Present.
"No way!?" Anthony, excitedly running up on Mark in the almost completely empty school corridor.
"I said I'd come why're you so surprised?" Mark says, the two now walking alongside one another.
"I've been asking for the last two years that's why." His smile still prevalent, "You only agreed to come to see her, right?"
Mark, raises an eyebrow, "Who?"
"Yeah yeah." Anthony, exuding confidence as if he just caught his friend red handed.
"I only came because I felt bad about not responding to you over the weekend." Mark thinks to himself but doesn't consider actually telling him, preferring the assumption over the potential embarrassment.
"Phones." A teacher standing at the door with a box full of them, shaking it as it's held forward.
Handing them in the two walk through the doors into the stadium-esque hall, "That's why you come later." Anthony says, proudly showing off his know-how.
Looking out across the swelling five hundred seating hall Mark looks at Anthony with a deadpanned expression, "There's no seats."
"You cant stand for ten minutes?" His eyes held forward towards the sunk in centre, "They're already down there."
Mark, who was still looking around bewildered, locks into the budding action.
"Why isn't he taking one?" Mark asks after Santos, one of the fighters, declines to take a weapon.
"Pride I guess, winning with their own abilities type of thing..."
"That's stupid." The thought suddenly crossing Marks mind.
"Usually its mutual but there's special cases, like this one." Anthony's words hitting on deaf ears as Marks trails off in his own head.
Gathering in the fighting area, the teacher monitoring the duel gives them one last run down, " No follow up hits once it looks like your opponent is out, keep it honourable and you." Looking over to Valentina, "No stabbing, no severing and nothing above the shoulder blades." Valentina nods and the teacher looks over to Santos, "Nothing malicious, understood?" Being met with another nod she steps back and calls for the duel to start.
The seats all go silent, anticipating what is to come. The two look over each other, waiting to see who will make the first move.
Slowly Valentina enters an attacking stance, lowering herself slightly as she positions her left leg forward while holding her hands out like each held a weapon of its own.
Santos enters his own stance and the two hold their stares for another moment before the action begins, Valentina blitzing forward.
Santos stumbles backwards, startled by the speed, desperately pulling a slab of earth from the ground to shield the attack.
Gathering his bearings Santos looks towards his hacked up slab, now imbedded with a beautiful, blue sword and a knife half the size. Their owner abandoning them there.
Marks head subconsciously pulls backwards in a pleasant surprise, " Earth Manipulation and Weapon Conjuring? That's cool.. not fair though." The words being spoken in a hushed tone, being completely swept away by the now wild crowd of students.
Santos hurriedly seals the slab of earth imbedded with Valentina's blades, Valentina almost breaking out in laughter as she watches, allowing him to finish completely before forming the blades in her hands once more.
Once again pulling from the ground, the reinforcement covering the raw earth moves aside allowing him to launch his attack. Breaking up the earth imbedded with his strands and launching them in sections.
Easily the blocks are glided past or smashed entirely by her sword, Santos manoeuvring himself closer to the corner of the walls as she closes the distance on him. Attempting to launch the last block of earth, Valentina appears in front of him off to his side prepared to slash.
Without looking he slams earth from both sides of the corners together, attempting to crush her.
Instantly, Santos snaps his head over to where he had felt Valentina coming from, being greeted with his failure. Valentina stands one blade in each mound of earth meant to take her out of the duel, stopped in their tracks the earth implodes sending the residue up into the air.
Valentina pulls the shorter of the two blades up towards him it still crackling with small amounts of lightning, "Malicious." Her eastern European accent coming off even thicker then it usually would.
"Desculpa.. sorry? You're rápida. very strong." Santos says nervously smiling in between his panting, slowly raising his hands in surrender.
"That was disappointing." Mark says in tandem with his friend
"That was great!" Anthony says in tandem with his friend.
Unfiltered laughter rings out in the private box, exclusive to the Top 10 students, only 7 of which are present two of the others having just finished their fight.
Freya slaps Brian across the back of the head, stopping his laughter instantly, "I thought he was your friend?" Her voice dripping with venom.
"So?" Brian, soothing the stinging despite his hair intercepting the impact.
Miles, standing on the opposite side of Freya to Brian cuts in. "Ignore him. The two of them are fools." Referring to both Brian and Santos, his eyes not leaving Freya while he speaks.
Away from the other three, standing right in front of the glass another two talk.
"Its true.." Alex says as if she's in mourning.
"She's a dual wielder." Karl gripping her hand just a tiny bit harder, a bad attempt in consoling her.
"Well in the end, dual wielder or not it doesn't really matter. Isn't that right, Jack?" The only one sitting in the centre of the room, tilting his head to look towards Jack, who turns away almost repulsed at the very back of the room.
The air falls silent and Jacob makes a show of standing and approaching the window looking down on the centre piece of the hall, "You guys need to lighten up... I wish Henry was here."
"Dual wielder or not she isn't making it past the top five." Freya breaking the silence, "Look at her." Her arrogant, almost smug voice calling attention to Valentina who's being assisted into one of the tunnels out of the view of the students in the dissipating crowd.
"There's a breaking in period.." Jack says quietly but somehow still managing to turn everybody else's head as if he had shouted, "Shouldn't really matter. None of you will reawaken anyway." Jack approaches the couch and sits, making sure he's on the opposite side of where Jacob had been.
"When awakening again it takes time for the core, that is used to one specific 'flavour' of strands, to adjust to a new one. When used before then it can put a strain on everything in the body," Jack cracks a barely visible smile, "Don't worry though. With the minor strain put on the core itself, the strands produced become more potent. It makes you stronger, not just your body but your abilities too."
Both Alex and Freya, the only women in the room, find themselves shooting a look back down at Valentina who is long gone; instinctively knowing the potential trouble they could be in, the others not even thinking to do so.
"Lot of good it did you." Jacob shoots back snarkily, as he too looks out the window to the now patchy looking hall.
Jacob approaches the couch again, Jack instantly standing to leave. "I'll give it twenty, that crowd is gonna be a pain."
"Both of their abilities are in the books but they didn't mention anything about the weapons being different colours or the intricacies of handling the earth. Are they censored too or have they evolved? The books are from before it all became hush hush.. I'll have to keep that in mind in case I.." Marks train of thought derailed with Anthony handing him a can from the vending machine.
"What're you thinking about?" Anthony asks, opening his drink.
"That guys Earth Manipulation." Mark holds his can in the middle of his hand and lifts it using his telekinesis, "With this you control it by dominating it, the strands suffocate it and forces it up or whatever you want, yeah? His ability allowed him to integrate his strands into the earth, it became his earth. He could've done anything with the earth he merged his strands with. Only in theory though." Mark lowers his drink back into hand and opens it up, opting to use his hand instead of any alternative. "I want it." Leaving those words as a thought.
"Why only in theory?" Anthony asks, only half interested; his mind already wandering.
"The earth he was using was already tainted with strands." He says moving out of the way of a passing old man.
As he moves back to his side Anthony turns to look at him, his face slightly red, "What did you think of her?"
"If you like her you should ask her out." Mark says to the amusement of Anthony.
Through a laugh he speaks up, "She's the daughter of the current Russian Emperor, her Grandfather overthrew their old government in the 80s."
"What do I care what her family did sixty years ago? She seems nice."
"How would you know if she's nice?" Anthony says stepping in front of Mark.
"Sometimes she sits in the little area that separates the human half of school and the awakeners half. We see each other when I pass through to hang out with you."
Anthony steps aside, "Oh ok. Fair enough." The two begin to walk again, "So how long has this fantasy of yours been going on?"
Mark wraps his arm around his head and pulls him off balance, "Don't be weird."
Letting him go the two laugh together, "I think its a fair question." Anthony says walking backwards and just out of Marks reach.
Coming through the door, Mark takes his jacket off and hangs it up.
Scott brushes past him to get to the stairs, not even looking at him as he does followed by their mother.
"Mark, come to the shop with me." Their mother says.
"I just got in, cant you take Scott?" Mark gesturing up to Scott for a second who is now at the top of the stairs, "She was waiting for you." Scott hurls down before slamming his room door closed.
"I don't know what's up with that one. Don't bother I'll go alone."
Mark exhales and grabs his jacket, following her out the door.