Time Twist

Chapter 10 Defense

Alexander takes off his coat," First thing you must learn is defense, in order to fight and attack you have to be alive, and to do so you have to protect yourself." I nod," Okay Obi-wan teach me," I put my fists up, he grabs them and flips me over, " Hey! What the hell?" Alexander scoffs," That was the weakest stance I've ever seen, make your feet farther apart, widen your hands, don't make a fist until you have to punch, keep your hands open so that you can block punches that are coming at you, and allows you to grab the wrists of your attacker." he stretches out his hands and helps me up," Ouch" I said sarcastically," Sorry, you won't have to worry about me hitting you however, that is where Catherine comes in, Catherine!!" He shouts she comes running," What not man enough to fight me?" Alexander Kisses Catherine on the head," Yes, if you think a man is someone who hits women then yes, I am not "man" enough to fight you." I roll my eyes. I try to move, when I realize I'm wearing a very long dress, " um, how are we supposed to fight? I'm kinda restricted here?" Catherine smiles," Surely if I can fight in this as can you." Now I really wanted to punch her nose." I pop my knuckles, " Okay then let's go, but wait no witchy magic stuff while we fight, and no cursing me if you lose." Alexander lets out a snort," I highly doubt that will happen, just go easy on her Catherine, we don't have the best medical supplies here." I flip him off, "Not to worry dear, I will not use my magic during our fight, and neither can you." I reassure her," yeah that won't be a problem I'm not sure how to really use it yet." Catherine looks at me nostalgically, " Do you remember when we didn't know how to control our powers?" Alexander lets out a chuckle," Yes, but we were about 8 when we learned not, pardon me but, how old are you?" He asks me, " ha big guy doesn't have all the answers does he? Well I am 22 years old and I'm a history major, but I just realized that doesn't really matter and you probably don't care so I'm just gonna shut up right now." Great I thought now they think I'm even more of an idiot than they thought I was. Catherine smiled, " I care, but you realize why you love history do you not?" I raise an eyebrow (I still found her kindness odd and seemed like it was a disguise) " Um, cause my mom and dad we historians?" That was always the answer I would give anyone who asked me why I chose history as my major, " No it is because history is in your blood literally, your magic yearns to preserve it lies in your very cells awaiting to activated, it seeks to defend and protect history and now you must allow it to do what it wants to be done, you are a natural fighter, Claire just like your mother before you. Breathe and think, before you can use your magic to fight you must learn to fight." shit that was a damn good pep talk, " Okay teach me" Alexander steps up," Alright I will not hit but I shall do this" He grabs my arm and pulls me over his back launching me unto the ground. I get up, " Ouch, if I'm gonna learn then I have to start off without a dress I know that Catherine fights with one, but I'm a beginner, so please I'd give you anything for a pair of shorts and a tank top." I plead to Alexander, he scratches his 5 o'clock shadow, " Perhaps we can get one from one of the prostitutes in town, Oh wait even they WEAR SKIRTS!" Catherine hits his arm," I think we might be able to fix something for you." Catherine leaves for a minute while Alexander shows me what a good fighting stance looked like, "knees bent feet apart, hands open yet cupped, not in fists this is defense not offense to block a punch what better way than to grab it with your, open hand, even when fighting offensively you personally will need your hands open, since you will use your magic usually, and well you saw what happens to skin when it is under our magic, oh and you will only use magic in a fight, not a bar brawl, a fight." He says sternly, " Okay I got it, what do your hands burn? I mean your palms aren't burned from what happened?" I asked not wanting to say attempt at murder against Nathan. " Ah well our palms are immune it's like calluses. Your palms will sting a bit at first, but after a while all you feel is a bit of heat like placing your hands near a fire, it feels quite nice actually." Alexander rubs his hands, " So it's like losing your virginity," Alexander squirmed uncomfortably, Catherine returned and started giggling, " Yes precisely!" Alexander let out a small uneasy whine, " I will pretend that I did not hear that," Catherine and I started laughing, " Do You want me to call Liz over and have describe the entire medical process of periods?" He tries to change the subject, " NO, Okay so now I will teach you to take down someone stronger than you like a man-" I cut him off, " Are you saying men are stronger?" He responds, " Well, yes genetically speaking-" I interrupt him, " Okay Strong Man, answer me this: Can you bleed for seven days straight?" He looked confident, " No, it is impossible for any human to do that." I laugh, " Women do every month who's stronger now?" Liz came out laughing having overheard the conversation, " Not only do we bleed for seven days straight, but we also have to endure childbirth, which hurts the same as breaking every bone in your body, so HA!" Liz then goes on to explain the whole birth process in detail Catherine gives me what looked like a pair of pantaloons that had been cut off with a white version of the same poofy shirt I'm wearing with the sleeves cut off, and Alexander is desperate to change the subject blurts out," I can teach you how to this" he picks up a sword, his eyes changed to the same acidic green I saw last time and the sword began to glow the same color of his hands, He then went over to a large tree at the corner of the field and sliced right through it it fell and shook the ground like a small earthquake. The tree began to liquefy starting from where it was cut and growing to the rest of the tree. We all step back the sword returns to normal and so do Alexander's eyes, "Now I can teach you that if we, STOP TALKING ABOUT LADY PROBLEMS!" We all burst out laughing (except Alexander), " Okay fine honey, calm down we will stop talking about that-starts laughing- I have to excuse myself come along Elizabeth, let us leave them to train," With that she left Alexander and I alone, " So How do I do that!?" He sighs, " First you have to know how to call upon your powers," His eyes change back to green and his match, " You can see that when using our powers we change a bit, now all magic users have colors their family has just different shade, that is where you see our eyes change, our hands are bit more unique, for us who have the ability to travel through time have certain form of a power, mine and my family's is acid, yours is fire, and Nathan's is air." I interrupt, " So what is Evil Nathan gonna do in a fight give a light breeze?" Alexander gets a serious look on his face, " Do Not underestimate him, think about all the times you been near air, you are in it right the average human cannot go longer than three minutes without air without passing out, so think of that next time you wave off a power like air." I look down," Sorry, anyway what can I do? How do I do that?" Alexander sighs, " Okay you know how in movies they always say don't think about it or it will come naturally?" I respond, " Yeah totally!" " This is the complete opposite, you must focus, because this doesn't look very natural does it? There is a reason you haven't accidentally triggered your powers unlike in other films" I let out an oh and he continues explaining," The only way to trigger your powers by accident are in times of severe distress, so it is unlikely that you may depend on that while in training. " I nod, " Okay enough talk let's get cracking!" He rubs his temple, "Please do yourself a favor and never say that again, or no one that is half decent will ever take you seriously" he said pitifully " Liz takes me seriously" I point out, " My point exactly" He retorts. He claps his hands together, " Alright get into your stance" I put up my finger, " Wait a minute or two I have to change into this" I hold up the "training clothes" Catherine got me. I went to my room and wrestled out of the dress I was wearing and put on the clothes that made me look like a slutty pirate, I return to the backyard, Alexander falls to the floor in laughter, " You... look...Ridiculous" I walk over to him and stomp on his stomach, " Oww, alright I would give an apology, however I hate lying!" He continued laughing I rolled my eyes and crossed my arms, and waited for him to stop laughing. He cleared his throat ," Okay so get into your stance" He chokes down a chuckle, I get into my stance, " Now I want to think of your parents death" I look at him harshly, " So I guess happiness is the key to unlocking my powers Huh" I said sarcastically, " You use sarcasm as a defense mechanism so that you can shield your pain with humor, this will only hurt you, because it will only withhold your powers, You must think about your parents death, because it is the most powerful, and emotional memory at your current disposal, and we use this because our powers come from our control so in order to achieve this control you have to think back when you were farthest from control and were craving the most, when children first started training normally they would think back being put in the corner or when a pet died, since those were their strongest memories" I scratch my head and return to my stance, "Okay" I said trying not to stutter, " So tell my about your parents' death why did it happen when did it happen how did you react to it?" I close my eyes and focused and took a deep breath, " I was 10 years old my mom, my dad, and I were coming back from the 8:00pm mass when this drunk guy in the road across from us started swerving in and out of his lane ran the red light while we were going and rammed us at full speed the car flipped over and- I start sobbing- and I kept trying to get out but I couldn't move my arms and my eyes just didn't want to see, but I made them open and I saw the fire it was so hot, I felt like I had never felt anything so hot in all my life, and we were upside down- I swallow trying to make my throat feel less like sand paper- and I saw them my dad was dead his, his head was immersed in the flames enraptured in the air bag and the flames, while my mom, she just looked at me, she was covered in blood and glass, she just reached for me despite the giant shard of metal in her side she reached for my seatbelt and let me fall to the ground, she started gagging on her own blood as she told me to be careful and to watch out, I, I begged her to let me die with her that's all I wanted in that moment to die with my parents in that boiling car- I fell on my knees, crying and cupping my face with my hands- but mom said I had to go on and leave her dad she, she said that I had to, that I had to, and so I did what I was told I started crawling out of the car, by the time I turned around to say one last goodbye her arm was limp and she, she was gone too, she was gone too, and I was ALONE! With no one, no one, no one all alone," I cradled my myself crying, I could still feel the fire burning. I kept sobbing when Alexander held me in his arms, " Claire, Claire open your eyes, there is no fire just look," I force my eyes to open and see that my hands are a bright red I could feel them pulsating, Alexander reassures me, " Do not fret the worst is over you will never have to relive that memory again once you have used it once you can control it without having to access it, however you still have to train more you will not be able to always use it at will yet, we will continue to train until then," I nod my hands were still glowing, Liz walked in and saw me she back away and started screaming," WHAT THE FUCKING HELL!! YOU LOOK LIKE A DEMON!" I raise an eyebrow, Alexander helps me up and takes me to the body mirror in the parlor. I saw what she meant my eyes they were still radiant red, I look at Alexander," So how do I turn it off?" He laughs," you don't turn it off, you- he trails off- Think about something happy or when you were in control, " When I met Liz her mom was the social worker on my case at least for a little bit, she had to work late to add my to the system she had just picked up Liz from piano lessons and she was sitting in the chair next to mine while her mom added me to the computer system we started talking and since her mom was a foster mom anyway she gave my case to one of her friends and let me stay wither her for a year until we found my adoptive parents. I looked in the mirror again and saw that my eyes were their normal freezing cold selves. Alexander looks at me with pride, " Well done, we will be training harder tomorrow" He winks at me, Catherine walks in, " I hoped the clothes sufficed I would have done a better job if I had more time" I smile," It worked perfect thank you" I had to admit it she was just that nice no matter how much I wanted to hate her I just couldn't " Um Alex honey could you leave us ladies alone for just a moment?" He nodded and left the parlor, " Claire I couldn't help but over hear what happened to your parents what a tragedy, and I can only imagine what that must have been like when you were only 10, you poor thing I was already a newlywed when my parents, uh passed on," Her eyes had become glossy with tears she clearly didn't want to fall, I changed the subject," Thanks again for the clothes I wouldn't have gotten anywhere without them, you cook, clean, sew, practice magic, and are unbelievably kind what can't you do?" I asked She giggled, " A great deal of things actually I am very clumsy anything that requires coordination other than combat I am a hazard, perhaps that is why I appear to have good fighting skills, because I am a hazard, I think I just had an epiphany" We both laugh," Anyway dinner is ready and since you didn't have lunch I am assuming that you are starving" Dinner had I been gone that long it seemed like it was morning only few minutes ago. I see Alexander at the table, " Hey Alexander um is it me or did the day just kinda disappear? " He responded in a clarifying tone, " Well when you relive a memory, with our type of people you actually relive it,you aren't able to change anything though. " I serve myself some pork and boiled potatoes, after dinner we all go to bed and I pray that this isn't a dream.