Chide stared gloomily at the chalk board cursing his bad luck. Of course this would happen, why wasn’t he expecting this to happen? The sister’s might be psycho, but they were still girls. And they WERE fighting.
So why hadn’t he been expecting Raze to sit on Argos’s other side today? As far away from Gail as the available seats in class allowed. Leaving Chide to sit next to…
Gail felt another spark of irritation as Chide put his head down on the desk again with another audible thud. What the fuck was that drama queen’s problem? She glared at the equations on the board. Calculus was tedious enough without having to deal with sitting next to this joke. How did Raze stand it!?
The thought of her sister sent another twinge of equal parts guilt and anger through her. How dare she say those things about her last night? How DARE she decide to partner up with Argos? How dare Raze not consult her FIRST?
Because you would have said no right away, without even hearing her out, the little voice in the back of her head whispered, the one that brought those annoying ass twinges of guilt with it. Gail snorted. Why was she having guilty thoughts all of a sudden? This was all Raze’s fault. Gail had nothing to be guilty about.
Or did she?
Gail groaned, giving up on notes and leaning back in her seat. Fuck this shit.
Argos saw all this outta the corner of his eye. God, that crazy professor was right. Those two should just try syncing wavelengths already. He also noticed that Raze wasn’t even attempting class today, just doodling in the margins of her book and staring aimlessly into space. He sighed.
The bell rang, causing Chide, who inevitably ended up falling asleep, to start so severely he fell backwards out of his chair. In their first display of real emotion today, both the sisters snickered at his brother’s confused face as he tried to work out exactly why he was on the ground. Abruptly, the grin fell from Gail’s face. She gathered up her books and set off down the stairs towards the door, leaving Raze, who was slowly packing her things away, behind.
A short, Asian looking girl Argos recognized as one of the sister’s roommates, attempted to speak to Gail, who simply shook her head and continued walking. She watched her leave, a worried look crossing her face, then came over to where Argos was standing.
“Hey, Raze, I don’t want to pry, but is she all – umm….Chide, why are you on the ground?” She leaned over the desk, taking in the sight of Chide, still sprawled on the floor.
“Leave me here to die…” Chide mumbled, still clutching the back of his head where it had collided with the ground.
“It’s nothing, Nami,” Raze said quietly. She rose from her seat and headed for the door.
“Wait, don’t you want to walk to class!?” Nami called after her, to no avail.
“Hay, uh, Nami?” Argos asked.
“Hmm?” She shifted her attention to him.
“Do you know what exactly happened between them?”
“Not a clue,” She said with a shrug. “There was some yelling last night, but I really didn’t catch what it was about.” She looked away, obviously knowing more than she cared to share with him.
“Naaaaaami,” Nami’s blue haired friend with the overly happy expression on her face approached them, “Ready to go? Oh hi Argos!”
“Hi…Sai,” Right, that was her name, “Ready, Chide?”
“Yeah,” His brother responded miserably.
Time for a double WepTech/Meister Track merge class.
~~~
“Alright kiddies listen up! Today we’ll start off with some mental work outs! Fortunately for you guys, weapons, you’ll have it easy for once. Go sit over there. Meisters, seat yourselves in the bleachers.” The overly enthusiastic professor’s voice carried above the amplified noise in the gym, directed everyone to their places.
Chide sat on the fringe of his usual group of buddies, not really interested in their conversations today, part of which included discussing their encounter with Gail that weekend. Couldn’t they just let it go? Raze sat s little ways in front of him separated from the group. Nami sat nearby, casting worried glances at her. She had tried to sit next to her and speak to her, but Raze had excused herself and choose to sit away from the main group. Man, she wasn’t the most social butterfly in the garden, but this was pretty extreme. He looked across the gym and picked out Gail in the back of the bleachers. I wonder what those two fought about – OH SHIT. Gail caught him looking and sent him another trademark deadly glare.
I’m seriously gonna die one of these days, he thought tiredly.
Professor Stein took the stage, perched on his chair between the groups of students, facing the meisters. “Today we’ll be practicing your skills at soul perception. I realize you all have most likely already achieved varying levels of proficiency in this subject, but today’s objective is simply to see. Seeing the soul is the first step to being able to sense it in other ways. Many of you have already declared a partnership in this late stage of the semester, so for today it might be beneficial for your future endeavors to focus on them. And for those of you that require a little more…focus than others, please try not to give yourselves an aneurysm.”
Easy, Argos thought. He picked Raze out from where she sat on the floor. She was already looking at him, her expression was rather apprehensive. She blushed a tiny bit and looked away when their eyes met. She wrapped her arms around her knees tucking them to her chest, and proceeded to star at the wall.
Great. Just what I need, someone staring into my damn soul, she thought glumly. Hope he doesn’t scare easily.
Argos closed his eyes, taking a few deep breathes to focus. He opened them and focused on Raze. After a few seconds, a deep red energy gathered at the center of her shape and expanded outwards, enveloping her in a softly glowing globe. Interesting, red wasn’t exactly a common color. Usually he saw mostly blues and greens, his brother’s was somewhere between orange and yellow. Whenever he saw a soul with red in it, he was vaguely reminded of a kishin egg’s soul, which he recalled vaguely those were more the color of fresh blood…
No, stop. Forget that, just focus.
As he focused more on her, the shape changed, two shapes toward the top hemisphere resembled the handles of her weapon form. A single blade protruded at an angle from the lower half. He smiled when he realized it looked like an open pair of scissors, one blade stuck in the ground, hidden by the bulk of her soul. It really was a nice color, he thought idly, kind of like a color you’d see on royalty, or find on rose petals… It wasn't all one uniform color either. Some parts were darker than others, like dark clouds swirling through her being. Probably indicative of her dark mood, or maybe even the darker parts of her personality.
If he closed his eyes and stayed focused on her, he could just make out her wavelength from among the others. This was harder, though, like trying to focus on one person’s voice in a room of people shouting for your attention. Not a big deal, he just needed more practice.
He opened his eyes to find Raze watching him closely. This time she didn’t look away when their eyes met. She seemed to be trying to read something in his face, her eyes seemed to be practically screaming a question at him.
What does he see? Raze fidgeted, trying to desperately to see what Gail could see when she read people. Did he look upset, scared? Was he going to stand up and second now and point out the monster in the room? Would she be taken away? Locked up? Would he-
Argos felt he was in a bit of an awkward situation, this was as close as he’d ever seen Raze to having her guard down. She looked scared for whatever reason. Maybe she was afraid of…what? That he’d be repulsed by her soul? How absurd! It was actually strangely beautiful… Was this just a self-esteem thing? He smiled after coming to that realization, trying to reassure her. Whatever it was that
she was afraid of, he didn’t see. Everything was ok.
Raze thought she was dreaming. She must be. Why would anyone look so normal? Why was he smiling? Wait, why was SHE smiling now!? She felt herself starting to blush and quickly hit her face. Fuck this. Fuck that. I don't want to think any more. I have too much to think about without this!
Ok, that was NOT the reaction Argos had been expecting. For an instent, the entire color of Raze’s soul lightened, the soft glow burned just a little brighter. So she was happy…but not. Ok then. He turned his attention to his brother, thinking maybe she’d calm down if he wasn’t watching her.
As he focused, the same thing happened. Orangey yellow energy gathered and expanded, like a balloon filling with air. It was roundish with large wisps of glowing energy flicking and spiraling off the top, like flames. In the swirling shades of color, he could occasionally make out a shape like a skull. Argos rolled his eyes, what a dork. He closed his eyes and, keeping the feel of his brothers wavelength in mind, turned his attention around and behind him, search for constructive patterns among his fellow meisters. God this was giving him a head ache. As soon as he got a handle on one, it slipped away before he could pin point it. Ok, fine as soon as he sensed one he didn’t have to move too much to see, he’d open his eyes. And…there!
Of course. Gail sat straight ahead, carefully inspecting each of her classmates. It wasn’t quite clear if she was having any luck or not…
Out of curiosity, he focused on actually seeing her soul. A color closely matching Raze’s gathered and grew, not surprising since they’re siblings. Meister’s souls weren’t quite as detailed as weapons, but there were often still distinguishing shapes. In Gail’s case, something that appeared to be barbed wire…actually more like a vine, bare except for the thorns, curled around the burgundy orb.
How fitting.
Unfortunately for him, she seemed to have sensed someone looking at her. She shot a glare that was more like a death threat in his direction.
Yep. DEFINITELY fitting.
But it was something to consider. Chide and Gail as partners was obviously not ideal, but Raze would definitely be more comfortable with her sister close by. He sighed. He’d tell Chide to give Gail a chance. It wouldn’t hurt to eventually try matching wavelengths once. Well…not much anyways.
Soon enough, Sid was calling everyone to order. The next exercise apparently, was for meisters to pick potential partners and give the weapons a chance to try official, full transformations.
Perfect. Looks like eventually was now.
Argos hurried down the bleachers and caught his brother before anyone got to him. “Hey, want my suggestion?”
His brother shrugged, “Sure, beats wondering if half these chicks think we’d be good, or just want to ask me out.” He said glancing at a small cluster of girls who’d gathered nearby, whispering.
“Ok, just remembered you agreed! Gail.”
Forget anything he’d ever said before, Chide had never feared for his life more than in that moment.
“Are you CRAZY? Remember that little thing I may have mentioned about, you know, summoning the dark lord SATAN? Yeah, this would be worse.”
“You agreed,” Argos pointed out, “Look, it’s your choice, but I think your wavelengths would work out at least.”
“I’ll think about it,” Chide lied, “Hey, who are you picking?”
How should I phrase this…? Argos considered his choices for a second. Well, Chide had to find out one way or another.
“My partner of course, who else?” He said, and set off in Raze’s direction.
Chide stared uncomprehendingly after his brother. He was just a bit confused, because he could have sworn he said partner. As in PARTNER. And he must be hallucinating because his brother appeared to have walked over to Raze Harlow. And he now appeared to helping her to her feet. And talking to her. He must be tripping because it definitely seemed as though his brother just implied that he and Raze Harlow were now partners.
“Wait, what?” He asked aloud, dumbfounded.
“Are you blind AND dumb, dumbass?” Chide nearly jumped out of his skin at Gail’s voice right beside him. She watched her sister and his brother with a sour look on her face. She apparently did not approve.
“So wait, is THIS what you’re pissed at her first?” Before he could stop himself, there is was. The question. HE ended up asking it. God damn it. This was it. He’d done it. Satan’s wrath here we come! SO LONG LAND OF THE LIVING!
Chide braced himself for verbal impact.
It didn’t come.
Gail continued to glare at Argos and Raze, a ton of conflicting emotions swirling in her head.
“Good, everyone’s paired up, you may begin when ready!”
This time is was Gail’s turn. “Wait, what?”
Everyone around them was standing in pairs, or occasionally threes. Everyone had picked a partner for the exercise.
Except them.
Gail and Chide were the only ones left.
Gail cursed.
“Fabulous,” Chide mumbled. Suck it up, he told himself. She’s just a girl.
Yeah, just a girl who been more than willing to take on Brendon plus 8 other people including himself by herself. That girl.
“Well then, I guess we hardy have a choice, especially since blondie’s watching us like a hawk.” She was right, they had a professor’s full attention.
Chide sighed and held out his hand. Gail hesitated. “If it makes you feel any better, Argos said we seemed compatible. Our wavelengths I mean,” God he sounded like a spokesperson from a cheesy dating site.
“It doesn’t,” She said crossing her arms, “I’m not so fond of being a victim of your brother’s little match making game.”
“Well neither am I damn it, but look where we are! So could you shut it and just cooperate already?” Chide said hotly. He didn’t want bad marks in participation just because this girl was being stubborn.
Gail regarded him for a minute. What was with this guy? He seemed like an indifferent asshole half the time, kind of like his brother. He was arrogant and foolish, generalized and overreacted to everything. But then he went and pulled shit like what he did during the weekend. Like for some reason, try as he might, he just couldn’t forget about the freaky girl who’d done nothing to deserve any kindness form him.
Regardless of his reasons, Gail realized, grudgingly, that after all that, maybe she did own him some cooperation at least.
Chide sighed and lower his hand, he guessed it was too much to expect-
Gail reached out and stopped his hand, awkwardly holding it for a moment.
“Fine then, let’s try.”
Chide nodded. Great, he was nervous all of a sudden. Not this again. It was stage fright. He’d tried transforming for others before. Friends on a dare, here and back at home. It never really worked out, but he knew he could do it no problem.
No the nerves weren’t from failing a transformation. They from failing at the responsibility that came after that. Failing again…
Get over it. He told himself. Not for forever, just for right now. You can’t transform with all this shit blocking your thoughts. There’s no danger in this, no chance to fuck up so stop thinking about it. My brother and her sister are partners. Fine. I fear for his life, but it’s his life! People will think you’re weird for giving Gail a chance, WHATEVER. None of that matters anyways.
One more deep breath, and he closed his eyes.
One second Gail was staring at Chide’s disgruntled face, holding the nervous loser’s sweaty hand. She blinked and he was gone. There was suddenly a weight in her hand. A lot of weight. It caught her off guard and she almost tottered over, but she quickly gripped the smooth metal between her hands.
"YOU COULD HAVE WARNED ME YOU'RE A HEAVY ASS HAMMER YOU DORK!"
“Well it’s not like I was all secretive about it like Raze was about hers!” Chide’s voice seemed to be coming from a distance and had taken on a slightly metallic quality. “How’s the weight? Can you lift me?”
“Uh, yeah, duh.” Gail widened her stance and hefted the hammer head up, trying to copy something she remembered from some of the books she’d read as a child on medieval weapons. His design was simplistic, a long handled weapon topped by a heavy looking doubled flat headed hammer. Flames seemed to ooze from one half of the metal, flicking and disappearing into the air. “What’s with the concern, afraid I’m too weak for you?”
“If we had opposing wavelengths, you wouldn’t have been able to lift me,” Chide sighed. She was handling him almost as well as Argos could, and seemed to be adapting fast. She definitely had the makings of a skilled meister, “The handle’s not too hot to the touch? That’s another sign.”
“No,” She stepped forward and tried taking a swing at an imaginary monster – and almost toppled over again.
Chide chuckled. Gail briefly glimpsed a grin, like a fiery, ethereal image of Chide, flicker in the flames. “You can’t just break your base and take a swing like that right away! You’re a beginner, you’ll end up on your ass in no time flat. Joking aside, how’s it feel to you? The connection? It’s not quite right is it?”
Oops, Gail had been focusing so much on the physical, she’d totally disregarded everything else. Not that she was ever going to tell him this, but soul perception had never been her forte. But even a weapon could feel someone else’s soul pressed right up against theirs, and she was a little more sensitive to them than weapons were at least. He was right, their wavelengths were close, but it was a bit off.
She concentrated on the feel of his wavelength, paying attention to its rhythm. It was strange and unfamiliar at first, but she grew more accustomed to it the longer she paid attention. It was kind of like hearing a new song for the first time. The first few verses are new, but eventually you know enough to start singing along. Speaking of which…
Gail had read that the best meister’s could change their wavelengths at will to match which ever partner they chose. Now how did that work? She concentrated on the feel of her own wavelength, trying to nudge it or change it just a tiny bit. No luck. She guessed a soul, even her own, wasn’t just something that took commands. Hmmm...she focused on his wavelength again. Maybe there was something she missed...
"Look at that, looks like she forgot all about what she's pissed off about, huh?" Argos remarked. He'd held off on practice to make sure their siblings didn't kill each other. It appears he'd been right about those two's wavelengths. Gail would be able to wield Chide. With some practice...he choked down a laugh when she attempted to take a swing and almost ended up flat on her face.
Raze just nodded silently.
Argos regarded his jittery new partner. "What are you so afraid I'd see in your soul?"
There she goes, putting the walls back up. “Nothing. You’d be uncomfortable too with someone looking at you like they’re going to eat you or something.”
“Fair enough,” Argos said, figuring he’d better back down. She obviously was not in the mood for putting up with more of his questions. “I guess Gail didn’t take the news so well. Think I should try –“
“Hell no.”
“Yeah, bad idea now that I think about it,” he admitted. He turned away from his brother and Gail and offered Raze his hand. “I know you’re in a shitty mood, and I guess it’s partly my fault, so sorry about that. But right now, we should probably focus on our assignment, don’t you think?”
Raze nodded and took his hand. Despite everything else that was on her mind, she excited. Their connection fascinated her, the feeling it gave her, and the comfort the mere fact that she COULD connect with him without harming anyone brought, it was partially addicting. She wanted to explore those feelings, strengthen their connection. Resonance might even be possible before too long…
But the fact that she had these thoughts and feelings about it still terrified her.
Argos noticed her hesitation. They were partners now, but her nerves still got the better of her. He realized the two of them knew practically nothing about each other. Great, he though glumly. Looks like all that stuff in the text about that pouring your hearts out to each other chick flick stuff might actually be necessary. The concept was inherently unpleasant, but it’s not like he was jumping to let anyone know all his secrets. He figured training with his brother had basically spoiled him. The two of them had started off with no secrets or troubles between them. It had been so easy…
Raze chose that moment to transform, not giving either of them more time to brood more in their thoughts. Argos smiled as the calming presence of their connection washed over them. Today was a bit different from the previous tries though, Raze seemed to be holding back more, whether it was intentional or just a result of her preoccupied mind, he was unsure.
Never mind that, let’s try and do something productive, Argos told himself.
He lifted the dark blade of the weapon up to eye level. “How about we try some lessons today? Mind filling me on the basics?”
Raze’s face flashed across the metal. She still looked preoccupied, but in considerably higher spirits than she had been a few moments ago.
“The first thing you have to understand is that Gail and I didn’t have a tutor or instruction manual. We figured everything out as we went. First lesson, adjust your grip so that you’re holding both of the handle together where they meet.”
He did as instructed.
“That holds the blades closed. Blades closed is defense mostly, or bludgeoning. But the point is still sharp, so it’s also good for thrusts and stabs.”
She described some basic forms for blocks, speaking carefully and precisely. Argos listened carefully and did his best to follow instruction. It was basic enough. She commented here and there trying talk him through adjust some awkward positions or ones that weren’t quite right. It was hard for her to describe though. She was so used to Gail just knowing what to do, with little assistance from her. She couldn’t help thinking that she’d be a better teacher for the fine tuning stuff…
But thinking about Gail immediately brought back her anxiety and anger. “Hey, let’s call it a day,” She cut off Argos’s questions about offense and transformed back.
Raze gazed across the gym floor to where Chide and Gail stood watching, the two of them also having finished the exercise. She caught Gail’s eye for a split second and flinched at the anger and hurt she could see there. Both sisters looked away.
Argos looked from one sister to the other. “How, don’t worry about it. She can’t be pissed forever right? It’ll be ok in the end.” He said optimistically, trying lamely to reassure her.
“No,” Said quietly, picking up her bag from where is was on the floor, “It never is.”
She left without another word.
“What is with you?” On the other end of the gym, Chide had had enough. Sure this fight, especially a fight between sisters, was none of his business. That didn’t mean it didn’t piss him off. “Your pissed at her other this right?” he asked, gesturing to where Argos was still trying to speak to poor Raze. “They’re partners, so what?”
Gail glared at him. Damn, it was such a common occurrence when it came to her, Chide was slightly less afraid of that look. Maybe he was getting used to it,
“Don’t stick your damn nose into something you don’t understand.”
“What’s there not to understand about this situation?” he asked hotly.
“PLENTY!” she yelled. Chide took a step back. Oh shit. Angry tears. Why am I such an idiot? Did I just cross a line here?
“Ok, fine. Sorry, ok? Really, you’re right, I shouldn’t pry,” he said quickly, trying to salvage the situation. “Could I please just say one thing though? Please, I promise I’ll stop bothering you after this.
“Huh,” She sounded skeptical.
“Whatever your reasons are for being pissed, why don’t you fucking consider how she feels for a second? Making a commitment like this isn’t something you just do spur of the moment. This is something she put a lot of thought into. Imagine how much she probably agonized over this, especially if she was expecting your reaction to be like this? I’m not too comfortable with this arrangement either, but you know what? I’m not pissed at my brother, it’s his choice, and its over. So why don’t you think about that, and just get over it, will you?” He quickly grabbed his stuff off the floor and jogged to catch up to his brother, leaving Gail alone with her thoughts.
