"Right mom! I'm off to Riley's!"
Ash's friend invited him over to train some more. With the appearance of all the people lately Riley invited him to come over to his place and sharpen their skills together. Just as a precaution he wore a sports jacket with some wide pants in which he put his outfit under. Carrying his mask in one of his pockets he at least was prepared to jump in faster if something happened.
The doorbell ran just before Ash got out of the house. His mother having the day off watched TV on the couch.
"I'll get it."
Ash's protective instinct kicked in. Putting his left arm behind his back a blade showed up quickly in it. If it was an unfriendly person he could immediately stab him in the arm when he opened the door. Peaking through the looking glass Delia saw her son's weapon vanish. Who ever it is on the other side wasn't looking to get stabbed by her son. He opened the door and the older woman saw one of Ash's classmates standing there.
"May. Nice to see you after so long. How's the rest of the family?" Delia welcoming her it was nice to see the girl in one piece after the whole ordeal she and her son went through at school. Wearing a black jacket with a blue shirt and jeans she finished her look with a light blue bow on top of her head.
"Doing well miss Ketchum. Dad is overworked a little but mom and Max are doing fine."
Ash glad to hear she and her family are doing fine. At least he got away with his identity a secret when he tossed Bisharp out of the Maple house.
"So why are you here?" Ash asked why May was visiting him. For someone who just had survived an assassination attempt she wasn't looking all that worried.
"I decided to check on you. Going somewhere?" May seeing the tracksuit Ash put a spin to it.
"Just going for a run."
"Mind waiting for a few minutes? Can we talk?"
"I guess."
Even if Riley was expecting him he just had to make up lost time by doing a bit of free running. Although it could be a little suspicious he'd seen people do it sometimes at night during his patrols and video's online.
"So Ash. How did you manage to survive that long against him?"
May's question not what he was prepared for he had created a story to cover his tracks whenever he gets back to school. Standing face to face with May against Bisharp the killer was headline news today with footage of him being taken into custody with the help of a giant car magnet which lifted him off pavement Ash had pinned him down too.
"Luck I guess. I just used everything I know about fighting and waited for my chance to escape. Which came after that person with the ice powers came around."
May knowing she referred to her now. So far their stories matched until he got away with his backpack. Still if he is the one her spirit partner is thinking about she wanted an opinion.
"What do you think about him or her?" Feigning not knowing her gender thanks to the betting pot Gary set up at school it was money she'd never see again.
"I've only seen her for a second. I'm not sure what to think."
He really was making things up as he went along. All to make the Maple family not suspicious about the real source of his ability to fight considering the girls father was working for the police who had put the bounty on his head making it quite awkward for him to be here.
"Are you familiar with the blue vigilante that fought in the museum? There are rumors he was at your school. Plus his fight right in front of our home with Bisharp."
"No. I don't think I saw him. I thought he only came out during night."
"He's quite good in covering up his stories."
Looking around him Ash heard a voice he couldn't pinpoint. It sounded like an older woman's but he was sure it wasn't his mother speaking. Delia was still watching TV on the report of what her son did. With his apprehension of the killer he was sure to have created some goodwill after his museum fight which he was still a fugitive for.
"Did you say something?" The brunette showing a faint smile.
"He's the one alright. Found him." May's spirit partner confirming the guy who rescued her is indeed Ash May felt more confident around him.
"Can we go to your room? Your mom might freak out if she sees this."
"Uhm…kay."
Letting May come inside they went upstairs and went inside his bedroom. With clothes all over the floor and his desk a mess he apologized not wanting to look like a slouch.
"Sorry about the mess. I haven't had much time to clean up. So what is it you want to show me?"
May removed one of her brown bangs and showed the jewelry she carried round. Tapping the jewel with her index finger Ash and Delia could see May's hair color change from a brown to the unique white and blue he only knows from Glaceon. Her blue eyes turning so deep they couldn't be considered human anymore May completed her partial transformation. Ash recognizing the person in front of him without the facemask but the eyes and hair gave it away.
"Wait!? You're Glaceon?!"
"That's right, aura guardian."
May spilling out the type of people he belonged too Ash couldn't believe she figured out his identity. He was sure to give out no hints and to keep communication to the public to a minimum. Seeing the boy on edge May took one of her friends sayings that there's no need to worry.
"Your secret is safe with me. You could've unmasked me at any time when I was out but you didn't. You don't have to worry about me not returning the favor. As long as you don't tell others."
May making a deal that if Ash threw out her name then she'd throw his out on the street too. Trying to get his head around it the brunette was just as capable as he is in a fight. May had never shown anything out of the ordinary at school so she was just as good at concealing her powers as he and Riley were. Dawn never mentioned the icy heroine at all and she is one of May's best friends. Or did the blue haired girl knew and hid it from him just as she hid Ash's powers from her friends?
"How do you know what I did when you were out?" Thinking that the icy figure was unconscious the whole time he was stunned to hear she knew everything he did while she slept like a baby.
"I told her."
"What is that voice I keep hearing?" Still looking for the mysterious voice the spirit confessed.
"I'm Glaceon. Well, the real one. May took on my name and started doing the same thing you do with your aura. Beating bad guys. You can only hear me since you're an aura guardian."
Seeing the confused look on his face May returned her hair and eyes back to the ones she was born with. Maybe seeing the face he's more familiar with might help with Ash coming to terms to her secret.
"I know you're confused but give us the time to explain. If I wanted you arrested I would've called dad. I'm not snitching you to my dad."
"Does your dad know about this?"
"He knows. He married my former host."
"Former host? You mean your mom?"
"Who else? It's a family tradition. Let us explain."
May and Glaceon gave the aura guardian the rundown of how their union worked. Telling a short history of May's family the girl turned out to be the same way her mother and ancestors when they chose to take up the mantle.
"Who else knows about you?" May wondered if anyone else knew Ash's big secret.
"My mom, the other guy you saw me earlier with and Dawn."
"Dawn knows about you?" May raised an eyebrow. She did do a pretty good job about not blurting out Ash's power but why tell a normal girl like her of all people?
"Sometimes I visit her at nights for a quick fill me up. What about you? Who knows?"
"Caroline, Norman and Max. You are the first one outside of the family and other gem users to hear it."
Giving the privilege to the boy there might be other people who her fellow gem users out of their families who know about the family lines through history and help them in protecting the world as supporters. Now with the big shocks out of the way the brunette gave Ash an overdue apology since they're allies now.
"First, sorry that I pelted you two with quite the hailstorm. I never meant to kill you, just get you off my back."
"You don't kill. I found that out at school." Ash's response not what she was expecting.
"How?"
"If you can create ice from nowhere you can make stalactites or mites all around and pierce the guy when you wanted. Either it melts faster then you can make it or you held back on purpose not to kill him."
The young heroine surprised that Ash is so observant. He seemed to have a knack for quickly coming up with strategies on the fly. How he executed Bisharp's defeat was pretty interesting in how he took his grenades and turned it against him.
"Also I want your help with something."
"Sure?" Ash wanting to help May didn't understand what she would've wanted but it's something he's pretty adapt in.
"You can make weapons out of thin air. Teach me how to create weapons from nowhere like you do."
"Can't you already do that? You can make ice out of nothing." Glaceon commented on May's crafting skills saying they aren't as advanced as he thinks they are.
"So far May can only form and sculpt ice on an area. She can't just freeze whatever she looks at from a distance. She needs a surface."
The girl went further in on why she wanted it.
"If I'm in a fight I can't take my time making them. And I want to throw them and immediately create a new weapon like you do. Mom saw your fight and you can just pull out a new one without worrying. I want that too."
"What kind of weapon do you have in mind?"
"Tonfa's. They're like police batons." Knowing that the boy is a big fan of martial arts movies she used the correct term for the weaponry she trained with in her spare time.
"I've read about them. Never made them. Give me a minute."
Taking a deep breath Ash put his hands outward. May eyeing his hands too warning to see the blue glow come from him from up close. Glaceon told her a bit about Ash's type of powers but seeing it in person with her own eyes excited her. Thinking about the shape of a baton that the police carry around Ash started to focus. A small stick formed in his hands after a minute. Concentrating a bit more the stick protruded a small section in which to hold the weapon from.
"Like these?" Ash asked holding it out to her while May nodded her head eagerly.
"So tell me how to make them already! Is there a trick to it?"
"No trick. I just visualize it and it appears."
"It took you a long time though."
"I'm not used to batons."
The stick vanished in his hands. Ash formed a kunai in his left and three shuriken between his fingers in his right hand in under a second. That's more the speed and type of crafting the brunette was looking for.
"These on the other hand I can form in my sleep."
Looking to a dart board he had on his wall for target practice Ash threw the kunai straight in the bull's-eye and the throwing stars in the small green circle around it with each one hitting a perfect mark. The four objects disappearing in thin air because he wanted it May not willing to be outdone felt the need to show off a bit too.
Touching her earing her hair and eyes turned again. Touching Ash's floor with her hands an small castle that reached her middle shot out from his floor. It had multiple towers and a draw bridge that was open with the plank of it engraved with her and Glaceon's name.
"Cool huh?"
"I'd say it is but then I would be making an ice pun."
"Just leave the ice puns to me. Don't go stealing my material."
"Don't worry. That's for the people we throw in jail."
Joking about jail May had something to tell him.
"Remember the guy that dad took in custody in your garden the night of the big kidnapping?"
"Yeah." Remembering the suited man well enough after trying to kidnap his mother and nearly breaking multiple bones in his body.
"He's dead. Died in prison."
Ash can't say exactly he deserved his fate. He preferred to let him rot in prison with all the others who aided him that night. Secretly wondering if May also knew about the real identity of the masked characters he and Riley had a run in with.
"They're still performing the autopsy but with all the cuts in his body Bisharp is the prime suspect."
Finding it a bit ironic he might've helped the police catch the guy who killed the one who tried to kidnap Delia he found it weird that May knew all this. Didn't the police uphold a strict policy of not telling people outside the force things that didn't concern them?
"Isn't your dad risking his job by telling you this?"
"The moment he found out mom was Glaceon and kept it hidden he's at risk of getting fired. He sends his regards for all the bad guys you and your friend knock out for the police."
May wanted to meet the taller person with Ash. The more the merrier after all.
"Can you introduce me to your friend? I'll keep his secret too."
"I'll give him a call and see what he says. I will put in a good word for you since I know I can trust you now."
"So. Partners then?" May holding out her hand for a handshake Ash took it.
"Sure."
Shaking hands signaling the partnership May accidently froze Ash's hand. A chunk of ice enveloping his right May returned her hair and eyes back to normal. Telling Ash the person who bothered him was dead May forgot that her changed form was still on.
"Sorry about that."
"It's fine." Smashing the ice with his left hand little cubes fell to the floor.
"Look my dad expects me and Glaceon. I'll hear about your friend later ok?"
"You need help?" Ash offering to help the two out. May said it was nothing to worry about.
"Not really. It's just a family business not related to our powers."
"Nice meeting you Ash. Here's to a safe partnership."
Glaceon happy she finally got to communicate to a person not related to her. Talking to family alone gets boring after some time and aura guardians were a welcome change of pace.
"You too Glaceon. It was nice meeting you."
May said her goodbye's for now and hurried back home leaving Ash with enough to think about. Ash pulled out his phone and he called Riley. Their training had to be a bit later since this couldn't wait.
"Where are you? You're late and I didn't sense any aura flares from you."
"Sorry about that. But I just figured out who the ice user is and well…you're not gonna believe this."
See you around.