Fire Meets Water - A Kotlc Marellinh Fan Fiction

Chapter 11 - Linh

Bang! Bang! Bang!

Linh woke from her restless sleep.

Bang! Bang! Bang! The sound came again. Then a voice.

"Come on, get up! It's time for training!" It sounded like the Charger who had shown Linh and Marella to their rooms. Training? Already? Linh thought. There were no windows to let light in, but she was pretty sure it was before dawn.

Linh pushed off her rough sheets and got up, stretching her stiff back. She looked around, wondering if the Neverseen had left anything for Linh to wear.

When she saw the black cloak, Linh had to fight back a rush of fear and anxiety and remind herself that they were going to get out of this. She was going to get Marella out of this.

She took off her old singed clothes and put on the entirely black outfit. Linh pulled the hood over her head and opened the door. Outside, the charger and a smaller figure in a cloak that looked too big for their pietie frame. Marella. Linh's heart did a few flips before she managed to get under control.

"Took you long enough," their guardian said, "Let's go. And by the way you can call me Crackle."

Crackle led them through a maze of hallways, not a single window or shaft of natural light to be seen. Maybe they were underground.

Linh menouvered herself next to Marella and reached for her hand. Marella took it, gripping hard and taking Linh by surprise. She hung back slightly from Crackle, pulled Marella back with her.

"What's wrong?" she whispered, trying to be quiet enough that Crackle didn't hear, but loud enough that Marella did.

"It's her." she said, staring at their chaperone.

"Who? Crackle?" Linh pushed.

"Yeah. She's...." Marella swallowed hard, as if the words were stuck in a lump in her throat. After a second she managed to get out "Lady Jarma."

Linh sucked in a breath. She didn't know a lot about Marella's alchemy mentor other than the fact that Marella looked up to her and she was one of the only people who didn't judge Marella for her Pyrokineses. This must have come as a huge blow to Marella.

Linh gripped her friend's (possibly girlfriend's?) hand, squeezing to let her know she was here for her. Marella squeezed her hand back.

Crackle took a sharp right and walked down the hallway. Linh and Marella dropped each other's hands right as Crackle turned to look at them.

"You will train with Fintan here," she said, gesturing to the large door on the side of the wall.

Linh and Marella walked in to find Fintan standing there with a smile that made Linh want to barf.

The training room was small and made entirely of stone (as it seemed all of the hideout was) with balefire sconces every ten feet to light the place. There were a few metal chairs, and, strangely, a large tub of water. Was Fintan planning to train Linh too? Or someone else? Linh didn't think there was another Hydrokinetic in the Neverseen, but Fintan had expressed interest in her "talent".

Her train of thought was cut short by Crackle leaving, closing the door on her way. Linh heard a click. Did she lock the door? She thought, Wow, I guess they really don't take any chances.

"So." Fintan said. "Let's get started shall we?"

"I really don't think we have much of a choice." Marella answered dryly. "Besides, you know we can't work with our abilities with these cuffs you put on us."

Fintan rolled his eyes. "Yes, I'm aware." He said, and fished out some device from deep in one of the pockets in his cloak. It was small and black, smooth and perfectly round as if he has spent months sanding it. Fintan held the device next to Marella's handcuffs and there was a soft pop! sound and the cuffs fell off Marella's wrists and hit the ground with a thunk.

He did the same thing to Linh, the metal hitting the stone floor next to Marella's. She flexed her wrists, glad to be free of the bonds, and being able to move her arms freely.

All of a sudden, Marella fired three quick fireballs at Fintan. Linh sucked in a breath. Is this going to be our escape opportunity?

Fintan caught the flames in his hand, quickly sniffing them out. He didn't even move a foot.

Nope.

"Marella, Marella, Marella," Fintan scorned, as if scolding a toddler who had more cookies then he said. "You are learning from the oldest, more trained Pyrokinetic in the whole world. You can't beat me."

Marella folded her arms and glared at Fintan, but didn't attack him again. Are we ever going to get out of here? Linh wondered, starting to feel a bit nauseous. Will we be stuck here for the rest of our lives? Will I ever see Tam again? Or Biana? Or Sophie? Heck, I might never see daylight again! I mean....it could be worse, I guess. I am with Marella of all people.

"Linh," Fintan said, "having gone to Exilium, you have a headstart and can watch for this first little bit-" he gestured to one of the chairs "-Marella, however, we will start skill training now."

Marella took a longing glance at Linh before walking over to Fintan. Linh sat down in one of the chairs, the metal cold against her legs.

"How about we start with levitation," Fintan said. "Really, it's not too hard. Just focus on bringing the object to you. Like this," he pulled a flask of water out of his cloak and threw it across the room. Then, he closed his eyes and the flask twitched for a moment before zooming into Fintan's hand.

"Now you try," He said to Marella without further explanation.

The next week went pretty much the same. Crackle waking Linh and Marella up way too early, bringing them to train with Fintan (which was basically just him showing off his skills). A few days into this, Fintan started trying to get them to merge their abilities but it always ended with steam.

"Is it really that hard-?" Fintan was saying before he was cut off by a voice coming through the intercom.

"Fintan! Come to the planning room immediately! There has been a......complication," 

Word Count: 1.55k

Art credits: homebickles on tumblr