Boy of Light and Dust

Ica

Ica wasn't sure why he felt so anxious after Dayin's training. It wasn't like he could have expected more from Dayin, who had previously never used magic. But after their training, it left him feeling more anxious than hopeful. And guilty for wishing that Dayin knew more. Why did everything have to feel like it was closing in on them? He knew he would do his best to protect Dayin, but also knew that it wouldn't be enough. He was nineteen against... Ancient warlocks. It wasn't a fight they'd ever be able to win short of a miracle.

As he returned to the fifth floor, he noticed the hallway was uncharacteristically quiet. While there wasn't generally much chatter, there was almost always the soft buzz of electricity running through the hall, and he heard none of it, despite the lights in the hallway still eerily lit. He cautiously pushed his door open to find the living area empty. He furrowed his brow as he peered into the kitchenette and found it similarly empty.

"Hello?" he whispered, blue eyes scanning his surroundings suspiciously. When there was no response, he quietly walked into his room, reaching out with his magic to see if there were any other magical signatures nearby. When he didn't find any, he relaxed, but only slightly. Where was Max?

Ica ground his teeth as he reached out further, despite being tired, looking specifically for Max. When he couldn't feel his little brother's energy, he felt his heart rise to his throat, making it hard to breathe. Where was Max?

He should have been back in their room an hour ago. It's not like he knew anyone that he could've stopped to see along the way, aside from Samantha, and even then, Ica should've been able to tell if he was that close. But he couldn't.

He swallowed stiffly as he turned back to the front door of their rooms. C'mon, buddy. Where did you run off to? he thought nervously. They couldn't afford Max's games now. If someone caught him and he said the wrong things... Ica's mind went racing in about a billion different directions.

He pushed the front door open to almost run over Alexander, who had been trying to walk past the door. He seemed annoyed by Ica's hurry and hadn't seemed to notice that there was something off. "Got something important to do?" Alex asked, with a glance at Ica's disheveledness.

Ica gave him an exasperated look as he combed a hand through his abnormally messy hair. "Something's not right," he said with a wild gesture to the hall, which earned him a quizzical look from Alex. "Max wasn't in the room. I don't know—"

"Woah, slow down a sec," Alex said, putting his hands out to lightly touch Ica's shoulders to steady him. His touch seemed to jerk him back to reality, if only a little. "What do you mean, 'Something's not right'?" he asked as he glanced down the hall. He could tell that Alex didn't believe him.

He made another wild gesture to the hall, this time in irritation. "Something feels wrong," Ica said impatiently, annoyed that Alex was holding him up. He needed to find Max.

"An impending sense of doom. That's nice. We're under a lot of stress right now. Nothing is wrong, Ica," Alex said, the sarcasm that began his sentence slowly ebbing away. "Do you know where Max might have gone?"

"I don't know," Ica sighed. That was the entire problem; he didn't know where Max was. "He's not with the Daniels' and—"

"We suggested he help Dayin with his training. Do you think he might have met Dayin somewhere and tried to 'help' him?" Alex inquired as he rubbed at the back of his neck in thought.

That sounded like a very Max thing to do. "I... Hadn't thought of that," Ica admitted, slightly annoyed with himself for not taking a moment to just think. "I'll go see if Dayin found himself a tag-a-long," he mumbled with an embarrassed smile at Alex before he sidestepped the older boy and speed-walked down the hall before he could say anything else stupid.