by J Gaines
“But how can it possibly help me?”
“I can’t tell you for sure. But I feel the power inside you is different to that of any altéré I’ve met. Virgil told me about your life and that you’ve never met your parents. They haven’t been able to help shape your life, but maybe they gave you a gift, and that gift is the power you carry. It’s what you can draw your strength from, it’s what fuels your compassion and drives you to put others first. As your physiology has evolved and grown, so has your love; it’s developed and formed and now it’s the purest and strongest thing you have. Use it. It could be when you’re so deep in trouble that you can only see darkness that you’ll need it. That’s when the survival instinct will kick in, when you’re approaching your last breath and the last image you see will be your greatest love, and it’ll be telling you to stay alive a little bit longer.”
“I’m scared. I never used to feel that.”
“I know. And you should be. But what you have that Kaden doesn’t is people who believe in you. You have friends who know you’ll do the right thing for them, no matter what. Focus your mind on that from this moment on; believe in yourself and your abilities.”
Suddenly he felt the same urge he’d felt with John: a yearning to tell her Kaden was his brother. “Did Virgil ever tell you anything about my parents?”
Olivia shook her head and looked at him sadly. “Not anything other than he suspected they were both dead. I think he held a hope your father was alive, despite what he’d been told. If he knew more, then he took it to the grave. Why do you ask?” She studied his face carefully, as if suspecting he was holding something back.
He hesitated as the words rose to his lips. “Do you think there could be another reason why I’m different?”
“Like what?”
He clenched his jaw. “I don’t know.” He swallowed hard and made a decision. “People keep telling me I’m different. It’s hard to accept, that’s all. Especially when you don’t know where you came from.”
Olivia nodded. “I understand, but try your best to ignore the past for now. It seems likely that pain lies behind you.”
Amias grimaced. “And pain lies ahead.”
Olivia laughed. “It does as long as you defend yourself like a seven-year-old. Now pick another two Bokkens, I can see we’re going to have some long hours of practice ahead of us.”
Amias walked to the weapons rack. He placed his hand around the hilt of a Bokken and squeezed the solid wood tightly, sliding it out of its hole. Then he took another and slowly walked back to stand opposite Olivia.
“You’ve taken the first step, Amias. Let’s see if you can take the next one. Ready yourself.”
Amias felt his hands tingle and his heart beat faster. “Show me.”
Chapter 19
Water trickled down from his wet hair and onto his forehead. From there, it ran down his nose and fell into his mouth. It tasted salty and he licked his lips. This was the second time in a day he’d been revived by Olivia after being knocked unconscious, and he was angry with himself.
“What’s with you today?” asked Olivia. The frustration in her voice was painfully obvious.
He thoughtfully ran his tongue around the inside of his mouth and tasted blood, his mind wandering suddenly into the past. He wasn’t sure what was with him today, but whatever it was, it wasn’t helping. Running his fingers through his hair, wet with sweat and water, he rolled onto his knees, ignoring the glare from his new mentor. He’d paid for his lack of focus in pain.
“Amias?”
Unready to resume his lesson, he ignored her. He closed his eyes, desperately looking inwards for the reason as to why he couldn’t concentrate. An agonisingly painful strike to his back brought him reeling back into the moment and he rose, turning slowly to face her.
“You’re fighting like the day we started your training. Have you learned nothing?”
Amias gritted his teeth and picked up his weapon. “I’m fine. Let’s go.”
He didn’t notice Olivia’s eyes widening slightly in surprise. She nodded and positioned herself in readiness for his attack. He stepped forward, holding his Bokken with two hands as he pursued his evasive teacher and sliced thin air. He was running through the motions, disconnected and irritated with himself. Despite the fact he felt he’d progressed considerably since their first encounter, he still hadn’t managed to land a blow on any part of her body.
As their Bokkens moved at a pace he and John had not managed, he could feel her establishing control. She was allowing him to attack but was still always a split second quicker in her defence, parrying away his strikes with ease. Her eyes were focussed on his every move, occasionally giving him instructions as he tried to better her. He ignored the frustration that bubbled behind each attempt and as he pressed towards his elusive target, she shouted at him to move faster, rapping her wooden blade against his knuckles. He gritted his teeth in pain and raced forwards, lashing at her with his strikes until, all of a sudden, their blades became a blur of black and brown.
“You’re still holding back,” she screamed over the crash of their weapons. “Fight me as if Jasmine’s life depended on it!”
As his hands and arms worked tirelessly, for a moment he almost felt as if he were no longer controlling them. The two of them were now in perfect symmetry, mirroring each other’s strikes in a unison of noise. Pressing his attack, he felt a release and cried out as his body channelled every bit of energy he had into beating his teacher. As he attacked, Olivia stepped slowly backwards towards the wall of the gymnasium, and as her back neared the concrete he saw his opportunity for victory. Readying himself to take advantage of her position, he was about to strike when he became aware of a peculiar feeling. Olivia was planning a change in her attack; he wasn’t sure how he knew, but he was sure it was coming. And then, as with John, for a split second he saw it happen in his mind. Olivia used her strength to knock the blade from his hands; it flew into the air and she rolled backwards and caught it, leaving Amias without a weapon, defenceless.
Suddenly the vision was gone, and time seemed to change. They were moving in slow motion as Olivia’s body movement changed and the coming strike began to arch its way towards him. Unable to avoid the move, he felt the blade leave his grasp and fly into the air. Olivia was already moving into a roll as she moved to catch it, but instead of remaining still, he rolled forward, following her. As she rose, she reached out and caught the blade as he arose. Amias, without a weapon and acting on instinct alone, threw a punch towards her chest; as his blow travelled towards her, victory was an instant away. His strike had almost reached his destination when it was stopped, and his knuckles met with a wall of wood. Olivia had made the only move she could to avoid his blow, bringing the blades across her to make a large x-shape, in the centre of which his fist had stopped. As they held their position, Olivia broke into a smile.
“That was unexpected. I think you’ve been holding out on me!”
He pulled his fist back. “What do you mean?”
“You anticipated my move. How did you do it?”
“I don’t know. Sometimes I see what’s going to happen, but then I’m not sure if I’ve seen it or imagined it. It happened for the first time with John. And then again the night I was captured.”
“ESP. Extrasensory Perception,” she pronounced, in an almost matter-of-fact tone. “Have you always felt this when you’re fighting?”
Amias shook his head. “No, the time I was captured, it was when I was hiding and about to be discovered.”
“So, you were in danger. That makes sense. And just then, how would you describe your state of mind when you were fighting and you received the precognition?”
“I don’t know, I guess I wasn’t really thinking about what I was doing. I definitely wasn’t trying to experience whatever it was that just happened.” He stopped and tried to recolle
ct his feelings. “I don’t think I could do it again if I wanted to. It just seems to happen.”
Olivia nodded. “Well, at least you can take some comfort that it did happen. The altéré have fast reactions, and we’re strong and quick, but I’ve never known even one of our kind that could sense the future. The next step is to master it.”
“How can I master something when I don’t even know how I do it?”
“You’ve already mastered the ability to trigger your strength and speed when you need it. Your hand-to-hand fighting skills have developed, and your abilities with the sword are getting there.”
“Getting there? I haven’t even registered a strike of any kind on you!”
Olivia smiled. “Don’t be disheartened… not many have.”
“You’re the best I’ve ever known with the sword. Why don’t you face Kaden: surely you’re a match for him?”
Olivia nodded and walked to the weapons rack, sliding the Bokken into it. “It’s possible I am a match for him, at least with a weapon. But I think you were right, we need to join our strength and face his threat together. It’s the only way we have a chance of victory. I’ve made a choice to help prepare you and the others for that.” She turned to him. “This training is so you’re ready for when that happens. And so you have a chance if you have to face him alone.” Amias was about to speak when Olivia held her finger up to silence him. “That’s all for today. I’ll see you tomorrow morning at five.”
“Do we always have to start so early?” Amias groaned. But she had already gone and he was left standing alone in the gymnasium.
*
As he seated himself opposite Max’s cell, he occasionally glanced over at Jasmine to try and catch her eye. Max stopped abruptly. “We both know why you come here, Amias, but do you need to make it so obvious?”
He turned to Max, feeling embarrassed, and a little angry with himself. “What am I supposed to do?” he asked, lowering his voice.
Thankfully Max also lowered his. “I don’t know. But it must be disturbing her a little bit. You keep coming down here, pretending to see me, and all you do is stare at her. She must think you’re a little weird.”
Amias smiled. “Who said I’m pretending to see you? If I’m honest, you and Jasmine are the only two people I feel like talking to in this place. And only one of you is willing to talk to me.”
Max spread out his arms. “I’ll chat with you all day and night. It beats her company.”
“Has she talked to you yet?” Amias stammered slightly, feeling apprehensive about asking his next question. “Has she talked to anyone?”
“She thanks the guards who bring her food. And she talks in her sleep. That’s the only time I hear her speak and I know that she can.”
Amias envied him. On the occasions he’d visited her, he’d not heard her voice once. A small part of him wanted to wait in the cells until he heard it, no matter how long it took. But as Max had so aptly put it, that would only make him seem weirder than he already did. He wondered suddenly if she even realised he was there, and then put the thought out of his head. She knows… I know it. “I should go.”
“You haven’t told me how your training’s been going.”
Amias smiled. “I’ve given up wondering how you know this stuff.” He shook his head. “It’s been challenging.”
Max nodded knowingly. “I hear she’s one of the best. She’s the one who gave Virgil the Mashima sword. And she was trained by the Master Mashima himself.”
Surprise and annoyance stung Amias at the same time, and he gritted his teeth. “Olivia didn’t tell me it was her sword.”
“Kaden told me it belonged to her, and that she passed it on to Virgil when his training was complete. But it’s yours now, I guess, so what does it matter?”
“I need to go.” He nodded at Max and then turned subconsciously to Jasmine’s cell. To his surprise, he found that she was standing up and staring right at him. He held her gaze for a moment and swallowed, suddenly unsure of how to respond. He didn’t recognise the look in her eyes, and he took a tentative step towards her cell. She didn’t move, so he spoke. “Do you remember me?” There was no reply, so he took another step forwards. “You were hurt, Jasmine. You’ve lost your memory. We’re friends.” There was so much more he wanted to fit into those three short sentences. His heart raced as she continued to watch him. He felt elated that there was progress, but there was something in the way she looked at him that he didn’t understand. Her brown eyes were wide, and she looked scared.
He walked closer to the glass and carefully placed his palm on it. Her eyes turned to his hand and her head cocked slightly, as if she didn’t fully understand the gesture. He waited, unsure of what to expect. She looked back into his eyes and frowned. He watched patiently, willing a response he’d dreamed of since she’d returned. He was about to speak again when she turned away suddenly, walking to her bed and sitting down with her back to him. He tapped his fist softly on the glass and let his forehead fall against it. Although he knew it was more than he could have hoped for, it didn’t make it any easier to walk away. He closed his eyes tightly and had to use both hands to physically push himself from the glass.
“I thought that was it,” Max whispered. Amias turned to him; he’d forgotten he was there.
“Me too. I’ll see you tomorrow.” His legs felt like lead, and it was as if his body were trying to stop him leaving. He managed to put one foot in front of the other and struggled to push open the door. Once he was outside he dropped to the ground and sat cross-legged with his head bowed in the darkness.
*
When John found him, he wasn’t sure how long he’d been sitting alone. “I’ve been looking for you, Amias.” John turned and looked towards the prison where two guards stood talking, illuminated by the light from inside. “Still no joy?” Amias shook his head. “Olivia tells me your training is going better than she expected?” John asked, changing the subject quickly.
Amias sniffed. “That’s not what she tells me.”
John laughed. “Which is Olivia’s way. She likes to keep her students guessing. I think it was two weeks before she even spoke to me.” He waited for a response from Amias. “I thought it would be good for you to know anyway. It looks like you need some good news.”
“She’s different from how I imagined she would be.”
John laughed. “Harder than you expected, hey?”
Amias nodded. “In every way. It’s like one of her abilities is a protective barrier that nobody can penetrate. Her demeanour never changes.”
“I thought the same when I was her student,” replied John. “But then, when she became my friend, I realised she is more than the greatest fighter and mentor we have, she’s a true and loyal friend. It hurt her deeply to lose Virgil. I think it was more painful to her than to anyone.”
“Then why doesn’t she fight for us?”
“She decided a long time ago that she would train our kind, rather than fight herself. Itaru Mashima himself made the same choice. After a long time, they both believed that killing begins to erode the soul.”
“Even if it’s for good?” cried Amias.
“Who’s to say who’s good and who’s not?”
“We know what Kaden is doing is wrong. Do they think he is righteous in any way?” retorted Amias.
“No. But we should honour their choice. They’ve given us the tools we need to fight for ourselves, and we should be grateful for that.” There was a long silence which John seemed happy to allow.
“I thought Jasmine recognised me. The way she looked at me, there was something there, I know it.”
“It’ll take time with Jasmine, son. I only met her once, but in that time, it was obvious she wasn’t someone who would easily give up. She’s here for a reason, and maybe that reason is you.”
“You don�
��t think she’s here for Kaden now?”
John paused for a moment. “I’ve been keeping a close eye on her, and I think either she’s an amazing actress, or she’s very lost and hurt. I choose to believe it’s the latter. I choose to believe she is here so that you can heal each other.”
Amias turned to look at him. He wanted to reply and show him some kind of acknowledgement, but he couldn’t find the words. It was then that he realised he didn’t need to, John knew him better than he realised, maybe even better than he knew himself. “Max told me my Mashima sword was once Olivia’s?”
“Max told you?” John remarked ruefully. “Yes. The sword was passed to her by Itaru Mashima. It is tradition for the greatest weapons to be passed to the teacher’s best student. Olivia then passed it to Virgil, and Virgil to Kaden. And now it has come to you.”
“But it belongs to her. I should give it back.”
“She wouldn’t accept it now. And I think she would want you to have it.”
“I’m far from her best student,” he replied.
“But I think even she’s beginning to believe you are our best hope.” Silence followed, and Amias noticed something different in John’s face. Although his dark hair and beard showed signs of greying, his face had always looked remarkably young. But now, as Amias looked at him, he saw lines of age he’d not noticed before. His dark eyebrows were knitted together above his eyes in a frown.
“How long can we live like this, John?”
John was silent for a long time, and as Amias was beginning to wonder if he’d even heard the question, he turned to him. “As long as we must. Unfortunately, the task of dealing with Kaden has fallen at my door. I can’t rest until we’re free of his threat.”
Inside, Amias was desperately struggling with the urge to tell John that Kaden was his brother. He suddenly felt unsure whether he’d understand; he looked at John’s now bowed head and wanted to touch it, and tell him Kaden wasn’t just his cross to bear. He felt his hand twitch slightly but held back. A large raindrop fell on his neck and ran down his back. As he looked up, more rain splashed into his face.