Chapter 17

BREMEN LADTOR

Perhaps if I ascend, I can escape my impending death. But I can only maintain the state for at most 2 minutes. If I push myself, perhaps 3. Closing my eyes, I sigh. If only I could have seen him one more time. Speaking the incantations, the ones that had saved my life several times and might kill me today, I set a spark to my iota. I didn't have to look at myself to know that the irises of my eyes have become blue, a stark contrast to the brown that resides in my pupils. The world plays in slow motion, like a record tape. I step forward and cover the distance between myself and assailant Number 1. In my prime, milliseconds was child's play. Sweeping his feet, I knee him in the gut mid-fall. Turning to Number 2, I look at the scarred face that looked down on me as I held the last of my brethren, my frail son in my bloody arms. He will regret not killing me. Clenching my fist, I direct my aura from my iota to my fingers. I thrust it at him. He swipes it away. I should've known he would be able to move even while in my restricted time domain. Life can't just be easy huh? While we circle around each other, I try to think of an efficient battle plan. I come up with nothing. The odds of me winning this fight are around 1000 to 1. But hey, good ol' Hopper was able to work around that. Plot armour would do me a great deal of good right now. Sigh.

* *** *

JACK SPLINTER

Okay. I'll say it now. What was I thinking when I took this guy in as my student? I have never seen so much hopelessness packed in one human before. Literally!

The guy has no knowledge of things he should've known. His life recount is basically a cover-up story for most guardians. And if that's how he actually remembers it, then that means that this dude's companion is either dead or rogue. Which means that Madam Zariki wasn't joking. She's really declaring war.

* *** *

GORDON FROST

I will say it now. My so called teacher is clueless. But he said words that don't include legendary are offensive when describing him so he is a legendary state of cluelessness. He started asking me about my life. Mind you, we were on the run from another one of those plants. Turns out we disturbed a nest. Don't ask me how plants developed a nest. I'm still figuring it out.

* *** *

JACKIE DIANA(Psych)

Once I was able to wield the illusion of pain, my mentor placed me on a strict regimen while he went to goof off. Probably flirting with Bianca or something. Sometimes I wonder why someone in his early 20's was made my teacher. When we were first introduced, I treated him like anyone I hadn't met before. A weakling. People told me it was a wrong perception on life. But it's not. You are a weakling until you prove otherwise. And surprisingly, he did. The lighter did too. In his own way. They all did.