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Chapter 8
Cynthia cowered under her master's watchful glare. She didn't dare speak. Her gaze stayed glued to the floor in front of his feet, just inches away. If she paid close attention, she could feel his anger being directed towards her.
"So tell me again, Cynthia. How in the world did you manage such a feat as failing the simplest task of capturing two weaklings like Lance and Juliet?"
He spoke quietly… Calmly… Precisely, and to the point; she knew he was boiling.
"Sir, I'd beg to differ. Those two aren't weaklings at all! Their Energy is too pure! Too strong! Too-"
"Enough!" Cynthia froze for a moment before she began trembling again. She whimpered as she felt a familiar, cold cord of controlled Energy begin to coil itself slowly around her neck. It already bound her hands tightly in her lap as she knelt in front of him. "Now let me ask again," each word clipped. "What happened? And start at the beginning." He was in complete control; he was a master.
And so, once again Cynthia recounted her latest encounter with Lance and Juliet, starting with how she'd checked their backgrounds, checked the backgrounds of even their parents, fixed it so that Lance's parents would never recover from their bout with the common cold, how she used up all her Energy trying to pry into their minds in the meantime and then had to wait for a week before she was anywhere near strong enough to go through with the rest of the plan. She recounted how she'd kidnapped Juliet and then gave Lance visions of where they were and how they fought upon meeting each other.
"So Lance and I dueled for awhile. We were both weakened a great deal so it was pretty much an even fight. I had to think quickly to find his weakness. Well his weakness was Juliet so when I hurt her, he became desperate. What neither of us knew though, was that Juliet was an Unknown, and a strong one at that. When Lance was hurt, she was furious. She actually stood up and faced me. And when I threw Fire at her, she absorbed it into herself and shot it right back at me within her own white light. It was strange also because it just stretched itself out to surround me. I remember screaming out in shock as my own Fire reached out to burn me but then I was bathed in the white light and I felt so calm and still. The fire had disappeared and I was just standing there. Before I could even think about what to do next though, I was back here."
"And that's it?"
"Yes, master."
"So what are you doing here? You have a task to finish."
"What!? You're not thinking about making me go back there!"
"Are you questioning me?"
He raised an eyebrow at her and she knew she'd gone too far, questioning his motives. "No, sir. I'm not questioning you. It's just that I don't know what to do now!"
He laughed out loud then, a malicious laugh. "Can you be so stupid? Get her on our side of course!"
Cynthia gawked at him. "But… How… I mean, I haven't-"
"Oh, I'm sure you'll find out how to do it. And to make sure you do the job, I've found a couple of guys to help you out."
She tried one more time. "Master, I'm grateful that you think I'm worthy of this job but I simply haven't gotten the training to-"
He cut her off again, however, as he settled back into his chair and relaxed, smirking down at her. "Nonsense. Do what you always do. Mess with her mind. Get in there and twist her soul out."
She paled. "I can't do that. Not again, not after-"
All laughter left him and he bent down so his face was right in front of hers. She could feel his breath warming her face as he spoke. "You will do as I say. Be thankful that I don't destroy you right now as it is. This is your final chance Cynthia. Don't let me down." And with that, she was dismissed. She bowed quickly before scurrying out the door. He stared at the closed door, his face clouded with dark thoughts as his brown eyes gleamed in the darkness.
Meanwhile, Juliet and Lance sat in front of a fireplace, a fire blazing inside despite the summer heat. A light sweat had broken on her forehead and Juliet absentmindedly dabbed it dry with a tissue as she listened to the man in front of both of them.
"And so that is the history. Everything is based on Balance and our people are on a mission to reach that Balance and restore it in this world before everything we know is destroyed by the Nica's greed."
Lance watched Juliet as she absorbed the tale of his people's history. Through it all, she had remained passive, letting the words flow through her and for a brief moment, he wondered if he'd done the right thing in bringing her here to talk to his superior for a look of skepticism flickered across her face as the story concluded. But the doubts were pushed back when he remembered how he had sat in front of the man years before as a teen. He too, had been unwilling to believe that he wasn't "normal" and that he had been chosen for a greater destiny. He'd thought being part of a successful group had been enough, but fate had shown him otherwise. His thoughts rushed back to the present when he heard his friend begin to speak.
"Okay, this is nice and all. I'm thankful that you told me this wonderful story, but what does any of this have to do with me?" Juliet asked as she looked towards the two men.
The man who'd introduced himself as Simon smiled at her but it did nothing to settle her confused state of mind. "There's one more part of our people I haven't told you about yet. As I said before, the world is in a state of imbalance. To achieve our goal of righting the way of life, five chosen individuals are selected to guide the way. Four represent the four symbols of the world: Casta for water, Li for earth, Hyam for fire, and Melisenda for wind. The fifth is the teacher, Quinn. I myself am Hyam, Healer of my people. Lance," he indicated towards his friend, "is one of my own kind, in the middle of training." He paused and stared at Juliet, waiting until he had her complete attention before continuing. "And my colleagues and I believe you may be Casta." He went on without pausing before either Lance or Juliet could register the news. "We've been keeping track of you for awhile now, Juliet. We've noticed how strongly Energy seems to be attracted to you, a force that draws all life together. This force can also be manipulated to do a number of things and you've already witnessed a few ways in which it can be used."
He stopped again and looked at them. His student's gaze spoke of awe towards the friend he'd known for years. Juliet on the other hand, looked a little pale and worried.
"What exactly does that mean? Are you telling me I've been chosen to help lead a nation against an evil I barely know anything about?"
"It would seem that way, yes," he agreed patiently.
"But how…" she trailed off.
Simon resettled himself comfortably on the floor before pursuing her question. "Juliet, you yourself know you're not like many other people. What you did today was something special and few can use your powers with as much efficiency and control as you did. And you haven't even been trained in the arts! Your instinct knew what to do and you did what needed to be done."
Juliet looked at the man in front of her. The fire blazed behind him, casting a halo of fire around his body. For a moment as she stared into Simon's dark eyes, eyes that were shadowed and dimmed from the light behind him, she saw something change. Staring into his eyes, the rest of his body seemed to melt away until all that remained was Fire. She didn't realize what she was doing but she turned to Lance. Where Lance should have been, flames very much like Simon's flickered in the form of Lance's body. The only differences between the two were their colors. Whereas Simon's Fire was made mainly of white, Lance's was the same dazzling green she'd seen when he'd charged Energy at Cynthia.
Awed at what she saw, she looked down, somewhat embarrassed by seeing such Power but she was in for another shock. Her own body had disappeared and she looked at her true self. In contrast to the flames near her, she found Water, crystal clear flowing through her. She raised a hand in wonder, watching as the clear liquid swirled in the light with each movement she made.
Speechless, she looked back up into Simon's eyes and slowly, everything changed to what they were supposed to be. Only the faintest spark shone in his eyes and still, he remained silent, waiting for Juliet to speak.
Lance however, was lost. He'd felt the change in the air when Juliet had locked eyes with his teacher. He couldn't shake the feeling of being left out when it seemed as if she was learning something that he could never learn. When she turned to look at him, he was certain something was different. Her hazel eyes had grown intense and she stared at him. No, not at me, through me. She had gazed deep into Lance and saw something there. What it was, he didn't know, but it was unnerving nonetheless. He watched as she raised her hand next, looking at it as if she'd never seen it before. What do you see? His soul begged to learn their secret but he quieted down, knowing that if he was to know, he'd find out later. Tonight was her night.