Shards and Bubbles

The atmosphere was cold. Aeris, who had been staring at Shiro, was planning. She moved, and Shiro, who flinched, quickly got into a defensive stance. The ice that had been spread all over the floor by her self-destruct charged at him. Shiro, surprised by her control, slashed at the massive shard of ice, but right when his blade touched the ice shard, it shattered into hundreds of pieces.

Shiro's blood ran cold, falling for her trap; hundreds of fragments of ice moved all around him. "So your stage one is control." Shiro managed a subtle smile, figuring out her stage one. Aeris' devilish face smiled, with no regret behind those dull yellow eyes. The shards aligned and attacked Shiro at the same time.

In a matter of moments, Shiro made multiple reflect bubbles. Ice spread everywhere, and in the mist, a figure stood above it all, his face darkened.

Aeris' smile changed; Shiro didn't get hit, reflecting every shard to the ground.

Shiro, shocked by what he did, quickly focused again, grabbing the hilt of his sword. He dashed to the side, making use of his bubbles and threw a hardened clear sphere at her. Aeris, out of instinct, shot it, falling for Shiro's trap; the bubble burst, and hundreds more fell upon the surrounding area.

"How much fage does he have?" Aeris questioned Shiro. "The regular bubbles don't take any fage." Aeris' eyes widened as she thought that such a useless power was being pushed to its limits. Summoning more ice shards, she shot them in a frenzy. While controlling the shards, she lost track of Shiro.

Feeling fage being used behind her, she turned around, looking down at a foot kicked towards her chin. The world started to spin. Wasting no time, Shiro placed the hilt of the katana behind her head, brought her face closer to him, jumped up, and kneed her face. Shiro's killing intent was high. Stacking the attack, he tripped her, pointing the sword closer to her throat, copying Aurelia and ending the match. They had no hard feelings after since it was only a spar.

The sun was a dark golden color, with rays of sunlight piercing the gaps of the mountains. A pale boy with brown curly hair moved in the same motion repeatedly, dark brown eyes that looked like a deep void, swinging a sword in an up-and-down motion, sweat running down his face.

6995, 6996, 6997, 6998, 6999, 7000. Shiro flopped to the ground, his face looking even whiter than before, sweat rolling down his body, eyes hollowed from any emotion. "You want to lose again?" Marigold was pissed off, her face beet red. "If you hadn't won that spar with Aeris, it would have been doubled!" Marigold was tired. "The last thing you have to do today is climb that mountain over there. Once you reach the top, bear crawl the way down." Marigold said it in a way that made the task sound easy. "Easier said than done," Shiro said, looking at her dumbfounded.

Fatigue was already kicking in; Marigold just looked at Shiro, saying nothing, and walked away.

Shiro was already thinking about the struggle of climbing the mountain. Why did I have to spar with Aurelia? Shiro thought to himself, filled with regret. "THIS MOUNTAIN IS A DAMN SKYSCRAPER!" Shiro yelled loud enough to make sure his sister heard.

Shiro looked up, tears already rolling down his face.

Aeris, laying on her bed and rubbing her face, was thinking about how her spar went. I lost to a man who uses bubbles, for crying out loud, she remarked to herself. Hearing the door open, she got up. "Shiro!" she yelled, expecting to see him with a big smile.

Opening the door, her eyes widened. "You left just for a few hours!" she yelled out. Shiro's hair was a mess, with leaves, plants, and other things you would expect outside in his hair. His face looked like he hadn't eaten in years, paler than a ghost, with scratches all over his body and dirt marks everywhere. His training clothes were all torn.

"Let me treat you," Aeris said, her face full of worry for her roommate. "Let me first take a shower," Shiro replied, his voice raspy. Getting out of the shower, he was worn out; his sister's training really took a toll on him. "Follow me," Aeris said, grabbing his hand and bringing him to her room. This was Shiro's first time seeing it.

The floor was dark brown, the walls pink, and in the middle was a pink circle carpet. All over the walls were different cartoons, with Shiro only recognizing the bear cartoon. Next to the door was her shelf full of different manga. In the left top corner was her bed, with pink sheets.

Aeris laid his head on her lap; her bed was comfortable, unlike mine, Shiro thought, feeling jealous. Aeris started to treat his injuries with a med kit. "So what happened to you? Did you get in another fight?" Aeris asked, full of worry. "No, I lost a spar with Aurelia not long ago, and my sister made me train again." Shiro's face was relaxed while being treated; his body also loosened. "SISTER?!" Aeris was shocked to know Shiro had a sister. She questionably asked who his sister was. "Marigold, one of the higher-ups, one of the fage teachers. How did you think I got into this academy?"

Aeris, still surprised, started to match up all the pieces. I mean, they do look identical.

"I'm not surprised you didn't know. This cruel world only cares about legacies; we can't even have the right to our last name." Shiro closed his eyes, feeling his consciousness slowly fading away. Aeris finished treating his wounds, thinking about how amazing Marigold was, but her being related to him didn't make sense. I mean, they fight differently. Aeris can only make this claim by watching Marigold spar with a student.

Aeris noticed Shiro was fast asleep, taking a second to realize that they were going to sleep in the same bed. Her face turned pink, blushing like crazy. "Just so it doesn't seem weird, I'll face the opposite way," she said, her voice trembling.

Tucking herself and Shiro both into bed, her face still pink, she took one more glance at him and fell asleep.

In the midst of a gray sky, with the sun in fragments, stood a little town. In the town stood one particular building, the color of old coffee, stones tucked tightly on the side, with foggy windows. The door creaked open, revealing a group of men, each having a different appearance. Some had foxlike ears, body sizes like mountains, and some were short. The smell of beer filled the building, with laughter, jokes, and fights going on.

In the crowd was a man in a black tunic, chains wrapped all around him. His hair moved like snakes, almost alive; his face was paler than the fizz in his beer, with red eyes so dark they appeared black. "Oh yeah, I bet five gold pieces that Raian would win," the man's voice trembled, moving side to side, unable to understand what was going on.