I would like to thank everyone has reviewed so far.
I love you all :D

So to express my love, here is chapter 7.....

And in accordance with my near pointless habit (XD) of always giving a theme song to each chapter, (pardon that, I just like my music) :
This one's song would be "Take Me Away" by Avril Lavigne

Enjoy!

And so they ignored each other. Completely.

Sinedd's mind was full of the tournament, proving himself again, piecing together the fragments of his shattered psyche and weathering Artegor's relentless training while still trying to catch up on his sleep. He hadn't had a single undisturbed night since last year's failed attempt at the cup...and it was taking its toll on him. He honestly couldn't tell anymore whether it was the smog or just pure tiredness that made him so dizzy and sick on the pitch. But he buried as much of that as he could beneath a sneering, confident mask and was always there to throw a fierce: "I can handle it, Coach" up at Artegor when it was needed.

Ebony's mind was full of herself, really and the girl she saw in the mirror. The girl who had to keep pleasing her beloved "papa" who never stopped calling to ask about her progress. The girl who was trying to keep up with the other players during the unmerciful training sessions that were levelled at them every day. The girl who was trying to finally say no to the pills. To stop taking them.
But no matter how many times she looked in the mirror, she had yet to see that girl.

So with too much else to worry about and the undulating pressure the media decided to layer on them, the two simply ignored each other. Avoiding each other completely during both on and off the pitch.

"I admire your maturity," Artegor had smirked to Sinedd earlier that week. "You two are playing nice like good children...for once. No more fighting, eh?"

"Just let her open her mouth to me and that'll change like the weather," Sinedd thought, giving his Coach nothing but a low grunt in reply and turning back to the match they had been watching.

Artegor Nexus, all the while, silently marvelled at the fact that his old friend's advice actually seemed to be working.
"Maybe I really am underestimating these kids..."
Then again, there was no communication, or connection of any kind when they played. Sure they weren't clawing at each other anymore...but now they both seemed to play as if the stretch of red glass pitch beside them was empty.
"And that is no way for the either of them to develop as players...," even the seemingly cold-hearted coach was willing to admit.

The sun burned down on to the pitch that afternoon during their usual practice, piercing through the underground rafters and casting glossy beams of white and gold across the dark, vermillion pitch.
And Artegor pushed his players regardless of the killing heat that the subterranean planet was so unused to.
Ever since the explosion of flux missiles on Shadow, just a year ago, the atmosphere was much clearer so the weather, (to the distaste of the locals), had gotten much better.

"Come on!" roared Artegor, shaking his fist at the players from the booth. "Let's go! Really SHOW me that you all still want to be here!"

Sinedd ignored the sting of sweat on his brow and rolled the ball between his ankles. He passed Nilhis, then Xerxes, darting around them as easily as lifeless mannequins.
He breathed in the black gas that poured from his lips and rolled against his body in powerful glowing waves. With one single, effortless writhe of his body, he had disappeared and was only a few feet away from the goal.

Kai locked eyes with him, stretching himself out protectively beneath his scarlet jumpsuit , bracing himself for Sinedd's fury that was about to lash out on the goal.

The ultraviolet eyed striker launched himself into the air, sighting the bare stretch of net that he wanted and sending the ball flying there.
Goal. Hell yeah. Who's your superstar? Who's the best on this team?

But he felt something unsettling in his stomach that another perfect goal only barely seemed to eradicate. No matter how hard he tried, Sinedd couldn't erase the overwhelming feeling of dread inside him.

"Good work, Sinedd!" Artegor shouted down through the mike system. "Now all of you! You have about twenty minutes of freestyle practice so pair up and get shooting! Then we'll do a simulation against the Cyclops..."

Ebony linked arms with a rather surprised looking Nilhis and dragged her into the penalty box, gossiping away to her the whole time.
The Shadow's captain lined up next to his star striker.

"Something wrong, man?" Fulmugus asked, slapping Sinedd across the back. "That was a good goal..."

"Yes it was," muttered Sinedd breathlessly, passing him the ball. "I know."

"But there's still something wrong with you...?" he tested, giving the ball strong kick back.
"No. I'm just...tired."
"Hmm, you haven't said a word to our newest player in a while..."
"Yeah so? I have more important things to do than argue with that thing."
Fulmugus gave an absent minded smile. "But you were pretty entertaining together. Speaking of pretty..."

The tall, white haired captain of the Shadows took the ball beneath his foot and leaned back into a long stretch...the perfect excuse to lock eyes with Nilhis, (who eagerly returned the attention with a flirty little smile of her own). Sinedd turned away and mimed vomiting.

"You'd want to keep your attention focused on playing, Fulmugus, and I mean playing foot- ...hey! Where are you going?!"

His "loyal companion" was now jogging over to join his favourite little midfielder with a huge grin on his face and Nilhis was only too happy to chatter away with him...despite Ebony's insistence that she was "her partner first!"

"Good idea, Fulmugus. That's thinking like a captain," announced Artegor. "Switch partners everyone!"

Before Ebony or Sinedd could even open their mouths in protest, Nilhis and Fulmugus had already darted off down the field together, looking all too pleased with themselves.

Sinedd slumped his shoulders and let out a sigh. "A perfect afternoon is about to be ruined..."

"Pass me the ball," he demanded, swinging back around to Ebony.
She raised an eyebrow haughtily. "Just get your own ball and do your own thing . I don't need your help."

She gave the ball a firm kick and set it rolling into the empty net before them. "I can manage on my own."

Sinedd laughed coldly. "Not with a kick like that, you can't."
"Huh?"

He strode forward, fishing the ball out of the goal and rolling it into his possession. "You need to put power into your kicks...like this..."

With one swift belt of Sinedd's toe, the ball shot like a bullet into the top of the netting. The sheer force kept spinning until the young man walked coolly into the goal, himself and stopped it with a finger.
"See? That takes strength. Something you need."

Ebony rolled her eyes as he walked towards her. "Ooooh, that was so impressive I forgot to say "wow"."
"So say it now," he sniggered, dropping the ball back to the ground. "And take a few steps back, will ya blondie? You're still on my side of the pitch..."

"Ebony," she insisted, dragging the ball between her feet. "So what is it anyway? You just think I need to put a bit of "power" into my kicks? Like kick the damn thing harder?"

"No, stupid," he sighed. "You have to kick from the whole of your leg, not just your foot..."
"Care to elaborate, oh great genius?" Ebony sighed straight back. "For a Genesis All-Star , you really don't strike me as being that bright..."

Sinedd smirked at her, swiping the ball away from her and taking three dominant steps back. "Watch and learn..."

Smog flared up around Sinedd's body like a one huge obsidian flame. It engulfed him until only a glossy, slivery silhouette was visible within.
Then he was gone, swirling up into the air as a sinister, black cyclone. His body seemed to unfurl and unravel from its glossy black chrysalis as the silvery ball blasted down into the goal.

The ball split the net as if it was nothing more than fragile cobweb.
Ebony watched, eyes wide and mouth slightly agape, as Sinedd came hurtling back to the ground beside her, landing like a dark, wingless angel.
Jealousy caught her in a stranglehold as she stared at his crouched form. How could he be so...so...like that?! He didn't have half the natural power over the smog that she had...

"Sinedd? What's up with you?!" Kai shouted over, looking rather worried.
"Something's not right," Ebony thought, becoming slightly panicked when she really looked at Sinedd for the first time. "Why isn't he standing up?"

"Oh no," thought Sinedd. "No...no...no...not now."
It was the smog. He could feel it in his chest, pulsing and writhing like a living being trying to force its way out of his throat. His whole body was on fire. His temples were throbbing with coarse, sharp, unfailing pain. He couldn't breathe either.
An invisible hand had sealed his mouth shut.
Sinedd's vision blurred, stellar white lights flashing before them like a thousand photographers.
He grabbed his head, dropping to the pitch on his knees and crying out in pain. He could barely hear his own cries though...or the ones of those around him.
He could just barely make out Artegor screaming into the earpiece...and the other players gathering around him. A cold sweat had begun to break on his face. "Get back..."
He could make out a blurry flick of yellow out of the corner of his eye. Someone getting nearer to him...
Ebony...

"Get away from me!" Sinedd shouted in a deep ragged voice, throwing a vicious punch at Ebony. He missed, but she still stumbled back in shock.
The other players cautiously gathered around while Artegor frantically shouted through the intercom. "Fulmugus! What's going on?!"

"It's smog poisoning, Coach...he's passing out!"
"Someone call a medic!"
"I'm on it!"
"Quickly! Quickly!"

Artegor pulled around the camera to get a better look at Sinedd. The smog was leaking from his mouth and nose, his eyes were squeezed shut and he was lying, spread-eagle, on the glass ground.
This scene was all too familiar to the coach of the Shadows. His stomach pulled tight as he dialled in a number for a medic...

Ebony stood there, staring for a moment with eyes wide and unblinking as she witnessed the horrific scene. Then it was her turn to do something incredibly unexpected and totally unlike her...

She walked forward with a mask-like expression on her face. She had no fear of being hit as Sinedd had stopped flailing around. He was still now, his head only lolling slightly and his lips muttering inaudible words that she could barely hear.
"Ebony? What in the name of the galaxy are you-?" Artegor began. Then he fell silent, as did all the other players on the pitch.

Wordlessly, the girl knelt down beside Sinedd, paused hesitantly for a moment and then placed her lips over his. Her mouth engulfed his completely. His skin was cold and wet but smooth...like ice. Ebony shut her eyes and craned her neck even further.
Nilhis' jaw dropped. "Is she...giving him CPR...or kissing him...?"

"Neither," Artegor said, shellshocked and realising. "She's sucking the smog from his mouth."

Ebony had to place her hand back on the ground to steady herself as she inhaled. She loved the taste of the smog as it poured from his mouth into hers. And if this selfish love could save a life...
"Don't stop!" she could hear a distant voice saying. "Don't stop!"

And she didn't stop.
Not until she felt a tap on the shoulder and a medic was dragging her back to her feet and Artegor was shouting at her from the stands behind...

Sinedd opened his eyes, the blurry infirmary of the Shadow's training compound shifting into view.
His body felt tired and weak against the bed he lay on. Beneath the sheets and the pyjamas he now wore, his limbs felt as if they each weighed a thousand tonnes.
He took in two long, deep breaths of air as he tried to recall what had just happened.
A vague memory of lying on the pitch, suffocating beneath the crushing weight of the smog...and the horribly familiar smell of smoke and perfume...?
No, that couldn't have been it. That was another crazy trip the smog had caused him to have. There was no way that-

"Finally awake, are you?"

He swivelled around on the pillow, only to see Ebony sitting on a chair at his bedside, still wearing her training suit and a contorted scowl on her face. She lowered the magazine that had been on her lap.

"That counts as one," she said blankly, raising her eyes to his.
"One of what?" he asked groggily, feeling his favourite migraine starting to return.
"One of the "ones" I owe you. I'd like to think that counted as some form of payback."

"Wait," Sinedd cut across her, confused and faintly disgusted. "So, you actually did..."
"Save your sorry ass?" Ebony interjected with a sickeningly sweet smile. "Yes. I did."

Sinedd groaned and pressed his head back into the pillow. "If you want some kind of hero's "thank you" or an "I owe you my life speech", you're looking for it in the wrong place...Ebony."
He really wasn't in the mood for that shit right then and there.
"Besides, I bet you already got your medal from Artegor."

Ebony raised her eyebrows and folded her arms.
"Actually, he told me that what I did was reckless and stupid and that he'd kick my ass off the team if I ever put mine or the life of another player up to chance like that again. He said you could have died and so could I..."

"So why didn't you?"
"Excuse me?"
"Why didn't you suffocate or something?" he repeated. "What got you so used to poisonous gas? The cigarettes or your perfume?"

She didn't frown or roll her eyes this time. She took a breath.
"When I was five, the doctors realised that the crossbreeding of my mother's Akillian genes and my father's Shadowarian genes had caused some problems. I was born with the same sheet of smog in my body that all Shadow-born children are...but a set of Akillian-bred lungs. So basically, I could use the smog as easily as I wanted to, but my body was having difficulty managing it because I took after my mother, I guess.
Later that year, I had to get a detox operation that would fix me so I could live here with my dad. I didn't do well when I wasn't using the smog after that. I had to use it all the time to make myself feel...sane. So the doctors gave me drugs to keep me under control...and then I couldn't stop taking them..."

Her voice trailed off, her eyes going slowly blank. "So I can manage a lot more smog in my body than you can...I'm used to trashing my lungs, remember?"

Sinedd looked at her for a moment, arching an eyebrow. "O...k...?"
It was nice of you to tell me all of this...but what the hell was the point?

"It's a perversion of nature, isn't it?" Ebony said suddenly, her stare growing hard as she interrupted Sinedd's train of thought.

"What is?"
You kissing me? Yes, I agree. That is a perversion of nature...

"You and I," she went on. "Using the smog. Our natural flux is the Breath...it's the one we were, well, built to use."

"No," Sinedd said sharply. "I may have been born on Akillian but my place is here and the smog is my flux. The Breath? Yeah, it's ok, I guess...for children who like little light shows. It's like I said before, it takes skill to use and it isn't just some "baby flux." It's power for the ones who are good enough to use it. Like me! It's worth the effort. Heh, no pain, no gain..."

"Very wise."

Sinedd could honestly not tell whether she was being sarcastic or not, for once. He massaged his temples, feeling a pain starting up there again.
He flinched, feeling Ebony's icy fingers press something small and round into his palm. A tablet.

"That'll get rid of your headache..."
Sinedd looked at her quizzically with an expression that said: "Trying to get me high or something?"
"It's from the nurse. She told me to give it to you when you wake up," she frowned. "Look if you don't believe me..."
"Ok, ok. Shut up and I'll take it," he groaned. "Your whining is just making my head feel even more like shit..."
He slipped the tablet quickly between his lips, suddenly pleasantly surprised at how quickly his head stopped aching. "So did the medics happen to say when I can get back to training?"

"Whenever Artegor says you can, apparently," she replied, going back to her magazine.
"And I can use the smog again, right?"
"Yes...but what do I look like to you? Your nurse?"
"Not in that outfit anyway..."
Ebony pursed her lips. "Is your head feeling better?"
"I guess so," he half yawned, suddenly very aware of how late into the evening it was.
"Good. Now lie down and get some rest."

"Yes mommy. Since when did you get so damn caring?"

"Artegor told me to sit and keep an eye on you until you fall asleep, so the faster you fall asleep, the faster I get to get back to my life and not that of his beloved protégé," she said sourly, leaning back in her chair. "Now get some rest."

Her tone was lighter that time.

Sinedd lay back, savouring the comfort. "Well it's your fault, you know. You're the one who decided to go all heroic and save me..."

"Yes. I did do that," she said blankly. "Didn't I?"

"You still owe me one though," Sinedd reminded her, turning over. "Don't forget. You still owe me."
Ebony snorted. "Yeah, whatever."

Maybe it was only her imagination that as he turned away from her, Sinedd gave a cough that sounded suspiciously akin to the words "thank you".

Harris turned to the calendar at his bedside.
"Phase one...completed...I'm back in with the league..."

He smiled darkly, carefully putting a red circle around the first date of the Blitz Tournament.
"Bleylock may have been a patient man...something I am not, admittedly," he grinned to himself. "However I will slowly bring the galaxy to its knees. Bowing before me...and the footballers of Genesis are going to help me do it..."

Ebony woke with a jump, looking around the dark, barely-lit infirmary room.
Her gaze fell upon the figure lying in the bed next to the seat she had been napping in.
"I must have fallen asleep while watching Sinedd," she wondered aloud. "So much for getting back to my life..."

He turned over gently, murmuring in his sleep, his face illuminated by the thin tongue of yellow light that stretched through the hinges of the door.

"Hmm...," Ebony mused. "You're kind of cute when you're not awake and being a jerk..."

Thanks for reading! Review, comment and critique as you wish! Hope you liked it! :D