Elemental War

Chapter Thirteen - Call Me Patrick (JASON and THE ELDER)

[Well, what can I say? How about 'thanks for the 500 reads?' Yeah, seems pretty solid. But seriously. 500. *jaw hits da floor* Wowzers. Wow. OMG. BRB. Um, LOL. Any more abbreviations? Oh yeah, TBH. Done. That's (nowhere near) my fill of nonsense for today. C U L8R. Actually done now. I hope.]

{JASON}

After losing 72:1 to Tom, I think I regret agreeing to this.

And I only got one in 'cause he let me. He has his moments when he practically screams at the TV, but they pass. He may be literally half my age, but his screaming fits are pretty terrifying.

"I bet I'd do better on Just Dance," I mutter under my breath. "Do you have all of the FIFAs?"

"Yup. We've got from '94 to 15. Except for, uh, 12."

"Why not FIFA 12?" I ask, frowning.

"It's my unlucky number." he replies, as if it's me who's being silly.

I pause for a moment before asking, "D'you like it here?"

"Of course I do! Why wouldn't I? Amazing food, a huge house, training, even a family of sorts; what else could you want?" He sounds utterly incredulous. Why shouldn't he like it here? A loving family - it's something I've never exactly had.

"Just wondering. Wanna have another go? See if I can get my own goal?"

"Unlikely," he says in a sing-songy voice. "Let's see!"

After five gruelling minutes I have to resort to underhand tactics. I shove a cushion in his face and manage to get down the pitch. I curse when one goes off the post, but Tom is too busy getting back to the box and I got it into the top right corner. "YEAH! Yes, yes, YES!" I scream while Tom holds his head in his hands.

***

In the end, the score was 57:3. Yes, I got another two in; I'm amazingly awesome like that. Well, cushions are amazingly sneaky like that. But it's still an improvement. Addison comes in, her eyes slightly red.

"You okay?" I ask. I expect her to give me some sort of sarcastic retort, but instead she just shrugs slightly with a distant look on her face. I glance at Tom, who looks as confused as I am.

Blinking slowly, she says to me, "C'mon, Jason. Let's go see the Elder," her voice a little strained.

I follow her out of the room and neither of us make an attempt at conversation, so we just walk in silence. Falling into step with her, I can't help but notice the way the hallway light bounces off her hair, making it glint like copper and gold in earthy soil. Her gray eyes are cloudy with something - not annoyance, not envy - strange as it sounds, it looks like grief.

We walk down hallway upon hallway, up and down stairs, and even though I've never been here before, after a while, I feel myself almost knowing which hall to turn down, whether or not we should take certain stairwells. I realize that I can sense a power; a rich, deep power; an old, tamed, strong power. I'm letting my senses take over, letting them take me towards it.

I stop suddenly. Addison's gaze hasn't lifted from her shoes, but she stops, too. There isn't a door in sight, but I can feel the power pulsing from my left. I turn to face the wall.

When I speak, my voice is surprisingly hoarse. "Is this another test?"

Addison doesn't answer for a long moment, then nods slowly, her gaze unmoved from the floor.

"I'll see you later," she almost whispers, her voice even worse than earlier. Her eyes flick up for a moment and meet mine.

"You make it sound like I might not make it out," I joke, and, to my relief, a ghost of a smile appears on her face. She nervously runs a hand through her hair, her eyes staring, unfocused, at the wall.