Will and Kenta stared incredulously at each other, the awkward silence stretching for several long seconds. Only he and Kenta seemed to be aware of it. And Charlisa, of course, who had been watching him closely. Now she looked across at Kenta as well, a frown forming on her face. She had seen Will’s reaction to the stranger and now saw how the stranger was looking at him. Instinctively, she knew the truth of the matter.
“Is that your friend?” She asked. “The one you wanted to visit?”
Numbly, Will nodded. The shock of seeing his friend out of nowhere had started to wear off. All that remained behind in its place was a horrible sinking feeling. They were on opposing sides. That didn’t bode well for him, given that he was so dead-set against Hitori and the Nexus he lead. Hitori! Of course! Will looked to the side where the Soul Nexus Alpha stood, reading a piece of paper he’d pulled from his robe. The man had met Will before. It wouldn’t be hard for him to find out that Kenta was his friend and recruit him. That was a clever move, particularly in light of current events.
Stealing a glance back at his Alpha, Kenta gave a small wave in Will’s direction, then continued moving to join his Nexus. He took up a position on Togai’s left side. Togai, watching their exchange, leaned down to speak quietly to him. Kenta nodded to the man, saying something in return that Will couldn’t catch. Both of them glanced over to look at Will once more, Togai looking a bit concerned. Probably worried about conflicts of interest, he wagered.
“Damn,” Charlisa muttered under her breath. Of course, she also picked up on the implications of Kenta joining the Soul Nexus. She’d probably gotten to that point faster than he had. “I’m so sorry, Will.”
He shook his head, not trusting himself to speak just then. He took a second or two to try and think of a way to catch Kenta on his own, but nothing came to mind. He was a new member, and vulnerable in his weakness. His Nexus wouldn’t let him out of their sight now that he was known to the other Alphas. No, Will thought, he couldn’t pull him away without Hitori being aware. He clenched a fist behind his back and continued to glare his hatred of Hitori, though he made sure not to do it when the man was looking his way.
“Do you think he did it on purpose?” Charlisa asked. She didn’t have to say what she meant. Will understood fully. “It can’t be a coincidence.”
“Of course, he did it on purpose,” Will growled quietly. “He must know we’re trying to overthrow them.”
“Get a hold of yourself.” That whisper, full of stern annoyance, came from Edward. Will immediately clamped his jaw shut. “Sort it out later. Don’t draw any more attention to yourself. We’ve kept the plot quiet for years, and I won’t let you fuck it up.”
“Yes,” Will replied, instantly contrite. “Sorry, Edward. I was just surprised.”
Though he couldn’t see it, he sensed Edward nodding in approval. “Good. Keep that emotion in check. Let it burn in you. When the time is right, you can release it.”
Will found, to his surprise, that he rather liked that idea. He could let that flame continue to smolder deep, deep down, where it couldn’t be seen, much less recognized. He’d continue to keep a cool friendly mask when around Hitori. And he’d train. Oh, he’d train. He’d get stronger, then let that flame explode, just when it was most helpful. A small smirk spread across his face, and he nodded. “Yes, sir.”
-
After the introductions, Hitori had moved swiftly on to the assessments. He called each member up, one at a time, and asked them to perform various tasks. It was of a similar format each time, but with some variety thrown in. He didn’t go Nexus by Nexus, either. He seemed to pick people at random, turning on his heel and pointing at the next participant without hesitation or preamble. Each assessment took about five minutes, so the proceedings would likely take two or three hours.
“William Andrews!” The Soul Nexus Alpha’s voice broke into his thoughts, making him look up with a start. “Your turn, Will-san. Please come forward.”
Will did as he ordered, moving to stand before him, keenly aware of all eyes in the room being on him once more. He stood facing Hitori for several seconds, the man sizing him up before he spoke. “You have been taught to bolster your flame and shroud your body, yes?”
When Will nodded in affirmation, Hitori made a small circular gesture with his hands, inviting Will to show him. So Will pulled his heat in quickly, making the fire appear in both of his hands, spreading them out to the side. Hitori looked at the small pillars of flame, nodding thoughtfully. Will shrank the fire a bit, pulling it up his arms and across his torso. Keep the flame cold enough that it doesn’t burn you, he thought to himself. With a rush of relief, he noticed that his clothes weren’t smoking. That was a first.
“Very good,” Hitori said slowly. He was looking Will up and down again. “Tell me, have you experimented at all with what you showed me at our last meeting?”
Will frowned thoughtfully. “I have.”
“Show me,” Hitori ordered. “For extra credit.”
Will spared half a glance towards the Water Nexus. He wasn’t at all surprised to see Felix watching him with an eager grin. The boy nodded at Will, encouraging him. “Alright then.”
He took two or three steps away from Hitori and took a deep breath. Then, assuming a wide stance, he gathered his heat in his chest and punched. The assembled Nexians, save for the Fire Nexus, all jumped with surprise at the small explosion of flame that radiated from his fist. Before the flames had faded, Will pivoted on his foot, lashing out with one high stomp, creating another explosion. He kept his balance, and brought the foot back down, slamming it into the white marble floor of the hall, letting more fire out. It splashed out as if he’d landed in a puddle of the stuff, and Hitori took a hasty step back to avoid his robe getting scorched.
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Will took a deep breath and decided to leave it at that. He’d already come close to properly attacking Hitori, and he could also feel his Condition reaching its limit. Another attack like that, and he’d fall flat on his ass before the other Nexuses. Best not to show weakness, he thought. He offered Hitori a polite bow, then turned sharply on his heel, moving back to stand beside Charlisa. Hitori took a second or two, staring at the scorch marks on the floor, before calling the next person up.
James and Charlisa both nudged him when he’d returned, smiling. Even Edward looked on the verge of laughing. “Well done,” he said. “That ought to put the others on their heels.”
Charlisa was called up shortly after Will, and she put on a wonderful display. She didn’t just create fire as Will had, she worked it like clay, showing perfect control as she spread the flames around her, making shapes and forming art. In seconds, she had a small cluster of floating, fiery flowers dancing through the air around her. Will heard quite a few sighs of satisfaction around the room and, glancing at Edward, saw him standing straighter than ever, visibly proud of his daughter’s presentation. When she finally finished, there was a round of applause from more than half of the audience.
Each member of the Fire Nexus went up one at a time, showing their skills. James produced flames so large that they almost reached the very ceiling. Emmet surprised Will by displaying flames of a different color. It wasn’t until Charlisa explained Emmet’s unique skill that it made sense. Emmet could condense his flames to an intense degree, making them so hot that they changed colors. That explained why he was able to make a tiny jet of flame, Will thought, having seen him do so in previous training sessions. He made a mental note to try and learn how to do that.
After Will and Charlisa had gone, the rest of the assessment seemed to pass in a blur, until finally, Hitori was thanking them for their time and for making the trip down to Tokyo to take part. “It has been an honor to see you all again. I hope your lives are peaceful and prosperous as you train for the upcoming tournament.”
Will wondered if, like himself, Edward was thinking about the techniques they’d seen on display. There was such a wide variety of skills that were shown in tandem with the Nexus powers, not all of them coming from the element the individuals controlled. It was starting to seem like the Nexus power, be it flame, water, earth, or air, was just the foundation. Maybe there was no limit to what could be done with it.
“We’re going to have to get a lot more creative,” Will said quietly. “If Felix got so strong from just practicing a few simple things, so can we.”
“That’s a pretty big paradigm shift,” Charlisa put in. “Are you sure they can catch on in the two months we have left?”
“It’s not that big a change,” Will said. “We shouldn’t all try to do the same thing, anyway. It has to be unique to us. We can train the basics together, but for our own unique abilities, that’s gotta be a personal thing.”
“You make a good point,” Edward interjected. “But let’s not talk about it just now. Bring it up when you start teaching them again.”
“Not that they’ll listen to me,” Will said quietly, a wry smile twisting his face. “I still think a lot of them dislike me for being an outsider.”
“Good thing I’m making you a Captain then,” Edward replied, his eyes glinting. “That ought to shut them up for a bit.”
Will was speechless. Captain? Captains were directly under the Lieutenant, which in this case was Nora. It meant quite a bit of authority, Will knew, not to mention respect if he didn’t screw it up. He blinked, his brain slowly catching up to what Edward had said, though his ears still didn’t seem to understand what had been said.
“Are you sure?” He blurted out. “I’m so new. I don’t think I’m the right choice.”
“I’m sure,” Edward said. “You don’t give yourself enough credit, Will. You’ll need to be more confident when the new members come in for training.”
“New members?” He asked. “What do you mean?”
“I’m guessing you weren’t paying attention to what Hitori said after you saw your friend.”
“No,” Will replied, sheepish. “Sorry, Edward.”
Edward waved an impatient hand. “Forget about it. Hitori raised the limit on Nexus members. He said no more than thirty members now.”
“That,” Will did quick math in his head. “That means you could get as much as… twelve new people?”
“At most,” Edward nodded. “I’ve already got a few new prospects. You’re in charge of training them. Well, you, Charlisa, and James are.”
In spite of himself, Will felt a grin spreading across his face. The promotion was an unexpected show of support. In the coming conflict, Edward was trusting him to be useful and knew that making him a Captain was a huge vote of confidence. It was the rank normally reserved for B-Tier or higher Nexians. Will just hoped that he didn’t disappoint the trust that had just been placed in him.
As the assessments wrapped up, Rachel came over to them, Felix and Olivia in tow. She smiled down at Will as she came within easy speaking distance. “Nice performance, Will.”
“Thanks,” he said, grinning at her. He was starting to feel a little more comfortable in her presence. He turned to Felix. “Well done. You too, Olivia.”
“Well, we’re on our way out now,” Rachel said, cutting the conversation short. “I’ll be sending Felix and Olivia on sometime next week, Edward.”
“Certainly,” Edward replied, quiet and stern. “Have a safe flight back to Florida.”
“You as well,” she said, turning away and walking gracefully for the door. Felix gave Will a fist bump, then followed, pulling his sister along. Will suppressed a snort of laughter as he watched them walk away but then was distracted by a new voice, one he didn’t recognize.
“Afternoon!”
“Hello Kevin,” Edward said. With a start, Will turned to see Kevin Williams, the Air Nexus Alpha, standing right there. “How are you?”
“I’m doing splendidly,” Kevin said brightly, shaking hands with his counterpart. “Did I hear right? Rachel’s sending some of her youngins to train with you?”
When Edward nodded, Kevin’s face brightened considerably. “What a wonderful idea! Could you perhaps entertain one or two of mine as well?”
“Come on,” Charlisa said, grabbing Will’s hand. She said over her shoulder, “We’re going to get some food while you sort that out, Dad.”
And so saying, she pulled Will out of the large empty Nexus hall after the Earth Nexus, and together they stepped out into the fresh air in search of food.