Chapter 12 - The Team

Fise was in the mishmash of colours, something hadn't dreamt of in a long time, but he didn't think about it. Suddenly, like all the other times, it stopped and he was left in a monochrome world. He couldn't move. He then suddenly felt the fire, the source of power flow through his hand. He looked at it, in the monochrome world he couldn't move in himself, and his fingers curled. Again and again, he curled his fingers. He hadn't moved in this world for this long. Ever. He curled his fingers for the last time, and the overall warmth returned as the mishmash of colour returned. He woke up.

The ceiling was awfully bright, mostly because he was staring at a light, so he turned his head. He was in a bed, surrounded by blue curtains. He was in a hospital, or a med ward, or he finally woke up and was in an insane asylum. He let his thoughts wonder a bit and questioned himself. His name was Fise Cherryblossom, almost 13, birthday was on the 13th of October, height was 156 centimeters last he checked, his hair and eyes were brown, he liked strategy and had a record of 7 chess games won in a row when he was 9. He wasn't dreaming or anything. He was fine. He was Fise. He sat up and got off the bed. He was wearing a hospital gown, like the one shown in some films he watched. He wondered where Andrew was. Then ordered where he was.

Where they captured by The Company? Was Andrew taken to be killed, and was Fise left to join the army, and maybe they just got done implanting another Interface into his brain? He came with Andrew to help with his power, he wanted to get to Incip to get some answers, and now, when he did, he was still questioning everything? If they aren't gonna answer, might as well fin don't himself.

He moved the curtain back and looked outside. He was on the side of his bed and opposite him was more curtains, probably another bed. He looked to the left to see a nice wall that looked like how he expected a hospital wall to look like, then he looked right and saw another bed in front of the one he first saw, and past that the corner of the room. The door might be in the middle. He shuffled over his bed and opened the curtains on the other side. He, again, saw another bed in front of him, and another one in front of that one, except there wasn't a corner, and the room kept going. Suddenly, the curtain of the bed diagonal to him moved and a woman exited out of it wearing a white lab coat and pushing a trolley with stuff on it, Fise catching a glimpse of a patient on the bed before the woman closed it. He wasn't the only one here, which made him relieved. The, what he assumed to be, doctor turned and made for the bed in front of him. Fise had already closed the curtain and just stared at it, thinking of something to do.

He heard the doctor talk.

"Goodmorning! Time to get you all healed up, now show me where it hurts."

The patient groaned, being awakened by the doctor, and proceeded to show them where.

"This might tingle." the doctor said and there was a shuffling on the cart. There were some sounds that included some tearing, cracking and pieces falling to the floor, all sounding different than normal tearing and cracking and landing sounds. The curtain opened, and closed, before the curtains in front of Fise moved.

Fise didn't really think that fighting or running were good options, he needed more information. He decided to wait. The doctor looked at him surprised, as if not expecting him to actually be there.

"Well, goodmorning," she said, "I hope you can forgive me for the test yesterday." she moved the cart to the front of the bed.

"Test?"

"To see how good you are, we have a test, you passed, and so did your friend, welcome to the Radience."

"Wait, you were that person?"

She nodded. Fise breathed, not hard, or shallow, but a normal breath, and thought of what to say, he didn't want to seem agitated, or weak.

"I do not believe you."

"Any way I can prove it?"

'They probably know the key to that door.'

"My friend's full name."

"Andrew Pennelsky."

"How many letters in Radience."

"Eight."

"Name of the road of that door."

"King and Queen's Road."

'No way someone will remember that if not in the actual group. No way you can respond that fast to the second question if you haven't been with them for a long time, the 3rd one would have been deemed unnecessary information, and the first one I deducted they never had since Andrew was never called by name by any of our enemies.'

"I believe you a little now."

"I'm happy about that, now let me heal you, then I can explain some more later."

She reached for the cart, which had a few balls of some type of material, maybe some polymer, on top along with syringes and scissors.

"Stop."

She did and looked at him.

"You were the person we fought right?"

"Yes." She answered.

"Don't heal me, not yet, go do it to everyone else, I am not gonna look."

"Why is that?"

"Just do it, I'll tell you after you do, I'm not injured and I'm sure we can get this over with faster."

She looked him over then pushed the cart onwards to the other patients. 5 minutes later, after waking everyone up, and then them falling back asleep immediately after, she was back with the cart.

"Can you tell me now?"

Fise looked at her.

"I figured out your ability."

Fise saw something flash in her eyes and felt the silence fall onto the conversations. He continued

"Your ability is to move injuries, correct?"

She looked at him in surprise.

"I noticed it first when only one of my hands was injured, and after you were injured by my friend, how I attacked where it was best and worst to hit, and my leg, which aimed for the best, was the one injured. Now I know it is to move injuries because 1. The same amount of bruising was moved onto my hand made from my punch, and 2. the fact you weren't staggered by it later, unlike after my friend hit you, where you kept leaning forward a bit until a I hit you again. Also, 3. I saw my friend hit you in the arm, and saw after you slammed him into the ground he was holding where you held him and bleeding, with your injury gone."

She stared at him in silence and maybe some acknowledgement and... respect?

"You're a chatty one, aren't you? Now, let me heal you." She grabbed a ball and brought it to him, before getting his left wrist and moving the gown out of the way.

"We had to do some surgery to you since one of your lungs was punctured, you could have died, so that took a bit. I didn't have time for any other injuries, like this cut from the glass I noticed, or the other 34 lacerations."

She put her palm on the cut, which had blood clotted on it for a while, and then put the ball on top.

Fise felt his wound just dissappear slowly, and felt it against his hand as it was transferred to the woman, before it was gone, and the woman moved to another cut. Fise saw the cut in the ball, it looked as if the ball bubbled something out from it and then it looked exactly like his, only made from the ball. Bizarre.

They didn't speak. Fise felt he had already said too much, and had a sinking feeling in his stomach. 'Maybe i should have kept quiet, it would have been better.'

Bruises felt weird, as a sort of numb fuzziness spread out and then faded along with the wound. Fise didn't see a real change in the ball, but after it got blaced in the cart, the bruised part crumpled a bit. It seemed it was damaged on the inside, like a bruise, but since it didn't have blood vessels, it just made broken tunnels inside. After the doctor was done packing away, she turned to Fise.

"Wait here and I'll call in my friend, the leader of this small group called the Radiance."

Fise watched her leave, then closed the curtains. He sat and waited. He counted that some 2 minutes have passed and he got bored of waiting.

Time stopped.

He realised something while training with Andrew. Sometimes, he could stay in stopped time longer, but he'll be more tired. This is how he could increase the time spent in stopped time. It got a little harder as the time increased, because before, Fise didn't really have time to stop thinking about stopping time, and since he kept thinking and therfore doing that, it counted as him pushing his time stop, so it therefore strengthened. But he hit a wall when he reached around 0.75 seconds. He had enough time to actually think of starting time early, which he discovered decreased the time he had to wait to stop time again. Not by a lot, it seemed. After that, he couldn't increase his timestop without pouring in some more effort. He had to strain his aura, tighten his fists, close his eyes, try not to think of random stuff like birds or pineapples-which proved to be a challange. He did this now.

Time resumed.

Time stopped.

Time resumed.

Stopped.

Resumed.

Stopped.

Resumed.

Stop.

Resume.

Stop.

Resume.

Stop.

Resume.

A minute has passed and Fise fell onto the bed, looking up at the ceiling. He was getting tired of it. But if he didn't improve, how will he help Andrew, how will he beat people like that doctor, how will he be able to pick a bullet out of the air, turn it around and shoot the attacker back? That last one was a dream he had since getting his powers and was made stronger by seeing the man with the gun shoot at Andrew. Andrew was close range, so he didn't have a good defense against ranged attacks, so Fise told himself he needed to be the ranged. Could he shoot a gun in stopped time anyway? The gun he had put into his backpack? His backpack. Fise felt a chill go down his spine.

He looked around his bed, under it, around the room. He didn't see it. Unless it was in the other patient's areas, he wasn't close to his backpack. This was bad. If they took it, they could just starve him. Thirst him? He could survive without food a for a while, but not without water. As he was having this thought, he heard the door to the infirmary, as the doctor called it, open. Big footsteps, getting closer. The curtains were drawn back.

Time stopped.

Fise looked the man over. Before him was a pot bellied, white haired man, he was taller than Fise by a lot, maybe a little under 2 meters tall. He could see muscle definition of his arms through his waistcoat. He wore a waistcoat with a black shirt or t-shirt, dark trousers and brown boots. Fise looked back up to the man's bright blue eyes.

Time resumed.

The man smiled at him.

"Hello, Fise, I presume? Welcome to the Radience, my little group. Hopefully you'll stay. Sorry about the test, we had to perform it to see what you have, hopefully you accept my apology."

"Hello, Mr...?"

The man smiled.

"Mr Mutaf, Anutrof Sicilefni Mutaf. Most call me Mr Mutaf, friends, like Dr. Verto here, call me Sicil."

"Hello, Mr Mutaf. May I also where my friend is?"

"Mr Pennelsky was talking with me about some things, he is currently in my office. I am here to welcome you into the Radience, to answer you next question. Over here,"

He turned to his right and waved with his hand. There stood another woman, with graying hair and muscles that could hold a bridge, and eyes sharp enough to cut diamond hidden behind a pair of spectacles.

"Is Miss Nent, my right hand. Dr Verto is my left hand and the Senior Medical Professional. Miss Nent will take you downstairs and will explain anything you ask for." He looked at something in his interface and then tok a step back.

"I need to return now, ask anything. We brought you clothes, after you change just tell Miss Nent. Have a nice day, Fise." and with that he turned and strode out of the door. Dr Verto walked to another patient and Miss Nent handed Fise some clothes before closing the curtain.

Fise quickly changed from his gown, neatly folding and placing it on the bed, before looking down at himself. He had most of the injuries treated, but his skin was still red in some areas. It'll heal. He quickly put on the clothes, a pair of light gray trousers and white t-shirt. A change from the black clothing he wore before. He walked out and Miss Nent was already striding towards the door. He caught up and he exited into a corridor. He was somewhere with no windows. It made him feel claustrophobic. Miss Nent took a turn to the left and walked forwards as they exited. Fise followed, looking behind him to see the corridor continue to take a right out of sight. On his left he saw some doors leading to some mystery rooms before they reached the flight of stairs at the end. Fise noticed the elevator next to it. They began walking up.

"You will be placed into a team, along with your friend. You will be assigned a room and be given your belongings back. Anything you break, you compensate for. Any questions?"

Miss Nent suddenly spoke.

"Do I get to choose the team, or no?"

"You do not. We do not have so many people as to let such freedom."

Fise swallowed; it was the perfect time.

"What does the Radience do?"

"Fight against the Company."

"Is there training?"

"We let you train however much you want. You'll need to pay for anything extra."

"How do we pay?"

"Money."

"How do we get money?"

"Do missions. We assign you some."

"Does my team have a mission?"

"It will. Today is training for you."

"How will that work?"

"We give you a more experienced member and they will come with you on the mission. They shall observe and help."

They reached their destination. 2 floors they ascended, Fise counted. He looked onto this floor and noticed the large room compared to the corridors below. It was held up by columns spread out evenly, made from what looked like wood. Must be just the outside, Fise was sure. The floor was also wood. There were tables, chairs and benches. There were doors at the other 3 sides of the room. People roamed around, most in some bright, white attire. Fise saw Miss Nent begin to move.

Time stopped.

He didnt have his aura activated, so he couldn't turn his head, but he took in the sight a little more. People were entering and exiting. There was food and drinks, a bar as well. People ate and drank and talked. This seemed to be the main area of the Radiance, or one of them. He noticed people of all ages, though he seemed to be the youngest.

Time resumed.

He followed Miss Nent. People noticed him and started pointing, talking. Why was there someone so young here? What were the Radiance thinking? Fise decided to ignore them. He could feel the eyes on him like hands poking at an object never seen before, some curious, some reluctant, others full on staring, few shouting. He ignored them. Miss Nent walked past the middle of the room, where the circular bar was, and the bartender, a young man with black hair, gave a small wave to Miss Nent and a look of pity to Fise. Fise kept thinking, he decide he might as well do something than just walk and stare at the floor. He needed to get stronger, he needed to improve. Something struck him and he wanted to hit himself. His jaw tightened as he bit down. The dream.

Every time he had a dream, he got something that helped him. When he first acquired the ability, then after he survived the wraith, and now after he fought type doctor, no, after he learnt to stop time without his aura. The dreams seemed to have a pattern. He acquires something or learns something new and he gets one. He acquired his ability and had a dream. He learned how to use said ability and got a dream. And now he learned even more about it and had another dream. But something didn't fit. The second dream, it wasn't a mishmash of colours, like the first or third. What did the other 2 have that this one didn't? One showed him he could stop that and that he could move. The other showed him... what did it show him? He could stop time without using his aura, then turn it back on? He already could do that! Or already knew he could. So why would it show- it didn't. His aura only covered his hand. He remembered. He couldn't move anything but his hand. The time stop lasted longer than normal, but shorter than when he doesn't have his aura activated at all. He started to smile, the say Miss Nent stopped and stopped as well, wiping the smile off his face. They stood before a table with a vase on top and 2 girls seated at it.

"This is your team.Your 2 teammates: Seah (See-Ah) Manips," she waved to a girl playing with a blade, one of the only people in the room dressed in anything other than white, wearing a black zip up hoodie and a red t-shirt, with an emblem on the left side of her chest, a 4 point star at an angle. Her hair was black, Fise couldn't see if it was long or short,and her eyes were green.

"And Ann Virga."

"Yo!" the other girl waved. She had light brown hair and was wearing a white blazer above a white polo shirt, wearing the same emblem as the other girl. Her eyes were amber.

"Hello," waved Fise

Miss Nent continued, "The final member will arrive in 10 minutes, for now, go to your rooms, apartment C7, Fise, they'll explain it to you. When the last member comes back, you'll have an hour and then training begins. Goodbye." She then walked away. They stared after her. Well, Fise and Ann did, Seah kept spinning the blade. After Miss Nent finally got out of sight, Ann stood up and offered her hand.

"Name's Ann Virga, favourite colour's orange, 15 years old, you?"

Fise shook hands.

"Name's Fise, favourite colour's orange, 12 years old."

They let go and Ann straightened up, putting her hands behind her head, standing a clear 30cm taller than Fise.

"Damn~. You're young. No surname eh? Doesn't matter. But favourite colour grey? Come on!" She turned around and patted the other girl on the shoulder.

"Aight, let's go to our room."

Seah put the flower back in the vase and stood up before going towards the stairs Fise came from.

"She doesn't talk much." said Ann.

"I see."

They began walking after her and Fise asked Ann to explain the apartment numbers.

"Well they told us when we arrived. C is for the level I think? The floor number? And 7 is how far down that floor it is."

"Thank you."

"So, you know who our last teammate is?"

"Yeah, he's my friend."

"You came together?"

"You didn't?"

They began to descend.

"Nah, we were just told we were in the same team after explaining something, then left us."

"How was the test for you?"

"Test? Oh, yeah, I didn't do it, and Seah's went well I heard."

"Didn't do it?"

"Nah. You see,"

She leaned in closer.

"I don't have an aura."

Fise stepped back in surprise.

"What?"

"I'll explain in a bit. How did the test go for you?"

"We got absolutely destroyed by the doctor."

"Huh?"

"I guess you didn't meet her. She is the main doctor, and the leader's right hand apparently, her name is Dr. Verto."

"Wait wait, no I- uh- what do you mean you got destroyed? If that happened, how did you pass?"

Fise shrugged.

"Must have been on of those tests, the ones where they only want to see what you can do, they told me that after I woke up."

"Damn. So, since I'll explain later about the no aura thing, mind telling me about yours?"

"Sure."

"Cool, last time I asked, they gave me a weird look and-"

"We're here." Said Fise, pointing at the 'C' on the side of the wall.

Ann took the lead down the hallway. Fise realised that he was now 1 floor above the infirmary. They descended a floor, so since this is floor 'C', the one above is 'B', and the main floor is 'A', so infirmary is 'D'.

Fise began to explain.

"Its pretty weak actually, since I have only been training it for 5 days or so, wait, what day is it?"

"Tuesday."

"Then 6 days. Wait no, I was out for. ability after the wave-"

"What?"

"-so it must be like a week? Around a week."

"Oook, how about we head in? Then you can tell me the whole story, and I can show you the thing, if you want."

Fise noticed they were in front of the door numbered '7'. Ann pushed down the handle and opened the door. They walked in. there was a large room, almost 10 meters in every direction, with 2 couches and a coffee table in the middle, a carpet and wood flooring. On the left were 2 doors, and on the right was a mirrored version of them.

"Wow." said Ann. Seah opened the door furthest on the right, looked at them and closed the door. That was her room.

"Well, imma dibs the room next to hers." said Ann as she walked to one of the couches and sat down. Fise followed and sat across from her.

"I guess I'll show you know." she said, some excitement creeping into her voice. Fise nodded. Ann stretched out both her hands and held them next to each other in front of her. Her muscles tensed. Fise looked closely. He didnt really notice anything so he moved closer. He saw it then. Suddenly, light blue lightning flashed out. It didn't brighten the room in a blinding flash, and to Fise, while it was emitting some light, it didn't really seem like it did. It crackled in between her hands and Fise looked closer. She said she didn't have an aura, so were there people with abilities? Were there people with superpowers? Fise saw the mist. It slowly formed from the lightning. More and more until it became droplets of water. 3 of them, the smallest the size of Fise's pinky nail, floated, some blue lightning flashing out now and then. Then Ann relaxed and they fell onto the table. Fise looked at Ann and opened his mouth.

"Creation magic."

He closed it when Ann spoke.

"What you saw was creation magic, there isn't a better way to put it. It creates, and its the most magic magical magic there is. It uses power from another plane, I think that's what my teacher said, and we can tap into it to use it as equivalent exchange. We can make anything from it, but water is an easy one since it is liquid and uses small elements, as well as not needing any heating or cooling to be liquid. The smaller the elements, and the less of them, and the free'er they are, the easier it is to create, get it? Water is just used so people can actually see it working."

Fise nodded.

"Now, your turn, spill."

He told her how he witnessed a fight between his now friend and an enemy sent to kill him, and how because of it he awakened his powers. Then the wave, then the gate man, and befriending Andrew, then he skipped over to the fight on the bridge and talked about the man's ability and moved on.

"Hold on! Give me details!"

So he told her, from start to finish what happened though he was careful not to mention their powers. He got to the end and she laughed out loud.

"I wish I could punch a hole through someone!" she laughed. Fise still didn't want to remember the crunch and snap of the spine or the wet burst of the organs, but her merry mood helped him not think about it.

"But," she said after laughing a bit more. "Just because I cant do that doesn't mean you should underestimate me! Here."

She reached into her pocket and pulled out an empty water bottle. Those blazer pockets were quite large. She stood up and went at the head of the table, putting the bottle towards the edge in the middle of it. Fise also stood up and went behind her. She crouch and pulled her fist back. It lay horizontally. Blue lightning crackled. She struck out. Fise barely saw it, she was definitely stronger than him if he didn't activate his aura. He didn't see when the fist hit the bottle but did see the bottle burst open on the other side and shoot off to the other side of the coffee table as something bright shot through the bottle and into the wall at the other end, causing a hole to appear in the wood. Fise remembered what Miss Nent said: 'Anything you break, you compensate for.' And felt a chill go down his back.

Exactly at that moment the the door opened and Andrew walked in. He looked at Fise and Ann, who looked back at him. Ann was holding her hand next to her face in the shape of a gun with a blank expression on her face, while Fise stood still with the same expression. Andrew's eyes darted to the hole in the wall and back at them.

The bottle reached the floor.

"What did you two do?"