Obsidian Sky (20 page)

He could only see quick images as she began hitting him without mercy, rock and all. When he fell to the grass on his butt, she used one hand to grab him by the collar of his shirt and used the other to send a stream of fire upon his abdomen. He knew what she was trying to do – burn his clothes as he had hers, but it was a bad move. She should have finished him off, not just tried to humiliate him.

Aidan kicked at her legs and rolled out of the way as she fell face-first into the grass. She tried climbing to her feet but Aidan tackled her quickly, pressing his body weight on top of hers. He placed a hand on the back of her head and shoved her face further into the grass.

“Cut it out. You’re done,” he said as he heard crackles all around him. He glanced down and saw her right arm feeding the ground beneath them, creating a network of electricity underneath him the same way he had with his fire. Before she could allow it to manifest, he grabbed a fistful of her hair, pulled her head up, and then slammed her face into the ground as hard as he could. He felt her body go limp immediately upon the impact.

The stampede of footsteps behind him caught his attention.

“I didn’t kill her,” he said quickly, rising to his feet and facing the incoming crowd.

“You hurt the Elder’s daughter!” the teacher screamed. Aidan shrugged his shoulders.

“Why should she get special treatment? We’re all going to be kicked out this place at some point.” The teacher began to reply in protest when she cupped her mouth once more. Aidan turned around just in time to catch a fist to the jaw, encased in even more rock than before. Leah grit her teeth and went for another blow, but Aidan was faster. He head-butt her in the forehead and she staggered back, clutching the crown of her head as her legs wobbled.

“That hurt,” she muttered, as she put up both of her rock fists and shook her head to gather her thoughts. “But that’s not going to be good enough, little boy.”

“What are you made of?” Aidan asked in exasperation as the teacher stepped between them.

“That’s it! That’s it!” she shouted. “We’re done here! Both of you are going to be brought to the detention center immediately! Any objections and I’ll make sure you’re given another strike on top of the one you’re already getting.”

“What?” Leah exclaimed. “Why do I get a strike?”

“Because you went too far,” she huffed. “You especially should know better! Now both of you come with me now. And no talking until we get there! For the rest of you, class is dismissed!”

Aidan sighed and followed, knowing that getting one strike was bad enough. Leah stomped along with them, keeping her rock armor on. The other students dispersed quickly.

“This is for your own good,” the teacher snapped as Aidan yawned from behind. They walked in silence until they reached the infirmary. Aidan snapped his head toward Leah and examined the bruises on her face. She wasn’t hurt THAT bad. No need to worry. She was still pretty. Just more of an unpleasant dream than a lovely fantasy.

The three of them marched down the labyrinth of halls, passing by the meager number of doctors and nurses until they reached an off-white door in a narrow dead end. The teacher pressed down on the handle and a whooshing sound could be heard from the frame. Aidan stepped inside the room, curious over how it had made that noise, but all wonder vanished the moment he heard the door slam and click behind him. He had been thrown inside, all alone.

Aidan pressed a hand against the door’s surface but nothing came from his palm. He looked at his hands and tried to see through them to the liquid fire, but all he saw were his palms. A click was heard from above him and he spun around. The room was about thirty square feet long and the ceiling was about the height of two of him. It was bathed in lily white and composed of glossy, spotless walls. The air had a slight chill to it, and there wasn’t a single piece of furniture or decoration. How long was he expected to stay in here?

Looking at the room around him, Aidan almost preferred getting an extra strike to this. He wasn’t used to confined spaces and lifeless rooms. And worst of all, his Fire Arts had disappeared…how was that possible? No one in their right mind would use a Yen to take away his ability. Only those with deep vendettas did that, and he hadn’t been in Lowsunn long enough to acquire any enemies.

Another click and whoosh was heard, and the door sprung open. He rushed it, but Leah met him head on. Literally. She head-butt him in the forehead on purpose and he went sprawling onto his back, grunting at the sudden sting above his eyes. Leah smirked as the door closed and locked behind her.

“What is wrong with you?” Aidan shouted as she chose a corner of the room and sat up against it. Aidan crawled over to an opposite corner and dabbed at his wound.

“You’re not bleeding,” she said. Her voice echoed and the extra vibration made him wince.

“You can stop looking at me now,” he said.

“But you’re so big and strong. I just can’t control my feminine desires. What will I do with myself locked in a room with you for 24 hours?”

“24 hours?!” he yelled, meeting her eyes. One was a bit swollen. “There’s not even a place to go to the bathroom. They can’t do that!”

“Excuse me,” a voice reverberated throughout the room. Aidan raised an eyebrow and looked for the source but Leah didn’t appear concerned so he settled down quickly. “Aidan Serafino. Leah Ainsley. The two of you are being detained for 24 hours for the excursion that occurred in the Field of Visions. During this time, your abilities will be taken away from you. This room was designed for prisoners but given that we are in a time of peace, it has been designated for detention purposes. While here, all natural bodily functions will be inhibited, including your need to eat, drink, sleep, and go to the bathroom. You are to reflect upon your actions and discuss a civil and mature way to get past any conflict between the two of you. Any, and I mean any physical fighting will result in an increase in the time of your stay. Enjoy.”

Another click was heard and the voice was gone.

“Hey!” Aidan shouted at the ceiling, but Leah laughed at him.

“They can’t hear you. It’s a one-way speaker.”

“So we’re here for 24 hours, huh?” Aidan said, examining his palms again. “That’s quite a long time.” Leah said nothing. “I noticed that you got a change of clothes.” Leah looked down at her standard Lowsunn uniform and then back at him.

“Yes, my rock armor wouldn’t have worked in here, and it would have been very inappropriate to leave me in here in such a vulnerable state.” She flashed him a false smile. “Sorry to disappoint.”

“I like you better with your clothes on actually.”

“Why’s that? So you can concentrate? You can slam girls’ faces into the ground better?”

“Would you have preferred that I treated you differently because you’re a girl?”

“No,” she said, brushing a hand against her jaw. “Just hurts.”

“Yeah, getting hit does that. A cause and effect thing.”

“Speaking of cause and effect,” she said, pointing at him. “What’s up with the robe? It didn’t burn.”

“It’s special,” he said, casually looking away.

“How so?”

“I would rather not talk about it.”

“This is the most I’ve heard you talk all year. Why stop now? We’re going to be here for a long time. More if I walk over there and head-butt you again.”

“I wouldn’t get more time. You would.”

“Right. Like you would be able to contain yourself,” she laughed.

“For an Elder’s daughter, you sure are a lot different than I thought you would be.”

“He’s my dad, not my Majesty. I’m free to form my own opinions, you know.”

“So your beliefs include punching a bunch of weak villagers in the face?”

“Thank you for that,” she said. He snickered at the response.

“For what?”

“You said the other villagers were weak, implying I’m not.”

“It’s not saying much.”

“Is that how you view the people here? Weak? Inferior? A waste of time?”

“I just don’t think any of the training they’re receiving will help.”

“Says the man with the busted face.”

“So I’m a man now and not a boy?” he smiled. “Well, thank you for that.”

“You shouldn’t thank me,” she said with leery eyes. “It’s unbecoming of bad boys. Your spell over me is weakening with every soft answer out of your plain and undesirably flat lips.”

“My lips happen to be grade A material.”

“Sorry,” she scoffed. “But I think we’ll have to stop here. I don’t usually flirt with guys who head-butt me when I meet them.”

“Yeah, but you said yourself, you don’t want to be lumped in with them,” he said, pointing outside the door. “You want to be different, right?”

“I want to be the best fighter here,” she chuckled. “Not someone’s girlfriend.”

“Who’s asking you out?”

“Well, it kind of sounds like you are.”

“If I was asking you to be my girlfriend, I would say so.”

“Right,” she said with a smirk. “I forgot. You’re that kind of guy…so I take it we’re friends now?”

“Why would you want to be friends with me?”

“Because we did good out there. We have a lot to learn from each other.”

“You caught me off guard by not dying in the fire. And then running at me butt-naked. I hardly call that a strategy.”

“Hey, you never know. It might save you someday,” she winked. He tried his best not to laugh at that one.

“In any case, I don’t have time to train anyone.”

“Why? Busy? Doing what? Brooding?”

“It’s a 24-hour job.”

“I won’t hold you back, as you just saw.”

“I see that,” he said. “And I respect what you were able to do to me out there. But…I’m not good with people…I have a temper. Sometimes I get emotional and just lose it. I don’t want to hurt you.”

“Ha,” Leah scoffed. “And that, ladies and gentleman, is the irony of the day.”

“I’m serious.”

“Why? Because I’m a girl?”

“No.”

“Because I’m just a Lowsunn villager?”

“No…I already said I respected your style.”

“Then what is it?”

“Everyone I’ve ever loved died,” he said suddenly.

“Tell me what happened,” Leah said in concern. Aidan shook his head and threw his arms over his knees.

“I won’t,” he said. Leah jumped to her feet and began marching over to him with clenched fists. He threw up his hands in surrender. “Alright. Cut it out. I’ll tell you. Just don’t force me to be in here any longer than I have to.”

“Agreed,” she said, plopping down beside him. “But I want to hear everything.”

“You can hear just fine from the other corner.”

“This corner is more comfy,” she said, scooting closer to him. “Besides, it’s cold in here.”

“Don’t expect me to take off my robe and give it to you.”

“I don’t expect you to be a gentleman at all,” she said, punching his shoulder. “Now hurry up. Tell me.”

“I just told you that everyone I’ve ever loved has died. Don’t you think it’s something that might take me a little bit of time to talk about?”

“Yeah, but that’s not you,” she said, looking at him. He refused to look back. “One of the reasons I was so happy to face you today is because you wear your heart on your sleeve. Don’t get me wrong. You’re a jerk to people, and–”

“– I get it,” he snapped.
“I know what you think of me.”

“You might want to work on that,” she laughed. “But you’re the type of man that when you love, you love strong. You fight strong. You believe strong. There’s no wishy-washiness –”

“– wishy-washiness?”

“– and there’s no deception or games. Who I see, is who you are. Being an Elder’s daughter – that’s something I appreciate more than you know. And you know what? I know now why you don’t want to tell me what happened.”

“Why?” he asked out of curiosity.

“Because you have feelings for me,” she said with a smile. “And they must be pretty serious. If you didn’t want to tell me at all about your past, you would just yell at me or bark some orders, or go crazy. But you’re not. For you to even admit that you’ve lost loved ones tells me that you want to open up to me. You’re just not sure of how far to take it because, as you said, you lose anyone you love. Still, you care.”

“I head-butt you in the face today,” Aidan snickered, finally meeting her eyes.

“And I tagged you back, you jerk.” The way her green eyes sparkled only made the churning in his stomach worse.

“Sorry about that,” he said, clenching his jaw. When Leah didn’t answer, he continued. “When Advent came…there was a firestorm. It hit my village and killed everyone there. Except for me.”

“Your village must have been on the edge of the Land of Bones.”

“Yeah,” he said, staring out into space. “We were one of the closest civilizations to ground zero and impact. The firestorm was just the shockwave. I didn’t know that for years though. The only thing that saved me was the Yen I had just received. Saw the Judge for the first and only time. Got the warning, like we all do…and I kept moving.”