Inferiority Complex

I stood back up and began shouting, my frustration at being lectured by the man whom I held in high respect causing me to raise my voice. "What the hell do you expect me to do Azriel, my back is against the wall and everyone is afraid of me now. I wish there was something I could do, but this aether of mine is something that is constantly trying to consume my sanity and take over."

"You aren't even trying." Azriel snorted before turning his back to me and walking away. After that I froze where I stood, feeling guilty and angry at the same time. Was I supposed to come to him for support, help? Piss off, I don't need anyone's help. After all my entire life I've been doing fine all on my own, I never needed any help.

My temper cooled immediately and I stomped up next to him and crossed my arms, still giving off the air that I was still mad at him, despite the fact that I wasn't anymore. "What happened, was just a mistake, okay?" I stated, trying my hardest to remain neutral as possible.

"There's only so much help I can give you boy." Azriel growled before placing his arm around me and leading me back into the main school hall.

"Fine..." I puffed out, letting him lead me back to our dorm, avoiding eye contact with other students as we passed them by. When we arrived at our dormitory, both Callum and Ariel trailed behind. "Hey, Azriel is pissed off."

"How can you tell?" I remarked sarcastically as I fell onto my bed face first, completely exhausted. Callum looked over and cocked an eyebrow. "Dude, if you get blood all over your sheets, you're going to clean it yourself."

I lifted up a thumb's up. "Noted." My eyes grew heavy, and soon the lights blurred in and out, changing rapidly as I struggled to keep my consciousness, the darkness taking over as sleep claimed my mind once again, sending me back into the void of unconsciousness.

***

The morning dawned bright and warm, yet still surprisingly quiet. All around the room was silent, as if everyone were too tired to speak or simply lost in their thoughts, reflecting over the day before.

After the long, drawn out classes I had, all that I wanted was some fresh air to cool myself off. Thankfully, Ariel and Callum accompanied me out of class, our bags slung over their shoulders and arms linked together.

It was comforting to see my two closest friends beside me in this moment, helping to carry some of my burden.

Although there were whispers all throughout the Academy now about my dual personality and other things which are hard to comprehend. I am the first person to use aether in two thousand years, according to the Headmaster at least.

"Well... it is kind of annoying being called a monster." I mused as we sat underneath one of the great oak trees outside, resting from a busy day filled with exams and training exercises.

"Not at all dude," Callum said with a mischievous grin, "You won't need to deal with any bullshit anymore, people will just avoid you and at the end of the day, all you need is a few friends in life."

"Thanks bro." I offered a fist bump which he gladly accepted, reciprocating the gesture.

We sat for quite a while, watching students come and go, most of whom avoiding my presence while giving me glares of pure fear.

"I think it's time we head off to the dorm, you gotta have a hearty meal after everything that has happened." Ariel suggested, pulling me away from my daze.

Callum looked up and nodded, "Sounds good to me, lets head home then."

With that said, we took off towards our dorms, keeping pace beside each other with no rush whatsoever, despite knowing that there were still several hours before dinner was due to commence.

By the time the three of us reached the dorms we were famished and immediately headed to our kitchen. I rummaged around inside one of the cupboards looking for something edible while Ariel pulled some leftover pizza from her pack. We took our respective places at our dinner table where our plates and utensils had already been set out in advance.

Once our meals were done we headed back outside again to enjoy the rest of the day, deciding that it'd be nice to sit around and talk for a while until curfew came around and forced us back inside again.

We took a stroll around campus chatting about life outside of the Academy and all our various plans for the future while watching as people came and left throughout the day. When it came time for lights out at eleven o'clock, we headed back towards the dorm, calling it a night, completely satisfied after a long day of working hard at classes.

Just when I was about to close the front door a loud voice was heard from right behind us. "STOP!!" I jumped in surprise and spun round to see Thorne standing in front of us, the dark evening shadows covering much of his form save for his large chest which was highlighted under the full moonlight.

"Thorne, what the hell is going on here, what do you want?!" I said, glaring at him. He narrowed his eyes at me, his posture becoming rigid and stiff, making it difficult for me to read his intentions.

"You embarrassed me in front of the entire school. I understand why Professor Ego, Headmaster Reagan and Azriel had you come into the school. You are a monster, you aren't even human. I FUCKING HATE YOU."

I glared harder, hoping he would drop the act and stop insulting me, but he didn't seem fazed. He took several more steps forward, causing Ariel and Callum to jump to my side. They positioned themselves between us both, glaring at him ferociously, but Thorne continued his slow, purposeful walk towards us until we reached a stand-still, all four of us staring at one another intently.

After a long and awkward silence had passed, he spoke, his voice soft yet commanding. "We have two options here tonight, Cyrus, one, I beat your ass so you can be exposed for the fraud that you really are, or two, you beat the shit out of me and you will be expelled for excessive violence and be cast as a complete monster."

"THIS IS COMPLETE FUCKING BULLSHIT, FUCK YOU!" Callum yelled, swinging his fist into the air angrily.

Thorne grinned evilly. "Callum, you're a waste of space, it is a miracle you are even in this class. Maybe if mommy and daddy didn't dump so much money into the school, you wouldn't be here right now. YOU'RE WEAK AND PATHETIC."

That statement did it for Callum, he charged forward at an incredible speed and kicked Thorne right in the chest sending him stumbling backwards, coughing slightly and clutching his abdomen in pain. Ariel and I were frozen as we watched everything happen before us, we knew this would not end well regardless of the outcome, so the three of us chose to run away. "Just know Cyrus... you won't be safe any longer."