“Rias Marlow.” mumbled Ferain. “Gemini Maron. Tigress Ru.” Fera sucked in a quick breath and her eyes shot open. She looked around to see that she was in Anita’s bed, which was obviously in Anita’s room, and was clearly surrounded by all of her belongings, such as a small collection of guitars, among other things. She heard a soft giggle from Anita, who was sitting at a desk and doing her hair while gazing in the attached mirror.
“You know, if I was a jealous girl, I’d be pretty upset with all of the names you’re spitting out in your sleep.” Anita joked.
“Sorry, I didn’t know.”
“No biggie, Ferain.” Anita said, turning on her stool and smiling happily. “How is the list coming along? Just about there?”
“I got a few of them down, and I’m pretty confident in it. I still have a ways to go though. I’m only halfway through the second page, and now there’s a whole other page that Guji gave me yesterday. I don’t remember there being this many people signing up for it last year.” she complained, sitting up in the bed, keeping her half-naked body covered by the bed sheets.
“Well, at least you made some progress. That’s a start, right?” said Anita, turning back to the mirror as she combed and braided her long silver hair. “So, are you ready for the race today? You’re participating, right?”
“Yeah, I am.” Fera stretched her arms into the air and sighed. “I’m a bit nervous, to be honest.”
“How so? You’re pretty darn fast, I’ve seen it myself. I don’t know if anybody will be able to beat you.”
“That’s what I’m nervous about. My specialty is speed. Won’t it sort of be cheating for me to race?” Anita stopped what she was doing to turn and stare incredulously at her partner. “What? Did I say something weird?”
“For you, maybe. Did you just brag about yourself?”
“Did I?”
“Yeah, you did. You just said that you’re so much faster than everyone that you think it’s cheating. Fera, that’s pretty bold of you.”
“It’s what you said, isn’t it?”
“Yes, but I’ve never really heard you compliment yourself like that. Hmm, looks like you’re finally growing up. Ah, my scared little chick is finally coming out of her shell. Truly, a sight to behold.” Anita said dramatically, while turning back towards the mirror. “Look, it’s not cheating just because you’re faster than them. It’s a race for a reason, the goal is to be faster. That just means that you’re better equipped.”
“But what if people get mad at me?” Fera questioned.
“So what? Every sport has sore losers. Let them get upset.”
“I guess. Yeah, maybe you’re right, Anita.”
“Of course I am.” she said confidently. “Race your heart out, Ferain, you deserve a win. So, when is it starting?”
“Ten.” answered Fera, climbing out of bed and walking over to a hoodie that she had left on the floor at some point. It was large enough to reach her thighs, making it possible to hide her underwear and bare skin. She pulled it over her head and let it cover her body. “I guess I should start getting ready for it. Wait, how do you think I should dress? The school uniform probably wouldn't be good, right?”
“Really, Fera?” asked Anita, turning to stare at her again. Anita then sighed. “Just dress in something sporty. Some shorts and a t-shirt will be enough. Something you wouldn’t mind getting a bit sweaty.”
“Right. Right.” Ferain mumbled. “I should have thought of that. Sorry, I’m just a bit nervous.”
“It’s not like it’s your first school event,” said Anita. “We’ve done plenty of them, from team matches to obstacle courses. We’ve done all kinds of things.”
“That’s the thing, Anita. We’ve done them. This time, it’s just me.”
“Yes, and you’ll be just as good on your own as you are when we’re a team. Now, go get ready before I have to kick your butt out of my room.”
“Gotcha.” Fera said, moping slightly as she stumbled out through the door.
She followed Anita’s advice, so that when she arrived at the race, she was wearing a pair of black shorts, a gray t-shirt, and she had her short hair tied in a miniature tail at the base of her neck. Really, it looked more like a small puff of spiky brown hair than anything, but it was all she had to work with back there. Her fringe was longer, but she left that alone. She didn’t really like hair clips that much, and she preferred leaving her messy, hanging bangs alone if possible. She also wore the black and white sneakers she used for gym activities since her usual boots didn't feel appropriate. She stood in the waiting area at the District-A checkpoint, just on the side of the school campus. There were what appeared to be hundreds of students gathered there, some acting as participants while others were just spectators or the friends of the racers.
Stalls were set up all over the grounds that offered beverages and some light snacks, all of which cost a small amount of money. There were even a few other smaller games happening around them, like a dunk tank and a few minor races where people ran with cups of water that had holes in it. The point was to reach the other end before the water ran out in the cup, and the one with the most water when crossing the line won. A simple game, but some people seemed to enjoy it. Fera was stretching her arms and legs as Anita patted her shoulder, offering her words of encouragement and support, which she was extremely grateful for. Also in the midst of the crowd was a wooden stage that was meant for the headmaster, as well as a digital screen beside his podium. Guji wasn’t up there just yet, and the screen was blank at the moment, but in a few minutes, he would be telling them all the rules and possibly showing them the route of the race.
As Ferain lowered her body to stretch her left leg, somebody walked up and crouched down in front of her. “Nice form.” he said softly. She looked up and saw a boy with a caramel skin tone, brown hair, and hazel eyes that, like his sister’s, seemed to burst outwards from the iris in a fit of dazzling greens and browns. He had a lean body, and was wearing a pair of torn jeans and a baggy sweater. There was a piercing in his right ear, an emerald stud, that really did match his sort of punkish style.
“If that’s the first thing you say to a girl when you see her, it’s no wonder you’re single, Zaz.” said his identical sister Amber, who walked up beside him.
“It’s just a compliment, sis.”
“More like sexual harassment, if you ask me.” Amber stated.
“Well, I didn’t, so stuff it. Nobody wants your opinion.” Zaz said, standing straight. He had a skateboard tucked under his arm, one that looked like it’d been through a war with how torn up the decktape was, and by the barely remaining chunks of the old decal that had once existed on the underside. He turned his attention back to Fera, who also straightened up, feeling somewhat uncomfortable in that position around him. “Name’s Zaz, bright-eyes. You’re Ferain, right?”
“Bright eyes?” asked Anita.
“Her eyes are bright.” Zaz pointed out, as if it was obvious. “Wait a minute, I know you.” he then said, pointing a finger enthusiastically at Anita. “You’re the songbird, the one from the festival last year. Your playing was sick, girl, and your voice was even better. I need to get you in on another jamming session. I’m sure the guys would love it.” Anita blushed and ran her hand through some of her hanging silver locks.
“You think so?” she asked.
“One hundred percent. You have it, you know that? I think you’d be a sick musician if you put some music out there. I’d buy any album of yours, that’s for damn sure.” He then turned to Ferain again. “So, do you have any hobbies, bright-eyes? Sing, dance, anything like that?”
“I don’t really… Umm…” Fera stopped and looked towards Anita before then looking at Amber. “I don’t really know. I like to go fast, I guess. Running, things like that. Is that a hobby? I just sort of picked it up, really. I like writing a bit, but I guess that’s pretty boring. Umm…” She avoided Zaz’s curious glance again. “Am I doing this right?” she asked Anita.
“You’re doing great.” Anita said, giving her a thumbs up.
“You are.” Zaz said enthusiastically. He then held out his skateboard. “If you like to go fast, you should try one of these. I bet with your powers, you could really fly around.”
“I mean, I could. Is it fun?”
“Fun?!” howled Zaz. “I wouldn’t suggest it if it wasn’t!”
“Correction,” started Amber. “He wouldn’t suggest it if it wasn’t his version of fun, which always consists of disrupting people and destroying property. Don’t let him rope you into it, Ferain, it’s really a hooligan’s sport.”
“Hooligan?” asked Anita, raising an eyebrow.
“A young delinquent, in other words.” Amber said.
“I know what it means,” said Anita. “Just never heard somebody use it before. Isn’t it pretty old?”
“That’s Amber for you.” said Zaz. “A real stick in the mud. A three hundred year old grandma, stuck in a teen’s body. Hang out with her for too long and you’ll start growing grays.”
“Says my partner and roommate, who has no grays to be seen.” Amber chimed in.
“I’m just used to your nonsense by now so it doesn't affect me.” said Zaz. “So, bright-eyes, you participating in the race?”
“She’s dressed like a racer, isn't she?” Amber asked.
“This is called making conversation.” Zaz said slowly, staring frustratingly at his sister. “Maybe you should pick it up, it might help you get a boyfriend someday.”
Fera giggled unexpectedly. “Yes, I’m racing.” she said softly. “You?” she asked.
“Yep, me and my trusty steed.” said Zaz, patting the board under his arm. He then looked back at Amber. “See, conversation. This is how it works. Back and forth, two people, some light talking. Take notes, sis.”
“You’re such a–”
“A what? A neanderthal?” he teased. “A hooligan? What other words you got in that old book you call a brain?”
“At least I know what a book is.” Amber said before storming off.
“Will she be okay?” asked Anita.
“She’ll be fine.” Zaz said dismissively. “She’s a prune, always has been. She could ruin a good dream just by breathing.”
“So, you’re allowed to use that?” asked Ferain, pointing at the skateboard.
“I hope so, because I’m using it anyway.”
“Does it work with your powers or something?” asked Anita.
“You could say that.” answered Zaz. “You’ll see. It will really get ya hot and bothered, trust me.”
“I don’t know if I like how that sounds.” Anita stated.
“Nobody does at first, but you’ll get it soon.”
“I can’t wait,” said Ferain, smiling as some competitive nature found its way to the surface. “You better hope you’re quick though. I’m not exactly slow.”
“Oh, I know. I’ve seen a few of your fights. You’re quick on your feet. We’ll see how that does against my wheels. You’ll be surprised.” There was an abrupt disturbance over some speakers, drawing everyone’s attention to the stage Guji had set up. “Got to go. Talk to ya later, girls.” he said, winking as he walked backwards.
“I would have laughed if he tripped then.” said Anita, crossing her arms.
“That would be funny.” said Fera, watching him walk away into the crowd.
“Okay, everyone,” said Guji, standing in front of a podium atop the stage. “I have some quick things to go over before we get this thing started. First off, the rules. Boring they may be, but they are necessary to keep things fair. First off,” he said, pointing at the board beside him, which quickly came to life. A bullet point appeared and next to it read ‘Altitude Limit’ in bold letters. “There will be an altitude limit set in place to keep racers on course. If you could just fly over buildings, there would be no structure and students would be going all over the place. Your school bands will warn you when reaching this boundary. Secondly, there will be checkpoints along said course, which we will be showing in just a moment. Every checkpoint has to be passed. Your bands will also keep track of these and warn you if you missed one. Should that happen, you will have to double back to pass through it before being able to continue. Thirdly, I want a fair bit of sportsmanship. No injuring your fellow racers, no reckless behavior. I want a clean race from start to finish. You may use your powers however you see fit to get ahead, even against the other students, but only if they will not cause harm. We don’t need a hundred battered students by the end of this.”
The board beside him changed from the bullet points to a map of the city. Each district, from A to E, was labeled and the boundaries between them were clearly defined. Fera saw a line starting where they stood now, and it winded through the streets of every district before ending at a beach in District-E. It was a long trek, but one she could manage quick enough. Along the route, she noticed small golden dots, which she assumed to be the many checkpoints they needed to pass through. Quickly, as her eyes scanned the map, she did her best to memorize it.
“As you can see, this will be your route,” said Guji. “These dots are your checkpoints, and you will end at the northern coast of the island. It is an exhausting journey from here to there so if at any point you wish to resign, you may do so. There will be no shame in it, and we have stands set up at several intervals where you can rest and rehydrate along the way in case you just need a break. Your health and enjoyment come first, so keep that in mind before pushing yourself all the way through it. With that out of the way, I believe we have– Hmm?” Guji hummed, after being cut short by Autumn Willow, who stood by his side.
The stern, blonde-haired teacher whispered something in his ear, which caused him to probably apologize, if his face was anything to go off of.
“As Professor Willow was so kind as to remind me, I must also inform you of the prize. We will be providing an extra month’s allowance to the student who wins the race, all of which can be used as you see fit. Think of it as a reward from us to you for your efforts so far this year. There will be other prizes as well for any other participants that range from smaller sums of money to some coupons of my own design, ones that will get you out of tests or homework assignments.” Autumn whispered something in his ear again, causing him to laugh. “Yes, I mean it.” he said, grinning. Autumn gave him a disbelieving look and appeared as if she wanted nothing more than to hit him. “As you can see,” Guji said, starting up again. “We have all sorts of things to be gained. So, some final words before we start. Have fun and be safe. Now, time to take your positions and the race will be underway shortly.”
Ferain watched her father as he pleaded with Autumn about something, probably about those coupons he mentioned. Fera assumed that he didn’t ask for them to be approved before announcing them, and with Professor Willow being the upstanding teacher she was, she probably didn’t think highly of students getting out of work.
“Now I sort of wish I was racing.” said Anita, crossing her arms. She then pressed a finger to her cheek. “The things I could do with those coupons. I could skip any math test I wanted.”
“They probably only work once.” Fera pointed out.
“Still, that’s one test down.” Anita said in response. Fera couldn’t argue against that. Math was by far her least favorite subject, and it would definitely be what she used that coupon on if she got one. “Well, you should go get into your spot, Fera.” Anita kissed her lightly. “Good luck.”
“Thanks.” Fera said before turning and walking towards the starting line, right at the checkpoint.
All of the checkpoints had been disarmed for the time being so they could pass through them freely during the race. It would be a bit anticlimactic if they had to stop every time they crossed districts to check themselves through. She, as well as all of the other participants, were lined up in the field before the checkpoint, which would be the first choke point. If she was too slow to get through that early, she would be stuck waiting for others to pass it first. During her many sessions of devising plans for this race, she figured she would have to use her speed in bursts. She would use it sporadically at different levels throughout the race, and then go all out at the end, but she figured she would have to really use her fastest burst right at the start too. She had to be the first through that checkpoint before she could slow it down a bit through the first couple of districts.
This, like every other event she had participated in, made her feel tightly wound, like a bunch of energy within her was threatening to burst out of her at any instant. Lightning began to crackle sporadically around her as she bounced on her feet, her hands opening and closing repeatedly as she tried to expel some of the excess excitement and nervousness.
“You’re pretty on edge.” came Zaz, who appeared beside her. He had a soda in one hand while his other still grasped his skateboard.
“I always get like this.” she said.
“Hmm, yeah, I don’t think that’s good for your health. Buuut, what do I know? Amber’s the smart one.” He then crooked his head a bit. “You know, I like that scar, it’s pretty sick.”
“Scar?” Fera asked, before remembering the one he was probably talking about. Fera raised a hand to her right cheek and touched the jagged white groove that was left behind after Raven’s assault on her last year. “Just another one for the collection.” she said, smiling grimly. “But thank you. I try to forget it’s there most of the time. I think it’s kind of ugly, personally.”
“Nah, it’s awesome.” There was a chime that played over some speakers “Well, I think that’s the warning bell.” he said. He then held up the hand gripped to the skateboard, showing her his knuckles. She looked at it curiously and he gave a light punch forward. Fera then softly bumped her fist against his. “There you go. Got there in the end. Well, best of luck. See you at the finish line, you know, when you get there after me.” he said with a large grin.
Instantly, her nerves were gone. She gave him a confident smirk and scoffed. “Just watch. I’ll leave you in the dirt.”
“You know,” he said, eyeing her amusedly. “I was worried today would be a bit boring, but now, I’m getting pretty pumped. Put on a good show, lightning girl.”
If you discover this tale on Amazon, be aware that it has been unlawfully taken from Royal Road. Please report it.
He turned his attention to the checkpoint as Ferain did the same, her lightning flickering ecstatically around her body in bright blues and blinding whites. As another chime rang out, she bounced some more, the dazzling strands and snapping arcs becoming more compact, more solid with every second. Another chime filled the air, and her lightning aura became invisible. She had a heat haze around her, and with every slight movement, she left glowing trails in her wake that filled the air with charged energy that gave off a quiet hissing sound. The second the final chime left the speakers, she was gone. There was no electrical trail to mark her path this time. Literally, one second she was there, and in the blink of an eye, she was past the checkpoint, as if she had just teleported.
The second her foot touched the ground in District-B, her aura expanded once more, reverting back to its usual coloration. With a series of four-legged leaps, she continued forward as a blue and white streak of lightning, bounding from wall to wall, and even using street posts or signs to keep herself moving forward. She slowed down drastically for the time being, thanks primarily to the speed she had just forced out. That was a bit excessive, a bit more than she was originally planning on using right at the start of the race. It also took more of a toll on her than she thought it would, but that probably should’ve been expected, seeing as she’d never actually tried to go that fast before. The only other time she hit that sort of speed was when she fought Kiko, and honestly, this time might have even been faster.
While leaping through the city, she gave a quick look back to see a small collection of the students catching up, ones that also had abilities a tad more qualified for speed. The rest of the bunch was likely trying to keep up with these people, and ahead of all of them remained Ferain. This only reinforced her idea that she might be cheating a bit, but Anita did tell her to go all out, so Ferain turned forward again and put a bit more power into her movement. She flew into an intersection, heard her watch beep, signaling that she hit a checkpoint, and landed on all fours against a brick wall of an apartment building. Her momentum kept her there for a second, just long enough to see something flying towards her. It was like a meteor plowing down the road, but in reality, she saw that it was Zaz. He was on his board, his body was lowered slightly, and he held his hands out behind him a bit as two massive streams of fire propelled him forward like a rocket ship more than anything else.
Ferain clicked her tongue, but while she did have a slight sense of frustration, she also felt excited to see somebody keeping up with her. As she took off towards the next checkpoint in a streak of blue and white, he drifted around the corner on his board, aiming his hands in different directions to control his slide, and to keep most of his momentum as he came out of the turn. If she really wanted to waste the energy this early on, she could obviously go faster and leave him behind, but there was a chance that it would leave her open later on in the race. Also, there was the fact that he was on wheels while she was bounding around. Even with all of the power he was putting out to keep up with her, she would feel fatigued much sooner than he would by the simple fact that she was using more physical energy to move. Plus, she had to leap from things while he could just roll straight down the road.
Ferain could do the same, but the primary reason she preferred her leaping style of movement was because of the added force of her pushing off of objects. If she simply ran down the road, be it on two or four limbs, she just wouldn’t have that same amount of force put into it. It was like just swimming away from a wall in a pool in comparison to pushing off of the wall to give yourself that instant boost of speed. Honestly, she doubted she would even hold a halfway decent position if she just ran normally, even with her powers. She wasn’t like some fast running superhero, that’s not how her powers worked. She had to do it this way to keep first, and she wanted more than anything at the moment to hold that position.
Ferain put a bit more speed into her movement, pushing herself from one obstacle to another, leaving a trail behind her that looked like a zig-zagging mess of lightning, all the while, Zaz kept to his mostly straight line as he spit out more flames. As she came to another intersection, one where she had to do a ninety degree turn to continue towards the next checkpoint, she flipped and touched the road, sliding briefly to slow herself down a bit. Her aura constricted and faded, and she ‘teleported’ again. This time she did it twice before her blue static came back. It was a long straightaway, so when she looked back, she couldn’t even make out Zaz, only the flames he used to turn the corner she had just left far behind her. From this point, she had to go right, and take that road all the way to the final checkpoint of District-B, which would be the real security checkpoint that crossed into District-C.
Quickly, she launched off, but just as she launched into the air, something coiled around her leg and dropped her back to the road. She rolled over and looked behind her to see a person whose gender was hard to place. This was because of their clothing more than anything. If Fera had to guess, she would say it was a girl, going off of the petite figure she seemed to have, though that too was hard to distinguish. A metal cord uncoiled from Fera’s ankle and slithered back into the sleeve of the stranger’s very oversized hoodie, which was zipped up to the collar. It was black in color, and had stickers and pins all over it. The hood that hid their face was large too, so Fera could only make out the glowing indigo eyes that beamed within its shadow.
Their smooth legs were long, not exactly thin but not muscular either, and were about the only bit of real skin that Fera could see of this person. They also wore low-cut white sneakers that looked to be some athletic brand, and seemed to be brand new.
“Sorry.” a feminine voice whispered from beneath the hood.
Fera gave the person a curious look and then they were suddenly gone, as if they had never been there. The only thing that remained behind was a bit of charged air, as if they left their own sort of static behind, though it was very different from the one Fera left when she moved around like that. Stunned, she forgot momentarily what she was even doing. That is until Zaz’s roaring flames blew around the corner and sounded like a rocket as he rushed down the road ahead of her. Only after the people just behind Zaz passed by did Ferain shake off her stupor, roll over onto her feet and hands, and focus her energy again. She flashed the rest of the way down the road, retaking a few positions from those that had just passed her by seconds earlier.
She wasn’t the first through the checkpoint like she hoped, but she at least didn’t lose too much ground. Though, she had no idea if she would be able to take first again. Whoever that person was, they were probably much faster than Ferain if she failed to notice being passed beforehand. She had no idea how that stranger made it to that intersection first, or what they had done to her, or how they actually teleported away from the scene. Surprisingly, it took most of District-C to catch back up to Zaz, though he really didn’t want to give up his position, which he probably thought was the top spot. As she started to pass him, he began chucking balls of fire her way. He missed intentionally, or she hoped it was intentional, but they still provided enough of a distraction to keep her from really getting anywhere. At one point, she tried to go over a couple of buildings, but her band began beeping relentlessly to remind her of the altitude limit, so she had to go back down.
At this point, there were too many turns for her to use her fastest speed, because with how new it was to her, she didn’t want to risk doing anything other than straight leaps with it for a fear of crashing. The last thing she wanted to do was to destroy more buildings. She did that enough at the end of the previous year. Zaz was slowed as well by the maze they were going through, partially because of her, and partially because it was probably hard to do all of these turns on his board without falling off or crashing himself. Still, all the way through the district, she saw no signs of that hooded person from before.
District-D proved to be an even worse obstacle course, with some of the checkpoints leading them through thin alleys and vacant warehouses. At some point, Fera and Zaz had an unspoken truce, and they just kept to their own devices while focusing on staying on course. That was better for Ferain anyway. Once she reached District-E, there were a couple of long pathways she could use the rest of her power to clear. She had used it more than she anticipated since starting, and she was actually growing pretty tired from using her powers for this extended period of time, but she thought she could manage it. The only thing that ate her up inside, which was possibly what distracted her from how tired she was, was that she had no idea if she was going to place first or second, having not seen the hooded student since District-B.
After flying through the checkpoint, she was just ahead of Zaz, who was extremely low on his board and had smaller flames leaving his hands now. She knew he was getting tired now too. It was quite understandable. This had been a long affair, and he, like her, likely never used his powers for this long at any one time. They began rounding the final turn of the race, and this was where Ferain decided to burn up what was left of her power. It was now or never, win or lose. She would use it all and whatever happened happened. She landed atop a stop sign, her energy faded for a final time, and she was gone in a flash, only appearing every so often against a building or atop another light. At the end of the street, she saw the beach, and after a final kick off from a tall street lamp, she flew towards the sand. She didn’t stick the landing. Her feet touched the ground and there was a massive explosion of electricity and sand as she fell into a roll. She actually skipped across the ground a few times before sliding to a stop near the water, her body crackling randomly as her chest heaved harshly.
Her eyes were closed, she was having an extremely hard time catching her breath, and on top of all of that, her body throbbed all over from a simultaneous numbing sensation and a throbbing pain. She heard Zaz crash into the beach as well as his fire sputtered out and he more than likely fell into the sand. Like her, he was possibly happy to finally get a rest after all of that. One of Fera’s eyes opened to examine the scene around her. Her band beeped, and as she raised her left hand in front of her face, she saw a number two appear that was surrounded by a display of falling confetti. Her hand fell into the sand so that she now gazed up at the blue sky overhead, which only had a few white clouds drifting by at the moment. She then turned her head to see Zaz on his stomach, his head turned sideways so that he wasn’t eating sand while he panted restlessly.
Again, there were no signs of the person she had lost to. Ferain turned her gaze once more to the sky and closed her eye again. That was when she felt a small pop of energy beside her, causing the same eye to open once more. She saw the hooded figure standing there, looking down at her, but this time, they weren't hooded, and she now knew that they were a girl. Her hair was a mixture of black and purple, and was cut in the fashion of a slanted bob that barely reached her ears. Even her bangs were on a slant, some of which covered some of her left eye, though not all of it. She held a baggy sleeve over her mouth and nose, hiding the lower half of her face behind it as she gazed down into Fera’s single open eye.
“A-are you okay?” the girl asked in a voice that was a different sort of quiet than Fera’s. Fera’s voice seemed quiet by nature, but this girl seemed like she was talking this way because she was scared to raise her voice, like if it was too loud, it would frighten her or something.
“Yeah.” Fera answered.
The girl sighed in relief and crouched down beside her. “Thank goodness.” she whispered. “I was worried you hurt yourself. You shouldn’t push yourself like that, it’s dangerous.” The girl then held up her other hand, which like the one over her face, was completely hidden beneath her oversized sleeves. She let the sleeve fall enough so that her palm was visible, and Ferain managed to see just a bit of her wrist, which seemed to have some sort of brace clasped around it. “Here, a mint.” the girl said, which drew Fera’s attention from underneath the sleeve to the open palm, which had a small green and white sphere resting in the center. It was wrapped in a thin layer of plastic, though she could smell the minty aroma of it through the wrapping.
“A mint?” asked Fera, looking up at her.
“It will help with the pain. Here, take it.” the girl murmured, practically shoving it into Fera’s mouth herself. The mint flew past her slightly parted lips and almost went right into her throat, causing her to cough a couple of times. “Sorry.” the girl said, now using both of her sleeves to hide her lower face.
“It’s okay.” Ferain said, catching her breath and shifting the mint into a position where she wouldn't choke on it. “What is this? It’s already helping.” she said, stunned at the speed at which her pain was vanishing. She even felt like her power was already recharging.
“Oh, it’s nothing bad. I make them. They’re a blend of quite a few things that help wielders. Normal things don’t usually affect us too well so we have to make do with other things. You might feel a bit drowsy in a few minutes, though, so I’d take it easy for a little.” the girl advised in her whispering tone.
Ferain sat up and looked curiously at the girl, trying to get a sense of her. She felt that she had some sort of electrical power within her, but she was still too new to this sensing stuff. She didn’t know if what she felt was the common power that ran in everybody’s body, or if it was the unique power that ran through lightning-wielders. It all sort of blended together at the moment.
“Hey, about what you did back there. How did you–”
“Ferain!” shouted Zaz, rising to his hands and knees. This seemed to spook the girl, as at once, she vanished in a flash of purple sparks. Fera looked around but saw no signs of her anywhere.
“Great.” she sighed, drooping her head. She then looked up at Zaz, but as she did, her eyes went wide. “Zaz! I’d get out of the way!” she called out, but it was already too late.
By the time he turned his head, the crowd of other racers was already crashing into the beach. Fera flew quite a distance from her crash so she wasn’t in any danger, but as Zaz just barely reached the beach, that was where it seemed most people wanted to land. Some people simply jumped for some sort of soft ground to rest on, while others, like them, couldn’t control their landings. A variety of powers flew everywhere, like traces of ice or flashes of fire and even a few heavy gusts of wind, and in the middle of all of it was Zaz, who she heard crying out in a panicked sort of way as the wave descended on him.
The aftermath was painful to watch, as bodies crashed into each other, one after the other. In the end, it all worked out though. Wielders are tough so nobody was seriously injured, even Zaz, who found himself buried beneath that mess. After a short period of time passed, maybe an hour or so, Guji appeared again. She assumed he used Professor Yakuma to get there, as he always did whenever he needed to get around quickly. She had the ability to actually teleport around, and she could take other people with her. Guji’s excessive use of this ability actually saved some lives in the past, so she couldn’t entirely call it a bad thing, but still, Fera figured there was probably some moral issue with using your staff as your personal transportation.
He stood up on a giant rock that Fera didn’t remember existing before. He might’ve asked a student to make it somehow, or maybe he had another power she didn’t know about. His golden eyes watched the settling crowd, possibly trying to find a good time to make his voice heard. When all was quiet, he gave a short clearing of his throat and started to speak.
“To all of the participants in today’s event, we thank you for your fair play and your good sportsmanship. So far, we have had no reports of injuries, and the property damage was kept to a minimum so that’s always appreciated.” he said, letting out a soft chuckle. “Your placements have been recorded and appropriate rewards will be handed out to all that took part. However, you will all also receive one other reward, one that will be split amongst you all equally, and one that will be given out now rather than later. This grand prize is free access to everything you see here. For your efforts, you are welcome to play to your heart’s content at this beach, which we have reserved for you all today, and there are several businesses nearby that would welcome your patronage with discounts being offered in abundance. Please, from us to you, enjoy the rest of your day.”
Guji smiled at the crowd and dropped off of his makeshift podium. To Ferain’s surprise, she saw Professor Willow with him, actually wearing a genuine smile on her typically cold face. The sight pleased her for some reason. She wasn’t certain, but she suspected it was just the atmosphere in general. After everything she’d gone through, it was nice to finally see some light in the world, and if Autumn Willow was able to smile, then there was plenty of light to go around.
“Hey, Prodigy,” came a young girl’s voice, one that she didn’t recognize. Fera turned and saw a green haired girl with a wide smile. “You were really cool.” said the girl before grinning and walking away.
Fera blushed, not exactly knowing what to say to the random compliment, and this proved to only be the first of many. Multiple people came up to her within just the next fifteen or so minutes, offering her congratulations and some complimentary words.
“They are right, you know?” said Zaz, finding her by the ocean, as she was staring out at the water with a cup of some tropical fruit juice in her bandaged hand. “You were pretty sweet out there.”
“You weren’t bad yourself.” Fera replied, grinning. “I didn’t expect you to do all that well with a skateboard and a few flames.”
“Then you set your expectations too low. No matter what my bratty younger sister says, I can be pretty good from time to time.”
“I see that. Though, you still came behind me.” she said teasingly.
“You are like a literal lightning bolt so it doesn’t count. In fact, I would say you were cheating.” he joked before patting her on the shoulder. “Really though, good effort. I had a lot more fun than I thought I would. Congratulations on taking the win.”
“The win?” asked Fera. “Oh, I didn’t.” she corrected him.
“Hmm? Who the hell did, then? It was only us two.”
“Some girl. I don’t know her name but she beat both of us here. I was talking to her before you scared her off earlier.” Fera then looked around. “Strange. I wonder where she went.”
“Well, if she left, she’s missing out on the fun.”
“I don’t know. She didn’t seem like the type of person that would find this fun.”
“Her loss, then,” said Zaz. He then held out his fist. Fera bumped it lightly with her own and he smiled. “You’re pretty cool, lightning bolt. I’ll catch you around.”
“You don’t want to hang out a bit longer?” she asked him.
“Afraid not. Got some other friends I need to catch up with, but don’t you worry, there’s plenty of my time that can be reserved for you later.”
Fera gave a quiet scoff as he winked at her and started walking away, his board held under one of his arms. As she turned her attention back towards the water, something struck her that made her drop her cup. It wasn’t a physical strike, like a punch or something. It was more like an electrical one, something that caused a shiver of power to run through her body. It wasn’t dissimilar to how it felt the night Yarin died, or the night Kiko attacked her when he was disguised as Yarin. It brought back terrible memories, and a pretty powerful anxiety. There was a difference though, which relaxed her slightly. This pull seemed lighter in a way, less threatening. She followed it towards a building near the road, which happened to be a bathroom and changing room. There were no other students around until she rounded a corner and saw the strange girl from earlier.
“Hey.” Fera said softly, hoping to not spook her again.
“Hi.” the girl whispered, still hiding her lower face behind a baggy sleeve. “Sorry for running off but I got scared. All of the others coming, and that boy yelling, it overwhelmed me.”
“It’s okay,” said Fera. “It was pretty scary. It was like a horde or something. I even heard Zaz screaming.” she said with a laugh.
“It’s not just the noise.” the girl whispered. “Too many people are bad for me. I can feel all of them and it gives me some bad headaches.”
“Feel them?” asked Fera.
“You can too if you try. Every person produces little electrical signals. It’s how we think and move. I’ve always been a bit sensitive to them.”
“How do you handle school then?” Fera questioned.
“With those mints that I gave you. They help a bit. That’s not why I wanted to talk to you though. I didn’t really talk to the others. They scared me, especially the tattoo girl. You seem a bit like me though, so I wanted to talk. I haven’t met many of us before, we are pretty rare.”
“Do you mean lightning-wielders?” asked Fera. “So the tattooed girl, that’s Tianna.”
“Uh-huh.” confirmed the girl. “And the red-eyed one, he was pretty hard to approach.”
“She did say you two didn’t click.” said Fera, remembering her talk with the fourth-year student during her detention the previous year.
“That’s an understatement.” murmured the girl. “Oil and water, really. She was too loud, and her electricity was too… everywhere. It sort of hurt to be around her.”
“But not me?” asked Ferain.
“No, you seem okay. You’re very controlled. I can feel it, I can even see it, but it’s very… careful. You keep it contained well.”
“Years of practice.” Fera muttered, remembering most of her childhood.
“Me too.” the girl said, and Fera assumed she might’ve smiled a little, but she couldn’t be sure. She just sounded like she was while she spoke. “You can even blink like I can.”
“Blink?” asked Ferain. “Do you mean that teleporting thing?”
“Blinking is what I call it. You are in one spot and then you sort of blink to the next one. It’s not really teleporting, but moving really really fast, but it happens in the blink of an eye. I thought it was pretty clever.”
“It makes sense,” said Fera. “Honestly, before today, I have only done it one other time.”
“I can tell. You need to be more careful when you do it, it’s really dangerous. You can really hurt yourself.”
The girl then stepped closer and held out her left hand, which again was covered by her sleeve. Fera reluctantly took it, not exactly knowing if that was what she was supposed to do. In a flash, she moved faster than she had ever done before. She was instantly on a roof across the street from the beach, looking down at the massive crowd of students that were all enjoying the party as the sun set and the evening sky began taking over. Fera was instantly unbalanced, and the second she realized what had happened, she fell backwards onto her butt. The breath she was holding left her slowly as everything seemed to catch up to her current place in time.
“W-what did you…” Fera started, stunned into almost complete silence.
“I blinked,” said the girl. She walked to the edge of the roof and crouched down, her long hoodie and short hair swaying softly in the wind.
“How… I never…”
“You’ll get there. I want to help you. Really, I should have offered to a while ago, but I was nervous. But, now I’m a third-year student. I need to stop being so afraid all the time. And after seeing you, you don’t really seem too scary.”
“I don’t think I am. Well, maybe a few months ago I was.”
“Yeah, you were. I was going to talk to you a while ago but you were… different. Your lightning was always rushing around and crackling around you. It was like a bee hive that had been kicked. I thought you were going to be like the others, but you changed. I can get close to you now.” The girl rose and turned, covering her mouth again in the process, and then tilted her head a little to the right. “Would you mind if I saw you again?”
“No, not at all. I wouldn’t mind a bit more help either. I sort of ran out of teachers that are like us. I can definitely use one.”
The girl’s other hand joined the one by her mouth and she seemed overjoyed. “Wonderful.” she whispered. She then blinked to a spot in front of Ferain, leaving behind a little cloud of purple sparks. “Here, I’ll bring you back.” she said, offering her hand again. Fera took it and in an instant, she was back by the bathroom. The girl took her hand back and tilted her head while closing her amethyst eyes. “Bye-bye. I’ll talk to you again soon.”
‘Where are you going?” asked Ferain.
“Home. I… I don’t like it here. Too many people. I gave you my last mint so I’m sort of uncomfortable right now. I need to get home.”
“Okay, then,” said Ferain. “It was nice meeting you.”
“Yep-yep.” the girl murmured excitedly.
“Oh, what’s your name?” asked Ferain, before the girl had a chance to vanish again.
“Right, I forgot. My name is Senna.”
“Fera.” said Ferain, offering her own in return. “One more thing before you go, Se–”
Before Ferain could finish, Senna was gone in a flash, having blinked away again. After a second passed, she understood why. A boy and a girl rounded the corner, talking and laughing as they came into view. Both stopped as they saw Ferain standing there alone, but neither of them spoke. Fera gave them an awkward smile before walking back towards the beach. The party only seemed to last another hour before people began to leave for home, Ferain included. She walked with Zaz for some of the walk, listening to him talk enthusiastically about his skateboard and about a skating club he started at the school, and about the fastest speed he ever reached on it. Ferain didn’t talk much, but she enjoyed listening well enough. They split apart in District-C, where he apparently lived with his sister. Alone, she continued to District-B, where her partner was waiting for her, thinking all the while of the new friends she made that day, and how happy she was for having met them.