"Yo!" Lucius felt a slap on his back alongside a familiar voice. "Sorry I missed the match with Aiden yesterday. But I heard he was pissed."
"What do you think?" Lucius smirked. "You should've seen it, man; it was perfection."
Jasper clicked his tongue. "Don't worry! I'll make sure to join the one later, of course!" Jasper said as he rushed off into the school compound to meet his usual group of friends.
Lucius took in a deep breath, looking on to the crowd ahead, "Another day…" He whispered as he took his time to stroll into the school and through the hallways.
"Classroom 21…" He muttered as he turned in and found a seat near the last row.
He leaned his elbows on the table and watched the students start to settle down as the professor walked in. She promptly took the notes out of her bag and jotted down various words, symbols and drawings on the board. "Well! It is 10 sharp, I will start today's class!"
She sat her notes back down on the podium. "Welcome back to Elemental 101. Today's class will be on how to strengthen the clashes of your element…" She paced to the middle of the stage. "Well, theoretically, to say the least." She looked down as if in deep thought about her next statement. "I wanted to start with a question."
She flipped the board over with a snap of her fingers, and as her fingers willed, the chalk floated to the large board, and she started jotting down her exact question, "What do you think controls your elements? Your mind? Or your body?"
The class's murmurs grew as Lucius took the opportunity to close his eyes, his head still throbbing from the aftereffects of last night, haunting the depths of his mind. The class's bustle blending into white noise."
The professor looked around. "Hm… Lucius? My best student. What do you think?" Her call snapped him back into the present.
He exhaled, rubbing his temples. "It is the mind. Your body asks as the conductor's baton, but the mind's intentions are what the flux will follow. Body motions only serve to make control easier. But fundamentally, it would be the mind."
A few students shifted in their seats, some nodding in quiet agreement. A couple of them even exchanged knowing glances. Lucius had always been the one to answer these questions, one way or another. His words are known to carry a certain weight as both the smartest boy in school and the strongest. It left little room for debate; the professors knew it, and the students knew it.
"So shallow, Lucius!" Aiden's scoff cut through the growing voices, "It is not about the mind or the body, but instincts." He leaned back in his chair, swiping his long blue hair back as he looked to Lucius at the last row from the first, " None of our senses can even perceive what this flux we use to control the elements are. We merely feel them and act on them. That's called instincts, Mr Number 1"
"Great analogy, Aiden!" Lucius clapped sarcastically. "I guess your instincts were inferior to mine yesterday?"
Aiden's posture stiffened as he sat back up straight, his eyes narrowing at Lucius' smirk, but he quickly composed himself. "Not even a nudge at my correct answer? Might as well change your name to Lucius Fraud! The Thornes family is no more anyway HAHAHAHA!"
"I dare you to say that again." Lucius flared.
"Guys, stop!" Sophie interjected, standing up and in between the two of them on the steps, "This is a lecture, Aiden. You've gone too far this time."
Lucius had already stood up, walking past the rows of students as they awkwardly looked on at the stage, and finally, right in front of Aiden and the professor, simply watched with a sigh. His eyes straight into the blue of Aiden's, almost taunted by the mocking smile just beneath, but alas, he turned and walked out of the classroom.
No point going to any lectures at this point anyway.
The eyes of his schoolmates fell heavily on him. He quickly flicked a glance up, meeting a few curious gazes and accidental eye contacts. His gaze shot back down almost immediately, the tightness in his chest growing. He quickened his pace, his fingers brushing his face – just a brief touch, checking if the makeup was over the scars at a window's reflection.
Satisfied, he forced his eyes back to the ground and moved faster. The noise of the classrooms and the screams and chatter of the students slowly faded as he climbed up the staircase. Up and up, until the sun's rays finally died down to a mere dim. What stood in front of him was the same door he encountered yesterday. He didn't know why he was back here, but he simply wanted a quiet place. A place where he didn't need to care for the gazes of the crowd.
As he pushed the door, the sunshine cast warm sensations upon his palms and face, almost calming to the touch, washing away his worries and drowning out any of the noises and pounding in his head. He walked out to the platform, the lights changing everything about it from last night. He finally walked to the same side where he had laid last night.
"Ugh. You again." She laid her head back on the tiles with a dry thud.
As Lucius climbed above the railings and onto the tiles, he finally saw the full face of the person from the other night. This time, the sun cast rays of gold on her blonde hair, and the clouds in the skies reflected in her pure blue eyes, yet the frown told something else.
Lucius didn't bother communicating; he just wanted a break.. from the world, from bothering to explain himself, from listening to others bash his family, or acting like someone he wasn't.
He finally steadied himself and laid down beside her unmoving body, catching another glimpse of the scars that ran down her forearm to her wrists.
Does she not bother to hide them…?
His fingers subconsciously rubbed his own wounds, patched over by makeshift and frankly, badly applied makeup, but alas, he laid back down. The sun's heat was a comforting warmth. The distant horses galloping, machinery and streets rustle made him feel all the more detached from everything.
Occasionally, a gust of cold wind swept over, carrying their worries with it. Time passed quickly, the sun already making its way a substantial distance from where it had been. Lucius, for once, had enjoyed the time that had passed. A quiet moment was finally cracked by a raspy voice, "How painful is everything."
Lucius opened his eyes, his heart oddly calm this time. "Enough to drown." He told the girl he didn't know. He turned to her, fully expecting a laugh, but her expression remained unchanged.
"I'm sorry for what happened to your family." She said, "What the Thornes had done for the city in the dungeons will forever be remembered. Their efforts will never go unnoticed. No matter how much of a rival you are to me, I must respect that."
A memory of his father floated through his mind, but he quickly snapped back to reality. "Yeah…"
"Besides, I already know you don't know me anyway. Funny, isn't it? my rival, my archnemesis, doesn't even know who I am." She chuckled.
"Well, it's not you, personally." He lingered on his words, "I just don't really care for a lot of the people around me."
She sat up and looked at him. "Well, remember the name Seraphina Celeste. The girl who allowed you to lay beside her on the roof of the school building."
"Your royal vessel heeds your advice," Lucius said flatly.
The silence settled in again, but only for a split second before the bells started ringing. Chiming once, then a second time, and finally a third.
Without uttering anything, Lucius sat up and climbed back to the platform above.
"Why do you still talk about the fights? If they don't even matter to you anymore?"
"It's no longer about me… It never was."
Lucius paused for a moment, his face expressionless, but nothing else was said before he slid back into the stairway. The school had gotten livelier, with students running through the hallways or in their booths. Lucius briskly walked through the halls, reaching the arena. A room with several risen stands at the side and a large platform in the middle made of polished rock.
Upon one of the sides sat his opponent for the meet, the person who personally challenged him this time.
"Thank you for accepting my challenge, Lucius." They both shook hands. "I know you didn't have to accept it knowing your position in school, but I truly appreciate this opportunity."
"No worries." Lucius walked up onto the platform, waving to his mentor and his opponent's mentor, who sat side-by-side.
"Formalities complete. James Lindt against Lucius Thornes. Start at will."
"After you," Lucius said.
James mustered up his strength, collecting bubbles of water that shot high-pressure jets, piercing through the ground and into the crowd behind Lucius.
Thankfully, the professors are present to help protect them.
Embers of flames interrupted the streams as Lucius rushed over to James through the chaos. Ice and water clashed with the sparks of flames dancing about the platform. Each little ember nullifying every bit James threw.
Lucius was getting closer, and James didn't know what to do. Ultimately, James conjured a blade as a last resort, slashing through his front, but the blade had already sublimated.
With a slight shoulder charge, Lucius pushed James onto the platform.
"Haha, I give," James admitted as he slumped back onto the platform.
"Was a great fight, James." Lucius pulled James back up, "good control over changing states and power over the water."
"Hah… Happy to hear it from the best in school…" James did a deep exhale. "Any advice?"
Lucius stretched himself, "Uh"
"That's right, bow down in his presence!" Jasper threw his arm around Lucius' shoulders."
Lucius chuckled, "That's quite a bit of glazing." He patted Jasper's back as well, "Help me give James some advice. I don't know how Hydroflux works."
"Hmm… Don't let these Pyroflux losers get too close. You're never going to beat them in close combat. Act like a control mage and maintain distance while you're attacking. Though it takes a bit of practice to get used to muscle memory. That's the easiest thing for you to work on as of this moment."
"Appreciate it, guys," James said as he dusted himself off and grabbed his bag. "I'll be back!"
"Anytime." Jasper said before turning to the man beside him, "How's dinner sounding?"
Lucius's stomach scrunched, but he held himself back, "Nah, I have my own plans."
"Alright, alright." Jasper smiled as he looked to the stands once more, his friends there waving at him. "I'll leave you here then. See you tomorrow, man."
"Yeah, have a good one." Lucius turned, slipping his hands into his pockets as the evening cold gale blew through the open doors.
"If you have any problems, feel free to tell me. Bye!" Lucius hesitated before turning, fully expecting him to be already gone with his friends, but there was just- just looking at him.
"Yeah, yeah, just go enjoy already!" Lucius yelled before turning back.
He walked through the same path as he had always done. Through the streets and the alleys and finally through the little bit of shrubbery and trees to find himself in front of the mansion once more.
The sun was setting, casting long shadows of trees moving on the long grassy patches ahead, leading up to the quasi abandoned house. Vines and moss stretched the walls and roof. You would think that it was uninhabitable.
Yet, Lucius walked through the gates and the door. His hands sliding up the rotting railings before coming to the same corridor, the same memories, and the same sense of emptiness. Everything was a husk of what it once was.
He strolled past the rooms of his siblings and parents once more to find himself back in the same stinking room. The room as he had left it, littered with syringes and bottles of alcohol. Along the window still sat half a dozen more, tempting him.
He kicked past the rubbish on the floor to the window still, and despite everything, the building still provided a beautiful scenery over the entire city. The sun provided a wonderful background, alighting the horizons with a hue of magnificent orange and a mix of purple night.
With a slam against the window frame, he popped the cap off the bottle and took a large gulp of bitter punch in the throat. He shuffled his feet for a second, his body becoming restless. He knew what it needed. His head throbbed again. His fingers twitched as he frantically ran through the room, looking for an extra vial of the drug.
Under the bedsheets.
Under the bed.
In the bathroom. In his dirty clothes.
But nothing.
He dashed to the shower, blasting the cold water as his punch took that little bit away from the itch. His heart slammed against his ribcage, and the headache turned to utter pain. The world rang in his ears. His fingers twitched for something, anything, as his elbow itched for pleasure.
Calling him as he could only punch the walls, hoping the pain subsides.
"Fuck."