The hologram vanished as Jace plumped down onto the tiled ground. His body buzzed with a hum of energy that slowly faded into nothingness. In the far distance, Jace could hear a loud buzzing and the mix of undecipherable words–Skye
Students were already leaving so the message wasn't too important. Glancing at his fingers, Jace could feel the familiar burning. It wasn't really the pain, just an illusion of it. Jace rubbed his fingers close.
Sighing, Jace tried to put a positive spin on his first lesson. Dusk Eyes. He hadn't yet gotten the hang of it, but he could understand it. It did exactly as it said it would do–enlightening Jace while making his mind think as fast as his eyes. But the skill had a weakness. Or rather Jace's body owned the flaw. No matter how much his perception changed, how much time seemed to slow down; Jace couldn't control his body.
His body was his weakness. He was limited by it. Sighing, Jace rose and grabbed his bag resting beside a wall. He walked out, noticing the unconscious girl was gone. The message still remained; Jace reckoned it would be gone before the next day.
Checking his cyberlink, Jace headed to his next class 'Combat Class: Weapons'. The class was barely minutes from Skye's, something Jace would have questioned had his muscles not been so utterly sore.
Around him, students flooded around the other classes. Some laughed amongst each other, some murmured in high tones. It was almost impossible to believe that those people, those living breathing humans, were being trained for the Military's glorious purpose. Glorious–Jace couldn't help but guffaw at the statement earning himself a few stares. The Military's purpose wasn't glorious or majestic, it was bloody and shameless. And even as Jace knew it, he couldn't stop it. The process would continue until those same students had died for the purpose. Glorious indeed.
The prospect of the next class being better did little to please him. Instead it saddened, no, angered him. 'You should kill them all'
The thought came to him quiet as night and for a second Jace agreed with it. Then he frowned. He was tired. Jace glanced up as he noticed that he was barely metres out of his next class, a white building with patches of paint splashed on the concrete walls.
Walking in, Jace was met with half a dozen pictures of weapons plastered onto the wall. At the side of those photos, was a list of pros and cons of the different weapons and their origin.
A low hum played across the room, a classical melody played by an unknown artist in the canals of history. The hum sounded out from a music box. It was wrapped with a dirty cloth–dust clinging to the sides, stains of many colors dotting across the surface.
The music box sat confidently at the table. Amidst the files and piles of papers, the music box was set in the middle of a shadow. A shadow of a man. He was hunched forward, his black hair falling over his face. He dressed casually–a gray jacket draped over a dark red shirt.
The man raised his head slightly, tilting it to the left. He rose slowly, as if almost afraid any movement would disrupt the gentle scene. He glided across the floor as the murmurs around Jace stilled. The Instructor walked with such grace, it arrested everyone. It commanded them to look, to behold.
"War,"
The Instructor's voice was calm, careful. It didn't cut into the calm melody but rose above it.
"When you leave here and join this cold war," He paused as if searching for the words. He sighed heavily and as he did, Jace felt a pang of sympathy for the Instructor. The sigh contained sadness, such weight that the man in front of him almost seemed to drown.
"Most of your battles will be waged on land. A few may be waged across the vacuum of space but most battles will be fought on hard ground. I'm not going to teach you how to shoot a gun. They'll teach you that wherever you go."
The man paused motioning to the back of the class. There, lay a rack of different weapons. "I'm going to teach you how to use everything as a weapon. And hopefully survive."
The Instructor stopped for a second before walking back to his desk. He grabbed a bunch of documents flipping through them and placing them at the edge of the desk "This is a simple survival manual. Keep it with you, hopefully it'll benefit you one day."
The man leaned back at the table as he sighed once more, his hair shifting away tk reveal a face that made Jace freeze. His Instructor was young. Amidst the crowd of students rushing at the desk, he could pass for one.
The thought came back to him, the casual line about killing and Jace felt shame burn in his face. Pushing the thought away and convincing himself that he was just tired and that the words held no meaning, Jace approached the desk.
He grabbed a manual, flipping through it as fast as possible. The manual was fairly thick, consisting of mostly pictures. Wrapping and stuffing it into his pockets, Jace glanced around. His hands still tingled with pain and he needed to take his mind off it.
His eyes rested on a figure, a draped sword clinging to her back. Walking up to her, Jace noted her petite figure. Reaching out to her, Jace was stunned when she turned flashing a bright harmless smile.
Jace flinched in shock, almost stumbling back. His heart pounded against his chest as Jace dug his nails into the palm of his hand.
Taking a deep breath, Jace unclenched his fist. The student in front of him tilted her head slightly, her smile still there. Jace shook his head, walking over to her.
The smile. It scared Jace. The absurdity of that almost made Jace laugh. He had flinched because not because the smile was threatening like Skye's, or predatory like the second year's. He had flinched because it was harmless and Jace had found that impossible
Even now as Jace walked over to the girl, he could still feel a part of his body tingle. His legs screaming for him to stop, for him to walk away. Pushing against it, Jace headed over to the figure.
Offering a hand, he smiled politely "Want to spar?"
She grinned, white briefly showing from behind her lips "Sure, why not?"
The two strolled through the class–evading heavy swings, weaving through crowds and dodging jabs– towards the back where the rack of weapons hung. Jace hoping to fill up time started up "I'm Jace,"
"Nyra,"
The reply broke any intention of starting a conversation. The rack disappointed Jacde–only common weapons hanging. Nyra drew a dagger from it, twisting it round her finger in a circular motion.
Jace frowned, noting her short arms. He reached for a baton–a solid rod of dull gray. Near one end, a rubber wrapped handle jutted out at a right angle.
Curling his fingers about the handle, Jace pressed the baton against the outside of his forearm. The metal was cool to touch, and a slight bit colder than the young boy had assumed.
"You ready?" Nyra called out, her knees bent and her dagger stretched out.
"Ready," Jace called out, attempting to put space between his skin and the cold rod.
Nyra struck as the words reached her. She swung her dagger along a wide arc, raising her legs for another strike. Jace only needed a step back to evade her reach.
His opponent didn't relent. She crouched, attempting a swing at Jace's knee. Jace raised his legs as he brought them down with a stomp but Nyra had slid to the left.
She rose from the ground, her lips curling into a smile as she jabbed forward with her fist. Bringing his hand to his chest, fist smashed against steel as Nyra took a strep black, blowing over her fist.
"You're fast," She offered as Jace exhaled deeply.
"Thanks," The minute Jace spoke, Nyra swung. Jace backed away just as Nyra's legs swept across the floor, hitting nothing. She clicked her tongue as Jace grinned.
Nyra responded in mock frustration, swinging the dagger into a throw. Except there was no throw. Jace raised his hand to block the mock throw, until he noticed no sound. No clash of metals. Java attempted to move as Nyra appeared in front of him, her hand gripping the dagger.
Jace's body urged him to move, to dodge. Yet as he attempted to, a sharp pain flooded into his mind. His limbs tingled, his mind blanked, his fingers twitched. His fingers…
He could still move. The pain shouldn't have allowed him to move. The reason hit Jace like a truck as the realization that he had just mindbent himself fell behind the realization that there was a dagger aimed at his face.
A dark coat flashed in front of Jace, as he found himself watching the back of someone. From his coat and dark hair, Jace could predict who it was. He wasn't disappointed when the figure turned, and the young Instructor asked "Are you okay?"
"I'm–I'm fine," Jace stuttered out as the Instructor nodded.
He mumbled a series of words, one of them sounding awfully close to 'Skye' as he warned "Unfortunately, you're going to have to find new partners. Both of you."
Jace's gaze lingered on the Instructor as he sighed heavily. He released the baton letting it drop to the floor. Nyra shrunk as the baton clattered to the floor, the sound catching a few's attention.
The Instructor's eyes settled on Jace as the young student opened his lips to speak. Closing it, Jace's lips parted open with nothing coming forth. Taking a moment, Jace counted the weapons on the rack mentally as he whispered "My wound's hurting. Can I talk to the nurse?"
The older teenager's gaze drifted to Jace's bandaged hand as he approved "You cn go. Take as much time as you need."
Muttering a thanks, Jace walked out the room as countless pairs of eyes watched him leave. The Instructor gazed at the door with a cryptic expression as he massaged his forehead.
The student next to him, though, left the scene of the incident, creeping away to a dark corner. As she did, she whispered to her back "You saw him. Could he be one of 'Them'?"
Her shadow moved at that, growing a few centimetres. A soft whisper floated around, making its way into the girl's ears. Unhooking her clothed sword from her back, the girl muttered softly "I see,"
"Hey… Where you, somehow whispering to yourself?" The voice came as Nyra turned to the student watching her
"Of course not. I'm just…polishing my sword."
The student chuckled at that as he walked away, Nyra's eyes trailed him, the smile on her face melting as she caressed her sword. Sighing softly, She strapped the great blade onto her back and walked back into the crowd.