Anaar points vehemently to Maggie. “That part. Legs definitely have to go. Depending on how bad he hurts you, I might rip them off and beat him with them.”
Dan chimes in, mumbling through a mouth full of food. “Fuck yea. His ass gone be extra fuckin’ dead when we done wit him.”
Stefani chuckles nervously, the Melee fresh on her mind. Given how everything had played out, it made their threats far more likely to be promises, which she then vowed to be selective with the information she shared. Even though she feared for Deakin’s safety at this point, she was left with a feeling of warmth due to how staunchly the three were prepared to defend her honor. After spending another twenty minutes together, they dispersed when Anaar mentioned it was time for him to finally face the music. No one knew exactly what he was referencing, and he chose not to tell them, but they were all aware it was something they were better off not knowing.
Anaar leisurely strolled through campus, absently gazing at his overlay, clearing the slew of messages he had been receiving. Though they mostly came from only two people, they still numbered in the dozens. Finishing up as he walked into the lab, the technicians that had become used to his presence all looked at him with a mixture of awe and disgust. He hurried into frosted glass doors only to be met with a different type of energy which was much worse.
“There you are! How could you!? What if I would have died before you decided to unveil this momentous achievement?! Fully sentient constructs?! Fire attuned barriers?! Flame that doesn’t extinguish?! FIRE ATTUNNED PORTALS??!!”
The old man had been prodding and examining him all over as he raved, culminating into him falling into some state of shock. When he stiffened and dropped to the floor, Anaar looked at him with a momentary look of concern, which quickly dissipated once he realized the man had simply become too excited. Picking him up by the back of his shirt like a mother dog would carry her pup by the scruff of its neck, Anaar flung Fredderick onto the barely used sofa, busying himself rather than awakening him early.
Fredderick awoke with a start, disregarding his change of state and picking back up directly where he left off. “Those friends of yours are breaking barriers as well! Did that Waveweaver enthrall people?! What can’t she do?! Why did it take you so long to come by?! I have been simply seething at the disregard! I even tried stopping by your room, but you were not in! The agony of waiting!”
Not looking up from what he is doing, Anaar responds lazily. “Gramps, it has only been three days.”
“Three days too many! I should have been your first stop after the Melee! You cannot even use the hassle of transit as an excuse now! You purposely wanted to injure an old-”
Anaar knew this would go on indefinitely if he did not do something about it, so he did the one thing that was sure to quell him. “Miles has sent even more messages and called more than you, yet I came to see you first.”
Playing the Miles card proved to be as potent as he imagined because the old man stood, straightened his clothing, and walked calmly over to Anaar with a snide grin on his face. He was no doubt thinking of all the snarky remarks he could make to Miles the next time they spoke. Anaar knew he had instigated trouble for the future, but he considered his chances of landing in the middle of it were low, so he took the risk. Seemingly back in a more professional mindset, Fredderick was ready to discuss the many things on his mind.
“I suppose the first question would be when you manifested as a True Quintessence. Is this something recent? I would have thought so, but to manifest as such so late in life… I suppose you are still in your teens… Then again there is the fact you have so many abilities. There is no way those could all manifest at once, or could they…?”
Fredderick continued mumbling to himself, questions that were mostly rhetorical as he was sorting through his musings. Anaar simply continued what he was doing, knowing all too well that he would remember he was talking to someone eventually. After another minute, he finally seemed ready for Anaar’s response.
“Well? Out with it? How long have you been keeping this from me?!”
“I’ve always been a True Quintessence.”
“Preposterous! There is no way! That would mean you had an echelon exceeding most humans from birth! At most you must mean you have always known you were a True Quintessence. Most people do not remember much before the age of five or six if it was not something deeply influential, most likely trauma.”
“No, I meant what I said, I was born a True Quintessence.”
“But… but… Your affinity cannot be determined! Your echelon cannot be determined!”
“Thus, what better evidence of what it is than a baby that turns into an elemental form on a whim?”
Processing this information took Fredderick a substantial amount of time. Anaar had begun to wish he moved on from the question when he was asked. If he did not have a wealth of things he was working on himself, he would have been tempted to leave and come back at another time. Fredderick had been scribbling some notes, when he closed the notebook with a snap and resumed talking.
“I will table that for now once I have done more research. Though you omit things quite liberally, I have never known you to actively lie. If you spoke it, I don’t doubt it is the truth, even though it is hard to believe and destroys decades of research. Now, talk to me about these abilities. You have more manifestations than I have ever seen one person acquire. This gives weight to your alternative theory about True Quintessences real claim to fame is their ability to manifest anything within their attunement. There is Pyrokinesis, Barriers, Explosions and Portals. If I remember correctly you called it a corona? Interesting name. Am I missing anything?”
“If you are not counting the typical Fire attuned enhanced strength, and the True Quintessence abilities like immunity to my element, an elemental form, and the ability to generate my element, I suppose there is Temperature Modulation.”
“You mean like Phavian Ingraham?”
“Yes, except where he can only make things colder, mine goes both ways.”
“Do you think it is a coincidence that you manifested the same ability as someone you are so intimate with?”
“Not at all. As a matter of fact, we were in bed when it manifested. Interestingly enough, I surmise Phavian’s ability has no intention of ever evolving to be capable of warming things. It will only increase its efficacy at cooling things.”
“Fascinating. What evidence do you have to support such a claim?”
“Well, Pyrokinetics almost always develop an immunity to fire, it is just a given. In Phavian’s case, he developed an immunity to cold. I didn’t however, which makes me think his is specialized, and his DNA recognized that, which triggered his immunity.”
Fredderick nods as he finds the explanation acceptable. “Speaking of ‘immunity,’ reports indicate this term is false. It would be more accurate to call it resistance. Potent, but only a resistance nonetheless. You are the source of this data. You were capable of burning another Pyrokinetic with your flames, indicating that they were not only unbelievably intense, but that there is an upper threshold after all.”
“That would be correct. I think that the ‘immunity’ or resistance if you will, is tied to the strength of the person. It also applies to all types. I was able to give Phavian frostbite when I manifested. He did not feel it however. It seems there is only a certain point the body can hold out with attunement based abilities alone, despite it not registering it as dangerous.”
Fredderick began scribbling happily again, giving Anaar his cue to go back to his own work. Fredderick finished his notes then began warring in his mind over what he wanted to tackle next. Though it was a close race, the topic of portals won out over everything else.
“So these coronas you speak of. By all accounts they appear to work no differently than windows. This is unprecedented because each attunement’s portals have distinct attributes. What makes this one unique?”
“I hate to say it, but unfortunately for Air Aff
inities, coronas are just an upgraded version of windows. As you are aware, I’m the only one to ever manifest them, but if more people did in the future, Air attuned portal users would be out of a job. In addition to the benefits of a window, coronas also operate very similarly to Maggie’s Singularity ability. Anything passing through it can be amplified many times over. The only drawback is that coronas are far more energy intensive than windows.”
Fredderick was clearly giddy over such information, daydreaming about the experiments he would be running in the future when something occurred to him. “How would you know they are more power intensive?”
Forgetting who he was talking to, Anaar chuckled slightly whilst looking away. “Trust me, I have it on good authority.”
“And what authority-”
Anaar realized his mistake letting something like that slip to one of the few people who would have follow up questions. “Rather than worry about that, I have something far more exciting that I have been working on. I have files here for you. I know you hate digital files, but you really must get over that already. I present to you my work on the mystical and elusive fifth element of Life.”
Fredderick’s eyes bulged and he then slumped over, falling unconscious onto the floor. Although he knew it would be a showstopper, he did not expect Fredderick to faint twice in a day. Bringing him back to place on the comfortable sofa, Anaar left the old man to recover with a note next to the computer that read, ‘Take it slow.’ Though he had expected to start conversations about the Life attunement that would help understand it better, he knew the old man had his limits and that he would be forced to wait another time. Taking his leave, Anaar portaled back to his room, to spend the rest of his day practicing for his band rehearsal the next day.
19
The subsequent weeks saw the campus returning to normalcy after the earth-shattering results of the Sophomore Mid-Year Melee. In addition to all the upsets and expansions in the abilities of the participants, the resounding clamor about the Sophomore class consistently putting on a good show had been all the buzz. Much of the Sophomore class had begun to wear this like a badge of honor and pride, even if they were not much of a contribution to the cause.
Anaar had struck a balance between Fredderick and Miles, both of whom had become quite insufferable in their monopolization of his time. Miles still refused to forgive him and Ixnes for hiding something of such magnitude from him. With his own personal True Quintessence at his disposal however, one who was also well versed in his work, Miles had become a man possessed and began cranking out ideas nonstop. Each day unraveled a little more of how to make some impossible concept a reality.
Fredderick had pumped Anaar for as much information regarding his friends as he possibly could, and had moved on to Anaar’s information about the Life element. It was not uncommon to watch the old man stubbornly rebuke the information Anaar was providing, then after an hour of contemplation, he would come around and admit it did have plausible merit. Anaar did his best to remain neutral in disposition, fearing if he was too adamant the information was verified, it would reopen the inquiries into where he was getting the information in the first place. It took many days, but Anaar felt safe he had closed that avenue of investigation for the foreseeable future.
As it often occurred, Anaar’s increased responsibilities left him little time for leisure with his friends. It had been frequent enough for none of his friends to worry or take it personal any longer, but it did not stop them from missing their time with him. The number of impromptu meals, training sessions, or simply enjoying each other’s company fell to nearly nothing, which always affected the group dynamic. Maggie had been voted as the dedicated ‘fixer’ when the situation went on too long, which usually netted them a few days with Anaar before he went back to his work.
Though it was supposed to be for the sake of the group, Maggie really just missed her best friend and refused to take no for an answer. Caving to the small woman’s pressure, Anaar had set aside that Saturday for them to spend together. She arrived with snacks, and oddly enough, her hammer. Anaar had never known Maggie to carry weapons around as he did, especially not her most destructive one. He put it out of his mind, deciding to wait until she told him her reasoning.
“Why’d you bring food? I thought you wanted to cook something?”
“My mom sent me these! They can only be found in Columbia and they are so freaking yummy! I had to let you try them!”
Anaar looks over the snacks, finding they might well be interesting. They made a pit stop at the kitchen, then went into the Entertainment Room. Thanks to Phavian, Maggie’s new favorite pastime was playing the host of VR games he seemingly had. He had begun collecting them unbeknownst to Anaar, the moment he found out Anaar had the latest VR gear. Anaar played with him on occasion, but usually had better ways to spend his time. Now he had to deal with Maggie bugging him to play as well. Since this was the time he set aside for her, he gave in with no resistance.
After an hour or two of playing, Maggie winning by a landslide due to Anaar’s hyper synesthesia making it difficult to focus on the virtual world, Maggie became bored since he was not a challenge like Phavian. Gloating that she finally found something he was not good at, she plopped down onto the cushy sofa and stretched out in bliss.
“If you had plans to play video games, I am surprised Dan didn’t want to come.”
“Oh, I didn’t tell him. Also, he is off somewhere training to make his paper fireproof so he can fight on equal footing with you.”
“But he can’t even make it waterproof with any consistency…”
Maggie sighs heavily. “I know! I keep telling him that, but now he figures if he can make it fireproof, it should just automatically be waterproof!”
“While I suppose that logic would have some weight if you were only looking at it as the general durability of the paper, they degrade in different ways. Water doesn’t even destroy the paper. It just makes it soggy.”
“You are preaching to the choir. Can’t you just… you know, steal his powers and then teach him how to use them better?”
“Then I’d have to explain how I suddenly know all the intricacies of how his powers work. Not only that, I haven’t taken the time to really explore Assimilation myself. I don’t know if I’m taking something temporarily or permanently. If I’m being honest, I don’t want yet another thing tugging at me for attention.”
“Ooh! Speaking of that!” Maggie jumps from her outstretched position and runs out the room. When she returns she is holding her hammer. “I need help with this!”
“I was wondering when you were going to explain why you brought that. You know your training is not very inside friendly.”
“No, not that!” She turns the hammer around, and Anaar realized he had been missing the large chunk of the head missing from it. “Can you fix it?!”
“When did I become a blacksmith?!”
“I don’t know, how about when you became your own forge?!”
“What do you expect me to do? Just make it grow a new head?!”
“That works!”
“You know I wasn’t being serious!”
Anaar grumbles as he snatches the hammer from Maggie, getting only a childish scowl with her tongue poked out in return. He examines he hammer for a few moments unsure how she would even manage such a thing. The head of the hammer was solid metal.
“How did the head break off, but the handle is just fine?”
“No idea, but I think there was some sort of bad feedback when I was practicing.”
“It is a hammer Maggie. It is made to hit things hard. It is almost impressive you managed to break it.”
Anaar resumes his study of the hammer and finds it is not a complex design. It was his expectation that fixing Maggie’s broken hammer would be his only option. If he was sensing everything properly, he was sure it would not be a difficult task to replicate its design with some modifications.
Maggie watched as Anaar put down her hamm
er, no doubt giving up on trying to fix it because he did not want to bother. She was surprised to see a large glowing mass appear before him, his eyes squeezed shut as if he were concentrating intently. She did not understand what it was, or why it was rotating in the air, but she watched with curiosity and awe.
From what she could tell, a head had appeared from the blob. Though it was still somewhat amorphous, it appeared quite different from her current hammer. It dawned on her that if she could immediately recognize that, rather than fixing her hammer, he was attempting to build her a brand new one. If this was the case, she was somewhat worried, simply because she had faith he could improvise a fix to something broken, but to craft something completely new with no blueprints nor training seemed like it was asking the impossible. Nevertheless, she continued to watch the process, as it was possibly still an attempt to fix what was broken.
It came to be that her curiosity had a limit. After thirty minutes had passed, she found she could no longer sit by and idly watch the process. Perhaps if it had been more than a series of swirls and shudders from a slowly forming, glowing lump, it would have been more interesting to watch. She left the room to find herself some snacks to eat while she waited, but to her amazement, there was a blinding flash that emanated from the hall. Rushing back into the room, she was just in time to see something she could not explain take shape and float before Anaar.
Maggie was unsure if she was looking at a weapon, or a large piece of jewelry. There was no doubt it was a hammer, but she was certain she had never gazed upon something so beautiful in her life. The hammer was jet black, similar to the swords and knives Anaar possessed. From there, impossibly intricate filigree of the most dazzling blue traced the entire hammer. Maggie had become completely mesmerized as she traced the loops and arcs that composed the design. The head was much larger than her old hammer, but that was something she always wished were different. She wondered if Anaar had remembered her complaining about it at some point.
Revelations (Song of Sophangence Book 4) Page 35
