Morph [EDITING] || Wattys 2017 Winner

~FIFTEEN~

~amelie~

Everyone's eyes are on me as I stand there awkwardly in the middle of the makeshift arena, people circling me on every side and the three fighters in front of me. Genevieve is still holding my arm up high, but I widen my eyes at her and she drops it. She gives me a grin and a thumbs up before she slips back away from me, and disappears into the crowd. I'm alone in the centre of the ring. I glance towards the crowd, faces expectant.

"Hi," I say, cringing inwardly at the silence, my cheeks burning.
One of the fighters, Minerva, looks amused. "Hi. Genevieve pull her party trick on you?"
"Not a party trick!" comes Genevieve's voice from the crowd, and I twist around to try and see her as a ripple of laughter spreads through the mass of people.
Minerva rolls her eyes, and says, "I'm Minerva, this is Thomas, and this is Cerise. Nice to meet you."
I look at her two companions. I recognise Thomas, but the blonde girl I don't know. She gives me a little wave, and I smile.
"I'm Amelie." I say.
"Carmichael, right?" asks Thomas. His eyes sparkle with curiosity, and he runs a hand through his shaggy hair as he asks the question. I nod, and he continues. "You caused quite a bit of excitement. Nobody's seen any version of your power before. The animal shifters don't even come close! You can join the bunch of weirdos, like me." He sticks out his hand with a goofy grin, and I shake it with a matching one plastered on my face.
I'm painfully aware of all the faces looking at me still, and Cerise seems to notice. She makes a twirling motion with her hand and announces, "Show's over, guys. Don't forget to enter our annual Multi competition, and... you can leave now."

Slowly but surely, with a lot of moaning and grumbling, the crowd dissipates and Genevieve's one of the only ones left, along with Minerva, Thomas, and Cerise. Soon the training hall fills with volume again. I look around at all the rebels, chatting, practising, and laughing, and I realise I'm filled with relief that my dad hasn't found them.

For the first time, I realise just how huge the divide between Amelie the citizen and Amelie the rebel has become.

"Nice meeting you, Amelie," says Cerise. My eyes snap back to her and she gives me a warm smile. "I've got two little kids to train now, though, and I promised I'd show them lightning. See you around."
"You too," I reply, and then she whirls on her heels and strides away. Two boys about Sophia's age quickly catch up to her, and then they leave the hall.
"Where are they going?" I ask.
Genevieve says, "Cerise is a weather manipulator. Obviously she can't use her powers indoors, so whenever she trains she has to go outside.
I frown. "Doesn't it get cold?"
Minerva laughs. "Sure, but she just makes it warm. It definitely comes with benefits."
"What do you do?" I say suddenly, remembering the fight. "Invisibility?"
Minerva lets out a pensive hum, and she considers her words before she replies. "Not exactly. My power is ethereality. I can make myself ethereal on command, which means I do become invisible. But I can't be hurt by anything while I'm in that state, and I can't hurt anyone. So... I guess invisibility, but with invulnerability. The only drawback is I have to come back to normal form to do any damage."
"Wow." I blink, surprised. "That actually sounds pretty cool. What about you?"
"I manipulate portals," says Thomas. "It's as simple as it sounds... you go in one, you come out the other. But I don't really care about mine. I want to see yours! I heard a rumour, but... can you show us?"
"Okay," I reply, and Genevieve beams.
"Who are you going to copy?" asks Minerva.
"I'm... not sure," I say. Genevieve slowly raises her hand, subtle as ever, and turns her finger to point at herself. I laugh, and Minerva and Thomas roll their eyes.

The familiar icy feeling spreads across my body, and I concentrate, forming a picture of Genevieve in my mind. The cold sweeps over me, and then all three of them are staring at me, amazed.

"Ta-da," I say, slightly awkwardly.
Genevieve blinks, staring at the copy of herself. "That's... that is weird."
"How come you still sound like... you?" asks Minerva.
I shrug. "I don't know. I don't think I can copy voices."
Thomas frowns, and then he shifts on his feet. "No offence if I just don't understand," he begins, sounding confused, "but why are you in Multi? How does copying someone give you combat abilities? Do you... copy their powers or something?"
"No," I say, and I make my fist bigger as they watch.
"Ohhh," says Genevieve. She lets out a freaked-out laugh. "Please change back now. This is so weird."

So I spend the rest of Multi-Purpose showing them what I can do, and a warm feeling gradually spreads through me as I realise I'm finally where I belong.

~~~

The session passes more quickly than I expect, and soon everyone's filing out of the training hall and back into the long corridors of the base. I start walking towards the exit too, before I realise I have no idea where I'm going next. I'm about to pull out my schedule when a hand clamps around my arm, and I spin around, immediately defensive.

"Chill," says Lila. "It's me. Elian told me to find you, and take you along to Fitness with me."
"Oh. Okay." I'd completely forgotten Lila was in the same class as me. I relax and she drops her hand, and I wonder where the rebel leader gets the time - it seems like he's everywhere at once, talking to everyone and giving them all different instructions. "Sorry."
"No problem," she replies, and she beckons as she sets off towards the exit again. "Come on."

I hurry after her, and she navigates confidently through the winding hallways like she's been here all her life. I guess in a way, she has. We make it to Fitness in time, and Lila goes off and stands at one end of the room, telling me to stay behind. I do, slightly confused, and I crane my neck to look around me. It's a much bigger class than Multi, and there doesn't seem to be any discernible reason why some of us are at one end and most of us are at the other. Then, I realise.

For the next hour, I run continuously around the massive room, stopping at different points to do more exercises. I'm panting after the first five minutes, and by ten I'm almost ready to give up. Lila's smaller group is scattered across the hall, and they shout at us to keep moving. Every fifteen minutes they swap, and so there are always half of them running with us. They're the instructors, and we're the trainees, and they're scarily good at their job. All my thoughts and worries disappear as the running blends with the exercises, and the minutes stretch out forever. When the last shout rings through the room, telling us that we can stop, I'm huffing and panting harder than ever before. Even though it's only been an hour, it's some of the most intense exercise I've ever done. Lila jogs up to me at the end, and she looks exactly like she did before. Me, on the other hand? I'm a blotchy, sweaty mess.

"How was your first Fitness class?" she asks sweetly.
I glare up at her. "I hate you."
She laughs, and I can't help the annoyed smile that spreads slowly across my face. "Standard reaction right there. Congrats."

Then she disappears, and I'm about to ask what to do next when my name rings out across the hall. I straighten up, aching muscles temporarily forgotten, and look around for the source of the voice. My eyes land on the far side of hall, and I see Ryan waving at me. I'd almost forgotten I still have another hour of Physical. My muscles making their annoyance known, I groan as I start walking, and I make my way slowly across the hall towards him.

A/N: thank you all so much for supporting morph! every one of your votes and comments are appreciated. sorry this isn't as plot-focused as some of the other chapters, but there's an exciting one coming up soon!