Star Crossed [Sample Only]

3] Prince

Prince

The week of school passes by pretty uneventfully except for the slight change of training times with Flick. I trained her Monday, but because she figured she had band practice after school Friday, she decided to make her second training session Thursday. It was Thursday today and I had finished training with my team so now I'm left alone in the gym with Flick. We are both standing in the middle of the FR field and I have programmed a one-hundred ton metal weight to appear in front of us.

"All you have to do," I say, "Is blow it over," I instruct her gently. I decided this training session was going to be a lot easier-going than the first one. She was weaker than I expected her to be, she pretty much had no control over any of her magic. She's standing beside me now, looking nervous, "Just blow it over, nothing else. Gather the wind together in front of the weight. Then, push it out, engage your magic to explode towards the weight. You can smash the air into it and knock it over. Easy."

"Um. Ok," she replies timidly before she reaches out both her hands and squints her eyes at the weight. I feel the air surrounding me start to move as she creates wind, but it's only a small shift in the air, a slight breeze.

"More!" I yell encouragingly, but she visibly flinches. Jeez! I take in a deep breath and let it out slowly, trying to keep my patience in check, "come on, you can do it."

Suddenly, out of nowhere a big gust smashes into the weight and it moves slightly. An inch. She quickly drops her hands to her sides, her eyes popping out of her head, "Well done!" I congratulate her, trying to keep positive.

"I didn't like that," she mutters, looking towards me, "It felt dangerous... it felt like too much."

Oh my gosh... just when I think she is over one hurdle, she creates another.

Perfect.

Also, I have no idea what she is talking about or why her brain is wired to process backwards.

"I don't understand," I exhale and sigh, while trying not to sound too exasperated, "So, Flick. How did it feel like too much?" I try to be patient and she steps from side to side nervously.

"The wind I created moved a one-hundred ton weight!" she exclaims with the obvious, "No natural wind could ever do that. If a person was standing where that weight was, they would have had been smashed backwards into the ground, or into the wall. From the sheer force, they would be dead, for sure," I nod, at least that made sense.

"Or have limbs broken," I add. Her face goes a bit pale. I frown, "You have to deal with that sort of stuff. Don't worry so much, none of what happens in here is real anyway, so you're really not doing any damage," Flick just shakes her head.

"I don't like it," she repeats and I sigh.

"Look, I'll give you a little secret," I continue to speak encouragingly, "When you are fighting another team, you can train your mind to believe that when someone attacks you; just say they cut your arm with a sword. If you can convince yourself, in that moment, that it isn't real, you potentially won't feel any pain. It takes a lot of practice to out-wit the Fake Reality programming, but it's possible. And yes, it's hard to do. It's like cheating the FR field, the reality in here you can change with your perception. Because that's what the FR field does in the first place, it messes with your head, like Flora's illusions."

"That sounds strange, I don't really understand it," Flick responds instantly, frowning in bewilderment. More and more her unenthusiastic responses make me believe she just isn't cut out for this role.

Still, I try to keep my patience in check.

"Well, in other words you can train yourself not to feel any pain. It only works in the FR field, the same rules don't apply in reality... well, that's debatable, but...yeah," I can't be bothered explaining further and she at least nods. Then, we continue to train. We go on for about three quarters of an hour before finishing up. As we are leaving together through the front gym doors, we say goodbye.