The Water

Chapter Six: Vicky's Lesson

As the evening crept up on us, Vicky and I left my room around 9:30. We made our way down the halls of the school out to the battlefields. As we walked, I kept a lighter in my pocket. I'm still to weak to create fire, I thought. If anything, I can at least control the flame of the lighter. Some form of weapon is better than none, I suppose.

I kept thinking as we walked. Before I knew it, we were out on the battlefield. Everything was dark except for a small portion of the field, dead in the center of the grounds. It was right under the moon. And sure as shit, Alice was standing in the moonlight. Her blue dress waved in the breeze. Vicky and I walked up to Alice as she welcomed us.

"Vicky, Rick, it's great to see you both," Alice stated. "I'm glad you both made it here safely. It seems as though you got lucky or my protection worked."

"Protection?" Vicky asked, raising her eyebrow.

"Of course," Alice replied, smiling. "I used the blood technique to temporarily place you both under my control. In doing such, I stopped anyone else from placing their control over you."

"So you weren't kidding when you said that it can be used for moral purposes." I stated, crossing my arms. "But ma'am, I do have to ask. If you can place your control on us to protect us, why not do that for all of the students until the matter is resolved?"

Alice smirked. "If only it were that easy. It takes a lot of elemental energy to place that control over someone. It almost knocked me out for a bit placing it on you two. And it's only temporary. It can be used as a killing method, a temporary shield, or a way of temporarily turning someone into your own personal puppet. Tonight, I will simply show you how to place protection. I want to start the lesson small so I don't scare either of you."

Vicky and I nodded in agreement as Vicky began to talk to her teacher. "Professor, I appreciate you taking the time to teach me."

"Of course, dear," Alice replied. "If anything, I'm honored to teach the young lady who helped Rick defeat Xorale. After all, it was an encounter with Xorale that made me resort to using blood manipulation in the first place."

Damn, I thought. It looks like killing him helped a lot of people. In the moment I didn't think about that. But as people open up about it, it's easier to come to peace with what I've done.

"What happened with Xorale?" I asked, the question rolling right off of my tongue.

"Well, to put it simply," Alice started, "I initially got my abilities to save my children from a flood. As many many years passed, Xorale came along. And as what happened to anyone, he attacked my family and I. I had never seen such an evil man. He asked me if I would join him in his quest to conquer the world. I said no. In that moment, he saw one of my children and sent a dark energy spear through their heart. As I watched my son bleed out, I saw Xorale try to attack my other child. My daughter. Without hesitating, I waved my hands around, as if I was holding my own little water weapon. But no water came about. As my arms moved, so did his body. I had him in the grasp and I was ready to take his life. My other child escaped. But due to me never practicing before, my hold over him broke. I thought he was going to kill me before he told me that my punishment was losing my son."

"Not to be that guy, ma'am," I said softly. "But I'm really glad I killed that son of a bitch."

Alice smiled. "I know you did it to get revenge for your dad. And I can tell that there's some regret built up inside you. You think it makes you a monster. You think it makes you a killer. You're a hero, young man. You helped so many people by killing Xorale. The world owes you a debt that we can never repay."

I thought about something my dad once told us when we were kids and I said it to Alice. "You want to know how you can repay me? Live your life freely. Know that you can live each day without fear casting a shadow over you."

Vicky and Alice smiled as Alice began the lesson. "Okay Vicky, I want you to reach your hand towards me with your eyes closed."

"Okay, professor," Vicky replied, doing as she was instructed.

"As you focus, do you feel a liquid current in front of you?" Alice asked.

"I do, professor." Vicky replied. "I feel it. It also feels more alive somehow. Like I can feel your heartbeat in the current."

"Very good, Vicky. Now I want you to imagine that the current is yours. Think of the current as the one thing you've always wanted. Think of how you would want to take it for yourself. Can you imagine it?"

Vicky nodded. "I can, professor. I can imagine it easily."

"Good," Alice said, smiling. "Now grab it. Take the one thing you want. Take it for yourself."

As Vicky listened, I could see Alice's body tighten. I couldn't believe my eyes. Alice couldn't move.

"Very good Vicky. Now imagine that the one thing you want, you would guard with your life."

"That's easy enough," Vicky replied.

"Picture that you just put it in the safest place imaginable."

As Vicky nodded, Alice began to move again. She was able to move freely. As Vicky opened her eyes, she could see a red aura around Alice.

"Ma'am," Vicky said. "There's a red aura around you."

"Perfect!" Alice exclaimed. "You officially placed me under your protection."

Vicky smiled at Alice and then at me. She ran over to me, giving me a hug and a kiss. The moment was pure. Vicky had a way to protect us at that point in time. As Alice and I congratulated her, things took a turn for the worst.

Before we knew it, the moon's light was blocked by a shadow. A shadow that seemed to get smaller. As we looked up, we could see another student's body flying out of the sky. You got to be fucking kidding me, I thought to myself. As the body landed in front of me, I could see a note attached to the student's chest. It looked as though it was written in the student's blood.