Yay I'm back!
Nothing much to say, but thank you to everyone who reviewed! Oh, and i might add that starting from the end of this week, I might be updating not as often, because i wont have much time to type any more. I'll be spending half of the day at school, and the other half at work, so I'll only have like half an hour to type, and that would be like, late at night.
Oh, and my new job is at McDonald's! Yaaayy Big Macs for everyone!
ON WITH THE STORYYY!
Chapter 10 – Just A Little Friendly Competition
It was a warm Thursday afternoon and Ayrgyn was supervising our Sky Fu. I was finally fitting in after almost two weeks at Helix. It was nonstop practice for the up-coming Crystal Tournament. Since testing for the advanced team was more than two months way, the show was my first priority.
It had been a tough lesson, and I was sweaty and tired. While we were cooling off with some simple exercises, I decided it wouldn't hurt to do some more practice with my crystals. I stood by the arena's gate and looked around the campus. There was a large mirror set up on the other side of the school, specifically for Mages to practice aiming from a distance. If aimed properly, a crystal blast would reach the mirror in about one minute.
I gripped my yellow Stryker in both hands and aimed at the mirror. Deep breath and fire! I released a blast that hopefully would hit the mirror dead on.
Out of the corner of my eye, I saw Cyclonis come up next to me, so close that our shoulders touched. She aimed her purple Stryker at my mirror and fired.
"What are you doing?!" I hissed through clenched teeth, while trying to keep my crystal's blast in a straight line.
"Practicing," Cyclonis spat back. "You do know what practice is, don't you?"
Her voice was barely audible over the whirring from the crystals. I ignored Cyclonis and focused straight ahead. She narrowed her eyes, trying to see if I would back out or not. The blasts of the crystals, one yellow and one purple, raced ever closer to the mirror, both with perfect aim. Seconds before the blasts hit the mirror, I snapped my arm down, breaking the aim and stopping the blast in its tracks.
"Next time," I said quietly to myself, stepping away from her.
The blast from Cyclonis's blast hit the mirror smack in the centre. It cracked and split, and the force of the blast send a small shockwave several metres around the mirror. Cyclonis smirked with satisfaction, before turning to me.
"What was that?" I asked, growing more and more furious with each failed attempt at a yoga breath.
"I bulls-eyed a perfect shot," Cyclonis said mockingly, tempting me to just reach out and slap that grin off her face.
"If your blast had hit the mirror at the same time as mine, it could have rebounded off my blast and come hurdling to me. You could've hurt me!"
"Pah-lease," Cyclonis rolled her eyes. "I was in control. Nothing happened."
"But it could have." I hissed, glaring at her.
"I didn't see you stop straight away and – " Cyclonis closed her mouth when Ayrgyn stepped between us. Goosebumps covered my arms. Cyclonis was right about one thing – I should've backed out the second she started the game of chicken.
Ayrgyn looked as calm as ever, but the way that he was looking at us told me that he was angry. He looked at me and then at Cyclonis. "What was that?" his voice rang across the arena. "Someone explain this to me, now.'
Cyclonis shifted her weight and crossed her arms. "Ayrgyn, we were just practicing."
"How big a fool do you think I am?"
"It was an accident," I blurted out, earning myself a glare from Cyclonis. Ayrgyn looked at me, then turned his gaze to Cyclonis. She gave him her trademark but-I'm-such-an-angel smile.
"And you?" he asked.
"Well, I didn't want to say anything before, but Piper is really dangerous. I was here first, and Piper deliberately came along and tried to injure me with her phony crystal! Maybe you should go over the safety rules with her again, Ayrgyn. "
My mouth dropped open. How could she? The nerve! Ayrgyn turned to me. When his back was to Cyclonis, she caught my eye and smirked.
"Ayrgyn," I said, scowling over his shoulder at Cyclonis. "It wasn't like that at all."
"Then tell me what it was like," he said. His stern voice made me shiver in my warm jacket.
I looked up, directly into his eyes. "Cyclonis aimed for the mirror after I did." With every word I spoke, I could feel Cyclonis's eyes burning into me. I looked down guiltily. "But I guess I should have stopped sooner."
Ayrgyn sighed. "Get your story straight, girls. I don't know who started this little rivalry, and frankly, I don't care. You both could have been injured. Gather your crystals and put them away. Once you've done that, I want you both in my office."
Without another word, I stormed out towards the lab with my crystal gripped in my fist. It's not fair, I didn't even do anything wrong! I practically threw the crystal in my locker, and slammed the door. Then, dragging my feet down the aisle, I shuffled my way to Ayrgyn's office.
Cyclonis stood outside his door. "You know he'll take my word over yours," she whispered harshly.
Maybe Cyclonis was right. I'd done nothing but mess up in front of Ayrgyn. But I knew that I never would have intentionally put anyone in danger, not even Cyclonis.
"Are you gonna knock on the door or what?" Cyclonis sneered.
"Sure, if you can't even knock on a door without help, I'll do it for you," I said, surprising myself with my own courage.
I rapped at the door, but I could feel Cyclonis's eyes growing wide beside me.
"Come in," came Ayrgyn's voice.
Cyclonis pushed in front of me and took the only chair. I stood beside her and clenched my hands.
"It appears that we have a serious safety issue," Ayrgyn started. "You both displayed very poor behaviour out there today." He shook his head. "I don't care how long you've been here, whether you're new or not. I'm disappointed in both of you."
"Piper has been deliberately provoking me," Cyclonis moaned. I just stared at her. "She's trying to secure her spot on the advanced team by baiting me. I'm not sure if I can work with her anymore."
"Being on a team, Cyclonis, means working together." Ayrgyn's tone was firm. He looked at us in the poor sunlight streaming through his office window. "If you want to graduate from this school as a fully-qualified Crystal Mage, you will do just that – be part of a team."
Cyclonis frowned. "But when you're a fully-qualified Mage, you're by yourself, not with anyone else. So why are we training in teams?"
"Because Cyclonis, working in teams while you're in training helps to develop important skills. And you will work in a team if you want to graduate at all. Do you have a problem with how things work here?"
Cyclonis sunk low in her seat. "No, sir, I don't. And I don't have a problem about working in teams. Sorry."
"It won't happen again," I offered.
"Good. And to ensure that it doesn't, you two are going to be spending more time together. Saturday morning, seven O'clock. You will both be here, helping my assistants Stork and Junko organise the Supply Room. You're excused."
Cyclonis pushed back her chair and sulked out the door. I rushed past her, heading for my locker. When I reached it, I banged my head against it, hard.
"Piper?" I felt someone tap my shoulder and turned to see Dove. "Dond't worray, t'was all Cyclonis's fault, not yurs," she assured me. "T'was a goot ting dat ya stooped whine ya dit."
Her kind words made me feel slightly better. I wanted to smile and believe her.
But instead i shook my head. "Thanks Dove, but I shouldn't have gone that far. Something just came over me at the time and I didn't want her to force me off. If I could go back and change it, I would."
"Butt ya stooped, nd Cyclonis dittent." She smiled warmly at me. "C'mon, leds goo, I'll buy ya a smooothay." A smoothie sounded perfect, so I let Dove drag me away.
After the afternoon I'd had, I was glad to have a friend like Dove to comfort me. No matter what the Trio did to me, I had Dove and Starling to remind me why I came to Helix in the first place. Anyway, I wasn't about to let anyone bully me into leaving.
Thanks for reading everyone!
And i'll say now, i've already planned the next chapter, and it'll be called 'Film Class + Dream Boy = Heart Attack' ...Hmmmm iI wonder what that would be about? HAHAHAA ;)
Now if you'll all please review, that would be very appreciated! THANKYOU! See you all for chapter 11 XD
~ LouiLuvr