The Oracle

Chapter 5: Let the Show Begin

AKARI

"How do you think he's handling himself?" Kit asks as she stands beside me at the shooting range, her katana moving swiftly through the air and slashing through the clay pigeons that the machine across from us shoots at us, blue energy radiating from her blade.

"As well as he can, I suppose," I sigh as I shoot down more clay pigeons.

"Yeah, I suppose," Kit hums as she slices through another row of clay pigeons. "I wonder what his color is."

"Huh?" I glance in her direction briefly as I whirl my scythe around through more targets.

"I mean, a weapon will choose him in aptitude. I wonder what group it'll belong to," Kit says and I frown.

"Yeah..." I trail off, knowing full well which group it will most certainly belong to.

Ever since the beginning of Aria and the cataclysm, each virtue and each sin has had colors that represent them. These colors were chosen by the energy colors that appear when they use their abilities. Wrath is red, Envy is green, Greed is purple, Lust is magenta, Sloth is teal, Pride is dark blue, Gluttony is orange, Chastity is white, Temperance is electric blue, Charity is yellow, Diligence is blue, Patience is black, Kindness is salmon, and Humility is silver. Gold is reserved for The Oracle, but we haven't had one in centuries. The weapons used here at the academy have properties from the sins and virtues magically embedded into them. The weapons that were a match for me use powers from Envy, but that doesn't mean I myself have Envy's power. Some of the sins and virtues use weapons that have the abilities of others so that they may combine them with their own in combat, but the weapon must choose the sin or virtue in order to do so. The weapons don't have all of the abilities of the sin or virtue they hold, but only a fraction of their abilities. Even still, they're extremely powerful.

Kit's katana uses her own powers, as does Darius's bow. Kaito, however, has armblades that use the abilities of Wrath and Gluttony. Nobody's been allowed to wield weapons holding Wrath abilities for years until Kaito managed to convince Carmin to allow him to use them after they chose Kaito. A weapon chooses its owner by being the only one to light up gold when it is used. A special golden dust made by the previous Oracle is placed on the hands of the one who is trying to find their weapon and their weapon will glow golden if it accepts the user. Sins and virtues can summon their weapons any time they wish. We humans, however, have to do it the old fashioned way.

It's because of all this that I wondered why the child of Wrath would have ability colors unlike anyone else and far from red, but whenever I asked Carmin during my lessons he told me he couldn't say why. The only one who could say is The Oracle since the prior one was the one who declared this fact, but she disappeared long ago. The prior Oracle was never wrong, so nobody doubted her judgements. Somehow I wonder if that last one involved a fatal error or if she left out important information for a reason.

"Tsk," Sander huffs as he walks by, his hands in the pockets of his black ripped jeans and his black jacket tied around his waist to reveal his white shirt and gold and red tie, his sleeves rolled up to his elbows to reveal the wooden beaded bracelet with a wooden cross charm on it on his right wrist. "What's with all this talk about the new kid, anyway?"

"It's because he's new, Sander," Kit rolls her eyes and I glance over my shoulder at him. "They'll get over it. Don't worry."

Sander Sinclair, twin brother of Shae Sinclair and also known as Temperance. Somehow, he manages to act completely the opposite of his virtue. Often known to get in fist fights around campus, he's the complete opposite of his beloved and intelligent brother as well. The only thing different about their appearance, however, is that Sander has brown-hazel eyes while Shae has green-hazel eyes. Aside from that and the way they dress, you wouldn't be able to tell them apart if it weren't for Shae's glasses and their personalities.

"As if I care if they like me or not," Sander scoffs and stops walking to stretch his arms above his head. "I just want to know why they bother fussing over some fresh meat instead."

"How about you bother training instead of standing there," Kit chides and Sander glares at her.

"Hey," Sander points his thumb at himself, "I'm fine, so don't worry about me. Geez, what are you? My mother? If I recall, you're the same age as me and Akari. Loosen up, would you?"

"Well, somebody's got to make sure you do what you're told in order to make sure that you don't get killed," Kit retorts as she slices up more clay pigeons before she glances over her shoulder at him and frowns. "And could you bother to wear your uniform?!"

"Hah?" Sander rocks forwards on his heels and glances down at himself, his gaze going to his combat boots. "This is my uniform!"

"I meant properly, Sander." Kit turns back to training with a sigh. "You know what, nevermind. Guess you're just too lame to make an effort anyway."

"Geez, fine," Sander sighs and holds out his right arm as he steps up to the other side of Kit, his naginata forming in his hand. "Just don't fall behind."

"Wouldn't dream of it," Kit grins, glad that he fell victim to his will to prove himself.

I watch from the corner of my eye as the two of them engage in a deadly training match, each of them slicing and whirling around through clay pigeons effortlessly, streaks of blue and electric blue energy swirling through the air with their movements. I sigh to myself and decide to finish training for the day, knowing they'll continue their competition until they both drop. I step away from the training area and exit through the doorway of the silver chain-link fence that separates the clay pigeon training room from the other training rooms.

"Ah, Akari!" Merrick shouts as he spots me and I turn my head in his direction to see him waving, a smile on his face as he stands there dressed in a scarlet colored silk shirt with black jeans and a black and scarlet fedora resting on top of his fiery red hair.

I wave back as he jogs over to me and I tilt my head to the side in curiosity, wondering what he wants.

"What's up, Merrick?" I ask, scanning the suave nineteen year old's face.

"I was looking for you," Merrick's lips turn up into a grin and I raise a brow. "After all, I figured you wouldn't want to miss the big show."

"The big show?" I ask wearily, having a bad feeling about this.

"It's time for Sora's aptitude test, after all," Merrick hums and my eyes widen.

"That can't be right?" I frown. "Sora's aptitude test is at two..."

I trail off whenever I realize that Darius trained with Kit and I this morning before he went to lunch and he asked us if we'd like anything brought back but we told him we'd be going soon. That was almost an hour and a half ago...

"Merrick, what time is it?" I ask, my eyes wide.

"One fifty," Merrick muses and I groan at having lost track of time.

"Hang on," I start, my eyes narrowing on Merrick, who raises a brow in response. "Why did you say it would be a show?"

"We both know the answer to that, don't we?" Merrick simply grins innocently before he adjusts his fedora. "Come now, Akari. We'd best be on our way. I'd say things are about to become quite interesting after all."

I watch in silence as Merrick begins to walk off and he hums as he slides his hands in his pockets. I ball my fists at my sides at having forgot that Merrick is able to sense the desires of others, in addition to using them against others. He probably sensed it from the beginning, especially Sora's desire to stay hidden. If that's the case, then why hasn't he told anyone yet? Better yet, why does he seem excited about all of this?

"Dammit, Sora," I mutter under my breath and run after Merrick. "You'd better not get yourself killed on the first day."