Chapter 22

Cold water pulled Nick out of a strange dream filled with strange light and a golden eagle. Sputtering, he looked around, his mind fuzzy, finding it difficult to concentrate. He remembered meeting with the Academy President, who had been worried about his lack of control over his powers. From there though, his mind was blank.

"You rejoining the world of the living buddy?" Keith's voice caused Nick's fuzziness to fade, and it only took him a second to realize he was not in his old room.

"What's going on?" Keith was sitting across from him, as always, apple in hand.

"First day of second semester buddy."

"Where am I?"

"Our dorm." Nick realized he was in a room with just one bed, and a door seeming to go out into what he could guess was a shared space.

"Our dorm?"

Keith took a bite of apple and smiled. "Yup, after the first half of the year, first years are moved into their proper dorm rooms. Surprisingly, no one wanted to be your roommate, so I decided to have you move in with me. Fourth years generally don't share with anyone, but I like you." Another bite of an apple, as he motioned at Nick. "Now get ready, we need to grab breakfast before the day actually starts."

Nick pushed himself from bed and quickly got ready as Keith waited in the shared space. "What happened after our meeting with the President?" It was really bothering Nick that he couldn't remember.

I'm not sure, perhaps your powers spiked again? I just remember a pain as we left, and then darkness.

"Same." It felt like he had forgotten something important.

Hmm. Dagr seemed suspicious as well. Pondering about the past isn't important now though. Go join Keith, I am interested to see what your days will entail now.

"Agreed." Nick's excitement was growing. What did his next stage at the Academy hold for him?

"Have you always been this slow Nicky?" Keith's grinning face peered in, and Nick smiled as he walked out of his room.

"Have you always been this rude?" The two laughed.

"Only to the people I like, now c'mon, I'm taking you to the best thing at the Academy." Keith paused dramatically. "The Academy's mess hall." For the past six months, they had eaten at a dining facility reserved solely for first year Physicals.

Keith started towards the door, and shot Nick a wink. "Let's race." Without warning, he disappeared.

Cursing, Nick pulled in his power, knowing he would need all his Physical energy to keep up. Keith was already at the end of the hallway by the time Nick started to follow. No matter how much he pushed himself, Keith kept his lead, and after a maze of hallways, and a long run across a grassy field, they neared a massive building. The architecture appeared ancient, just like the rest of the Academy.

"Gonna have to get faster buddy." Keith was casually eating another apple as Nick slowed down next to him.

"You've been doing this longer than I have." Even with Dagr helping him, he knew it would be while before he could match a fourth year's energy levels.

"Minor details." Keith started walking into the building, but Nick was too distracted to follow at first. All around, he saw other students arriving for breakfast. Some of the students were walking casually, but others appeared from rifts in midair, and still others he saw seemed to be flying through the sky.

"How?" He had seen the portals before, but the other means of arriving seemed impossible.

"Eh, depends on the groups. Spooks and mystics usually teleport around, lazy bunch of kids." On cue, another portal opened, and Beth walked through. She glanced at Nick, as did her bird, and then they walked into the mess hall. "Others," Keith pulled Nick's attention again, "like the Ints, use various technological means, usually designed by themselves." He motioned to a few students flying towards them.

"And we just run here." The physical way of getting around was seeming the most mundane.

"We stand out in other ways Nicky." Keith flexed a muscled arm as he spoke, shooting a wink at an intellectual girl who walked by. She blushed and kept walking.

"Leave the poor girls alone, Keith." Naomi appeared beside them. "Don't let him taint you too much Nicky."

"Hey, those girls love me."

"Almost as much as you love yourself." They both started laughing, and Nick felt a strange feeling in his gut, a longing to be part of the conversation.

"So, are we going in?" That sounded so lame.

"Might as well." Naomi looked at him, smiling. "You're going to want a good meal before the day starts."

They walked into the mess hall, and Nick couldn't help but marvel at the size. The room was massive, easily fitting what had to be most of the Academy's students. Nick noticed almost immediately the different classes seemed to segregate themselves, with very little intermingling of colors. Nick tried to scan for his sister, but Keith and Naomi started moving, pulling him from his search.

"You see her?" He decided to send Dagr on a mission.

I'll look Nick. The dragon lifted from his shoulder soaring lazily over the students. Nick put his trust in Dagr, and followed the two fourth years. Keith was piling all sorts of food on his plate, his trademark apple replaced with a piece of bacon in his hand.

"The food here is so good Nicky, load up." Nick took Keith's cue, and started grabbing a variety of food. Once his plate was full, they headed to an empty table. Nick could feel the stares of the other physicals on the trio as they walked.

"Don't mind them Nicky, they're just sizing you up." Keith sat easily, another piece of bacon in hand. "Word's been spread about your last fight, and that you are the first ranked first year."

Keith's words didn't push the stares away, but Nick did his best to ignore them. What he couldn't ignore was how closely Naomi sat beside him.

"So what's your schedule look like?" A simple question from Naomi, but Nick had no idea what she was talking about.

"Uh-"

"Oh yeah, forgot to give you this." Keith produced a strange silver bracelet from his pocket, motioning for Nick to take it. He accepted the piece of jewelry, and clasped it around his wrist. The moment he did, it flattened against his skin, burning for just a moment, before it faded. All that was left was a slight silver line, almost like a scar, and a small pinpoint of light under his wrist.

"What is it?" Nick had never seen technology like the bracelet before.

"It's a special CCUP device, every person who goes through the Academy is equipped with one." Naomi turned her wrist towards him, revealing a similar line, and a small light. She pressed the light with her finger, and a holoscreen came to life.

Nick turned his wrist, and after pressing the light, a screen appeared, just like Naomi's. The screen had an image of what he assumed was his body, as well as a monitor for his pulse. Various other charts and graphs on the screen were foreign to him though.

"Try using your power Nicky." Keith was now next to him, eyeing his screen. Nick pulled in a touch of his energy, and suddenly the body scan turned a dull blue. One of the charts on the screen pulsed to life, and a one appeared next to it.

"What's the number signify?"

"Measures how much energy you are able to harness. Most students see an increase of one or two points per month, as they harness more power. However, your body has a limit as well, which will eventually put a cap on your numbers." He took a bite of toast, and continued. "Most first years finish the year around a 15, second years hit close to 40, and so on."

"What's your score?"

"I'm at 95, and still growing." He smiled as he took another bite.

"Which is under my 101." Naomi laughed as Keith shot her a look.

"Let's see what you hit, Nicky. Pull on your power."

At Keith's urging, Nick opened himself up to his power, pulling in the blue fire. His numbers shot up, until it slowed at 19. He tried to pull more, and for a brief moment he felt his wall shake, and could feel his other energies swirl. He slammed his will into his wall, but not before his screen seemed to flash with different colors.

"Already a 19, I knew you had promise!" If the others had seen the colors, they weren't mentioning it.

Nick grinned outwardly, but he was secretly shaking, scolding himself for coming so close to his other powers again.

"Enough measuring you two, we need to see his schedule." Naomi laughed and flicked a finger across his holoscreen, bringing up a calendar. An entry for the day appeared, flashing in bold letters.

0800-0900 PHYS TRAINING- 1HR- GYMNASIUM

"Every class has required training in the morning for an hour." Keith scrolled down on his screen.

0915-1115 FIRST YEAR HISTORY -2H- AUDITORIUM

"Mandatory first year class, rather boring." Keith's plate was empty, and he was scanning the room lazily. "It does mean you'll be leaving us for a while, and hanging out with all your favorite first year friends."

Nick didn't like the sound of that. "Is it all first years?" Maybe he would see Becca there.

"Yeah, all four groups will be in there. I recommended sitting by the Ints, they're the easiest to cheat off of." Keith seemed board of his scan of the room, and was moving to scroll down to the next class. At that moment though, Dagr's voice filled his mind, causing him to jerk his wrist away.

I do not see her Nick. Did Becca skip breakfast?

"We should get going. Our training is in 10 minutes." He half heard Naomi, as his thoughts focused on what Dagr had said. The two first years stood, looking at Nick expectantly.

"You should really learn to eat your food Nicky." Keith grinned as he motioned at Nick's untouched food, to which Nick's empty stomach growled.

Sighing he stood and followed the two, wondering how he had gotten so distracted he forgot to eat. Keith seemed to read his mind, because as they exited the dining facility, he tossed Nick an apple.

"I'm going to start charging you for these."

"But you steal them from the Ints." He laughed as he took a bite. They really were good. Keith chuckled, and then he and Naomi disappeared. Without a pause Nick followed. He was excited to see what the hour of Physical Training would entail.