Chapter 4 - Andrew Pennelsky

Fise dodged the flame and it exploded into the ground. They stood watching each other. Fise has barely recovered from his other injuries and now he has to fight again, but this time the opponent was much stronger. Both mentally and physically."I noticed something. When I dropped upon you, you undid your aura to shield against my ability." said the boy. Fise tensed up. The boy took a step."And the fact that you are listening to me shows you are inexperienced." Fise's eyes widened and he stopped time as he dodged left, before time resumed and the ground where he was exploded by black flames.

"Well done there. How about another round?"

The boy ran straight at Fise, who looked on trying to think of a plan. Too slow. The boy through a punch with his right arm, which Fise dodged. The boy used that momentum to launch a roundhouse kick straight at Fise. Fise stopped time and put his arms up to block, time resumed. Fise was flung backwards by the force and rolled on the floor, before stopping.

He stood up and shot the boy a look, before putting all his strength into a kick that launched him straight towards the wall. He began to run a bit before jumping on the wall and jumping up again to reach the ledge. He then flipped on top and started to run left, towards his room. The boy did not stand still during this and began to also run for the wall. He jumped and black fire trailed behind his legs, propelling him upwards. The boy then shot both arms down and that made more fire so that he could grab onto the ledge.

He did so exactly as Fise was running past and so grabbed at his ankle. The boy's hand enveloped Fise's ankle and closed tightly into a fist as if grabbing air. Because that's what he did, he seemed to have missed Fise's ankle by a few centimetres. Fise kept running, and the boy climbed up onto the wall and stood looking at Fise, before raising his hand as if to chop something with it. He swung it down and created a slash of black fire that trailed quickly towards Fise.

'Now, he could either go left to the garden or right to the outside, most likely left since he seems to not leave the grounds, or he can surprise me and use his power to dodge my strike while still being on the wall.So...' the boy quickly started running after Fise, just in case he somehow dodged the strike. Fise looked behind him exactly as the boy raised his hand up and then slashed it down, so he had some time to think. He jumped, and the boy smiled. He went left.

But the boy underestimated Fise. As he flew through the air, Fise reached out with both his hands, and grabbed onto a branch of a tree, as the garden had a lot of them, and swung himself up in the air. He then flipped and kicked the trunk of the tree to go flying straight towards the orphanage. Fise reached the orphanage and grabbed onto the wall but started sliding down, so he pushed himself up as much as possible to grab the edge of the roof.

The boy looked on with wide eyes before shrinking them with a frown. He walked back a bit before taking a step and jumping off the wall, black fire coming out behind him. He couldn't reach the orphanage with just that, so again he shot his arms down to propel himself upwards. He reached the orphanage and tried to grab the edge. But something hit him in the eye and he hit his hand just below the edge. A small rock bounced off him. He smashed against the wall.

Fise, his aura burning, went and grabbed another stone off the roof, it was a flat roof with vents and fans on it, along with rocks, pebbles and toys thrown up there by children. He was surprised. That must have hurt. When he threw the last rock, he enveloped it in his aura and just before he let go of it, stopped time. The rock kept flying through stopped time, and then time resumed, making the rock somehow hit much harder. It seems everything in stopped time if it interacts, causes a stronger reaction, or more damage.

In this case, the rock was thrown harder and faster. Fise neared the edge to look down on the boy before a stream of pitch-black fire flew straight at his face. Fise stopped time and moved backwards, barely moving 5 cm before time resumed and just about dodging the stream of fire. He rolled backwards until he hit a white box, 2 air conditioning units mixed together. Fise looked up and saw the boy lunge at him, a fist ready to punch and black flames coming out behind him. His right eye was closed and blood mixed with tears could be seen coming out.

Fise jumped right and the boy's fist smashed into the air conditioning units. His left hand flew sideways and smacked into Fise's chest, black flames sticking to him. Fise skidded on the ground, holding his chest as something warm rose in his throat. He spat it out only to see it was blood. He stopped near the edge of the roof, lucky he didn't fall off. He looked up and saw the boy drag his foot a bit, and black flames flew around the bottom of the air conditioning units, mixed with his aura. The sound of metal being crushed sounded out.

The boy then strained, veins showing up on his neck, as the air conditioning units were lifted off the ground. Then, with a black fire propelling it, he swung his arm and launched the units at Fise. Fise stopped time and dodged left exactly as time resumed. He fell flat and air brushed against him as the hunk of metal flew above. It clipped the side of the roof and fell to the ground. With a loud crunch, it hit the ground, bounced up a bit and then landed on its side.

The boys playing football turned to look at the noise, their view being obstructed by a few trees placed apart in the garden. Fise immediately stood up and started to run before crouching down as a ball of black fire flew above. He started to turn right and dodge another ball, before reaching another one of the units. He stopped in front of it before dodging right as a fireball smashed into the fan, bending it a little. Fise raised his hand and smashed it down as a fist into the unit, stopping the fans, before grabbing one and snapping it off.

He turned around and threw it like a javelin at the boy, passing another fireball. The boy saw it and dodged, the blade scratched his shoulder before flying off the roof. The boy looked over before starting to run straight at Fise. Fise snapped another one and threw it, which the boy dodged, and another. The boy reached out and caught that one before twirling around and dodging another blade. He then threw the fan blade which stabbed through a bit of Fise's arm that was holding another broken off fan blade.

Fise dropped it and held his arm before grabbing the blade and yanking it out. He bit his lip and held in a scream as he flicked the bloody fan blade back to the boy, who dodged it. The boy then caught another blade which almost sunk in his chest. Before he could throw it at Fise, another fan blade flew towards him and he blocked it, then another, and another. The boy stopped moving forward as he blocked another blade, before throwing his one straight at Fise, who caught it and threw it at the same time as the other he had.

The boy caught one but the other sunk in his shoulder. That won't happen again. He yanked it out and deflected another blade, before throwing his one and catching the next one. Fise dodged the blade and snapped off another one before a blade stabbed into his thigh. He yanked it out and deflected another one which then sunk into his shoulder. He threw the one he had, tilting his head left to dodge a fan blade and yanked out the other one in his shoulder.

It spun through the air and deflected another fan blade which stabbed into the roof next to Fise, before flying up into the sky. The boy walked forward and with a stomp black fire spread around him, which then flung a lot of deflected fan blades in the air. The boy grabbed a few, the other ones still being held up by flames. He threw them at Fise, who already snapped 2 off ready to throw them, but had to defend as one flew at him. He blocked with both and it flew past under his armpit before another was deflected and stabbed into his right bicep.

He swung his fan blade and it deflected another one, which spun past his head, blood sprouting out a bit from the wound. He deflected another and another and another, which sunk into his body or wounded him. The boy kept moving forward and eventually threw his last fan blade. It sliced through the air and deflected off one of Fise's fan blade, which snapped, before sinking into the left of Fise's chest. He spat out blood.

Fise raised his hand and threw his fan blade. The boy caught it, spun around, and threw it back at Fise twice as fast. Fise reacted quickly by stopping time and moving his arm, before time resumed and he kept moving his hand, before the fan blade sank into his arm, before coming out the other side and scratching the side of his neck. Steam started to rise from his drying blood, same with the boy.

Fise had a fan in his chest, abdomen, shoulder, thigh, and calf, blood oozing out of him." I win." The boy said, as a spinning fan blade fell from the sky and bounced off the roof behind him. He readied a punch and threw it straight at Fise's chest. Fise smiled. He snuck his left hand into the air conditioning unit and swung it around, coming straight for the boy. He saw this and redirected his punch into the unit, denting it. It kept coming.

The boy stuck both hands together as he held them high, before swinging them down onto the unit, black fire trailing behind. He cut through the unit and spread his arms out as he finished, the unit cut in half and the halves flying to the sides. He stood bending over with his arms outstretched behind his back when he finished it. Then a knee smashed into his face, making him stand more straight. Then a punch went into his chest. Then another.

"WHHHAAAAAAGHH!" screamed Fise as he punched quickly again and again. 1, 4, 9, 16, 23, 28, 36, 49, 60, the punches kept descending on the boy, before Fise put all his aura into the last punch and threw it straight into the middle of the boy's chest, right under his heart. He flew quickly, fast as a blur as he clipped off the side of the roof, sending rocks and bits flying out, before snapping through some branches of a tree and ending by crashing into the wall, cracking it and breaking into it, dust enveloping him.

Fise stood on the roof, his hand still outstretched before shaking and going down on one knee. Blood fell on the floor, creating small puddles. He reached and grabbed a fan blade before stopping to look at his arm. It was burnt and bleeding, some small black flames burning before dissipating. It seems that the boy still got him a bit. Fise yanked out the fan blade, making his lip bleed even more. He yanked another one out. Then another, and another. Eventually, he had all of them out, the blood on them already starting to steam away.

He slowly walked over to the edge, a weak aura beginning to envelop him, and looked over at the crash site. He couldn't see the boy, a few clouds of dust and rubble was blocking the few, but he sensed no movement. Tears began to form, then fall as he realised: he killed another human being. He began shaking and sobbing, curled up into a ball, the sobs racking his body. He then felt a shiver down his back and a feeling that he needed to move.

He stood up and slowly climbed off the roof. He was right next to the big janitor room, where the janitors keep all their stuff on racks, robots need to clean their instruments too. He went over and put his hand on the hand lock. This door was different from other doors since it was access to a room people shouldn't normally be in, so these locks remember your handprint and show that you accessed this room. The door slid open to reveal a lit room, with janitor tools on the walls, apart from the one on the left, and another door right in front.

Fise walked in but the hairs on the back of his neck stood up and time stopped before he dived to the left. Time resumed just as he did so and a wave of black fire cascaded through the door, smashing against the other side of the room, before being stopped by the door as it closed. Fise started to run towards the other door before he stopped and stepped backwards, dodging a ball of black flame. He kept running and as he reached the door scanner another fireball flew at him, which he dodged by ducking. He put his hand on the scanner and looked back towards the door to see the boy halfway across the room, preparing a punch.

There was blood going over his left eye and coming out of the sides of his mouth. The door opened and Fise got out. As he looked back, he saw the boy was getting close, and the door wasn't going close on time. He put his hand on the scanner. The punch flew straight at Fise's face and was close to impact when a bang rang out. A dent was made in the door to the janitors' room. And then another. And another and another and another. Fise was slowly backing away, towards the stairs.

This room exited right at the start of the big corridor, so his room was close to it, only being up the stairs. Fise turned around to go up the stairs when black fire sprouted out of a hole in the door, wide enough to fit someone through. A hand grabbed the side and pushed a head through. The boy looked at Fise and something seemed to flash in his eyes." You won't run away," He said as Fise ran towards him " And I know I can beat you so," Fise reached the scanner and punched it.

"It's pointle-!"

The door opened and the boy got stuck in the door, being crushed against the wall. Fise fell and looked at the boy who started to push his hand further out try and throw fire at Fise, who stood up. He walked over, still holding the scanner, and stepped on his wrist, locking his hand down.

"When we were fighting," said Fise looking at the boy,

" I noticed something. It seems that you can only create fire when you move." The boy frowned. " So if I hold down your hand, you won't be able to hit me." finished Fise, applying more pressure on the boy's hand.

The boy looked at him, before smiling. Fise was confused before he turned right and saw, through the open gap, the boy's leg move as if to kick and a black fireball flew out. Fise tried to move backwards to dodge but the ball hit his shoulder and that spun him around, making him stop holding the scanner. He fell to the floor before standing up and looking over to see the door with the hole in it closed before opening to reveal the boy.

Fise stepped back but then the boy kicked him against the wall. The boy then threw a punch at Fise which Fise couldn't dodge, making him spit out blood. Fise then hit his elbow hard against the wall, cracking it, and then using that fore to punch the lower jaw of the boy, while doing the same with the other arm, and hitting the boy's temple, making his head tilt and making him fall down, unconscious.

Fise stood there, breathing rigidly and trying not to throw up, before hearing footsteps in the corridor and he began picking the boy up, putting him in a fireman carry and slowly walking up the stairs. He reached his door and he waved his hand, opening the door. He walked in and put the boy on his bed, the door closing behind him, before falling to the floor and slowly closing his eyes. Fise slept.

Fise awoke and when he checked his interface, he saw he only slept an hour. He stood up and saw that the boy was waking up. The boy's eyes shot open. He stood and looked around before seeing Fise and throwing Fire at him. Fise raised his hands and said loudly, "Let's stop and talk!"

"Why should I talk to someone who wanted to kill me?

"If I wanted to kill you I would have done it, also, you started this fight!"

The boy tensed up but seemed to bot want to attack Fise.

"I can't trust you," he said.

"Hi, my name is Fise Cherryblossom what's yours?" Fise seemed to ignore the boy's comment. The boy sighed, calming down. This guy was not a big threat, right now. Also, he needed an ally to help his goal.

"My name is Andrew Pennelsky."

The atmosphere got awkward as they didn't have anything to say. " So, you're a guarded?"

"Yes. And so are you." The conversation stopped again.

"Wanna be friends?" asked Fise. He has always been lonely at the orphanage and since both of them are guarded, it might be good to be friends. Andrew thought a bit about it. He needed an ally, a friend was an ally and he didn't seem bad." Fise, was it? I can see what type of person you are. You fight well, though not great. But, I accept. I need some help."

"With what?"

"It's kind of hard to explain-"

"Does it have to do with the people coming after you?

"Yes."

"I'll help."

"Listen first. These people know I am here, and we need to leave to get to the goal. Since I am being spied on basically, there would be attacks that could end your life."

Fise looked at him and remembered. He had stayed in this orphanage since he could remember and he was very emotionally attached yet... it seemed like nothing was important here.

"I'll go I guess."

"Good. I'll need some help."

" So what's the goal?" Andrew stayed silent.

"Why are they after you?"

Andrew tightened his fists.

"It has to do with my parents," he said, "My dad specifically."

'Crap' thought Fise, he knew that in this orphanage, talk about parents isn't looked upon well.

"He used to work for this company. He then decided that I was more important and quit his job to stay home since he was never home when working. But the company boss didn't like that. They were making a big project and my dad quiting messed a bit of the plan up. So they killed him. And my mom. I was lucky enough to survive because I escaped. I lived on the streets until I was taken in here. I discovered my aura at about age 7. And they found me a few years back." explained Andrew. Fise was solemn. Getting your family killed must be tragic.

"And so, my goal is to go to Incip city and join the Radiance. They have been fighting against them and I'll help them. You can too."

"What's the Radiance?"

"Its a group of Guarded that fight against this company and many others."

"I don't know..."

"Now, you are new to auras, right? You seem to learn fast and think fast, like when you used your aura to crush the bolts holding down the air conditioning unit up on the roof. But you still need to learn control, so while on our way, I'll help you with your aura and power."

Fise thought about it. He liked this orphanage and, while maybe a little selfish and emotionless if he stayed here, he'll be safe because Andrew is gone and now he's a guarded he can get good jobs.

"Fise, I recommend you leave."

"What?"

"I know this may sound weird to you but, this orphanage is... weird."

"What do you mean?"

"It's not normal Fise. They teach you about how to survive and Guarded. They teach you about weapons and tactics. They show you the weaknesses in the human body. Fise this orphanage is a military camp."

Fise's head was spinning.

"Normal people only know Guarded to be rumours and they don't know much about the fall. Fise, this orphanage is making you into a soldier, so the government doesn't run out. Specifically one part of it. This isn't an orphanage at all, it's a boot camp. It will be best to get away."

Fise sat down and held his head. His whole life... he had lived in something false and that was made into reality by echoing lies.

"And," continued Andrew as he walked over to the AMWR unit and put his hand on the top left corner " The people behind it all, the part of the government, are them." Andrew moved his hand and showed a logo, just 2 letters: J:L.

Fise closed his eyes and breathed in and out slowly. The world seems to collapse around him. This room was a prison cell. He was stuck in this prison his whole life, with his destiny chosen already and the closest he came to freedom was when Andrew appeared, making the encounter with that man possible.

"So you-"

"I'm coming."

"Good. The day after tomorrow at 4:30 am, meet me on top of the wall near the gate. Make sure to not touch the ground or the building that much. We leave then. We'll meet later at dinner, by the janitor room." and with that, Andrew walked out of Fise's room. Fise sat there, holding his knees, eyes seemingly looking somewhere far away.

He stood up and pulled up his interface to ser an alarm clock at 4:30 pm, 30 minutes before dinner, and tucked himself in bed. It all made sense now. The seemingly random topics chosen, they were all chosen to create soldiers. The big corridor, the garden and the games, all seem to relate to war. The garden has strategically placed trees and bushes, and the games that they usually play during tutor seem to teach teamwork on the battlefield because now that he thinks about it, it seems like almost real battle training.

Even the gel is made to train soldiers; easy and fast to eat along with easy access to it and changes in it every day, it surprised Fise how long it took to see the similarities. Not to mention the classes where they get shown weapons and tactics. Fise tucked his blanket over him and cried. Even the bed is hard, to simulate real ground. He got told the same lie, again and again, it seems it's true.

Lies Echo.