Black Wings (3)

"Yes, yes you did." He spoke as his eyes widened. "That's… Um… You're a fast learner."

Mara's eyes glimmered with joy. "Really?" She exclaimed with a higher pitched voice. Her smile widened as she brought her other hand to her chest. "I'm so happy!" She closed her eyes and tipped her head ever so slightly.

The orb of light flickered momentarily before her spell broke apart.

Her eyes opened wide as her shoulders dropped. "Aw… I couldn't keep it going."

Aether chuckled. "It's fine, I think it was amazing for a first try." He stole a glance as she once again gazed on the orb of light still shining brightly in his palm. Were those purple eyes really what he thought them to be?

A beep sounded from Mara's stat bracelet.

Startled, the young girl glanced at her arm. "Oh." She mumbled as she tapped on the bracelet and opened that familiar interface.

"What's the spell's name?" Mara asked, lightly touching Aether's shoulder to catch his attention. The young man hesitated for a moment. "I just called it 'Light', since that's all it does." He replied before quietly exhaling a breath of relief as Mara's hand left his shoulder.

Why was this girl constantly catching him off guard? Had he lost his edge already?

"In that case, Light!" Mara exclaimed.

<'Light' Added to archives.>

Mara closed the interface, the with a genuine smile, thanked Aether before running off somewhere.

The young man stood still for a moment longer before clenching his fist shut. If he was right about her eyes, Mara was definitely someone he had to look out for. He hated to think if it in this way, but she could pose the greatest threat to him out of all the people he had met so far.

He fiddled with the few stray strands of hair in front of his eyes and watched the others. The crowd that had gathered around Iris suddenly burst into laughter, with Iris' laugh being the loudest. As he watched with disinterest, she threw her blonde hair back and made a show of the rather large ball of flame in her hand.

It was nothing special, and it was less than what she was really capable of. But Aether's expression still darkened as she showcased her power to the other students. She was being careless.

"You seem awfully unhappy." Professor Cross' voice sounded. Aether glanced back over his shoulder to see the woman standing right behind him. "I wonder why that is…?" She mumbled, then with a mischievous smile, glanced at him.

"It's rather difficult to focus amidst all this noise." Aether said, letting his gaze wander.

Professor Cross narrowed her eyes, then shrugged. "That is true." She spoke. Her stiff figure seemed to relax a little bit, but she was clearly still on edge. "So, what did you accomplish?" She asked, turning her attention on him once more.

Aether's shoulders dropped. "Uh…" He mumbled. "Not much, to be honest." He raised his palm and showed her just that: nothing.

Professor Cross's lips formed a thin line. "Does that mean you don't have any ideas?"

Aether shook his head. "No, ma'am. It just means that my first idea didn't work out as I hoped it would." He turned his gaze on Iris' group once more. "Looks like they are succeeding at something though." He added absentmindedly.

"I don't think showcasing a small fire spell is a success." Professor Cross chuckled. "But that's not why I'm annoying you." She discreetly nodded towards Mara. "Did she learn that light spell of yours already?"

Aether's eyes narrowed ever so slightly. "You could say-"

He stopped mid sentence as his eyes darted to Iris' group. He closed his eyes, and then opened them once more. His slit pupils narrowed as his vision changed. The world seemed darker, less colourful to him while a bright, chaotic light slowly became visible just a few steps away from Iris.

The young man leapt up on his feet and dashed to the crowd.

"Run!" Someone else shouted all of a sudden. "Get away from there – Iris, guys, now!" The high pitched, terror filled voice sounded. As everyone looked around, confused, Aether reached through the crowd and grabbed Iris' arm.

"What the hell are you doing?" The young girl shouted. She tried to pull her hand back, but Aether ignored her shouting and dragged her away from that constantly shifting light. "Let go of me!" A loud slap sounded as she hit him across the face with the back of her hand. "You-"

"Shut up." Aether hissed as he pushed her away from him, towards the still confused and now also startled Professor. Iris let out a low cry as she fell on the ground. "How dare you!" She cried after him, but Aether was already gone.

The young man dashed through the small crowd once more, and as he reached the light, he turned to face the students. "Run!" he shouted at the top of his lungs.

"Do as he says!" That same voice sounded. "It's wildmagic! Aether, you must run too!"

"Wildmagic?" Some of the students murmured. "What?" Someone else said "Why would that-"

"Do as you're told!" A bellowing voice sounded. Aether's eyes snapped to Erika as she grabbed the student closest to him and the light by the collar. "Are you all deaf?" She pulled him away, then kicked his butt, sending the smaller guy almost flying.

Aether hesitated for a split second more as the danger of the situation finally struck the rest of the students.

"Fuck!" Someone shouted – it sounded like Seth's voice.

"What the hell are you waiting for?" Erika asked, grabbing Aether's collar and yanking him away from the spot where wildmagic gathered. He almost fell down, but then regained his balance and ran with her, way from that spot.

And it was not a moment too soon that they ran away, as the ground shook and a loud boom sounded. A shockwave sent everyone flying. Aether fell on the ground with a muffled thud, then immediately forced himself to get up on one knee and look at the source of all this chaos.

"What in the name of the chaos realms is that?" He whispered as the biggest bug he had ever seen entered his view.