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Chapter 07- If You Lurch, Find a Church

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"...and that is why you must always observe your surroundings at all times." My mentor finished his lecture. "Any questions?"

The two of us were invited to the elementary Academy as guest speakers. When I noted that none of the kids dared raise their hands, I raised my own. "How did you single-handedly save an entire town from a tsunami?" I barely held back a snicker as the room became rowdy with excitement.

"You saved a whole town?"

"What's a sue-mami?"

Revelin seemed to be weighing his words, but after a moment, he held out his hands for silence. "Earthquakes sometimes cause large waves to form in the ocean. The waves are referred to as tsunamis. And I'll begin by saying that I did not save the town from the tsunami...the tsunami was going to hit the town hard, regardless. And it most certainly wasn't 'single-handedly'; I had help."

He waved me over, and I reluctantly moved from my seated, akimbo position behind the kids to walk over to him. All of the reports I had browsed about the incident never mentioned anyone else helping Revelin during the ordeal. I was rather curious as to who helped him. He handed me a bowl and placed a square building block inside it.

"This brown bowl represents the town," Revelin explained. "The island had incredibly high terrain, and the inhabitants formed the city on the only coast that they could find." He used his Vim to flatten down one side of the brown bowl to make it appear as if the other edge of it was a semi-circle of mountain terrain while the flat part was the beach. "We were sitting ducks."

My mentor used his Vim to color his hand blue and used it to represent one of the waves of the tsunami. His hand covered the green block and slowly dragged away. He repeated this action a couple of more times for the waves that came afterward. "Now, this town was a mid-way point for folks of all kinds. They all went there for the market's variety, as they sold goods from a lot of different places. I was one of the people that went there to search for certain supplies. So, I was there when we caught sight of the wall of water!" He turned himself completely blue and curled his arms above him as he leaned over the children, pretending to be the tsunami itself.

I couldn't help the chuckle that escaped me when I heard the squealing of some of the children. My mentor was certainly creative in his re-inaction of the events. Though he spoke of aiding children in the past through charities, I didn't realize just how serious he was about caring for them. Not many Wanderers had children of their own, so perhaps Revelin did his best to help them from afar.

"My instincts told me that if I figured out a way to place a barrier over the town…" Revelin continued as he took one of my hands and closed it over the green block. "At the very least, it could help stall for time. But, to hold a barrier of such a size for such a long time required a lot more Vim than I could wield on my own. What was I to do?" He turned to the kids and asked. "What would you have done?"

"Stick together?" A little girl supplied timidly.

Ah, it was one of the more frustrating lessons the Academy tried to teach us. Under duress, defensive compress; in a tether, stick together. And what a shame it was that, in true chaos, most choose flight over fight. I could almost imagine the look of aggravation on Revelin's face as he scoured the city for any Vim carriers that hadn't left.

"I would like to add one more line to that saying," my mentor stated, standing straight and tapping his chin with a finger. "If you lurch, find a church." He motioned towards the top of the green block. "And there was a church on higher ground towards the back of the city. The bells were ringing, calling for everyone to reach higher ground and seek shelter…"

By this point, Revelin had the undivided attention of everyone in the room, including the teachers. It was as if we could all envision the remaining people of the town huddling together inside that one building, awaiting the inevitable.

"As I ran up the path that led to the church, I ran through my options," Revelin admitted. "If there were any remaining Vim carriers, they would probably be in the church. But, if there was no one else, I would have to make a smaller barrier to protect only those that were inside the church, as they were the closest in proximity." He paused as he swept his gaze along the children. "You must always prepare for the worst, even as you hope for the best."

In order to ease the tension in the room, I snorted through my nose. "Clearly, you must have found someone, or the town would have been worse for wear." I pointed out. "Just tell us what happened already." His smirk would always irk me.

"I did find Vim carriers, two priests, and three volunteers. I was capable of forming the barrier over the entire town, and they helped support it until the tsunami had passed." That being said, my mentor released the Vim that turned him blue, and his appearance was finally normal once more. "Neither the priests nor the volunteers wanted to deal with the reporters, so they dumped all of the credit on me, which is also why you should never completely believe everything you read."

"I want to know how to make a barrier!"

"Same."

"I wanna try, too!"

I looked on as my mentor showed each child how to form a miniature barrier. The sound of his laughter seemed to wash over me, and I realized that I had never really heard him laugh before. I nearly jumped when our eyes met, as I didn't even know I was staring. I held my breath as he walked over and took hold of my hand to show me how to form a barrier around it. He then motioned to the other half of the class, and with a nod, I began to show them how to make miniature barriers as well.

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Though we had only been with the children for a few hours, I felt rather tired. I was hoping that my mentor would forgo training, but I should have known better. The third time my left butt cheek hit the ground, I yawned and flopped right where I had landed. "Mr. Eferize," I whined. "I'm too tired today. Can we not train for just one day? Whoa!" I gasped as I was suddenly upended back onto my feet. "Oh, for crying out loud…" I grumbled and couldn't help but glare at him.

"Cyrus Kairos," He hissed. In the last few weeks, his training had become more and more complex.  "I'm not doing this for my own personal pleasure. You can't tell me that you have no idea how much power you have locked away inside you. Isn't that where your true exhaustion lies? After half a year, you still don't trust me enough to tell me why?"

I felt my throat tighten. Eferize had never been angry enough to yell or call me by my full name before. "N-noticed that, have you? Then again, the great Wanderer Revelin Eferize, who refuses to write up a work contract, knows just about everything, doesn't he?" I bit back sarcastically. 

"No, I clearly don't," He replied as he began to invade my personal space. "And if you continue to block your own path to progress, then I am afraid that you are going to have to suffer my presence for a very long time. You are a danger to others as well as to yourself this way."

I flinched when he reached out a hand towards me, feeling alarmed and wary. But, my mentor settled his hand on my shoulder. I couldn't believe that such a defensive reflex had returned to me. I thought I was rid of such paranoid feelings long ago. Feeling utterly contrite, I lifted my head, an apology on my tongue. But I was startled once again when that very tongue was captured in a sudden kiss that caused my entire system to freeze. I was still tense and shaking when Revelin pulled away, but when he leaned down a second time, I was more prepared.

My hands fisted into his shirt as I tugged him for leverage, slowly inching onto my toes to dominate the kiss. I felt it was only fair. He caught me unaware that first time, so naturally, this kiss belonged to me. I took full advantage to taste and suck at my mentor's tongue. I smirked when I felt his hands on my waist as if he wanted to lift me up even higher for more contact. But, by then, I had already shaken off the feeling of surprise. 

"Heh. You want to tame the beast inside me?" I challenged him. "Fine. But you should know that taming my Vim won't be easy." I told him as I walked ahead of him towards the Arch-Passage. "And neither am I."im towards the Arch-Passage. "And neither am I."