[Chapter 9]

Noel’s P.O.V

“Hey, how was it?” Dru came up next to me. She had always had the habit of sliding up beside someone, and it frankly amused me. How did she do it?

I had never really been close to Xaviel and his friends until now, and regretted my stupidity for the past year. Initially, I had joined them because I wanted to know more about Ashe, about why my power mixed so well with her. But now that I got to know them; it was as if I had been part of their group all along. They loved newcomers, and they didn’t mind me at all.

“How was what?” I asked, pretending nonchalance. Of course Dru would know about my tryout today. Dru practically knew everything. Well, everything that wasn’t related to school syllabus.

“Your tryout, silly. Found your Faen?” Dru replied, grinning at me.

“Nah. Not yet.” I replied. The sting didn’t even get to me anymore. I had been to at least a few hundred tryouts, looking for my Faen to complete my Guardian’s course. But that had never happened. I used to wonder if it was because I was a jump in the generation. But my brother himself had laughed at me and told me that it was impossible.

Now, I began wondering. Was it because I was a spirit-wielder too? Yes, I am a constellation Faen. The Council Heads realized it when I first used spirit magick by mistake, and had me take a test. It was confirmed that I was a constellation Faen, though they never revealed it to anyone. They didn’t want news to be revealed, just in case the vampires got to us. According to the Council Heads, there was only one way to win the war against the vampires, and that was the constellation Faens. It was natural that they didn’t want to reveal that fact, to let the vampires have more to target upon.

So it wasn’t announced. I knew for a fact that Zane Krien was a constellation Faen himself. But of course, he kept to his solitude, so no one would know.

“Must suck, huh?” Dru asked, suddenly sounding sad.

I couldn’t help but laugh. Dru was just… Dru. She always cared so much for other people’s emotions, so emotive over everything that happened to us. It was touching to see someone who cared so much, but sometimes, it was just funny how she would get really sad over something that no one could control.

“Hey, I’m serious!” She exclaimed at my laugh, hitting me lightly on my arm.

“Okay, okay. I surrender, alright?” I raised my hands to show that I was going to give up laughing at her –at least I was going to try.

“So, where’s Ashe?” I asked, even though I knew already. Poor Ashe. She hadn’t really wanted to tell everyone, but the fact that she had been making frantic rushes between her two elements –it was enough to announce to everyone that she had two elements.

It truly surprised me at first. She must really be a gifted Faen; to hold two elements. Of course, it was the result of a jump from her father, but it surprised me that she didn’t think to tell anyone. Well, other than her close bunch of friends.

All was not flowery for her either. In the three months since school started, Ashe had been stressed out and rushing to and fro. Her meals were half-finished as she jumped from lessons to lessons. It was even an amazement to see that she was holding up. I had expected her to break down of exhaustion. Much less on the fact that her Training Masters were Mr. Kote –the crazy guy who could demand the most exhausting at the most inappropriate of times –and Mr. Blaze –the guy who expected his students to turn out to be as skilled as him.

“Why’d you want to know? Smitten?” Dru teased, though I will admit that she was partly correct. There was just something about Ashe that perked my curiosity. I just wanted to know more about her. More about her family, or just about her.

When I first saw her and heard her, I had wondered who had joined the ‘bitch’ gang. She sounded like Charmaine –maybe a little more acidic. But in those words, I had heard no contempt. I had heard no scorn. Just a voice that was determined to show Charmaine exactly who she was –a voice that was fighting Charmaine by her own sword. It was a marvel to see someone stand up against Charmaine.

I watched as she took the first slap. She may not have realized it, but she smiled slightly on the first slap. I knew that she took the first slap as penance for the words she threw at Charmaine. The second slap shocked her. She had been prepared for the third slap, but I had not been able to stand more. I stopped Charmaine from ruining anymore of that pretty face.

Afterwards, she had sprained her ankle at the dance again. I didn’t know what came over me, but I knew that when I saw her heel break, I was already making towards her. I didn’t know what I was trying to do, but I knew I had to help her. So I healed her, feeling the joyful feeling again when our powers touched each other, like two halves to one whole. I wasn’t sure if she felt the same thing, so I couldn’t admit my feelings.

But afterwards, after I got to know about her and her friends… Ashe was different.

I wasn’t exactly sure how to explain it, but she was just different. A good kind of different.

“Just curious about her. Can’t I be concerned for a friend?” I pretended nonchalance as we turned a corner.

“Sure… I don’t believe you. Anyways, she must be finishing her fire training at the hall. Where are you heading to?”

“The Ice Pool. I need to wedge in some time to reconnect with the water.” I replied, knowing very well Dru understood me. Amongst us students, each training hall had their own nicknames, and the nickname for the training hall for water was obviously the ‘Ice Pool’. The fire students named theirs ‘The Lava Sauna’.

“Again, Noel? You’re already ten times more in tuned with your element than me!” Dru exclaimed with surprise, but she didn’t know what it was like to be me; to hold such a reputation myself.

“That’s why I’ve got to keep it up, right?” I asked as we turned another corner, making down the corridor that led to the Ice Pool, and also the Lava Sauna. Maybe I could catch a glimpse of poor Ashe before she rushed elsewhere again.

Dru laughed lightly, but the air of joke and fun left me all of a sudden when something jolted through me. I stopped abruptly, trying to place an answer to the sudden feeling of electricity running through me.

There was the sound of an explosion that caused vibrations beneath our feet. The entire building shook a little, and I watched as Dru stumbled a little in shock.

“Whoa! What was that?” Dru asked, but something spiraled deep within me. I could taste the fear on my tongue. I could feel something, pulling me towards the sound of the explosion. Something within me told me that there was trouble, and I had to be there. I had to go there.

“Wait up! Where are you going? The explosion came from the Lava Sauna!” Dru shouted after me as I began to run towards the site of the explosion, confirming my suspicion.

The Lava Sauna. Ashe was having her training there. Could she have… been in the explosion?

I saw the smoke billowing, the large fire raging. The staffs on site were already trying to do their best to stop the fire from spreading, but it seemed too large to control. A crowd was gathered safely a distance away, and I saw a few familiar faces of Ashe’s classmates. It had been her class.

“Where is Ashe? Tell me!” I reached the group quickly, and I grabbed Marisse’s shoulders roughly. There was no time for gentleness. Not while Ashe was missing from the small group. Something must have happened. The tugging within me was trying to pull me towards the training hall, towards the fire.

“S-She’s i-inside! She t-t-tried to get Teddy, b-but something happened…” Marisse cried, shaking like a loose leaf in a storm.

I looked around frantically. The class must have had a Training Master. Ashe’s Training Master for fire was… Mr. Blaze. Yes, Mr. Blaze would know what to do. Where was he?

I heard coughing coming from the folds of the smoke, and ran forward to help out, since the others were desperately trying to keep the fire from spreading. Most of them were water-users, but something must be keeping the fire alight. The fuel must be oil, for it would not be burning so large.

Plunging my hands into the smoke from where the coughing had come from, I grabbed something. I pulled, hoping and praying that the coughing came from Ashe. But it wasn’t.

Mr. Blaze came out with a few obvious burns on his arms. There was a load slung over his shoulder. Someone.

“Where is Ashe?” I demanded as I helped him escape the smoke, taking the load off his shoulder and resting the boy against the wall. The boy was still breathing, though pretty shallow.

“In… side… I rushed in… and grabbed Teddy… I couldn’t see… her in the smoke…” Mr. Blaze coughed; his voice scratchy from breathing in too much smoke. By then, Dru had reached us, and also the same conclusion as me.

“Oh my god! Is Ashe still inside? Where is she? Are you alright?” Dru began freaking out, but we couldn’t have that. We needed someone to bring these two far away from the fire. I knew backup was going to come soon, but Ashe wasn’t going to survive waiting. Someone had to get her.

“Take care of them, Dru. Teddy’s still breathing, but barely. His lungs and heart aren’t very fit. Mr. Blaze’s got some serious third-degree burn on his arms. Bring them both away when you can. When back up comes, watch after Teddy.” I instructed quickly, not even pausing as I straightened up quickly, turning towards the fire. The water-users were trying their best to put in their effort in forcing the fire down. But we needed someone of the air here. We needed to pull the oxygen from the fire. We needed someone of the earth to maybe stamp out the fire. We needed someone from the fire strong enough to control and snuff out the fire.

But no one of that caliber was around. There was only me; a water user who was in perfect tune to his element.

But there was Ashe, alone and possibly dying of either the heat, the smoke inhalation or the lack of oxygen. The tugging within me became an outright pull. The cells screaming within me was something I could not take any longer. I had to get to her.

“What are you doing?” Dru seemed to have sensed out my determination, because she tried to stop me with a hand on my arm, but I shook it away.

“Getting Ashe.” I replied curtly, and before anyone could stop me, I rushed in, fighting the smoke as I did my best to keep it out of my eyes. Running, I took off my shirt, summoning my powers. The water from the sprinkler system –which wasn’t doing any good to the situation –obeyed my call as I forced them to wet the cloth within my hands. It wasn’t the best smoke-free idea, but it was what I had at the moment.

Wrapping the cloth around my nose and mouth, I did my best to create a protective bubble around myself, trying my best to shield from the heat. My exposed upper body was feeling the heat, and I was pretty sure I would make out of this with pretty bad burns.

But I had to get to Ashe. The smoke near blinded me, and I could only round along the walls of the training hall, praying that Ashe was somewhere close to the perimeters. Running was out of the question with oily, black smoke trying to choke me to death. The heat was very near killing me and the sweat on my body almost boiled instantly. The soles of my shoes were almost melting at the extreme heat.

But I pressed on. Something told me to press on. Something forced me to press on.

I grinded my teeth, my fingers touching the boiling-hot wall for support. I winced slightly when I heard sizzling from the contact between the wall and my fingers. This place was turning into a barbeque pit and I was the charcoal.

I walked as fast as I could, knowing my oxygen level was depleting by every step I ventured into the training hall. I could hear shouting outside, and a few yelling of my name by Dru. But I couldn’t afford to be sidetracked.

My foot hit something soft, and I stopped immediately, bending down. Beneath the plume of smoke that filled the entire place, I made out the faint silhouette of a body. I blinked the tears out of my eye, fighting the smoke trying to attack my eyes, forcing myself to see. The pulling within me died down a little, pulling me towards the body on the floor.

For some reason, I knew; without even checking, that this was Ashe.

I shook her roughly, but there was no reply from her. She was unconscious. I tried not to think of the worst as I pulled her into my arms, carrying her bridal-style as I turned back. Now that I had Ashe in my arms, the tugging stopped. But I realized, as I turned around, that I could not see the exit.

Determined not to die here, I grit my teeth and rounded the wall again. Walking back seemed to take an eternity, but when I finally saw the exit in sight, I saw a horrible sight.

The fire had spread, from the other side of the hall to the exit, blocking my exit out of this burning hell. The thick wall of fire clung on the door frame, as if making a barrier to force me out. The people rushing by, the people doing their best to stop the fire –none of them seemed to notice the fire covering the only entrance and exit.

I stopped, knowing that I was running low on oxygen levels. Giddiness was beginning to eat at me, and it was by sheer determination that I kept Ashe in my arms. Ashe was still breathing; I could feel the shallow moving of her chest up and downwards.

But if I did nothing, we would both die here. We would both choke to death on the smoke before anything. I took off the makeshift wet mask around my nose, wrapping it around Ashe’s nose. I could do my best to regulate the amount of acrid smoke making into my lungs, but an unconscious girl couldn’t.

I stood before the fire, feeling the heat on my skin. My protective bubble was practically useless against this. My skin was burning. But I didn’t care, as I held Ashe close to me.

There was only one thing to do. I summoned all the power I had at the moment, and called every source of water to me; every single water droplet hanging in the air; the water from the pipes hanging on the ceiling that supplied water to the sprinkler system. I called the water with so much force that there was another minor explosion as the pipes gave way under the pressure.

With more water to my use, I forced the water against the doorway. There was loud sizzling, and I dashed forwards at the small hole I had made for myself. The water and fire touched each other, forming steam that burnt my limbs, but I kept my arms around Ashe, protecting her from more harm.

I dashed through the barrier of fire, the water that I managed to scrape to me creating a hole big enough for me to rush through.

Cold air touched my skin as I skidded to a halt, breaking from my run. I shivered, feeling sweat cool on me. My burns hurt like hell, but I was more concerned with Ashe. I looked down, seeing the pained expression hung upon her face. She had a few minor burns, but looked otherwise alright.

“NOEL! ASHE!” Someone screamed, and I looked up to see Dru’s eyes already red.

The medics reached me quickly, whisking me away. They tried to take Ashe from me, but I wouldn’t allow it. I took Ashe from the training hall; I would be the one to heal her.

They tried to insist, but something in my eyes as I shoved them away with my power must have told them something, because they stopped their efforts shortly afterwards. Knowing that I was a water user, they brought me towards their emergency supply –a deep well that was always filled with sterile water needed for healing.

I was exhausted when I laid Ashe down on a bed, with a weepy Dru hanging beside me, asking me questions that I could not find the energy to reply. The power that had always been obedient to me –for the first time- eluded me. Instead, the power went straight to Ashe.

The element that usually obeyed me heard none of my call. As I desperately tried to grasp some of the power that I controlled, it fled from my fingertips, just channeling straight into Ashe like a rampant puppy.

“Noel…… what are you doing?” Dru whispered, not understanding why she was feeling my power channeling into Ashe. I didn’t know either.

I tried to stand, to reach for the basin of water that was at my side. Maybe touching the water would improve my link with my element. Something was happening with my power, but I didn’t care. I needed to heal Ashe.

“Noel… you’re healing her with just your power? I can feel her… she’s getting stronger with your power…” Dru exclaimed softly. It took a little while for me to remember that Dru was a water-user too; which meant that Dru could feel Ashe too. Dru could feel Ashe healing…

“I… That’s good.” The wave of relief crashed into me as I rocked off my feet. Ashe was healing up. She was going to be alright…

With that thought safe in my mind, I crashed into waves of unconsciousness, ignoring the pain of the burns.