AWAKEN

{4}

I awoke in my cot the next morning, not fully clear on how I got there. All I remember was being a crying mess last night in front of James. I sat up and saw Evelyn sitting playing with her colorful smoke. She morphed the cloud into a rainbow of shining colors. As I sat up to get a better look my cot creaked and she jerked her head in my direction, her cloud turning grey. She closes her palm and the illusion disappears. Her eyes turn scared again and she closes up her open manor. I suddenly feel I've violated her privacy and offer an apologetic smile.

"So, do you know when we'll be called out?" I ask. She shakes her head no, not daring to take her eyes off of me. "Okay, um, well your power, it's pretty neat. Are you emotionally connected to it? I noticed the colors changing." She nods her head at this. "That's interesting, I can't change the colors of mine." She shifts and he expression opens up a little, her eyes for once not cowering. "Do you want to see it?" She nods eagerly. I smile and lift my right hand, closing my eyes and willing my energy to form. It's like a flower blossoming in my palm, I feel its roots in my veins, anchored down. The small purple sparks crackle and travel along my finger tips. I look up and see her face alight with curiosity, the way I felt when I first saw the lightning too.

I close my hand, the sparks leaching energy from me, and immediately felt the price of it. I yawned and shake off the tiredness. "Come on, let's see if the others are up." I motion for her to follow me and she almost does, that is until I open the tent to the darkened morning. She immediately curls back away from the opening, as if the darkness itself would come for her. I close the flap and sit back down on the edge of her cot. "Okay, we don't have to. Would you rather wait for the sun?" She nods, her eyes seem to shudder. "Okay, could you show me some illusions?".

~•~•~•~•~•~•~•~•~•~•

I stood with the newly risen sun glaring on my face with no mercy. Beside me to my left was Evelyn and to my right was Anya. We were lined up according to height with our backs against the river. An old man in his late forties stood evaluating us on, well, I'm not so sure. We've been standing here for the past ten minutes looking at him, and he was staring right back. Finally he opened his mouth, took a deep breathe.

"Names." He commanded. His gray hair and scruff beard were grandfatherly looking, but his government uniform said otherwise. Nothing should be welcoming about this man. He was one of them.

"Anya." My right side said. As if given courage by her sister Summer was next to respond, then me, James, Grayson, and Evelyn lightly touched my wrist. I took a hint and responded for her which she gave me a thankful look for.

"You all will address me as Withers, I'll be you teacher. Demonstrate your powers, impress me. Show me why your worthy of the military's attention." He motions to Grayson. I don't see anything at first, but then I focus on Wither's facial expressions and see them relax. It almost looks like he's about to smile, something judging by the frown lines has been very scarce lately. "A mood sweeper. Interesting." He then looks to the end of the line at summer. She smiles and closes her eyes. Suddenly objects around us, rocks, bags, even the tent flaps, begin to float. "Gravity control, very....unexpected." Withers turned to Evelyn next. She opened her palm emitting the smoke, creating different things, a bird, flowers, a single key, then an old chair. Her illusions started to flicker and her face became horrified at the sight of her creation. She closed her hands so tightly I wondered how her skin could bare it. "Illusions, but you're emotionally affected. Most illusionist are," she wouldn't meet his eyes. "But, there's a way to control it." She looked up instantly, an alarmed expression flickered for a moment. Withers continued to me.

I opened my own hands to reveal my purple lightning, the familiar sensation engulfing my blood. I feel its hunger for destruction, I almost let it go wild but I remember to keep it caged. You never know what a crazed animal might do after pacing the edges of its cage for so long.

"Energy builder, no, you don't store energy, you create it. But, you also manipulate it." He eyes me curiously but continues on to Anya. She simply looks down at the ground and soil begins to rise like an upside down hourglass. Then, she looks over her shoulder at the river. Water rises out and sails through the air in spiraled acrobatics. "Elemental abilities. Very useful." Finally, he looked at James. The boy stood there for about a minute doing nothing with his hands in his pockets before Withers spoke.

"James perform your art." He urged. James looked up at him.

"You really don't want me to do that."

"Do as you're told James."

"No." His expression lifeless. Withers shook his head muttering something about being to old for a trainers job.

"Just do it, whatever it is it won't be as bad as most of the things I've seen."

"That's just it." James said. Withers gave him a questionable look. "You don't see it. You feel it." James then shut his eyes, seeing as Withers would relentlessly make him do it sooner or later. A look as soulless as a blunt knife cutting appeared on Withers' face. It darkened and he stumbled forward.

"James enough." Anya commanded. But the boy didn't listen. Withers fell to his knees. "James!" I yelled. I saw a flicker of confusion in he's face and he opened his eyes. The pain stopped. He looked at me cautiously as Withers gathered himself and rose to his feet again.

"I told you I shouldn't do that." James said, but Withers only shook his head.

"You just need training. You all do." He announced. "Everyone get a partner. let's start with basic hand to hand combat."

~•~•~•~•~•~•~•~•~•~•~•~•

"I can't feel my feet." Summer complained. Its our lunch break and we all sat down on ground after wolfing down our food. We weren't welcome in the mess hall so team Omega decided to move our meals to the space in between out tents.

"I wish I couldn't feel mine. I'm so sore." I responded, then laid back on the grass in the shade. The sun had been bearing down on us all day but a recent cloud took over and the sky was now bruised a deep blue. I could feel the electricity in the air making my nerves on edge. I could feel the hunger again, to only destroy and eat away at everything. Grayson's voice snapped me out of my entranced thoughts.

"If it makes you feel any better I think it might rain."

"This isn't gym, they're gonna make us train in the rain too genius." Anya teased, Grayson made a face.

"I know that, but think of how much more fun it will be to kick all of your sore butts in the mud." Anya stood up and motioned for Grayson to do the same.

"Let's go, you and me." She challenged. Even though I haven't known Grayson for very long, I do know that he can't turn this down. It's just not in him. He stood up to his full height to seem more intimidating. A light sprinkle of rain began to fall

"Sure, I could use the practice." He held out a hand. Anya looked at him, then his hand, and finally rolled her eyes. It was raining now and hard. She took his hand and judo flipped him over her back, then pinned him down with her elbow hovering above his throat. Mud smeared his dirty blonde hair and a streak across his face gave him the distinct look of a moustache. Anya grabs a fist full of mud and slowly wipes it down his face in victory. Summer and I began to laugh as his face took one of shock. "Not fair." He fussed. I heard another person laughing and looked over my shoulder to see a very wet Evelyn.

"Evelyn? You can talk?" She looks at me startled, but the others are too engulfed in the mudslinging and storm. She shook her head as if saying not here please.  I answered her plead with a nod of my head and turned back to the others, not fully there, still wondering if I had heard her after all. Maybe it was all an illusion created by the weaver herself.

★Thanks for reading!★