“You know that isn’t how naming works right?”
“Says who? I think it is just fine. Plus, given the significance of their meaning, it fits.”
“Well at least you got one part right. What do they signify?”
Anaar lobs an orb of water, hitting Phavian directly in the face. Being that he was used to Anaar’s constructs remaining solid, he was taken completely unaware of the blast to his face, and the being drenched down his front as a result.
“What in the hell?!”
Ignoring his outrage, “To answer your question, they represent Yefferson and me. It was the only thing I could do to honor him given the circumstances.”
Still sputtering slightly, giving up on retaliation as Anaar had clearly moved on, Phavian stands as he attempts to shake himself off. “So the one that represents Yefferson is clearly Pandemonium, and you are Harmony. Simple. Hence why you should designate which is which.”
“Nope. Like I said, just like we were, these swords are a pair. In the little time I knew him, it became clear that at any moment, either one of us could represent Harmony or Pandemonium. That is why these two blades are forever shifting, just like we were. Looking back on it, I think that explains more why I was drawn to dual wielding. No one else I know does it. Perhaps it is because I knew I was always one half of a whole, so I inherently sought out things that required both halves to properly function.”
“Ripp used to shoot with two guns.”
“If Ripp had four arms and was capable of shooting with her mouth, she would be using five guns. Get real.”
“Fair point. Alright I’m ready to go home and change out of these wet rags now. You owe me an outfit!”
Anaar opens a portal back to his room, Phavian strutting through first. He follows closely behind and just as he is about to enter, realizes something.
“Hey! Those are my clothes anyway! I have simply never worn them!”
11
Maggie paced around her room, finding she was bored senseless. She had finished all her schoolwork, exercised, and survived an hour of torment with Stefani and makeup. She had binged half a season of a new show, but it had taken a turn she did not care for which made her quit it altogether. She could not believe she was actually upset it was a Sunday.
Typically her life was filled with an endless stream of activities she could partake in, but for some reason everything was inordinately slow. She had completed most of the preparations for the next three Seeds events, with no help from Phavian, but she enjoyed what she did, so it grated on her only slightly. Classes had also lightened their loads, understanding that with only a week remaining for their Melee, most of them would have their minds elsewhere.
She thought about putting in some training of her own, but she had found herself at a plateau. Though she was grateful for Anaar’s insight that led to her leaning on Pryshka for assistance, Maggie was becoming rapidly aware of just how impactful Pryshka’s manifestation was. Her lack of fundamentals only further widened the gap between what she could do, and the majesty of the form Pryshka had developed with her fan. The only reason she did not cease training with Pryshka altogether was she had the security of knowing Pryshka could never activate the fan for its true purpose.
With Anaar on her mind, she decided to check in on what he was doing. Not a day had gone by since he had returned that they did not spend some portion of the day together. She was happier for it, but she was somewhat troubled she could not fully make up for the hole left by Yefferson’s death. With the screen finally projecting an image, she was surprised to see a wide view of Anaar in the kitchen with a myriad of ingredients.
“What are you doing?”
Anaar turns to face the screen, a smile on his face. “Baking. I have found I can now smell the exact point something is finished, leading it to come out perfect.”
“That’s an odd use of your abilities.”
“It isn’t as if I made some concerted effort for this… It just happened.”
“I want to try this amazing cake or whatever it is. I’m coming over!” She stands there silent for a moment, then clears her throat. “Well?!”
A portal opens near her to which she happily ambled through. Exiting the portal, she gives an affected curtsey.
“Thank you kind sir. Never do you fail to be the smoothest ride on the planet.”
Anaar shoots her a dirty look as he is pulling his cake from the oven. He places it in an area to cool, then moves to work on his frosting. Maggie notices something is quite odd about the cake and scrunches up her face.
“What kind of cake is green?!”
“It’s a key lime cake.”
“I’ve heard of key lime pie, but never cake.”
“It is a test for Harston’s birthday. It is his favorite. He does so much for me and always manages to weasel his way out of my attempts to thank him. Since he refuses to take his birthday off, I’m going to make him take it easy by having nothing for him to do and a small celebration for him.”
Maggie runs up to Anaar, hugging him from behind and nuzzling him. “That is so sweet! You are the best boss ever!”
“Am I even his boss? I don’t think he technically works for me. I have never paid him. That’s beside the point. What are you doing here? Shouldn’t you be with Dan or something?”
She playfully bites his arm then pulls away from him. “Why do you say that every time?! Where is Phavian? Shouldn’t you be with him?!”
“No, I shouldn’t if he values his head remaining attached to his body. That being said, he is still here. He is just in the room asleep.” Anaar notices Maggie with a look in her eye that indicated she had a plan for mischief. “I wouldn’t want to go back there unless you want an eyeful.”
“Why is he asleep naked in your bed during the middle of the day?!”
“I’m pretty sure at this point it is just our bed. Ever since I destroyed his room and cured his snoring, he has no reason to leave.”
“I thought they just finished fixing everything?”
“Like I said, he has no reason to leave.”
“Well I’m utterly bored! Let’s watch a movie! I’ll let you pick this time.”
“Then I pick not watching a movie.”
She watches with an annoyed face as he finishes whipping his frosting, which she realized was much more like a glaze once he had finished. The cake was three layers, and he was almost finished putting it all together. She continued pouting as she watched the process until she noticed Anaar motioning to her.
“Well if you are just going to stand there sulking, you can at least be of use. Get those dehydrated lime slices for me.”
Maggie did as she was told, bringing the lime to him. She was impressed at the showmanship of his work, despite never knowing he could bake. She was aware of his prowess in the kitchen, but she was painfully reminded that general cooking, and baking were completely different fields.
“I could never do this. Give me a stew, or a roast, I would have no problem. Baking is something that has always scared the bejeezus out of me though. The real-world application of Chemistry is not my strong suit.”
Anaar shrugs and continues dressing his cake. “You get better at it. For example, this cake is particularly annoying because you want a good flavor, but because of the acidity of lime, it can easily affect the consistency of the cake. You then realize it is best to turn to zests and extracts if you are trying to amp up the flavor. Not only that, it does not do well as a simple pound cake. You must have the right icing to bring out the depth of flavor it needs.”
Maggie nods her head in understanding, even though she followed very little. She noticed Anaar seemed to be finished with the bowl the icing was in, which prompted her to take it up and try the confection inside. Given her culture, limes had always been a large part of her diet, but nothing could have prepared her for the massive explosion of flavor in her mouth. It was as if Anaar had distilled his most potent explosion into a cooking ingredient and then added it to t
he mix.
Anaar did not miss Maggie’s voracious assault on the leftover icing, initially moving to chide her, but then only being able to chuckle softly at the display. When he was finished with the cake, he sent a message on his Vizer. After a moment he looked up disgruntled, then after a few motions, a large projected sign appeared directly over the cake.
“Touch it and you die? Not very subtle is it?”
Anaar shrugs and begins his cleanup. “Subtle does not work with Phavian.”
“If this is just the practice cake anyway, what is wrong with him having a piece?”
“Because he has no impulse control! If proper measures are not taken, I will come back to the entire cake eaten and him brazenly asking for another one.”
“Upon hearing it, that sounds about right. Why don’t I help you clean up and then we can watch a movie!”
“Maggie, I really don’t want to watch a movie. The whole time I will just be thinking about all the things I should be doing instead.”
“What if I asked you to help me with my training?”
“Wow, are you really that bored? You switched to that only because you knew I wouldn’t say no didn’t you?”
“And from the sounds of it, worked like a charm!”
“What about Pryshka?”
“What about her?”
“Isn’t she helping you?”
“With the martial arts portion. We never talk about my powers. Speaking of which, why is it you will help me with that without question, but a movie is just impossible?!”
“Because helping you train has a directly beneficial effect: It makes you better. Watching a movie is fleeting and does nothing to improve yourself.”
“It could be a documentary!”
Anaar sighs as he continues his cleaning. “If I wanted to learn about something, I would read about it. Not watch a film that could be missing critical components.”
Maggie drops the subject, the two of them working together making the cleanup blazingly fast. Anaar stops by Maggie’s room first so she can gather her belongings, then they head to Demolitionist’s Destination. Because Anaar had no idea what craziness she would come up with next, he felt it was better safe than sorry. When they had arrived, Maggie was quick to express her fondness of portal transportation.
“This is so amazing! We didn’t even have to deal with the creepy guy who works the desk usually! There is so much wasted time going through everything! From now on I’m going to have you send me here. It is much easier.”
Anaar’s eye twitched slightly as he turned, completely ignoring Maggie’s comment. He had moved past constantly reminding her and Phavian he was not at their beck and call. There were times where he cursed them in his mind, annoyed he had to work hard and obtain the ability on his own, so they should respect his sacrifice and not bother him. Then he remembered how arrogant and elitist that made him sound, as nothing about his life had ever been normal, so expecting others to do what he did was wholly inconsiderate. Focusing on their present task, he steered them back on course.
“Did you have some sort of plan with this or was winging it on the menu?”
“I just want to spend time with my bestie! Is that so wrong?!”
“No, it is not, especially for you, but I can tell when something is wrong.”
“Is that another one of your freaky new powers?!”
Sighing with a squinted piercing glare, “No… It is a Magdalena Osorio is not very complex power. Had it since we met.”
“Yet… you had no clue I liked you.”
Anaar’s eyes go wide as Maggie hit a place he was not expecting. “Will no one let me live that down?! I was just bad at that in general back then. It wasn’t just you. Will you please just drop it and let’s get to this?”
Maggie raises her nose to the air with a small pout. “You said you’d help me train more effectively since I know about your powers now. We still haven’t done it.”
“I know, and I am truly sorry about that. I have really been trying my best just to keep from jettisoning people into the sun. What did you have in mind?”
“I don’t know! That is why you are here! This is your thing!”
“Yes, and it is your training. Come up with something fast or I’m leaving and not taking you with me.”
Stomping her foot as she gasped, “You wouldn’t dare!”
Opening a portal behind him, “Try me.”
“Okay okay! Fine! You win! You have seriously become so snappy lately… Let’s start with the different things I can do with my fan and wind generation.”
“That’s a start… What exactly did you have in mind?”
“Maybe you can start by letting me know just how strong the wind is. Don’t you have a built-in anemometer or something?”
Anaar smirks as he looks at Maggie, clearly impressed. “Major points for not only knowing that, but also knowing the term for the device.”
Maggie chuckles nervously as she swirls her foot around in the dirt. “Full disclosure, I totally looked it up a few days ago. I was like, ‘I know there has to be a name for something that measures wind… Is it barometer?’ Turns out that is pressure.”
“Either way I give you credit. Are we going to start low and ramp up, or are we just going full tilt right out of the gates?”
“Hard right from the start. As you are aware, I’m not exactly able to know how much the amplification will affect it. No point trying something I can’t reliably do.”
“Fair enough. We’ll put it on the list of goals. Let it rip.”
Maggie hesitates for a moment then puffs up her cheeks as Anaar glares at her. “Don’t you need like… protection or something?”
“From what?”
“The wind!”
“Why would you be aiming at me?!”
“I don’t know! Doesn’t it have to hit you or something? I thought there were little cups that spun around…”
Anaar sighs while shaking his head. “No Maggie, it doesn’t need to hit me. I can read the movement of the air all around us as we speak. Not that it would do anything to me even if you hit me with the most powerful tornado in history. Though we love him, I must admit, you are really acting like Dan right now.”
Maggie covers her mouth in a mixture of shock and embarrassment. “Oh no! I’m conflicted because I am deeply offended by that comment, but also feel bad for Dan!”
Anaar gives a shrug accompanied by a look of nonchalance. “I wouldn’t worry about it. Chances are he would have been the first to say it if he were here. Let’s go ahead and get started.”
Maggie brandishes her fan in one smooth motion, taking a moment to close her eyes and collect herself. Opening her eyes, she sets her jaw, and swings the fan in a perpendicular motion to the ground. Anaar can see the exertion in her swing, from it a massive gust rushing forward, kicking up dust as it traveled off into the distance. She turns to Anaar with a question written on her face.
“Well?”
“Not bad, it’s a ten.”
Maggie jumps in the air with excitement. “Whoo! Yeah! The best score possible! Wait, why don’t you seem at all impressed?”
“Because I never said ten was the highest number. A ten on the wind scale is a whole gale that can uproot trees. Because it was a straight-line wind, it is very short lived and is only good for catching people off guard. At that power, it isn’t like it can do much damage.”
Maggie sulks as she leans on her fan. “At that power?! Did you see that?! You are saying that was low power?! How many mph was it?!”
“I’d say about 59mph. You must understand that what makes wind particularly dangerous is it’s tendency to swirl, causing an onslaught you cannot escape. I’m not saying it is bad, but you must understand its use. Something like that could easily be blocked by any Defender. You must also bear in mind that when you use your fan in that manner, it is lacking focus, which dramatically decreases the destructive effect. That is why the wind blades you create are much deadlier. Simple Physi
cs tells you that if you take two exact forces, one spread over a wide area, and the other condensed to the area of a pin, the pin will be exponentially more damaging.”
“Could an Aerokinetic do better?”
“Of course. It is more important to bear in mind their ability to mold the wind to their will. All you can do is push air around and increase the intensity of the result. It is like trying to move a piece of string with only your elbow. Sure you can move it in a few ways, but it is very limited. We Aerokinetics are like having hands with the same string. We have a better tactile sense of it, we can pick it up, make different shapes, the works. What you can do is similar to JaMarkus. Though he can slightly modify the flow, he is for the most part relying on the power he can output making up the difference.”
“Okay then, I want to see it.”
“Excuse me?”
“I want to see the difference between an Aerokinetic and me.”
“Very well. I will replicate the area of effect, but terminate it so it doesn’t carry on destroying everything. I will also increase the potency. This should be the easiest way to first demonstrate the difference between you and me.”
Maggie snorts as she looks off to the side amused. “Terminate it so it doesn’t carry on destroy-”
In a deafening roar, Maggie is thrown back over a hundred meters, her only saving grace from severe injury being Anaar shielding her after she took off. She hit the ground hard, thankfully the barrier breaking her fall. When she stood, her body aching all over, she found her cap missing, and her mind finding it difficult to focus. Anaar waited as she finally regained her bearings, the moment she did, her flood of questions beginning.
“What the heck was that?! Why did you hit me?! I feel like I have been in some underground fighting tournament and losing horribly! Did you think that was funny?! Why have you been such an ass lately?! Why aren’t you answering me?!”
She lifts her shirt to see much of her body is already bruising, which sends her into a panic.
“You hit me with an explosion, didn’t you?! Do you know how much this hurts?! You have pulled some stunts before, but this takes the cake!”
Revelations (Song of Sophangence Book 4) Page 16
