Emory sat in the rain-head shower and let the water flow over her body. She would often do this when the world was overwhelming her because it quickly calmed her down. If she was being honest with herself, even she didn't understand why she was pushing herself so hard in her studies and training. Instead of trying to figure out the why, she chose to empty her mind. Alone in her thoughts, she imagined running through the darkness of her mind. Emanating from her body was a strong glow that almost looked like a flame on her skin. Wherever she ran, she could see the path in front of her but only a little way, enough not to trip over obstacles yet not enough to see where she was going. Then she stopped and screamed; even in her dreams, all she was doing was running. Tears ran down her face for a few minutes before she heard footsteps approaching. Emory turned and saw a glowing figure before her.
"Who are you?" Emory questioned aggressively, "This is my mind, and I don't remember thinking you up."
The figure's voice warbled, "We have always been here, fire child. We are your past, your present, and your future."
"That's not a very satisfying answer, but I can tell you're going to speak in riddles. Why are you here?" Emory huffed, her eyes still red from crying.
"You have quite the fight in you, do you?" the figure laughed in distortion, "You seem lost, fire child. Where are you going?"
Emory's eyes welled up before tears started pouring out of her eyes, "I don't know! I don't know what I'm doing or where I'm going. I've learned so much I didn't know about my family and myself that I don't know what to do." The figure embraced Emory sweetly and patted her back. While there were no features or distinguishable divisions on this figure, it was warm all over.
"Fire child, you're so focused on what's in front of you that you're forgetting to look around," the figure comforted, "Take a moment and look back." Emory looked back at where she had run. The path itself was still lit up, but even more impressively, the light she had left behind was starting to grow and spread. The figure started to flicker, "I think my time is up. Listen fire child, you don't need to be concerned about the future. You are the light in the darkness, and no shadow can block out all your light. Just keep giving a hundred percent and." The voice trailed off as it broke down into little particles.
Emory opened her eyes in the shower. "How long have I been in here?" she thought to herself when Sam called out from the main room.
"Emory? Are you okay?" Sam called, "You've been in the shower for over an hour. Please respond, so I know you didn't fall and knock yourself out."
"Five more minutes," Emory yelled back. She turned off the water and changed into fresh clothes. When she came out into the main room, Sam looked her up and down.
"Did everything go okay in there?" Sam asked cautiously, "You were in there a really long time."
Emory started, "I guess it took so long because I was trying to figure out my life. Well, what I'm doing right now at least."
"Did you come up with an answer then?" Sam smiled.
"I did. First though, I want to answer your original question about why I'm so focused on progressing quickly," Emory continued, "I hadn't really thought about the why before, just the direction I was going. Especially after that shower, I realized that is just the way I am. Anything I want to do, not forced to do, I do with a hundred percent effort. I'm just an "all or nothing" person. Sure, I may have slower days or days with less outside effort, but I put forth my best effort every day for that day. I like training and I want to get stronger for the future, whatever that may hold. It feels like I progress fast because of how much I practice and how well I practice; that's all there is to it. And I think I'm at peace with that for now."
Sam smirked and nodded, "That's a strong answer. You seem better than you did yesterday and earlier."
"As for the future," Emory finished, "I'm going to just stay on this path for now and see where it takes me. Hopefully I can make some friends and enjoy these times while I can, who knows what obstacles may arise in the future."
"That's a good plan," Sam commented as she scooted over on Emory's bed to make room for her. Emory pulled out her parents' spellbook from under her bed, sat down on the bed, and opened the book. She initially turned to the first spell level again: Arcane Bolt. While she was reading, Sam was playing on her cellphone. After reading for five minutes or so, Emory got up and sat on an open space on the floor.
Sam looked down at her, "What are you doing?"
"Well, in case I destroy something again," Emory laughed, "I want a place to sleep tonight." She sat with crossed legs and held her hands in front of her with a little space in between them. A little glow started to come from the space between, illuminating the room in bright light. Emory opened her brilliant blue eyes wide, and, as she did, the glow grew to baseball size. Though the light was bright, when a person looked into the sphere, the light bent in a prismatic fashion and revealed a rainbow of colors. She slowly pulled one hand away and held the magik ball in one hand.
"I still can't get over your sphere," Sam gushed, "Arcane looks so pure. Like how magik was supposed to look."
Emory grinned, "I can't believe it either. But I didn't do that just to show off; watch this." She shrank the ball to the size of a pea then enlarged it to the size of a basketball then back to the pea size. Sam's mouth dropped, not because Emory could change the size of her attack, but because she could do it so fluidly. It looked like she had a ball of water that could get bigger or smaller at will. Then Emory crushed the ball in her hand; immediately, a wave of energy pulsed through the room, pushing over smaller items.
Sam's hair was sticking up still as she said, "What was that? Normally a first level spell is either a pulse or a bolt, not both."
"The spellbook says Bolt was a poor moniker for the first level spell," Emory explained, "I can use it however I want apparently. It says the strength of the pulse is dependent on the size of the ball I crush. The book also says that it has special properties when it encounters another sphere."
"You mean like how that Gwen girl's magik got stuck on top of your magik?" Sam asked.
"Exactly. Using it as an armor protects against the corrosive effects of the dark spheres," Emory elaborated, "It's even restored by lesser primal attacks. The book also says things we already knew like that a ball of Arcane magik will beat an equal ball of any other sphere."
Sam wondered out loud, "This sphere sounds much stronger than a normal sphere, which we already thought. But does it have a condition or a tradeoff to balance it out or is it just that strong?"
"It does seem like this sphere is restricted to just Hexbloods and Fae, but it doesn't say why," Emory reread aloud, "If I had to guess, I would say it has something to do with the natural magik that those groups have. I've noticed that using my sphere seems to draw on my stamina. Does yours?"
"I mean, I can't cast spells indefinitely if that's what you mean. But, yes, casting spells draws on my stamina I think," Sam countered.
"Hmm. Well, let's not get wrapped up in the why," Emory decided, "According to the spellbook, I've almost mastered the first level power. I just need to be able to layer my entire body with magik."
Sam said excitedly, "What's the second level spell called?"
"Arcane Shield," Emory read as she turned the page, "What's the difference between." But her voice trailed off as she looked closer at the diagram on the page.
"I agree. What is the difference? Wait, why did you trail off?" Sam questioned. Emory, without saying a word, pointed to a picture of a person in her book. Sam's eyes grew large, and her mouth had a widening gap in it. The book may have been written in a different language, but pictures were universally understood. A person was standing inside a sphere, and their hands both seemed to be free; Emory and Sam were both deeply aware of what this picture was showing.
"So, you see it too, right?" Emory whispered, "A shimmering shield."
Sam stuttered badly, "I see it too. A barrier spell that doesn't require touch. Do you know how many other spheres have a shimmering shield?"
"Only one," Emory muttered quietly, "And Creation has no battle magik application."
"Powerful Grey family members also can make a shimmering shield, but it's extremely rare," Sam breathed.
"I guess I have a goal now," Emory mused, "Cast Arcane Shield. I can only imagine how powerful it is. But it does say I need to be able to cover my body entirely in magik before I can even attempt it." Emory stopped reading and returned to the floor. She stood this time, though, as she practiced moving magik all over her body. Sam chose to get up and practice as well. Though Sam could momentarily generate a layer over her entire body, she struggled to maintain it. The girls continued to practice until Tethys came in.
"What are you two up to?" Tethys asked. She must have gone shopping as she was no longer in the school uniform she went to breakfast in. Instead, she was wearing a cool blue sun dress, and her platinum blonde hair hung down to her waist instead of in a tight bun like usual.
"We were practicing our magik," Sam replied, "How was the city?"
Tethys glowed, "Absolutely spectacular. This habitat unit is much larger than Mars Base 5. So many different shops, so many new foods. It's alive here, though you must be used to the hustle of the city, right Emory?"
"Actually, I spent most of my formative years in isolation," Emory corrected her, "I've seen mountains of cutting-edge technology but stayed away from the majority of town. I think I've only been downtown a couple times."
"What do you mean? Well, that's that, we're going on a girl's day back to the city tomorrow," Tethys exclaimed. Emory tried to give her rebuttal, but Tethys kept shushing her while Sam just sat back and giggled. The three decided to head to the cafeteria; without realizing it, Emory and Sam had been training for two hours.
Over lunch, Tethys described the city to the other two. Sam listened with amazement; Emory couldn't be less interested in all the shops. Emory was big on function, not fashion, so she was barely paying attention to their description. After all, they would be traveling there tomorrow anyway. When they finished eating, they returned to the dorm to find Tana there, napping on her bed. Sam loudly smacked the bed so Tana would wake up suddenly.
"Have you all already eaten?" Tana remarked as her stomach grumbled.
"We just got back," Sam replied, "Bring some food back here from the cafeteria and then we can play a game."
Emory side eyed Sam, "What kind of game?"
"Something fun," Sam said with a smile, "I'll find a good one on the game system. Unless someone wants to play cards." Tethys rapidly shook her head, and even though she liked the prospect of cards, she wasn't going to try and convince Tethys to change her mind. Sam selected a trivia game as Tana came back into the room with a plate of food in each hand. The girls played for the rest of the afternoon, bonding with each other and thoroughly enjoying themselves. The girls met the boys for dinner and chatted about their day. Tana had worked on her fencing before lunch, Innes went to the gym after breakfast, and Gatrie spent the entire day playing games. The others chastised him for being so irresponsible, but he just shrugged and kept eating. Then they returned to their rooms and spent the evening relaxing. When Emory finally got to sleep, she slept peacefully for the first time since coming to this new place. Little did she know those peaceful nights would come to an end sooner than she expected.