My consciousness faded in and out while the buildings shifted around me. There was shouting; it was either Lizzy or Braden. Something about getting a medic in the room as quickly as possible. When I’d fallen, my head landed on its left side, so I pretty much couldn’t see anything. My left eye was seeing some black spots that I knew for sure weren’t part of Braden’s power. It was all I could do to keep my breathing calm and steady to avoid blacking out like I did the first time I trained with Lizzy.
Two figures walked up to me. One was Lori, so I assumed the other was Lizzy, although I couldn’t tell for sure. They gently reached down and rolled me on my back while keeping my head as stable as possible. I tried to protest the gentle treatment and touching, but I was having trouble finding my voice. My body felt chilled and achy, like I had the flu or a seriously bad cold. I thought that was pretty good considering I’d been hacked and slashed nearly to bits.
“Blood loss...” I heard a voice I didn’t recognize say. I must’ve slipped out of consciousness again, because there was warmth running through my body and a green glow over me.
I tried to sit up only to have Lizzy’s hand gently keep me down. It didn’t take much to hold me there. Trying to get my arms under me to even sit up drained me of the little bit of energy that had returned to me. My vision returned to my left eye, but the sight in my right eye was still a mess of blobs and splotches.
“Don’t ruin his looks, that’s about all he has left, since he clearly has no brains,” Lizzy said. Even with my brain feeling foggy, I could tell she was nervous and was trying to be funny to lighten the mood.
“I’m fine,” I tried to tell her, but she backed away.
“Ugh, please don’t talk yet.” She grabbed her stomach and turned her back toward me. It looked like she was doing her best not to puke.
For some reason, that really hurt. My eyes stung—the right one especially—and I had to fight down a surge of emotion. I thought I was being stupid, because what she did made sense. I knew I was a mess and not looking my best, but my head felt funny. I started sniffling while I did my best to keep calm. I felt like I did on the ride back from the Tomb.
“Ah, sorry about that,” the healer said. He was a pleasant looking college-aged guy with dark skin and hair. “When I heal, the patient’s emotions get...stronger. You’ve also lost a lot of blood, so if you’re feeling weird, it’s not just all in your head. You wouldn’t be the first person to have an outburst under my care. I’m working on fixing your eye right now, so just relax and think happy thoughts.”
“Thanks,” I told him, taking care to not smile. Unlike Lizzy, he didn’t react with disgust. I felt annoyed as everything clicked together in my head. My emotional state did feel fragile, and no amount of rational thinking was helping me with that.
“I’m sorry, I didn’t mean to upset you,” Lizzy said, coming back and sitting next to me. It was one of the few times she seemed genuinely upset and let down her playful personality. Funny how that seemed to happen right after I’d been hurt from one of her ideas. “I didn’t think it’d go like that. Why didn’t you give up?”
I thought it was a silly question. I wanted to win. I wasn’t going to gross her out by talking again, so I kept my thought to myself. When I had that clear goal, I wanted to win. I liked seeing Braden’s awesome shadow power and what it could do. Trying to think around it was enjoyable, even though I hadn’t done a great job of that. But it wasn’t just seeing and trying to think around his Anomaly. It was a fight, I wanted to win, and I had to sit there with the shame of losing while getting my wounds tended to.
“Why didn’t you call it when he almost got decapitated?” Lori snapped at Lizzy, surprising me. “You know, this is twice now you’ve pushed my teammate until he couldn’t even walk. Ethan isn’t your guinea pig just when you want to see someone’s Anomaly!”
I winced at the mention of my name. I preferred to stay out of these kinds of things. Ever since I was caught up in a little fight over group work in my freshman year, I didn’t like dealing with it. I wasn’t used to someone getting mad on my behalf either. It didn’t make me feel great. All I could do was lie there under the warm healing light, keep my emotions in check, while trying to hope no one would notice the weird bleeding guy’s presence.
“Because I know that Braden needs to get a better handle on his power and Ethan needs work too!” Lizzy stood and towered over Lori, not intimidating the smaller woman in the slightest. “Yes, this got out of hand, and I apologize that it got Ethan hurt. There’s a threat out there, Lori, and we all have to be ready to step up. I’m making sure my partners are prepared to defend their lives.
“What do you want him in such great shape for? So you can scream more terrible things at him in a hallway?”
“I didn’t...that’s none of your business.” Lori froze in place, her jaw clenched. I was mortified that Lizzy knew.
“You two were yelling in front of someone’s door. Do you really think that it wouldn’t come back to me? I know exactly what you said to him, Lori, and you’re an awful friend for saying it.”
“You. Need. To. Shut. Up.” Lori was doing everything she could to stay calm. I could see her doing her fist-clenching thing.
“No, Lori, you need to hear this.” Lizzy sounded legitimately furious, which was not a great thing to hear while helpless on the floor. Even when she dropped her playful side, it was never that bad. “I know that you’re pissed off. I know you went through a lot. What you told him was inexcusable. It wasn’t just mean, it was downright cruel. You have issues you need to work out.”
“Yeah? How about I work them out on you, then?”
Before Lizzy could say anything else, Lori punched her in the cheek, catching her on the end of her scar. She stumbled back and Lori nearly fell forward from how hard she punched. The healer hesitated, looking like he was about to step between the two. Ultimately, he kept working on fixing me up. Woohoo, top priority was Ethan.
It wasn’t a fight like I had. There was no honor or organization to it. It was two angry women trying to beat the brakes off each other. Lori was clearly the more pissed off combatant, but Lizzy had the size and strength advantage. Both of them just kept hitting each other in the face. Two proud leaders who should have been working together. It hurt since Lizzy had been nothing but kind to me and Lori had been my best friend since I arrived at Luna. Even then, I understood that it was something they had to work out on their own, and sometimes two guys—or gals—needed to solve their problems with a scrap. Getting involved, even if I could have, would have been out of the question.
Lori went for one brutal looking right hook, but Lizzy dodged it without much effort. Instead of trying a counterattack when Lori fell, Lizzy just slipped her arms under the shorter girl’s armpits and pulled her close. For a moment, Lori tried to fight out of it, but the fighting spirit didn’t last long. She broke down and started crying into Lizzy’s chest. I couldn’t believe Lizzy knew that would happen, or maybe she didn’t, and she had just been going to do some kind of hold or throw.
“I know you’re mad, but you know what you said was wrong. Don’t let it wait any longer.” Lizzy pulled Lori closer gently, the latter getting a few more sobs out. “Don’t burn down the bridge you have with Ethan. Those don’t come around a lot.”
Pulling away, Lori nodded and sniffled. She knelt down next to me and wiped her eyes. “Ethan, I...”
Lizzy placed a hand on her shoulder and gently squeezed it, encouraging her to continue. “He’s not going anywhere, and I’m sure he wants to listen.” I would have nodded to agree if I felt like I could move my neck.
“I’m so sorry about what I said to you. It’s not your fault what happened. You’re a good son, a good brother, and a good friend. I know why you invited Val, but I was so mad at you for it.” She paused like she thought I might interrupt her. That wasn’t going to happen. “I used something you trusted me with in the worst way I could think of. I don’t have any excuse. I said it because it’d hurt you and I knew it would. I’m so sorry I wanted to hurt you.”
That time, I managed a nod. I was expecting myself to feel emotional because of the healer’s little quirk with his power, but oddly, I felt perfectly fine. With small and careful movements, I got my phone out of my pocket. The healer watched every movement, making sure I wasn’t overdoing it. With a shaky and unsteady hand, I managed to type out, “Im sorry 2”. With one working eye, I wasn’t going to go out of my way to do everything properly for my message. As long as Lori understood it, that was all I cared about.
This story originates from Royal Road. Ensure the author gets the support they deserve by reading it there.
“Why are you sorry?” She seemed genuinely baffled, which made me groan in my head. That meant a longer explanation, which meant I would have to talk, which meant Lizzy might end up puking everywhere. Oh well.
I wanted to sit up. With a quick shake of his head, my healer told me he knew what I was planning and did not approve. “I knew you hated her, and I still agreed to bring her in because I was worried about myself and my sister. I should have talked to you about it before we did a vote. I’m sorry, Lori.”
Her face was going to bruise and she was starting to get swelling, so it was hard for me to read her expression, but I was pretty sure she looked happy or relieved. At the very least, she looked content with my reasoning. “Really, I’m so sorry about what I said.”
“It wasn’t the nicest,” I said, trying to smile, but I got the feeling that just made it look worse.
“No, it was cruel.” She looked down and I hoped she didn’t think I was trying to beat her up about it. “I’m not sure if I’m cut out for this leader stuff, Ethan. That...that wasn’t something a leader should tell someone under her.”
I really didn’t know what to tell her. I was never bothered being under her command. She listened to what I had to say on our little road trip when it came to Megan. I never felt like she didn’t care what I had to say. I didn’t feel like her outburst in the hallway was because she was a bad leader, but because she was someone who felt betrayed by a friend. Yeah, maybe her anger had some issues that needed to be resolved. I still never doubted the decision to make her the leader of our little squad. “I like you as the leader, Lori.”
Lizzy looked down at me when Lori didn’t respond. “I’m really sorry that you got hurt so bad, Ethan.”
“He lost his damn eye, Lizzy!” Lori gestured down to me. Even if she was still mad at me, it felt nice to know she was concerned about my well-being. Ever since having people under her care, the meekness Lori had when I first met her had faded somewhat, for better and worse. I guess trial by fire was something that suited her more than others. Her voice did soften some, “You heard Braden say that he lost control of his power. He needs to get a better handle on those shadows for training exercises. Ethan really was half a step away from losing half his head.”
Lizzy settled down herself and threw me a sad look. “The control has been an issue for him, you’re right. I thought it might help him get it under wraps by training that felt more like a scrappy battle in a city. I thought it’d work out better for both. I’m going to talk to Braden about it. He was shaken up about the whole thing. Let’s talk later, okay? Make sure you get that pretty face healed up.” Lizzy wasn’t much better off, but she winced when she got a look at Lori’s bruises.
“Okay, just...okay.” Lori pinched the bridge of her nose, one of the only places that Lizzy hadn’t managed to touch. Lizzy still looked off, but she gave me the most cheerful wave she could before taking off to find Braden.
“Sorry,” I told Lori when I was sure Lizzy was out of earshot.
“For what?” The anger that she had before the match and at Lizzy was gone, replaced with pure concern. It was the caring, familiar face of my best friend that I’d come to expect. “She set that up to be advantageous for Braden, so you did better than either of us expected, especially since I didn’t coach you at all. Getting a draw was a good job.”
“It wasn’t a draw.” I thought again about sitting up again. I wanted my mouth healed first. The healer had restored most of the sight in my right eye and the swelling was going down with each passing second. It terrified me to know that I lost that eyeball so easily. “How was it a draw if I collapsed and he could walk away? I lost and I was hoping I could make our team look good.”
“Maybe. I’m proud of you no matter who walked away and who didn’t. I was so mad, then I got even madder when I saw you just keep going.” She got serious again and leaned closer. “But there’s no more of that for a stupid exercise from here on out, got it? If you really think you can win, that’s one thing, but these are just practices. Use them to get better, not accidentally get yourself killed.”
“Yes, ma’am,” I said with a grin and a small salute. Lori was someone I had no problem with showing my gross smile to. The look she gave me was one of worry, not disgust. I was glad she didn’t get grossed out like Lizzy did.
Lori pulled out her phone and started tapping away furiously on the screen. At first, I thought she was texting Alex, or worse, maybe my sister. The latter put fear into me that was amplified by the healer’s Anomaly, so I had to calm myself down before I sent myself into a panic attack. Clearing the air with Lori wasn’t anywhere near as scary as imagining my sister seeing me in my injured state. When Lori turned her phone screen toward me, it was almost as bad as my sister.
In front of me was a still image of when I gave Braden my “good natured” smile. Instead of a friendly gesture, I looked like something out of a horror film. There was blood all over my mouth, chin, and eye socket. My lips were purple and swollen, and when I smiled, I thought they were going to pull apart. The damaged eye was nearly swollen shut and my eyelid was a gross purple. I was a mess and didn't blame Lizzy for nearly retching from my appearance.
“Don’t let Rebecca see me like that,” I said, laughing. Some pain ran through my mouth, making me hope the healer would focus on that area next.
“What? Why Rebecca in particular?” Lori asked, tilting her head to the side.
On cue, I saw Rebecca run into the room and toward us. I almost forgot that she was up in the spectator area watching that. Oh man, if Lori could get that on her phone, I would bet money that she saw me at my horror-movie-best. I hoped she shielded Megan’s eyes from the worst of it or something.
“Ethan, are you okay!?” Rebecca slid on her knees next to me. I was about to point out that the slide was smooth and cool before I figured it wasn’t the right time for it. She grabbed my hand between hers, doing her best to not squeeze too tight. The moment she held my hand, relief and calm washed over me.
“Oh. Oh, that’s why you didn’t want her to see.” Lori gave me a warm smile. Not exactly a secret what she was seeing between us. “Congrats, bud.”
“Thanks.” I could tell she had more on her mind. Like a good wingwoman, she bit her tongue to let Rebecca check up on me and dote a little. Like Lori, Rebecca wasn’t freaked out by my injuries, and she was purely concerned with my well-being.
The healer had finished fixing up my right eye and moved onto healing my mouth. The swelling was gone, and I could see everything clearly again. The pain in the rest of my body was a dull throb in the wounded areas. I was pretty sure I was well enough to stand up, but I stayed put. The area that was being healed hurt less immediately, so the relief on my mouth was welcome. Having Rebecca there doing her worried girlfriend thing helped.
“How much did Megan see?” I asked. I started to roll a bit of rubble under my finger. I still couldn’t believe that there were so many buildings under the room. It made me wonder if there were other cool training spots that had even more.
“Shelly made her stop watching after your face got slashed.” Rebecca switched to a cross-legged position, keeping my hand held in hers.
“My sister was there?” My heart sunk to my stomach. “How did she take it?”
“She’s worried. When she saw the healer come in, she forced herself to stay put. She’s taking care of Megan right now.” Rebecca’s voice lowered. “She was not happy. I think it was hard for her to watch.”
Oh well, that was something to deal with in the future. Nothing I could do about it being healed on the ground anyway. I could only hope that she didn’t take it too poorly. At least I was basically aware of what happened, unlike the early training session that left me incapacitated for a few days. I looked back toward Lori, who was still distracted by her own thoughts. “Any tips for what I could have done better, boss?”
“Huh?” she asked, startled. “Oh, right. If you can get faster, that’d be good. Braden’s shadows are slower the more he has under his control, but you still took a lot of damage from them. The big one was a problem with him lacking control, which you could have taken advantage of. From what I saw, your instincts and reactions are good. You really were about to get your head chopped off by that big one. If you can be faster on the offensive, you would have had a much better time taking down his toys.”
“Big guy tore right through my armor like it was paper.” I shivered, recalling how close a call it was. “He would have been able to win cleanly if he just kept attacking with him.”
“We don’t have any official statistics for these things, Ethan,” Lori said. “There aren’t really wins or losses that matter. The entire sparring thing is new anyway. There’s been no time to put together anything like a win-loss record or rankings.”
“How about my Anomaly?” I asked, trying to move away from the idea of winning or losing.
“It’s coming along nicely.” Lori had a bit of a smug grin that told me she was happy I was on her team. “Now that I can see it, it all looks really pretty. How much have you been practicing?”
“I try to conjure something up if I’m not doing anything,” I told her. “I haven’t practiced as much with attacks or fancy moves, but I’ve gotten the hang of how my power works, I think. Having my creations getting destroyed doesn’t bother me as much as it used to. I’ll have to take care to make sure I’m not gassed after a few minutes. The rest is just control, I think.”
Lori nodded her head in understanding. “A lot of mental-based powers are weird like that. You might not have to train as much as Alex to get the best results out of your Anomaly, but yours in particular is based in your imagination. Just toying with what you can do is training on its own for you. A lot of powers have their own little puzzles and secrets that must be figured out. Not every healer amplifies emotions, for example.”
The healer just laughed and nodded. While the emotional aspect of his power was weird and caught me off guard, it worked well when Rebecca came in. Shelly said I looked relaxed with Rebecca around, and boy, I was feeling it with her there by my side. With how quick he got my eye back, the nice healer got an A+ from me.
I tried to analyze what I could have done better. Obviously, not getting stabbed or nearly decapitated was a good start. I felt like my power couldn’t do much against Braden’s, but maybe I was just thinking about it the wrong way. If I’d been able to create a light big enough to disperse it, that might’ve saved my mouth from getting cut up. I still had no idea how I could have done that. Maybe reviewing some video footage of the fight would help shed some light on what I could do better.
“Ethan, about what I wanted to talk with you about...” Lori’s voice drifted off. She looked between Rebecca and I before sighing. “We’ll talk about it tomorrow. Instead, tell me about this.” She gestured between us and I was more than happy to talk about that one.
“Deal,” I said. “The only condition is that I want to hear about you and Alex.
A small, shy smile spread across her face. “That’s fair, I can do that.”