Chapter 14: Escalation

Simon heard something like a bag fall down stairs and went to see what had happened.

Maybe Yuelia dropped it, he thought, wanting to be helpful.

When he got downstairs, everything seemed to go slower. Yuelia was on the floor with a massive slash that started at her cheek and ended by her hip. She seemed to be hanging on by a thread, whispering an almost pitiful, “Help me.”

“What happened?” He said, running over to her.

“Whisper magic,” she replied softly, almost inaudible.

“Who?” he asked.

“I…. I don’t know,” she said softly.

Simon picked her up and teleported to the hospital.

“What happened?” the nurse asked.

“I don’t know. She said something about somebody using whisper magic!” Simon replied.

The nurse ushered a gurni to Yuelia, who was bleeding profusely in Simon’s arms. He set her down on the gurney and they wheeled her off. Simon tried to follow her, but the nurse said, “Sorry, you can’t come with us. We don’t want anything to go wrong.”

So Simon sat in the lobby, waiting patiently for them to ask him in. While he was waiting, he found out what his new ability was, Aquigic. He could control water and turn it to ice, but that’s about it. He tried to freeze something, but was unsuccessful.

Guess I’ll have to learn that skill, he thought.

An hour had passed and a doctor finally came out.

“Simon Emrich?” the doctor asked.

“Yeah?” Simon said, walking up to him with a hopeful look in his eyes.

“I’m… I’m very sorry,” he said.

“What? Wait, wait what?” Simon said, his hope turning to regret.

“We tried absolutely everything we could. I’m sorry,” he said, trying to comfort him.

“Can I see her?” Simon asked, tearing up.

The doctor walked him into the room Yuelia was in. She was okay, to Simon’s surprise.

“I thought you guys said you tried everything!?” Simon said.

“Yeah, we did. The scar wouldn’t go away,” The doctor said.

“Why did you make it sound like she was dead!?” Simon said.

“Her request,” he said, nodding to Yuelia.

“I got you good!” She said, smiling.

Simon sighed in relief and gave her a hug.

“You got me good,” He admitted, smiling, “How did you get that anyway?”

“I don’t know. I was just reading the whisper magic book and all of a sudden, I had this gash in my side,” she replied, “Now I have this nasty scar.”

“It’s not that bad,” Simon said, looking at it.

“How so? It goes from my cheek to my hip, I’m lucky to be alive right now,” she said.

“I’ll ask for a little help tomorrow,” he whispered.

“Are you sure you want to waste a magic on me?” she said, giving him a concerned look.

“It’s not wasting if it’s for a good cause, right?” Simon said, sitting down.

“I guess not. But what if Teebs and Shards come back to hurt you and you can’t defend yourself? What am I supposed to do if you’re dead?” she said.

By that time, the doctor and nurse had left the room.

“I won’t die from them. I’ll make sure of that,” Simon said, grabbing her hand.

She gave him a concerned look. He smiled and kissed her forehead.

“Promise?” She said, hugging him.

“I promise,” He said, hugging her.

After a while, Simon went home, leaving Yuelia at the hospital. It was oddly quiet without her flipping pages every so often. He went to the kitchen and started to cook dinner.

“Kinda sad to see you by yourself,” Endro said, appearing out of nowhere.

“Oh, Cybel! Don’t scare me like that!” Simon replied, grabbing his chest.

“Sorry. Want me to use the front door?” Endro asked.

“That would be preferable!,” Simon said, going back to cooking.

“Sorry. So, cooking for yourself?” Endro said.

“See anyone else here?” Simon said, stirring a pot.

“Guess not,” Endro said, looking around, “Hey, where’d you learn to cook?”

“My dad taught me when I was younger,” Simon said, grabbing a plate.

He put a towering pile of noodles on it and covered it with sauce. He sat down at the counter, grabbing a fork and started to eat.

“Are you going to eat all that by yourself?” Endro asked, a surprised look painted on his face.

“Yeah. You act like this is a lot,” Simon said, putting another fork-full in his mouth.

“It is. How are you going to finish that in one session?” Endro said.

“Easy. I eat almost the same amount I do everyday,” Simon replied.

“Ah, and I suppose you have a hollow leg or something?” Endro replied.

They continued to talk for a while, mostly about how much food was on Simon’s plate and how quickly it was gone. Both were extremely surprising. Simon learned a lot about Endro. Endro’s real name is Andy, he’s sixteen years old, can somehow control time itself, and likes to help.

“Now you don’t seem so mysterious,” Simon said.

“Eh, wasn’t really going for that, but okay!” Andy replied.

“‘Going for?’ What’s that supposed to mean?” Simon asked.

“You know, going for that style. I wasn’t trying to go for mysterious, I was going for odd and elusive,” Andy said.

“You got odd right on the dot, but elusive? Near miss, buddy,” Simon said, sitting on the couch.

“What’s a guy gonna do?” Andy said, raising his hands.

“Yeah,” Simon agreed, getting some drinks, “Do you drink soda?”

“Yes, can I have some?” Andy asked.

“Sure,” Simon replied, handing him a drink and sitting.

“Thanks. So, can you tell me a little about the culture here? I’ve seen only a few guys working in the libraries and hospitals,” Andy said.

“That’s because it’s the female’s duty to be smart. Not many guys are extremely smart, save the ones with psycogic and actually payed attention in school,” Simon said.

“Oh, okay. Did you pay attention in school?” Andy asked, sipping on the drink.

“Of course. The only reason I work at the dock now is because I haven’t tried working anywhere else,” Simon said.

“Okay. What about that castle? Do you have a king or queen?” Andy asked.

“In fact, no. That’s for the mages. I guess we don’t really have a ruler. We just decide for ourselves and try to help the community,” Simon said.

“Oh. So Zenith doesn’t have a capital?” Andy said.

“No. We didn’t want a repeat of the Old world so we just let things happen and hope for the best,” Simon replied.

Andy nodded and drank the rest of his drink. Simon took the bottle and tossed it in the trash. There was a silence between them for a while, it being almost deafening.

“How did your ‘rents die?” Andy asked, breaking the silence.

“Hm?” Simon replied.

“Your parents. How did they die?” Andy repeated.

Simon went silent, almost as if he was dreading that question all his life. He adjusted in his seat and sighed.

“Welp, no use in not telling you, I suppose,” Simon said.

“You don’t have to if you don’t want to,” Andy said uncomfortably.

“Nah, it’s fine. I’ve been meaning to tell someone about it,” Simon said, sitting up straight.

Andy shifted uncomfortably in his seat, feeling as if he just opened an old wound.

“I was seven when it happened. It was a nice day, but that has nothing to do with the story. That night, pirates attacked the town. My mom being a guard, she wanted to help protect the town, but she came after me instead. My dad took her place for the moment, not knowing that would be his grave… well, second grave I guess. A spear got him right between his eyes. Then the pirates came to my house, but they came for my mother, not me. They caught her, killed her, end of story,” Simon said, tearing up at nearly every word.

Andy patted his shoulder to comfort him. Simon smiled and wiped his eyes.

“Can’t do anything about it now,” Simon said, “All I can do is remember it and move on, right?”

“Right…,” Andy said, “It’s getting late. I’ll go ahead and leave.”

Andy teleported out of the house, making a shifting sound as he did. Simon sat in the living room by himself, thinking about how things could have been different.

What if they weren’t killed? Where would I be now? He thought.

Not long after that, he started to cry silently. Feeling the past haunting him, taunting him that he couldn’t do anything to change it. Feeling his anger build up, he started to scratch his arm. Then his back and head.

I hate it when this happens, he thought, scratching his side.

He walked over to a cabinet and got a bottle of blue liquid. He then got a rag and put the liquid on it, then he started to rub the rag on himself. The itching started to subside and Simon sat down on the couch.

Would any of this be happening if I hadn’t been born? He thought.