Perennial

Chapter 13 -- Perennial

A week passes and Valor still hasn't called me back to finish our discussion. It's for the best, I suppose. I'm not sure I want to ever speak to him again. It wasn't really pleasant the last time around.

It's been almost two weeks since I first arrived here. The other students don't seem to have accepted me as one of their own yet. They mostly ignore me. That's okay, though. I'm used to being ignored. I can work with that. The only people who seem to enjoy my company are Aether (surprisingly) and Psaqua (also surprisingly). I don't count Maria because we don't get to see each other that often, only sometimes during meal times, just like back at Midas.

Between the three of them, I can hardly get a moment alone, except for late at night. In those still, quiet hours, I often consider going for another walk around the grounds, but the possibility of meeting up with Aether again holds me back.

Don't get me wrong, it's not that I don't like him, au contraire, I've even decided that, other than the weird "I can't read his mind" thing, he's not bad company. It's just that if I'm wandering around outside at night, it's because I want to spend time with myself, not with him. (Such is the curse of being an introvert.)

Life at Icarus begins to fall into a routine. The first exciting thing that happens since I spoke with Valor in his office is a game of capture the flag out on the field where I accidentally met Aether that one night. It's also supposed to be our first class merge, mixing the kids from my normal ET class with the kids from the class for externalized powers (abbreviated E for the classification system, it includes powers like molecular disintegration and alchemy), who have their own class. Apparently it's supposed to develop "strategic thinking" and "teamwork" by pitting one half of us against the other half.

The split up goes this way: instead of pitting the kids with psychokinesis against kids with externalized powers, Keller has us divide into boys versus girls.

This arrangement kind of sucks for me, because in my limited experience, teenage girls are usually idiots. (Psaqua and Maria are okay, though. They're cool. The only other girl I can think of as an exception to this rule is Tenacity, from the few times I've interacted with her, but she makes my skin crawl. It figures that she's one of the students joining my class today.)

Actually, wait a minute, let's not be sexist. Boys are idiots too.

The girl that our team elects as team captain is somebody named Brume. She looks like a plucky thing who enjoys being in charge, and becomes considerably less plucky and more murder-y when things don't go her way.

I feel it's worth mentioning that Psaqua did try to make me team captain. (She barely knows me. It was weird.) In any case, I don't think any of the other girls in Icarus really trust me yet, or perhaps they just don't know me very well and would rather stake their faith in someone they do know. In any case, it didn't really matter to me. I hate being in charge (all that commitment and responsibility... sheesh...).

Brume, of course, sticks to what (or rather, who) she knows and decides to leave me guarding our flag while everyone else goes after the boys'. ("Because you're a chloro, Perennial. Our flag is in the woods. You can make angry tree people defend it or something." That is not how my powers work, thank you very much.) Fine by me. I don't really care about winning trivial games like this anyway.

Our flag sits on the south end of the field, nestled between trees hidden behind what looks like an upside down bomb shelter from the London Blitz.

Since no one is around and I seriously doubt anyone will be for a while, I settle down comfortably into the long grass in front of our flag. After listening for a moment to the distant shouts of teenagers having a grand old time, I close my eyes and take a deep breath, trying to feel what kind of plants I have in my arsenal today.

(I try to monitor the area with my telepathy as well, to make sure no one sneaks up on me. Actually, funny thing about my spatial awareness, telepathy helps me to know where people are, telekinesis lets me know where things are, and chlorokinesis tells me what the plants know. For example, if someone starts cutting or otherwise hurting grass or a tree? I can feel that. Not viscerally, it's more of just... an awareness.)

Let's see, what do I have on hand... nettles, wild roses, thornapples, assorted other trees and shrubs and grasses. That's not bad. I begin working on building a rather thorny barrier around our flag.

When I deem that it's thick enough for now, I do a quick mental sweep of the area around me. I can't sense anyone coming this way yet. That's good.

And then I feel an object the size of a softball headed in my direction.

Acting on a reflex developed as a side effect of years of spending all my time around my brother and cousins, I catch it telekinetically.

It stops about a foot to the left of my face. I poke one eye open to glare at it. It's a rock. That's when it sinks in that rocks do not typically just up and fly. Someone must have thrown it.

There's motion to my left. Aether comes out from around the side of the overturned bomb shelter. His eyes widen, shooting from me to the rock.

I quickly let it drop to the ground.

His reaction is breathless. "Did you know you could do that?"

I narrow my eyes at him. "Did you just throw a rock at my head?"

"It was an accident! I didn't know you were there!"

Right. I'm sure you always go around throwing rocks in random places at random intervals.

I slowly stand, preparing for the fight I know is about to happen, be it verbal or physical... I don't know. Either way, it's best to be ready.

Aether looks like he is about to say something else when another person from his team crashes through the bushes at full throttle and stops next to him. (The newcomer has a name. It might be... Augur? I didn't sense him coming. I stopped paying attention as soon as the rock... wait. Aether. I should have sensed him coming if he was close enough to throw that. I didn't.)

"You found their flag? And it has only one guard? Why didn't you shout something?"

"Just got here," Aether says quietly, his gaze dropping to where the rock he threw now rests at my feet.

Augur (89% certain that's his assigned name) throws up his fists for a fight.

I clap my hands together and a thick tangle of wild roses and nettles twist up from the ground, around my boots and extending toward them.

Augur lunges for me eagerly, followed by a more hesitant Aether.

I have no idea what Augur's powers are, as he's from the other class, but I know that Aether, with the ability to density shift, should be relatively immune to my thorns.

Only then it turns out that both Augur and Aether can shift density and walk unimpaired by my (free range, organic, good for the environment) weapons.

Augur reaches me first. He's sloppy in his attacks, especially when I compare him to Digit and Jason. I can take him easily. Only, Aether is right behind him. There are two of them against only one of me, so it's not exactly a fair fight.

I really wish I had that force field generating ability right about now.

The fight that ensues mostly involves blocking punches and throwing in a few of my own. Once, I bite Augur's arm and earn myself a millisecond of a breather as he stares at me in horror. (Apparently fighting dirty is not socially acceptable around here?)

The moment Aether is able to move past me, he does, going for the flag and leaving me to his friend.

This happens out of the corner of my eye.

But I don't think so.

I let Augur knock me down and pin me, just so that I can focus on the real threat.

Aether might be able to walk through thorns and thistles, but that flag can't.

A vine creeps out and begins to wind itself around the pole. Aether has to fight with it to try to free the flag.

The wind begins to pick up. He stumbles back as the vine finally breaks and gives way, but quickly regains his footing and leaps into the air, flying over my barrier.

Right. He can do that.

He lands on the other side.

I scowl because if we were in Paradis right now, I would have already telekinetically gotten rid of both of them.

Aether hesitates, his eyes landing on mine. He's probably thinking about the floating rock. It's too bad I can't hack his mind to check.

"Just go!" Augur calls. "I've got her."

Aether gives a quick nod, and then he takes off.

Augur and I are alone. He looks extremely uncomfortable with this.

After maybe six minutes (?) he tries to initiate small talk. "So... If you're a plant girl, why are your highlights red?"

Of all the stupid questions... It's not like I chose the filter they designed for me! "Oh, I'm sorry. I didn't realize I should base my entire image and identity around a single aspect of what I can do."

Augur looks away, clearly embarrassed. "Right. Uh, what's your favorite color, then?"

I'm about to say "the blood of my enemies" when the whistle sounds, signifying the end of the round. Aether made it, apparently. That was quick.

Augur immediately tries to get as far away from me as possible.

We both head over to get whatever critiques Keller has to offer.

When we get there, Keller is still congratulating the boys. Brume and her people keep shooting me dirty looks.

Hey, if they wanted the base guarded, they should have left another person with me.

I patiently wait for the constructive criticism bit, but it never comes. Keller announces a water break and says we'll pick apart where the girls went wrong later.

Fine. I wander away from the crowd to rehydrate.

"You, um... you did a good job," someone says from directly behind me.

I jump and turn around, preparing for a fight, only to find that it's just Aether. Ghost, indeed. I didn't even hear him coming.

I scowl at him, remembering how he saw me use telekinesis. Has he come to call me out on it? "Thanks."

We stand there awkwardly for a moment. A cool autumn breeze ruffles our hair.

"Can we talk? Later?" he asks, quietly.

"Sure," I lightly agree. "If you can find the time."

Psaqua chooses that moment to join us. "That was super fun!" she says, slinging an arm around Aether's shoulder, "even if we did lose."

Aether sees his chance to escape his confrontation with me and takes it. "Hey, remember when we played our first round of capture the flag? We were on opposite teams and I lost."

Psaqua laughs a little. "I know. You kept saying we cheated. You were such a sore loser."

"Still am." He gives her a smile that looks more like a wince.

I give them both a tight smile and step away from them, excusing myself from the conversation.

I take deep, measured breaths, trying to maintain control of myself and not have a panic attack. This is why Aether's impenetrable mind was so worrying to me.

I couldn't sense his approach while my guard was down. Hence, he caught me using telekinesis. Granted, I was keeping that secret purely out of spite directed at DSHA, but what if he had caught me doing something that gave me away as being one of the Overlords? I have no idea what I could possibly be doing that would give that away, but anything is possible.

I like Aether; he seems like a good person. But I do not trust him one iota.

I turn away from him and Psaqua fully, thinking this is my chance to escape.

It's only natural, then, that I bump into someone while on my quest to avoid people.

I register that it's just Tenacity before stealing a quick glance behind me at the two I was just trying to escape. Maybe I should go back and try to talk with them instead of dealing with her.

"Strange, isn't it?"

I look back at her. Her presence makes the hair on the nape of my neck stand on end. She's staring at me and I don't like it. I hate how easily she can unnerve me.

"What's strange?" I keep my voice even.

"You've noticed that Aether's mind is locked, haven't you?"

"Yeah? What about it?" For some reason, it doesn't sit well with me that she knows about Aether's special little advantage. It's like a secret that only Psaqua, myself, and Aether himself share. Tenacity should not factor into that equation.

"It makes you wonder, doesn't it?" Tenacity looks at her fingers like she wants to examine her nails, only to pause when a glove greets her instead of an exposed hand. (I like to imagine that her fingernails are probably painted black under her glove and filter). "I can't use any of my abilities on him either, especially not my empathy."

"You've tried?"

"Obviously, but I try that on everyone. I need to stay in practice." Her tone is haughty.

Alrighty then, princess. Be that way. You be arrogant, I'll be creepy.

"If I tried to strangle him with vines, do you think he'd be immune to that?" I ask.

"No." She rolls her eyes like she thinks I'm an idiot.

"So you think he's flesh and blood?"

"What else would he be? Robotics hasn't come this far," she snaps at me.

Well. I guess that squelches that theory.

Keller yells for us to come back to finish discussing our previous round of capture the flag.

Tenacity gives me a thin lipped smile. "I'll talk to you later, Ignis."

Not if I can help it.

I suppress a shudder as she passes by. I think I would have stayed right there, frozen in disturbance, if not for Psaqua, who finds me, grabs my arm, and guides me back towards the others.

As we go, she scolds me for standing still. I'm too distracted to shoot back any scalding retort. She notices this and quiets down, deciding not to say anything else.

I hope desperately that she isn't listening to my mind as dangerous thoughts begin to fill my head, thoughts of Aether knowing a secret of mine and of Tenacity knowing a secret of his.