The Aether Hero: Awakening of the Elements

Chapter 2: The Learning Curve

I woke up to flashes of last night's events—a blazing inferno, Voss's goons—flooding my mind. I hoped we could stop them before anything worse happened. Stretching out of bed, I quickly pushed the covers back to make it look like I'd made the bed. Good enough. I glanced around the abandoned building; for a place that's been left to decay, the interior wasn't half bad. My eyes fell on the bracelet around my wrist. I needed to control it before it hurt someone.

I headed downstairs and found Maya already eating cereal. "Hey, Alex, how are you feeling?"

"I'm alright," I replied. Maya, a cute girl with short, wavy brown hair and matching brown eyes, was dressed in a ruffled knit tee, jeans, and sandals.

"Maya, can I talk to you?"

"Yeah, what's up?"

"Listen, I need to get a handle on my powers, and that means I have to control this bracelet."

She put her cereal down. "I have an idea where we can go. But first, eat." She slid a bowl of Froot Loops towards me.

"Thanks."

Later that day, Maya led me to a secluded forest.

"Maya, are you planning to kill me?" I joked.

She laughed. "No, of course not. But we need privacy for this."

"Alright, you ready, Alex?"

"Of course. Before I burn the whole forest down, though, what's this?" I asked as she placed something on my head and arms.

"A homemade Holter monitor, or a heartbeat monitor," she said, attaching the cold suction cups to my head. "Alright, ready?"

"Let's do this," I said, clearing my mind of all thoughts. My body ignited in flames.

"You're doing it, Alex! Hell yeah!" she cheered, eyes wide with excitement.

My eyes turned red, and Maya checked the vitals. "120 BPM. Alex, take it easy."

"Oh yeah, I feel good. I can keep going."

"No, stop. Calm down," she urged, glancing at the monitor. "160 BPM." I started to feel dizzy—I'd pushed myself too hard. I collapsed.

Maya rushed over and grabbed my head. "You okay?"

I laughed. "I'm fine."

"Idiot," she muttered, hitting me lightly. "Why did you do that?" She helped me over to a log.

"I'm sorry, Maya."

"It's fine. I'm just worried we won't have enough time. Voss wants that bracelet for a reason."

"Then let's find out why." She handed me a soda.

"Let's do it," I said, smiling at her.

We made our way to the main library in Luminara. Approaching the librarian, I asked, "Hi, miss. Could you help me find a book on something called the Aether Band?"

She looked confused, so I added, "It's for a school project," with a smile. Maya just rolled her eyes.

"Okay," the librarian said, putting on her glasses. "We have one. Follow me." As we walked, Maya whispered, "Really? For a school project?"

"Shut up," I muttered.

The librarian led us to a secluded section of the library, pulling out an ancient-looking book. "Whoa, this is one of the oldest books I've ever seen." She blew the dust off, making us cough. "Here you go, kids."

"Thanks. If you need anything else, let me know," she said with a smile. As she walked away, I could've sworn I heard her mutter, "Weird kids."

We flipped through the book, finding odd passages, until Maya stumbled upon something about the Aether Band. "Apparently, warriors used this band to protect the world from interdimensional aliens," she read aloud.