Chapter 25: In Plain Sight (End of Arc 1)

I stared in fascination as Scarlette, in her blazing bird form, drove her claws into Kazen’s body. It was a breathtaking sight.

My friends, however, were far from thrilled. Kaede stifled a scream, while Mira quickly turned away from the scene. Jonah clutched his head in despair. “No… what are you doing, Scarlette?” he groaned.

As I thought things were about to get interesting—well it already was, but I was curious to see the extent of Scarlette’s bloodlust—Dr Connor blew his whistle, activating the Esper Nullifier. Scarlette was immediately frozen, her flames stripped away.

As the medics rushed over to assist them, I wondered what had come over her. It was an intense fight right from the start, where Kazen had seemed to get the jump on Scarlette, but she had retaliated immediately. When Kazen conjured his massive plasma sphere, the entire crowd grew anxious as its opacity blocked our view, but we were relieved when Scarlette managed to break free from it. A few moments later, as Kazen was really starting to lay the pressure on her, she had transformed into a phoenix-like creature, and swiftly swung the tide in her favour.

What none of us expected, however, was the sheer ferocity with which Scarlette attacked, battering and stabbing Kazen with relentless force. Hushed gasps and screams had rippled through the crowd and my friends had looked on, their faces pale with shock.

I watched as Scarlette followed Dr Connor out of the arena. The audience still didn’t know how to react.

“We’ll ask her about it later. Let’s go,” I said. I wanted to beat the crowd before we all got stuck trying to leave the stadium at the same time. I doubted that wherever Scarlette went, she would be out in a jiffy.

Unfortunately, my friends were still rooted in position.

“W-was that Scarlette? She wouldn’t do that… right?” Kaede stammered.

I grabbed her shoulder, giving it a gentle shake. “She must have had her reasons. Anyway, it looks like Kazen’s okay.” The medics in the arena had successfully stopped his bleeding. They had then loaded him on a stretcher and were in the process of carrying him out.

Amazingly, Kazen looked extremely composed for someone who just got his guts ripped open. Well, I guess the school had hired actual professionals for situations like this. Still, he just lay on the stretcher with his eyes open, looking as if he were deep in thought. I suspected he was already reflecting on the battle. He had technically won it, but probably not in the way he had wanted.

Kaede stood up. Her legs were trembling, but she tried to compose herself. “You’re right, let’s just ask her later. Thankfully, she looked okay at the end there. Seeing her bleeding after she broke the sphere was scary.”

Jonah and Mira followed, with Mira looking particularly shaken. She looked like she was about to throw up.

I reached out to her. “Hey, you okay? Let’s head back to the dormitory first. I’ll text Scarlette to let her know. Here, let me help you.”

As Mira accepted my arm gratefully, we made our way out of the stands and swiftly exited the Dome.

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We gathered in my dormitory room. It seemed like it had become the unofficial meeting place for our team. However, just like the last time we had gathered here, the mood was grim.

“Has she replied yet?” Jonah broke the silence.

I checked my phone for the umpteenth time. “No, not yet.”

Kaede glanced at me nervously. “You look like you were surprised when Scarlette did that last move… did she not do it in the practice session with you?”

I wasn’t surprised that Kaede had picked up on that. Beneath her relatively quiet exterior was an uncanny knack for reading people. Granted, it wasn’t like I was trying to hide it in the first place.

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I shook my head, confirming her suspicions. “There were a couple of moves she did in practice but did not execute during the fight. The intensity probably forced her to adapt on the fly. That final move seemed like a last-ditch effort.”

“It kinda felt like… like she lost control of herself there. It was like something came over her…” Kaede murmured. Do you think it’s possible that someone has a sort of ‘possession’ Ability and interfered with the fight?”

I doubted it. As far as I knew, there wasn’t such a thing as Possession-Based Abilities. That would be a terrifying thought to consider. More importantly…

“No, I don't think anyone ‘possessed’ her to make her go on a rampage. She looked more disappointed than confused at the end of the fight. She definitely knew what she had done. On the other hand, I don’t think she was in total control of herself, like you said,” I reasoned.

“That’s probably why she kept that move a secret from us,” Kaede muttered.

A streak of coughs interrupted our discussion. Mira was hunched over, clutching her water bottle tightly in her hand.

Kaede rushed over. “Woah, take it easy! Are you okay?”

“Sorry, just choked on a bit of water…” Her arms were still unsteady.

I narrowed my eyes in suspicion. Was she really this shaken up by the fight? Even Kaede seemed to already be recovering from the shock.

My phone buzzed, snapping me out of my thoughts. Everyone in the room turned their attention to me as I unlocked it and checked the notification. It was a message from Scarlette. I held out my phone so we could all read it together.

“Sorry guys, I know I have some explaining to do. I’m on my way.”

It was a message that offered little to interpret. For now, all we could do was wait in bated breath for her arrival.

Not long after, we heard a knock on the door. I went to open it.

Scarlette was standing awkwardly with a couple of bandages visible on her body. “Uh, hey…”

“Come in,” I ushered her. “Are you feeling okay?”

“Yeah, my wounds aren’t as painful anymore.”

She then bent forward sharply, bowing as her voice trembled with regret. "I'm so sorry you had to see that!"

Kaede scooted forward, a gentle smile on her face. “Hey, it’s alright. The important thing is that you’re okay. Could you explain what happened?”

Scarlette nodded, her breathing uneven and laboured. She looked a little bit ridiculous in my opinion. Her clothes were torn, with her usually sleek white hair a tangled mess, clearly showing the toll from the fight.

“I think you guys might have figured it out by now, but that last move I did… I really didn’t want to do it. It’s a forbidden move in the Falcon family… at least until we get the hang of it,” her voice cracked. We? So it’s like a signature move of other members of her family too?

“It’s something I can’t yet control, and if I attempt it, I just go berserk. Like, I’m aware of what I’m doing, but I just… I can’t really fight it…”

I could tell she was trying to keep as composed as she could so she could explain, but she was clearly failing. Still, it was clear she was very apologetic.

“Chill, okay? None of us are holding anything against you,” encouraged Jonah. “Like, the fight was insane! I wouldn’t be surprised if it took everything you had to beat him!”

“I mean, I still lost—”

“I bet Kazen doesn’t think he won either,” I interrupted. “In a way, it’s a draw.”

“I… I guess you could see that. But still, I’m very sorry that happened!” she insisted, bowing again.

“Come on, it takes more than that to test our friendship!” Kaede said, grasping Scarlette’s hands firmly.

Scarlette gave a weak smile. “Thank you, Kaede. I hope you guys can forgive me.”

“Of course we do!” Jonah cheered. I nodded in agreement.

Mira also gave her assent, though with a moment's pause. I found this oddly troubling. There must be something bigger at play here. I considered that she could just be squeamish when it came to blood and injuries, but I figured that she would have already experienced a fair share of those as a medic-in-training and had gotten accustomed to those sights by now.

There was also one more thing that unnerved me. Ever since her arrival a few moments ago, Scarlette had been casting surreptitious glances in my direction. It looked like she wanted to tell me something, but seemed to have trouble saying it. Her fingers fidgeted with the hem of her shirt, and her eyes would occasionally dart away when I looked back at her, as if she was wrestling with a decision. Was she feeling guilty that she had not consulted me over her “Falcon Form” during our training? I supposed that was possible.

“Umm, by the way, is Kazen okay?” Scarlette shuddered. “The wound looked… pretty bad…”

“The medics did their best to heal him. I think he should be fine. If anything, it will take longer for him to psychologically recover from this,” I replied.

Scarlette heaved a sigh of relief. “Phew, okay, as long as he’s alright.” Suddenly, her eyes flared. “Can you believe it? He called me ‘little girl’ during our fight! He’s a small boy, we’re like literally the same height!”

The rest of us chuckled appreciatively, glad that she wasn’t too entirely down in the dumps. It seemed that the situation had resolved itself peacefully…

Jonah clapped his hands together. “I don’t know about you guys, but I’m feeling kinda peckish. How does dinner sound?”

As we filed out of my room for the cafeteria, I was glad that our team could let sleeping dogs lie. The school camp would be coming up shortly, and if we wanted to achieve results, our team had to stay united. Any lingering tension would affect our chances, and I sincerely hoped that wouldn’t happen.

I doubted that would be the case.