I'm Not the Same Either
It's been two weeks since I first started going to Sweet Amoris High School; so far it's been very easy to get used to my new life. I've gotten used to the schedule and I've already made plenty of friends. Kim the others and I seem to be spending as much time as possible together it's like we were always friends and speaking of I find Castiel usually hanging out with Lysander most of the time. Although occasionally he sneaks up on me at my locker and scares me or sometimes he steals me away from my friends to talk to me during lunch. He seems to have taken what I told him seriously, he's a lot more mellow than the Castiel I knew when we were kids but other than that he seems to be the same. Yet that doesn't mean that much of anything; it's possible that he's changed a lot and I just don't know it. In my beastiary class we have a bit of time before the bell for the next class to begin and it just so happens that both Lysander and Castiel are in this class as well along with Kim. Everyone is talking among themselves while I take the time to listen to music on my phone. I'm so into it that I don't hear anything else. Suddenly I feel my glasses leave my face and I turn in the direction to see a familiar looking blur.
"Castiel…!"
"I still say you should get rid of these."
"I hate contacts…and I can't see without them. What do you want for me to do?"
"what are you listening to that I you had me shouting at you?" he asks handing my glasses back. I show him the song and his eyes widen slightly, "I didn't know you liked rock."
"It sometimes depends on the song but I like listening to it."
"FAE!" Kim suddenly up slamming her hands on my desk and even making Castiel jump slightly, "you'll never believe what I just heard!"
"W-what?"
"Yeah obviously it not something important for you to be shouting three feet in front of us." he smirks. Kim opens he mouth to retort Castiels sarcastic comment when,
"Apparently instead of afternoon classes today there's going to be a sudden test." Lysander interrupts.
"Really…what kind of test?" he turns to Castiel,
"This is just a rumor so none of the detail have gotten out about it but I would have to say it's a Sudden Death test going by the training we've been getting in our gym class."
"Sudden Death Test?" I ask confused.
"That's right you just got here." Lysander smiles calmly, "There examinations that test our abilities to see how we've matured during our time here at Amoris."
"I'm still not seeing the sudden death part…"
"The School is much bigger than it looks; there are different areas that the school owns and keep in certain conditions; the principal sends us to these areas to be tested."
"The thing is no one ever KNOWS what area or how dangerous it will be!" Kim says, "That's why they're called sudden death. And the rules change for every round too!" I blink a few times allowing the news to sink in.
"Relax…most of the time the rules allow you to partner up with two people during the round, so you're ever fighting alone."
"Wait fighting?" I ask looking at Castiel,
"What did you expect? It's called the Sudden Death test for a reason. You either fight or you die." But the closest to fighting I've ever done is in sparing matches. The speakers suddenly come on and the principal's voice can be heard,
"Attention all students, instead of your regularly scheduled afternoon classes; today you will be participating in a surprise exam to test your strength and abilities, what you have all come to call the Sudden Death Test. This test is mandatory and no one is exempt from it. Now as to where you will be taking the test I have chosen the location; and the arena that I have chosen this time will be the Nightfall Woods." Everyone starts to whisper among themselves and looking at Kim's paling face and the way Lysander is holding his notebook it's not good. I look over at Castiel and find him looking at me intensely as if evaluating me before he turns away from my gaze. "Now all students will report to your home rooms as soon as the bell rings; there you home room teacher shall give you a number and color. These numbers and colors will depict who will be on what team. You may not switch either color or number once assigned to one. Each team will consist of two members and these teams shall be permanent for the remainder of the year. When there is another surprise test the person you are partnered up with this time shall be your partner once again until the next year. I suggest you learn how to at least cooperate with each other; because you will not be able to switch partners either…that is all." With that the intercom cuts off and everyone starts talking among themselves again.
"Oh Man…of all the places we had to be sent to…why'd it HAVE to be Nightfall Woods?!" Kim complains.
"It is a bit nerve wracking…" Lysander says, "But what's done is done…it's not like we can change anything about it."
"Is it that bad?"
"Let's just say they could have made a better choice Fae." Castiel has gone really quiet; I open my mouth to speaking but the bell rings and we have to head out our homerooms. I pick up my phone and get ready to leave when someone grabs my arm holding my back.
"Castiel, what's the matter?"
"…"
"Are you ok?" he lets go of my arm and starts to walk off,
"Even if you're partnered up with someone else, find me." he walks off not leaving me any room to say anything and disappears from my sight. With that I follow Kim and head to our homeroom.
"Alright I'm sure all of you heard the message the principal told you; I'm going to be assigning you your numbers now. Remember you cannot change or trade color or number. Kim…" Kim goes up first to receive her number and color holding out her hand, "Remember these tattoos are only temporary; after this test you will be able to remove them." he takes an unusual looking object that looks like a ray machine of some kind and presses it against her hand. There's a click before he removes it and Kim takes her seat. "Kentin…" a dorky looking kid with unusual glasses steps forward. His knees shake and tremble as he holds a shaky hand out to receive his mark.
"Hey kim who's that?"
"Kenny…? He's an unusual character. Don't let the look fool you. He has a split personality; you know he's a Persona. He has two personalities; the one you see right now and then there's another cool version of him, Kentin. Like every Personana depending on what personality he's taking on his powers co-inside with it. "
"Oh…"
"But here's the funny part, the dorky looking Kenny you see right now…he has super strength."
"Really? I would never have guessed by looking at him…"
"Yep and when he's Kentin he has super human agility and he can pretty much turn anything into a weapon."
"Wait what do you mean he can turn anything into a weapon?"
"Just like it sounds; a stick for example, he can use it like a knife, a bat pretty much anything. Although Kentin is also able to heal pretty quickly so he usually sticks to using his hands and feet to do the talking."
"Lysander…" Mr. Hopkins continues to name off students one by one, then, "Fae…" my muscles tense up at hearing my name being called but I get up and head to the front. Standing in front of Mr. Hopkins I hold my right hand out to him, he places the gun on the top of my hand; he presses the trigger,
"Ow…!" I feel a slight pinch from the imprint of the number on my skin. When he removes the gun I take a look at the number on my hand: a red 6. So I have to find someone who has a red six just like me…please for the love of god do not let it be Amber…!
"Now that you've all been assigned a number you will now follow me to the arena." Mr. Hopkins has us follow him to the gym. There other students are gathered waiting and on a stage in the center the principal and her assistant, along with a few other teachers including the Mr. Ironfist stand on the stage. Behind them a wall of light shines on the stage as well.
"Remember, the curtain will take you to the location but will place you in a random part of the arena. When you have prepared yourself you may go on through." The only person I can see is Kim who's right next to me at the moment. Students start heading up and disappear into the curtain of light.
"Welp!" Kim intertwines her fingers and stretches her arms out in front of her popping her joints in her fingers, "I guess I'll go on in…the longer you wait the harder it is to enter…be careful out there Fae…we don't have the same number so I won't be able to look out for you in there."
"Don't worry I'll be fine. You be careful too." She places a hand on my shoulder before walking away. Once she disappears I look around through the various students to see if I can find anyone but no one looks familiar to me at all. I turn to face the curtain of light,
"Well no time like the present…I guess." Slowly but surly I make my way up to the stage. I enter into the curtain of light shutting my eyes tightly at the light and the next second I can feel wind blowing. I open my eyes and see that I now stand in a forest. The leaves fall like snow as they all seem to be a different color from yellow t red to orange. Fall has officially come but being a winter elemental the cold doesn't ever bother me. I could wear just a shirt and pants out in the dead of winter and not feel anything. Everyone was so scared of this place what is it about it that makes it so intimidating? I take a few steps and wait yet I still don't hear anything. It's not like I can sense anything out here…what's the objective of this task anyway, are we supposed to find something, survive? The principal never did explain that. Well first things first I need to find my partner. Once I do I'll be able to clear things up for myself…now what was my number and color again? I look down at my hand and see the red six; once I've reminded myself I start running for it deeper into the forest. Of course it doesn't take me that long to lose track of where I am considering the fact that I didn't even know where I was to begin with. it feels like when I take a left I end up going right and when I take a right I end up going left. I was never very good with directions. soon though I start to look in every direction trying to find someone but I still haven't found anyone. I can feel the panic rising within me and I stop all together taking hold of my pendent.
"Stop Fae…panicking is not going to make your situation any better. First thing you need to do is take a deeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeep breath." I breathe in and feel the tension leave my body, "Ok good now the next thing take a look at your surroundings…listen to what's around you." Carefully I look around and listen. There's a distant sound of running water to my left, "ok water's good let's start there." I continue walking towards the sound of the water until I finally reach a giant lake with a waterfall. No one seems to be around but I still take a minute to search,
"Hello?" no one answers, "Anyone around?" still no answer. A bush rustles nearby making me curious. "Hello?" there's more rustling as the sounds gets closer. I raise my hands snow and sparking particles flowing around them.
"You keep standing around like that you're going to get yourself caught off guard." I hear a voice from nowhere, yet it sounds somewhat familiar.
"Castiel…?"
"Out here if you don't keep moving…" suddenly I feel a presence behind me.
"Ha!" I try attacking releasing a fury of ice on the person behind me but they grab hold of my wrist. "Ow!"
"You get killed." I see Castiel standing in front of me.
"Jeeze Castiel I could have hurt you! Where did you even come from?!"
"The shadows."
"No seriously." He flicks my forehead, "Ow!"
"Seriously I was in the shadows…I have poser over fire and shadows remember pixie. I snuck up on you using your own shadow." He points to my long shadow as it reaches over to the bushes. "So where exactly have you been?" why does he look angry?
"I've been trying to find my partner."
"and…?"
"I haven't been able to find them yet. What about you?"
"…"
"W-what? Why do you look angry?"
"do you remember what I told you before we separated today?"
"what do you mean?"
"I told you to find me Fae, even if you did have a different partner." He growls
"Yeah but the principal said that we HAD to stick with our partners…" I kind of feel like a child being scolded at the moment not sure of what to do, "It's not that I didn't want to but those are the rules." He sighs releasing his anger with it, "Besides…I don't remember having to do what you told me." I say playfully.
"Hmpf…beg talk coming from the girl I always had to look out for when we were kids."
"Hey things are different now you know!" oh…right. "Say Casiel what's you number and color by the way?" I show him mine.
"Same." He raises his right hand and shows me the same number imprinted on his hand in the same color as mine. "Guess this works out then."
"So cool; you and I are partners!" I start jumping up and down.
"Stop being such a spaz…pixie we need to get moving." He smirks.
"I am not SPAZING; I'm just excited. Hey you remember that one time when we were little; those three boys started picking on me and you started a fight with them. we teamed up then too remember?" he raises and eyebrow,
"Seriously you're bringing that up now…and if I recall you were balling your eyes out the entire time while I did all the work."
"I did NOT!" I can feel my face turning red,
"Yes…you did. I remember having to buy you strawberry ice cream that day to calm you down." I open my mouth to speak again but he turns his back to me, "Anyway, don't worry about fighting any of the monsters; I can take care of them myself."
"What?"
"In other words leave the fighting to me. just stay out of trouble."
"B-but we're supposed to be working together remember? Not to mention this is a test to show how we've progressed with our abilities."
"if what you did just a second ago is all you can do then you really would just be getting I the way."
"Um excuse me, but who's the one who snuck up on me? Not to mention you never even gave me a chance to attack."
"did you even know I was there until I said something to you?" he asks me flatly hands shoved in his pockets.
"Well…no…But-"
"Then you still have a lot to learn; look it's not something to be ashamed of…I'm not saying you won't get stronger but at the moment you most likely would just get in the way so let me take care of the fighting alright?" the fact that he's putting me down so much is making me lose any anger I had and quite honestly I don't even know how to respond to him.
"Fine…" I say depressed looking down at the ground. Suddenly I feel my glasses being taken from me again, "Hey!"
"Quit pouting alright? You look like lost cat or something." and you really are a demon…
"…I'm not pouting." I say looking away from him. this is no time to get annoyed at him right now we have to concentrate on the task at hand. "So…what exactly is the objective of this test anyway?" I ask trying to understand things for myself as we walk through the forest.
"Every test has a different objective it depends I guess on the principals mood. This test in particular is all about survival basically."
"Um…survive what exactly?"
"What ever comes our way." I don't really like the answer but it seems to make sense.
"How long are we supposed to stay out here?"
"Don't know. They're always at random too." I stop asking questions for the sake of my sanity not sure how to take any of this. "Don't worry." I look up at his back, "Nothings going to happen to you." What does he mean? Wait he doesn't plan on having me sit on the sidelines the whole time…does he? But why? I can protect myself…
…
"It's kind of lucky that we haven't run into anything yet." I finally say after a long period of silence unable to win against him in a quiet game.
"Pft…yeah you can call it luck if you want to…I'm sure there's a different reason though."
"You don't have to be sarcastic about it…I don't ever remember you being like this when we were kids…"
"Would you prefer that I try acting like when I was a kid then?"
"No I want you to be yourself…it's just going to take some time for me to get used to it."
"Right…this way." I wonderif he has something to do with no monsters following us. I also wonder why he thinks I can't fight. Now that I think about it, he's seen me in sparing matches during gym class. I even gave Kim a run for her money and that's saying something since she's a berserker. So why? "Hey Castiel?"
Uh-huh."
"You do know I can fight right? I mean you saw me during gym class; I can hold my own in a fight; I mean it's not like I'm totally helpless like I was before; you know I could help if we do run into any monsters; and you know what they say two heads are better than- oof!" I run into Castiel who's suddenly stopped. "um hello I thought we were walking."
"Be quiet." He demands,
"don't tell me to be quiet; I can talk how ever much I want. I know we're partners an that you have more experience than I do with these tests and whatever but you could stand to be a little nicer Castiel; and not to mention what you said earlier about me not being able to fight was really-"
"Shut up!" he covers my mouth with his hand, "I can't hear with you yapping on like that."
"mmmnm mm mmn?(Listen for what?)" I ask through his hand. He turns and glares at me telling me with his glowing red eyes to shut up so I do. Something catches my eye behind him and I immediately take his hand away from my mouth, "Behind you!" he picks me up flinging me over his shoulder as he leaps out of the way. When he lands I get a good look at the scorching mark that used to be where we stood. Looking at what attacked us it's made completely of magma but at the same time holds the form of a two headed dragon. It stands on two legs with wings towering over us,
"I think I'm starting to understand why it's called Sudden Death…" I say feeling the color drain from my face. "Isn't that a lavahydra?!" Castiel ignores me putting me down. he points a finger at me,
"Stay put."
"But-" I try to protest but he's already gone off to fight the monster. The two heads release a downpour of lava form their mouths on top of Castiel but it doesn't seem to hit him some weird shield is protecting him. he releases a stream of fire on the creature but only makes it even more angry. The Magmahydra steps forward towards him trying to stomp on Castiel. Using the shadows being casted all around he dodges the massive feet and once he re emerges he tries to fire yet another wave of heat at the creature. But again it doesn't seem to have any effect on the monster. Ok he is NOT having any luck with this! why is it he won't let me help him. oh screw this; I am not just going to sit here!I'm about to ignore everything Castiel told me to do when a white light makes it's way through the air and blocks the hydra's tail from hitting Castiel creating a very unusual looking shield. A girl wearing a dress jumps from the trees to help fight as she makes her way into the battle to help. I'm about to go as well when I see a familiar figure standing next to me.
"Lysander?!"
"Get ready, you're the key to winning this fight."
"What?"
"Focus for now I'll explain later. Just listen to what I tell you to do." I turn back to face the battle. The girl rides runes up into the air above the creatures head and attacks with what looks like spears of light as she fires them from above. Castiel moves back and forth in the shadows before stopping off in the distance,
"Get ready; Castiel is going to catch it's left leg in a black hole. That creature is going to take a step back with it's right leg freeze it when that happens."
"Right." Ice crystals swirl around me as charge my attack. Just as Lysander said the giant black darkness that Castiel made captures the hydras left leg; in the confusion it tries to stabilize itself by stepping back with its right leg; as soon as it places its massif foot on the ground I release the ice on it and the leg cools with a loud hiss freezing instantly. With Castiel holding it's one leg and me freezing the thing it can't move.
"Now… Rosa, finish it off now!" Lysander yells up at the girl in the air. She moves her hands in unusual gestures and chants something as a huge rune forms over the hydra's head. Sensing danger it begins to struggle against us. The hydra starts pulling it's leg out of the black hole causing Castiel to create a greater force behind it to keep it in place. But no matter how much force I put behind my ice it doesn't stop the creature from breaking it's right leg partially free. As it roars the hydra swings its tail at Lysander and I causing us to duck out of the way. The force of the wind behind it is so much it takes my glasses with it.
"No…!" what am I supposed to do if I can't see a damn thing?!
"Kya!" I look in the direction of the scream,
"What happened?!"
"Rosa get up you have to get out of there!" Lysander shouts desperately.
"I can't find an opening!"
"Castiel!"
"If I let this thing go it's just going to get to her faster!" Shoot! I stand praying to god that I somehow get through this with everything still intact and not singed off.
"Lysander where did she land?" I ask.
"Directly across from us-wait what are you doing?!" I have to squint as hard as I can to get a few details making out the things tail and underbelly.
"Fae GO BACK!" but I ignore Castiel without hesitating and reach out in front of me. hopefully leading me directly to Rosa I create a path of ice under the monster and slide under it shielding myself from the heat as I pass under it. When I see a figure struggling to get away from the hydra I can only assume it's Rosa.
"Rosa get down!" I shout just before I turn hearing some sort of gurgling sound. In the midst of my fear, anxiety and excitement I let loose all the power I can in a blizzard like fury right in front of me. with my eyes closed I'm expecting to have missed and be dead but I don't feel any pain.
"Hey…" a hand rests on my shoulder as a girl speaks to me, "You can open your eyes now; you took care of the hydra."
"S-seriously?" I can't help but ask looking at her blurry face.
"Take a look for yourself." Lysander holds my glasses out in front of me; taking them I put them on. Both lenses are cracked and everything is multiplied and disorienting but still I take a look up at the hydra and see nothing more than an ice sculpture of the beast that was once there.
"No…freakin'…way…you mean I did that?" I say taking off my useless glasses.
"Pretty much; I've never seen an elemental as powerful as you before." The girl Rosa says.
"well it was certainly unpredictable. Even I didn't see that one coming." I even have Lysander complimenting me? wow…
"So…you're a psychic…"
"He's more than that; both he and his brother are vampires of the Ilanan clan!"
"Wow really?"
"Rosa, I know you're dating my brother but I would prefer it that you didn't mouth off about that to just anyone…" Lysander says flatly.
"you know for you that actually seems to fit really well." I can't help but compliment.
"does it now? I suppose I can take that as a compliment…are you going to be ok without your glasses?"
"Honestly I don't know…I mean right now, I can't really see anything, even with you two standing so close to me."
"Your eyes are that bad?" Rosalaya, a girl I've met a few times in the halls asks me.
"My eyes are like this because of an accident from when I was little. But yeah because of it I'm extremely near sighted. I don't like wearing contacts but I don't really like glasses either but I need them to see clearly. But now…" I hold up my broken glasses. "Not sure these can do me much good as they are now." Ah…Castiel…looking around I spot yet another figure off in the distance as if staring at us and I head over to it.
"Hey You ok Castiel?"
"…fine."
"that was a close one wasn't it? I'm sure glad Rosa and Lysander showed up when they did right?"
"…"
"Castiel…you ok?"
"Where are your glasses?" he asks with an icy tone.
"oh…um they're kind of got broken beyond repair. They got blown off when the hydra's tail was going back and forth."
"…"
"Wait…Castiel are you mad?"
"What did I tell you when we first found each other earlier?" he growls.
"not to fight, I know but-"
"this wouldn't have happened if you had just listened and stayed out!"
Excuse me?!
"Are you kidding me with this? you're actually going to sit here and lecture me about this?"
"I was handling it just fine before they showed up; you should have stayed put like I told you to!"
"Oh really?!"
"YES really!"
"Well Mr. Hothead I hate to break it to you but your attacks were doing nothing but PISSING the thing off! If Lysander and Rosa hadn't shown up when they did I would have stepped in when that thing had you cornered!"
"It's called fighting fire with fire!"
"Are you kidding me?! How about fighting fire with Ice dummy?! In case you didn't see the big giant block of ice that USED to be the hydra, my powers seem to have gotten the job done."
"And what the HELL was that back there jumping right in front of the thing while it was spewing lava vomit!"
"What was I supposed to do, let Rosa be burned to a crisp?! Lysander couldn't do anything and you were too tied up trying to keep the things leg from breaking free!"
"we could have figured something out!"
"What?! The thing had her pinned to the ground; she couldn't do anything!"
"Well if you hadn't disobeyed me like you did I could have figure out something!"
"Disobeyed?! DISOBEYED?! Castiel if I hadn't jumped in like I did Rosa would be dead right now!"
"THAT WAS JUST A FLUKE!" he shouts sending some birds flying off, "You got lucky Fae!"
"What IS it with you and thinking I can't handle myself in a fight?! Ever since this afternoon you've been treating me like I'm some sort of helpless child that needs to be babysat 24-7! I know you've changed and you can fight and everything but in case you haven't noticed Castiel, I'm NOT the same either; I am NOT the same helpless little girl you always had to protect when we were kids!"
"You sure throw a temper tantrum like one!"
"Temper tantrum?! You wanna see Temper TANTRUM Castiel!?"
"Enough both of you!" Lysander steps in between us and I can feel Rosa grab hold of my arm pulling me away, "look fighting each other right now isn't going to help anyone pass this test."
"Lysander is right you guys; we need to concentrate on passing this test right now… and it looks to me like you guys need to both cool off so how about this, Castiel and Lysander can walk in front of our group and I'll help Fae in the back."
"Fine by me…"
"…whatever." And with that we start walking again.
…
"Ow!" one again even with Rosa's help, I have managed to bang into a tree; making the others stop and wait for me.
"sure you don't have a spare pair of glasses…" I swear if Castiel says one more thing about me banging my head…!
"Stop it Castiel." He seems to listen to Lysander going silent.
"Are you ok Fae?"
"Yeah…just perfect. I just wish I could see where I was going right now…" I rub my forehead. "I'm fine let's just keep going." I don't want to slow anyone down so I force myself to keep going. about five minutes later…
*BANG*
"OW…grrr son of a-!" I stop myself from swearing as I hold my forehead again for the millionth time.
"Why don't we take a break before you start growing a horn…" Lysander says. I sit down away from Castiel still frustrated that I can't see anything. I'm still mad but I would rather get this fight put behind us; it's not going to help us to be mad at each other. A sigh escapes me as I try to figure out a way to talk to the hot headed demon right now. But I'm not sure how. Footsteps come closer before someone sits next to me.
"How are you holding up Fae?" Rosa asks me holding out something to me in front of my face. I try squinting to see what it is but all I can seem to make out is that it's something red. "It's an apple; there was a tree near by."
"Oh…thanks." I take the fruit and bite into it. "I'm sorry about that fight back there…"
"It's ok…Castiel isn't exactly the easiest person to get along with; but he's pretty nice at heart." I take another bite of my apple staying silent still trying to think about how to go about this problem. "Hey Fae can you turn this way for a second?"
"Huh? What is it?"
"Just don't blink ok."
"Don't blink? What do you- Ah?!" suddenly a bright light flashes in front stinging my eyes and for some strange reason making them itch. They start tearing up as I rub them trying to relieve them from this weird sensation. "What did you do? My eyes are itching from inside if feels like."
"Just give it a second it will pass…just open your eyes." Slowly I blink opening my eyes; at first things are too bright for me to see anything but every time I blink the light fades and everything else comes into view. Everything is crystal clear as if I was still wearing my glasses maybe even better.
"My specialty happens to be white magic; so even an old wound like your eyes is not special task for me." looking over at Rosa she has a triumphant smile spread across her face.
"That's incredible I can see everything so clearly! Wait is this…"
"Nope permanent you'll be able to see clear as day from now on…and save a few dollars on glasses." Looking behind her I spot Lysander and Castiel talking about something off in the distance; every detail is so clear my jaw nearly drops. This is incredible! When was the last time I was able to see things this clearly? It's as if that accident never even happened! "Say Fae, did you know Castiel before you came to Sweet Amoris?"
"Yeah back when we were kids; we would always play together. He was kind of the only friend I had back then…no one liked a helpless crybaby. But he's changed…
"How so?"
"He didn't used to be so…demanding…I mean he was pushy and he would force me to do things outside my comfort zone but he knew when to stop. He never gave orders for me to follow like he did today…"
"that really irritated you didn't it?"
"Yes…he was treating me like I was still a child the same girl he had to protect back then and no matter how hard I try to tell him or show him that's not the case…he just won't see that it's not like that any more." we stay quiet for some time before she speaks again,
"Honestly, I understand where you're coming from Fae. After seeing you today I wouldn't even be able to see you as helpless."
"Really?"
"BUT I can also see where Castiel is coming from to."
"HUH?!" my eyes grow wide as I look at her dumbfounded by what she just said,
"Think about it; it's only been a couple of weeks since you came and the only thing he's seen you handle are a few sparing matches. To be honest those matches are nothing compared to this test in the slightest. Castiel knows that better than you do."
"But I can handle my self. You saw that today."
"True, and I'm grateful to you for saving me today but honestly he was right when he told you it was a fluke." my teeth clench as my lips press together, "if your eyesight was so bad to the point that you actually had to guess where the monster was, then you really did get lucky today; you could have very well died along with me today." I hate to admit it but she's right and at least in that respect…I guess Castiel had every right to get angry with me. I shouldn't have been so reckless… "However…I think Castiels problem is more emotional than experience wise."
"What do you mean?"
"You said you were helpless as a kid right…you didn't have any friends and were always a crybaby."
"Yes…" I can't help but hide my face as I feel it turn red.
"Isn't it possible that he still sees you as that cute little girl he always had to protect when you were younger?" our eyes lock as she starts to put things into perspective for me. "Not that I can really blame him I mean your whole outfit just screams helpless little girl."
"excuse me."
"You have a gentle spirit from what I can tell and when you put that with the glasses and the clothes you have on people are going to think you're a weak thing that needs to be protected all the time…" w-wait how did we get to my clothe and how I dress. "One of the best ways to send a message is by wearing the right attitude; and I think you're wearing the wrong one."
"Wait how do you know so much about what attitude an outfit can give off?"
"My boyfriend runs a clothing store; I shop there all the time. And when you're around clothes as much as I am you tend to pick up a few things here and there. I'd be willing to help you out with that." How did we switch topics so quickly like that? "But all that aside…I don't think you should get so mad at him about it. if you guys just talk quietly about it I'm sure you can make him understand."
"Rosa." Lysander calls out to her, "let's take a look around before we head out."
"Alright." She turns to me, "Now's your chance…just talk to him." That's easier said than done…I'm too afraid to even turn around at the moment. I can't even look at him let alone talk to him…besides what if he doesn't even want to listen to me? oh Rosa please don't leave me here with him…! "We'll be back later." And with that Rosa gets but and walks off with Lysander, leaving the both of us alone. My muscles start to tense; I can feel him staring at my back even though I'm pretty sure he hasn't even moved from where he was. I wouldn't mind except for the fact that it's making me nervous beyond comprehension right now.
"Do you mind not staring at me like that; I'm already panicking enough as it is right now and you staring holes into my back is only making it worse and I can't think straight!" ok…probably not the best thing to yell at him but still… a tense silence fills the air around us; I start to feel like I just made everything worse. Suddenly footsteps start to crunch on the grass heading for this direction. My heart's pounding as Castiel makes his way over here, so much so that my body has started to tremble. The footsteps get closer and closer until finally out of the corner of my eye I can see him standing by me. I swallow hard to send a lump down that was forming but it only seems to make it feel worse. He sits down but I try not to look at him afraid of the look on his face at the moment or rather the glare that was on his face earlier.
"Am I scaring you that much?" w-w-w-w-w-what…w-wait he's not yelling?
"N-no…" my voice cracks slightly making me cover my mouth.
"Pfft…"
"d-don't laugh, I-I'm not scared honest… I-I'm just nervous." It's silent after I say that. There doesn't seem to be anything for us to talk about. "Sorry…you were right." I finally say thinking I should go first., "I mean about running to help Rosa…I got lucky. I shouldn't have rushed in like I did. I guess I just got so panicked about what would have happened that I just reacted." Castiel remains quiet as I talk, "I shouldn't have yelled at you either; there were other way to say what I wanted to say by not shouting…I was just frustrated because you kept trying to put me down and everything so I just lost it."
"…That's my fault…" finally he speaks, "I shouldn't have restrained you like I did." ok in all of my memories of him I don't think I've ever really heard him take the blame for something like that…when we were little he would pull tooth and nail to evade having to apologize… "Hey."
"Ow…!" he flicks me on my forehead.
"what's with the wide eyes anyway?"
"N-nothing…it's just you apologized with out putting up a fight about it…when we were little-"
"Yeah well I grew up." ok he could at least let me finish what I was saying. "But Lysander doesn't pull punches with his words. Hmpf, he's 17 yet he acts like he's over 200…" he's insulting his friend but going by the gentle look on his face he doesn't really mean it, "I think he was right though."
"About what?"
"I've been secretly clinging onto the you I knew back when we were kids. I didn't even take the chance to see how much you've grown and changed. I guess…" suddenly he turns to me his cheeks slightly pink and he glares at me,
"what?"
"You tell anyone I told you this and I'm personally making a house call the night I find out about it."
"Hee hee…you never did like talking about your feelings."
"Shut up…"
"Sorry, sorry…I promise I won't tell a soul; if I do, you'll find me in a deep hole."
"…That was corny…" I stick my tongue out at him playfully. "I guess I didn't want to realize that you didn't need to depend on me like you did back then; I wanted you to still need me around like you did then. You coming back here you seemed just like you did when we were kids; I didn't want that to change…I just didn't realize I was hurting you in the process by forcing that on you." Castiel…you've got it wrong. I move closer to him and wrap my arms around him gently. There were times when we were little that he was the one that needed protection and reassurance just like now. "H-hey…! W-what are you-"
"You're wrong you know…I do still need you. Just because I change or get stronger that doesn't mean I don't need you anymore. You're my childhood friend Castiel nothing's going to change that. If anything I may still need you to help me; I mean like you said today was a fluke; you're more experienced than I am at this stuff. Who knows I may need more help than I think."
"…You can stop hugging me now…" letting go I smile at him as he keeps his face turned away from me. once he's secretly composed himself he turns back to me, "Anyway…" he reaches a hand out to me and at the last possible second pinches my cheek and lightly yanks on it, "First off that's punishment for nearly giving me a heart attack running into that situation like a blind bat." Before letting go he jerks my cheek one last time leaving me to tend to my throbbing cheek.
"Why do I get the feeling that you like causing me pain?"
"Well if you didn't get into so much trouble I wouldn't have to punish you."
"See you still look out for me…in your own weird way…"
"Anyway, I know you've changed so that's something I'll have to get used to it and work with you rather than against you. But that doesn't give you free range to do whatever the hell you want got it; you do anything reckless like you did today ever again I'm gonna do more than pinch your cheek. Got it?" I nod realizing he's serious. "Good, now if Rosa and Lysander would get back here already we could continue on."
"Where did they go? I would have thought that by now-"
!BOOM!
The explosion that happens right behind us is so massive that it makes the earth under us shake violently. Castiel shoves me to the ground and uses himself as a shield as debris falls from the sky. As soon as the shaking stops he lets us up.
"That was from the direction they went in!" I shout looking in the direction the smoke is coming from. A hand appears next to me and I look up,
"Let's go." Castiel helps me up before running off ahead of me with me tailing behind him, hoping that the others are all right.
My lungs are on fire as we run through the forest trying to find out what the source of the explosion was. The trees diminish the farther we get from where we were waiting for the others. Some how I manage to keep up with Castiel as he seems to pick up speed. Finally all the trees and just up ahead,
"Rosa, Lysander!" good they're ok.
"What the hell have you two been doing?" Castiel asks in between huffs. "I thought you two went to go look around."
"We did and we were on our way back when that explosion caught our attention; Lysander said you would catch up." Rosa smiles.
"What's going on?" I ask trying to stay on track.
"Earth Dragon…and a damn mean one at that." Lysander points down the cliff we're standing on. A gigantic mass of rocks and trees mixed together seem to create a massive form of a giant lizard. Its eyes glow a horrid yellow; it's at least twice as big as the magma hydra we were up against earlier. On its back bony looking wings made of wood cling to its back. An explosion down by its feet happens and as the smoke I see someone glowing with a lime green aura. My eyes widen at who it is,
"Kim?!" she channels he green energy into her fist and hits the front leg of the dragon. She takes a good portion of its leg but wood and earth regenerate what was lost before large roots come up from the ground and grab hold of her. Swinging her a round Kim tries to break free but with little success. A silver something cuts through the air slicing the roots holding her. Free from the grip Kim is able to recover landing on the ground leaving a dust trail behind her. watching where the silver something is going someone retrieves it as the flip through the air. It turns out to be a giant shuriken. The person lands and I can't help but think he looks familiar. The brown hair seems familiar but I can't seem to place the green eyes at all. While still in mid air he turns himself upside down and throws the shuriken at the dragon. He lands on the wall of the cliff on his feet before launching himself into the air again putting himself in the direction of where the shuriken will return.
"Looks like Kentin is Kim's partner." Rosa says. Wait I heard that name somewhere before…wait a second! THAT"S Kenny?! The little dorky guy I saw earlier! Kim enshrouded in the green light leaps back into the fight to help him but it's clear that neither of them is making any progress. Kim suddenly gets knocked for a hard loop and deep into the ground. In my panic I nearly rush into the fight like I did before but manage to stop myself.
"We need to find a way down; we can't jump from this height." Lysander says from my side. "Anyone have any ideas?" I take a breath to calm myself; I look over at Castiel for a brief moment. He nods remembering the conversation we had,
"Leave it to me." I say. As I get closer to the edge of the cliff I let loose my powers creating a path of solid ice leading down. Once by one we head down the icy path. mid way down Castiel jumps off; he manipulates his power over fire to create jets of fire under his feet keeping him afloat in the air. He propels himself forward towards the dragons head. At the last possible second he aims the fire at the dragons face incinerating at least half of it's face. It roars in pain. Rosa who's already jumping from rune to rune creates light spears and aims for its chest. The spears explode on contact. Down below Lysander and I make sure Kim is ok. While the dragon is distracted the others come back,
"Any bright ideas?" Kenny aka Kentin at the moment asks.
"Give me a minute." Lysander stares at the reeling dragon. It only makes Kentin annoyed.
"Hey we don't exactly have all the time in the world; you mind getting the lead out."
"Shut it army brat, give him a minute to see what's coming." Castiel retorts,
"Guys now's not the time to be fighting among ourselves!" I say.
"Alright…that dragon basically regenerates from any attack…however it takes longer when burned or frozen off." Lysander looks to both Castiel and I. "You two are going to be the key to taking this one down. Kim, Kentin, Rosa and I will distract that thing. You two are going to have to find a way to exterminate that thing at once."
"Ok how do we do that?" I can't help but ask.
"you'll have to find an equal amount of power on it in order kill it."
"Uh…that thing's done regenerating now." With Kim's warning we all turn to the dragon string at us. Kentin and Kim along with Rosa take the moment to get in and draw its attention. Before he goes in as well, Lysander turns to us,
"Figure out something quickly." Sure no pressure or anything!
"Any ideas?"
"Nope you?"
"Still working on it Castiel…ask me in three seconds."
"Not the time for a joke Fae." What do we do? Think! Lysander must have seen us doing something in order to tell us to come up with a plan but what? How do we create a powerful attack that's equally powerful on both sides and kill the dragon? Ok we know it hates both fire and ice…so…wait that's it!
"Listen I think I have an idea." I quickly explain what I think might work in order to kill the earth dragon.
"I can hold up my end of the plan but what about you?"
"I've never created anything that big before but we don't have that much of a choice right now."
"If your off by just a bit-"
"Castiel you can lecture me later right, now shut up and help me with this; we don't have another plan ok!" Castiel blinks a few times before silently agreeing with me and flies into the sky heading for above the dragon. Still standing in place I summon all the power and will power I can muster calling on a storm. Ice cold wind, ice and snow begin to swirl all around me,
"Lysander!" he looks back nodding already aware of what I'm about to do. With that I expand the storms radius heading for the dragon. Lysander warns the others to get out of the way while he himself heads for cover. A pain in my chest I've never felt before begins to spread throughout my body, most likely due to the fact I'm going way beyond my limits. Yet even so I don't stop myself in fact I push further expanding the storm even further until in the massive storm are only me and the dragon. As it senses the sudden change in the air the earth dragon tries to escape but the ice and snow are already working their way into the body. It begins to slow down as it tries to move but with every move the slower and slower and stiffer its movements become until finally it stops moving completely. Yet even though its frozen I can't let go of the storm in fear that it will start to break free. On the outside ice and snow begin to cover the frozen dragon almost making it look as though it's been frozen for a long time. Up above me a bright orange glow pierces through the 0 visibility of the storm above like a star growing brighter and brighter. The storm starts to his as Castiel's fire collected up above grows larger and larger conflicting with the blizzard. Jeeze that thing looks like it could be a sun…! He waits no longer as I watch him release the white hot fire; I wait according to plan until the last possible second as the fire ball descends upon the dragon engulfing it. Thanks to the sudden change in temperatures the dragons body begins to crack and shatter until nothing is left. As the fire ball descends, I finally release the storm and create a shield of ice around me hopefully strong enough to outlast the heat and fire. All I'm able to do is wait as the heat melts the ice around me. I look back at the shield and see holes in it. I try to recover the ice but with my energy spent so much I can't much. More and more of the shield evaporates away; I duck and cover curling into a ball. The heat begins to grow hotter and hotter on my back causing me to become terrified of what's going to happen. Castiel…! Suddenly I feel myself being lifted up and out of the inferno and back on the cliff with everyone else. Looking down all that's left of the dragon is a mixture of ice covered and scorched earth.
"I guess you are still helpless in some situations." I look up to meet Castiel's gaze as he stares down at me, "You ok?"
"Yep…just one question…is the principal trying to kill us?"
…
"Ow…Ow…it hurts to walk…" I am so glad today is Friday, the stupid test we had just yesterday left my body so sore I thought I wouldn't be able to move today. The second I get out of classes I'm going home and getting back in bed…and I'm not getting out for the whole weekend. *Cries* Finally after slumping through the hallway I reach my locker getting ready for lunch; even my fingers feel sore as I enter in my combination. "Ugh…! This is torture…!"
"What is?" Castiel asks as he leans up against the lockers waiting for me.
"how often do we have the sudden death tests?"
"Not very often about maybe once a month. Sometimes we know about them sometimes they're a surprise."
"Oh joy…" I don't hide the sarcasm in my comment.
"Don't make too much of a fuss about it you did pretty good for your first time."
"Yeah tell that to my aching body…"
" so do you have any plans after school today?"
"Rosa and I are going into town after school to go to her boyfriends clothing store."
"Why…?" he raises an eyebrow.
"She's going to help me get a new wardrobe."
"You're not going to turn into another Amber are you; her and her two clones are more than enough for this school to stomach."
"EW, God no! I am not turning into a prissy brat."
"Good, then you're coming with me right now."
"Why?"
"Part of the whole partner thing is we have to come up with a name for our team."
"Really?" my eyebrows knit together,
"one of the overlords orders; we have to have it in by tomorrow. So any bright ideas?"
"Hmm…Fire and Ice."
"Hell no!"
"Why not?"
"Do you even realize how lame that sounds not to mention how obvious it is…"
"You didn't have to shoot it down that quickly…"
"We're not naming ourselves that, end of story."
"Ok then imp boy… what about you?"
"…I hate it when you call me that. Fine how about death bringers."
"What are we grim reapers?"
"Better than fire and ice." He smirks which sends me off on a tangent about something or other.
Please leave a comment if you like this story so far.
Btw can't really think of a name for their team; if you have a suggestion please PM me. ^^