Here is the next update! Hopefully this chapter is more grammatically sound than the last. Enjoy!

Painful Promises

Xerxes sat on Kheika's bed, her shoulders slumped over and face dried up and itchy from old tears. She stared at Hino's form resting on her own bed.

"Who are the others?" Xerxes asked with a soft, thin voice.

Setsuka, who had been standing at the foot of Kheika's bed with her arms crossed, shifted her weight to face Xerxes. "We have our suspicions. Ryuusei may be one, though he has no mark."

"What element?" Xerxes asked, looking towards Ryuusei as she did.

Ryuusei was leaning on the desk, close to Hino's bed. He had been watching the Wind Sage like a hawk, monitoring her state in case something happened. He looked up when he heard his name spoken and turned his focus to Xerxes to answer her question. "Earth, probably."

"I see. Who else?" Xerxes continued, wanting to know more so that she could keep her mind off of Hino for a bit.

Setsuka sat on the chair that went with the desk, facing Xerxes. "As of right now, you and I are possible choices."

Xerxes straightened up instantly. "Wait a minute- I'm being dragged into this? Me?" Xerxes asked in disbelief.

"Who knows. It's just a suspicion. However, it's likely."

Xerxes shook her head before looking back to Hino. She felt terrible. She went over to Hino and knelt beside her bed, stroking her hair lightly. "It's bad enough my only friend at this school is a part of this stupid thing. Now I have to go through this too?"

"Consider yourself lucky that you have a forewarning," Setsuka replied, not wanting to deal with Xerxes going off about how unfair the whole predicament was. "Hino had no idea of what is happening to her right now. She's delirious, she's in pain. At least you know it's coming."

Xerxes said nothing. She just continued to stroke Hino's hair, looking at her friend with despair.

How did we get sucked into this?

"I won!" Alexianna announced for the hundredth time as her and Takeshi left the bowling alley. Takeshi rolled his eyes at her as they made their way to the car in the parking lot.

"I know, I was there." Takeshi gave annoyed.

Alexianna took the hint and stopped. They got into the car, Takeshi taking the driver's seat, and set out.

"Where do you want to eat?" Takeshi asked her as they got onto an expressway.

Alexianna hummed as she pondered the question, going through a mental list of culinary choices in her head.

"Ah-" Takeshi hissed as he grabbed his left shoulder.

"What is it?" Alexianna asked, worry starting to enter her features.

"My shoulder…"He managed as he winced at the growing pain.

"I-is it bleeding, or…?" Alexianna questioned, her brow beginning to sweat.

"I don't- AH!" He screamed, gripping his shoulder.

Alexianna started hyperventilating with each groan and scream Takeshi let out. She reached out and tried to calm him, but it was no use.

"Takeshi! It's okay, calm down!" She tried to instruct, but he ignored her and kept screaming in pain, on the brink of passing out.

Takeshi took his other hand off the steering wheel of the car and clutched his shoulder with both hands. Alexianna noticed this and tried to grab the steering wheel, but Takeshi screamed and convulsed in pain, knocking her back and accidentally hit the steering wheel, causing the car to swerve out of its lane.

"TAKESHI!"

The car crashed into a passing van, throwing both back and forth in their seats. Both of their forms slumped over onto the wheel and dashboard, unconscious.

Grace peered around a shelf, spotting Cleotra at her desk organizing some books. Grace casually strolled up to the desk and made it look like she was just entering the library. Cleotra looked up from her organizing and looked up at her friend, smiling.

"Hey," Cleotra greeted.

Grace nodded back. "How's your day been?"

"Repetitive," Cleotra shook her head. "Yours?"

Grace took a moment to find the right word to describe her day so far. "Enlightening," she finally replied.

Cleotra frowned, a little confused at her friend's reply. "Okay… Why is that?"

Grace lifted her leg and planted her foot on the surface of Cleotra's desk, making her new mark fully visible to the blonde psychic. "This," She said darkly.

Cleotra's eyes widened a little at the marking. She leaned in and started to examine it, almost daring to touch it as she felt her hand reach to trace it, but she stopped herself. "Wh-where d-d-did you get th-that?"

Grace smiled at the marking. "I didn't 'get' it. It appeared on me this morning. Like a blessing in disguise." Grace replied dreamily, causing fear to start in Cleotra's gut.

"A blessing?" Cleotra asked, somewhat sceptic.

Grace's smile turned into a full on smirk. She lifted her foot off the desk and did a half turn, blasting a window and shattering it with a black and purple orb of energy she produced within a matter of seconds in her hands. She planted herself and looked at the destroyed window with satisfaction. Her marking glowed a dark purple, as if it had been activated somehow.

Cleotra stood there, stunned at what she had just witnessed. "What the..?"

"Such a blessing." Grace commented, admiring her work. She looked back to Cleotra for approval, who just kept looking at the window in frightened awe.

Cleotra twitched a little as she looked over to Grace, half concerned, half afraid. "Are you feeling okay?"

"Perfect. I feel absolutely perfect," Grace celebrated, letting a smile of glory take over her features, "I feel… completed."

"C- C-Completed?" Cleotra whispered, disbelief taking her over. 'This isn't like Grace at all…'

"Yes!" She announced joyously.

Cleotra fumbled with some books. She gathered some and walked off to the shelves, needing to get away from her friend. Or was that her friend..? Cleotra placed the books in their proper places, reaching up to a higher shelf to put the last few away. As she reached, her sleeve pulled back, revealing a black symbol shaped in a triangle with a clover like shape in the middle of it on her wrist. The symbol caught her attention, causing the memories of pain and agony of when she first received the mark to flash through her mind.

"Will I..?" she mumbled to herself, and then quickly shook her head before returning back to her desk.

"LEX!"

Kheika's face was smothered in liquid make-up and swollen flesh. She was being held back by a police officer as she tried to fight her way to the ambulance that was loading her friend up and preparing to send her away.

"I'm sorry Miss, but you need to step back-"

"No! You don't understand! That's my friend in there! She's hurt! I have to see her!" She protested as she shoved the officer out of her way, only to be halted by another.

"Starr, come on." Jeff coaxed his girlfriend, but she ignored him.

"LEX!" She screamed again, scrambling against the officer.

Jeff approached her and took hold of her form, pulling her into him as she gave up her attempts at getting to Alexianna.

"Sh… It's okay. She'll be okay." Jeff assured the hysterical girl as he stroked her hair.

She buried herself in his chest and simply cried. Her tears stained Jeff's shirt, but he didn't care, he just kept stroking her long, black hair, trying his best to calm her.

"This is so stupid…"she whispered into his chest.

"Why's that?" he asked.

"I barely know her…We've been friends for two weeks… I don't get it…" She slowly confessed through sobs and sniffs.

Jeff nodded in understanding as he watched the ambulance pull away from the scene, taking Alexianna and Takeshi away with it.

"Neither do I," he replied honestly. "Neither do I…"

/

"What?!" Aki yelled into her phone. The Chancellor paced around the room, her palms becoming moist and face growing red with stress and anger.

"We need you to come down to the hospital as soon as you can." The police officer on the other end of the line informed the red head.

Aki sighed out of aggravation. "Alright, I'll be there." She replied and flipped her phone shut.

Aki buried her face in her hands and let out a muffled scream. "The first week…" she mumbled into her palms.

She dropped her hands and shoved her phone into her purse which she slung over her shoulder as she rushed out the door. "How did this happen?" she asked herself.

Ryuusei rounded the corner to the hallway his mother was walking down and halted when he saw her. He observed her stressed and frantic state, worry filling his mind but leaving his features untouched.

"What's going on?" He asked her as she started to pass him. He started walking with her, managing to keep up with her speedy pace.

"There was an accident. I'm heading to the hospital right now." Aki replied quickly, trying to remain professional and detached.

Ryuusei inhaled silently in shock. "Was anyone hurt?"

Aki turned her eyes to him and nodded. Ryuusei frowned slightly as they kept walking towards the front entrance.

"Are you coming with me or staying here?" Aki asked.

Ryuusei thought about it quickly. "I'm coming."

Aki nodded again as they made their way out of the building and towards the Chancellor's car.

Hino stirred as she woke. She opened her eyes to see Xerxes in front of her, her friend's face composed of concern.

"How are you feeling? Do you need anything?" Xerxes questioned lightly as Hino began to sit up.

Hino squinted a little, the sudden exposure to the light in her room caused her head to pound a bit and cast a dizzy spell on her, making her stomach upset. "Water," she answered, her voice raspy and tired.

Xerxes nodded and grabbed a water bottle from her friend's purse. "Here."

Hino took the offered water bottle and took a small sip. The water helped a little with the grogginess, she noticed, taking another sip.

"What happened?" Hino asked, still confused about what had happened to her.

Xerxes looked to her friend's arm where the gray mark of the Wind Sage rested. Hino noticed her friend's line of sight and looked to her arm.

"That mark…"Xerxes began quietly.

Hino scanned the symbol, feeling a familiarity wash over her and a sense of duty rise inside of her. "It doesn't hurt anymore."

Xerxes noticeably relaxed at the statement. A frown rested on her face, however, as she recalled Setsuka telling her she would experience a mark as well.

"You're a legendary Sage, apparently," Xerxes informed.

Hino looked to her friend, nodding slightly. "I know."

"I didn't know you could control wind with your psychic powers. Aerokinesis, right?" Xerxes remarked.

Hino smiled softly. "Yeah. I don't usually do that unless I'm angry," she clarified.

Xerxes nodded and stood up from her spot on Hino's bed. "You should rest." Xerxes suggested as she started to make her way to the door.

Hino shook her head. "I've had lots of rest. We should go out to dinner like we planned."

"We're not allowed out," Xerxes informed her. "Plus, it's 10 pm. It's a little late to go out. I can get you some food though."

Hino shook her head again. "No, thanks."

Her stomach churned as the thought of food entered her mind, making her nausea grow even worse.

"Alright, just come get me if you need anything, alright?" Xerxes instructed.

Hino nodded to her as Xerxes left the room. Hino sighed, looking to her arm.

"This should be interesting…"

END

So sorry this is late you guys! I've been surprisingly busy with many different agendas this past week. Review and let me know what you think!

Beta'd by lalunaticscribe LLS