2136 A.S. (2034 A.D.)

Mira blocked Stephen’s attack, hitting his arm off to the side. His blonde hair pulsed blue again as he went in for a second, but she skirted it too. Embers from the blue flame coating his dark-skinned arms flew about, brushing past her purple ones. 

Mira shook the short brown strands of her hair out of her face. Promptly, she spun in the air and extended her legs, hitting Stephen square in the chest and shooting him backwards. 

He flailed, wobbling his arms back and forth, illuminating dark blue circles around him. 

Mira wound up a punch, ready to fly in for a strike as he was still struggling to reorient himself. 

Stephen braced himself, holding his arms up, manifesting a thin blue plasma shield to protect his chest and face. 

Mira cracked a grin as she flew forward, her incoming fist a radiant purple. Before she could make contact, though, she heard a whistling sound in her earpiece. She snapped out of her motion to reach up and twist away the disconcerting noise. The flames on her arm fizzled out. Below her, she saw her instructor, Rigel, standing at the edge of the spherical combat pit. His whistle hung out of his mouth, steaming with a thin blue dust. 

The combat pit was one of six in the high-ceilinged, Leftward Training Hall located at Helyx Academy. The monotone spheres indented into the ceilings and floors with diameters of up to 100 ft., giving ample space for dueling. 

Her instructor waved her over.

Mira scoffed and flew down to her one-armed teacher, close enough to see the pale gray nova scars that patterned his darker skin and his matching gray irises. “What did I mess up this time, Rigel?” she asked with a hint of annoyance.

“I love your spirit, but we're training your maneuvers, not your strength. Also, I’d rather Stephen not be killed,” he replied, a half-smile on his face. 

“Fine,” she grumbled. It was getting tiring to hear the same complaint over and over again. She was strong; why shouldn’t she show it? Stephen could take it. He was fairly strong too, at least relative to everyone else. 

Rigel raised the silver whistle to his mouth to reinitiate the training sequence. Before he could, the sliding doors behind him whooshed open. Rigel looked back. 

A man with pointed black hair, peachy skin, and robes made for a government official stepped through the doorway. A light blue sash denoted his strength as a Class IV star. It was two classes below Mira and one below Stephen. 

A broken cough rang through Mira’s earpiece as Rigel choked on his whistle. 

Mira turned down the volume on her earpiece, grimacing at the sound. “Who is that?” she asked, raising an eyebrow. "Do I know him?” She felt like he was familiar somehow. Not familiar in the sense that she’d met him before but that she’d seen his face in a picture or in a textbook.

“Get back to training,” Rigel prompted.

Mira gave him a confused look but did as she was told, meeting back up with Stephen in the center of the training pit.

“Who is that?” Stephen asked the same as her.

“Doesn't he look familiar?” Mira questioned. 

Stephen shrugged, squinting his eyes. 

The man was talking to Rigel. It did not appear to be a conversation he was enjoying. 

“Could be, I don’t know,” Stephen responded. “Rigel sure seems to know.” 

Rigel gave a subtle wave to them to continue their practice. 

Mira smirked and made the first strike with a purple palm, hitting an unreadied Stephen in his side.

“Oh, no fair!” he yelled. Stephen’s fists burst into flames, and he readied a counterattack. 

Mira braced herself as he came with a fistful of deep blue flame. She parried his attack, bouncing to the side. Stephen rolled forward, and Mira gave him a gentle smack on the back. 

Stephen yelped and somersaulted in the air. From opposite her, he sent his legs towards her chest. 

She dodged the first, but the second struck her shoulder. Pushing back, she made a twirl in the air and came down on Stephen with her elbow. She hit him in the cheek, sending him spiraling downward. 

Stephen surrendered, making a ‘T’ sign with his fingers. He rubbed his cheek. The inflammation caused it to glow a bright navy blue. It was the same color as the plasma that filled his veins. 

Mira put out her fists. She looked up to Rigel. The man beside him was still making conversation as he watched them duel.

“Watch the face,” Rigel mouthed to her. 

The man tapped the railway to the combat pit and appeared to say one last thing to Rigel before turning away. The doors glided open as he exited the training hall without looking back. 

Rigel didn’t watch as he left, his eyes staying on the pit at some fixed point behind them.

Mira flew over to Rigel, landing at the pit edge, pulling her feet to the ground, and shifting her inner energy in her body to simulate standing, despite the zero gravity of their space habitat. “So what’s the story?” she asked. 

Rigel shook his head and sighed. “Ophiuchus is doing another review of their facilities. That man’s the worst of them.” His cheeks flushed gray with regret. “Don’t tell anyone I said that.”

“Who is he, though?” Mira asked. “I know I’ve seen him before.”

Rigel sighed. “Yeah, he’s a pretty big name in the Greater Systems, Legate Castor. I guess you heard about him in one of your classes.” 

She had heard that name. She lit up. 

“Mira, no!” Rigel blurted, now realizing what she was about to do. 

Mira burst out the door of the room at rocket speed, not allowing Rigel any time to catch her. 

Stephen landed beside Rigel, scratching his head.

Mira dove from the platform just outside the doorway and into the open, gliding hallways of Helyx Academy. The patterns on the rounded hallways whizzed past her as she flew. The blue glow of their nebula from the above and below skylights illuminated the passageways. Behind her she left a trail of purple embers. She looked for any sign of Castor, now wanting to meet the famed man in person. 

“Watch it!” A dark blue star yelled, fumbling her books as Mira zipped past her. 

Mira didn’t stop to apologize or collect any of the books now floating about the passageways. 

She paused at an intersection in the corridors. Looking to the left, she could see a figure deep in the tunnel. Squinting her eyes, she could make out embers of light blue flame. She darted towards the silhouette. 

The figure stopped at the dock to another door and pushed at it with an open hand of light blue flame. 

Mira sped up, not wanting to miss him, pulling to a stop just in front of the dock. 

Castor looked down at her, a little puzzled. “So what do you want?” the man asked.

“You’re Legate Castor!” Mira blurted.

“Yes?” the man responded, eyeing her up and down in confusion.

“I’m Mira,” she replied. She showed him her color, flashing her purple flame. His eyes lit up for a second.

“Shouldn’t you be training?” Castor questioned, looking away as if uninterested. 

Mira nodded. 

He waved her away. 

She was confused, thinking he’d be more interested in what she had to offer. “I just want to know why you’re here,” Mira inquired, hoping it had something to do with her.

“I’m sure that’ll reveal itself soon enough,” he said with a smirk, then entered into his doorway, closing it almost to a slam behind him.