Citadel (Book 1): Training in Necessity

by Clevenger, J.

  "Yes." She was looking away again.

  "How many lives did you say I had taken?"

  "Fourteen."

  He believed he had understood her behavior correctly. She refused to look him in the eye, keeping her head down, speaking softly, it was behavior that his books characterized as 'submissive.' She was afraid of him and did not wish to provoke him. Jason felt satisfaction. He rarely understood the emotional reasoning of others so well.

  "I killed a fly. It was buzzing around my face and using my power took less effort than swatting it. The rest were plants."

  "Oh." She looked up, slowly, then rapidly looked away after she met his eyes.

  She already respected his power, now that she knew he would not kill carelessly, perhaps he could recruit her as an asset?

  "Would you like to watch the fight between Duncan Nightmare and Coach Achala?" A friendly gesture should be sufficient to start the process. "It should be very informative."

  "No." She shook her head. "I- I don't want to be anywhere nearby if Duncan's going to be fighting. I'll come back later, for my fight with Warp." She smiled, then turned quickly and departed.

  Jason was pleased. Though she had declined the offer, it was clear that she was open to a friendship with him.

  * * *

  The match began, like the ones in which Jason had participated, with both fighters speaking to a healer. Presumably, each was explaining their defensive abilities so that the grey clad healer could determine the correct threshold for lethal damage. It was impressive that Coach Achala's role as a direct participant did not seem to be changing the Healer's behavior. In his experience, such respect for procedure was found only when the rules genuinely fit the situation.

  The dome's entire wall turned transparent, after the two had entered. Jason did not know whether this was genuine transparency or simply a real-time image. Given the quality of video technology that the Citadel had at its disposal, distinguishing would be next to impossible. Even so, there was still no sound.

  Achala performed a polite bow then spoke to his opponent. Duncan gave no evidence of replying to the combat instructor. He simply stood, his customary expression on his face. Jason had given that expression a great deal of thought. His initial inclination had been to label it 'contempt.' This seemed to fit Hector's remarks, however... something seemed wrong with that assessment.

  Jason was just self-aware enough to realize that one of his common emotional reactions to others could be given the same label. It never evoked a need to act in him, not the way it seemed to do for Duncan.

  "Jason. Hey, Jason."

  "Oh. I apologize Hector. I was lost in thought and did not realize you had approached." he answered his friend.

  "It's cool. Just wondered if you had any idea what Duncan can do?" Hector was staring at the other. His expression was a near perfect match for his mother's description of 'concentration.'

  "His performance in Physical Conditioning leads me to believe that he is a Strong type. However, you should know that as well as I."

  "Yeah, but there's gotta be more to it than that. He's ranked sixth in the class and Nightmare doesn't really fit a Strong type."

  "Interesting. I suppose we shall learn shortly." Hector's point was valid. Duncan had consistently performed at about the same level as Isaac. Yet, Jason's older roommate was ranked much lower.

  An audible tone came from the dome. Jason did not know if that had been the case during previous matches but he was certain it was the signal to begin. Nevertheless, neither combatant had changed their stance. Coach Achala was crouched, slightly, his hands up and ready to react. Duncan was just standing there, his hands on his hips.

  Something was wrong though. Jason could not recognize the cause but the crowd was reacting. He heard noises coming from the others, and motion. Most were pulling back from the combat room.

  "Hector?" His stomach was clenched. "Hector, please." His heart was beating rapidly and his breathing was labored. "Hector, I don't know what I'm feeling!" Jason gripped his friend's arm.

  "It's fear, Jason. Everyone's feeling it."

  The combat room was changing. Its light grew dimmer, the combatants’ shadows grew darker. It made no sense. Duncan seemed to be getting larger. His expression changed. It was cruel, threatening. Jason didn't understand. He was in no danger. Why was he so affected?

  "Jason, relax. It's not that bad. Duncan- he's projecting it."

  Yes. Yes, of course. It was obvious. How had he not been able to see that? Jason concentrated on his breathing, his heart, felt himself relaxing. It took some time. He was not aware of anything else until he had finished.

  Duncan was attempting to extricate himself from the wall, near Coach Achala's exit. Apparently, while Jason was distracted, he had charged and the instructor had dodged. Jason wondered why Achala was not taking advantage of his opponent's temporary disability.

  He had merely resumed his stance, having turned to face Duncan. Soon, the boy had managed to tear himself free. He advanced more slowly this time, cautious. The combat instructor's motions were short and quick. Duncan would throw a punch or a kick, sometimes trying to grab. Achala intercepted each with a small blow to the other's arm or leg, just enough to throw it off course.

  "Why the gloves?" Hector asked.

  "Hm?" He was right. Achala was wearing a pair of tightfitting, black leather gloves. "I had not noticed them. Nor do I understand their purpose." He had also added a pair of small pouches to his uniform's belt.

  The fruitless exchange of blows ended. Duncan struck at Achala, a simple straight jab. The instructor met his fist with an open palm, rather than striking at the forearm and deflecting it.

  It should not have been possible. The image did not convey sound; the walls were thick stone, but Jason was certain he could hear Duncan’s scream. His hand and arm had been shattered. Coach Achala returned the blow with a backhanded slap.

  Duncan was flung several feet to the side, prone. Again, the instructor failed to follow-up on his advantage. Rather than attack his downed opponent, he stood back. Jason thought he might be speaking but it was difficult to be sure. The feeling, the fear, was receding. It seemed as if the combat room's lighting was returning to normal as well.

  Duncan rose from his position on the floor. His face was malformed. The jaw was broken, possibly unhinged. Jason could see blood coating his teeth. He shook his head, not seeming to care about the pain that motion must have caused him. Slowly, the trainee stood upright. He raised his hand, beckoning Achala forward.

  "Okay, I may not like the guy, but that takes balls." Jason would not have phrased the sentiment in the same way as Hector, but he did agree.

  Apparently, Coach Achala was not inclined to meet his opponent's request. He removed something small from one of his pouches. A ball bearing? The instructor flicked the ball forward, like shooting a marble. It flew quickly but not so fast that Jason could not track it. The ball bearing bounced off the floor and came to rest against the combat room's curved wall.

  Jason could not hear him scream, not this time, but Duncan's mouth was open and he was clutching his leg. The missile's path had intersected Duncan's thigh. Jason had not thought it was moving fast enough to cause injury but Duncan's leg was bloody and misshapen. He fell to the floor. Moments later, he began rapidly tapping his hand against the ground.

  "Well," Hector said, "now we know what an operative is capable of."

  The fight was over. The view vanished, replaced with a plain stone wall. The healer moved, quickly entering the combat room.

  "You are more familiar with the schedule than me, Hector, which fight should we watch next?"

  * * *

  "Good afternoon, Kelly." Jason greeted his roommate. She was, like him and Hector, waiting for Gregory Warp's first challenge match to begin.

  "Hey Jason. Hector." she replied. "This's Sam and Kerry." They all exchanged greetings, Jason being careful to keep his face pleasant and meet their eyes. Well, as best he could, re
moving the glasses would undermine the point of a polite greeting.

  "What brings you two over?" Kelly asked them.

  "It only made sense." Jason answered. "Gregory Warp is both the highest ranked combatant and the one with the most challenges. I hope to learn a great deal from watching him fight."

  "Nope." said Keridwyn. "He's the one that took me down. No offense to anyone here, but as easily as he beat me, you're not going to learn anything from watching him take down the small fries."

  "What position did you earn?" Perhaps she was resentful that an early loss had left her in a rank below that which she thought she was due?

  "Second."

  "I see." She must have been genuinely impressed by his power then. "What is the nature of his ability? I can think of few things stronger than turning into a dragon."

  "I get that a lot. Flight, phasing and an energy beam strong enough to cut through the dome walls."

  "That is quite a formidable combination. How did your fight go?"

  "It wasn't even close." She snorted and he had no trouble recognizing her expression as 'disgust.' "I tried to grab him but my hands went right through. Then he flew straight up, cut one of em off with his beam and told me to surrender. I did."

  The fight began, not long after their conversation had begun. Gregory, Kelly said he preferred Greg, was a small man. In truth, he was the only trainee Jason had seen that was about the same size as Kelly's female form. His opponent, George Dragon, was a large, male trainee with scale like skin. He grew wings from his back before entering the dome.

  "No relation." Keridwyn asserted.

  Both trainees behaved very oddly, during the fight. Greg turned and ran to the side as soon as the tone sounded. Once he had reached the wall, he lounged against it and relaxed for the remainder of the match. George looked up and began breathing fire, paying no apparent attention to his opponent. Shortly, he stopped letting out bursts of flame and began leaping around the dome, ducking and dodging, despite the lack of any clear threat.

  "That little bastard!" Kerridwyn said, much louder than normal.

  George raised both hands above his head, shouting something. Most likely it was 'I yield,' as the match ended and both fighters left the combat room immediately afterwards.

  "He's just an illusionist! I though he was a real powerhouse or I'd have gone after him again." Kerry seemed unduly surprised by the revelation.

  "You said his beam was strong enough to cut through the wall." He pointed out.

  "Yeah, so?"

  "I take this to mean that when you thought he removed your hand, you also thought he blasted through the wall?"

  A number of people had gathered around George after he left the dome. Jason could not tell if they were mocking him or commiserating with his loss.

  "Only a little, but yeah. I wouldn't have given up if I didn't think he could do real damage. And how did he cut off my hand if it's just illusions?" she objected.

  "I do not know. However, if he had really fired an energy beam through the wall, he would have been disqualified."

  "I... I didn't even think about that. You're right." she agreed. "Your name was Jason, right?"

  "That is correct."

  "I'll remember it."

  * * *

  Gregory Warp's next few fights were very different. Rather than dodge imaginary attacks, his opponents simply collapsed to the ground. Some staggered to the side or made some attempt to attack him first, all of which missed. A few vomited. After a short period, either they yielded or Greg would render them unconscious by using his hand to block their nose and mouth. Jason and the others watched three such victories before he grew bored.

  "Kelly, I nearly forgot to tell you. Isaac wishes to speak with you, when you have the opportunity."

  "Yeah." her voice was quieter than usual and she was looking down. "Hector told me earlier but he wouldn't say what it was about."

  "I believe Isaac disapproves of some of your decisions and wishes to encourage you to change your behavior." Oddly, Samantha and Keridwyn both stepped forward and placed a hand on Kelly's shoulders. "I do not believe I will learn anything further from watching these matches. I will see you both, back at our home." Kelly was still looking down, Samantha was speaking softly to her and Keridwyn was staring at him. Strange. "Have a good day, ladies."

  * * *

  CHAPTER 5: PRIORITIES

  * * *

  Residence Area

  Isaac was walking home, alone. His first session had left him feeling raw, like every bit of his soul was exposed, but also clean. It wasn't a good description but it was the best he could come up with. He knew that this hadn't fixed anything, that feeling of frustrated rage and black hate was still there, but it felt like a good start. Therapy wasn't mandatory, not for him, but he'd be coming back next weekend. He wondered if Jenny would be there again.

  It was strange. She always seemed so happy, full of energy and life. Then again, if someone didn't know about his incident during combat ranking, Isaac probably seemed perfectly normal. Self-controlled, maybe a little intense sometimes, but normal. Isaac didn't know for a fact that she'd been in the medical area for the same reason as him, but it seemed likely. His thoughts were interrupted by an enormous bird landing in front of him, a bird whose body blurred and flowed, turning into a tiny blonde girl with pigtails.

  "Where the Hell do you get off!? You're not my father; you don't get to have opinions about the way I live my life!"

  What the hell? She was vaguely familiar, the shapeshifter that had had such a bad reaction during their first combat class. Why- wait, shapeshifter? Oh shit.

  "K- Kelly?" he asked.

  "That's Trainee Protean to you, you jerk." There were tears in her eyes.

  "No, oh no, I'm so sorry Kelly." His mind raced back over everything he'd said, everything Hector or Jason had said. It seemed so obvious now. "Kelly, I didn't know!" he pleaded.

  "You- what?" her face was flushed, tears running down her face. What could he-?

  "Kelly, think back. You never told me your power." Please let her listen, he had to make this right.

  "I... but Jason said... you said I was making the wrong choice." Her voice quiet, broken with sobs. Oh God, he'd hurt her so bad.

  "Just, just give me a minute to explain, okay?" Careful, this could go so wrong.

  "Kelly, I never knew what you could do. I didn't know your power. When you got here, you met Jason and Hector first, right?" She nodded, hurt and betrayal written across her face. "I bet when you met them, you explained everything, right?" She nodded again, a little calmer. "We didn't meet till breakfast, that Monday. They never told me. I had no idea."

  "You didn't? But then, what Jason said..."

  "Kelly, I only ever saw you when you were a guy and I didn't know what you could do. I told them I was worried because I thought you were skipping training sessions."

  "Skipping...? Isaac that doesn't even make sense! This is the Citadel. They don't take anyone but the best and everyone knows that!"

  "Well, yeah. That's why I was so worried about you. I thought you seemed like a good kid and I didn't want you getting kicked out."

  "Oh." The anger was gone but she hadn't relaxed yet. Isaac watched as Kelly seemed to almost shrink in on herself. "So you really didn't know. But... but now you do." She looked up at him, and he could practically hear the part of that sentence she'd left unasked. Now that he knew, what did he think?

  "Kelly, let me tell you a story. When I was a little older than you, I was in college. I think I mentioned that I used to be an accountant but I don't remember if you were around then or not." She shook her head. "Okay. Well, I was at WSU, studying for my CPA. That's where I met Van-" No. He still couldn't say her name, not even for this. "My wife. And I met her best friend Thea. I wouldn't have met my wife if it wasn't for her. Thea was on the same degree plan as me, we shared a few classes and she thought we'd get along. So Thea introduced me to the love of my life.

  We stayed frien
ds or more all through school. Thea was always more my wife's friend than mine, they'd known each other practically forever, but I still liked her. I was so grateful I would have liked her no matter what."

  "Why are you telling me this?"

  "Because Thea's parents named her Theo." He gave it a moment but she didn't react. "I never understood what my wife saw in her. I liked Thea well enough, and like I said, I was grateful. But I didn't ever understand why they were so close." He stopped speaking, closed his eyes and took a deep breath. "When we graduated, Thea and I went to work at the same company. This might be a bit of a surprise, but accountancy firms tend to be a bit conservative. So Thea couldn't work there, but Theo could." He felt the bitterness wash over him. It still felt the same, even though it didn't matter anymore.

  "Watching her at work, every day, it hurt. There was just so much misery in her eyes... Well, that was when I got it. I'd thought of Thea as bubbly and cheerful, even shallow. But knowing that she'd been hurt so badly because she couldn't live the way she wanted... I don't know. I got it. My wife didn't love her because she was happy. She loved her because she'd been through so much but still had the strength to go looking for joy." Isaac shook his head. "It's a quality I wish I had a little more of these days."

  "What happened? To Thea, I mean."

  "She died."

  "I'm sorry. Thank you... Thank you for telling me all this."

  "It's okay Kelly. Like I said, you're a good kid."

  "You really don't have a problem with me? I mean, with my-?"

  "No. I don't want you to ever ask me that again cause the answer won't change." She smiled. Thank God. "Although... I've always felt bad for not understanding Thea better. If you don't mind, when we're both in a better mood for it, I'd like to ask you some stuff."

  "Okay." Kelly smiled at him. "About you being upset though, I mean, with me skipping classes?"

  "Uh huh?" He started walking home. She reached up, taking his hand, then walked alongside him.