Battling the Invisible
folder
Fantasy & Science Fiction › General
Rating:
Adult +
Chapters:
17
Views:
1,962
Reviews:
5
Recommended:
0
Currently Reading:
0
Category:
Fantasy & Science Fiction › General
Rating:
Adult +
Chapters:
17
Views:
1,962
Reviews:
5
Recommended:
0
Currently Reading:
0
Disclaimer:
This is a PhantomBombshell production, i.e. fiction. Any resemblance to anything else or anyone (living or dead) is coincidental.
Battling the Invisible
Battling the Invisible
Axi crept slowly towards the front door. He’d paid his oldest sister, Shelby, to phone their mom that morning and his brother Macbeth was keeping their dad busy in the parlor. Sebastian was already in the car. He picked up his duffle bag and opened the front door, praying his parents’ “Empty Nesters Syndrome” wouldn’t alert them to the fact that their baby was on his way out.
No such luck…
“One second, Shelby. I have to say goodbye to Jeffrey before he leaves. STEVEN! Come say goodbye to Jeffrey!”
Axi made a mental note to get his twenty bucks back from Shelby…. “Mother, really,” he said, hugging her. “You’ve gone through this six times already! And we’re only going three hours away.”
“It doesn’t ever get easier,” Mrs. Phillips said. “You have everything?”
“Yes. And I grabbed a snack from the kitchen so I won’t get hungry in the car. You have nothing to worry about.”
“All set son?” Mr. Phillips asked, walking in with Macbeth.
“Yes, Father.”
“Well, don’t let us keep you. You know how Sebastian gets when you make him wait….”
Axi laughed and ran out to the car. He slid in to the back of the Lexus with his brother and stuffed his duffle bag into the already packed trunk. “Are you going straight to your dorm when we get there?” he asked Sebastian.
“No. We’re going to the Assembly Hall to unpack all of your things.”
The ride was quiet. For all of two hours and forty-five minutes, Axi stared out the window and listened to music. As the school came into view in the distance, he felt Sebastian tap him on the shoulder. “What?”
“This school is one of the only colleges left that accepts students from magical families,” Sebastain said, quietly. “If you get kicked out, you’ll have to go to a regular school and be…normal.”
Sebastian said this with so much contempt that Axi almost laughed. However he held it together. He knew his brother wasn’t big on speeches, or hell, even talking, so whatever he had to say was probably important.
“Don’t fuck up,” was the only other thing his brother said.
*
There were students everywhere. There wasn’t so much a registration “line” as a “mob.” Sebastian helped Axi wheel his foot locker into the throng and then flinched. “Shit, that’s Dr. Corvin. You’re on your own, bro,” he said, going invisible.
Axi looked around pointlessly, before turning to watch the man try and contain the crowd. He could feel his left eye twitching. He’d heard stories about this guy.
“And you must be a Phillips,” a booming voice said.
“Uhh…yes sir,” Axi said.
“Mmhmmm, yes, I taught all your siblings. I’ll be keeping an eye on you…” With that, Corvin nudged him into line and walked off.
It took an hour, because people kept jumping the queue, for Axi to get to the check-in table. He opened his mouth to say something when the senior taking names cut him off.
“Full name and hometown.”
“Jeffrey Anaximander Phillips.”
The man looked up at him and smiled. “I know your brother,” he said.
“Doesn’t everybody…” Axi muttered.
The man chuckled and flipped through his stack of papers. “Here you are. You’re going to be in Whitewyn Hall, floor two, room 47B. Your school I.D. should get you into the dorm and your room. The blue truck over there is taking your luggage over, and you’re due in the chow hall in fifteen minutes.”
“Thanks,” Axi said, taking his I.D. and sticking it in his wallet. He pushed, pulled, and kicked his things over to the truck and, after making sure they all had his name and room number on them, loaded them on.
He walked past the practice cages that lined the Arena and looked down. It was empty for now, but by dinner that evening he knew it would be full of students training. As he entered the fanciest dining hall he’d ever seen, he ran into another senior with a clipboard.
“Name and hometown.”
This was getting old. Didn’t anyone in this freak show hold actual conversations? “Axi Phillips,” he said, figuring he’d start giving the name he went by.
“Another Phillips. Also known as…Jeffrey Anaximander? I know your brother, Sebastian.”
Axi resisted the urge to let out a sigh and waited for the guy to tell him where to go.
“Here’s your roommate agreement form and you’ll be sitting at table four.”
“Who’s my roommate?”
“Someone named…Drake Tory. He’s here already,” the senior said, pointing to one of the underclassmen.
“Holy shit,” Axi mumbled. God please, if you love me at all, let him be gay… “The guy in the Broncos jersey?” he asked, looking over again.
“The one sitting next to him. The one with a boy band hair cut. Get going dude.”
Axi made a mental note to get to know Broncos!Dude better. First impressions were everything though. He tried walking through the cafeteria like he owned it. All my siblings went here. I own this place. I’m gold. I—“Ow! God damn it!” he muttered through clenched teeth. The edge of the tables were a lot harder than they looked. Of course he would trip right in front of his crush and new roommate…
“You okay, bruh?” said roommate asked, helping him up.
“Yeah, I’m fine. I’m Axi. We're roommates, I think.”
“Drake. You play sports?” he asked.
“Lacrosse. Why?”
“Just wondering.”
“Is that our stuff for the Arena Battles?”
Drake passed him the folder he was holding. “We have to turn it in with the roommate agreement shit. What’s your power?”
“Don’t know yet, but all of my siblings are pyrokinetic…” Axi shrugged. He had a feeling he’d be different, because it had taken so long for him to grow into his powers, but that might have been wishful thinking. “Come on, let’s get this done so we can get moved in. I want to see our room.”
Axi crept slowly towards the front door. He’d paid his oldest sister, Shelby, to phone their mom that morning and his brother Macbeth was keeping their dad busy in the parlor. Sebastian was already in the car. He picked up his duffle bag and opened the front door, praying his parents’ “Empty Nesters Syndrome” wouldn’t alert them to the fact that their baby was on his way out.
No such luck…
“One second, Shelby. I have to say goodbye to Jeffrey before he leaves. STEVEN! Come say goodbye to Jeffrey!”
Axi made a mental note to get his twenty bucks back from Shelby…. “Mother, really,” he said, hugging her. “You’ve gone through this six times already! And we’re only going three hours away.”
“It doesn’t ever get easier,” Mrs. Phillips said. “You have everything?”
“Yes. And I grabbed a snack from the kitchen so I won’t get hungry in the car. You have nothing to worry about.”
“All set son?” Mr. Phillips asked, walking in with Macbeth.
“Yes, Father.”
“Well, don’t let us keep you. You know how Sebastian gets when you make him wait….”
Axi laughed and ran out to the car. He slid in to the back of the Lexus with his brother and stuffed his duffle bag into the already packed trunk. “Are you going straight to your dorm when we get there?” he asked Sebastian.
“No. We’re going to the Assembly Hall to unpack all of your things.”
The ride was quiet. For all of two hours and forty-five minutes, Axi stared out the window and listened to music. As the school came into view in the distance, he felt Sebastian tap him on the shoulder. “What?”
“This school is one of the only colleges left that accepts students from magical families,” Sebastain said, quietly. “If you get kicked out, you’ll have to go to a regular school and be…normal.”
Sebastian said this with so much contempt that Axi almost laughed. However he held it together. He knew his brother wasn’t big on speeches, or hell, even talking, so whatever he had to say was probably important.
“Don’t fuck up,” was the only other thing his brother said.
*
There were students everywhere. There wasn’t so much a registration “line” as a “mob.” Sebastian helped Axi wheel his foot locker into the throng and then flinched. “Shit, that’s Dr. Corvin. You’re on your own, bro,” he said, going invisible.
Axi looked around pointlessly, before turning to watch the man try and contain the crowd. He could feel his left eye twitching. He’d heard stories about this guy.
“And you must be a Phillips,” a booming voice said.
“Uhh…yes sir,” Axi said.
“Mmhmmm, yes, I taught all your siblings. I’ll be keeping an eye on you…” With that, Corvin nudged him into line and walked off.
It took an hour, because people kept jumping the queue, for Axi to get to the check-in table. He opened his mouth to say something when the senior taking names cut him off.
“Full name and hometown.”
“Jeffrey Anaximander Phillips.”
The man looked up at him and smiled. “I know your brother,” he said.
“Doesn’t everybody…” Axi muttered.
The man chuckled and flipped through his stack of papers. “Here you are. You’re going to be in Whitewyn Hall, floor two, room 47B. Your school I.D. should get you into the dorm and your room. The blue truck over there is taking your luggage over, and you’re due in the chow hall in fifteen minutes.”
“Thanks,” Axi said, taking his I.D. and sticking it in his wallet. He pushed, pulled, and kicked his things over to the truck and, after making sure they all had his name and room number on them, loaded them on.
He walked past the practice cages that lined the Arena and looked down. It was empty for now, but by dinner that evening he knew it would be full of students training. As he entered the fanciest dining hall he’d ever seen, he ran into another senior with a clipboard.
“Name and hometown.”
This was getting old. Didn’t anyone in this freak show hold actual conversations? “Axi Phillips,” he said, figuring he’d start giving the name he went by.
“Another Phillips. Also known as…Jeffrey Anaximander? I know your brother, Sebastian.”
Axi resisted the urge to let out a sigh and waited for the guy to tell him where to go.
“Here’s your roommate agreement form and you’ll be sitting at table four.”
“Who’s my roommate?”
“Someone named…Drake Tory. He’s here already,” the senior said, pointing to one of the underclassmen.
“Holy shit,” Axi mumbled. God please, if you love me at all, let him be gay… “The guy in the Broncos jersey?” he asked, looking over again.
“The one sitting next to him. The one with a boy band hair cut. Get going dude.”
Axi made a mental note to get to know Broncos!Dude better. First impressions were everything though. He tried walking through the cafeteria like he owned it. All my siblings went here. I own this place. I’m gold. I—“Ow! God damn it!” he muttered through clenched teeth. The edge of the tables were a lot harder than they looked. Of course he would trip right in front of his crush and new roommate…
“You okay, bruh?” said roommate asked, helping him up.
“Yeah, I’m fine. I’m Axi. We're roommates, I think.”
“Drake. You play sports?” he asked.
“Lacrosse. Why?”
“Just wondering.”
“Is that our stuff for the Arena Battles?”
Drake passed him the folder he was holding. “We have to turn it in with the roommate agreement shit. What’s your power?”
“Don’t know yet, but all of my siblings are pyrokinetic…” Axi shrugged. He had a feeling he’d be different, because it had taken so long for him to grow into his powers, but that might have been wishful thinking. “Come on, let’s get this done so we can get moved in. I want to see our room.”