by Dani Hoots
Dan laughed. “I could see that. But where we are going you don’t have to worry about others seeing you. We will be secluded for a while.”
I didn’t ask any more questions, knowing that it would all be revealed to me shortly, and learning anything ahead of time wouldn’t give me any advantage. I was to train my powers at last, and there was no way I knew how that was going to happen.
When I thought about it, it was probably a good idea to go somewhere secluded. If we were in the training room and something went wrong, like terribly wrong, I could hurt the Capitol Building, and Joss would be pretty pissed if I did that. And, of course, we didn’t particularly want any others seeing us, as it wasn’t normal for someone to manipulate elements, or whatever we were going to do. I was an illusionist and I knew it wasn’t going to be so simple as what David and the others had to learn. No, what I had to do was more complicated, it wasn’t taking something and making it work for me. It was creating something completely different.
At least, that’s what I heard. I really didn’t know.
We grabbed a Class Two hovercraft and Dan piloted it to where he wanted to train. I could barely sit still, excited that I finally got to learn what I was capable of. For some reason, Violet wouldn’t teach me such things, warned me that my powers were like a curse, but I didn’t care. I saw them as something I could wield to defend myself, something I could use to finally be as powerful as I wanted, to not have to worry about others trying to hurt me. I would always have the advantage. No one would dare go against me.
I watched out the window as we left the city and went into the outskirts. It was so secluded here, so pristine. There was so much nature that appeared untouched by human hands, as many wanted to keep it that way. It was almost like Garvner in a way, but actually technologically adequate compared to that planet. I hadn’t been back to my home world since before we came back in time. I couldn’t even imagine what it would be like in the time we were at.
Oh, right. It would be exactly the same.
Dan flew us to a small little island off the coast and landed. There was nothing here except jungle and sand. Were we really going to train here? It was sort of strange. I thought we would at least be in some abandoned building.
“Now,” Dan said as he unbuckled himself. “Let’s get started.”
CHAPTER 15
“What are we doing way out here? Seems a little odd,” I said as I looked around. There really was nothing but sand, water, and jungle. I doubted there were any animals on the island, other than birds, but for some reason I had an irrational fear that a large cat was going to pounce on me. Stupid Brayen and him scaring me on Sanshli when we first arrived to the planet. He had been Violet’s best friend, and guarded the planet for thousands of years. I couldn’t believe he had so much dedication. But I would never get the irrational fear that an animal was going to attack me out of my head, not to mention I still had nightmares every once in a while about such things happening. Though this time instead of warning me what would happen, it was just my fear of it all replaying again and again. I swore if I saw Brayen again, I would deck him.
“We are going to work on element manipulation, of course.” Dan sat down on a rock. It didn’t look so comfortable, therefore I would prefer just to sit on the sand. It had been a while since I had lay down on the sand. The last time was probably with Jack actually.
Dan broke my train of thought. “Now, see the ocean over there? Make an orb out of the water and send it directly at me.”
I raised an eyebrow. “Really? You want me to get you soaking wet?” I glanced over at the ocean. “And how? I have no idea how to do that.”
“Just concentrate. Want it, think about how it would look, how it would feel in your mind. That is all you need to do.”
“Psh, easy for you to say,” I mumbled. He wasn’t the one doing this, but I was told that he was the one who helped the others train. He must just be a good teacher or something, or pissed the others off enough that they mastered their element so they didn’t have to deal with him any longer. I wasn’t quite sure which it was, but if the others could master their powers, so could I.
It was strange for Lance, Wes, and Alan to master their powers so quickly. They just stumbled across them, Lance wanting some water and it came straight to him and splashed his face, which was hilarious might I add. Same for the others. For me, though, it never came like that. Was that because I was born with them? That I had neglected to think about them so therefore they never showed up? I could heal and was extra strong, that came to me without any problems, but as for the other things that illusionists could do, I didn’t know how to do any of that.
“Well, here goes nothing,” I whispered as I raised my hand up. I knew in my mind that raising my hand would do nothing for it. I mean, really, it was all in my mind, not actual muscles or anything, but I just couldn’t help it. It made me focus on the water, seeing my hand out like that. So I kept it out. I stood there for at least a minute.
I tried to think of how I felt in ships and around trees and buildings and such. I could feel how they worked, what they experienced as if they were living things. I wondered if it had to do with that connection, that I could try to connect with the water, feel it, and get it to do as I said. I concentrated on that, trying to understand the element of water.
Surprising enough I felt it, could think like it, could experience all that it had to offer. I imagined it forming into a ball just as I wanted it to, just as it needed to in order to prove to Dan that I was as powerful as my colleagues. That I was more powerful.
And…. Nothing.
I sighed. “It’s not working Dan, I don’t think—“I heard the sound of a gun cock. I turned a bit to find Dan with a Class Two pointed at me.
“Do it, or I’ll shoot you in the leg.” Dan didn’t waver.
“What?” I exclaimed. He couldn't be serious. Was this what he did with the others? I highly doubted it, Thomas would have thrown a fit.
“You heard me. I will shoot you in the leg.”
I stared at him, not sure if he was joking. I really doubted that he was. He had that calm look, almost as if he was a madman but not quite. It was the same look he gave when he killed those two men.
The same look I give everyone as well.
“I’m waiting,” he said.
Turning back at the task at hand, I kept trying to raise the water into a ball and hitting Dan with it. I thought about the water, I thought of how it was an element, how it was a part of this world and the universe. I thought of the cycles it possessed, the things that it had done and seen.
But no matter how much I concentrated, nothing would happen.
I dropped my arm, letting out the breath I had been holding. “I can’t, I just can’t.”
And he shot me. I felt the bullet hit me straight in my left leg. I went down quickly, yelping in pain.
“You jackass! You shot me!” I exclaimed. I could believe it, I didn’t think he would actually do it, that he would cause me this much pain because I couldn’t control the water right away. “What kind of psycho trainer or you? Who does that? Did you shoot the others? Damn it, what the heck Dan?” I was babbling at this point, and could you blame me? The person I had trusted this long had just shot me for failing. I wondered if Joss had ordered him to. Either way, I was pissed and Joss was going to hear all about it.
Dan stood up and came to where I was lying on the ground. “You heal fast. Don’t worry about it.”
I glared at him. I wanted to hit him, but not with some stupid ball of water. I wanted to hit him with a good-sized rock. I wanted to do it so badly at this point.
Suddenly Dan caught something behind his head. I blinked, not quite sure what had just happened. He held out his hand to reveal a rock the size of a baseball.
Had I done that? It was exactly how I imagined it, where I wanted to hit him. Somehow, with all the emotions flowing through me, I was able to muster enough power to make the rock almost hit him.
***
Dan took me back to the Capital, as I needed someone to take the damn bullet out of my leg. I was pissed at him, but also excited that I was able to move that rock. His method had worked, although I didn’t know if he thought I would get the water to move before he shot me or if he figured the rock thing would happen first. I also wondered if he had shot anyone else in order to help them train, or if it was just me that he used such unconventional techniques.
Probably just me. I was always so lucky like that, getting the psychotic person to train me and for them to think they could use any means necessary. Especially after they found out I could heal fast. Though, lucky for me, most of those trainers didn’t last long.
A doctor took the bullet out and Joss had me released from the infirmary before they could ask questions about why the wound was already healing. I didn’t want to have to explain it to them all, that I could heal fast. I didn’t want to be a test subject, not again. Though I knew Joss wouldn’t let them do anything to me, he didn’t need that kind of stuff to deal with.
After I was released, I went straight to Joss’ office, wanting to complain to him what Dan had done, not that he would care. He would probably just think it was funny and then make me go back out to that island and probably tell Dan to shoot me again, even if I succeeded in making a water orb hit him next time around.
“Joss, I have a bone to pick with you.” I barged into his office as I usually did. To my surprise, Tim was in there talking to him. If I had known that, I probably wouldn’t have come. I didn’t particularly want to see him, not right now. Not when I was already angry with life and everything. “Oh, sorry. I didn’t realize there was someone else in here.”
“Like you have ever cared,” Joss commented. I gave him a look, though I knew it was true. Usually I did just barge into areas, even if he had Representatives with him. Though usually it was for good reasons, just like this one was. Dan had shot me for crying out loud.
“I was just leaving.” Tim shoved past me, not making eye contact.
I watched as he closed the door behind him. It hurt a little bit that he didn’t even care to look at me. It would all be explained later, I told myself, and then he would know the truth. I made sure to mask those thoughts from Joss of course.
“What was that about?” I asked as I turned my attention back to Joss
“It was nothing of your concern. But interesting, in his mind I saw you kissing Logan.” Joss had a bit of a smirk on his face when he said that, as if he found it amusing.
I rolled my eyes. “Oh, you know very well why I did that. I didn’t want to talk to him again. If he saw me with someone else, I knew he would leave me alone.”
Joss laughed. I hated how he thought all of this was almost like a comedy for him to enjoy. “Very well, I bet Logan was ecstatic you picked him.”
“I think if I did it again, he would run me through with a sword. But that’s not the point. I wanted to talk to you about Dan.”
His lips turned into a small smile. “Oh? What about him?”
“What about him? He shot me!” I exclaimed. Yup, this was exactly how I thought he would react. Thinking it was all so funny. I wanted to shoot someone so bad, be sent on some mission where I could take it out on someone else.
Where was Thomas when I needed him?
“But it worked, didn’t it? You were able to move that rock?” Joss asked as he straightened some papers on his desk.
I slammed my fist on the table. “That’s not the point! He shot my leg!”
Joss gave me a look, making me realize I shouldn’t have showed so much anger. He hated it when I did that. Then he simply shook his head. “Why does that matter? You heal fast, you will be fine by tomorrow morning. Just be lucky that he cared enough to just shoot you in the leg instead of the torso.”
“How would that be worse?”
He shrugged. “Could have messed up, caused other complications. Anyway, you will return to your training tomorrow. And you better do as he says or you, well, will get shot again.”
I shook my head. “That isn’t fair and you know it.”
“Life’s hard, get over it. Would you rather I send you back to your brother? You think he will treat you any kinder? You have more freedom here than you ever did there. Be thankful that I don’t have someone watching you constantly and that you are finally being able to use your powers.”
“Why would you need someone to watch me, you are already reading my mind,” I mumbled.
He stood up, his eyes dark as I remembered them once being. It was scary to think of all the times I had made him mad, where he couldn’t just let me get away with something. The other generals didn’t know what he was capable of, why I had feared him like I did. Why I never ran away.
“What was that?” he asked slowly.
“Nothing, sir. It was nothing,” I answered. He slapped my face, the burn on my cheek lingering on my face for a few moments. I rubbed my jaw.
“Message clear?”
I nodded. “Yes sir. Sorry sir.”
“Now get back to work.”
I bowed and headed towards my quarters where I could rest my leg before training tomorrow. I just prayed that I wouldn’t get shot again.
CHAPTER 16
Sure enough, Dan took me to the same damn island in order to train me some more. I was ready to get shot again, but when we stood on the beach, he decided to change his tactics.
Thank goodness.
“I promise not to shoot you today Myra, I’m sorry I used such drastic measures yesterday.” He sounded sincerely remorse about the fact he shot me, which was a bit surprising since he had that cold dark look on his face when he shot me the day before. There was no way someone could look like that and then feel remorse afterwards. It was an act, which meant only one thing.
He was a really good actor. And I needed to be careful around him.
“Some reason I don’t quite believe you, Dan,” I said back. Even so, I waited for his instructions. I had, after all, learned how to control rock through his tactics yesterday. It seemed like he knew what he was doing in the long run, though I didn’t quite agree nor knew what was going to happen from here on out.
He laughed. “Fair enough. But today I wanted you to really focus on moving different elements. Like the rock. Can you do that again for me?”
I narrowed my eyes. It seemed too easy. “What’s the catch?”
“There’s no catch. Just want you to focus.”
I honestly did not believe him at all. There was always a catch in everything that happened with him. There was a catch in everything that surrounded me, honestly. So I couldn’t help but to not trust him. Especially after he was so willing to shoot me, and those two men.
But I wouldn’t know what that would be until I tried. Which—ironically—was how almost my entire life was. I never knew the outcome of anything, I just hoped for the best. Whether or not that was good or bad is still up for debate. I just knew that I was still alive and that was all that mattered.
And how I got here was up for debate as well. Was it destiny or was it sheer bad luck? No one could tell, or at least I hadn’t come up with any explanation yet..
Taking a deep breath, I closed my eyes, focusing on the water in front of me. I wanted to control it, to become part of the water. I definitely could feel it, I definitely could see it in my mind, but that was it. I couldn’t get it to listen to me, to obey my command like I needed it to.
The other problem was that the thought of controlling water reminded me of Lance and how he splashed my face right before I tricked him into kissing me and knocking him out.
Maybe Logan was right, that was my ‘go to’ way to get out of something. It was just so easy and distracted men, and women, all too well. Especially Jack in a lot of cases, like when I was hiding something. He knew I used it to distract him but he never seemed to mind.
It was also not the first time I h
ad done that to Lance, as I had kissed him when we were trying to find Sanshli a year ago. I just hoped Lance wasn’t completely mad at me, he probably knew that it was something I had to do, in order to keep my sanity and not kill my brother, though that may be my task sooner or later.
Well, not exactly. I needed everyone alive on Sanshli in order to reverse this mess. How I was going to do that, I had no idea.
So I tried to focus on the task at hand and move the water into an orb. If Lance could do it, then so could I. There was no way I would let him out do me, let him defeat me like this. He had no one to train him, just stumbled across his powers. I couldn’t be the odd one out.
I thought about how the water flowed, how it moved, manipulated by its surroundings, yet a strong force all on its own. There was so much more going on with how the element worked, I was quite surprised. I tried to embrace it, feel it as if it flowed through me. Then I imagined myself as the water, as an orb in the sky.
I took a deep breath and opened my eyes. There, in front of me was a large orb of water the size of a basketball. I smiled.
“You did it! Great job!” Dan exclaimed.
I focused on the water and watched it move and hit Dan straight on. His face was priceless, complete surprise as he was soaked. I laughed. It was definitely worth it to see his face like that.
He wiped some of the water off his face. “I deserved that, yes.”
Nodding, I agreed. “Yeah, you did. Now, what’s next?”
***
Dan started to get me to focus on other elements, just as like with water I had to manipulate air, fire, and vegetation. We already knew I could focus on rocks and I think he was still a little afraid that I was going to hit him in the head again. I wondered why.