    I hate TJ. I hate him so much. He¡¯s loud, annoying, stupid, ignorant, immature, weird, and disrespectful. On top of all of that he¡¯s way too confident in himself. But when I saw him on the bridge, I realized something. In spite of all of those things about him, I don¡¯t want to murder him. In fact, I really don¡¯t want him to die. We have unfinished business. But I¡¯m pretty sure he¡¯s going to get killed. The Principal would rather have somebody else with his Emblem, not him. It makes sense, he¡¯s all those things I mentioned earlier. He¡¯s also a little bit more though. I don¡¯t really get it.

    Maybe that means I¡¯m getting infected by him. I couldn¡¯t believe he would try and call out Mr. White, I was surprised he didn¡¯t do anything to the target earlier in the mission. According to grandpa, he doesn¡¯t deserve to live after those mistakes. You can¡¯t afford to make even one mistake, or it¡¯s all over for kids who aren¡¯t a part of any big family.

    When I saw TJ and Mercury, I didn¡¯t move. I didn¡¯t want to be blamed for any action I would take. Mercury¡¯s silver hair was soaked and stuck to his head, blood staining several portions of it crimson. His jacket is singed black on the edges, and his left arm is hanging pretty loosely by his side. TJ¡¯s face is even paler than Mercury''s despite his darker skin tone. He¡¯s similarly soaked in water, his face is covered in splatters of blood that could be red paint if not for the body of the target slowly drifting away from the two of them. His green eyes are weak. It pisses me off more to see him like this than to see him all bubbly and lame.

    ¡°TJ.¡± I growl at him, splashing through the water towards the two of them. He glances up at me, nervously. I don¡¯t like that. At all. He looks like every other person, scared and nervous. That pisses me off.

    ¡°Yeah?¡± He murmurs quietly, almost shrinking back away from me. Mercury¡¯s the one who stands up and takes a step towards me with a slosh. Mercury Theta, not TJ.

    My fist ignites, and I step to him, shooting daggers into his unreadable blue eyes. ¡°I¡¯m reporting both of you if you don¡¯t move.¡± I state flatly, bringing my other hand towards my intercom. Mercury¡¯s eyes stare coldly back at me. He tsks, shoves his hands in his pockets, and steps back. His eyes remain on me like a bird of prey, an empty threat if ever I¡¯ve seen one. It implies I¡¯m scared of the consequences he could offer me.

    ¡°You.¡± I reach down and grab TJ¡¯s collar, not lifting him up or anything but just to get him to look at me. He keeps trying to look somewhere else and it pisses me off to no end.

    ¡°Not now, Nia¡­Look¡­I just. I need some time, ok? I can¡¯t-¡± He can¡¯t?

    ¡°You what!?¡± I barely even notice and I lift TJ into the air, his eyes now entirely focused on me. He winced when I yelled, that¡¯s not TJ. His eyes look shattered, not sharp or witty. His face is desperate and tired, not optimistic and playful. ¡°TJ, get it together! This isn¡¯t some game, we¡¯re not here to screw around! You can¡¯t? You can¡¯t?!" I parrot his words back at him, "Shut up, you idiot! I thought that you had some backbone! For some reason or another. Here you are though, annoying me yet again by proving me wrong. You¡¯re nothing special. You can, ok?! You can or you¡¯ll die, so make up your mind!¡± He flinched at basically every word I say, his face goes deathly white and he gulps desperately. He blinks while trembling in my hands, and I can¡¯t bring myself to hold him in the air anymore. I throw him down into the lake with a crash, water bursting around him.

    ¡°But¡­This isn¡¯t¡­It isn¡¯t right..¡± He mumbles in response, looking up at me with trembling mossy eyes.

    ¡°If you feel so passionately about it, maybe you should¡¯ve died instead.¡± I hiss out at him, bending over so my head is inches from his own, my hair brushing against his cheeks. ¡°Save Mr. White the trouble. What¡¯s right isn¡¯t your choice! You¡¯re only evolved, not a god! You can¡¯t preach, and talk, especially when even a little blood sends you into a catatonic state!!¡± I finish out of breath, clenching my fists hard enough to feel my own warm blood dripping down my fingers. ¡°Ugh!¡± I throw my hands in the air and stomp away, hoping some of my blood gets on TJ as well. He¡¯s not worth it, he¡¯s not worth getting this mad over. He¡¯s a dead man walking.

    - - - - - - - -

    I reported to Mr. White, and soon he and the remainder of the class showed up to meet me at the edge of the lake. A newly born is in his arms, unnamed but evolved. She¡¯s healthy, and she¡¯s going to be my new baby sister. He barely pays me any attention at all, he¡¯s one of the very few people who can get away with that. Instead his eyes are locked onto TJ, who¡¯s being slightly supported by Mercury in the shallows of the lake. Mr. Whites sapphire eyes are sharp and apathetic, ¡°TJ. Give me the direct report.¡± His words are cold.

    ¡°Me and TJ pursued-¡±

    ¡°Mr. Theta I didn¡¯t ask you, and if you insist on answering me one more time over TJ I¡¯m going to ensure you can¡¯t a third time.¡± Mr. White cuts Mercury off, his eyes still trained like a hawk on TJ.

    Mercury tsks and looks away, the ghost of a blush on his face. TJ responds in a voice barely stronger than a whisper, ¡°We pursued Rahj to-¡±

    ¡°Who¡¯s Rahj.¡± Mr. White states, barely as a question. It comes across more as an order, stern and unyielding. TJ pauses for a moment and glances back in the lake, the distant speck in the water drawing his eyes.

    ¡°The target.¡± He murmurs after a moment, looking down and not meeting Mr. White¡¯s eyes. ¡°We pursued the target to the lake, and killed him. Mercury acted as the direct fighter while I snuck in and killed him myself with my Emblem.¡±

    Mr. White doesn¡¯t say anything, but glances at Mercury who nods at TJ¡¯s words. He sighs and crosses his arms, as though he needs to try and think about what to do. With his eyes shut he starts to talk slowly, picking his words carefully. ¡°I¡¯ll file the report over the mission¡­Everybody head back to the US embassy, Jasmine will come pick you up tomorrow. Don¡¯t leave the embassy once you get there, spend the day there. I¡¯m going to provide some assistance to the E.E.E.¡± He looks at us and nods, ¡°TJ, you¡¯re the exception. You¡¯re coming with me.¡±

    As Mr. White disappears from our view I call out, ¡°You heard Mr. White, everybody let¡¯s get going. If somebody else dies or makes a scene I¡¯ll kill them.¡± My eyes are focused on TJ while I finish my sentence. I¡¯m taking charge obviously, it doesn¡¯t make sense for anybody else to even try.

    *               *               *               *

    I haven¡¯t seen TJ for a month, not since we got back from the mission to India. It¡¯s annoying, such an obnoxious person literally keeping me up at night. He¡¯s probably dead, so it doesn¡¯t make sense for me to care. Not that I care. Well I might but it¡¯s not because I want him to be alive. It just feels like we have unfinished business. Classes have been pretty quiet actually, a nice return to form. It¡¯s great or whatever, but the lunch is still absolutely crazy. I¡¯m blaming that on TJ. Just like I¡¯m blaming the silence on his absence. I don¡¯t miss him, despite what Crystal¡¯s been saying. Mercury looks terrible, it¡¯s kinda funny. Whenever I talk to him about TJ, not that I do it very often, but whenever he happens to be brought up, not by me of course, Mercury¡¯s eyes fall. Thomas hasn¡¯t been having a great time either, contrary to what he might want me to think. He misses having somebody to bully I bet, he could get away with just harassing TJ.

    Damnit! It¡¯s already one o¡¯clock! I need to fall asleep, our classes tomorrow are the last ones of the semester, and then we get a week to go to our families. We have several finals, and if I¡¯m not well rested I¡¯m screwed. ¡°This is all your fault, TJ!¡± I cry out in indignation, tossing one of my pillows across the dark room.

    ¡°What the heck did I even do?¡±

    My heart stops, my stomach drops, and my lungs pop. I squeak out, ¡°TJ!?¡± In a very controlled and mature manner that doesn¡¯t justify the laughter that spills out of his mouth. His disembodied voice is from above me, so there¡¯s really only one logical conclusion, ¡°Are you haunting me you annoying prick?¡± I ask, happy the room is pitch black so he can¡¯t see me smiling.

    Fortunately he laughs further at that comment and manages to wipe the smile off my face, replacing it with an annoyed expression as he talks, ¡°Haha! No, not quite, granted I got close like thirty times.¡± I hear a thud and I stretch out my hand, igniting my fist. TJ¡¯s lanky body is sprawled across my floor, a hand gingerly on his back with a small grimace on his face. His eyes are playful, and he has that stupid innocent expression he used to have. It¡¯s a little different though, maybe a little sharper. It reminds me of somebody, but I can¡¯t put my finger on it.

    ¡°Did you just¡­¡± He totally just¡­Fell through my roof. ¡°Are you going to pay for that?¡± His eyes widen and he puts a hand to his mouth.

    ¡°Ms. Beta, I would never have thought that such a rich and powerful woman as yourself would stoop so low as to have an innocent low-life like myself pay for you in any facet!¡± He¡¯s annoying, so so annoying. I¡¯m going to punch him. I swear I¡¯m going to punch him. ¡°Awww look at that!¡± He exclaims with a playful grin spreading across his face. ¡°You¡¯re smirking! You missed me!¡±

    ¡­For the record¡­I wasn¡¯t smirking.

    When I finally got my hands on TJ though we ended up in the cafeteria, which was completely empty because it was the middle of the night. ¡°Ugh! I¡¯m sorry, I¡¯m sorry!¡± He whisper-shouts into the floor, where I¡¯m firmly keeping him. My knee is on his back and I¡¯m keeping him in a tiger hold so he can barely move. We¡¯re both a little bit out of breath, but I feel like he¡¯s worse off than me.

    ¡°Yes, you are. Now start coming back to classes you dumbass. You¡¯re the worst, Mercury¡¯s been worried sick, Crystal¡¯s pestered me about you, even Thomas is upset he doesn¡¯t have an easy target anymore.¡± I ease up on TJ a little bit and stand up, letting him go. He makes it to his feet but not without a struggle, and breathing heavily he gives me a thumbs up.

    ¡°Yeah, no, 100 percent. I had to take care of some stuff, so¡­Couldn¡¯t make it to classes. Will be fixing that soon.¡±

    ¡°How soon?¡± I narrow my eyes at him, to which he gives a small flinch.

    ¡°Tomorrow soon.¡± He elaborates with a grin, flashing me two thumbs up and taking a step backwards. He¡¯s here, TJ. The real one, not some shadow of himself but that same stupidly charismatic idiot as before.

    ¡°What were you doing? What happened?¡± The words spill out of my mouth before I can think twice about them, which is fine. I am actually curious, I just hope that he doesn¡¯t think this means I care about him.

    ¡°Oh boy.¡± He smiles softly, and then chuckles while sticking his tongue out at me. ¡°I sure was doing things, and things certainly happened. Now as for the details of either of those statements, I choose to refrain from elaborating on them.¡±

    ¡°Oh yeah?¡± I ignite my fists and shoot him a glare, ¡°I¡¯m not sure if I gave you a question you weren¡¯t allowed to answer.¡±

    ¡°Oh yeah?¡± He parrots back to me, crossing his arms and taking a cautious step back. ¡°Well I¡¯m not sure I like your tone missy. Your Mother and I talked quite a bit and she was not very supportive of your behavior.¡±Unauthorized use of content: if you find this story on Amazon, report the violation.

    ¡­.What? My fists extinguish themselves, it feels like I¡¯ve just been smacked upside the head. ¡°...My...My mom? You...You were working with the-¡±

    ¡°Emblem Eradication Enforcement squad, yes.¡±

    ¡°The E.E.E.¡± I murmur in disbelief, this guy couldn¡¯t possibly have been working with such a prestigious group.¡°What were you doing with them?¡±

    ¡°Same old, same old.¡± He mentions dismissively, shoving his hands in his pockets as he begins to walk backwards. ¡°More importantly you¡¯ve become much more open to breaking rules - It¡¯s past midnight and here you are. Not in bed, but in the cafeteria!¡± He gasps, and puts a hand to his mouth gently. ¡°My goodness Nia, is that the perfect little girl you were raised to be?¡± He shuts his mouth real quick after I shoot him a glare, but not without a small snicker escaping him. ¡°Come on, I think you¡¯ll get a kick out of this.¡±

    He gestures for me to follow him as he walks back through the school. ¡°There are guards.¡± I whisper after him, following despite knowing it¡¯s the dumbest option available to me. He looks back and shrugs at me, before continuing along his merry way like nothing is wrong. In fact, everything is wrong. I don¡¯t even like TJ, and yet here I am being dragged along in some stupid scheme of his. He glances back after a few turns, and when he sees me he gives a grin.

    ¡°Y¡¯know, I think I like you Nia.¡± WHAT is he TALKING about? What? He likes me? Of course he, he should. I mean, I¡¯m me. But to just say it after so many feuds and instances of discourse between us I don¡¯t get it, wait, like, love me?

    ¡°Like, like me?¡± I hesitantly ask, not looking at his face because I have a funny feeling he would make fun of me. Turns out I didn¡¯t even need to be looking at him for him to start laughing regardless.

    ¡°Wow!¡± He exclaims with another small snicker, ¡°You have got to work on that ego of yours!¡± Oh, he didn¡¯t. I look back at him, expecting to see a teasing smirk that I could wipe off of his face with a smack. I have to stop my hand though, because he looks back at me totally straight-faced as he continues. ¡°Why would I? I have Mercury.¡±

    Wait. What?

    ¡°You¡¯re just¡­I noticed that as hard as you try to be the opposite you¡¯re a good person deep down. Granted, very deep down. Like, Mariana Trench levels of-¡± He¡¯s doing a TJ thing where he goes off on a tangent, and I tune it out and white noise as I take in what he just said. He was very serious when he looked at me. There¡¯s no way, but¡­

    ¡°TJ.¡± I cut him off, stopping my movement. He glances back to me quizzically with a playful glimmer of light in his emerald eyes. ¡°Are you gay?¡±

    There¡¯s a stillness that hangs in the air between the two of us after I asked the question, and a deathly quiet seems to emerge from the ceaseless noise that surrounds TJ. His white face makes it impossible to tell if he¡¯s turned more or less pale after the question. His lips are tightly bound together, and he blinks at me. Then tilts his head slightly, a hesitant smile on his face as he answers. ¡°N..No?¡± I can¡¯t tell if that surprises me or not, so I just nod and we keep moving. I know I probably shouldn¡¯t have asked that question, just because TJ¡¯s also not talking as we keep moving.

    When he finally does open his mouth though, it¡¯s a stupid retort to my question. ¡°So, since I said I don¡¯t have a crush on you, your mind instantly went to...I bet he¡¯s gay.¡±

    ¡°Well, you said that thing about Mercury so it wasn¡¯t just because you didn¡¯t like me.¡±

    ¡°Sure, sure, an excellent scapegoat you¡¯ve found for yourself there.¡± He stops moving in front of a door that we¡¯re not allowed to enter, that we never will be allowed to enter. It¡¯s the Principal¡¯s lounge. He¡¯s the only person allowed in there. We can¡¯t get in. ¡°Alright, let¡¯s go in.¡± TJ remarks casually, going for the door handle.

    ¡°What?!¡± I grab his wrist and stare at TJ in shock. ¡°TJ, that¡¯s the Principal¡¯s lounge. We can¡¯t get in there, we¡¯re not allowed.¡±

    ¡°We¡¯re not allowed out of our rooms at night either, and this place has tons of cameras. We¡¯re already caught when morning comes, and the only way to erase the footage would be behind these doors. Plus, I have something in here I want to show you.¡± Shockingly enough, he makes a really good argument. He definitely does have a strong case for erasing the footage, but I wouldn¡¯t be in trouble in the first place.

    ¡°I¡¯m only here because I¡¯m chasing after you TJ, they¡¯re going to see that on the cameras too. I¡¯m not in trouble in the morning, plus my family-¡±

    ¡°Nia.¡± He cuts me off with a tired expression, raising one eyebrow as though annoyed I don¡¯t get something yet. ¡°They don¡¯t have cameras in the vents, which is how I got into your room. They¡¯re going to see a boy and a girl emerging from the girl¡¯s room at one in the morning, chasing each other and then having some banter.¡± Oh. Oh no, I get it now. ¡°You¡¯re just as busted as me, now let¡¯s commit a little crime, kapeesh?¡± I glare up at him, he¡¯s got a smirk raring to go under that patient face, I can tell. He wants to show me something anyways, and I guess I am pretty curious what it could be.

    ¡°Fine. How do we get in?¡± I begrudgingly concede to him, and sure enough he smirks as he turns back to the door.

    ¡°Simple, everything here uses magnetic locks. I¡¯m basically a magnet man.¡± He announces with a grin, putting his hand on the lock, using his Emblem in some way or another, and then opening the door with no problem. ¡°Presto.¡± He walks in and turns around, beckoning me in with a finger. The room is dark, and so far I can¡¯t make anything out inside of it. That¡¯s off putting, given that I have vision enhancing shots. I should be able to see in the dark, and they were working earlier today with TJ through the halls and in the cafeteria. In fact they¡¯re still working, so why can¡¯t I see in there?

    ¡°TJ, we shouldn¡¯t be going in there. I have a bad feeling about thi-¡± He grabs me by my wrist and pulls me into the room.

    =================

    I never liked the Principal. He knew too much about me, and he tried way too hard to get me to play in the palm of his hand. I almost did too, in India. I should¡¯ve died, I got crazy lucky. I was far too dismissive of the target and went against too many orders, I even let Rahj kill two of our classmates. I lost two Emblems, and yet I¡¯m still here. I was assigned to the E.E.E., and they were given an express order to kill me if I showed even the slightest sign of hesitation or unwillingness to do everything they asked. That was his biggest mistake, putting me in a squad of adults who knew what was happening. It wasn¡¯t the school anymore, I was off his grounds, and I could see things as they really were. Jennifer Cadmium let me know everything, and everybody on there was on my side in a manner of speaking. Leo even came back to work with our squad.

    The shots are a suppressant for us. They allow certain people to incapacitate the kids with a simple touch, but it runs deeper than that. Our final doses happen when we turn 18, and in those are mixed a ¡®final solution¡¯ which allows the Principal to kill any of the Evolved with a touch. It monitors their movements, their heart rates, even acts as a lie detector when the need arises. That¡¯s why nobody with an Emblem works outside of the government, why you have to report to this school. I couldn¡¯t just come out and talk about this once I got back, I had to make the others believe it. Mercury might believe me if I told him, but nobody else would. They¡¯re too indoctrinated, it¡¯s too risky to admit I know all of this. So, I have to make them believe. And who better to convince than Nia, Jennifer¡¯s daughter. I didn¡¯t think I¡¯d be able to get it done on my first night back, but at the rate things are going¡­I¡¯ve got a pretty good shot. Plus, I did promise Jennifer I¡¯d save Nia.

    The Principal''s office door swung open, and I wasn¡¯t surprised to see darkness meeting me. ¡°Presto.¡± I murmur with a grin spreading across my face, walking into the office. It¡¯s kinda fun to reach out blindly to find a light switch. I overhear Nia complaining and raising her voice slightly, which forces a sigh out of my body. I reach out and pull her into the room, ¡°Nia, go flame on! I can¡¯t see in here.¡±

    ¡°I¡¯m not your torch!¡± She hisses back at me, before acting very much like a torch would and lighting up the room with fire. The place is unnerving to say the least. A steady stream of paper emerges from the corners and wraps around the walls of the room, disappearing into another corner. The entire room is covered in these rotating, silently creeping walls that reflect Nia¡¯s fire. Only a single wall across the entrance displays monitors and computers that seem to control the security of the building. There¡¯s a circular desk in the center of the room, with three chairs surrounding it.

    ¡°Three¡­¡± That¡¯s strange, the Principal is the only one I can imagine coming in here. As confused as I feel, Nia looks much worse. She walks over to the walls cautiously. She pauses in front of the paper and starts reading them. ¡°Don¡¯t light the papers on fire.¡± I call out teasingly, looking at the other wall. Heart rates, glucose levels, oxygen content, ridiculous amounts of information are in the papers that stream across the walls.

    ¡°What¡­What is this stuff?¡± Nia murmurs, extinguishing a hand and pulling some papers closer.

    ¡°Proof.¡± Exactly what I¡¯ve been looking for. Nia looks confused at me, to which I only shrug in response. ¡°You¡¯re a smart girl. Why would the Principal have all this information in his office? Why would he have¡­¡± I walk over to the table and investigate a little more, finding files and reports over each member of the E.E.E., and something else. ¡°A failsafe?¡± I toss the file over to Nia. It detailed how each member felt about being Evolved, and their loyalty to the organization. Continually in the papers it alluded to killing them if they got too close to becoming independent.

    She reads silently through the pages, with a face that progressively becomes more and more pale. ¡°Proof of what TJ? That he¡¯s doing his job?¡± She whispers back at me. She¡¯s nervous, I can tell by her voice, but those words are exactly what I¡¯d expect. ¡°Independence can be dangerous if they¡¯re going to commit treason. So it makes sense-¡±

    ¡°To kill anybody who takes a step out of line?¡± She purses her lips and doesn¡¯t look at me. A dead silence creeps between the two of us as my words settle like dust to the ground. ¡°The only justification would be if we¡¯re confident that taking a step out of line is bad. Nia, that would mean saying the Principal is objectively good. That¡¯s autocratic, isn¡¯t it?¡±

    ¡°Look, structure is needed to get things done. If he establishes it through fear and threats that¡¯s not our business TJ, it¡¯s for the greater good.¡±

    ¡°So the ends justify the means? Fine. Then what are the ends Nia? What is the goal that we¡¯re working towards?¡± She knows the answer just as much as I do, but it doesn¡¯t surprise me she finds herself at a loss for words. Her crimson eyes are unsure, darting between me and the files she holds. ¡°For him to hold all the power, all the Emblems in the world? An unstoppable army ruled by a ruthless and cold man?¡±

    ¡°But if others had Emblems they could attack us themselves. We¡¯re only doing this to protect ourselves TJ, because without security we would risk everything being taken from us, everybody could die. Everything could come to an end.¡± She gives as rebuttal, her words losing some of their energy. Nia¡¯s smart, maybe too smart. A lot of people are, they overthink things.

    I snort, and then start laughing. ¡°How, Nia? People abruptly lose all morality and decide to kill absolutely everybody? How would everything come to an end?¡± She can¡¯t give me an answer, and after waiting I give my own. ¡°We don¡¯t know. But I do know that if he gets his way, everything keeps going the way it does, the world as we know it is gonna end. You want the Principal in charge of the world, ruling it with an army of Evolved at his fingertips? His word would be the law and there wouldn¡¯t be anything anybody could do except listen to and abide by his rules. You would rather live under that, than roll the dice? Than taking a chance on humanity? Be more optimistic. The most evil and malicious force in the world¡­is people. Everybody focuses on that. In doing so they ignore that the most incredible and kind forces in the entire world are also people. I¡¯m not saying that security and order is evil by nature, but Nia, you can¡¯t correlate those to the Principal. Those concepts are abstract, they¡¯re not good or bad, it¡¯s how people interact with them. You can¡¯t have one person calling the shots for everything¡­ever.¡± I got a little bit too philosophical, but I can¡¯t stop now. Nia doesn¡¯t know what to do anymore, I kind of changed her whole perspective by bringing her here in the first place.

    ¡°The Principal¡­He¡¯s not bad. He can¡¯t be. He takes care of us, and-¡±

    ¡°Nia!¡± I grab her shoulders and she seems stunned that I¡¯m doing so. I realize very quickly she¡¯s surprised because she¡¯s still on fire, and my hands are likewise now flaming. That¡¯s irrelevant, it¡¯ll make my point hit home all the harder. ¡°He¡¯s forcing you to kill people, raising you to be soldiers, and the only thing he¡¯s giving you is shelter and his own personal affirmation.¡± I take my hands back, and they¡¯re burned a bright red and throb painfully, but Nia seems to have realized something. She stumbles backwards a little, and turns out the light before leaning against the wall.

    In total darkness, Nia¡¯s voice calls out, ¡°But I¡¯ve lived my whole life listening to him. I can¡¯t just stop TJ. What do you think you can do, leave? He¡¯d kill us.¡±

    She raises a stupid point, and then a legitimate one. Right after each other, which makes me smile. ¡°Sure you can. Your whole life only counts for so far, you can change it whenever you want. So come on Nia.¡± I crouch next to her and put my still very warm hand on her shoulder. ¡°Let¡¯s overthrow the Principal. But first, we¡¯ll leave. We¡¯ll sneak out tomorrow, it¡¯s getting too late today, and Mercury needs to come with us.¡±

    We rise together, and when she leaves the office, I watch as she heads back towards her own room. I still had some work to do. Namely, the security cameras. All I have to do is destroy the entire office, that¡¯s going to help me take care of the whole tracking situation. Now, how am I going to do that without arousing even the slightest bit of suspicion?

 Reunion

    My ceiling. When did I start calling it that? It¡¯s not mine, technically. It is the ceiling, the one in my room. I don¡¯t own it, it¡¯s not mine, and the only real defining attributes of it were put there by other people. The dent from TJ¡¯s first intrusion to my room, the black burn mark from Nia¡¯s outbursts, the scratches that TJ¡¯s cards have caused. It¡¯s stunning how reassuring it is to rest on my bed and look at the ceiling. Remembering that I¡¯ve lived a life with other people. TJ, and Nia, even Thomas and Crystal. Mr. Virgo, Mr. White, the Krauses, Professor Delta. It¡¯s annoying, but for whatever reason Rahj comes into my head as well. He was a quiet kid who TJ dragged along with us in India for a minute, kinda like me. But we had to kill him, he was our target. TJ¡¯s actions there probably got him killed, and as infuriating as that is I can¡¯t do anything about it. It¡¯s been months since we¡¯ve heard or seen him. He probably was so against killing Rahj because Rahj reminded him of me. Or maybe he¡¯s just against killing in general. I don¡¯t know when I got so soft, but that mentality has been getting to me too. I guess each person has a life. If somebody as nice as TJ didn¡¯t consider himself worthy of deciding when to end somebody''s life, why can I?

    Classes are even more boring than I would¡¯ve thought possible, all because he¡¯s gone. That¡¯s so weird. I mean, I was doing fine until I met him. Now that I¡¯ve experienced what it¡¯s like to have classes with him though, to live life with him¡­I guess I have something to compare my life to now. I miss him, but I¡¯m not going to see him again or anything. So why does my brain not seem to understand that I should stop caring?

    ¡°TJ¡­This is your fault. Take some damn responsibility.¡±

    ¡°What is it with people blaming me today?¡±

    ¡°WHAT?!¡± There¡¯s no way but I could¡¯ve sworn I heard TJ talk to me, ¡°T-TJ? Are you with me?¡±

    ¡°Are you with me?¡± He asks back in a horrible impression of my voice, the vent leading into my room being popped open by TJ. I pop up in disbelief, staring at him like he could disappear if I so much as blink. ¡°For the record,¡± He hops into my room and turns on the lights, smiling broadly as he turns back to me and puts his hands on his hips. ¡°I¡¯m totally with you.¡±

    ¡°You¡­¡± My chest feels heavy for a moment, and it gets really hot in my room. Some pressure seems to build up behind my eyes and my nose burns for a moment, ¡°You fucking bitch¡­¡± I barely manage to say, my voice is an octave higher than normal and I can scarcely get the words past the rock that¡¯s wedged itself in my throat. I can¡¯t stop a grin from forming on my face. His green eyes glisten like emeralds, an optimistic sparkle underneath his sharp irises. I wrap my arms around him in a hug, and he gives me a huge hug back. We clutch desperately to each other for a few seconds, and for the moment I don¡¯t want to let him go at all. ¡°I thought you were dead. I missed you, you dumbass.¡± We pull apart, both of us still resting our hands on each other¡¯s shoulders.

    ¡°Well¡­I gave it my best shot. Death doesn¡¯t seem to like me much, I just keep on living. I¡¯ve lived every single day so far, of my whole life! I haven¡¯t died once.¡± He remarks with a giggle, patting my shoulder before letting go and jumping onto my bed. ¡°Not for lack of trying though. On the topic of near-death experiences for me, Nia.¡±

    ¡°What about her?"

    ¡°I met her already, and that was cool and all. But Mercury, I need to ask for the biggest favor of my life.¡± His eyes look intensely at me, it¡¯s an expression that TJ¡¯s carefree attitude made me think he wasn¡¯t really capable of. He¡¯s serious, more than serious. I can¡¯t let TJ down.

    ¡°Short of jumping off a bridge, I¡¯m sure I¡¯ll be able to help out. What¡¯s up?¡±

    "We need to leave. Nia¡¯s coming with us, but I need you, and we need to kidnap Jasmine.¡± I must¡¯ve misheard him. No, wait, it¡¯s all making sense. I tsk and cover my face with my hands in embarrassment, how did I not realize I was dreaming until now?

    ¡°I should¡¯ve known this was a dream, there¡¯s-¡± TJ grabs my wrist and pulls me to him. Our faces are inches away from each other, his green eyes seem deep and dangerous as he breaks off my thoughts. I wouldn¡¯t be able to dream in such vivid detail. Feeling his pulse through his palm, the soft exhales of his as we stare at each other, and the slight static electricity that seems to emanate off his hair. Static electricity? What¡¯s up with that¡­?

    ¡°Mercury. Listen to me. You¡¯re not dreaming. I need your help. The Principal is¡­¡±

    ****

    It¡¯s unbelievable. We¡¯re all being tracked? He plans to kill anybody who takes a step out of line? We¡¯re protecting the United States, that¡¯s what we¡¯ve always been told. Amassing more Evolved is necessary for that, isn¡¯t it? TJ wouldn¡¯t lie though, not to me, not now. It¡¯s hard to believe, but if Nia truly came around to his side like he said then maybe his words hold credence. Even if they don¡¯t¡­

    I sigh and smile softly leaning back on my bed and resting my head against the wall. He¡¯s so¡­ ¡°Fun.¡± I whisper out, before meeting TJ¡¯s eyes. ¡°TJ. I trust you, I¡¯ll help you with this.¡± Life is boring. People are annoying, they piss me off. They¡¯re stupid, and never do anything. They¡¯re balls of contradictions that lie and pretend in order to get what they want. I¡¯m so sick of that world, of just doing what I¡¯ve been told to do without having any say in it. My life sucked before I met TJ, and it sucked when he left. He¡¯s back now, I don¡¯t care if he¡¯s telling the truth. I''m going to stick with him and live how I want. ¡°But why are we kidnapping Jasmine? If you want to be morally superior to the Principal I don¡¯t know why you¡¯re starting with kidnapping a 14 year old girl.¡±

    TJ snorts, before he starts explaining the plan. ¡°Look, we have to be crazy careful. Only a few of us can get out, namely a group of 4 or 5. Since I¡¯m breaking us out I¡¯m picking you and making sure you come with me. Nia¡¯s mom would get blackmailed if Nia was still here so she has to come with. Nia will demand I bring Crystal, and so that¡¯s 4. Jasmine makes 5. Now we have to kidnap Jasmine because-¡± He¡¯s cut off mid-sentence by an alarm that blares. I¡¯ve never heard the alarm before, it screeches incessantly at us. TJ frowns slightly, but doesn¡¯t actually look confused. He says something but I can¡¯t hear it over the shrill ringing of the alarm.

    ¡°TJ, WHAT¡¯S HAPPENING?¡± I call out to him over the alarm. He turns back to me with a guilty smile on his face, a small blush on his cheeks and a nervous glimmer in his eyes. He scratches his cheek with one finger and I barely hear what he says.

    ¡°This might be from me trashing the Principal¡¯s office to delete the security footage of me and Nia¡­¡± WHAT!?

    ¡°WHAT!? YOU TRASHED THE OFFICE!?¡± I exclaim, flabbergasted by his idiocy. He nods, and his head flicks to the door, drawing my attention to it. I look over at the door, just in time to see it get kicked open by Mr. Virgo. Shit! TJ¡¯s going to get caught! I whip back to him and he¡¯s gone, almost like he was a ghost. Mr. Virgo rushes to me and grabs my collar, slamming me against the wall and shouting at me.

    ¡°MERCURY, EXPLAIN YOURSELF!¡± He¡¯s trying to force a confession out of me, instead of giving me the chance to say I didn¡¯t do anything. The other teachers are probably doing the same thing to other students. He pulls back and slams me against the wall again, ¡°WHY DID YOU THINK IT WAS A GOOD IDEA TO BREAK INTO THE PRINCIPAL¡¯S OFFICE!?¡± His voice somehow manages to exceed the alarm in volume and I wince when his spit flicks onto my face as he screams.

    ¡°I DIDN¡¯T SIR, I DON''T KNOW WHAT YOU¡¯RE TALKING ABOUT!¡± He seems annoyed, and he tosses me back onto my bed before storming out. I¡¯m stuck staring up at my ceiling, where TJ¡¯s head is poking out of the vent. I¡¯m basically frozen in place by his audacity. When he gives me two thumbs up I slowly flash him a thumbs up of my own, and then he disappears into the vent.

    The alarm echoes for another hour, forcing me to stay awake as it blares through the school. Even without the alarm, I wouldn¡¯t have fallen asleep again. TJ¡¯s back. And he¡¯s given me a lot to think about.

    - - - - - - - -

    ¡°Jay.¡± That voice slithers into my ears, and penetrates into my brain. He wears a black suit, his limbs are long and thin. His legs stretch out like a spider¡¯s from his body, and rest crossed as he sits on the side of my bed. He¡¯s in my room, the Principal is. My heart races and my breathing quickens, I can barely manage to hold the butterflies in my stomach back. They really want to escape out my throat in either a scream or vomit. ¡°Are you going to hide up there forever? Or are you going to make your father come get you.¡± A spindly finger stretches out from his hand and points up at me in the vent. I was too slow getting back to my room, and the worst person possible beat me to it.

    ¡°I¡¯m coming, Dad. Sorry.¡± I control my voice and my emotions. I can¡¯t afford to make a mistake, or reveal anything about what I was doing. He doesn¡¯t have any proof, not anymore. The fact he¡¯s showing up here means that he genuinely doesn¡¯t have anything on me. I drop down to the floor of my room, and look down at the ground while kneeling in front of him. If I play into the role he wants from me then everything should sort itself out in the long term. All I need to do is get through tomorrow, it¡¯s our last day of classes before we¡¯re allowed to leave for one week of winter vacation. I¡¯m not coming back from that.

    ¡°Sorry?¡± He asks coolly, his voice wrapping around me and placing the pressure of an atmosphere on my chest. ¡°Sorry for what TJ? Every child is afraid of being punished. They whine, and complain,¡± He rises to his feet and walks over towards me. His pale hands are clenched into tight fists, ¡°They¡¯re ungrateful, annoying, pretentious, overconfident, and ignorant children!¡± His voice raises in volume, and his words ring through the room and reverberate in my ears. I keep my eyes down on the ground and let him rant. Even though the silence that now spreads between us is deafening, I know saying anything is tantamount to asking to die, so the quiet continues until the Principal breaks it. ¡°But what does a father do Jay? In spite of all of that a father forgives their child. Just as I forgive you for hiding.¡±

    ¡°Thank you Dad.¡± I stared down determinedly at his polished white dress shoes. They come to a point at the end and look as though they could be made of snake-skin, a rectangular pattern spreading across them.

    ¡°Of course, Jay. Of course. Now, we both know what you did.¡± My heartbeat may as well have been visible given how loud it crashed in my ears. ¡°So, are you going to confess and be punished less? Or force the whole school to be punished instead?¡± He couldn¡¯t know, he couldn¡¯t possibly know. All I have to do is lie, and tell him I was playing cards or something in the vent! But then, the rest of the school would be punished. Mercury, Nia, Crystal, Thomas, even Leo wouldn¡¯t get away without an injury most likely. On top of all this I don¡¯t even know his Emblem, it¡¯s too risky to try and pull anything. I don¡¯t know what to say, I can¡¯t come up with a retort, or anything that could get me out of trouble. Support the creativity of authors by visiting Royal Road for this novel and more.

    ¡°I¡­I¡¯m sorry. I was-¡±

    ¡°He was helping me.¡± Leo¡¯s voice breaks through the oppressive atmosphere that seems omnipresent around the Principal. He stands in the doorway, his hands in his pockets and with icy blue eyes defiantly staring down the Principal. ¡°Guess TJ decided to report back to his room by crawling through the vent.¡± He¡¯s vouching for me, and it feels like the tone of the room shifts. My thoughts come rushing back into me and I feel like I can think clearly again.

    ¡°Yeah, sorry Dad. I was doing espionage training while getting back to my room.¡± I add to Leo¡¯s explanation of my actions, gaining some confidence back. The white shoes of the Principal shift slightly, one of his feet pointing away from me now and directed towards the door. Watching the other foot point directly at me is off putting, but somehow feels like an empty threat.

    ¡°Mr. White.¡± His words are barely more than a whisper, and somehow manage to fill the entire room regardless. His commanding presence makes the entire school feel as inconsequential as a mouse before a lion. ¡°Tell me, why are you interrupting a conversation between a father and son? I never gave you even the slightest permission to do anything along these lines, and yet here you are. Can I take this to be-¡±

    ¡°Insubordination?¡± Leo cuts him off. The words slice through the air, they seem to cut down the dreary and overbearing atmosphere that was haunting my room. His face morphs to a coy smile and he tilts his head back as he looks down on the Principal as though he¡¯s a rookie. ¡°Not at all.¡± Leo starts walking over to me, ¡°These are two children of yours, dad.¡± Leo says indifferently, stopping in front of me and leaning down so our heads are level. He lifts my chin up gently, and together me and Leo stare at the Principal¡¯s face.

    His lips are thin, but seem larger than they are due to the deep red coloration they have. Comparatively to those lips everything else on his face is muted, a pale skin tone and stunningly high cheek-bones are the secondary features to his face. His chin seems to be a triangle, as it comes to a sharp point that I would normally joke about being able to cut myself on. His nose is long and thin, stretches from just below his eyes and ends barely above his upper lip. When we meet eyes, a shiver runs down my spine. Brown eyes that are flecked with red splotches that seem almost like a disease, the dying embers of a fire in his dark eyes pierce through me as we make eye contact with each other. His hair is darker than his black suit, cut short and slicked back slightly.

    ¡°And children stand up for each other, especially when their dad is blaming one for the sins of the other.¡± Leo finishes, and as much as I want to turn and look at him my eyes are locked with those of the Principal. It feels like if either of us look away first it¡¯s admitting a defeat of some kind, my brain feels like it¡¯s oozing out through my eyes and directed in a straight line towards the Principal. His face scarcely shifts at all as he mulls over Leo¡¯s words, until he slowly starts to open his mouth.

    ¡°Jay¡­I don¡¯t recall giving you permission to look at my face.¡± His words wrap around my throat. Yet, they¡¯re not tight, they¡¯ve lost some of their punch. I¡¯ve already made up my mind, he¡¯s not somebody that I¡¯ll respect or seek any sort of approval from. So, I guess, because of that realization, I can think normally around him.

    ¡°I don¡¯t recall asking, Pops.¡± I remark while trying to keep my face collected. I barely register a movement in front of me. Faster than Nia, faster than Rahj, faster than anything I¡¯d seen before. My hair blows back as an abrupt and wild gust of wind brushes past me. Leo¡¯s hand is directly in front of my face, trembling slightly as it holds the fist of the Principal. It was like I skipped a frame in a movie, and suddenly the scene had changed, but it was real life. There¡¯s a silence in my room, and I feel like breaking it would kill me. The tension between Leo and the Principal is suffocating.

    ¡°Don¡¯t call me ¡®pops¡¯. I¡¯m your father, but if you don¡¯t respect me I won¡¯t be so kind anymore. Don¡¯t antagonize me Jay.¡± He takes his hand back from Leo, and starts to leave the room. He lingers by the entrance, and turns back around to stare us down. His dark brown eyes, flecked with red splashes of a controlled malintent, sear themselves into my vision. Luckily that glare is all he shoots at me, and he finally takes his leave.

    ¡°Woah!¡± Leo exclaims gently, because I damn near pass out next to him. I felt all the energy in my body flee from me, and without the adrenaline boost of confrontation with death my legs buckled under me and I fell. My heart beats a thousand times in the next few seconds.

    ¡°He¡¯s definitely not my dad. He can best be described as my abusive uncle.¡± I remark with a smile that may have been forced through fear. Mixed with relief, my brain feels like it¡¯s on a high. Leo¡¯s blue eyes widen, his eyebrows raise in surprise, and then he laughs. ¡°I thought I was going to be killed. He¡¯s going to hold more than a grudge over our conversation, think I¡¯ll make it through tomorrow?¡±

    ¡°No shot.¡± Leo responds with a snort, as I get back onto my own trembling two feet. ¡°Finals are going to kill you. You were in the middle of the pack before our little excursion to India and the E.E.E.. Now? You¡¯ll be lucky if you get a single question right.¡± I stumble over to my bed, and collapse onto the soft mattress.

    ¡°Oh Leo.¡± I pull the covers over myself, and look innocently at him. ¡°I was going to be lucky if I got any question right beforehand. That¡¯s not a new development. Just a return to form.¡±

    ¡°Is that right?¡± He remarks with an amused expression on his face, shrugging and walking back towards the door. ¡°Well, get some sleep. For finals, and what¡¯s happening after finals. You remember the plan, right?¡± His face darkens slightly as he turns back to me, his sharp blue eyes meeting my tired green ones.

    ¡°Yeah. Yeah I do.¡± I respond quietly, leaning against my pillow and staring at the dark ceiling. How could I forget? It was a month from hell. Working with the Emblem Eradication Enforcement squad. Always on the verge of being executed. Always having to listen to orders, never being allowed to think for ourselves. There were barely 30 minutes of free time each day, and we used that time to eat. They forced us to use our Emblems until they evolved even further, to a second level. I didn¡¯t even know that could happen. But they couldn''t track everything. The members all hated it there, none of them had true agency. A protocol for everything, reports all the time, random inspections of a small room you stayed in. I became quite the actor.

    ¡°Ha ha.¡± I laugh quietly to myself, closing my eyes and turning over in my bed. Became quite the actor? Please. I had been an actor for quite a while beforehand. Now I¡¯m just being forced to do it instead of forcing myself. I guess that¡¯s not so bad.

    - - - - - - - -

    Math. English. Vein Science. Combat. Emblems. History. Only once I fail all of these finals can my life really get going. If I guess randomly I have a 25% chance of being correct on any multiple choice problem, so that means I have a 25% chance of getting perfect scores on all of my finals, and a 50% chance of passing with either a 75 or above. So, it¡¯s just a coin flip. Why do people even study? I¡¯m feeling lucky, the universe owes me something today, so I bet I¡¯ll win the coinflip.

    ¡°You look like you¡¯re thinking of something stupid.¡± Mercury comments casually from my side, not even looking at me when he says that. He wears a pair of large baggy brown camping pants that seem to consist only of pockets, and a white tank top underneath a black leather jacket.

    ¡°He¡¯s thinking about how fucked he is for all of his finals because he hasn¡¯t been here for a month.¡± Nia adds on flatly, shooting me a glare as if she¡¯s mad at me for having the nerve to come back.

    ¡°He¡¯s probably just zoning out. Trying to retain as much information as possible.¡± Crystal adds on from Nia¡¯s right, making me the official center of attention.

    ¡°Oh please. It¡¯s all multiple choice, so I¡¯ll be fine. I have a 25% chance of getting perfect scores in all our classes, and I feel lucky. I¡¯m guaranteed a perfect score in at least one of the 6.¡± I look at the other three. They all have stopped walking and are staring at me in stunned silence. ¡°What?¡± I ask a little nervously. Mercury walks past me, and claps my shoulder with a grimace on his face.

    ¡°Let me know your highest F.¡±

    ¡°Please, they¡¯ll have to invent something else entirely for him.¡±

    ¡°He¡­Might do good in classes outside of math?¡±

    ¡°Was it something I said?¡± I ask as I follow them hesitantly, unsure of what made them convinced I was going to fail. Mercury¡¯s gray hair is the first to disappear into our first class, and Nia¡¯s raven head follows soon after. Crystal looks back at me solemnly, as though I¡¯m standing in a casket, before she follows the other two and her blonde head ducks into the room.

    ¡°It wasn¡¯t something you said.¡± Thomas remarks from behind me, standing with one of his only two friends. His eyes are darker than normal today, and he has his hands in his pockets in an egotistical manner that I recall seeing Leo do once or twice before. ¡°It¡¯s the fact you said anything at all.¡± Thomas says with a smirk, as though he just said something really clever. His crony snickers.

    ¡°Hey Thomas!¡± I exclaim with a smile, pulling out my deck of cards and holding one out to him. He still hasn¡¯t taken one and honestly it¡¯s starting to get annoying. ¡°Pick a card. Or I might make a scene.¡± I wave the cards seductively in front of his face, and his smirk falls to a sneer, and he bats down at my cards. I let them go and quickly place a mark on top of his hand. My cards fall in a flurry to the ground, and I use my Emblem to attract my cards to his hand. I warned him I was going to make a scene if he didn¡¯t comply.

    ¡°OOWW!¡± He falls to a knee with a stunned expression in his face, clutching his hand desperately as his already pale face turns a sickly shade of white. I laugh innocently and crouch next to him, attracting his marked hand to me. It¡¯s been impaled with all 52 of my metal cards, and his blood is painting the floor red.

    ¡°Aww! It¡¯s like a porcupine!¡± I comment with a laugh, it¡¯s really funny! His hand is barely visible due to the cards, which vary from piercing all the way through his hand to only stabbing into it. There¡¯s one card that¡¯s barely stabbed into his hand, and that¡¯s the one that sticks out to me. I grab it and glance at it, wiping his blood off of it. ¡°Well that wasn¡¯t too bad. You¡¯re the Four of Spades.¡± That¡¯s unfortunate. Four is an unlucky number. It was my Mom¡¯s favorite number and my Dad ended up drawing the four of clubs before he ended up dying. I glance back at Thomas, who¡¯s clenching his jaw while staring at me with wide eyes.

    ¡°TJ, you¡¯re psycho!¡± He screams out, throwing a wild punch at me with his Emblem. Thomas¡¯s Emblem is density. He can control how dense his body is. With that his body becomes much heavier, or lighter, and his muscles can¡¯t always handle the burden. He always makes himself more dense to fight, reflecting his mentality. His punch is so slow, his arm alone must weigh a ton right now, but compared to the principal¡¯s punch I saw earlier this is nothing.

    ¡°I don¡¯t wanna fight you Thomas.¡± I remark while stepping back a few feet, marking the ground with each step I take. ¡°But I do need my cards back.¡± Activating my Emblem that marks all my cards, I summon them back to me. They rip through Thomas¡¯s hand and fly to my palm. His fingers fall to the ground completely sliced off his hand, and what¡¯s left is so mangled and sliced that it reminds me of something I can¡¯t put my finger on right now. Hm¡­

    ¡°TJ!?¡± Mercury dashes out of the class, and his blue eyes look super concerned. Thomas is on the ground clutching his hand again, or what was once his hand I guess. Oh! I know what it reminds me of!

    ******

    ¡°The Flying Spaghetti Monster!¡± TJ says brightly, with an innocent grin on his bloodied face. His cards are still dripping with Thomas¡¯s blood from above his palm, but he acts as though he hasn¡¯t done anything at all. His green eyes are still glittering with an affable glow, popping out against the red splatters all over his body. He¡¯s acting like TJ, he¡¯s talking like TJ, but he can¡¯t be TJ. ¡°Doesn¡¯t his hand look like that?¡± He asks me, pointing at the writing Thomas. Thomas is being dragged away from TJ by his friend, towards the hospital ward. His hand is mangled, blood spills from it and it seems to move with the wind. There¡¯s no control to his hand, the skin and sinew completely disconnected from their bones. He laughs to himself, and then uses his Emblem somehow to repulse the blood from his cards. ¡°Oh, yeah, Mercury.¡± He walks over to me, and my body forces me to take a step away from him. His face recoils for a moment. His eyes widen in surprise and he seems a little bit hurt, but much more than that he looks confused. He shakes his head and then continues, ¡°I forgot to mention it, but your outfit.¡± He smiles as though nothing''s happened, playfully punching my shoulder as he walks by me into the room. ¡°It¡¯s totally tubular, man.¡±

 Confronting the Past

    The first final was English, taught by Mrs. Kraus. A 150 question multiple choice test over a cumulative total of 10 passages. Funny enough, when I first met TJ we ended up wrecking the class. He stole my breakfast, and I remember being in a bad mood that day anyways. I¡¯m not smiling, but it¡¯s really funny to replay the image of TJ punching through that wall over and over again.

    The second final was a study block, because it was our Emblem discovery class taught by Ms. Delta. She couldn¡¯t test us over our own Emblems or anything, so she just sat there and let us do whatever we wanted for the block. Most of us studied for the third block, but TJ called me and Mercury over. He discussed the plan to leave, and even made room for Crystal in his plan. It was crazy, and reliant on luck, but it might work. People like TJ who don¡¯t have evolved families are forced to stay at the school during breaks, while normal people like me and Mercury get to go back to our families. While away we¡¯d all be tightly monitored by the staff. There¡¯s a very short period of time that we¡¯d be able to be coordinated, where all of us could move together. Tonight, we¡¯d have to leave tonight after we¡¯d been sent to bed. We¡¯re separated first thing in the morning, and forced straight from class to class and then home during the day.

    Our third final was combat training, physical education. We had to fight Mr. Virgo, who taught the class, for five minutes. There was an inherent downside to going first, and a huge advantage to going last. So of course, TJ went first. So stupid. I remember fighting him within his first week here. We tied, but he really did show me how stupid I was being. He was more than just stupid. He also showed determination and drive to fight in spite of pain. I can¡¯t help but shoot him a small glare as he goes up to challenge Mr. Virgo first, I remember the pain when he broke my back. ¡°Asshole.¡±

    Our fourth final was English. A terrible class taught by Mr. Kraus, and a useless class at that. We don¡¯t do anything, he just makes sure we understand nuances in tone and extends our vocabulary. TJ asked on his first day if we were going to read any novels, and Mr. Kraus just laughed. Our test was a ton of multiple choice questions about what meaning conversations had, assuming we were overhearing them and whatnot. It was quite easy, actually.

    Then we were sent to our rooms. We made it through the day, and now I¡¯m simply waiting. Waiting for TJ to burst open my vent with Crystal and Mercury, and for those three to whisk me away from this place. What am I living in? A fairy tale? That¡¯s stupid! They¡¯re not my saviors or anything! They¡¯re just some stupid acquaintances I¡¯ve made while staying here. Acquaintances might be a little mean, maybe they¡¯re not that. Crystal¡¯s something more at least. A friend, I guess, if I had to put a word to it.

    It¡¯s kind of fun to have friends. Or, a friend. I don¡¯t have multiple friends, I keep having to remind myself. I hate TJ, I don¡¯t like him. I didn¡¯t have a friend before now, and I can¡¯t put my finger on why.

    I didn¡¯t need them, that¡¯s gotta be it. I didn¡¯t need a friend, I just needed to be the strongest person in school so I can work in the E.E.E. like my mom and uphold my family expectations. My family expectations¡­Would they be proud of me for dropping out of school? For leaving abruptly and running away from my life? From my birthright?

    I¡¯m a little queasy, I¡¯m more nervous for this than anything else I¡¯ve ever done in my life. My arms have way too much energy in them but I don¡¯t want to move them, my nervous system feels like it¡¯s operating in overdrive, my heart is beating way too quickly, and I want to scream.

    ¡°Hey Nia, you holding up alright?¡± I no longer want to scream. My heart falls to my feet and my eyes may as well fall from my face given how wide they are. Mr. White stands in front of my door, his hands in his pockets and his face as cool as can be. ¡°Principal asked me to check up on you, his most special daughter. He thinks something crazy is gonna happen tonight so the place is on extra tight security.¡± My chest barely loosens, and the smallest glimmer of hope starts to dawn on me. Maybe he doesn¡¯t know what I was planning on doing with TJ.

    ¡°The Emblem study room has three guards by it now, but they¡¯re all unevolved. They¡¯re only armed with some Vein weaponry, so the place may as well still not be guarded. Jasmine got moved to the principal¡¯s office for some reason, that¡¯s where she¡¯s staying the night. I¡¯m guarding the entrance once I make sure you¡¯re ok, and you look fine. I¡¯ll take my leave now, so I¡¯ll see you later Nia.¡± He gives a lazy wave with one hand, keeping his other out of his pocket. Mr. White is an anomaly. He¡¯s completed every mission assigned to him without fail, perfectly fulfilling any and all expectations anybody has had for him. On top of that he¡¯s cool, and collected. There¡¯s a sense of mystery about him because of that. I don¡¯t know what his Emblem is, and to my knowledge the only person who does is the principal. I didn¡¯t see him open my door to enter, but he opens the door as he leaves, and it¡¯s only after he shuts it behind him that I remember to breathe.

    I desperately try to organize the information he just gave me so I don¡¯t forget any of it. Jasmine¡¯s now in the principal''s office, useless guards by the Emblem study, and Mr. White himself is guarding the perimeter of the school. Now where on earth is TJ!? Why is that dumbass always late to everything ever? Can¡¯t he focus at all!

    I can¡¯t move my left arm, it''s frozen solid. The vent I retreated back into is so cold it makes my lungs feel like they¡¯re three sizes too small. My ears and nose are both stinging as blood rapidly tries to warm them. ¡°Mercury!¡± I hiss at him, poking my head through the vent. I spot him with his hand on the ceiling, applying his Emblem to my vent. ¡°What the fuck?!¡±

    His blue eyes flicker over coldly to me, and he removes his hand. He takes a seat on his bed as though nothing¡¯s happened. ¡°TJ, come down. Let¡¯s talk.¡± What? Why is he trying to pretend he didn¡¯t just make Julius and Brutus look tame? I reached down to help him into the vent and he froze my arm.

    ¡°We don¡¯t-¡±

    ¡°Have time for this?¡± He finishes my sentence, unamused. ¡°You¡¯ll make time. Your arm is frozen, and I won¡¯t come with you unless we talk, and I¡¯m the only one who can restore your arm to proper function. Nia¡¯s Emblem wouldn¡¯t restore proper control of your nerves to you, that arm would be numb until the day you die. Unless, we talk.¡± For the first time in a while, somebody¡¯s getting on my nerves. In fact they¡¯re really annoying me.

    I drop down from the vent, and shoot daggers at him with my eyes. ¡°What do you want to talk about? The weather? The economy? Which came first, the chicken or the egg?¡± I talk quickly to him, sitting against the wall and crossing my arms. I start tapping my finger, it¡¯s a new habit I picked up when I¡¯m a little stressed, and boy am I stressed,

    ¡°You...¡± What does he mean, me? ¡°Idiot.¡± He whispers under his breath, hardly audible. ¡°TJ, you changed. We never got a chance to talk about India, and certainly didn¡¯t talk about what happened after that. I was too excited that you came back at all, I forgot to check if you were still you. You sliced off Thomas¡¯s fingers, mutilated what was left of his hand, laughing like a child. You never would have done that to anybody before. So explain yourself.¡±

    Is that what this is about? Really? ¡°Yeah I would¡¯ve. Thomas was an asshole, I just didn¡¯t have the conviction to make a scene before now. India taught me the world isn¡¯t black and white, and the triple E taught me I need to stop keeping up appearances. I¡¯m not gonna be nice to somebody who''s just an asshole, not anymore.¡±The narrative has been taken without authorization; if you see it on Amazon, report the incident.

    ¡°You lied.¡± Mercury says flatly, his eyes trained on me a little too intensely. ¡°You wouldn¡¯t have. That¡¯s not who you are, you would never have gotten mad at somebody for not liking you or being an asshole.¡±

    ¡°Oh? Oh really?¡± I stand up, a little pissed off that he¡¯s trying to act like he knows everything about me. ¡°I think it¡¯s only fair to fight back when somebody is being cruel. I never shy away from a fight, and I never have. Whether it was Nia, Rahj, Mr. Virgo, and I won¡¯t shy away from this one either.¡± I give an underlying threat there, letting it hang in the air between us.

    ¡°Go ahead, prove my point. You have changed.¡± He stands up now too, crossing his arms defiantly. ¡°TJ you never started a single one of those fights. That¡¯s the thing. You don¡¯t throw the first punch, you hate hurting people, and killing them is even worse.¡±

    ¡°That¡¯s¡­!¡± Technically, it¡¯s true. I made it a point that I wouldn¡¯t throw the first punch. If I got into a fight I was going to win it, but I wouldn¡¯t start them. ¡°I don¡¯t start fights now. But I¡¯ve never had anything against hurting people, I¡¯m fine with killing them. You don¡¯t know me Mercury, you don¡¯t know anything about who I am, so stop pretending like you know everything!¡± He¡¯s acting way too pretentious, like he knows it all, he thinks he can talk to me about the past and who I am.

    ¡°Yeah, I do.¡± He states objectively, as though it¡¯s the most natural thing in the world. ¡°I know people who are, or were just like that. Like what you''re pretending you are. That¡¯s pretty much what I was surrounded by in this school until you showed up. Nia was just like that. If she fought you now the same way she did when you first met you¡¯d kill each other. TJ, you would make fun of how she acted. You hated how she was so brutal, how much she seemed to enjoy hurting people. She looked for an excuse to do it, you looked for an excuse not to. Now?¡± He hops off his bed and stares into my eyes, ¡°You¡¯re worse than Nia.¡±

    He crossed a line, I reel back and slam a fist into his stomach, sending him flying back into the wall, which he smacks against with a loud crack. ¡°I¡¯m not worse than Nia.¡± I whisper, barely keeping a hold on my emotions as I say that. I feel like I¡¯m losing control of my rationality. My face feels exceptionally hot even though my stomach feels like it¡¯s hosting a swarm of locusts. My forearm for whatever reason is super warm, and it feels like I have to keep my hand in a fist. ¡°I just got smarter. People called me an idiot all the time, and I laughed it off. But they were right. Now? Now I¡¯m smarter. I know that it¡¯s smarter just to kill people, less loose ends. It¡¯s not worth trying to put any time into people who obviously wouldn¡¯t do it back to you.¡±

    I hear him cough, and Mercury slowly pushed himself off the bed before spitting some blood out of his mouth. When he looks up at me, his eyes are the same as they were before. It drives me insane, they¡¯re still cold. Collected as he just looks at me.

    I¡¯m wrong. His eyes aren¡¯t cold, they look almost pleading. ¡°TJ. Man¡­You met me on a whim. A random chance. You would never bite when Nia mocked you, and guess what? She ended up liking you. Nia tried to kill you three times, at least, and you didn¡¯t care. Guess what? She¡¯s your friend now, and she would fight for you. I know she would, because she never let Thomas mock you when you were gone. She talked about you all the time. We have fun together. People are better than you give them credit for¡­¡± He looks down and shakes his head gently, reaching out and unfreezing my arm. ¡°You¡¯re the one who taught me that. I can¡¯t believe you forgot it.¡±

    ¡°Mercury¡­¡± People are better than you give them credit for? Yeah of course they are. I preached to Nia about that yesterday. The greatest force of good in the world is people, I know that already. Why do I feel like he¡¯s right, that I¡¯ve changed?

    I¡¯m going to kill the principal. Because otherwise he¡¯s going to become a very powerful person, and he¡¯s not somebody I think should be in that position. In order to do that I¡¯ll be a bad person. Because in the end me being bad won¡¯t be nearly as bad as what the principal brings about. Right? That¡¯s my thought process, there¡¯s not something wrong there. There can¡¯t be. ¡°I changed Nia. I changed you. I taught you?¡± I murmur to myself, thinking things through. I was trying to be nice, and people picked up on it, and they started being nicer. If that¡¯s what things are like, that means they¡¯re cyclical. They lead into each other, so being evil even for the greater good just makes more people assholes.

    ¡°Don¡¯t cry, dumbass.¡± He murmurs to me, glancing up. His blue eyes shimmer with a thin layer of tears past his gray hair. He¡¯s definitely talking to himself, I have to remind myself of that while I wipe my shockingly wet eyes with my sleeves.

    ¡°I¡¯m sorry. I¡¯m just¡­I¡¯m just sweating from my eyes.¡±

    ¡°Yeah. I bet.¡± He stands up a little taller, and runs a hand through his hair to get it out of his face. ¡°Who are you? That¡¯s the last question I¡¯m going to ask before I decide if I¡¯m coming with you or not.¡±

    I know exactly who I am. I¡¯m Jay Jeremy Jones. I¡¯m 17 years old now, and I was excited to come to this school. Not because I ever wanted to abuse my power, not because I considered myself evolved. I wanted to help my hometown get rich, I thought I¡¯d get rich here too. That would help people, and I¡¯d help other people along the way. I have the Emblem dubbed Magnesis by my predecessors, I like to make other people smile and laugh, and I¡¯m kind of an idiot. I¡¯m a little charismatic, I think, and I¡¯m pretty quick-witted. ¡°Hahaha!¡± It¡¯s such a stupid question, I can¡¯t help but laugh. I feel almost relieved, a huge grin can¡¯t help from spreading across my face. ¡°Dude, I¡¯m Jay Jeremy Jones. But that name sucks. Let me reintroduce myself.¡± I hold my hand out towards Mercury, and snort as I realize Nia¡¯s been waiting for me for way too long now. ¡°I¡¯m TJ, and I¡¯m about to get murdered by Nia for making her wait so long.¡±

    ¡°I¡¯m going to murder him.¡± That¡¯s all there is to it. He¡¯s gone too far tonight. I don¡¯t know why I was panicking. This idiot ended up hyping me up, making me more agitated than debatably I¡¯ve ever been in my whole life, and then forgot to pick me up?! There¡¯s a line in the sand, and he¡¯s swimming with the fishes. Metaphorically, and physically once I¡¯m done with him.

    A clang rings through my room from above, and while it makes my heart drop I quickly collect myself. I look up, and see both TJ and Mercury staring down at me. Something¡¯s a little different about the two. TJ¡¯s green eyes have a light in them that I hadn¡¯t even realized he was missing before, and he has a stupid grin plastered on his face. It reminds me of the first time he snuck into my room, an unpleasant memory. I don¡¯t even know how he talked me into sneaking into the kitchen that night, but I remember being floored when I saw Mercury was there too.

    ¡°Nia!¡± He calls out, ripping me from my memories and recalling my conscience to the present. His hand extended towards me, and an array of doubts flash through my mind.

    ¡°Yeah, I know.¡± I retort, grabbing his hand and climbing into the vent with him. ¡°It took you long enough.¡± After my words Mercury and TJ end up looking at each other, exchanging a wordless exchange, that ends with TJ smirking.

    ¡°We got¡­¡±

    ¡°We got held up, you know how Mercury can be. Wanted to pick out just the right outfit.¡± TJ jokes with a snort, before getting punched by Mercury. ¡°Ow..¡± I can¡¯t miss the opportunity for my vengeance, and punch his shoulder myself. ¡°OW!? Nia, come on! What was that for?¡± He exclaims in a hushed whisper, rubbing his shoulder.

    ¡°That was for being late.¡±

    ¡°Yeah. In hindsight I was pretty late to show up.¡± He remarks quietly, snickering at Mercury who rolls his eyes. Those two are so annoying, they have way too many inside jokes and gags that I just don¡¯t get.

    ¡°Well, since we¡¯ve gotten past that, I have some important information.¡± The two of them both stop crawling ahead of me in the vent, and turn to face me with almost the exact same expression on their faces. ¡°Mr. White checked up on me a bit ago, and I was able to figure out a few things. The security tonight has been raised. The principal thought something was up, and so there are guards in the Emblem study room. Three of them, armed with Vein equipment. Then there¡¯s Jasmine, who got moved to the principal¡¯s office for the night.¡±

    ¡°Well that one¡¯s a tough work around.¡± TJ murmurs to himself with a frown, furrowing his brow and tapping his finger against his chin.

    ¡°But it¡¯s worse. Mr. White is on guard around the perimeter! There¡¯s no way we can get past him.¡± Why are those two looking at me like I¡¯m crazy? Mr. White is scary, he¡¯s quick and deadly efficient. There¡¯s no shot we get past him.

    ¡°Nia, Leo won¡¯t be a problem. He¡¯s Leo! He loves me, and he worked with me in the triple E. The principal being with Jasmine is a problem. Not insurmountable though, assuming of course, we have somebody who can¡­I don¡¯t know¡­Turn invisible?¡± He looks down below us, and kicks open a latch that we were crawling over. Crystal¡¯s blonde hair almost seems to glow in the dark, and she looks up at us with nervous eyes. ¡°Crystal! Sorry we¡¯re late. Now come on, we¡¯ve gotta get out of here.¡±

 Escape

    I pull Crystal into the vent with us, and she almost instantly moves to give Nia a hug. I can¡¯t help but snicker when Nia awkwardly takes Crystal¡¯s hand and goes for a handshake, shutting down the whole hug idea. Mercury punches my shoulder, being the good friend he is and keeping me on track and focused. ¡°Crystal, I don¡¯t know how much Nia¡¯s explained to you, so I¡¯m going to rapid fire through everything. Ok?¡± She gives a small nod, and Nia and Mercury both look expectantly at me. It¡¯s only 6 eyes, 4 blue and 2 red, yet for whatever reason I¡¯m way more nervous than I am even in front of a whole class.

    ¡°Okay¡­¡± I take a deep breath, and look back at my friends. I¡¯m not letting the Principal change them into his slaves. ¡°So long story short the Principal is definitely evil. The whole school is based around combat, and subservience to authority, and honestly that¡¯s a dark red flag to my mind. Plus, once we turn 18 we¡¯re injected with the final shots because our bodies stop developing but those final shots also have Vein mixed into them that activate once the Principal¡¯s Emblem comes in contact with it, instantly killing the person. So, we¡¯re breaking out of the school now before it¡¯s too late. How are we doing that? I¡¯m glad I asked.¡±

    ¡°We need to kidnap Jasmine, because otherwise they could follow us really quickly. Plus, without her, word travels slower and people can¡¯t coordinate as well. In addition, I don¡¯t really like the concept of a person being used as in essence a fancy elevator or car.¡±

    ¡°So kidnap is subjective.¡± Nia butts into my monolog, crossing her arms with a smirk on that stupidly pretty face. I¡¯m slightly annoyed that I¡¯m distracted by the fact she¡¯s pretty right now, because I¡¯ve got way bigger things to worry about. ¡°In essence we¡¯re rescuing her.¡±

    ¡°And ourselves. If we can save Jasmine all we have to do is get to the mark she has on the school and we¡¯ll be able to get away from this place without a problem. The mark of hers is outside though, so we need to escape the school. Before we meet her we should grab our books over our Emblems so that the school doesn¡¯t get to come up with counteractions for each of us, using the vents as our main way to move around the school. Hopefully we won¡¯t need to fight anybody, because that¡¯ll cause a ruckus. I¡¯ll go down into the Emblem study room and use my Emblem to send the books up to you guys. So, it¡¯s Emblem study, to the principal¡¯s office, to outside. Simple.¡±

    There¡¯s obviously problems with the plan. However, I think we¡¯ll be able to manage. We¡¯re all fairly capable people, at least I¡¯d like to think we are. Mercury and Nia couldn¡¯t come up with any better ideas at least, and Crystal¡¯s thinking right now. We¡¯re on a time crunch anyways, so I don¡¯t know that we could do much outside of this. ¡°Why didn¡¯t you guys just grab your books during the free block in Emblem study?¡± Crystal asks us innocently, bringing up a fantastic idea that totally slipped my mind.

    ¡°It would have aroused way too much suspicion if the teachers made note of Mercury, me, and TJ taking our books with us right before the second day of finals. It would basically be announcing to the principal we¡¯re planning something.¡± Nia remarks casually, as though I had also accounted for that. For the record, I had not. That doesn¡¯t stop me from nodding my head as though I was already privy to this information.

    ¡°So yeah. That¡¯s the dealio. Crystal, you in-e-o?¡± She looks at me with hesitation clear on her face. It¡¯s the disappointed look from Mercury and Nia smacking her forehead that inform me I should not have used the terms ¡®dealio¡¯ and ¡®in-e-o¡¯ in this situation.

    ¡°...From what I¡¯ve been told, I pretty much have to. Not that that¡¯s a super big deal, it sounds scary, but¡­Fun? So, if I get this chance to try and run with you guys, or I¡¯m stuck here forever working for the principal¡­I mean. I guess I¡¯m in-e-o?¡± She responds with a smile starting to tug on the corner of her lips. I grin broadly at that response, Mercury¡¯s eyebrows rise to the sky, and Nia snorts.

    ¡°Excellent!¡± I whisper happily, before I start to crawl through the vents. ¡°Then let¡¯s get this party started.¡±

    ¡°You didn¡¯t think about how to open a vent quietly, did you?¡± Nia remarks, as the two of us are squeezed shoulder to shoulder and pushing against the cold walls of the vent. We¡¯re above the entrance to the study room, and I can see the three guards that Nia mentioned earlier. 2 of them are by the entrance, 1 is in the center of the room almost directly below the grated vent cover we¡¯re peering through.

    ¡°Yes, I did, actually.¡± I whisper back at the girl, sticking my tongue out at her and being very mature overall. I press both my hands on the cover and push down while putting my mark on it. It falls down and sails through the air, vaulting straight towards the guard¡¯s head. It will probably make a huge commotion if I let the events unfold as they are now. Lucky me, I have some forethought. I use my mark and the cover suspends itself in the air. Now the hard part comes into play.

    How am I going to fall about 70 feet without making a noise? The answer is, unsurprisingly, my Emblem. I put a mark on the ceiling, and hop down through the hole in the vent now. I suspend myself by attracting myself to the mark, and whisper towards the others still in the vent. ¡°If I¡¯m caught, just book it for the exit. Don¡¯t even worry about Jasmine.¡± After I get a thumbs up in confirmation from the group, I start weakening my attraction to my mark on the ceiling. I fall slowly to the ground. I pass by the suspended vent cover, and then get close enough to touch the guard. I can vaguely smell his musty breath, and the green glow just above the binoculars above his eyes let me know he¡¯s got night vision goggles. Good to know.

    Finally, I come into contact with the floor, my hands first to cushion my shoes as they touch the cold stone floor.

    I stay crouched over like a gremlin, slowly stalking through the desks and chairs, getting to the edge of the classroom where me and Mercury sit. I reach into my desk and pull out my book. It still feels heavy in my hands, but now it¡¯s more familiar. I don¡¯t have the time to stare at it for a crazy amount of time, so I send it up to the ceiling, to my mark, and hope Mercury will snag it once it gets up there. His book is next, and it¡¯s cover is such a light blue it may as well be floating. I send in up towards the vent.

    Abruptly one of the guards turns to look around the room. I instantly duck behind the desk and stop the book from moving. If the floating book doesn¡¯t give away that somebody¡¯s in the room, my pounding heart sure will. I glance through the legs of the desk and chair. Oh come on¡­We¡¯re screwed. His eyes are trained on the book that¡¯s suspended in midair. He puts a hand to his goggles and adjusts something or other.

    ¡°What are you doing?¡± The second guard by the door asks him. The first guard by the door who¡¯s watching the book leans back slightly.

    ¡°I think I see some weird reflection in the air over there, what do you think?¡± Great. Just great. Now there are two of them looking for it.

    ¡°Oh, yeah. That¡¯s just some feedback from the goggles. Sometimes they get a little finicky trying to make out things that aren¡¯t there. It¡¯s probably just a glare, if it¡¯s still there in an hour we can check it out.¡± Oh my god.

    ¡°Yeah, you¡¯re right.¡± He turns back around, and my eyes refuse to come even close to shutting. I can¡¯t believe my luck, they didn¡¯t investigate the book. I keep sending it up to Mercury, and stalk through the desks and chairs to get to the other two books. This time, I¡¯m a little slower than before. I don¡¯t know why he turned around, but I definitely don¡¯t want to give him any further reason to.

    I get to Nia¡¯s desk, and send the book whose cover is an obnoxious orange up to the ceiling, followed quickly by Crystal¡¯s muted gray book. The big finale is for me to get back up there. I watch the guards and wait. They aren¡¯t going to mistake a person for a glare, so I sit still and wait patiently. They¡¯re bound to turn around again soon, and after they do that¡¯s my moment to strike.

    I count in my head, waiting for them to turn around. I¡¯m going into the hundreds when I finally see the guards by the door turn around and look at the rest of the room. ¡°Guess you were right, the glare is gone now.¡±

    ¡°I told you Mike, the goggles are a little finicky. Nobody would even dare to try and infiltrate this place anyways. It¡¯s the safest place on earth.¡± Yeah, the second guard might be right. It¡¯s also among the hardest to leave. They both turn back around, and up I go. I cause a small breeze, going a touch faster than I should¡¯ve in all honesty. However I make it to the vent without problem, and stealthy crawl inside while summoning the vent cover back to us. I close the vent, turn around, and give a relieved grin to the others.

    ¡°Good work TJ. Nia tried to book it when my book was midair.¡± Mercury rats out on Nia immediately, and here¡¯s the thing. That¡¯s probably a smart call, and definitely not a bad idea. I actively encouraged it earlier. Regardless, I can¡¯t let such a prime opportunity to tease Nia get away from me so easily.

    ¡°Tsk tsk Nia. Have some more faith in me. I¡¯m competent enough to beat you in a fight after all.¡± I whisper at the girl with a small smirk that quickly dissolves into a terrified grimace. Why do her eyes do that thing where when she¡¯s angry they¡¯re no longer simply red, they¡¯re absolutely on fire?

    ¡°It was the one time TJ. Now come on, let¡¯s rescue Jasmine.¡± She hisses back at me, before she begins crawling towards the Principal¡¯s study. I wonder how long it¡¯ll take before she realizes or admits she doesn¡¯t know which vents to take.

    ¡°I thought we were kidnapping her?¡± Crystal chimes in quietly, following after Nia and leaving me and Mercury to exchange a small look.

    ¡°We¡¯re¡­Forcefully saving her?¡± I manage to say with a small laugh coming out of me before I follow after Crystal and Nia.

    7 minutes was the answer to how long it would take Nia to admit she didn¡¯t know what was happening. It was tough to rearrange the order in the vent, but we managed to do it without making much noise, and I guided us to the principal¡¯s office. This was where things were really going to get scary. Absolutely terrifying, actually. If the Principal catches us now, there¡¯s not a creature in existence that would be able to find our body¡¯s. Metaphorically speaking, if he catches us, all the king''s horses and all the king''s men¡­Wouldn¡¯t be able to put TJ together again.

    But what are the odds he sleeps in his office? We know he didn¡¯t yesterday when me and Nia snuck in there. There¡¯s no way he¡¯d think somebody would try to break into his office two days in a row! Who could be stupid enough to even try doing that? Certainly not I.

    If I were Pinocchio, hypothetically speaking of course, my nose would be a mile long at the moment just for thinking that. I¡¯m nervous, I feel like I¡¯m going to barf at any moment and I¡¯m being several times more careful to move slower, to make less noise than when I was in the Emblem study room. Which is saying something, because we aren¡¯t even at the vent cover yet.

    None of us are even thinking about whispering a joke to each other. Ok, my nose would''ve grown again, theoretically, if I were Pinocchio. So I thought about saying a few things but I absolutely am not going to tell any jokes right now.

    A few more moments of silence, and we come across the cover to the entrance of his room. His office. I reach out a hand to the grated cover, and notice my fingers shaking. Jeez, what kind of loser am I? I¡¯ve already made up my mind to do this, so the consequences don¡¯t matter anymore. It¡¯s the suspense that¡¯s killing me. Nothing to do but get it done.This content has been unlawfully taken from Royal Road; report any instances of this story if found elsewhere.

    I reach forward and grab the vent cover, placing my mark in it just as I did the last one. The cover shakes slightly, before hovering in the air. It detaches itself from the floor of the vent, suspending itself in front of my hand, and I quietly move it away, placing it down in the vent.

    The principal¡¯s office is dark, pitch black. Nobody¡¯s eyes, even with our enhanced vision, can see into it. I don¡¯t know how, I don¡¯t know why, but if I had to guess it¡¯s an Emblem. His? I can¡¯t say for sure. I look back in the vent, specifically at Crystal. Invisibility is quite the useful ability for this exact situation. She nods, and scoots past me to get to the entrance. Disappearing from my view, and then hopefully heading down into the office. If we hear any trouble, I¡¯m supposed to dive in, Nia right behind me, and Mercury¡¯s the trump card if all of a sudden a full battle breaks out. If things go according to plan though, I¡¯m the only one who follows Crystal. I mark Jasmine to get her back up to the vent, we leave, and everything goes according to plan.

    Things rarely go according to plan, and I was no real exception. I heard a crash from below, and my heart actually calmed down. Not because I wasn¡¯t nervous, but because I knew that things weren¡¯t going well. There wasn¡¯t any suspense anymore, I was purely in the now. I hopped down into the office to join Crystal.

    As soon as I jumped down I see the problem. Entering the office space granted me the same sights as yesterday. Walls covered with papers, several large monitors, a desk in the center of the room, surrounded by three chairs. Except two of them were occupied this time. Jasmine is in one. She¡¯s slumped over, and her brown hair falls in messy strands in front of her face. Her skin is as pale as the moon, and I think I can see saliva falling from one corner of her mouth. She¡¯s not asleep, but she¡¯s certainly not conscious.

    He¡¯s in the other chair. Confident, collected. His legs crossed, wearing formal clothes dark enough to match his personality. A pointed chin, high cheekbones, lips that are thin but red enough to be covered in blood. The eyes bore into my soul. I feel like I made a mistake the second I entered. Slight amusement decorated his face, and tugs his mouth into a wolffish smile. Crystal can¡¯t be seen, I don¡¯t know if he knows she¡¯s in here. ¡°Jay. Why am I not surprised to find you here?¡±

    I hate his voice. It feels condescending and manipulative, insincere. There¡¯s nothing I enjoy about him, at all. ¡°Dad. I¡¯m almost 18 now. I think it¡¯s time for me to leave the nest. Thank you for taking care of me for a while.¡± I respond flatly to him, giving a small bow while keeping my face apathetic. ¡°I hope you¡¯ll let other people leave if they want.¡±

    ¡°Please, Jay.¡± He rises to his feet, and crosses his arms behind his back ominously. ¡°Why would I let other people leave? I¡¯m not even letting you leave.¡± Oh boy. Those are not quite the words I wanted to hear above all else. Plan B would simply be to wake Jasmine up. What was the crash I heard earlier? Screw it.

    ¡°What was the crash I heard earlier?¡± I ask him, taking a step back as he gets a little bit too close for comfort. That seems to amuse him, which concerns me in turn.

    ¡°Jay. Please, it was nothing you need to concern yourself with. It was just a dispute me and Jasmine had. She got awfully tired, and went to sleep. Why don¡¯t you go to bed as well Jay? It¡¯s getting late.¡± Red flag, crimson flag. Even that color isn¡¯t enough to capture how much of a bad feeling that statement gave me. My back hits a wall, and I realize I¡¯ve backed up as far as I could while maintaining distance between the two of us.

    ¡°I¡¯m not tired, at all, actually. Thanks though.¡± Crystal! Now¡¯s the time to do something!

    ¡°Is that so? I think you are.¡± He stands directly in front of me, his eyes glaring down at me, the flecks of red in them igniting in malicious glee. He reaches a hand over towards me, and I look over towards Jasmine, who¡¯s¡­Gone. Crystal got Jasmine. ¡°Tired enough, perhaps to never want to wake up again.¡±

    ¡°Pops!¡± I grab his wrist in an instant, using my Emblem. It doesn¡¯t matter, as soon as I touch him I get really tired. Crazy tired. ¡°You¡¯re¡­¡± Damn, I can barely think straight. Like¡­I am genuinely exhausted.

    ¡°Jay.¡± My face explodes in pain, and I feel myself traveling crazy quickly through the air. Then, I stop moving abruptly slamming into a wall and feel my organs shift about inside my body in a rather unpleasant manner. ¡°I warned you. Do not antagonize me, and address me with respect.¡± I can think straight right now, pain wakes people up I guess. Lucky me? I spit out some blood and get back to my feet shakily, seeing double and with a huge headache. My cheek feels crazy fat, and I¡¯m still pretty tired.

    ¡°You said Nia¡­Was your favorite daughter, right?¡± I murmur, hoping she can hear me and heard the crash earlier and cares enough to try and help me out. ¡°Because, you¡¯re a bad parent if you have favorites.¡±

    ¡°I never said any such thing, though you Jay¡­You may very well be my least-¡± I stop paying attention to his words, I¡¯ve gotten too tired to stay on my feet, and I fall to the ground. I¡¯m looking up at the ceiling, where I see Nia. Is she a devil in my eyes? Not really, not anymore. Heck, Lucifer was an angel at one point wasn¡¯t he? Then Nia can be called an angel right now, as she falls from the ceiling with a fist on fire, flaming eyes and raven black hair that flutters about slowly. I didn¡¯t get to do anything against the principal. What kind of a wimp am I? Well, at least we got Jasmine. I can vaguely make out the sounds of a crash, and I can hear something or other being screamed at us as we start to move.

    ¡°TJ! TJ!¡± Nia screams my name in an ocean of blurry scenery and weird noises. I think I hear a gunshot or two.

    ¡°Mmm¡­Sleep.¡± I¡¯m too tired to care about anything else except my exhaustion, and I fall asleep in her arms.

    ¡°OF ALL THE TIMES, NOW!?¡± Nia screeches from behind me, holding TJ while Crystal holds Jasmine. Being quiet? Yeah, we gave up on that front once we heard the Principal talking to TJ. Gotta give credit to Nia, she dive bombed him in exactly the right moment, and I superfroze the door behind us so we¡¯d have a little time without being attacked by him. We got out of the vent and instantly ran into a few military members who stood guard at night, who opened fire without a single question. Luckily they used normal guns, so I could react quickly enough to get a wall of ice between us. Now we¡¯re in an all out dash to get out of this place.

    ¡°Look, if we get out of the building it¡¯s easy from there! Wake Jasmine up Crystal!¡± I call out, poking my head around a corner and regretting that choice instantly as I see a bullet whiz towards us. ¡°I guess we¡¯re taking the long way!¡± I add on, taking a different turn as we dash through the halls.

    ¡°What do you think I¡¯m trying to do over here? Sing her a lullaby? She¡¯s not waking up!¡± Crystal exclaims in a slightly panicked voice, just as an alarm goes off. Great. Oh, an announcement is coming on too? Wonderful.

    ¡°There are some members of the U-17 class trying to commit treason. Kill them on sight. Nia Cadmium,¡± She gets a pale face and looks nervously at me. ¡°Mercury Theta,¡± Well that¡¯s not surprising. ¡°And Jay Jones. Thank you, and have a good day.¡± The announcement turns off but the alarm blares in our heads. A low pitch horn that gains volume and intensity until it loops around once again. At least they didn¡¯t call out Crystal¡¯s name.

    ¡°Fuck.¡± I whisper to myself, as we continue booking it through the halls. I¡¯m the only one who can do any sort of fighting, the others have their arms full.

    We dash through the halls as fast as we can, not paying any attention to the world around us until the world around us tries to kill us. Guards will try to cut us off at the entrances to halls, and announcements of our current locations are communicated by the intercom. It comes down to me. I¡¯ll freeze the guards when I see them, not giving them a chance to shoot at us, I¡¯ll shatter their guns, and create walls of ice if all else fails. Everything is do or die, and dying is not an option. We¡¯re like mice in a maze, running around desperately and hoping to end up at an exit.

    ¡°Not so fast.¡± Why is he here? There¡¯s no way he¡¯s about to do what I think he¡¯s going to do. My lungs are dead, my legs feel like they¡¯re on fire, and my arms are made of lead. I¡¯m starting to get a headache from overusing my Emblem.

    ¡°Nia¡­Trade.¡± I hold out my arms, and she tosses TJ towards me as though she was waiting for this. She turns around, and we¡¯re faced with Thomas. His pale face and the dark bags under his eyes don¡¯t even intimidate me, they¡¯re just annoying. He¡¯s such a¡­¡°Bitch.¡±

    ¡°You guys are traitors huh? I had a feeling. Since India. Oh well, it doesn''t matter. What does matter is that now I get an opportunity handed to me on a silver platter to beat you all within an inch of your life. Hell, I may just decide to kill you.¡± He snickers and punches his palm, his brown irises dark enough to pass as black. I look down at TJ who¡¯s passed out in my arms. He looks peaceful enough to be dead, and I have to take his pulse to calm myself down once that thought shows up in my brain.

    ¡°You? You¡¯re going to beat me?¡± Nia¡¯s voice wavers, not with fear but almost with sadistic excitement at the prospect of getting to fight Thomas. She clenches her fists, and a plume of flame bursts into being, surrounding her body. It wraps around her fists, and has a crimson red sheen to them that I¡¯ve never seen from Nia before. ¡°I don¡¯t have the time or the crayons to explain what¡¯s happening to you. So move, or your face becomes real acquainted with the ground.¡±

    Thomas¡¯s face is the only thing that seems red enough to match Nia¡¯s flames, and he chokes on his words trying to come up with a comeback. What an idiot. All he can manage to say is, ¡°Well¡­Fuck you!¡± Before he charges at Nia. The alarms are still blaring around us, and I have the constant fear that a group of guards with Vein equipment are going to jump us. Yeah they¡¯re not a big threat individually, but Vein equipment is quicker than we are. Generally, we just have got to get out of this place as quickly as possible.

    Nia is of the same mentality. Compared to the brash and wild lunge of Thomas as his fist flies towards her, Nia remains composed. She smoothly steps away from Thomas, and while he¡¯s off balance from his attack earlier she sends a kick that collides with his chin and sends him several feet off the ground accompanied with a crack.

    He falls quickly, crazy fast, and it¡¯s Nia who seems to have taken more damage. Her ruby eyes widen in shock and pain as she falls to the ground, holding her foot with a pale face that doesn¡¯t match her skin tone. Thomas¡¯s Emblem. It¡¯s density. How dense does he have to make himself for Nia¡¯s foot to shatter just from hitting his chin?!

    ¡°That hurt¡­¡± Thomas mutters, sitting up while holding his jaw tenderly. ¡°Like hell.¡± He adds on, managing to get back to his feet. Nia¡¯s a terrible match up for Thomas when Emblems are involved. She¡¯s purely physical, and hitting him must be like slamming your head against a brick wall.

    ¡°Nia. Trade. Again.¡± I call out, tossing TJ to her and stepping in front of her. We don¡¯t have time for a war of attrition between these two. I don¡¯t care how dense something is, I have a trick. One from my past life. ¡°Thomas. Did you ever pay attention in science classes?¡± He opened his mouth to answer my question, but it was rhetorical. ¡°Don¡¯t answer that. I know you didn¡¯t.¡± That gets under his skin, which is everything I need and more. TJ joked with me once that Thomas is just like his Emblem - dense.

    ¡°Guess I can kill you first, Theta.¡± He spits out in a cold tone, before charging at me like he did Nia. What is he? A bull? The slightest provocation and he goes crazy.

    My Emblem doesn¡¯t freeze things, not technically. My grandfather, the man who had my Emblem before me, realized this and kept it a secret. It¡¯s in my book, so only I know this. There are four states of matter, supposedly. I don¡¯t know what the future holds. Each state is basically dictated by how quickly the atoms that make up said matter are moving, and how far apart they are. A gas has atoms really far apart moving really quickly, a liquid has atoms pretty close together moving kinda fast, and a solid has atoms close together moving pretty slow. My Emblem actually slows down the atoms surrounding my hands. The effect is the same in essence, where anything I touch freezes. However, somebody like Thomas who makes his body incredibly dense even before I have to do anything to him¡­

    His fist seems to be moving in slow motion even though I haven¡¯t touched him, and it¡¯s really easy to dodge him. Maybe that¡¯s his intention, so that somebody tries really hard to counter attack and hurts themselves. Doesn¡¯t matter to me. I duck under the punch, and place my palm on Thomas¡¯s chest, I breathe in, and activate my Emblem with all my focus on freezing Thomas.

    I watch frost spread from my hand around Thomas¡¯s clothes, and his body becomes rigid and blue under my hand. When I exhale, it sends a plume of white condensation fluttering into the air. I take my hand back and admire my handiwork for a moment. The blaring alarm seems distant and quiet as I note the unearthly sheen that surrounds Thomas¡¯s body now, causing him to seem almost made out of glass. Thomas is completely rigid, he may be brain dead. I have to admit, I¡¯m pretty¡­¡°Powerful.¡± It doesn¡¯t hurt that he made himself even more dense for me.

    ¡°Damn Mercury.¡± Nia remarks quietly, getting back to her feet cautiously to check if she can run with the still healing foot on top of holding TJ. ¡°Good work. But I would¡¯ve won too.¡± She always has to make that one sassy remark, but in this moment it¡¯s a little relieving to hear a joke from anybody.

    ¡°For sure, but we didn¡¯t really have the time. We still don¡¯t, actually, so come on!¡± We keep dashing through the halls, my headache getting worse from overuse of my power. We don¡¯t have a choice though, it¡¯s do or die. And we aren¡¯t going to die.

 Leonidous Carter White

    ¡°Pick a card for me! Please and thank you!¡± What? What is this kid talking about? He¡¯s really quite enthused about this. His hair is messy and brown, it looks like he just woke up. His skin looks a little meek and is rather pale. Almost too pale for my comfort, but his eyes are what sell me.

    ¡°Hahaha!¡± I can¡¯t help but laugh. His emerald green eyes shine with optimism and innocence, something there¡¯s way too little of in the world. ¡°Alright, alright.¡± He¡¯s practically bouncing off the walls as I pick out a card. It¡¯s the joker. That¡¯s pretty neat. ¡°Do I just¡­show it to you?¡±

    ¡°Yessir! Also, you can tell me your name now, sorry about that. Little habit of mine, haha!¡± He¡¯s so bubbly, so unabashedly himself. It¡¯s kind of like Mavis. When I look back to the kid I can see a resemblance between the two. She has the same eyes as he does, strikingly deep and green. Optimistic and determined.

    ¡°Alright.¡± I start looking closer at the card, and my heart almost stops when I see the back of it. It¡¯s Mavis¡¯s mark. He really does have Magnesis, her Emblem. This is the kid she reincarnated into. I look back at him, and I can recognize now that his eyes aren¡¯t the only things that are the same. He has that weird mole way to the side of his face, just in front of his left ear. His chin comes to a pretty soft point, which is an oxymoron, but it¡¯s hard to explain. ¡°My name is Leonidous C. White.¡± I introduce myself, trying to keep my voice calm and casual. ¡°And I guess I¡¯m a joker.¡± I turn the card around to face him, and place it into his palm.

    ¡°Woah...That¡¯s cool, I¡¯ve never seen anybody pull a Joker before! Would you wanna...Pick again?¡± He asks me while shuffling the cards in his hands like he¡¯s done it a million times. It¡¯s really quite impressive to watch him fold the cards on top of each other and split them with such precision. When he holds the cards out to me again, I can¡¯t help my smile. I know I shouldn¡¯t, it¡¯s probably a bad idea, but I¡¯m going to use my Emblem for something as dumb as this.

    I activate my Emblem and all at once his face, which is vibrant with life, freezes in place. And no sound can penetrate the world which only I live in. My Emblem lets me stop time. In exchange my heart freezes, making it impossible for me to live if I keep time frozen for too long. However, long enough to shuffle through his cards and pick the joker again. When time resumes I ensure I¡¯m in the same spot I was before, and pick the card I¡¯ve already seen to be the joker. ¡°Look at that.¡± I bring up with a smirk spreading across my face, and flipping the card to show the kid. ¡°I guess I¡¯m just cool.¡±

    *                     *                    *                    *

    The clock ticks down at a speed far too fast. I have to get TJ to the Principal¡¯s office within the next twenty minutes. He¡¯s telling me the story of how he got here, his fight with Nia and how she bribed James to let the two fight to the death basically. ¡°You¡¯ve heard this before, haven¡¯t you?¡± TJ¡¯s voice finally reaches my ear with an observation that seems a little too observant given how TJ presents himself.

    I can¡¯t help but raise my eyebrows in amusement, and find myself smirking. I¡¯m probably giving him too much credit because he has Mavis¡¯s Emblem, but his abrupt acute observations are way too similar. I put my hands up in the air, leaning back in my chair. ¡°You got me.¡± I admit in surrender, ¡°What gave it away? I was listening to your version of the story.¡±

    ¡°You didn¡¯t laugh when I called Nia a witch with oil for hair and hellfire for eyes.¡± Wait, there¡¯s no way that¡¯s what he actually said right? Moreover, I¡¯m slightly impressed he had enough faith in that joke to make me laugh that it gave away that I wasn''t listening.

    I have to snort, ¡°Wait, did you actually say that?¡±

    ¡°Nope! But if you acted like I did then I would¡¯ve really known you weren¡¯t listening.¡± I feel my heart skip a beat, and not because of my Emblem. His face splits into a grin with those words, and his eyes glitter like emeralds, looking more like Mavis than ever before. ¡°What¡¯s actually up? Why did you come see me? I know you can¡¯t bear to go without seeing me every day-¡± My eyes flicker to the clock as he talks, and I rise to my feet. We don¡¯t have much time to talk anymore.

    ¡°Alright, if you¡¯re lively enough to joke around like that we can go see the Principal.¡± TJ¡¯s eyes widen slightly. There¡¯s nothing I can do about that right now, but maybe I¡¯ll give him a quick hint. ¡°Let¡¯s go TJ. Try not to be so...You. It might get you killed.¡± I hold out a hand to help him off the bed.

    ¡°My back still hurts?¡± His voice wavers slightly, with a nervous expression on his face. It¡¯s reasonable, the Principal isn¡¯t somebody who¡¯s meetings you typically enjoy. Even if his back does hurt, my gut tells me he¡¯s making a joke. I grab him by the wrist and pull him up off the bed.

    ¡°That¡¯s fair.¡± I tell him, adjusting him in the air so I can carry on my shoulders. ¡°But, we¡¯re in a bit of a time crunch. So, bear with it.¡±

    ¡°I¡¯m going to be honest with you Leo¡­I don¡¯t think the teachers here like me all that much. Nia definitely doesn¡¯t, and I don¡¯t think Thomas does either.¡± He talks as I carry him through the halls, and we wait for the elevator for a moment. I can¡¯t help but reflect on Mavis, and how she would never say something like that. Which means the two are innately different after all. Or then again, maybe they are still similar, and Mavis just wouldn¡¯t show that side to me.

    ¡°Your point? I doubt you care what people think of you.¡± There''s a ding as the elevator doors open and we walk in. I¡¯m getting way too nervous about this. TJ¡¯s got it, he¡¯s a pretty capable guy. At bare minimum, I hope the principal doesn¡¯t make me kill him.

    *                     *                    *                    *

    ¡°Leonidous. I see you¡¯ve been assigned to guard me. Good, at least there¡¯s some sense in the world.¡± He¡¯s fat, he¡¯s chubby, he¡¯s stupid. He has a receding hairline of greasy black hair, and wears a formal suit as if that makes up for his hideous face. Covered in moles, stray white hairs, droopy cheeks and wrinkles unbecoming of his age. He¡¯s our president? He¡¯s barely sixty and makes King Tut look like a supermodel. ¡°Well! Come now boy, speak to me, it¡¯s an honor to talk to the president of the United States. Let alone work with him! At such a young age too, barely able to drive.¡±

    ¡°It is an honor sir.¡± I mutter through a mouth that doesn¡¯t want to speak. He holds a hand out to me and I shoot a glare over to the Principal. His face remains rigid and cool, he gives a soft nod to me. Which means, as much as it sucks, I look back at the president and shake his hand. His security detail is behind him, their weapons unholstered as a wordless threat. A threat? Please. At least I have the courtesy to keep my knife sheathed during meetings. I take my hand back and comment coldly, ¡°Your guards shouldn¡¯t have their weapons out. It seems like a threat.¡±

    ¡°Hahaha!¡± When he laughs, spit flies off from his mouth and almost hits me. The action of laughing makes his blubber move like crazy, it jiggles almost hypnotically and showcases what a pig he is. ¡°A threat! Even the great Leonidous White and Malcom Lamprouge, the boy the world praises as the deadliest weapon, and the supposed most dangerous man in the world! Even you¡¯re scared by my personal guard. I admit, they¡¯re quite dangerous. Armed with the latest Vein weaponry, completely bullet proof armor that is lightweight and heat resistant. Each one of them trained since birth! I guess you Evolved are still human after all, no?¡±

    ¡°Leonidous.¡± His hand falls on my shoulder slowly, controlled, but with hidden malintent abundantly clear to me. ¡°Your job is to keep the president safe as he meets with the United Nations Emblem Federation. Only the president.¡± He takes his hand off my shoulder. In the same instant he does so I activate my Emblem. There are twenty five guards, all of whom are on high alert¡­But frozen in place.

    ¡°Die.¡± Somebody says, as I walk through the line of guards. I thrust my blade into the first, not taking any time to savor the sensation of the metal slicing through their body but instead moving to slice the throat of the next in line. I imagine they¡¯re the president, the stupid fat pig I have to protect. They¡¯re Mavis. My stupid old teacher who left me alone with the Principal at that god forsaken school. They¡¯re my first target, they¡¯re my last target. And when I get to the last one, I look at his face. A stupid skin tone, with stupid blue eyes, and stupid black hair that will never get neat. ¡°Just fucking die already.¡± Somebody repeats in the world where only I exist, before slicing the last person¡¯s throat as well.

    *                     *                    *                    *

    She¡¯s sitting in front of us in the classroom. At a chair that¡¯s turned around from us, she sits in it wrong and faces us with an infectious smile on crimson lips. Black hair, cut pretty short for a girl, and messy enough to look like she just got out of bed. Green eyes that glisten in the light, making me want to grab them and hold them as though they¡¯re precious jewels. Pale skin that seems maybe a little unhealthy. She doesn¡¯t look that much older than us, maybe she¡¯s eighteen? Why is she our new teacher?

    ¡°I¡¯m Mavis. Nice to meet you kids! What do you want to do today?¡± What do we want to do? I look around nervously at the rest of the people in my class. We don¡¯t get asked what to do, we get told. I can¡¯t come up with anything, which makes me really sad because she seems upset that we don¡¯t say anything. A frown shows up and her eyebrows furrow closer to her eyes.

    ¡°U-Um!¡± I raise my hand, without any idea what I want to do. However when those gleaming green eyes light up I don¡¯t regret anything.

    ¡°Yeah! You in the back. What¡¯s up?¡± I don¡¯t know what¡¯s up. My face feels hot, and I search through my brain trying to figure out something to say.

    ¡°I um...I want to, to¡­I want to kill somebody!¡± I exclaim, proud of myself for my answer. The rest of the class nods and whispers to themselves in agreement. That¡¯s something fun to do! And we have to do it, so it all works out really well for us if we do that!

    My face falls when I see Mavis. She seems exasperated, a defeated expression. She sighs and leans against the chair with shoulders that sag like her bones turned into limp noodles. ¡°Well then, change of plans. We¡¯re going to do what I want to do! It was a trick question, I tricked you all!¡± She exclaims with a small laugh and the downtrodden expression seamlessly morphing into a teasing smile. She¡¯s so fun, she acts all bubbly! Our whole class gets angry that she tricked us, and we start booing at her. She only laughs though, she doesn¡¯t even seem to care. ¡°And I want to go outside. Come on!¡± She rises to our feet and guides us to a world we¡¯d never experienced before. It¡¯s weird, she¡¯s sweet. Somehow though it feels like I shouldn¡¯t have her as a teacher, like the world went crazy to allow such a thing to happen.

    ¡°What?¡± She asks me with a slightly surprised face, leaning back lazily in a maroon chair with a crimson cushion on it. Just sitting there she seems to own the entire room. I don¡¯t repeat my question, getting nervous and looking at my feet. Maybe I should bring it up again, but it would be too embarrassing. ¡°I guess so. If I had to answer, I think people like me, even the Principal.¡±

    ¡°Why don¡¯t you call him Dad like the rest of us? I don¡¯t think he likes it when you call him the Principal.¡±

    ¡°Hmm..¡± She smirks, leaning back in the chair, considering how she wants to answer the question. ¡°Well, we¡¯ve got a complicated past. So a lot of people assume the two of us have quite the rocky relationship.¡±

    ¡°Do you?¡± I call out, watching intently to see if she gives anything away in those emerald eyes of hers. She looks to the right with a nervous chuckle, and I notice there¡¯s a really small mole just in front of her left ear.

    ¡°Leo¡­¡± Leo? She called me by my name but not my name. It¡¯s so informal, but it¡¯s really nice too. I¡¯ve never thought of myself as that before. It¡¯s so slick, and cool, and concise. ¡°It¡¯s an adult thing. You¡¯ll figure it out when you¡¯re older. Don¡¯t worry about it right now.¡±If you stumble upon this narrative on Amazon, it''s taken without the author''s consent. Report it.

    ¡°Ok! O-Oh! And one more thing. My birthday is tomorrow. Will you, um, can you get me somebody to kill? For my birthday?¡± I ask Mavis without being able to look at her. My face is firmly facing the ground and it feels really warm in the room.

    ¡°Oh, ummm¡­you know what? Why don¡¯t we have a cake and a party instead!¡± She exclaims brightly, and when I look up at her face she has a huge grin plastered across her face. ¡°You sure you want a teacher at your party though? I¡¯m a few years older than you.¡± A party? I¡¯m confused, I don¡¯t really know what that is. When Mavis explains it to me I don¡¯t get the appeal of it either. There are only six other people in my class, and we¡¯re all supposed to kill people. I don¡¯t really get why we¡¯d celebrate something else with a party.

    ¡°But killing people is fun, it¡¯s what we¡¯re supposed to do.¡± Mavis snorts and looks almost amused by what I¡¯m saying. She runs a hand through her own messy black hair, and keeps the hand there to massage her brain.

    ¡°Leo.¡± There she goes again. There are these little butterflies in my chest when she calls me Leo, and I don¡¯t know why. ¡°You¡¯re special. You¡¯re crazy unique, you have an Emblem that we have no documented history of in the whole world. So stop trying to fit into the crowd, don¡¯t kill people because you were told to or because everybody else is doing it. Do what you want to do as much as you can.¡± She explains with a patient smile. I already broke into her office after hours, but she¡¯s still being so nice.

    ¡°Then¡­Can we go outside?¡± Mavis laughs and ruffles my hair with a hand. It gets really messy really quickly, just like hers.

    ¡°Of course! How does the roof sound?¡±

    <ul>

    <li style="font-weight: 400">- - -</li>

    </ul>

    ¡°Happy Birthday!¡± Mavis exclaims with a bright smile on her face. The other members of my class are all with her, hiding in the dark classroom that lit when I opened it. She has a cone on her head with the words ¡®Happy Birthday¡¯, and a lot of my classmates have these weird things in their mouths that make fun noises. ¡°You¡¯re eight today. That only happens once you know!¡± She calls out with a laugh, reaching behind and grabbing a large cake covered with white frosting and blue letters that spell out ¡®HAPPY BIRTHDAY LEO!¡¯

    ¡°T-Thank you!¡± I shout out with a huge smile, looking over to the table that Mavis set up for all of us to sit down and eat the cake. ¡°How did you know blue was my favorite color?¡± I ask Mavis, as she starts setting up eight candles on the cake.

    ¡°You look at the sky a lot when we go outside. Plus, you have the cutest blue eyes I¡¯ve ever seen. Now blow out the candles! You get to make a wish.¡± She explains happily, as my class and I look at each other confused. She laughs softly, and then explains that on your birthday you can make a wish! You¡¯re not supposed to say your wish out loud, or else it doesn¡¯t come true when you blow out your candles. I don¡¯t know what to wish for¡­I guess I¡¯ll just wish that I get to be a big help to Dad and Mavis!

    *                     *                    *                    *

    It¡¯s cold today. I¡¯ve always had cold hands, because my Emblem makes my blood flow bad and stuff. So I can¡¯t circulate warmth through my body well. That''s why the fire on top of my cake is really nice, and when I hold my hand over the nine candles it starts to warm up. It¡¯s a small cake, only the size of the hand that I hold it in. Last year my wish came true. Da¡­The Principal. Not Dad. He realized that I could be really useful to him. My Emblem really helps his hard jobs become easy, and all I have to do is kill people. Mavis said I shouldn¡¯t do that though. I guess she said not to do that unless I wanted to? I don¡¯t know. It doesn¡¯t matter anymore.

    I wasn¡¯t very useful to Mavis. She¡¯s gone now, and I can¡¯t really do anything about it. She left a week ago I think. She got into a really big fight with Dad, no, not Dad, with the Principal. She got into a big fight with him when he found out she took us outside, and celebrated our birthdays, and told us not to kill the man the Principal told us to kill. ¡°I wish¡­¡± I really don¡¯t want to cry on my birthday! I feel too much pressure on my nose, and my eyes feel really hot, ¡°I wish to see Mavis again.¡± I admit, blowing out my candles. I guess I can¡¯t stop myself from crying. But I¡¯ll stop myself from sobbing.

    *                     *                    *                    *

    I can¡¯t stop sobbing. ¡°Leonidous.¡± His voice is so cold, so evil. It¡¯s so malicious, like oil forcing its way into my ears, it¡¯s nothing like how Mavis would say my name. She wouldn¡¯t call me Leonidous! I¡¯m not Leonidous! I¡¯m Leo! ¡°Come now, I understand.¡± He takes me into his arms, my body freezing up but tears still falling from my eyes. Oh no, oh no oh no. What am I gonna do? I have blood on my hands and they¡¯re going to stain the Principal¡¯s clothes! He¡¯s going to kill me. ¡°You did wonderfully Leonidous. Truly, you have a gift. You¡¯re my child. The rest of them were Mavis¡¯s offspring. Little monsters who couldn''t listen to their father and allowed the devil to whisper into their ears.¡±

    His hug isn¡¯t comforting at all, I feel trapped. I¡¯m trapped in his arms, I¡¯m trapped in my body, I¡¯m trapped by this school, I¡¯m trapped by even my own name. I¡¯m trapped from the past, the recent past, of minutes ago. ¡°Why did I have to kill them though?¡± I whisper, barely managing to talk between the sobs that cause my chest to convulse.

    ¡°To prove to me that you, Leonidous, are still you. Untainted as a child of mine.¡± I¡¯m not, I¡¯m not Leonidous, am I? I have to be, I¡¯m trapped, I¡¯m trapped. I can¡¯t be anybody but Leonidous, not anymore.

    *                     *                    *                    *

    I¡¯m twirling the knife between my fingers, ¡°What are you doing?¡± Why does she keep trying to talk to me? Doesn''t she know who I am? I¡¯m Leonidous Carter White. I turn over and shoot a glare at Jennifer Cadmium. The stupid girl who keeps trying to act like we¡¯re friends. ¡°You shouldn¡¯t have a knife in school.¡± She whispers at me when Mrs. Kraus isn¡¯t looking. In response I stab the blade into the desk, and stand from my desk.

    ¡°I¡¯m going to see the Principal.¡± I state flatly, leaving the classroom without Mrs. Kraus or her supervisor trying to stop me. Not that they could. I¡¯m Leonidous White. I¡¯m the most prolific assassin of the last century, I strike fear into the hearts of every government official, every political leader, every military officer. Somehow, they put me back at this school? This school for everybody else?

    I¡¯m special damnit. I can recover any Emblem without problem, kill any person, and break into anything. I¡¯m the truly Evolved one, I¡¯m the only one who managed to graduate from my class. The rest of them had to be killed because of Mavis. Principal¡¯s order, there was nothing I could do about it. I don¡¯t get why he thinks I have to hide out at this school. So what if the United Nations Emblem Federation figured out I assassinated their last leader? They can¡¯t do anything to me, they barely have enough power to fight me by myself. Let alone with the Principal and the United States on our side.

    I kick open the door to his office, and storm in through the veil of darkness he set up with Dark Vein. ¡°Dad, why am I here?! You promised that after I killed Griegor Amu we¡¯d have the world in our pockets. You lied to me! I have to hide out at a school filled with people worse than me!¡± His face is immutable, his legs crossed, and a glass of crimson wine is in his left hand. He sips it gently, and then responds after taking time to let me calm down.

    ¡°Leonidous, I would never lie to you. Did I lie when I said killing the former president would allow us to install a puppet leader? No. Did I lie when I told you we were special and destined for great things? No. Do I lie now, telling you the world is closer to being in our grasp than ever before? Not at all.¡± His voice washes over me. All I need is for him to tell me what to do, that¡¯s who I am. I¡¯m Leonidous White, and I do what I¡¯m told to perfection. ¡°You are special, but the children here are your siblings. Treat them well.¡± He rises to his feet and stalks towards me, slowly placing a hand gently onto my shoulder. ¡°And don¡¯t kill them.¡±

    <ul>

    <li style="font-weight: 400">- - - -</li>

    </ul>

    A crash echoes through my room and wakes me up. My eyes explode open and I burst off the bed, taking the knife from my bed stand and freezing the world in place. Who intruded into my room? Jennifer. Jennifer Cadmium. I¡¯ve never seen a clearer death wish in all my life. I bring down my knife on the girl who¡¯s suspended in midair, unable to finish falling from my ceiling vent that she was crawling through.

    A stream of blood splashes across her frozen face, and I stumble back in pain. Why? Why did I just throw my hand out in front of this girl? I stabbed my hand, and that hurts like a bitch! Damnit, I can¡¯t keep time frozen while losing blood. My vision is already fading, and I have to resume time while falling back onto my bed. I ignore the sounds of Kandace crashing against the ground, accompanied by some groans of pain and reflection. I know why I did that, he told me not to kill them. So the Principal¡¯s order flashed across my mind and stopped me. My hand is already healing, so it barely matters.

    ¡°H-Heyyyy buddy!¡± She calls out meekly, completely unaware of how close she was to dying. She has the most obnoxious brown eyes I¡¯ve ever seen. They have this optimistic glow in them that basically announces they¡¯re ignorant. She wipes her face, probably assuming my blood was just water or sweat of her own. After a few moments of silence, where I simply glare at her, she keeps talking. ¡°Sorry, for breaking in and stuff. I just wanted to check up on you, make sure you¡¯re feeling well. You left class in quite the hurry y¡¯know?¡±

    ¡°I know. Kind of like what you should do with my room.¡±

    She frowns at me, and puts a hand on her chin. Obstinately remaining where she fell and watching me like I¡¯m in a zoo. She seems to get some really good idea, her eyes flashing back to life as she tries to grab my wrist. I can¡¯t let that happen, and I tear my hand out of her reach, using my Emblem almost needlessly. Almost. She¡¯s unfazed that she wasn¡¯t able to get my wrist in her clutches.

    ¡°Come on Leonidous! Let¡¯s go to the roof, I want to show you something.¡± My heart freezes for a moment, and I register what she said. I haven¡¯t been on the roof since the day I found out Mavis died. I don¡¯t go outside just for fun, that¡¯s not something I do.

    When did she grab my wrist? Damnit! I was so distracted by her question that I completely forgot to keep my guard up. She abused that and started dragging me out of my room. ¡°Whatever.¡± I mutter, allowing her to drag my body out to the roof if she wants. If she gets caught I guess the Principal will finally let me kill her, so it¡¯s not a big deal.

    ¡ª---

    ¡°You¡¯re late.¡± I remark flatly, standing on the roof of the school for our seventh weekly meeting. Jennifer is breathing heavily, her hair falling listlessly. She looks up to meet my eyes, a grin spreading across her face.

    ¡°Late? C¡¯mon, don¡¯t be like that! I have a surprise for you. It was pretty hard to get this in the first place, so you better be grateful!¡± She explains as though I¡¯m a child. I cross my arms and turn away from her, looking at the clouds that rest just below the isolated floating island this fortress of a school was built on. ¡°Remember when I pestered you about your birthday.¡± Yeah, I do actually. I also remember I didn¡¯t tell her anything about it. ¡°Well, I did some digging, and I found out you¡¯ve got a very special day today.¡± I do? I can¡¯t help but turn back to look at her in moderate surprise, I¡¯m unsure of what she¡¯s talking about. ¡°Tada!¡± She pulls out a small cake, a triumphant smile on her face. ¡°Happy Birthday Leo!¡±

    ¡°Pft.¡± I barely manage to stifle a laugh in time. It¡¯s the middle of November now, and my birthday is in May. ¡°Haha!¡± I can¡¯t help but laugh at her, she was totally wrong and came at me with this unbridled confidence. My birthday? Now? ¡°I can¡¯t say no to some cake.¡± I remark, stealing some for myself and taking a seat. ¡°But it¡¯s not my birthday. My birthday¡¯s in May.¡±

    ¡°Aww, I was pretty close! Leo, how old are you turning in May?¡± Leo. She called me Leo earlier too. The cake is written out with ¡®Happy Birthday Leo¡¯. How old am I turning? I don¡¯t know. How old is Leo turning? Did he live this year?

    ¡°Twenty.¡± I respond listlessly.

    ¡°Awesome! That means you¡¯re only two years older than me, haha! I thought you were way older, you act like an old man.¡± What!?

    ¡°N-No I don¡¯t! What do you mean? I¡¯m cool, and stuff!¡± I exclaim while my face heats up at her provocation. She¡¯s way too good at getting under my skin, it¡¯s annoying.

    ¡°Haha! Sure you are, old timer! Oh! I have a present for you, come on!¡± A present?

    <ul>

    <li style="font-weight: 400">¡ª---</li>

    </ul>

    ¡°Hello Leo, Vhere are ve going today?¡± SHE GOT ME A CAR?! I stare at Jennifer with my mouth slightly agape. We¡¯re sitting in a car with a sleek neon blue aesthetic and it¡¯s ripped straight out of the future. It¡¯s crazy that it can talk, and even crazier it¡¯s mine.

    ¡°Like it?¡± She asks a little nervously, with a blush on her face that seems slightly unbefitting of her. I grasp the steering wheel and turn back to her with a huge smile as she elaborates on it. ¡°It¡¯s a really awesome science project. My family was working on it and gave it to me for my sixteenth birthday a while back.¡±

    ¡°Really awesome science project?¡± I mutter to myself. A vehicle needs a name. The voice that came out was automatically preset to have a Russian accent. So it only makes sense that I¡¯d give it a Russian name. ¡°R.A.S.P.¡± I announce, turning to Jennifer with a stupid smile on my face. ¡°Let¡¯s call it Rasp! Short for Rasputin.¡±

    *                     *                    *                    *

    ¡°Come on TJ.¡± I murmur to myself, leaning against the wall of the building. I can¡¯t keep energy in my legs, I¡¯m too nervous. ¡°Leave through any other exit. Just not this one.¡± I add on, shooting a prayer out. I find myself nervously smirking, if today was my birthday I could just make a wish that he¡¯d get out safely through a different door. The alarm¡¯s been blaring for the last thirty minutes easily, and that does give me some significant anxiety.

    The Principal¡¯s order was given, and that¡¯s the red flag. I can¡¯t deny him a direct order, doesn¡¯t fit in with who Leonidous is. I¡¯ve never failed a mission of his before, it¡¯s what allows me to get away with being kind of selfish. That and I guess I don¡¯t care if he kills me anymore.

    I didn¡¯t hesitate when I had to kill the president of the UNEF, the president of the United States, the countless Evolved whose Emblems I¡¯ve stolen for this school. I didn¡¯t hesitate when I had to kill the rest of my class, when he told me to break up with Jennifer because she was ¡®unhealthy¡¯. So it¡¯s kind of annoying that I know I¡¯d hesitate if he told me to kill TJ. I¡¯m not supposed to have autonomy, it¡¯s way too tough for somebody like me.

    I¡¯m nobody special, I¡¯m just some ignorant kid named Leo who got dealt a pretty bad hand by life. I snort to myself, remembering the card I drew when I first met TJ. Joker. I wonder what that meant? Probably that my life¡¯s been a joke. Maybe it was supposed to mean I¡¯m unpredictable or something. However looking back at my life, everything was way too linear. I never really made a decision for myself, which sucks. I feel like I could have made the right decision at least a few times there.

    ¡°Any other door.¡± I repeat to myself a little upset, freezing the world and tapping the wall, destroying it with the instantaneous force that my Emblem allows me to generate. When time resumes the small force I applied to the wall abruptly slams into it, causing it to explode inwards with a massive crash. As the wall crumbles and concrete stones still fall loosely from it, I only can hope the hurried steps I overheard coming towards me move the opposite direction.

    I¡¯m a stupid kid called Leo, but when the time calls for it I¡¯m the most deadly weapon in the world, the most infamous killer of Evolved, the Evolved among the Evolved. I¡¯m Leonidous Carter White. I don¡¯t really want to add Jay Jeremy Jones to my causality list.

 Leo

    His black hair is messy. Short, yet somehow able to break every law of physics I know to stick up in the craziest way possible. There¡¯s a wall destroyed to his left, rubble still crumbling down from the top of the huge hole. He¡¯s dwarfed by the scale of the destruction in the wall, and it makes my mouth go dry. His blue eyes don¡¯t seem to care, they¡¯re cold as he looks at our rag tag group of five. We could fight Thomas, that¡¯s fine. We can make it past guards, not a huge issue. But none of us could move while we stare down Leonidous Carter White, the real life grim reaper. TJ¡¯s still asleep in Nia¡¯s arms, Jasmine is knocked out in Crystal¡¯s. I¡¯m the only one that can fight him. I take a step forward, my legs shaking slightly as I put my fists up and get ready to die to give the rest of them a bit more time to her away.

    ¡°Theta.¡± Mr. White starts flatly, a knife seeming to appear in his hand out of nowhere, like he just glitched. His face is impossible to read, and his eyes are impenetrable. ¡°Talk. None of you leave until I say.¡± I feel a sudden numbness in my throat, and when I feel my throat my hand comes away with blood. I realize he slightly nicked me. I couldn¡¯t even react, I never saw him move. We¡¯re all dead. I turn around and look at the others, Nia¡¯s eyes wide as dinner plates and Crystal having fallen onto her knees. I¡¯m stunned. They all have a small cut on their throats as well. ¡°Mercury Theta, don¡¯t ignore me. Explain. Now.¡±

    ¡°We¡¯re leaving the school.¡± I find myself saying, unable to think of any witty retorts or clever lies. I¡¯m not supposed to be the one who does most of the talking in these situations. That¡¯s TJ¡¯s job, so¡­¡°Wake up damnit.¡± I mutter under my breath with a sideways glance to his sleeping body. An alarm still blares in the distance behind us. The night air is suffocating, and the silence from Mr. White forces me to keep talking. ¡°We¡¯re running away, and TJ¡¯s got some plan or another. The Principal is evil. The final shots have some Vein mixture that allows him to kill and track us forever. We can¡¯t let that happen. So we¡¯re leaving.¡±

    ¡°Any plans of your own? Or is Jay going to think for you instead of the Principal.¡± His words are full of malice, and I didn¡¯t realize how unnerving it would be to hear him refer to TJ as ¡®Jay¡¯. I¡¯m not letting TJ think for me instead of the Principal, am I? I¡¯m me, and I¡¯m doing exactly what I want. That just happens to be helping out TJ, and running away with each other. That doesn¡¯t seem like the perfect answer, but I can¡¯t think of anything else to say. I don¡¯t have to.

    ¡°We¡¯re going to come back, and expose the Principal, defeat him, kill him, and disband the school.¡± Nia pipes up, determination on her face and a warm fire flashing in her crimson eyes.

    ¡°Really? Are you really going to do that?¡± He asks slowly, walking towards us as though he has all the time in the world. An incredible pressure seems to emanate off of him and crush my chest, making it hard to breathe, much less move. ¡°If you¡¯ll kill the Principal, the least you need to be able to do is fight me.¡± He throws his hands in the air, exposing his chest and prodding us to attack him. ¡°Or you¡¯ll die.¡± Nia slowly places TJ on the ground. And we exchange glances with each other. It¡¯s do or die. And we aren¡¯t going to die.

    My lungs are tight, they can¡¯t get enough air into them. It feels like my ribs are compressing against my chest and preventing me from moving as freely as I¡¯d like. My arms are on fire, my head is throbbing, my legs may as well be made of lead, and yet I still need to force them to move faster than they ever have before. Mr. White doesn¡¯t look remotely fatigued, while me and Nia are both drenched with sweat. Nia¡¯s sweat evaporates as soon as it forms due to the flames encasing her body, giving her an ethereal white aura in the dim night. My hands are white and cracked, covered with a thin layer of frost, and the frost licks up my forearms and barely ends at my bicep.

    ¡°You¡¯re not using your abilities in synchronization with your strength.¡± He lectures us, talking smack before we die, like an asshole. He¡¯s basically a cat playing around with mice before killing them. I cover the ground in a layer of ice, Nia sliding across it at a super speed to try and land a blow on Mr. White who dodges as though he could see the future. I follow up, reaching desperately trying to grab him, only to freeze the air in front of me after noticing his blade abruptly taking up my eyesight. Somehow his arm isn¡¯t caught in the explosion of ice, and he manages to avoid my defense, he ducks under Nia¡¯s surprise kick without even looking at it. ¡°You¡¯re too basic and straightforward with your attacks. Adjust to your opponent,¡± He takes an instant step to Nia who¡¯s fallen after missing her attack, and he kicks her to the ground. I dive at him to get him off Nia, trusting her to defend me when she¡¯s freed from his pin.

    He grabs me by the throat. Instinctively I grab at his hand around my neck, and before I know what¡¯s happened I¡¯m forty feet away with my back wrapped around a tree. I cough up blood, spit out a tooth, but don¡¯t have time to wallow in pain. ¡°You rely on your Emblem too much. You¡¯re human, no matter how Evolved. Only I qualify as being an entirely new species.¡± He announces with a dangerous expression. As pretentious as he sounds I can¡¯t come up with a rebuttal to him. He¡¯s ridiculous! We¡¯ve been coming at him with everything we have for over ten minutes, and he¡¯s kicking our ass without looking tired at all. To make matters worse, he¡¯s been critiquing us the whole time.

    ¡°Shut up!¡± Nia exclaims with newfound vigor, as flames burst around her while she charges him again. He steps back and begins easily dodging each attack, sidestepping and jumping away from all her attacks. However his vision is locked on her, giving me an opportunity to make him slip. I freeze the ground, getting the frost over to his feet, and I see him slip! Nia¡¯s fist is inches away from contact with him when he abruptly disappears. Is his Emblem teleportation!? This is bullshit!

    ¡°Better.¡± He says casually, patting out some embers that Nia ignited in his hair. ¡°Not enough.¡± He says flatly, reaching into his pockets and putting out his tablet. We can¡¯t let him tell the school where we are! I force my dead legs to move, and drudge towards him with Nia. When we reach him and start our attack, he avoids us without looking, using his tablet the entire time. ¡°Physically, Mr. Virgo has done a terrible job of teaching you.¡± He says casually, finally putting the tablet away and looking at us once more.If you stumble upon this narrative on Amazon, be aware that it has been stolen from Royal Road. Please report it.

    ¡°Always go for vitals first.¡± He weaves between an attack the two of us throw, and slices both of our throats at once. I feel blood beginning to spill out, warming my throat and staining my shirt, making it weigh heavier on my chest. Am I going to die? ¡°And always protect your vitals. It¡¯s human instinct to do so.¡± He remarks, acting like this is a class. He was never a teacher of anybody anyways, maybe he¡¯s doing this so he doesn¡¯t feel as bad about killing us.

    He turns, wielding his knife and approaching the two of us again. I put a wall of ice, protecting my heart and head as thoroughly as I can. Intentionally or not, I¡¯m taking his advice. Instead I feel sharp pain in my elbows and knees, and find myself on the ground, unable to move my legs or arms. ¡°Which is why your opponent inevitably protects their vitals, leaving open their limbs. Incapacitate them, usually from the elbow or knee, to fully prevent resistance in upwards of eighty-five percent of cases.¡± He sliced through my tendons, or ligaments, I don¡¯t know which, but I can¡¯t move! Damn it! My vision is getting blurry, I¡¯m losing too much blood from my throat, and my headache from overuse of my Emblem isn¡¯t helping matters.

    If I can freeze things I touch, why can¡¯t I freeze myself? I¡¯m already touching myself. I inhale deeply and focus, forcing my Emblem to activate inwards, and slowing down my blood, stiffening my body. I don¡¯t know how it worked, but it did, and now I¡¯m able to force myself back to my feet. ¡°When encountering an exception¡­¡± Mr. White murmurs with a predatory smile, looking at me with blue eyes that flash with malice. ¡°Prevent them from running away.¡± He reaches down, and I get ready for him to throw something at me.

    Fuck. How did I forget about TJ? Mr. White holds a blade against his throat, holding him by his hair in the air. ¡°Usually you prevent them from running away by abusing what knowledge you have of them, and if you don¡¯t have knowledge, get it. Now, Nia, continue to tell me.¡± A small bead of blood escapes TJ¡¯s throat, leaving a crimson trail as it falls down his throat. ¡°You¡¯ll disband the school? Kill the Principal? Do you still believe you can do that?¡±

    Nia tries to get back to her feet, but still can¡¯t move her limbs. Crystal appears out of thin air next to her, helping Nia up. I feel as frustrated as she looks, but more than anything else I¡¯m exhausted. Why is TJ still asleep?! Even Jasmine¡¯s still sleeping, and I don¡¯t understand why. If anybody needs a nap it¡¯s me.

    ¡°We will defeat the Principal. We¡¯ll kill him if we have to. Once we get past you, we¡¯re going to become strong enough and smart enough. We will! We would¡¯ve. It¡¯s not fair, just one week! If you let us train for just a week we would¡¯ve been able to surpass you!¡± She shouts at him, a powerful expression of determination and confidence on her face even in this situation. She¡¯s so stupid, such a stupid teenager.

    ¡°I wouldn¡¯t even need a week.¡± I add on, facing Leonidous with newfound power and adrenaline in my body. ¡°I could beat him by myself after only three days! And as things stand, we could take you right now.¡± This adult is supposed to be more mature than us, he¡¯s supposed to be smart, and instead he¡¯s just an unfair asshole.

    He stares us down, his face unmoving, in total control of himself. I feel bubbles building in my chest, my face feels hot. It¡¯s so unfair! We were so close, and as soon as I heard Nia say her words I knew they were true. We just needed a little bit more time, we would¡¯ve been able to do everything!

    ¡°Leo?¡± His eyes widen, and his neck snaps down to focus on TJ.  ¡°Oh, hey Mercury. Hey Nia. You two look terrible, what happened?¡± TJ asks, and for whatever reason Leonidous trembles while holding TJ. His blue eyes glisten in the night, his jaw is clenched, and his hand that smoothly was holding the knife earlier now shakes slightly.

    ¡°Mr. White¡­He was trying to kill us, to stop us from leaving.¡± I murmur in response, in disbelief that he can¡¯t put the dots together. He¡¯s such an¡­¡°Idiot.¡±

    ¡°What?¡± He calls out, tired, his voice sounding muffled. He bats Mr. White¡¯s hand away and takes a few steps towards us. ¡°Leo wouldn¡¯t do that. He¡¯s a softie.¡± TJ makes it to us, and finally seems to realize that we¡¯re in immense danger. ¡°Oh! Crap, we gotta get out of here! Let¡¯s go!¡± He exclaims innocent, leaving it up to interpretation if he realized via the blaring alarm or because he just remembered. He starts jogging away, leaving all of us baffled.

    ¡°Jay.¡± All of us except one. Leonidous appears in front of TJ. ¡°You can¡¯t leave. Principal¡¯s orders.¡± He says flatly. I can barely move right now, I¡¯m simply far too exhausted. Unable to give TJ support, I watch as he exchanges words with Leonidous.

    ¡°Oh Leo.¡± He starts, putting his hands on his hips. I know without needing to see that he¡¯s giving Leonidous a huge grin. ¡°Come on. You¡¯ve helped me out a lot, and I really like you. I¡¯ve never met somebody like you. So stop trying to fit into the crowd, don¡¯t kill me because you were told to. If you want to kill me, try me, but if you don¡¯t. Perfecto. I¡¯ll meet you in the outside world.¡± After TJ says that, he claps Leonidous¡¯s shoulder, and turns around to us with the classic TJ grin.

    A small smile shows up, one that¡¯s subtle and defeated. He sighs, and takes a seat on the grass. His blue eyes have a warm light that looks fondly at us while we watch him. ¡°Well. Go on then.¡± His eyes lock in behind us, and after he does that I can hear some footsteps echoing in the halls. People are still after us, besides Leonidous. ¡°Remember my lessons. I¡¯m not the best teacher, but hopefully it¡¯ll help you guys.¡± TJ comes back over to us and marks us all with his Emblem.

    ¡°You guys look like you¡¯ll run a little slow.¡± He brings up, eyes flickering back to the exit of the building and us. ¡°So, I hope you don¡¯t mind if I have you fly with me.¡± Afterwards I feel him lift us all in the air, and we all slowly float towards him.

    ¡°Thank you, Mr. White¡­?¡± Nia says quietly, either unsure of what to make of our situation or just tired.

    ¡°Yeah, thanks Leonidous.¡± I mumble too. If TJ can decide to take a nap at the most inopportune time, so can I. It¡¯s really easy, and I feel myself starting to go numb as I fall asleep.

    I¡¯m barely able to hear Leonidous¡¯s response to our gratitude. ¡°No problem.¡± He says, getting back to his feet and walking past us to stand in front of the door. Truly I know I¡¯m exhausted, because I hear things. ¡°But¡­call me Leo. Leonidous dies tonight.¡± My eyes are starting to shut, and I¡¯m tired enough to start seeing things.

    I swear I see the Principal standing in front of Leo. Tons of other people as well, armed to the teeth. Several of our classmates, and all of our teachers are standing there too. Delirium is probably setting in though, there¡¯s no way Leo would stand his ground in front of the whole school just for us. The last thing I can remember before falling asleep is the wind. The wind, and the bubbling optimism in my chest. For the first time in my whole life, I¡¯m free.