Shatter Complex: Part Two

"No, don't bother gettin' out paper 'n' pencils. This will be entirely oral." Everyone started putting their stuff away again and waited tensely to see what would happen next. "Firs' question, what was the Year o' the Magi and when was it?" The class collectively sighed in relief. This was elementary stuff, everyone knew this. A girl at the front of the class with hair that continuously shifted colors raised her hand.

"The Year of the Magi, or Magicians Date as it is sometimes known, was the time when magic came back into the world. No one knows exactly when it was because of the chaos it caused. It was believed to have actually lasted several months but there are records of it lasting over a year. The most reliable date we can set to it is sometime before the turn of the twentieth century."

"Very good." The dwarf seemed proud of the precise and proffessional answer. Anny turned to Alex and made a comment about know-it-all-teachers-pets. Alex couldn't help but laugh. "Somethin' funny Ms. Katin? Perhaps ye could enlighten us as to the difference between graethians and wielders."

"Uhh... well... wielders are those people who remain apart from magic. Because they don't need magic to survive they can use it to cast spells. Umm... graethians didn't appear until a few years after the Year of the Magi. Originally called Mage-Born, they were 'infected' with magic in it's attempt to repopulate the world with the magical creatures of the past, such as elves and dragons. They were shunned by the rest of society because of their unnatural appearance and inabililty to cast spells due to their dependance on magic for sustaining themselves. But a mage-born by the name of Jonathon Graeth stood up for the rights of the mage-born and showed the world that they were no different from anyone else. He gave them a 'human' face and eventually the wielders accepted them. To show respect, the mage-born gave themselves the name 'graethians'. Jonathon Graeth was also the first graethian to estabilish the use of 'charanames'. A famous quote of his was, 'Our abilities show our character. We must respect these abilities as a part of ourselves, but also apart from our human identity. A name chosen specifically for these abilities will allow us to express ourselves and our abilities without shunning our ancestor's lineage.' He then lead by example by taking the name 'Satyr', as he resembled the half-goat, half-human creature from mythology."

"Very well said Ms. Katin. I didna' expect such a lengthy and well thought out answer. Ye went into quite a bit o' detail." He smiled at her. "Very accurate, exceptin' the part about satyrs. They were real."

"I did a report on it last year. That was pretty much word for word what I said in that." Alex felt herself blush from embarrassment. She didn't mean to go into so much detail! Mr. ShatterShield smiled again and moved on.

Anny leaned over and whispered into her ear. "Umm... about what I said before. Sorry. I didn't know that you were such a history buff." She seemed genuinely concerned that she had offended her. Alex looked at her and said. "I'm not, I really did do a report on it last year. The only reason I remembered it was because it was that paper that passed me. If I had slouched on it I would have failed." Anny giggled and looked relieved that Alex didn't take offense.

"Alrigh', seein' as how Ms. Katin and Prism had such excellent answers, I'll let the rest o' ye off the hook." Another relieved sigh from the class. "But don't be gettin' yer hopes up for such easy quizzes in the future. This one was easy cause it's the firs'." There was an almost evil gleam in his eye. "I know most o' ye could do without the whole firs' day speech, and seein' as how most o' ye was in me homeroom, I'll skip it and ye can have the rest o' the hour to yerselves." Everyone sat quietly for a few seconds. "Do ye want another quiz? I'm sure I can think o' somethin' far more difficult." Suddenly the noise level rose dramatically. Satisfied, he sat behind his desk and took out a small block of wood that he started to wittle.
"He still kinda freaks me out a bit. He seems to be big and tough one minute, then all nicey nice the next." Alex stared at him in amazement.

Anny laughed. "That's the way he is. He knows that we've got enough pressure on us from all the other teachers but that's not an excuse to go too easy on us either."

"Who's that girl with the hair?" Alex asked.

Anny looked over at her. "You mean Prism? She's kind of a teachers pet. Not really a bookish type or anything, but she likes to suck up to the teachers. Her hair and nails are a strange type of pliant crystal that can store sunlight. She usually has her hair reflect the light differently every few seconds but she can absorb all light that hits it and release it in a huge blast. Really neat to see, unless your on the recieving end of it. She saw a mouse outside once and freaked out. Poor little guy was fried to a crisp."

Alex was just beginning to understand the implications of being in an all graethian school. Some of these people were extremely dangerous, yet, they were all just trying to get through class. All of them were just trying to keep their life straight. What about me? Aren't I just as dangerous, if not more so, than Prism? Alex left that disturbing thought alone. She didn't like to think that she was dangerous. Maybe that's just how everyone else feels too. They don't think they're dangerous so they're not. She looked around the room. Prism who can shoot beams of light that could incinerate a living creature. Anny, whose claws and teeth looked like they could tear anything to shreds. Smudge who could put a whole in a person just by waving her hand. Even Linx, who could will Rael to do just about anything. How does it happen? How do we all stay in control? How come there isn't anyone going on a rampage and hurting people. We could do it easily, but no one here has. Is it morals, or ethics? Or maybe they just want to keep Graeth's dream alive. To prove to the wielders that we aren't that different. That we're all in this together. To prove that we're still human.

She sighed and left that hefty line of thought alone. Her and Anny talked for the rest of the hour and then went to their seperate classes. Alex and Linx headed into their last class. He could tell that something was bothering her so he left her alone. She felt a little wierd about that. She kinda wanted to talk to him more, but she was glad for the chance to think as well. By the end of the class she had made up her mind. She was gonna be herself. No matter what. Life was too short to worry over every little problem. Was it even a problem? She didn't know, and she didn't care. She decided to drop it and that was that.

The bell rang and school was out. Linx came up to her. "We're gonna be hangin' out downtown today. Do you wanna come with us?" He seemed a little nervous and was fidgeting. Alex had to fight the urge to giggle, he might take that the wrong way.

"Umm... sure. I'd love to. But I have to head home and tell my folks first. That alright? It's pretty close to the school. I can be home and back in ten minutes."

"Yeah. That's fine. Umm... can I... come with you?" He started fidgeting again and she found it really hard not to laugh. A smirk slipped through but he didn't see it.

"Your offering to walk me home?" She teased.

"Uhh... yeah... you know. So we can keep talking. The guys'll wait for us." He seemed really nervous now. Alex wondered if she should tease him anymore but decided against it. No telling how far was too far.

"Ok. But if you're coming than we'll probably be a little longer than ten minutes. My mom would never pass up an opportunity to meet any of my new friends." He laughed at that and they headed out towards her house. They met Anny along the way and they explained that they would be a little bit late. She told them to meet the rest of the group in the park and hurried off.

They didn't say much along the way. Little comments about the weather and how Alex was liking it here. She was kind of relieved when they got to her house. They walked in and she introduced Linx to her mom. She looked as if she wanted to interrogate him but Alex gave her a look and she didn't even start. They headed out the door and Alex saw her mom give her a wink and mouth the words, 'he's cute'. Oh my god, I hope he didn't see that. But if he did than he didn't say anything. Although she could have sworn he was blushing as they headed toward downtown.

----

They met up with everyone in the park. Alex saw Anny, Smudge and Nytemare sitting on a bench watching Cricket, Phade and... she did a double take. That was Linx! She looked to her left and he was still there, then it hit her. That must be Rune. Duh! She sat down on the bench and watched as Linx joined the guys who were demonstrating different ways to climb a tree. Cricket just climbed up the smooth bark of one, using his inate ability to stick to any surface. Phade seemed to dematerialize his fingers and somehow grab into the tree and climb up. Rune just did it the old fashioned way, looking for availabe surfaces and grabbing branches. Linx watched them for a bit and laughed.

"Your getting your hands dirty. You gotta do it with style." And he walked up to a tree and lifted his arm. Rael shot up and wrapped around a particularly high branch. Linx just held on as Rael slowly hauled him up. Alex laughed along with the rest of the girls when he ran into a branch. They heard him yelling at Rael. "I'll give you humility you damn sonnuva bike chain." They soon lost interest in the guys and Alex listened in on their conversation about the new dramas and romances that were already unfolding this year.

"Did you hear that Pyre is gonna ask out Rune?" Smudge put in.

"She is?" Anny looked over at Rune, hanging upside down from a branch. "Does he know yet?"

"Hell no. Can you imagine what news like that would do to his fat head?" Everyone laughed but Alex felt a little wierd as she didn't really know either of them. She decided to speak up.

"Who's Pyre?"

"Oh! I forgot you don't know her. She's this small petite girl in the class below us. She can control fire and has a bit of temper to match. Really cute though. Her skin is covered in these tiny irridescent scales and she has these two small, black horns on her forehead. Her eyes are a bright yellow with gold flecks. The whole effect is gorgeous. If the rumors are right then Rune might be in for quite a ride." Smudge giggled then sobered up. "If he says yes, that is. He hasn't gone out with anyone since the demon. We think it's because he's worried about losing control and hurting someone. Come to think of it, neither has Linx. He had a really bad break up with his last girlfriend, poor guy. Granted, she was quite the bitch. Shame how hard he took it though."

Anny gave Alex a sidelong glance. "Yeah, but I have a feeling at least one of them will come around soon." Alex gave her a confused look, then blushed when she caught on. Anny gave her a grin and she couldn't help but return it. The girls laughed and then the guys came over to see what they were giggling about.

"What's so funny?" Rune looked at Alex and then gave Linx a questioning glance.

"Oh! Sorry. Rune, this is Alex. Alex, Rune." They said hi and then he repeated his question.

"We were just discussing some new romances at school." Nytemare answered him.

Rune sat down across from Alex and she looked him over. He looked almost exactly like Linx but without a beard or hat. He was a bit more tan and little more muscular but otherwise they were identical. His eyes looked like they were shattered into three different segments; pale blue, fiery red and a noxious green. The pupil was surrounded by an almost circular crack as well.

"When did you change back?" Linx asked him.

"About an hour ago. I decided to come here and wait for you guys. I started climbing trees when Cricket came up and introduced me to Phade here. We started to get competitive, then you showed up and ruined our fun, like always." He grinned and Linx punched him in the arm. "Come on little brother, you gotta do better than that." And he punched him back.

"Don't call me your little brother. Just cause I was born second doesn't mean I'm younger." He rubbed his arm where Rune had punched him. Then he grinned and put his arms behind his back.

"What's so funny?"

"Nothing, just sharing a private joke with Rael."

"Whatever."

Alex almost rolled her eyes at the display. She decided to interrupt. "So, what do they call you, Rune?"

Cricket, Linx, Anny and Smudge all spoke up at the same time. "Four H." They looked at each other and laughed.

"Don't call me that!" He turned to Alex and put a calm expression on his face. "To answer your question I haven't chosen a charaname yet."

"What's Four H?"

"It's short for Four Horsemen. He doesn't like it for some damn reason." Anny rolled her eyes.

"Because I'm not 'Four Horsemen'. I'm only three. I can only become War, Famine and Pestilence. Not Death. Thank fate for that too. Who knows what would happen if I lost control of that one." He seemed to get really quiet and everyone left him alone for a while. The conversation turned to wondering about their new classes. Phade seemed to be the only one that wasn't really optimistic about this year but everyone else assured him that the teachers were fair and never gave them too much homework. Alex got thirsty and Linx offered to show her where the closest store was. She accepted and they walked off, joking and laughing. Anny turned to Rune.

"What do you think?" She asked him
.
"She's cool. Kinda wierd about the glasses and I don't know what's up with the gloves, but she seems nice enough and very cute from what I can see of her." He grinned as he watched the two of them turn a corner. "Looks like I'll be seeing a lot more of her though." He laughed and stood up, but when he went to take a step he fell flat on his face. Anny laughed and looked down at him.

"I think your shoes were tied together."

"That clever bastard." And he started to undo the knot that Rael had tied in his laces.

----

"So what do you think of our town?" Linx asked as they picked out some drinks.

"It's alright. A bit bigger than home but not much."

"Everything is within walking distance at least."

Alex nodded, unable to think of anything else to say. There was an uncomfortable silence as they paid for their drinks and walked out the door. She almost couldn't stand it, but she couldn't think of anything to talk about.

"So, what do you think of the teachers?" Linx broke the silence at last.

"They're cool. All of mine seemed to be at least. Nothing to complain about, yet."

"Yeah. Yet being the key word there. They'll get a lot worse as the year goes on."

Another uncomfortable silence. What happened to that easy going conversation we had earlier? Alex took this moment to look around a little more. Buildings, blue sky, grass, a cloud. Not much to look at. She struggled to think of something to say.

"What sort of stuff you into?" He asked her.

"All sorts of stuff. I love music and reading, video-games when I get a chance to play."

"You play games? That's cool. Me and Cricket play all the time. If you ever want to join us, feel free."

"Cool. I'll hold you to it."

Why is this so damn hard? She thought as another silence descended. They were almost to the park so she didn't worry about it too much. When they reached the rest of the group they passed out the drinks they had bought for everyone and sat down. They just joked around and talked until it got dark. It was a lot easier with everyone else around and Alex found herself joining in on the conversations easily. A lot of what they talked about she didn't really understand but they explained the jokes and who they were talking about more often than not. It started getting late so she said that she had to go. Everyone said good-bye and Linx offered to walk her home again. She felt herself blush and thought about saying no, but decided on walking with him. They walked a ways in silence but she kind of enjoyed it this time. It was a nice night and she didn't really feel like she had to talk. They were about half-way to her house when Linx spoke up.

"You probably think I'm a dork or something after today." He sounded downhearted.

"What? No! Not at all. You have no idea how glad I am that I met you... uhh... all of you guys. I was worried that no one here was gonna like me at all. But Anny opened herself up to me as soon as I got here and then all of you just accepted me. You guys, all of you, are awesome." She stammered. He laughed and for a second she thought he was laughing at her.

"Anny can make anyone feel welcome. She was my first friend here too. She's the one that introduced me and Cricket and now we're inseperable." He got a far away look on his face. "She was a breath of fresh air after what happened to me. I was scared of the school, and depressed after the break up. Anny just came up to me and started talking. Pretty soon I was laughing at all of her jokes and feeling a whole lot better about myself. I kind of had a crush on her for a while but nothing happened and it went away. She's a good friend."

"So, if you don't mind me asking, why didn't anything happen?" She was surprised she was so interested in that part.

"Oh, we're just better off as friends. She's not really my type. I like black hair and pale skin and she's tan and brunette. She's really into make-up and stuff too. I like a girl who can sit down and play a game with me or likes to read..." He trailed off and Alex could almost see his skin glowing red. She was blushing as well. He had practically described her. They were quiet until they reached her house.

"I... I guess I'll see you tomorrow."

"Yeah, I'll be there, unless Rune makes me sick again." He was looking down at his feet and fidgeting.

"Uhh... good-bye." And she started towards her door. Linx called after her and she turned around.

"It was fun hanging out with you today. I'm glad Anny brought you into the group. I hope you like it here." He started to walk off and Alex walked inside. She leaned against the door and bit her lip. Her mom peeked into the hallway from the kitchen.

"Alex? Who was that boy?" Alex got a big smile on her face and headed into the kitchen.