Priscilla was cowering on the floor in the corner with Kyle holding her. She was clutching one of her hands and she was crying. Beside her was a man with the most apathetic eyes, and flaming yellow hair I've ever seen. He was holding Alice up by the hair; blood was streaming from her forehead, one of her arms was bent in a way that should have been impossible, smoke was rising from her body where she had been burned multiple times, and she was heaving with irregular breathing. The man tightened his grip on Alice's hair and lifted her higher. He was going to kill her.
Before I could scream at him to stop, another person entered the scene.
"Emperor La Phing, why don't you put her down now? I'm sure the two of them have learned their lesson, there's no need to continue anymore is there?" Hayley calmly said, never breaking eye contact with the man, emperor La Phing. "Isn't that right, Priscilla?"
"Y-yes." Priscilla whispered.
"Emperor La Phing, shall we ignore these ignorant fools and continue on our way to the meeting? Being late is always a hassle."
"Tch. Since it's you, Hayley. Let's go." Emperor La Phing dropped Alice, and she crumpled to the floor, unconscious but alive.
My sister never made eye contact with me. She turned and followed the emperor out of the dorm. Her dark hair was cut short and she wore white rimmed glasses now. She was as pretty and cold hearted as ever. As soon as they were gone, I ran over to Alice.
"Kyle what the hell happened?" I asked, trying to stop her bleeding. "Did you call for help yet?"
"Yeah, the medics are on their way. I'll tell you later, first we need to put out these flames and make sure these two are going to be okay." He responded.
The medics arrived soon after and took Alice and Priscilla to the hospital. We put out the flames left from La Phing's outburst.
"Priscilla had stopped by Alice's dorm to talk, they're close friends. Then emperor La Phing walks by and sees Priscilla. He heard about her loss against Alice and commented about her 'losing to trash'. Priscilla ignored his nasty comment. But La Phing isn't used to being ignored." Kyle explained. "Then he started talking about Priscilla's dead husband. Alice tried to calm Priscilla down but to no avail. Priscilla told him to shut up. Then, quicker than anyone could register, he slapped her so hard she was sent crashing into the wall. He didn't stop there though. He was going to keep beating Priscilla, but Alice chose to interfere. Going to the injured Priscilla's defense, she tried to hold him back. But this just made La Phing even more angry."
Listening to it all made me incredibly pissed off. How could an emperor, whose job was to protect this nation, be so cruel? I clenched and unclenched my fists.
"I know how you're feeling. I feel the same way. But against him there is absolutely nothing we can do. We can only try to get stronger to protect our friends."
"I know." I sighed heavily. "What happened after?"
"Well La Phing is known as the Hot-Headed Emperor for a reason. His ability, appearance, and personality are all very befitting to that name. He absolutely crushed Alice, she was no match for him at all. Priscilla grabbed onto his leg and begged him to stop his assault. She told him to go after her instead. La Phing stomped on her hand and broke it, then kicked her away. After, he broke Alice's ribs, which pierced through one of her lungs and she screamed as the torture continued. I've never heard her scream in all the years I've known her. That's also when you came in. To be honest, if your sister hadn't showed up…I don't know what would have happened."
I nodded. After meeting Emperor Chen Long and Fuji, I hadn't thought someone like La Phing could exist. And this incident served as yet another reminder of the gap between me and my sister. So much was going through my mind but Kyle didn't have to know that. "What happened between Priscilla and La Phing? It seems like they have a grudge against each other."
"Priscilla's husband Peter was the former coach of arena 4. Arena 4 was La Phing's assigned arena. The two of them used to battle all the time. But young La Phing could never win. Until one day, when Peter's leg was still recovering from their last battle, La Phing insisted on having another match. The match resulted in Peter's death when La Phing took it too far. Since then, every time Priscilla lost, she would have to deal with La Phing's taunts."
"I see. He's like the embodiment of evil."
"Good way of putting it."
"I hope they're okay. Those two I mean."
"Yeah. Don't worry they're strong. I know this is probably the furthest thing from your mind right now, but we need to go to Applications Class." Kyle said.
"Oh that's right. First day of classes. Let's get motivated then. We can visit Alice and Priscilla afterwards."
"Okay. It's this way."
In Applications Class, we learned how to incorporate natural energy into different attacks and defenses. Then, the class was divided in half between those that knew their elements and those that didn't. The way you got to find your element was to gather natural energy first and see which element you felt the strongest. Then you would pull that element out. At least that was the idea. If you forcefully pulled out an element that didn't respond to you, you'd get hurt. The harder it resists, the stronger the side-effects would be.
I looked around. It would seem that my classmates were having an easier time finding their elements than I was. I was rapidly depleting my energy and getting nowhere. The instructor came over to me then.
"How are you doing?" He inquired.
"Not so great." I responded. "I can't feel anything."
"When you draw the natural energy in, you feel that right?"
"Well yes, but everyone can do that."
"Have you tried to forcefully pull one out?" The instructor asked me.
"Sort of…but it gets too difficult because once I focus on one element and try to pull, all the other ones start coming with it and I don't have enough energy to pinpoint the one I wanted anymore."
"Ah, I see…and when you try to find the one you feel the most you can't because…?"
"Because they all feel equally strong to me." I finished.
"Then, my friend, you are one in a thousand. It would appear that you are compatible with all the elements." He smiled at me.
All eyes were on me.
"What? That's impossible." I said.
"Try it. Don't pinpoint anything, and just pull them all out." He suggested.
"Alright then." This was crazy. But I gave it a go. I pulled at the giant clump of elements I felt, but nothing budged. I tried harder this time, using the remaining bit of energy I had left. And this time, they all came out to the surface. But then I ran out of energy and they dissipated back.
"It worked!" I said, dropping down to my knees, exhausted.
"Good work. You should get some rest and we'll try again tomorrow. It's pointless for you to continue as you've exhausted yourself." The instructor dismissed me.
I could still feel every ones eyes on me, and hear their whispers. But it didn't matter. I wanted to go visit Alice and Priscilla.
When I got to the medical wing of the school, I had to ask the nurse for their room number. I got their room number and stopped by a stall to buy two baskets of fruits. I knocked lightly on their room door before entering. There, standing beside Alice's bed, was the last person I expected to see, my sister Hayley. I glanced at the table beside them; there was a basket of fruits. Alice and Priscilla were asleep. Hayley slowly turned around to face me. She said nothing. She was waiting for me to talk first. And so I said the first thing that came to mind.