Star Beings: Dawn

Weak

Natalie seems to stare straight into my soul.
"It won't happen again." I say, trying to keep my voice strong. I can't show fear.
Fear means you're weak. And the weak die first.
"It's fine. We all had trouble controlling our abilities when we first learned them. Hade nearly flambéd Caleb." "To be fair that was my intention at the time." Hade says, grinning slightly. It disappears the moment they notice me staring at them. "I would have preferred if you didn't nearly take my head off, though." "As would I." The girl called Lane says, staring at DJ as she sits back down.
"Anyways, so what did Elian not tell us? Because it's quite obvious that something like this occurred before."
"My hand bursted into flames about an hour before this meeting was called. If Elian didn't tell you, it might've been because he was scared. He's said multiple times that he didn't want to "lose me again."
Natalie pauses for a moment, considering this.
DJ is the one who ends up speaking up. "That goddamn idiot cares way too much about us dumbasses... and Natalie." The blue haired young woman chuckles to herself.
"You'll start training in the morning then." "Pardon?" "You heard me. There's no use of you having powers if you can't control them. And that's much more dangerous, as you just proved. Maxine will take you back up to Elian's apartment." Natalie states. The girl called Maxine raises an eyebrow, looking slightly panicked.
Nevertheless, she stands and escorts me out of the room.

"Do you remember her?" Maxine asks quietly moments after we step out of the escalator. "Pardon?" "Do you remember her?" She repeats. "I can't remember anything from before I woke up, I'm sorry. I don't know the "her" you're referring to."
Maxine whirls around and grabs my shoulders, squeezing hard.
"Zahra. Zahra fucking Hassan. Does that name ring any goddamn bells, Anaide-" Maxine stops suddenly, realizing what she's doing.
A memory resurfaces. It's short, and there's not much even revealed.
Just two resilient, deep, brown eyes with a small burn scar near the left one.
"Forget I said anything. You seem to be good at that."
With that, Maxine let's go of me, I remember to breathe, and we continue on like nothing happened.
But a new thought starts to crawl its way into my cranium:
Who was I before all this?

When Natalie said morning, I didn't assume she meant five AM.
But she did.
I stumble into the gym, glancing around at the equally drowsy Star Beings. Natalie seems to be the only one who's somewhat awake. But even then....
"Alright jerks, I randomized who fights who so you can't blame me for anything. Damien and Lane, you two are on mat one, Maxine and Mateo are on mat two, Gabriel and Karson are on mat three, DJ and Caleb are on mat four, and Hade and Anai are on mat five. I will be sitting out because we're at an uneven number and I made the list. Have fun."
I take a long glance at Hade, who looks excited to fight me. I can't say I share the sentiment.

We square up on the mat. How I even have the slightest Idea what I'm doing is beyond me. It just feels like muscle memory. Hade grins mischievously.
I'm about to get my ass handed to me, aren't I?
"Three, two, one, go idiots!" Natalie shouts.
Hade swings and I... I duck. I don't immediately get hit.
In a moment of disbelief, Hade's knee finds my gut. And my excitement at knowing what I'm doing vanishes.
I grunt as I double over. Hade doesn't stop though. They swipe their leg under mine, causing me to tumble.
"Ok, you win." I groan.
Hade either doesn't hear me or doesn't care. The moment I stand up again, a punch flies towards my jaw.
And goes straight through it. For a moment I just stand there, bewildered at what just happened. Then Hade's other fist connects with my face , sends me to the floor, and everything goes black.

"Dammit to hell Hade, you couldn't give her a second?!" "Hey, she got back up. I saw that as a "ok ready to keep going" not a "hey, give me a second"! Sorry for that, I guess?!"
I open my eyes to Hade, DJ, Natalie, and Lane all standing over me.
"Ooh that is definitely a black eye." Natalie mutters. "Goddammit Hade." DJ and Lane say in unison. My attacker extends their hand in a truce. "Need help mate?" I grab their hand and Hade pulls me to my feet. "Thanks. Now how about some payback?" I swing at Hade, catching them off guard. I hear Lane gasp. My sparring partner hits the mat with an audible smack.
As they slowly get back to their feet, the realization that I just sucker-punched the person who just knocked me out cold hits.
"Oh shit."
Hade is... freakishly tall. They throw their head back, tossing their frizzy black and orange hair out of their eyes. "You just fucked up."