Hard Light (NaNoWriMo15)

Chapter 6 - Kindness

Leah packed in record time.

It was hard not to when Kieran was standing in your doorway, reminding you of every limited minute as they slipped away, sixty seconds at a time. Her only saving grace was that her father's bags were acceptable to Kieran's standards, if a little large, but as he put it, she'd 'be the one carrying them anyway'.

With all her Teridian clothes thrown in with her Hilt, her drawing kit, several new notebooks and two of her own reference journals, Leah closed the bag and hoisted it over her shoulder, as Kieran's count reached seven.

"Let's move," was all he said as they left for the Spire.

The group was already assembled and waiting when they arrived.

Leah saw no friendly faces among them, and considering her previous late entrance, she didn't blame them. She'd redeem herself later, she promised herself, not that it mattered. This was temporary, at least until Emrys allowed her into the research team.

Most of them ignored her as Kieran moved to the front to speak with someone. If she had to guess from the hair of the groups, she was by far the closest thing to a pureblood in it. Though most had streaks and hair tipped in Radiant colours, for the most part, they were mixed bloods leaning on the human side. Only one other person in the group had a full head of Radiant hair, a boy that looked a few years older than Leah herself. She considered speaking to him before he burst out with laughter with two of the others and decided against it.

"Okay team," said Kieran. "Grab your Hulari Displacers. We'll pick up our return ones when we get there. Meet you on the other side!"

The team moved into a side room, each retrieving a glowing, white Displacer similar to the kind Asriel had brought Leah to the League with. One by one they disappeared, and Leah's anxiety of screwing up something else increased tenfold.

"You have any idea how to use a Displacer?" said Kieran in his usual bored tone that suggested he'd rather talk to the wall.

Leah swallowed, well aware of how badly she needed his implied offer. "No."

"Hold it out in front of you." Kieran grabbed her arms, straightening her elbows to his approval. "Now--not yet, just listen--when you're ready, you're going to use your Light on it the same way you would on any other crystal. You do know how to do that at least, right?"

"Yes."

"Good," said Kieran. "The bag will come with you as long as it's on your back. Whatever you do, remember that the Displacer is going to return itself to the place in the Spire where it was carved, so if your fingers are anywhere but where they're supposed to be, they're going to get stuck inside. Don't do that." He stepped back. "Go."

Leah exhaled, tightening her fingers on the handlelike shape carved into the Displacer. Even though being stuck in a giant pillar of crystal didn't sound like such a bad place to be at this point, she didn't want to give Kieran another reason to hate her.

She called her Light, and the world flashed white.

The same way it had with Asriel, her vision was slow to return. Her body felt numb, and one half of her was terrified to try and move her fingers off the crystal. The flash faded, her sight returning with relief. Her hands were safe inside the Displacer's shell, which was once again one with the Spire.

"You can let go of it now," said Kieran's voice beside her. "We have things to do." He stepped away as she did, the only difference being his purposeful stride that followed. Then, in a louder voice, he called, "Grab your League Displacer and don't lose it! We don't have any spares assigned for us, so you'll be staying here until the next shipment comes in if you do! Everyone is responsible for their own Displacer!"