Battling the Invisible

As November drew to a close, Blueloch began to resemble a normal college campus. With Arena preliminaries finished, and finals going on, a calm fell over the school—the students dedicating more time to their normal activities than to cultivating their magic. There were less people practicing in the cages each night, and you could walk down most dormitory halls without feeling the greasy tingle of magic in the air.

Night fell on Axi as he walked through the woods around the campus. He’d picked up this habit of walking alone in the evenings after getting back from California. For about a week after the funeral, he’d struggled with Drake’s double identity. It wasn’t that he was suddenly freaked out or anything. No, what had bothered him was his sudden, overwhelming urge to protect and comfort “Cierra”—and how it had lessened the moment his roommate had become “Drake” again. Did that make him sexist? Was he exhibiting some kind of ass backwards homophobia? Was he over-thinking things like his brother? All three, probably. That decided, he’d put it from his mind and tried to be as supportive as possible.
The walks in the woods hadn’t stopped though. It cleared his head—and his head definitely needed clearing after the gnarly Ancient History test. He selected “Shuffle” on his iPod, and walked deeper into the forest. After about thirty minutes, the battery ran out and he had to continue on in silence. That was when he noticed the footsteps nearby. There were people having a party in the clearing up ahead, and some of the upperclassmen were using the other path to get to it. Axi was thinking of turning back when he felt himself caught under the arms. “Whoa!” he yelped.

“Oi! Hector! Argo! I found a Firstie.”

Struggling out of the older boy’s grasp, he recognized Owen Vick. “Dude, cut it out.”

“Come join us, Axi,” Argo said.

Being the youngest of six meant that Axi had the most finely tuned internal alarm system in Colorado. He could smell an ambush coming—and one was definitely coming. “No, that’s alright. I was just out for a walk.”

“We insist,” Owen said, shoving him forward.

Two other boys caught him and shoved him to the ground.

“This is President Archer’s pet?” one of them asked.

“Crazy, huh?” Argo said, laughing. “Grab his legs.”

Axi felt himself suspended in the air, sort of like an upside down wheelbarrow. As Argo covered his mouth with a towel in one hand, Axi prepared himself for some kind of pain. Knives, lightning…something unpleasant was coming.

It was worse than unpleasant. Agro’s eyes flashed dark blue, and a split second before it happened, Axi remembered the older boy’s power—he was hydrokinetic. Water poured over the towel, making Axi feel like he was drowning. It only lasted a few seconds before they let him drop to the ground. He rolled to one side, sputtering.

“Hate to bring you in like this, but we didn’t want you getting a big head,” Argo said, standing up. “You should hear the way Archer talks about you…. It’s like he’s mentally blowing you every time someone brings up the tournament.”

“It’s too bad your boyfriend Drake didn’t come with you tonight,” Owen said. “It would’ve saved us some trouble of tracking both of you down.”

“Leave Drake alone, freak,” Axi said, finally catching his breath. He stood up, ready to fight (or bolt) at the first opportunity.

“Aww, someone has a crush,” a female voice said.

“Jen?” Axi asked, astonished.

“Did you seriously think I was going to pick up a freshman?” she asked.

“So what, you’ve been trying to get close to Drake to distract him from the tournament? That’s very Lifetime Movie Network of you….”

“No, idiot. I’ve been trying to get the lowdown on all of the freshman boys’ powers. Unfortunately I picked the wrong victim. Drake isn’t the most loquacious of beings.”

Axi privately applauded her use of the word “loquacious” but kept a straight face. “I don’t want any trouble,” he said in a quiet but firm voice.

“We know,” Argo said, standing close to him. “That’s why I need you to listen very carefully to me. The tournament hasn’t been won by a freshman in over a century. I need you to let that sink in for a second.” He paused, staring at Axi until he was sure the younger boy could count the years. “I’ve seen you in challenges. If you keep it up, you could do it. And what’s absolutely frustrating is that Archer and Holmes expect you to. And they expect the same from Drake.”

“The pair of us can’t win,” Axi said. “We’ll have to split up at some point.”

Argo laughed. “There’s more than one way to win in the Arena, Axi. But that’s exactly what you’re not going to do. You’re not going to take this away from us uppers who have been working our asses off.” He pushed Axi back toward the path. “I expect to see a…er…deterioration in your performance when school starts up again. Make sure Drake understands too.”

Axi said nothing. He stared at the group for another moment before turning to walk away.
*

“Did he threaten you or Drake?” Lidia asked.

It was past midnight, and Axi hadn’t slept a wink. Finally, he’d taken his phone into the hallway and called his sister. To make sure that no prying ears overheard his drama, he chose to hold his side of the conversation in Russian. “Nyet,” he said. “But he waterboarded me!” he added in a whisper.

“And the administration is going to do jack shit about it. The students are always testing their powers and control on each other. Unless he threatened to do worse to you or Drake, you really shouldn’t involve anyone else.”

“So I should just let them get away with it?”

“Hell no, you should fuck them up!” Lidia said. “But don’t go tattling. Axi, they’re scared of you! Do you understand that? If they weren’t, this wouldn’t have happened. Are you planning to throw the competition? Or to ask Drake to do the same?”

“No,” Axi said immediately. It wasn’t even an option.

“Damn straight. Let Drake know happened. And when you guys get back, you can start really making those bastards panic.”

Axi smiled. “Good night, Lidia.”

“Night Jeff.”
*

“AXI! I SWEAR TO FUCK IF YOU DON’T STOP CHECKING THAT POCKET WATCH I WILL GO HAMMER OF THOR ON YOUR ASS!” Macbeth yelled.

Axi nearly dropped the watch Drake had given him for Christmas. “Sorry,” he muttered as the rest of his siblings howled with laughter.

“Your boyfriend will be here in no time,” Phinaes said, smirking.

“He’s not my boyfriend!”

“You’re checking your watch like a maniac for someone you’re not dating?” Phinaes’ wife Sarah asked. Sarah had been in the family for just over a year, and she was quickly earning the spot of Axi’s favorite sibling. She was sarcastic, smart, fun, and looked like Rosalie from the Twilight series. Perfect woman? Quite possibly....

“He and I are close,” Axi said, shrugging. “We’re roommates. What do you expect?” The bell rang. Axi sprang from the chair and to the door.

“Hey bruh!” Drake said when Axi opened the door.

“You made it!”

“And with only one minor panic attack,” Drake said smugly. “I hate flying.”

Axi laughed. “Come in.”

“Anything I should know before I meet your family?”

“Don’t take God’s name in vain in front of my mother. And pretend you like hockey in front of my dad and brothers. Other than that, you’ll be fine.”

“Let’s ring in the new year then!”