The Legacy of Maisie -- Lorien Legacies Fanfiction

Part 4 | Chapter Eight

Today started out in one of the most boring possible ways: one of John's group lectures/discussions. It was about Ella's nightmares and my weirdo schizophrenic vision or whatever it was. According to them, Setrakus Ra is transmitting them to Ella and me. Malcolm says it's easier to do with us because we're telepaths and it leaves our minds open or something. I really don't know, I slept through half of it.

Anyway, John, Eight, Nine, and Marina are in Sandor's computer room thing trying to identify all of the items in their Inheritances. Six is supposed to be teaching the rest of us how to shoot guns and stuff but my new Legacy keeps messing them up. Now, I'm not allowed near anything that has any sort of machinery or is flammable. Don't ask.

The gun is big in Ella's small hands. Wrapping his fingers around the gun is clearly making Five uncomfortable. Sam's doing pretty good, he just needs to work on his aim. Six seems to enjoy yelling and correcting the others when they mess up. And Sarah is nowhere to be found. Though no one seems to notice or care for that matter.

So I sit with Willow and BK in the corner of the massive Lecture Hall, which is where the Garde train. I decide to busy myself with my Lite-Brite hands. The intense pins and needles are gone, replaced by a slight tingling sensation. Compared to how it felt a few hours ago, this is a welcomed change. Yet, the brightness has not faltered. John told me I needed to "focus my energy" in order to control it, whatever that means.

Sitting criss-cross-applesauce, I put my hands in my lap and close my eyes, focusing on the sound of my steadying breathing rather than the bullets whizzing through the air and piercing the paper targets. In and out. In and out. Slowly and steadily. Nothing exists but the smooth sound of the oxygen going in and the carbon dioxide coming out. I feel for the light in my hands. I can feel this energy gathered there, rooted there. I try to release the energy, make it disperse. The tingling gently puts itself at ease to the point where the sensation is barely noticeable. I open my eyes to see the light has gone from a blinding beam to a dim glow.

Almost, I tell myself. Almost.

"Nice job there," Six's voice comes from behind me.

"Thanks," I say, still looking at my hands rather than at her.

We both stay there, kind of awkwardly, until we hear one of the guns clatter to the floor. Looking up, I see that Ella has dropped the gun.

Ella notices us staring at her. "Oh, sorry!" she yelps, scurrying to pick up her gun.

Six starts to her, not that heavy-footed march but a softer approach. She takes the gun from Ella's hands. "Here, hold it like this."

I hear the giant doors to Lecture Hall open and Sarah comes in, drawing my attention away from Six's gun training. Sarah sprints over to me, her blonde hair whipping behind her. She kneels in front of me and throws a grey book bag into my lap. It has all different types of duct tape wrapped around the straps.

"What's this?" I ask her.

She's beaming. "Open it."

I open the zipper of the biggest pocket and find a variety of things; a book called Paper Towns, a photo album, a dog leash, and a switch blade. I look up at Sarah as I unzip the zipper on the smaller pocket in the front. In this pocket, I find colored pens, a bunch of hair ties, a thick wad of cash, and what looks like a weird case for something.

"What is all this?" I ask Sarah.

"It's yours," she says. "I found it under Sam's bed. Makes sense he'd have it. I'm just surprised he didn't give it to you." She shrugs her shoulders. "So, just don't feel weird looking through it. The only person's privacy you'll be invading is your own." With that, she gets up and takes a gun off the rack, leaving me with the bag.