Anaar thought on these words for a long time. He had never considered it in such a manner, but if he reviewed it through such a framework, he really could be seen as someone who looked down on the efforts of others as inconsequential. It felt as if when he did bad, it was always something major, so it was only appropriate to expect good on a similar scale.
Master Shin finally broke his thoughts by asking him a question. “What do you intend to do with this twin of yours?”
“Well… I haven’t quite figured that out yet. I want to get to know him. I want to figure out how we came to be separated. I want to know why he hates me. Even though I know he tried to kill Phavian, and he caused absurd damages in Haxby for what appeared to be nothing more than fun, something in me can’t help but… love him, I think? Can you love someone you don’t know?”
“I believe you can love your idea of them.”
“I know he isn’t winning any humanitarian of the year awards, but even if he hadn’t said it, he is without a doubt my brother. My identical twin at that. We are genetically the same. We shared a womb. Something inside me feels that and says nothing will change that bond, no matter how messed up he may be.”
“How do you plan to find him?”
“That is the question of the hour. I am going to start from the beginning by talking to my mom. I know she loves me, but there must be things she isn’t telling me. Now that I know what it is, I think I can feel him. I don’t know how that will translate into finding him, but I can only hope my ability to make portals will help lead me to him. Of course I could always watch the news for reports of burning cities…”
“Are you two equal in strength?”
“You know what? Not even close. It is odd. That is something else I want to understand. If we are the same, how are we also so different? His echelon laughs at mine, and even his abilities seem more… advanced I guess? Like they are something even more than they appear. I on the other hand have all these abilities I thought I was good at but apparently not. The age old quality vs quantity argument.”
Master Shin said nothing after that, only sitting quietly for a while. When the two had passed some time, Anaar asked the question regarding what he felt Master Shin had been implying.
“Do you think I will have to fight him?”
“That is a question I could not even begin to answer. Has he tried to hurt you?”
“Hmmm… What is your definition of hurt?”
Master Shin gave him a look that could not believe that was a serious question.
“Hey! Don’t look at me like that! I mean, he tried to kill my boyfriend. He was pretty sure he did. He tried to frame me for going on a rampage in Haxby. I would say that would be pretty extreme older sibling behavior, even for two weirdos like us.”
“I was more speaking in a physical sense, but those are valid as well.”
“He did blow me up. Well, not really, he blew up the ground below me. Thinking back on it, pretty sure that would have killed a normal person.”
“So he has physically attacked you.”
“Well…. Yeah… but I mean, if he thought we had the same abilities, he must have known that wouldn’t do anything to me. He doesn’t have any way to know what powers I have besides speculation. If I couldn’t see it clearly, I know I would have assumed we had the same powers. I think he blew me up so I couldn’t give chase? Wow, this is really starting to sound like a bad cartoon now.”
For the first time, Anaar was sure he could see Master Shin becoming visibly annoyed with him. “Has he, or has he not tried to physically harm you?”
“I am going to go with no. Simply because if he wanted to, he could have done much worse than just blowing up the ground beneath me. Unless he can’t manipulate human matter like I can… I’m still going to go with no for now.”
“I hope for your sake you are able to resolve things between the two of you. When will you depart?”
“Tomorrow morning. I still have a few more stops I need to make before I go.”
“What about your Mid-Year Melee?”
“Why is everyone so concerned about the Melee? Ixnes was all up in arms about it too. Don’t worry, in some weird show of adoptive nepotism, she is postponing it until I get back.”
“Who will take care of the fool in your absence?”
“Who? Phavian? That’s what he has you for! I am also pretty sure he is going to drive Harston nuts. If all else fails, Maggie and Codi will make sure he doesn’t get too out of control.”
“It appears you have more responsibilities than I failed to account for. It is good Phavian is going to be cared for, but I meant the small one.”
“Oh Peter?! He’ll be fine. He is a little misguided, especially since getting humiliated by you, and not doing as well as he would have liked in his Melee, but he has been refocused. He also has Codi to take care of him too.”
“And the girl?”
“She is one of my stops. It is going to be hard explaining to her, but she is quite intelligent, so while she won’t like it, she will understand. She really likes Maggie, so I will have those two lean on each other while I am gone.”
“You have taken appropriate measures for your affairs. This is good. I wish you the best outcome in your journey.”
“Thanks Master Shin. I really appreciate being able to talk through this with you before I head out.”
He stands and turns to leave, but is stopped by Master Shin clearing his throat and looking expectantly at the scattered daggers all about the room.
“Really?! You threw them at me first!”
Huffing, he looks around the room, small portals opening beneath each of the daggers. They then deposit themselves with a clatter onto the floor next to Master Shin, who gives him an absolutely filthy look in return. Sheepishly he looks at the messy pile of daggers on the floor while scratching the back of his neck.
“Sorry… Ripp really made that look so easy. I have such a long way before I get to the precise level of control she has.”
With a smile, he gives a wave and bounds out the door, all the while feeling the disapproving glare of Master Shin at his back.
28
Pryshka had always found simply working out boring. If anyone saw the chiseled physique she liked to display, they would presume she did nothing but exercise. She had tried many times to get Codi into a regimen with her, but no matter what she tried or offered, nothing would sway the naturally small and thin woman.
Instead of simply exercising, she found whatever way she could to infuse anything from martial arts training, to dance, to feats of strength. Those who frequented the gym had become accustomed to wondering what new slice of insanity she had worked up for herself. In her opinion, simply creating new things to do was a workout, as mental stimulation was just as important as training the body.
Pryshka was doing a bout of tumbling, however she had a number of weights strapped to her body that would throw off her balance and weigh her down, causing her to find ways to overcome it. With all the commotion that was going on in town, classes had been canceled for the rest of the day. She found it a waste to sit around doing nothing, so she started her workout early. She was taking a small break, voraciously consuming a bottle of water when she heard a voice call her name.
“Hey Pryshka! At it as usual.”
She turned to find Anaar giving her an unusually large smile. Though he was not unpleasant, Anaar was without a doubt the demurer of the duo that made up the kings of the school. She would have expected such vibrance from Phavian, but for Anaar it had an affected feel to it.
“Hey! How… did you know I was here? You don’t look like you are working out, so I doubt you were just passing by.”
“We are both creatures of habit. With classes canceled, there was a good chance you would be working out.”
“Does that mean you are about to do the same?”
“No, I already worked out this morning, but from what you were doing, I must admit it could change my mind.”
>
“We’d have to get some heavier weights then.”
Waving a hand while chuckling nervously, “Yeah, on second thought I’d better not. I did come to see you though.”
“Really? You have been pretty absent of late. I thought you were either extremely busy or I had done something to make you mad.”
“Yes to the former, no to the latter. It is as if some cosmic entity sees fit to jam my day full of every activity it possibly can.”
Finding herself grinning at his statement, “Codi really has you pegged.”
“What do you mean?”
“You like to pretend everyone but you are to blame for piling on the responsibilities, when in reality you leap into something new the first chance you get.”
“That… Okay, there may be some truth to that.”
“What can I do for you? Here to drop another trainee in my lap?”
“That was only because it was Maggie! You have worked wonders for her though, so it wasn’t as if my faith was misplaced.”
“I know, I just have to tease you. It feels like I haven’t had the chance to talk to you one on one in ages. We are always in a group or passing one another by.”
“Well I don’t want to take up too much of your time, I know how annoyed I get when people disturb my workout. I am going to be taking a leave from school, and honestly I don’t know what it will mean for me. I had to come talk to you about something really important before I go. I don’t want something to cause me to never have the chance.”
“You are leaving?! And it sounds like you are going to war! What is going on?!”
“Nothing you have to worry about, this conversation is all about you so let’s forget me.”
“Okay… You have said a lot of scary and ominous things and then brushed it off like nothing. I don’t think I like where the conversation is headed.”
“I hope you do. You know how I had asked you before exactly what your manifestation does, and you told me that you don’t have one?”
“That’s because I don’t. Just lots of hard work and dedication.”
Letting out a heavy breath, “Oh boy… this might not go the way I imagined it.”
“Anaar what are you talking about? I know you get all weird when it comes to attunements and such. It’s like your drug.”
“Going to bypass that comment… Pryshka, you don’t think you are a Quintessence because your manifestation is one never before discovered. That or it has gone undetected, similarly to how yours has for all this time.”
“I know you are some kind of genius, but how are you going to tell someone what they are?!”
“I don’t want to argue or make you upset. Please just hear me out.”
“Fine. Talk.”
“You easily sit at the top of your class because you are so good at so many things.”
“Because I work hard to get to that point.”
“And no one is saying otherwise. But, I have a question for you. On average, how long does it take you to become familiar with a concept, or an exercise?”
“I don’t know, the normal amount?”
“That is where you are wrong. Everyone knows that as you have so aptly put, I might have a slight obsession with affinity theory and research.” He notices the look on her face and sighs, “Okay, I’m completely apeshit for it. Better?”
“As long as we are calling it how it is. Go on.”
“Not to sound creepy, I’m sure Codi would kill me otherwise, but I have been studying you ever since we met.”
“Studying how?”
“Well you know I’m Dr. Darst’s assistant right?”
“Yes…”
“Through a number of tests that I have done, I have ascertained your manifestation is tied to your level of comprehension.”
“What does that even mean? How did you come to that conclusion? What tests?!”
“Maggie was one of these tests. Don’t worry she has no clue, so I will get a thorough beating from her when she finds out. According to Maggie, it took you just a few hours to completely create a new artform for her fan. As it stands, you can no doubt wield it much better than she can, at least as a melee weapon.”
“I don’t understand how that proves anything. I simply drew on all the other things I knew and pieced it together.”
“I get that, and of course that is part of it. Even still, Maggie herself had serious doubts about coming to you when she first saw your interactions with the fan.”
“That is just normal. It takes time to get used to the weight, the speed, the range, all of those don’t just magically appear.”
“Of course not, but what I am saying is that the crux of your power is that your mind will always move toward refining something to its most efficient state. I have watched you fight. The longer you fight, the better you get. You automatically readjust for the patterns of your opponent without even knowing it.”
“You must understand how insane this sounds right? I’m a Quintessence with… efficiency powers?!”
“I’m sure most people thought manifestations were insane the first few times they appeared. We only accept them because we understand it is possible. The very first time someone created a portal, a doorway that connects two places in space as if they are adjacent, people were skeptical, they probably called the person insane. Now it is such an understood part of our world we would not think to question it. No one spends time contemplating the sheer physics of such a phenomenon. Okay, some of us do, but most people don’t.”
“If what you are saying is true, and believe me when I say I am only even considering this because it is coming from you and backed by Dr. Darst, is there a better name for it than efficiency power?”
“Typically, when a manifestation is discovered, it is given a name by the person who discovered it, or legitimized it. The name can be very literal, or a figurative representation. Dan is called a Papermaster rather than a Paperkinetic or something.”
“Please tell me you have something better in mind.”
“Actually, I do.” Giving a slight bow, “My lady Pryshka, you are officially part of the extremely rare group who host a completely unique manifestation. At least for now, you are the only bearer of the ability Centripetus.”
“Did you really need to put on the show as if you were knighting me?”
“This is a huge deal! Having a one of a kind manifestation is probably one of the greatest honors I can think of!”
“You know, the silent brooding type is a much better look for you.”
“Sure, I might seem a bit overzealous, but do you know what this means?!”
“It means I’m no longer special.”
“I don’t understand…”
She can see the genuine confusion in his face, something that she is certain she had never witnessed before. With a sigh and a frown, she flops to the floor, the weights attached to her suddenly becoming more than she can bear.
“Take a look at the top of the classes, the top of the school, the top of the world. What do they all have in common?”
At first he still could not understand where she was going, and then it suddenly became clear why she was not happy about the situation. “They are all Quintessences.”
“Exactly. Even though people acknowledge the inequity of those who are Water, or even Air attuned compared to Fire or Earth, it seems everyone refuses to see the different classes Quintessences make. I know I am a Water Affinity. I have been lavished with privilege my entire life, so I have little room to talk, but I don’t understand why everyone thinks it is still ok to discriminate based on manifestation.”
“Pryshka…”
“No! Even during times of slavery, Earth and Fire Quintessences were treated much differently than those who were not. They were given positions of power and dominance over their counterparts without manifestations. Maybe it has to do with the fact that there are so few Quintessences in the world, people see them as a minority, so they are celebrated. The truth is, it doesn’t m
atter how many people are in the group, what matters is the power over others they wield! Look at Water Affinities! We are easily the minority, but we are vastly greater in power and status than everyone else. That isn’t okay!”
Anaar lowers himself beside her, hesitantly placing a hand on her shoulder. With her head bowed, her crimson bangs dangle, and he could see tears begin falling to the floor from behind them. Never had he imagined something that he felt could be so joyous could instead be utterly devastating for another person.
“I’m sorry. I didn’t mean… I was presumptive…”
She lunges forward, hugging him tightly. He closes his arms around her, simply holding her and being present for as long as she needed. He could feel his shirt moistening, but it was of no matter. He had once again crushed someone’s world. She finally sits back on her haunches, wiping the tears from her eyes.
“I’m a fraud. That is why I didn’t want to hear what you had to say. It felt good to know that even as a Water Affinity, I too could be part of a marginalized group, but rather than allowing it to crush me, I rose above. I have always tried to use my privilege to help others less fortunate than me, but I think a part of me did that because on the inside I wanted to pretend I was just like them. At the end of the day, even if I weren’t a Quintessence, it was never true.”
“Just because you now know, doesn’t mean you have to change who you are.”
“Of course it doesn’t, because deep down I always knew. One day school just got easier, I could suddenly play sports at a high level, and I found myself always tweaking, more and more until things became just right. I had hoped I simply had finally come out of my goofy stage. I had never heard of an ability that made you good at anything you put your mind to, so it had to just be all my hard work right?”
“Passive abilities can be really tricky Pryshka. Don’t blame yourself. Water Affinities have lots of passive manifestations that can go unnoticed. I mean what about the Immortal who had no idea until the found themselves coming back from a mortal wound, or they just stopped aging altogether?”
Apotheosis (Song of Sophangence Book 3) Page 35