GLASS || The Catalysts Series, #1

Part 2 || XIV || The Ace

PART TWO:
THE KING
King of Arcane: The Return of Arcane's 'Ace'

A stupid part of Lena is itching to shout, "Hey, Caelus! I just promised Azalea a double duel, and uh, well, made you my partner. You'll help me out, won't you?"

She slaps the thought away, biting her lips. How can she think of the duel at this time, when Lucifer is wrecking havoc? The arrival of the Ace must be so convincingly safe she has let her guard down completely — though she doesn't even know whose side he is on. What if he is actually as menacing as his power and position?

No, Neesha and Roen have insisted he's not like the others — probably someone who sets abilities, hierarchy, and all that bullshit aside despite being the top of it all, based on the way his friends described him. Exactly how different, Lena will find out herself.

Besides, there is another thing she'll love to make sure of — he simply seems familiar, and she can't place it. She will eventually, she's sure.

But when she wants to confirm it in reality, she realises it is as if time has ceased, and all else is frozen.

Lena wishes she can run, but her own two feet are as still as her body is almost entirely plastered to the ground, her eyes wavering yet unable to peel off from the Ace's own threatening gaze.

His rather beautiful stare.

His purple eyes are as intriguing as it is intimidating, and Lena finds herself stuck between being afraid and being in awe.

Really, Lucifer was scary enough. This guy gives out an entirely different aura. The air and storm around them suddenly become more palpable, more surreal. Lightning flashes overhead, and Lena hears the thunder like she is on top of a mountain, ready to be struck down.

She remembers faintly Kestrel's words, does it rain in Arcane Academy? Well, whether or not it does, it doesn't matter, because Lena knows this storm, this weather alone, is the Ace's souvenir. Caelus is the one causing and bringing in the rain, the storm, the lightning, and the thunder, with him being the eye of the hurricane. He is one with the weather, the Stormbringer — that's what people call him.

With his pure white, messy hair whipping around in the wind and the Arcane Academy's suit around his shoulders carelessly, Lena pictures a smile on his face, carefree and wild in the storm. But he remains apathetic as his eyes fix — as he finally averts his gaze — firmly on Lucifer, narrowing dangerously just as lightning flashes behind him, bringing the answering call of thunder.

Internally, Lena smacks herself. Honestly, she was half expecting a really intimidating, big guy full of scars or tattoos.

On the contrary, he is just the reverse — rather skinny for their age, just about as tall as Lena and, instead of being covered in tattoos, he's all wrapped in either bandages or patches or gauzes here and there. Despite the reputation he has ingrained in Lena's mind, Caelus isn't at all a portrayal of those bullies you want to run away from before they start their usual fights. In fact, the state he is in, one might think it is highly likely he recently survived a beating from a bully and barely got out of the hospital in one piece.

However, appearances are all merely the surfaces of the great within. As Caelus stands there in the centre of the storm, Lena finds his power off the scales.

Lena expects Caelus to speak by now, but there's silence and the howling wind or random thunder. Apart from the little sigh and soft words he gave earlier, a void of emotions remains as he shows not a hint of anger or any other slightest sign of any feelings, such as annoyance which is what Lena assumes he might be undergoing.