“Sorry, Mr. Ferris... I don’t think I’ll be making it back. You satisfied, Summer? I didn’t let it win.” I weakly chuckle.
While I lay on the ground, I see particles of energy from the forest floor begin to ascend into the sky. Slowly, but surely, the moon and stars above begin to crumble and the scenery shifts into the pink landscape I’ve grown accustomed to from all of my time spent training.
And then, a set of feet emerge in front of me. “Well done, Aiden. Now, let’s go home.”
Chapter 11
When I come to, I find myself sprawled out on the ground with Mr. Ferris looking over me, eating an apple. “Welcome back to the land of the living. How do you feel?” I sit up and scrunch my face.
“Fine, I guess. How long was I out?” I ask while rotating my shoulder. I’m sore all over, but especially where I was impaled. “Did you just leave me here and go get food?”
“About thirty or so minutes, but I could tell that you were fine,” he answers nonchalantly. “You are fine, right?”
“Yeah...I think so...I just have a huge headache and I’m super sore, but I’m alive, so I’ll take it.”
“Cool. Glad to hear it, and to answer your other question, I always carry some snacks with me just in case I need them after a session. You hungry?” He tosses me an apple and smiles. “It’ll help.”
“Thank you,” I say, eyeing the fruit. “So, what happened? How did you find me?” I sink my teeth into the apple and break off a piece to chew. The sugary rush gives me a bit more energy, but putting something in my stomach just makes me realize how much my body is craving a decent meal.
“After we got separated, I was dragged into a dark abyss—kind of like the one we were in when we first entered. Once I was there, I had to fight off three of these demonic things.”
“Demonic...things?”
“Yeah, they had wings, could extend select parts of their bodies, released some sort of acid, and they were all downright insane. It was something your subconscious produced, so they looked like you, but disfigured in a way. Something was off about them. The eyes...the movements... They were depraved. It was like they had no soul.”
“Wait...back up...you fought three of them?” I take another bite and lean in closer.
“Yup. After I broke free, I saw another one of your doppelgangers after toughing it out on my own for a bit. I wasn’t going to fall for the same mistake twice, so I tested it to make sure. Once the gig was up, it started to fight me... It couldn’t do much as an individual, so it split in three...but even then...” He shrugs. “Yeah...they did okay though, I guess.”
“I fought one of those things and it almost killed me,” I confess.
“What you were facing was the real deal. I was dealing with cheap imitations. You beating yours was what brought me to you. You did good though, Aiden. I’m proud of you. I was worried, but you pushed through. I wasn’t sure that I’d be able to find you in time, which really would have sucked.”
“Thanks,” I rasp. He’s so casual about it, but he handled three of them on his own. I almost died taking out one. I know he said that mine was the main one, but still, Mr. Ferris is amazing. He was able to fight and do everything else without even seeming fazed. Even after sleeping for a bit, I’m still pooped.
“So, now for the real test...”
“Huh?” My ears perk up and I scrunch my face. “There’s more?”
“Well...yeah. The thing you came to me for in the first place. How are your powers? I know you’re exhausted, but do you think you have enough juice to try something you couldn’t do prior to today? No sweat if you can’t. I’m just curious. We’ve been doing a lot of training to build up your spirit and abilities, and now, in theory, you should be able to use them without your subconscious limiting you.”
“Right.” My gaze drifts down to my hand and I open my palm. “...Right, that makes sense. I’m curious, too.”
“Don’t push yourself too hard, but don’t push off seeing what you can do.”
“Okay.” I nod. “Here it goes.”
I search out the energy in my body and summon it into my palm. A dark flame sprouts and weaves between my fingers with little effort. I feed more into the flame, and it quickly grows in size. “There’s no pain or anything,” I muse.
“Nice...anything else you can do with it? Like what about something you practiced while training with me?”
“Hmm...” I close my hand into a fist, compacting my flames into a tightly coiled ball. My hand begins to tremble, so I call it off. “Yeah, there’s a difference for sure, but I’m too tired to do anything else without hurting myself.”
“Fair enough. Maybe now we can train out here when you’re ready.”
“I don’t think I’ll ever be ready for that. At least when I’m in my mind, I can wake up and be left decent. Out here, not so much.”
“You will one day, Aiden. Trust me. And you’ll get there before you know it.”
“So, what does this mean for you? Are you done here now or what?”
“I’m going to be around for a bit. I’ve been talking with Mr. Hoover, and there’re some things he may want me to teach to the upperclassmen in the future, but we’re working on it. It didn’t click with me how much the school’s schedule was thrown off, plus I have work of my own I need to do... Maybe like once a week or something or like on the weekends I could have a course. Maybe? I dunno.”
“Oh.”
“As for the more immediate course of action, at least for you, I’ve already gotten the green light from Mr. Hoover to have you excused from classes for the rest of the day.”
“What? When did you get a chance to do that?”
“While you were resting. You seem to be okay, but then again, you haven’t really moved around much, not to mention, when I found you, you’d taken a lot of damage. I don’t want you to randomly pass out in the middle of class or something.”
“Right. Yeah, for sure.”
“Also, I’ve already made an appointment at the infirmary for you, so see what they have to say, and then sleep it off if it’s nothing serious, got it?”
“Roger.”
“You’ve been through a lot, so be smart about it, and if you ever need to talk to me about anything, just know that I’m here for you. And if I’m not, you have my email.”
“I’ll keep that in mind, Mr. Ferris. Thanks.”
“No worries. Keep me posted on how everything goes, will ya?” He takes a bite of his fruit.
“Most definitely.”
I leave, finishing my apple on the way back to the main part of campus. It was cool how Mr. Ferris saw everything that was going on in my head, but he didn’t hold it against me. We all have things we’re battling with on the inside, and I guess with his ability, he’s seen way more than most. When he told me he was proud of me, I knew he meant it. Battling my demons and confronting my past was more than a mental exercise for me. It was life or death, and I came out victorious. I fought them and won.
Even though I was exhausted after that battle, I felt free. It gave me a sense of lightness that was hard to explain. It felt like I could finally breathe and begin to pick up the pieces. No more hiding. No more running. No more being afraid. In that moment, everything was perfect.
On the way to the infirmary, I sent Summer a text telling her that I’d be cutting class for the day, and that my training was complete. She didn’t answer because she was most likely sleeping. She put up a tough front after her battle and everything, but I know she expended a ton of energy. Everyone in that match was arguably amongst the top in our class, plus the strategy that Clarissa and her used depended on Summer being able to use taxing abilities, constantly.
“Mr. Cross?” My name gets called not even five seconds after I enter the infirmary by the lady working the front desk.
“Yes, ma’am, that’s me,” I respond, pointing to my chest.
“Perfect. One of the teachers put in a request for you to go through an immediate examinat
ion. Are you aware of this?”
“Yes, ma’am.”
“Okay, has any of your information changed since your last visit?”
“No, ma’am, everything’s the same.”
“All right, right this way.” She leads me to an examination room in the back. “Your nurse will be with you shortly.”
After she leaves, about a minute or so passes by before a new person pops in. “Hello, I’m Kendra,” she says while briefly scanning through my chart.
“Aiden,” I respond.
“Okay, so how are you feeling, Aiden? I understand that we’ve been requested to do a general checkup for you.”
“I’m fine for the most part, but it’s my head. I have a headache. A migraine. But other than that, I’m fine.”
“No soreness, abnormal swelling, dizziness, loss of balance, anything like that?”
“No, ma’am.”
“Okay.” She flips the page in my chart and nods. “The report here says that you’ve completed a special kind of training, and we’re to do a general sweep for injuries, so we’re going to begin. Is that okay?”
“Sure thing.” The examination starts, and the nurse continues to ask me an array of questions while touching various spots of my body. She finishes the session by healing me, getting rid of my headache and soreness. “Okay, that’s all for now. The Doctor will be in shortly to finish up.”
“Cool.”
“Do you need anything while you wait? Water maybe?”
“I’m fine, but thank you.”
The nurse leaves, and about a minute or so later, the door opens and another person walks in. Dr. Kresnik.
“How are you feeling this morning, Aiden?” he asks after shutting the door. “I’ve been following your progress through the reports sent from our staff. You’ve been working with Mr. Ferris, correct?”
“Yeah, I just finished his regimen earlier this morning...which is why I’m here. He helped me get through my mental block by fighting it...sort of...it’s complicated.”
“No reason to explain. Mr. Hoover gave me everything I need to know. Anything dealing with Mr. Ferris is always a surprise.” He chuckles.
“You know him?”
“Ah, yeah. He’s interesting, that’s for sure. Never a dull moment, right?”
“Ha. Yeah. I guess you can say that.”
“He’s very easy-going, but he’s also extremely talented. Even as a student his methods were unorthodox...but he got results. Interestingly enough, he was in here more times than I can recall when he was going through Crown’s combat program...always pushing himself to do more. Anyway,” he says breaking off his tangent, “I’m going to do a quick scan to see how everything’s coming along. You looked normal the last time I saw you, so I’ll be sure to alert you if anything’s run amok. I’m not sure if Mr. Ferris or Mr. Hoover told you, but you’re going to be seeing Ms. Stacy later today once I share my findings. Her abilities will be able to pinpoint any changes within your frame of mind.”
“Got it.” Dr. Kresnik searches my body for anything abnormal, but he doesn’t find anything wrong. He then makes me activate my powers while he does another pass.
“Hm...”
“What? Is something wrong?” I ask after powering down.
“No, nothing’s wrong. It’s just that your energy is denser than before, it seems. It’s flowing more efficiently; the result of Ferris’s training, I imagine.”
“Great...” I still haven’t really tried to push myself yet, but if Dr. Kresnik can see it, then it’s true. I’ve gotten stronger. The question is, how much?
“Yup, everything’s looking good, Aiden, but your energy is near depletion. Why don’t you rest up for a bit, and I’ll schedule an appointment with Ms. Stacy for one o’clock. That should give you enough time for lunch and everything, right?”
“Sounds good.”
“Perfect, I’ll have the front desk send you a notification via phone once everything is confirmed. There shouldn’t be a problem with scheduling, but if there’s an issue, my team will let you know.”
“I’ll be watching my phone then.”
“Hopefully not too hard.” He laughs. “It can mess with your sleep cycle... Take care.”
I leave the infirmary, and on the way to my dorm, the confirmation comes through. It’s for one, just like Dr. Kresnik said.
I open the door to our dorm and hear the faint sound of grunts and explosions bleeding out from Tyler’s room. “What up, T-man?” I pause before going into my room, but he doesn’t answer. I hear a loud bang and a grunt, and I chuckle. He was telling me earlier that the next two weeks are double experience per match, so he’s been grinding hard. I flip on the AC to drown him out, and head back to bed, my smile, still on my face.
“Aiden?” he yells from his room just as I begin to drift off. “Are you there? Did you say something? I’m pretty sure you said something? Wait...were you sleeping?”
“Nah, it’s cool man,” I say from my bed. “Everything’s fine.”
After my meeting with Ms. Stacy, she confirmed that everything was all right with me. Mr. Ferris’s methods had worked, and she couldn’t sense anything abnormal about my condition. I didn’t feel like anything was awry, either. Battling my fear...facing my demons...it was what I needed to give me the confidence to continue to try my best. I had all of this power in me, but I was holding myself back because of how I felt.
With all of that gone, I just feel...lighter...like I don’t have that huge weight pressing down on me anymore. This morning, when I went to sleep, it was peaceful. I closed my eyes, I slept, and I woke up refreshed. No nightmares. No night sweats. No anxiety. It’s all gone, and I’ve never felt better.
After taking things slow for so long, I decided to take things slow for my day off. I called up Uncle Erwin, chatted it up with my friends after dinner, and even had a chance to watch a movie that Erik had been dying for us all to see. It was something that absolutely made no sense. It was if a giant ant took over the world, and we were forced to dig tunnels for them. It was a Swedish film or something that won a bunch of awards.
The next morning, I woke up, good as new, business as usual. Summer and I didn’t talk much, but she wasn’t pressing me. I could tell she could see that I was happier now, and that was good enough for her at the moment. I felt bad for pushing her away. I never really apologized for it, but I need to, and soon. She’s one of the few people who took a chance on me over here when I first started. People like that are hard to find, and she deserves more for having my back all the time. A lot more.
Chapter 12
“So, you’ve been keeping everything such a secret for so long, I was beginning to forget what you can even do,” Summer says to me, her hand resting on her hip. Mr. Hoover and Ms. Cosgrove had just briefed us on the lesson for the day, and we were to practice it on our training partner. Seeing that it was my first time back after being excused again, Summer thought she’d do the honors of reintroducing me to the art of combat by being my buddy for the day after I changed into my new suit.
“Hey, let’s not go that far...I’m just happy that I can fight again.” I summon a blaze of fire in my palm and quickly diffuse it by clenching my hand into a fist. I then rotate my hand, analyzing the threading on my suit.
“Ah, so you’ve got the itch, I see. Finally,” she says with an overblown sigh.
“Itch? What? No! It’s not like that. It’s just that it’s been so long since I’ve been able to compete with everyone else. It felt like I was isolated, in a way.”
“But wasn’t that your own doing?”
“Not ex—”
“Aiden...” I pivot my body and see Tristen, arms folded, staring me down.
“Yeah, what do you want?” Summer answers in my place before I can say anything, and I notice the air around me dropping a couple degrees.
“I wasn’t talking to you.”
Summer steps forward, but I shoot my hand to the side, halting her progress.
“It’s fine,” I say to Summer, my gaze still focused on Tristen. The temperature shifts back to normal, but I can tell that she’s still tense, and rightfully so. This is the same guy who sent a bunch of his goons after me just because our team beat his. I never realized it, but in a way, he was acting just like Von... I know he’s not on Dox, Tristen’s too prideful for that, but at the same time, his pride is what makes him so unhinged. “What do you want?”
“I see that you’re back, for real this time...”
“Yeah, what about it?”
“Rumor has it that you just finished some special type of training.”
“I did... And it wasn’t a rumor. It was the truth,” I respond coldly.
“I see that... You’re different now, I can tell. I guess you mastered that ability you showed when you beat Von... Took you long enough. You know, back then, when you were fighting Von, if you didn’t do anything to save yourself, I would have had to step in.”
“Me almost dying wasn’t enough? What about the other students? What about them?”
“Hmph. That’s a good question. What about the other students? They stayed on the sidelines because they knew they didn’t have a chance. It doesn’t take a genius to figure out that Von targeted you because you were strong. I was on the way when I heard the commotion, just like everyone else who could have intervened. You maimed him, but for me personally, I would have killed him. He had no business doing what he did. Von was a weak, misguided idiot, but he was right about one thing. You have gotten stronger, Aiden. A lot stronger... Just know that I’ll always be stronger.”
“I doubt that... I think you’re afraid... You’ve always been afraid... That’s why you made my life hell when I first got here. You wanted to keep your spot at the top.”
“Call it what you want. We shouldn’t even be in the same class.”
“That’s funny, considering what happened the last time we fought.” I smirk.
“Your team won, but you didn’t beat me. You had help, and there were rules.”
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