Chapter Fourteen

After a great time playing cards with the basketball guys for a few hours, it is almost lights out. Calling it a night, I depart to my cell, and when I arrive, Makani is in her familiar spot. Thinking she is asleep, I quietly tip-toe to my bed and slowly sit down.

“That ring… it looks good on you,” she says, sitting up.

Looking down at my ring, I reply, “This was Taylor’s power, right? I can transfer it to you in my next duel.”

Makani cocks a brow, “And lose a third of your life force? You really are stupid.”

I chuckle, and she says, “Seriously, you earned it. That power is yours.”

“But didn’t it belong to your friend?”

“Taylor would want you to have it. And besides, it’s not like I deserve it. She died because I couldn’t stand up for myself. Stand up like you did.”

Not knowing what to say, I say nothing.

Getting up, Makani gives me back my token.

“Thank you,” I say, and she nods.

Sitting back down on her bed, Makani says, “Hey Mateo, can I ask you something?”

“Sure.”

“Do you believe in that… religion? Nevism, I think it’s called?”

“Kind of. The rest of my family is more into that religious stuff than I am. Why?”

“It’s just, I’m pretty sure people who follow Nevism believe in an afterlife. I’ve never gone to a service or anything, but do you think… that Taylor hates me right now?”

I shake my head, “No, I don’t see why she would.”

“I was… weak,” she stammers. “I wasn’t strong like her. Russ targeted me because of that, long before there was iris or duels or anything like that. I’ve never been a great person, but I don’t know what I did to deserve being matched up against Russ in the third duel…”

She takes a breath, “I only ever opened up to one person here: Taylor. I’d call her a friend, but I doubt she felt the same way about me. She volunteered to fight in my place… she even begged Sorel and the warden to take my place. Was I really that weak in her eyes?”

After a pause, Makani continues, “I couldn't even go watch... I just... couldn't. That ring… Taylor had it for only a week, but she assured me everything would be fine. That she would win... but we both already know how that duel ended. In her final moments, she must’ve hated me–”

“I don’t think she did.”

Makani meets my gaze, and I say, “Taylor fought for you because she cared about you. I don’t think it matters whether you were strong or weak… I believe Taylor was trying to stick up for a friend.”

Makani recalls what I did in the yard as I continue, “Also, we don’t even know if the afterlife exists. Her hating you is all just in your own head.”

Makani drops her gaze down to her bed and bites down on her quivering lower lip, “How can you know for sure?”

“I don’t,” I say, scooting back against the wall and fumbling the mitered square in my hand. “It took a while, but something I’ve accepted is that those who are gone... are gone.”

Listening to what I’m saying, Makani looks back at me, but my gaze has dropped.

“The people I’ve lost… I won’t ever see them again. I can’t talk to them, hug them, laugh with them… all I have now are my memories. There are some memories I cherish… and others I wish I could forget, but…” I try to briefly compose myself, but my voice still begins to crack. “But man… I would do anything to see them again. And I believe, no, I know, that despite how I think they felt about me, they would want to see me again, too.”

Looking up again, tears are trickling down Makani’s face. It’s not like I can judge, though; I’m not any more emotionally collected than she is right now.

I deeply breathe, “That’s how I know Taylor doesn’t hate you.”

Humming at my words, Makani nods, and a smile appears. A few seconds later, I start laughing out of nowhere. I don’t even know why, but Makani’s expression swiftly contorts to one of confusion.

“Is something wrong? Do I look ugly crying or–?”

“Nah, nah… just didn’t think that all this would happen when I woke up today. Especially the part where I shared a moment of weakness with my scary, shady cellmate who wants nothing to do with me.”

“Shady? I’m not shady!” says Makani, almost offended and smiling awkwardly.

Raising my eyebrows, I let her comment sink in.

Annoyed, Makani says, “So… what– is there a problem? Why do you care if I’m shady? Or if I’m not? I’m allowed to keep some things to myself, aren’t I? Just because we live together, that doesn’t mean I’m obligated to tell you every little thing about me!”

I laugh again while putting my token on the table, “Am I really talking to the same person right now?”

Flustered, Makani breaks off eye contact. Instead of pushing it any further, I lie down in bed and decide to leave her alone for the night.

At least until she grumbles, “Was I actually scary?”

I roll over, “Totally, you shook me pretty good, lifting me off the ground like that. Still don’t know why you didn’t just tell me everything, but it all worked out.”

She clicks her tongue, “I didn’t want you to attach yourself to me. It would’ve made you a target, and you know how that ended for Taylor. But I think pushing you away might’ve done more harm than good. Just to be clear, you made yourself a target, not me.”

“Guess so, oh well,” I say, heaving myself out of bed.

Walking over to Makani’s bed, I extend my hand to her.

“What are you doing?”

“My name’s Mateo, and I’ve been falsely convicted of murdering my friend, Kavi. I’m sentenced to serve one hundred years in prison, so it looks like I’ll be your cellmate for quite a while. How about you? What’s your name?”

Makani smiles, “I’m… Makani. I’ve been sentenced to serve fifteen years in Soulbell for committing larceny and drug possession. Since we’re cellmates, I’ll let you know now that I’m a real pain to live with.”

“I… kind of already figured that out.”

Smirking, Makani accepts my hand, and I say, “Nice to finally meet you, friend.”

Surprised at the last word, Makani’s smile brightens even more.

And then, she pulls me down to her bed.

***

This story originates from Royal Road. Ensure the author gets the support they deserve by reading it there.

Strolling down the mess hall, to say everybody isn’t staring at us... would be an understatement. The only people who aren’t are the goons, who all cower away from meeting my gaze as I stroll by their table, their boss not present.

“Hey,” I whisper, leaning over to Makani. “Why’s everyone staring?”

Makani rolls her eyes, “Use your brain, man.”

Sitting at the table, Joey and Ayden silently watch as Makani sits beside me. Getting a spoonful of cereal, Joey and Ayden exchange subtle nods.

Clearing his throat, Ayden says, “So Mateo, wanna introduce us to your new friend here?”

Shoving another spoonful of cereal into my mouth, I reply, “Yeah, uh… this is Makani. She’s my cellmate.”

After Joey and Ayden exchange glances again, Ayden briefly looks at Makani before looking back at me, “You’re lucky we already know each other, Mateo, but we can’t have you bringing every girl you talk with to the table. But y’all are cellmates, eh? How was it yesterday?”

The spoon slipping out of my hand into the bowl, I quickly look straight down as Makani pursues her lips together. Hiding my bright red face, Ayden starts chuckling, and although I can’t see him, I think Joey also joins in.

“Damn Mateo, as far as first days go, you might have broken the record,” remarks Ayden.

I shake my head and continue to conceal as much of my face as possible. While I’m doing that, Ayden mouths some words to Makani and tilts his head toward me. Thinking about it, Makani teeters her head back and forth before ultimately giving a few nods of satisfaction. Like a proud uncle, Ayden leans his head slightly back and smiles as he stares at me.

A savior to my current situation, Joey switches the subject, “Mateo, any injuries from the fight?”

I take a few seconds before I show my face again and reply, “Nah. My body feels normal, no pain or anything.”

“I expected that. Iris naturally heals the human body at a faster rate, and your ability possesses healing traits, too. Sometimes, you can get lasting soreness or aches because your iris is recuperating. Still, if you say you’re feeling fine, you should be fine.”

Taking another bite of my cereal, I ask, “So, are we going to play basketball again today?”

Ayden pounds a fist on the table, “Hell yeah, we are!”

Tugging on Joey’s sleeve, Ayden exclaims, “No shot am I letting this guy go back-to-back. He won’t ever let me hear the end of it!”

Joey shrugs Ayden’s hand off him, “I haven’t even said anything.”

“Exactly. Your nonchalant attitude is what’s pissing me off the most. You ain’t winnin’ again, you either, Mateo!”

***

Over the next week, my early days at Soulbell fell into a rhythm I grew comfortable with. After breakfast, I would play basketball with Joey’s team in the yard, but Ayden’s team came out on top almost every day. We did manage to get a couple of victories, though, keeping the games interesting.

Makani joined our ragtag group, making us a crew of four. This meant she would eat with us, train with us in the right, and sometimes hang out with us later in the evening.

Also, a nickname started going around for me. Since I was still kind of new to Soulbell, the whole ‘fish’ tag was still incorporated. I was now being called the ‘Angelfish’, the ‘angel’ part coming from the consensus that my flames are apparently beautiful like an angel’s.

I don’t know either, but it could be worse.

My new Resu ability is called ‘Compass Ring’, and while inside my spherical realm, I can sense iris from all directions via audio cues. Unlike Joey’s hazard shift, the volume of my realm is the same every time, regardless of the terrain. So, if I activate my realm in a room, it may stretch into the room underground, and I could hear iris being used from the floor underneath. A major downside to my realm, however, is that when too much iris is being used inside my realm by either myself or others, I end up being bombarded with nonstop audio cues. If I'm not careful, this can burst my eardrums and cause permanent deafness.

Unlike my heavenly flames, getting the hang of compass ring was much more challenging. I don’t even want to talk about circulating iris while trying to use both abilities at once. I had only barely grasped doing it with one ability before I got compass ring, and compass ring becomes much stronger when paired with another ability. It being more difficult to progress as a dual wielder was no joke.

Makani’s ability was literally a breath of fresh air. She’s a Tochi wielder, and her ability is called ‘Tempest Gale’. With tempest gale, she can fabricate and control the traits of wind. And something I learned the hard way about wind… you often can’t see it.

Nine days passed after my duel until I was finally summoned by Sorel. During that meeting, he was pleased to see the progression of my abilities and my increased iris capacity. But the main takeaway was that my next duel will occur in precisely fifty-eight days. In truth, I was hoping to be scheduled earlier, but considering how many inmates still haven’t fought a duel yet, I wasn’t too surprised.

And two, Russ survived, but he’s picked up a few more burn scars, to say the least. He’s currently in the prison infirmary, but he’ll be released once he’s well enough. For a while, I was worried about how Russ would act if he ended up surviving, but it doesn’t matter anymore. If he wants revenge, he will only be wasting his time.

He can’t do anything to me... not anymore.

Speaking of the prison infirmary, I learned that Joey’s old basketball teammate has also won a duel. His name is Paulie, and Joey warned me that he was a bit of a hothead and probably won’t take it well once he learns that he’s been replaced. Especially once he realizes that I’m much better than him… that’s what Ayden said, at least.

I once asked Joey how Paulie ended up in such an injured state if it wasn’t from a duel, and all Joey told me was that he had poked his stick at the wrong bear.

Another week passes by before the first of two cripples gets cleared from the infirmary. Paulie made his return somewhat grand, interrupting a basketball game we were in the middle of.

Fast forward ten minutes, and I’m somehow in the middle of a one-on-one match against Paulie. Some stupid grudge match about me replacing him or whatever. And annoyingly, Joey and everyone else allowed this stupid one-on-one to happen. Maybe they just wanted to see Paulie get humbled because he wasn’t much of a challenge.

What did begin to piss me off, though, was that Paulie only got angrier and rowdier the longer the match went on. He was slapping my arm, trying to trip me, grabbing my jersey, and using any dirty tricks he could to gain the few points he had. However, as it came down to the last few points, Paulie quietly said something to me as I shielded him from the basketball. At that moment, life began to drastically change course once again.

***

While I am using my upper body to muscle Paulie away from the ball, Paulie says, “Don’t you want to know what happened to your friend?”

My eyes widen, and I step away, turn, and shoot the ball. Nothing but net, and another two points are added to my tally, but the game is no longer on my mind.

“What are you talking about?”

The ball rolls back to Paulie, who bends down to pick it up.

“Kavi. Real nice guy, wasn’t he?” says Paulie, facing me.

“Did you do something to him?” I demand, taking a step toward him.

“Me? Hell no. But that bastard got what he deserved for choosing the wrong side and supporting the way this f*cked country is set up.”

“The wrong side?”

Bouncing the ball to me, Paulie says, “You don’t know jack shit about how things work, kid. Your father would tell you that too… if he were still here.”

Sharpening my gaze, I dribble straight at Paulie. As he plants his feet to draw a charge, I dribble left past him. Once he readjusts his footing, I cross the ball back over to my right hand and completely send Paulie the wrong way. Driving to the hoop, Paulie tries to get back and defend again, but it’s too late.

Jumping in the air over Paulie and slamming down an authoritative dunk, the crowd erupts, and I land on my feet, staring Paulie down before stepping over him. Infuriated, Paulie scrambles to his feet and tries to throw a punch at me, but I dodge out of the way.

“Too slow.”

Paulie hurls his other fist forward, and I catch it with ease. Channeling iris into my hand, I don’t let Paulie’s fist go as I wait for the guards to walk over.

“Thanks for the match,” I tell Paulie as I release his hand and walk away.

While a humiliated and maddened Paulie meanders off the basketball court, I return to my teammates and the real game resumes shortly after. However, even though nothing else unusual takes place, I can’t shake what Paulie told me about Kavi and that he brought up my father.

I have to learn more. I have to.

***

The rest of the day proceeds as normal. I continue to work on improving my iris along with my crew, and I’m even able to go head-to-head now with Ayden in most spars we do. Makani also begins to show some potential, as her creativity and wind ability always keep me and Ayden on our toes.

Later, the four of us enjoy a night to ourselves, chatting about life and playing cards. At some point, I ask Joey what happens to people who have their gemcore stolen and no longer possess an ability, further clarifying that Sorel mentioned they must prove themselves.

Hearing that, Joey nods and explains that while a main duel happens every day, there are also private ones between people who’ve lost their cores. From what he’s heard, these private fights are to the death, and the victor may regain the right to wield an iris gemcore.

Taken aback by the simple brutality of Sorel’s madness, I cannot rid myself of lingering discomfort and irritation for the rest of the evening, and we part ways a couple minutes before lights out.

While Makani and I walk to our cell, I look out at everybody else in the block.

Another duel went down tonight, and another person has just grown stronger. Another person I need to keep an eye out for. I also need to learn about what sides Paulie was talking about.

When we arrive, a guard is posted outside. Realizing who it is, the guard turns his attention to us and informs me that another individual has challenged me to a duel. It is scheduled for tomorrow night, but the challenger will remain anonymous.

Without even thinking about it, these words leave my mouth.

“Tell Sorel that I accept.”