by Ali House
She’d have to tell him later, though, since Kit would be waiting for her. Akola headed to the elemental training room, using the short walk to get rid of her anger.
When she entered the training room, Kit was standing in the middle, air rushing around her as her eyes glowed a bright blue. She stopped using her element when Akola entered.
“Ready to train?” Akola asked, plastering a polite smile on her face.
“Ready.”
Kit stood ready as Akola approached. The ground started to move beneath her feet, so Kit widened her stance to get a lower centre of gravity. She threw a blast of cold air at Akola, whose concentration broke as she dodged the attack.
Akola moved left and broke into a run. Kit tried to get out of the way, but Akola managed to tackle her. Kit grabbed for her, getting a hold of her shoulder and channeling ice. Akola broke off the hold and raised her hand for a hit. Kit pushed her back, kicking Akola in the stomach. Akola fell onto her back, but quickly jumped to her feet. Kit also rose to her feet, ready again.
“Kit,” Akola said as they circled each other, “you’ve got to do more.”
“How?”
“If you only use one element when you fight someone, there’s no point in you being the Six-Elemental. You’ve got to learn to switch between them when you fight.”
“But everyone complains when I use more than one element. They say it’s unfair.”
“That’s only because you’re fighting them. When you’re fighting the enemy it won’t be unfair, it’ll be a great advantage.”
Kit thought about it. “You won’t mind?”
“If I complain you can have one free hit.”
She smiled. “Deal.”
Since Kit hadn’t been trained on Tecken like everyone else, Akola took it easier on her. The punch she aimed at Kit’s head was slower than she normally would have thrown, giving Kit time to block it. Akola kicked out with her leg, but Kit grabbed it. Instead of letting go, Kit shook the ground under Akola’s other foot, causing her to lose her balance. As she fell, Kit sent a charge through her leg.
Pulling her leg free, Akola rolled onto her side to try and stand, but Kit used the air to push her back to the floor. Kit moved closer, still using air to keep her pinned.
“Like that?” she asked.
Akola couldn’t help laughing. “No wonder nobody wanted you to use more than one element. Once you’re faster at switching between elements, you’ll be hell to fight.”
She smiled. “It’s too bad I can’t use them all at once.” She paused and the air holding Akola disappeared.
“Kit?” Akola said, suddenly worried.
Kit was lost in thought. Concentrating, she created small snowflakes in the air. Then, raising her left hand, she thought about a warm wind. She tried using the two elements together, having the wind blow the snowflakes around, but the wind overtook and the snowflakes melted almost instantly.
Kit took a deep breath and tried again. She created the snowflakes again, making them bigger, and then she introduced the wind. Adjustments had to be made to keep everything in balance – the wind needed to be gentle and the flakes had to be large enough not to melt immediately.
Finally she had a group of snowflakes twirling within a funnel of wind. Kit smiled as she watched the flakes dancing in the wind. There was a certain harmony to the scene, the elements combining to make something incredible. She felt more at peace with her elements than she ever had before.
“Kit...”
She stopped concentrating, letting the snowflakes melt and the wind die down. She had been so focused that she’d forgotten Akola was in the room. “What?”
Akola was staring at her with a strange look on her face. “Kit, do you know what just happened?”
“I was balanced,” she replied. “Perfectly balanced, just like the Six-Elemental should be.”
“Your eyes...” Akola stepped closer. “Kit, your eyes were black and they were glowing. It was unbelievable.”
“Really? Are they still doing it?” She wanted to look in a mirror and see what Akola had described.
“Not anymore.”
“Let me try again.” Kit thought about the elements and closed her eyes. Small clouds began to form near the ceiling of the room. She opened her eyes as rain began to fall, starting out as a light drizzle before the rain thickened into large drops.
Akola was soaked, but she couldn’t move. She couldn’t believe that this was happening, that Kit was able to do something like this.
A bright streak of light burst from one of the clouds and hit the ground a few feet from Kit. Akola’s eyes widened as more streaks lit up the room, striking the ground a safe distance away. She couldn’t believe what was happening – she had no idea that the Six-Elemental could do something this powerful.
Kit’s eyes were glowing that same strange black. She had a huge smile on her face as the ground became mud and the lightning strikes turned the ground black where they hit. When she finally stopped, she was completely drained of energy. She was exhausted, but she’d never felt so good before. Nobody would dare call her weak ever again.
“This is it,” Kit said, falling to her knees in the mud. “This is what I’m supposed to do.”
Magnus Erikson finished reading the report in front of him. He closed the file folder and put it on his desk, pushing it towards Carter. Carter had recently been working with the tech team in a scientific capacity, but his concentration was more biological than technical, so Erikson had switched him to medical when the Six-Elemental came into their possession.
Carter nervously pushed his glasses back up his nose. Waiting for Erikson’s response was nerve-wracking, and when Carter became nervous he began to sweat.
“So this extremely long report is simply to tell me that you have discovered nothing?” Erikson said.
Carter cleared his throat. “No. I mean, yes. I mean, I’ve done everything that I can think of, but there’s no explanation for why she’s the Six-Elemental. I’ve checked her EDNA against non-Elementals, but there’s no difference. The only explanation I can think of is that she’s so in balance that she’s perfect.”
“This is unacceptable. I need to know what makes her special.”
“I’m trying, but I’ve run out of materials to test. We’ve got to get her in again.”
“I’ll have her go to the lab whenever she has the chance.” Erikson turned to Wes, who was standing next to Carter. “And what do you have to report?”
Wes smiled. “Her dreams are becoming less frequent and less specific. Since her breakthrough she’s been much happier, as well as exhausted from the extra training. Her subconscious is too tired to ask questions.”
Erikson smiled. Kit had raced into his office two days ago to tell him the good news. He’d been in a meeting with Jermaine when she had burst into the room. She was soaking wet and the bottom half of her pants were covered in mud, but when she told him what she’d achieved, Erikson couldn’t help but smile. He moved around the desk and grabbed her in a hug, not caring about the damage the mud would do to his suit.
He couldn’t help having a soft spot for her. She was such a genuine person. It didn’t hurt that she was an Electricity Elemental named Katherine. Erickson’ great-grandfather was not only a non-Elemental, like him, but he had married an Electricity Elemental named Katherine. Erikson was a big believer in signs.
After the meeting with Wes and Carter, he was going to head to the elemental training room for a demonstration of her abilities. He was excited to finally see the true power of the Six-Elemental – especially since that power was now his.
“And what about this... relationship?” he asked Wes. Akola had informed him of Nathan’s decision to become close to Kit. Erikson was surprised that Nathan had chosen to do such a thing, but also pleased that Nathan’s hostility had ceased.
“While this is a rather unique situation, falling for someone she should hate, I can’t see the harm in it at the moment. Forming an attachment to some
one on our side will only strengthen her conditioning. Her brain won’t want to fight the reassignment if she’s genuinely happy. In fact, this may prove to be more fruitful than her friendship with Akola.”
“But?” There was always a ‘but’.
“But if Nathan breaks her heart, she may fracture and we might lose her permanently.”
Erikson nodded. “I’ll have a talk with him. Now, we have ten minutes before the demonstration. I suggest you men try to get good seats.”
Wes and Carter left the office. Jermaine, who had been sitting in the corner of the room, noticed that he was becoming less and less useful in these meetings. He couldn’t wait until Erikson conquered the Segment and he had his own island to maintain.
“Nathan should have cleared the relationship with us,” Jermaine commented.
“I’m sure Nathan had his reasons,” Erikson replied.
“Well, since his confinement he hasn’t had as much sex.”
“Nathan understands the seriousness of the situation. He also understands that I am aware that this was his move and his alone. There will be nobody to save him if he screws up.”
Jermaine stood up and smoothed his suit. “Should we get going to the demonstration?”
Erikson nodded.
The two men exited the room and walked to the elemental training room. The ground had since dried, but the room looked considerably more used. The entire base was in this room, including tech and medical personnel gathered at the back. Wes and Carter had managed to get good viewing locations, but Erikson knew that he had no worries. He marched into the room and headed to the front and centre location of the group. People moved to get out of his way, giving him the prime spot.
Kit was standing nearer the back of the room, at the centre. Her blue hair was gathered in its usual ponytail, but she was dressed differently. She was barefoot, wearing a pair of black shorts and a black tank top that was knotted at the side. In this outfit, every one of her Tattoos was visible. It might have been his imagination, but the colours of her Tattoos seemed brighter today.
She started by heating up a pile of sticks that had been gathered together in the middle of the room. The sticks burst into flames and she concentrated on the fire, feeding it oxygen until it was almost as high as the ceiling. The room began to heat up, so she let the fire decrease until it was stable. Raising her hands out to each side, she created a warm wind with her right hand and a cold wind with her left. She quickly brought her hands together, slamming the winds together. They met where the fire was, blowing out the flame and bursting outwards.
The force of the wind blew everyone back a few steps, but nobody complained. Kit looked over at Erikson to see if he was angry, but there was a smile on his face.
She concentrated on the earth next, making it burst upwards in a tall rectangular pillar. As she concentrated on keeping the pillar together, Kit used air to lift the pillar from the ground, turning it onto its side before smashing it against the wall.
Before the dirt had even settled, she was looking at the ceiling, gathering clouds until the entire ceiling was dark and grey. She let bolts of electricity fly from the clouds, striking the ground around in her in sharp attacks. The group moved as far back as possible, except for Erikson who was still staring at her and smiling.
Kit raised her right hand and the clouds burst forth with rain, creating a downpour in an instant. The rain fell from the sky as the lighting continued to dance around. The rain was so thick that the floor had no time to absorb it and puddles formed in every hole.
She allowed the rain to fall as the electricity continued to light up the darkened room. Finally her energy gave out and she had to stop. The rain stopped and the clouds disappeared as Kit fell forward onto her hands and knees, sinking into the wet earth.
Erikson couldn’t believe what he had just seen. He had known that the Six-Elemental was powerful, but he never thought that she would be this powerful. The black glow of her eyes and the power behind the demonstration brought a smile to his face. This was exactly what he needed to win the war.
Despite the uneven ground, random puddles and muddy texture of the floor, Erikson’s gait was strong and sure as he crossed the room. Kit looked up at him, too tired to stand.
“Congratulations,” he said, smiling at her. “I’m thoroughly impressed.”
“Thank you,” she said, returning his smile.
The tech and medical teams hurried out of the room, eager to analyze what they’d just seen. Jermaine hurried to catch up to Erikson as he headed for the door.
“That was incredible,” Jermaine said. “I had no idea.”
“She’s everything I wanted.”
“With her on our side, there’s no way we can lose.”
Erikson laughed as he walked through the hallway, towards his office. His laughter echoed off the walls. “You know what this means, Jermaine?”
Jermaine nodded.
Erikson smiled. “Let’s get ready for the final step.”
After the demonstration, Akola helped Kit back to her room for a rest. The other soldiers were speechless at her show of power. They’d heard that she’d had a breakthrough, but they had no idea she could do something like that.
After drying off, Nathan, Calypso, Christian and Starr went to the training room for some sparring. As much as they disliked Kit, they now understood why they needed her on their side. There would still be a war, but it was sure to be a quick one.
Starr and Calypso were fighting with their weapons as Nathan and Christian watched. Starr was using two metal sticks that were twelve inches long each. Calypso was fighting with a training sword, which had a dull curved blade. They could still do a lot of damage to each other, but at least nobody’s head would be chopped off.
Starr used one stick to block Calypso’s sword, bringing the other one around to hit Calypso in the side. She used enough strength for Calypso to grit her teeth in pain.
“Starr...” Calypso warned.
“I thought you liked it rough,” Starr countered, smiling.
“Only when it’s recreational.”
“Sorry, I get so confused some times.”
Christian rolled his eyes. “Get a room!”
“And one of your own,” Nathan added. “No more using my bed.”
“You’re just jealous we didn’t ask you to join in,” Starr said, turning to Nathan.
Calypso used the distraction to get the upper hand, swinging her sword at Starr’s throat. She stopped less than an inch from Starr’s neck.
“Dead,” Calypso said.
“Only because Nathan’s a jerk.”
“Still dead.”
Starr smiled. “My room or yours?”
“Yours.”
The two girls put their weapons away and left the room.
“You know, I never thought of fighting as foreplay,” Christian said as he picked up a different practice sword. This sword was longer and straight, better for slicing but not as agile.
“You do remember that I’m not attracted to you, right?” Nathan said.
“Opinions change every day,” Christian winked.
Nathan picked up a practice gun similar to his own. The gun was filled with rubber bullets that hurt, but weren’t lethal. “You’re just not used to a guy turning you down,” he countered.
“It is a very rare occurrence.”
They stopped talking and began to spar. Nathan used his gun to block the sword, rarely firing it. It would have been better for him to learn how to use a weapon other than a gun, but Nathan didn’t want to waste his time. He was a better fighter than most and an excellent shot.
Christian kept him too busy to fire the gun, constantly attacking. Finally Christian raised the sword above his head and brought it down. Nathan dodged the attack, which would have hurt if he hadn’t, and brought his gun up and around. The butt of the gun hit Christian in the side of the face.
“I thought you promised to stop doing that,” Christian said, moving back.
Nathan aimed the gun at his chest. “You’re dead.”
“You said you’d stop doing that.”
“Still dead.”
Christian sighed. “Once more?”
They began a second fight, this time concentrating more on the fight than on making sarcastic remarks. At one point the door opened and they both stopped fighting to see who had entered. Christian groaned as Kit entered the room.
“Your girlfriend’s here,” he muttered.
“Shut up,” Nathan replied.
“See you later.”
Christian put his sword away and walked out of the room, muttering a hello to Kit as he passed her.
“He still doesn’t like me, does he?” she asked when she approached Nathan.
“He’s jealous because I’d rather be with you than him,” he teased.
“You two have the strangest relationship, you know?”
Nathan shrugged. “It works for us.”
Kit looked at the weapons stacked along the wall. There were swords of various shapes and sizes, daggers, wooden and metal sticks, and even a few fake guns.
“I can’t remember what I picked when I turned eighteen,” she said quietly. Every soldier on Tecken picked a weapon to specialize in when they turned eighteen, but she couldn’t remember what hers had been.
“That’s because you didn’t pick a weapon,” Nathan said, following the ‘script’ Wes had given him. He stepped behind her, putting his arms around her. “You couldn’t choose which one you liked best, so you tried them all. You weren’t good with any of them, so it’s damn good luck that you became the Six-Elemental.”
Kit laughed. “Shut up.”
“Never. If you want a bit of training, I can help you, but I think it’s a waste of time for you.”
She smiled. “Maybe I’d like some extra training from you.” She turned around and kissed him.
The doors to the room opened. She looked past Nathan to see who had entered, but she only managed to catch a glimpse of bright red hair before the person disappeared. Kit didn’t understand why Akola was still so upset about her being with Nathan.
