"You're free to go,"
The male nurse declared, his attention entirely consumed by the tablet on his hand. He continued on as Jace flexed his left hand, the blood and IV bags disconnected from his skin.
The nurse continued speaking as Jace found his mind wandering back to the description just the day before. 'Cursed.'
He had spent hours considering what exactly it was and why it had popped up at that moment. Jace had originally assumed it was connected to Bill's…, to the death, but that theory was flawed.
If the system's words were to be believed, then Jace had somehow followed the meaning of cursed, yet that was wrong. In fact, Jace considered himself blessed. He had escaped the more dangerous option of death and now had a chance of turning his fate.
Instead, Jace had settled onto the more probable outcome. His corrupted feature came from the stone, or more specifically, the Devourer. The mysterious entity had pushed Jace to the corpse's death and all subsequent events.
Then, there was the stone. Jace was still confused about what the stone truly did. Was it truly the prison of the Devourer, or did it house the system. Could the system have been the Devourer's prison?
And even then, the mystery of the men above the clouds remained. What exactly was the darkness, how had the man saved him, and what change had he been referring to?
Questions surrounded Jace like an inescapable prison, the walls slowly driving him in. Jace was in a battle with a being of almost immeasurable power, one with eons of knowledge at his side and all Jace had was questions.
It was an unfair if not cursed match-up. Jace grimaced as he felt like he understood a tiny part of his special word.
Jace strode out of his small room the second the doctor stopped his speech. He walked out the room, into a long hallway and finally out of the hospital. Jace took a moment to acclimate to the natural light as he considered where he was going.
He flicked open his cyberlink, wading through the news updates and chats as he found an obscure message by an unknown sender. The message was short. 'Meet me in the weapons class when done.'
Jace sighed, his left hand feeling at his side. He glanced back at the hospital, considering if he could just go back and ask the receptionist to admit him again.
Gazing onward, Jace trudged to the class. Minutes later, he arrived in front of a metal door. Jace raised his hand to knock until he paused, his hand hovering over the door. Oddly, he had a feeling of deja vu.
"Come in," the instructor commanded despite no knock. The odd feeling seemed to intensify.
Jace pushed open the creaking door as he walked in. There he saw his Instructor. Gone was the old veteran of war and replacing him was a young scholar. A long coat draped over his shoulders and glasses pushed up by the bridge of his nose, the Instructor could make for a professor if not a model.
Nodding as Jace walked in, the Instructor walked over to a corner. A second later he was back, dragging with him two metal chairs.
He sat in one, nodding Jace to the other. Jace meekly obeyed as the Instructor grabbed his laptop, an old fashioned design from eras past, and clicked it on.
The screen remained blank until a blue backdrop popped up with the words, 'Welcome back Drax' plastered on the screen.
'Drax,' Jace noted as the Instructor began to type into the old piece of technology, a few pauses dotting the time followed by rapid typing. Jace fiddled around on the chair, waiting for the Instructor's words. They came sooner rather than later. "Your ability?"
Jace's lips moved to form 'fog', before his mind raced ahead of him and clamped the lips shut. He couldn't show any knowledge of his mysterious ability, not before he revealed the system. If he did. Jace needed to lie and to lie convincingly.
"I think it might be fog, or something related to that," Drax, the Instructor, nodded. His eyes didn't leave the screen as he continued his questioning.
"When did that happen? Before or after killing Bill?"
As Drax mentioned Bill, Jace thought he heard mocking laughter. "No, during. It just…kinda happened."
Drax's gaze left the screen as he weighed Jace up with his eyes. Finally, he declared, "Let's cut the bull. You're lying. There's only been two recorded cases of people awakening abilities past the age of 10 and the oldest of them was 12. You're 17."
It was fairly common knowledge abilities manifested between the ages of 5-10. Once a person missed that window, that was it. But Jace was unique due to the presence of the system and the Devourer, and neither of them were existences Drax could know about.
"Well," Jace smirked, leaning against the cold back of the metal chair. "Seems I made history."
Drax weighed Jace once more, entirely focused on the young boy in front of him. "And if I were to hook you up onto a lying machine? Place a sword onto your neck? Would your answer change?"
Jace allowed his voice to rise. "Why don't you do just that and save us all the trouble,"
Silence settled onto the room as Drax continued to gaze at the young boy. Jace, meanwhile, struggled not to allow a grimace to cross his lips. He was severely regretting his word choice.
Finally, Drax allowed a small smile to slip onto his face. "Good. Next time someone questions you like that, say exactly that."
Jace frowned as Drax continued "No one, and I mean no one, should be able to do any of the things outlined and even then," Drax shrugged, "No one cares. As long as you stay on Humanity's side, most people won't get in your way."
All except the military. Jace bit back his thoughts as Drax slowly shifted. "But,"
Jace froze as the hairs on his skin stood. Drax rose, his every gesture simple yet powerful. "I'm going to believe Bill was a mistake, a lack of judgement. And so, if you so much as touch another student, I'll kill you myself, Humanity or not."
Drax smiled a cold grin as he plopped back onto his chair. Jace let out a huge exhale as the Instructor went back to typing. Jace watched as Drax continued, his attention entirely on his work. Finally, Jace broached "Can I lea…?"
"No."
"Come," Drax motioned. Jace stood from his chair, trudging slowly. He walked over to Drax's back, peeking over his shoulder to see the screen. There, Jace found a form. Height, weight, age–All was documented.
Jace frowned as he read through a line. He protested, his voice rising, "You made a mistake. I'm 5'11."
The Instructor turned mechanically, glanced at Jace, turned back to the line, '5'10' written in the center. He glanced back at Jace, pondered and then scrolled downward, away from the line
The veteran spoke just before Jace began another protest. "The heart, the one you used. What happened to it?" Jace offered a grim smile in response.
Nodding, Drax sighed heavily. He rose as he walked over to his desk. Out of it, he retrieved what looked like a watch. The watch was a sleek grey with a thinness that could match a cyberlink's.
A cursory scan from drax and the item soared in the air, finding its way into Jace's hands. Accompanying the watch was Drax's voice "That is a simple machine. Just wrap it round your wrist and it should determine what rank your ability is."
Jace fiddled with the watch, a long yet incredibly thin needle popping out from a contraption in the center. "Um, Can I not use this?"
The Instructor walked about as he shook his head "Unfortunately, no. We need to determine what rank your ability is and what exactly it is. The latter is a lot more complicated so the first needs an answer,"
Drax paused before continuing "Logically, your ability shouldn't be any lower than rank 4. It had a dampening effect."
Jace continued to tinker with the watch as he asked absentmindedly. "Is that all?"
Drax's answer came a beat later. "The fog also felt alive."
The statement brought a chill to Jace's heart as his fingers froze. His mind went to his mysterious friend yet Jace didn't fully believe that. If the Devourer truly held power over the fog, then he wouldn't have been so benevolent in the battle. Unless there was something else he was aiming for.
Jace frowned as he pushed the thought away. He fitted the watch, just as its face shone with the number '4'. The number soon morphed, changing into a '6'.
Drax nodded, focusing back on his laptop just as the '6' twitched to form an '8', returning back to '6' soon after. Jace gazed with incredulity as the '6' remained. He glanced up at the Instructor who neither shifted nor turned.
Finally, Jace sighed, dismissing the change to be a simple issue. He unclasped the watch, handing the item back to the veteran.
"Are we done?"
Drax heaved as he rose, his coat stretching to the ground. "Yes. Let's go."
As the Instructor spoke, he placed his laptop down gently upon the wooden desk, and grabbed his weapon. Drax raised the golden blade high before strapping it onto his back and nodding to Jace.
With that, he took the lead, striding out the room in heavy steps, Jace at his heels. The two moved in the direction of the invisible field.
The journey continued, accompanied by Drax's hum and the chirping of birds. Jace, meanwhile, was left with his thoughts. More precisely, he was consumed by questions.
With his 'reawakening' story soon becoming official and Jace switching classes, he knew it wouldn't be long before someone brought up the timing between Jace's new ability and Bill's death. Inevitably, dots would be connected and Jace would become the subject of scrutiny.
It would happen slowly, maybe over weeks. Rumors would begin and slowly, Jace would be isolated. Jace turned to look at Drax as a peculiar thought crossed his mind. Maybe that was the Military's plan. To isolate and easily contain him.
Jace slowed his place, gazing at the flowers escorting the path. He brushed his hand as he walked, feeling through the flowers.
"We're here."
Drax's words broke the silent atmosphere. Jace restrained the urge to sigh as he took a glance at his attire. Dusting them, he looked back up, gazing in confusion "...Um…Where are we exactly?"
In front of them, the stony path continued, abruptly cutting off after just metres. Jace glanced at the end of the path, frowning as he attempted to peer between space and glimpse a look at the field. He failed.
Still surrounding the path were nothing but flowers. Jace glanced at the Instructor as a tiny smile tugged the veteran's lips. The older man turned, walking into the flowerbed.
Jace's eyes widened as he followed just as Drax stopped and stretched out an arm. Like a trick, a brown door appeared. Its surface was oddly detailed, decorated in the scribblings of monkeys masking as men, yet dowsed in dust.
Drax grabbed the knob, twisting it open as chatters sprang out. The murmurings of people, the flowing of water and an odd symphony of those altogether rose as Drax took a step through the door, Jace behind him.
The murmurs gradually quietened as Jace felt the familiar sensation of a fold. When he opened his eyes,a dimly lit room appeared in his vision. Amidst the darkness, Jace could see a dozen floating…eyes!
The gazes watched and noted him carefully, the owners sat in chairs spread out far, each farther one rising ever so slightly above the ground.
Jace turned, noting the still fixed eyes, as he caught Drax, his back turned as he conversed with someone. Drax's conversation partner had her back turned as well, her long brown hair just under her shoulders.
In the shadows of that conversation, someone else stood. Donning blue hair and with a distinctive air, Jace could still recall her from Orientation. She was watching Jace, her eyes regarding Jace almost calmly. Yet behind that calm, Jace could feel a vague wariness.
Finally, Drax turned as he noticed Jace. His conversation partner did too, a broad smile on her face. She glanced at Jace, her face sparking recognition, as she smiled broadly. "You must be Jace. Please,"
She nodded to the trained eyes still watching him. "...Have a seat."
Jace nodded, glancing back at the gazes that had never once left him. He walked slowly, moving out of what seemed to be the stage and into the seats.
As he did, the eyes followed him. Jace walked up a small staircase, considering his seat. That was until he caught sight of blonde hair and a familiar face.
Jace's pace quickened as he slipped into the seat beside his friend, muttering in a low tone. "This seat taken?"
Jax smiled broadly, his gaze one of the many that had stuck with him. "Hey, how are you?...And now, why on Earth are you here?"
A smile crossed his face as Jace thought to respond, until a low yet clear cough rang through. Jace turned, noting his new instructor, instructor Bailey gazing at him. Drax was gone, vanishing into thin air.
"Are you done?" Instructor Bailey questioned, her voice fairly light-hearted. Jace nodded, aware that the gaze on him had significantly lessened.
Instructor Bailey smiled in response, clapping her hands together as she declared "In honor of our newest arrival, let us begin with the first lesson."