The Fields of Fire

Chapter 16: Arthus Adana

This was the first time they'd returned to the colosseum since Salmy was attacked. It was different this time, last time there were about 4 soldiers and they walked there. This time, the colosseum's seats were dotted with snipers, there were armed enforcers at every entrance, and they got there in an armored car with a giant machine gun turret on top. They also exited through the front door. There weren't any protestors anymore. Arthus wasn't exactly sure what happened to them, but he swore he heard gunshots one day while walking by the obsidian gate, so he assumed that whatever happened to them it probably wasn't good.

    Salmy had gotten back from the hospital a day or so before. She was skittish now, but to Arty's surprise she didn't seem anymore depressed than she usually was. Arthus wasn't exactly sure what had happened to her out there, the other kids said things that he didn't really understand, but he
assumed they were just making stuff up. Whatever happened she seemed fine physically, but in her head she was scared in a way she wasn't before.

Marcus had the same confident attitude as before. Most of the days since Salmy's incident had been spent inside the classroom learning about magic and magical history, and Marcus was a much less charismatic teacher on those issues than on actual magic. But either way they were out there, so Arty expected to learn.

Marcus looked at the students that had gathered before him in the shadow of the colosseum's high walls, "Magic is a difficult thing to understand for lots of people, even sorcerers. Some parts seem natural and innate, others can feel more forced. My power, as you're all aware is control of plants" He revealed a seed in his palm, his hand then grew green as it sprouted into a daisy reaching up towards the sun. "When I use my power, I feel like, I'm growing through something else. We're all growing as people, from the people we are to the people we want to be, I just lend that feeling to a plant and then speed it up." He looked at Arty, "When you use your fire, how do you feel?"

Arty thought on it, he didn't want to say angry because that made him feel out of control. He paused for an awkward amount of time before he settled on a word, "Passionate. I just feel passionate." He kept looking at Arty as if expecting more of an answer, "Like there's a fire inside of me-" he paused, "Like I'm burning on the inside and I need to get it out before it destroys me."

He nodded and while still holding the flower in his hand, he closed his eyes. He squinted a bit, almost in anger, before his hand burst into flame, consuming the flower as it twisted and contorted in the inferno. The fire then slowly sputtered out, leaving only a pile of ashes where the flower had once been. The other students were speechless, I thought his power was control over plants. Marcus looked back and forth across the small semi circle of students gathered around him, "Every single one of you has fire inside of you, the difference is that only some of you can feel that fire, but that doesn't mean its not still there. With training, you can use any power as if it were your own." He closed his eyes again and snapped his fingers, his hands cooled and frost began wafting off of them, he snapped again, and sparks starting moving up his wrist, he snapped again and wind swirled around his hand, he opened his eyes. "That's why I never liked the term powers, it implies that not everyone can do what others do. The Powers you have now are merely, shortcuts. They're what your body and mind already know of magic. If magic is a place, than your Shortcut is the bridge."

"How do I we use other people's powers?" Mara W. Asked.

"First off, they're not other people's powers. They're your powers, they exist inside you." He looked at her and  I closed his eyes, "The first thing you need to do is not reinvent the wheel. Don't try to learn magic all over again, use your shortcut, your bridge, to use the magic you're not used to. When I think of fire," his hand burst into flames, "I think of an ember growing into a flame. Just like a seed grows into a tree." He opened his eyes and the fire went out. "You all try."