The Phylum

Chapter Eleven: The Plate Shard Storm

The piece of jagged plate may have sliced through my cheek soundlessly, but I sure felt it. I grabbed the side of my face and looked accusingly at Calico. However, the girl looked anything but apologetic. Calico's eyes blazed angrily, another piece of broken plate ready in her hands. "You could have curved that plate away from me," I hissed, wiping my hands on my pants. "You could have dodged" she retorted.

Things were back to normal. Training continued, I gained more scars, and Calico was just as vicious. It was odd, though. Things simply returned to how they were before. I didn't see Rosasharn or Legion again, which I was happy for. Sleeping was easier, the nightmares not as frequent. When I did get them they were too foggy to cause any worry. I could no longer identify Calico's bloody neck because the body was so distorted it was unrecognizable. Occasionally I'd wake up in a momentary panic or fright, but the nightmares no longer reigned supreme over my mind. I no longer had to walk through the molasses of life due to lack of sleep.

In a way, things had gotten better. In another, things had gotten worse.

I'd gotten paranoid and I knew it. Every mentor wanted my memories. Ever mentor would willingly inject me with muscle relaxant and tow me back to Rosasharn. Despite her previous assurances that what should've happened to me was only to protect me and the others, I grew skeptical of Calico. I'd get the nipping feeling in the back of my mind that she'd only said that to comfort herself rather than me.

Now and again my worries would be assuaged when it was pointed out that trouble makers were now being personally dealt with by their mentors. From what I had gathered, no one had been in Isolation since I had left it. Then again, how could anyone possibly remember if they had?

However, whether or not I felt betrayed by Legion or the mentors, it was key that I not show it. In the few weeks that had passed since I had been in Isolation, I'd become quite the actor.

When Calico threw her next piece of plate, I was ready. The broken piece of ceramic whizzed past me as I easily sidestepped it. "So he does have reflexes, great", Calico's voice was flat, unimpressed. Watching me dodge pointed objects was nothing new to her. "Now stop it!" I hadn't seen how Calico had gotten her next piece of plate, but I saw her toss it. I immediately dropped to the floor, and to safety. I looked around the empty Training Center as if there would be other students returning my wide look of disbelief. Even if other students were training, they were ordered not to watch or get distracted. Another student's training wasn't anyone else's business. Mentors needed results, and however they reached those results was only their concern.

Standing up cautiously, I prepared for another plate. Calico didn't make a move. She stood still behind the small, rolling barrier of racks which would have held more plates if there were any left. I bent down to pick up the broken plate pieces off the ground, deducing that training was over. "Leave them there" Calico's cool voice stopped me, I straightened up and looked back at her. The emotion had been wiped off her face, which was more unsettling than her outright anger. Calico started toward me, "what is it, Ezra?" I furrowed my brow at her question, not knowing what she was asking me. "Are you not trying? Or have you given up? " Calico began kicking shards of plate out of her way, I didn't respond. Calico's outburst was long overdue. In fact, I gave her credit for hiding the bulk of her frustration for so long. "All we're doing is breaking plates!" Calico's face had quickly abandoned all its coolness, her rage assuming control. I opened my mouth to say something, but Calico continued, "you know what I think? I think you lack motivation." I didn't lack motivation, I lacked the TK gene. Suddenly, Calico stopped kicking bits of plate around and looked up at me. I could see the beginnings of an idea shining in her eyes, and I didn't like it. "Listen, I've just been a little shaken up since-" my excuse was hurriedly interrupted, "stand back and shut up, Ezra." I stood back, but I refused to shut up, "listen, maybe we can end lunch early today, get more training time in." I knew I was wasting my breath, Calico wasn't listening. Without another word or rant, Calico stretched her palms toward the floor. My eyes followed the pieces of plate as they were each plucked up by invisible hands from the floor. I wouldn't pretend I didn't admire her powers, many did, even the other mentors. She would have been an effective mentor with her TK-like demonstrations had she not been saddled with me.

Light glinted off the many plate shards that wavered in the air like broken, artificial stars. Calico looked up at the dangerous cloud of ceramic shards above her and looked back at me. Then I understood what she was doing. She wasn't kidding around when she was talking about motivation. "Okay, maybe I've given up on myself, maybe that's it," I gradually started toward her but I didn't get far. A wall of stretched, exaggerated gravity prevented me from getting any closer to her. Calico had used her other hand to control the gravity field blocking me. Who knew she was such a great multitasker? I banged the gravity wall with my fist, "Cal, this isn't funny. Take this down."

My head abruptly broke out into an enormous headache. I tried to ignore it, to focus on what really mattered, but my vision had begun to deteriorate with the pain. A different scene replaced the one in front of me. I was no longer blocked by Calico's wall because Calico was on the ground. Plate pieces stuck irregularly out from her tan body, the blood from her cuts slowly creating a halo of scarlet around her. As quickly and unexpected as the vision had come, it disappeared. The pain in my head slowly began to lessen, though the throbbing didn't cease. I didn't care.

During my brief episode, I had been using Calico's gravity field for support, my weight not phasing it in the least. The wall was impenetrable and my advances on it were futile. I didn't bother trying to go around it, Calico wasn't stupid, not even in the least. She'd manipulate it so I couldn't get to her until she wanted me to. I stood uselessly behind the wavering barrier. I could just make out my mentor's thin figure through the obstacle, the quivering of the gravity making her look stretched. "You need motivation, Ezra. Here it is, save me." I threw myself against the wall, "stop, Cal! Stop!" I could see her stabbed, bloody body now. I wouldn't be able to save her, she'd-

The wall disappeared.

So did the invisible fingers holding the pieces of pointy ceramic in the air.

Calico screamed, "save me!" It wasn't a scream of anger but a scream of pleading. I sprinted toward her, the space between us feeling like an eternity. The plate pieces fell like rain, ready to pierce Calico's skin. I held out my hand, using it as a shield. If anyone was going to be responsible for someone's death, it was going to be her. I tackled her to the floor, the breath of relief I would have exhaled lost by the hard collision of our bodies. I dragged her away from the dangerous shards that would, at any moment, viciously penetrate the ground. My arm was still extended, the fragile body shield I was using to protect Calico not daring to fall. I didn't want a stray piece hurting her, the stupid girl. I looked down at her prepared to shout at her, to scream at her for being so unbearably foolish. However, Calico's eyes weren't on me, she was looking past me. "That's all you needed.. motivation" I turned to look at what the hell she was talking about. The plate shards were still suspended in midair, they'd only fallen about a centimeter. I stared puzzledly at the spectacle. I looked back at Calico checking to see which palm she had secretly used to ensure her protection, but her hands were flattened to the ground. I realized the arm I had used to cover Calico was still extended toward the broken, ceramic cloud. I wiggled my fingers and sure enough the plate pieces wavered, I held my hand still and the pieces didn't move. It was me, I was controlling them. For a moment, I simply gaped at my new found skills. Occasionally I'd experiment with the control I had over the shards, moving my hand this way and that and watching them dance in the air. "Alright, get off me" Calico said gruffly, throwing my other other arm off of her. I realized that while I was entranced by my recent accomplishment I had frozen in my protective cover over her, accidentally crushing her with my limbs. I turned to her ready to apologize, but once I turned my head it was all over. The plate shards clattered to the ground. Some of the ceramic bits broke and burst into smaller pieces while others stabbed the smooth floor. Calico shakily brushed herself off and smiled at me, a real genuine smile, "good work, kid. We'll start from here tomorrow." My excited expression turned into a sour one at her nickname for me. Calico playfully punched me in the arm, "that's all you needed- motivation and a genius mentor." I chewed the inside of my cheek, deciding not to tell her she used genius and suicidal interchangeably.