It was Jimmy.
Larry followed my eyes, "That's right." He hissed, "Your boy tried to stop him, so Vik started his lesson with him."
"Is he…?"
"No, no." Larry shook his finger, "We don't just kill everyone, despite what you may believe. Swann will have his chance, though he'll be disciplined. It's just Nishi that needs to go, too bad really. I suppose Yasmina will be disappointed but she'll have to get over losing her pupil. Ruark did, after all, and he's a sentimental bastard."
Jimmy was alive, I felt relief at that. But his tone irked me, Larry just treated it all like a game. He could have easily been discussing the weather for all he seemed to care.
"Where?" I asked.
He rolled his shoulders, "Where else? Her brother took a fall off Residential Towers, now its Nishi's turn. Tallest building on campus, best place for someone to have an… unfortunate accident."
I went for the door. In a second, he had Dashed twice, angling himself to suddenly block my path. Larry shook his finger again, "No, you stay here. Can't have you interfering. That's why I had to remain behind, unfortunately. I got to watch last time, there's nothing quite like it."
"Get out of my way." I warned him. My head throbbed and reminded me that I wasn't at full strength already. Rage could only carry my body so far. If I was to have a chance at stopping Vik, I needed to get past Larry without a fight.
Larry laughed the warning off, clearly unafraid.
"Please," He sneered, "I would break you, kid."
I didn't respond, mostly because I caught a glimpse of someone entering the training area. Larry noticed my gaze and looked behind him.
"Leslie." Larry smiled winningly, "Good to see you, buddy. Come to help me sedate your wayward pupil?"
Les slowly walked over and stood by Larry to block my way to the stairs. Larry clapped his onetime student, now my teacher, on the back, "Good to have you, to be honest. Can't be too sure with these crazy Aether types."
The betrayal was evident on my face, "You too, Les?"
"I'm sorry, Nick." Les apologized quietly. His hands rose and he drew strength to them and Glowed bright. There was absolutely no way that I'd ever be able to beat both of them, even if I was fresh. This was well and truly checkmate. I would never save Nishi. My shoulders sagged in the light of my inevitable defeat, I had failed.
"I'm sorry… that I didn't do something sooner."
His hands were alight with power as they moved, almost too quickly for my eyes to follow, and he grabbed a surprised Larry and threw him both magically and physically into the nearest wall. I felt his will impose directly on his former master who immediately screamed treachery and began to struggle against him.
I watched the unlikely turn of events, stunned.
"Go." Les grunted, "Go, Nick. I stayed quiet when they killed Alok. I stayed quiet when they made Carmen kill Emily- but this is one step too far, even for me. They don't even have Lincoln's approval this time- Danae and Vik have gone crazy with power. They enjoy killing their problems far too much. Stop them, I'll hold him here."
"You have no chance!" Larry howled at him, "You traitor! You owe everything you are to me! You could never beat me before, today will be no different. TRAITOR!"
Larry managed to get a hand up, then Les forced it back down again, "GO!" Les shouted at me again, "I won't be able to do it for long. Save Nishtha!"
I went. I ran out of the basement, out of the house, even when I heard the rumbling crash that slammed against my mind. Will against will, colliding ferociously beneath me. I felt it as surely as the physical sound of something colliding just moments later. Incomprehensive shouting followed and I knew Les's fight had begun in earnest. A fight that I wasn't sure he could win, possibly even survive.
But my teacher had given me an order, one that I would follow. Not just for him, but for Swann, my friend, who couldn't do it himself.
I was going to save Nishi.
111
It was dark now.
The sky rumbled ominously overhead and trickling rain began to pour down. I saw other students running as well- but they were running for shelter. I was running to save my friend. The wind howled, but it always seemed to be at my back, pushing and urging me onwards.
I ran and I ran. I was a fast runner, stamina had become my best friend after months of rigorous training… but I was tired. So tired. Kraven had taken a lot out of me, as had rushing to the frat house, then confronting Larry… now this. There was only so much that one person could take, but I couldn't stop. I refused to stop.
I wouldn't stop.
Lightning arced wildly, splitting the sky in two. Thunder rumbled ominously on its tail. The rain forever fell. When the wind finally buffeted into my eyes instead of at my back, I swore a curse in frustration. Cloak or no Cloak. It was dark, and I honestly didn't care anymore.
There was no one around when I crouched down, just outside the middle of campus. I pointed determinedly in the direction of RT and Jumped. I sailed high into the air, over a couple of the swaying trees scattered through campus, landed, then shot up again. This time I sailed past the UGL, my arc sending me higher than the building itself. Again and again, I launched without even bothering to look around to see who might be watching. I couldn't stop.
I had tunnel vision, all I could see was Nishi falling, and me too far to save her. I wouldn't allow it. I wouldn't allow another friend to die. What use was my training, my ability, my power, if I couldn't even save one friend?
Why did I come here, if not to learn how to fight for what I cared about?
My headache worsened from the leaps and landings I took as the air whistled around me, a somber tune, born of nature's shouts, nature's tears, and my own fears. All mixed and coagulated to form something that was very real to my disoriented mind. It focused me against the pain, the torment, and it gave me purpose.
I reached RT, and I scaled it in a single, gravity defying leap.
They were waiting for me.
Lightning streaked by again, illuminating their surprised features with startling quality. Nishi was unconscious, in Vik's grasp, near the edge. Carmen and Danae stood a little further back, and I saw that Danae had two things clutched in her hands, one was a piece of paper, the other was a gun. I was mildly sure, even in the dark that it was her favorite piece. I remembered her threatening to shoot me at least two times with it. Maybe today she would finally get the opportunity.
For a moment, it was silent but for the rain that fell.
Vik chuckled lightly, as if it was all a big joke, "We couldn't decide." He admitted to me, nodding to Danae's gun, "Suicide by shooting, or by jumping? I for one, wanted to be original, but I was outvoted. Wasn't I, Danae, Car-Car?"
Danae smirked, "It should be a poetic death." She purred, "The sister goes the way of the brother. Both traitors, but we owe them at least that. They'll be remembered forever by everyone. The suicide siblings."
Carmen said nothing, and didn't look at me, staring only at the cemented roof that was slick with rain.
My anger dissipated. I couldn't help it. When I looked at her… all I could feel was sorrow.
"How could you?" I asked softly, "Carmen… why?" I felt so tired, so very tired. I was sick of all of it. They pretended for months to be my friends, my companions, but it had all been a lie. I was a tool, a weapon to be trained and pointed at the enemy. Vik and Danae just laughed at the the agony in my voice.
"I had no choice." Carmen whispered, "I'm sorry. I never… I didn't want to hurt you."
"You're sorry?" I said hoarsely, "No choice? Carmen…"
Danae giggled, "Oh Stratus. Don't be so hard on the poor girl. She just wants to live, to be loyal. She has to do what I say. Did you know, that I offered her a choice with Emily? Kill her, or die for her. Carmen chose to survive. She chose to live. How could you fault her for that? After that, reporting on you wasn't even that hard. Carmen betrayed her best friend to live… screwing you over wasn't that difficult, right Car-Car?"
Carmen said nothing, a single tear may have run down her cheek… but it could have just been rain. The girl I had come to love had her fists clenched and was trembling slightly, but didn't deny any of it. It was all true. Kraven who I had hated, told me the truth. Carmen who I loved, had lied to me.
Vik was whistling, walking closer to the edge, Nishi still unconscious and flung over his shoulder. I staggered determinedly in front of him, and made him stop to pause and consider me.
"Out of the way." My supposed leader said quietly, and he wasn't smiling now.
"No." I replied, "I won't let you."
The older student tilted his head at me like he couldn't believe what he was hearing, "You won't let me?" Vik said in disbelief, "Wake up Stratus! Did you forget what you promised me, just down below from where we stand now? Be my brother! Loyalty! Fighting for the same cause! Does any of it ring a bell?"
"I didn't sign up for this."
Vik laughed maniacally, then screamed, "None of us signed up for it, but this is what we've had to do! Being a mage means living by a different set of rules, playing a different game. This is our world, Stratus! Darwin's axiom has never applied better. Survival of the fittest? That's us! The Normals should be beholden to us, not the other way around! It's time for things to change, and if I have to kill a few people to be on the forefront of that change, the path to real power, then so be it!"
His last words rang out into the night, reverberating wildly into the air, but I wasn't flustered. I shook my head slowly and said, "If you kill her, you'll have to kill me too."
Vik stared, weighed his options for only a moment, then shrugged.
"Oh well. You annoyed me since day one anyways. Kill him, Danae."
The blonde laughed, her eyes gleaming electric blue even through the darkness, "I have a better idea," She said, and slowly pressed the gun into her apprentice's unwilling hands.
Carmen stared fearfully at it, then at her master, then to me.
"Carmen…" Danae said softly into her ear, "Do me a favor dear, and kill your little boyfriend."
Her eyes wide, hand trembling, Carmen raised the gun to point it just above my eyes. A kill shot. The same spot she had hit Emily. It hadn't been a year, but it had come full circle. Now the gun was pointed at me, and I was facing death from someone I had never expected it from. This was different from fighting Vik and saving Nishi. This was someone I could never bring myself to attack, even to defend myself.
Was this how Emily felt? Why she didn't fight, even at the end?
"Carmen, no." I said, pleading. My body sagged, I trembled furiously, but I didn't move. I found with my anger fading, that my body had shut down. I had always thought I would have will enough to try and fight, to try and live through anything… but this was too much. This was something that I couldn't fight, because surviving through it would be meaningless.
"Danae," Vik murmured as he moved out of the way, "You're certifiably evil."
"I surprise even myself sometimes." The Lincoln girl boasted proudly.
My now decidedly ex-girlfriend flicked back the safety with a practiced gesture. Her hand was still trembling, but her position was locked in a perfect stance. If she fired now, she wouldn't miss. I would be dead.
"Carmen…" I didn't know what to say, if I could say anything at all. Maybe it was the rain, but the rage that had driven me from Kraven to this moment was gone. If I had any part of me that was fire, it was sleeping now, the rain having weakened to nothing. I was only Nick now, only Stratus, only human.
I only loved her. I hated myself for it, called myself a fool for it, but I did. I really was just a sucker for a pretty face I guess. I could hate myself for not having will enough to try and live, to try and fight… but I couldn't hate Carmen. Not for simply wanting to survive. In the last week, I had worried that she didn't have the will for it, and in a moment of weakness would end it all… I supposed that I didn't have to worry about that anymore.
Now, I saw the fear disappeared from her eyes. Carmen's hand stopped trembling and the gun steadied in her grip. Her dark brown eyes grew hard. Even through the night, I could see her knuckles whiten as she clenched hard on the weapon.
Carmen smiled sadly at me, "I'm sorry," She said simply. Her finger shifted to sit atop the trigger, and I fought the sudden urge to close my eyes.
Then she turned and pointed the gun at Danae.
"…Bitch!" Danae hissed in disbelief, and dove out of the way as Carmen fired on her mentor.
Vik laughed uproariously, as if the whole situation was a joke to him, even as Carmen rushed Danae and they began to fight in earnest. Sparkling telekinetic bursts of energy began to fly between them as my heart soared at the sight of it. Carmen hadn't done it, she had chosen me over them. Me.
"Oh, that is just PRICELESS!" Vik screamed at me, eyes glinting furiously in their characteristic beady gaze. He sneered at the happy look on my face, "You think you won, Aether-boy? Let me teach you another life lesson. No one ever wins, not without SACRIFICE!"
My heart plummeted as I watched him move as if in slow motion, but I couldn't do anything to stop him.
He threw Nishi off the roof.
"No!" I shouted and ran to the edge after my unconscious friend. I reached a desperate hand out reaching to grab at her with my mind-
Vik then grabbed me bodily and heaved me back from the side of the roof and against the concrete wall of the small room that contained RT's stairwell.
"NO!" I screamed again and fought, weak as I was, fought break free. I had to save her-! But he held me there, grinning darkly at my struggles the entire time. I felt lost in that moment, as somewhere in the back of my mind I knew Nishi was beyond my reach now. For a moment I felt the hope, the fight, drain out of me.
Carmen then fired the gun again, and I felt her gather more power to fight against Danae. She was fighting against them for me. Whatever she had done before, no matter how she had betrayed me up to this point… she was fighting for me now. If I stopped now, it would be the end of not only myself or Nishi, but her as well. I couldn't let that happen.
It gave me strength.
I threw my reinvigorated will against Vik's and felt him buckle in surprise; he didn't think I had anything left in me. The burly mage grunted and shoved his hands physically at me in an attempt to suppress me. But he couldn't quite manage it.
Who was he to try and stop me from saving Nishi? From helping Carmen?
I was the one fighting for the right reasons. If there was no true good, and no true evil in the world… there was still most certainly right and wrong.
Vik was wrong.
I was right.
I would win.
I locked onto that thought, and burned free. Vik yelped in surprise as the very air around us grew hot, superheated by my willpower. There was no active flame to work with, but that didn't matter. I could still make him feel exactly what he was trying to subdue. Once again, it seemed to be coming easier now that I had accessed it for the first time, I felt the rage and flame build up inside me like a furnace about to explode.
His power over me had broken, and I stepped away from the wall. He threw his hands up again and I matched his will with my own. I had weakened, but I wasn't defeated. I wouldn't fail.
I'm not proud to admit it, but I completely forgot about Nishi. The fire within had consumed my very being, my every thought. Now it howled only one thing; vengeance. I snapped my fingers, and sparked a tiny flame from the microscopic flicker created by friction. In any other state, I would have never been able to do it.
The light grew, and in it, I saw Vik's astonishment. He saw my grin. And I saw his dread.
"My turn." I said softly, and turned my power loose against him. The fire spread from my palm like a miniature flamethrower, rail-thin and arcing towards him, incandescent vengeance given form. Vik ran from it, like a chicken with his head cut off, he ran scared. I added more pillars of fire to the chase, smirking darkly at Vik's attempts to escape. The Glow
of my power was in full force now. There was no way he could stop me…
Vik was no Kraven, however. His momentary fear faded into hardened resolve and he skidded to a stop some twenty feet from me and turned to face the streamers of fire that had hungrily given chase. A moment of focus later and I felt him dive deep into his power and pull as much magic from the environment as possible.
The frat leader's Magus Glow was reestablished milliseconds later, and with a harsh grunt he pulled heat from my attacks. While it was difficult for a normal mage to form and control a fire-based attack, it was relatively simple to draw heat away and disperse the flames into nothing again.
It might have been harder for him if not for the rain, but the storm and my weakening stamina had turned it in his favor slightly. I saw his grin of triumph as he stepped through the wisps that remained and broke out into a run to meet me in close quarters.
I met him with a snarl and a wall of fire that was twice his size. Vik was undeterred and met it with a howling shout, colliding with it head-on and actually disintegrating it on contact, breaking through with barely a singe for his effort.
For the first time since beginning my attack, I felt sudden doubt. Despite the difference in age, it was obvious that compared to Vik, Kraven had been a joke. There was a reason more than bluster that the Indian mage was the leader of the initiates.
His fist barreled to my jaw with alarming speed that I didn't expect from the burly wizard. I frantically attempted to deflect with my right arm but found the weight of it too much and too quick to deter completely. I managed to drive it away from my jaw and into my cheek for what it was worth.
When it crashed into my cheek like a miniature freight train, it didn't feel like it was worth much. Undeterred, Vik continued with a resolving blow to my stomach, and he then kicked my legs out from underneath me. With a gasped cry I hit the concrete hard, and I heard Vik's laughter above me, a scathing cackle.
"Not so special after all, huh, Aether-boy?" I tried to rise, and felt the not-so-pleasurable feeling of his foot grinding into my back. As if to prove some meaningless point, he rammed the same foot into my spine a few times, sending rippling bouts of brilliant agony into my already weakened system. Vik's way of reminding me exactly who was victorious, and who was the loser.
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