Will was meditating. It had been a long time since he’d dedicated any significant time to relaxing and practicing the technique to calm his boy and clear his mind, as his sensei had taught him. Accordingly, it took him several minutes to achieve the required level of focus and determination. His thoughts, not to mention the bustle of the building outside his bedroom, provided no end of distractions. Several times, just as he was about to successfully disconnect and retreat within himself, some noise would bring him back to sharp attention, and he’d let out a frustrated sigh, then start over.
First, it had been Charlisa, coming to see if he was alright. She’d been concerned by how quiet he’d grown over dinner, and wanted to see if she could help in some way. She’d closed the door quietly once she’d seen Will meditating, but by then he’d been aware of her presence, and the attempt was ruined. Next, it was James, hollering something in the hallway, his voice sounding extra loud as it startled Will out of the beginning of a trance. Will had been tempted to stomp out of the room and whack his friend for the disruption, but he’d taken several deep breaths, resolving to block out all distractions.
He wasn’t aware of the exact moment it had worked, but suddenly he found himself in a calm pool. It was his typical state when he entered that calm trance that allowed him to organize his thoughts one by one, and reflect calmly on the state of his life. Think twice for every thought, his sensei had taught him. More like drilled it into his head, he thought. He pushed the distracting thought aside and moved toward what he wanted.
In his mind’s eye, he visualized it as flame, floating unsupported and without source, at head height over the water. In his trance, he stood slowly and approached it, touching it with one hand. It didn’t burn him but felt quite warm to the touch. At least, it usually did. Today it was cooler, as though it were made of a refreshing breeze, winding its way through his fingers and up to his arm. It sank into his chest, vanishing completely. He reveled in the feeling for several seconds or perhaps minutes. It was just as addicting a sensation as it had been the first time, when Edward had touched him. The rush of power, the feeling of being lightened, sent a thrill down his spine.
He sat back down with the flame inside him and meditated some more on how he had come to be where he was. A normal human, he’d taken a chance upon meeting the Alpha of the Fire Nexus. He’d passed Edward’s tests, proven himself worthy of the power, and finally been taken to the tundra, where the flame inside him had been awoken. After hours of training, it felt natural and right inside him, even if the other elements connected to the power still felt alien. This part, at least, was his, and his alone.
After what seemed like an hour or so, someone touched him. The contact, light as it was, shocked him out of his trance. His eyes snapped open to reveal him sitting in the center of his bedroom floor, staring up at Charlisa as she hurriedly moved away from him. She was cradling her hand, which looked burned. Immediately he felt guilty, assuming that he’d burned her. He quickly jumped to his feet to apologize, stumbling slightly on numb legs.
“I’m so sorry!” He exclaimed. “I didn’t mean to burn you. Are you alright?”
“I’m fine,” she said quickly, though she drew in a sharp breath. “You didn’t burn me. You shocked me.”
“I…” Will said, but his voice trailed off. “What?”
She touched her burned hand with the other, siphoning away the heat and healing the injury. In seconds, it was gone, and only reddened skin remained. She blew on the tips of her fingers, then flexed them experimentally. She smiled encouragingly up at him. “I’m fine. That was just a big surprise.”
“But how could I-”
“I don’t know,” she said, understanding what he wanted to ask even as his voice trailed off once more. “I went to touch your shoulder to wake you up, and got a nasty shock.”
He blinked at her, perplexed, then jumped as she shouted, pointing at him. “Look at your hand!”
He looked down just in time to see something strange. A small crackle of electricity danced across his hand between pointer finger and thumb, then vanished. He flinched as if it had shocked him but no pain came. “What in the world?”
They both watched as another flicker, this time bursting off of his forearm into thin air. Then another, racing along his forearm towards his elbow. Then, just as quickly as they appeared, they vanished. Once it was gone, he realized that he was a little cold. As his heat aura expanded once more, the warmth washed back over him. He stared down at his hands incredulously, wondering what had caused that.
“This is starting to feel like an anime,” he muttered distractedly. “Whatever it was, it seems to have faded now.”
“But how did you do that?” She asked, her eyes wide. Carefully, as if afraid of being shocked again, she reached one hand out to touch him. She relaxed a bit, feeling nothing but his usual heat. “Nobody’s ever been able to make electricity.”
A sudden thought struck Will. “Maybe it’s Hitori’s power.”
“You mean the combination of Soul and Flame made lightning?” Charlisa asked, her lips pursed. “I don’t know. Neither Nexus has anything close to that.”
But something was coming to Will’s mind now. Something that he’d read in a story, a long time ago. Ironically, it had been a story about people who had elemental powers, much like the Nexuses. One of the fire users in that story had been able to channel lightning. What had that been about? He couldn’t remember it clearly. Something about focus.
“I think it happened because I was meditating,” he said slowly. “I haven’t truly meditated since I joined the Nexus. Does anyone here meditate?”
She looked away a moment, thinking. “I don’t think so. Maybe Angel does. You could ask them.”
It did indeed sound like something the graceful, quiet Angel he knew would do. “Yeah, I’ll do that. I should also ask Felix because he managed to create something besides water.”
This tale has been unlawfully lifted from Royal Road; report any instances of this story if found elsewhere.
“I don’t know how you weren’t hurt,” Charlisa said, touching his chest again. “We need to learn more about this, Will.”
He nodded in agreement, but he was distracted. It had only just occurred to him that, even after a full day of training and draining his Nexus powers, his Condition hadn’t broken with the use of the lightning. He must have been channeling it for at least two minutes, he thought. Maybe more. So why hadn’t he broken his limit with it? It felt more powerful than the plain fire he’d created. He looked down at his hands again, as if expecting to see the electricity again. But there was nothing.
“Why did you wake me up?” He asked, thinking to move the conversation along.
“What?” She looked lost for a moment. “Oh, right. Dad wanted to talk to you. Now you have two reasons to talk to him.”
“What was the first reason?” He asked.
She offered him a slight shrug, then moved to the door. “You know how he is. You can ask him in a minute.”
“Fair enough,” he said, quickly tugging his shirt off. He’d just noticed several scorch marks on it. He pulled a fresh one from his drawer and tugged it on, then followed her down the hallway and the stairs to the common area.
He immediately picked up on the feeling of tension in the air as he hit the bottom of the stairs. Edward was standing in the middle of the rec area, with Rachel and Noratuk standing beside him. They looked angry about something, and the two Alphas were having a heated, albeit whispered discussion. Will saw Rachel shake her head firmly, moving her hands in an appealing sort of gesture. His curiosity heightened, Will hurried over, Charlisa right behind him. She was picking up on the tension now too, he saw.
“What’s wrong?” Will asked. “Is there another attack?”
“Not quite,” Rachel said. She looked stricken as she saw Will. “Will, I’m so sorry. I didn’t think-”
Edward cut her off, talking loudly over her. “Your father has been taken, Will.”
Will stopped dead in his tracks, his heart hammering to a stop at the same instant. The entire world seemed to grind to a halt around him as his brain ran into the insurmountable wall of those horrible words Edward had just spoken. All that moved was the swell of fear and rage inside of him. It crashed against his chest, threatening to burst out and overwhelm him.
“T-taken?” He croaked, not sure he’d heard Edward right. “By who?”
“We don’t know,” Edward said. “Rachel went to your father’s house and found this note.”
He handed the piece of paper to Will, who hadn’t noticed it until that exact moment. Will grabbed it and looked at it. It had only two sentences on it. Mr. Cameron Andrews will be returned if his son turns himself over to us. Meet us at the Chena River Docks at Midnight. Will stared at the words inscribed there, focusing particularly on the signature. Madaro Hitori.
“I’m so sorry, Will,” Rachel said again.
“We don’t have time to be sorry!” Edward snapped. ‘Will, what do you want to do?”
Will didn’t say anything right away. He looked up at his Alpha, and after a few seconds, he came to a plan. “How long have you known?”
“We just found out,” Edward replied. He met Will’s gaze without any kind of deceit, and Will knew he wasn’t lying. “We’re going to rescue him and kill whoever took him. Even if that is Hitori.”
It was a suicide mission, Will knew. But he couldn’t ignore his father. The man had raised him. He’d loved him for the past eighteen years, and Will wasn’t going to let this crime slide. Shaking now, he incinerated the paper with one quick flash of fire and nodded. “Just let me get something.”
They watched, confused, as he turned and bolted back up the stairs. Will heard a commotion of voices calling after him, but ignored them all, rocketing down the hall to his room. He almost knocked his door down in the rush, moving right for his dresser, where he knew he’d kept it. Thirty seconds later, he exited his room, hurrying down the hall, and almost ran into the Fire Nexus, all of whom had made their way up the stairs to see what he was doing. They looked, wide-eyed, at the sword he’d picked up.
“Let’s go,” Will said. His heart was still hammering out of fear and rage, but his voice was cold and calm. “Time to put an end to this.”
It was half an hour till midnight as he climbed into the backseat of Edward’s car. Edward and Noratuk were in the front, and Charlisa was at his side. She reached out and grabbed Will's hand that wasn’t clutching his sword, and he squeezed it, grateful that she was there. If only he could use the new power he’d just discovered. He looked to Edward, who was talking to the rest of the Nexus, Felix, Olivia, and Rachel.
“Get down to the river as fast as you can,” Edward said. “We’re going on ahead.”
At quarter-til, they reached the docks. Will was getting out before the car had even come to a complete stop. “Wat for me to call you. I’ll need your help, but I don’t want my dad to be hurt.”
To his surprise, Edward nodded in understanding The Alpha was gripping the steering wheel tightly, his knuckles white from the effort. His face promised a horrible death to his enemies. “Move fast, Will. Call for us the instant you need us.”
Will stepped out of the car, taking a deep breath of the cold night air as he pulled the sword out of its sheath. Originally a prize from one of his tournaments, he’d kept the weapon for years, never thinking that he’d use it. But if he was fighting the Alpha of the Soul Nexus, he’d need all the help he could get. He stalked out towards the river, passing the outbuildings full of canoes that were rented to tourists in the height of summer.
“It is not Hitori,” A voice, soft and toneless, came from the shadows. “You are walking into a trap.”
Will spun in place, already raising the sword to strike. The stranger was standing to the side, half-hidden by the shadow of the building. He raised his hands quickly as Will moved. “Wait!”
Will didn’t know what made him stop, but he paused, sword still held high. “Why the hell should I believe you?”
“Because Hitori would never stoop so low as to kidnap an innocent man,” the stranger said. “You know that.”
“Then who is it?” Will hissed. Why wasn’t he more surprised by the stranger’s sudden arrival? “Is it you, then?”
The stranger shook his head. “No. I want you to win in the end, young Will. It is Togai. He is making his first move, as I expected.”
“Togai is innocent,” Will spat. “I already figured out that he’s not with you.”
“Just because he’s not with me does not mean that he isn’t your antagonist,” The stranger said. Will could make out his odd features more clearly now that his eyes had adjusted. He wasn’t bothering to wear his mask again. The thin, wide mouth was spread in a patient smile that set Will on edge. “I felt I owed you this hint, after all, that I did in Tokyo.”
“That doesn’t answer my question,” Will said. Though he well knew he couldn’t beat the man, he lifted the sword a little higher. “Why the hell should I trust you?”
“You shouldn’t,” the stranger replied. “But you should believe me. Now, be prepared for a nasty fight. I cannot be here.”
“Don’t you move!” Will growled, taking a step forward. “How can I trust a man I don’t know? I don’t even know your name.”
“You don’t have time for this,” the stranger said. “But before I leave, I’ll tell you. My name is Tobias.”