Silent Storm

“Hey guys, she’s waking up again,” says Silo.

Christian and Ronald hurry to his side as they hover over Sasha as she comes to.

A disoriented and frightened Sasha darts out of her bed and scurries to the corner of the room. “Where the hell am I?” she asks.

“Home,” Ronald responds, as he approaches her.

Sasha screeches and crouches in the corner with her head down.

“Give her some space Ronald, can’t you see she’s confused and terrified?” Silo intervenes, grabbing Ronald by the arm.

Ronald pulls his arm away and turns around to face Silo. “You looking to start something hombre?” he says as he taunts Silo with a push.

“Why am I here?” asks Sasha as she begins to sob.

Silo ignores Ronald’s taunting and brushes him aside, proceeding cautiously toward Sasha. “I know you’re scared Sasha, but you’re perfectly safe here.”

“I don’t understand,” she responds.

“You’re here because you recently awakened and can’t control your powers, making you a danger to yourself and others,” says Christian.

“Cordelia wants to help you gain control,” adds Ronald.

“I didn’t ask for any of this,” says a still sobbing Sasha.

“None of us did Sasha, but we were born with the Altered Gene, it’s in our DNA,” Silo explains.

“You’re a late bloomer, but an Altere nonetheless, just like us, whether you like it or not,” says Christian.

“Those kids from the field, they claimed they wanted to help me too, are you guys with them?

Ronald scoffs in disgust. “Don’t insult us Chica, we’re nothing like the Silent Storm, they’re just lap dogs for the Alliance. They don’t care about us,” he says.

“Ronald’s right,” says Silo as he moves closer to Sasha. “Let Cordelia help you like she helped us, her magic can save you.”

“But my mom, and my little sister, they must be so worried,” Sasha responds, then begins to panic. “Oh my God, my mom, the last thing I told her was that I hated her, I can’t stay here.”

“Once you finish your treatment, you’ll be able to go back home without the fear of hurting the ones you love,” Silo reassures her. “There’s no reason for you to try to escape again,” he continues.

Sasha looks up at Silo, who stretches out a hand to her with a warm smile on his face.

Sasha reaches out and Silo pulls her up to her feet.

“Now can you please promise not to piss Cordelia off again,” Silo pleads.

“No promises,” Sasha responds with a timid smile.

They both laugh as Ronald watches on in envy.

“Ok, now that that’s over, let’s go check on the pods,” says Christian.

“The pods?” asks Sasha.

“Yea come on, we’ll show you,” says an excited Silo as he grabs her arm and leads her away.

***

Gale floats several feet above the Garden Pond with her legs folded under her, reading a pearl white scroll with cursive print.

She tries to focus but is continuously distracted by the Nimbus I students scampering throughout the field garden, laughing to their hearts content as they try to catch each other.

She scrunches the scroll in frustration, but then takes a deep breath, closes her eyes, and focuses again.

She opens her left palm and closes her eyes.

Strong winds begin to blow across the field garden, causing ripples in the pond below her.

Her hair scatters wildly and her hand begins to tremble.

“Relax Gale, be one with the wind, feel the concentration in your palm,” she says to herself.

A small, glowing disc shaped form materializes in the middle of her palm, spinning at an incredible speed.

She opens one eye and looks at the tiny spinning disc in her palm with excitement. “It’s a bit small but progress is progress,” she says, smiling to herself.

“Gale should you really be summoning such strong winds with all these kids running around here?” Asks Brain, completely breaking Gale’s concentration.

The disc disappears and Gale falls toward the pond but quickly recovers, saving herself from an unwanted plunge.

“Oh my gosh, I’m so sorry Gale,” says Brain.

“Its fine Brain don’t beat yourself up,” she says, floating towards him.

Brain stares at her scattered hair, and blushes. “Even with messy hair you’re still beautiful,” he says.

“Thanks Brain,” says a smiling Gale.

An awkward silence ensues.

Brain glances at the Scroll in Gale’s hand. “I see you’re making some progress with your mother’s scroll.”

“Yea, I think I’m finally getting the hand of the Wind Cutter.”

“That’s great, could it be that your falling out with Jason is proving to be the ultimate motivator?” asks Brain.

“You know, you could be right.” A laughing Gale responds as she runs her hand through her hair.

Brain stares at her once again, the hopeless infatuation painted all over his face. “I don’t think Jason truly appreciates—”

“I see you’ve been busy Gale,” says Chloe, interrupting Brain.

Brain lowers his head and groans under his breath.

“Yea Ms. Price, just killing some time before our session,” Gales responds.

“Don’t worry Brain, I’ll return Ms. Radcliffe to you in no time,” says Chloe as she places a gentle hand on Brain’s shoulder. “Oh dear, such strong feelings,” she says softly to herself.

“Don’t worry about it Ms. Price, she’s all yours, I was just leaving anyway,” Brain responds, speed walking away without looking back.

Chloe stares at Brain, “Awkward boy isn’t he?” she says.

“Yea but I wouldn’t change him for anything,” Gale responds.

Chloe looks at Gale and smiles. “Interesting,” she says. “Anyway, let’s take a walk shall we,” she continues.

“Sure,” Gale responds, as they proceed to go further into the Field Garden.

“Me preferring to have these sessions outdoors must be a real bother huh Ms. Price?” asks Gale as they walk side by side.

“Not at all, as a former student of hers, I can tell you that your mother loved the open air as well,” Chloe responds.

“It’s funny how people keep telling me how alike I am with someone I never even met.”

“I didn’t mean to upset you Gale.”

“No its fine, I know you’re trying to help.”

“You know, you’re parents were trying to conceive for so long without success that no one could believe it when they heard your mother was finally with child, and at such an advanced aged. You were truly a miracle baby.”

“Some miracle,” Gale whispers to herself.

Chloe stops and grabs her hand. “Don’t ever think it was your fault, you hear me?”

Gale jerks her hand away in anger. “Did you get a good read there Ms. Price?”

“I’m sorry, I wasn’t trying to—”

“Did you feel how lonely I am? Riley and Jason have their mothers to help them with their elemental control, and all I have is a stupid scroll. Did you get that?!”

Strong winds begin to blow.

“Gale you need to calm down.”

Gale begins to sob and drops to her knees.

The wind subsides.

Chloe kneels beside her and stretches out a palm.

Gale looks at Chloe’s glowing red palm.

“You can trust me,” says Chloe.

Gale grabs Chloe’s hand and is quickly overtaken by a soothing calm.

“Ms. Price I’m so sorry, please don’t tell Lady M and V, they won’t let me go on the assignment if you do.”

“It’s ok Gale.”

“I promise I can handle it Ms. Price.”

“And what about her, will she be a problem?”

“She does this more for herself than the Academy, so she’s always highly motivated, no need to worry.”

“Perfect,” Chloe responds.

She rises to her feet and pulls Gale up as well.

“So, what’s this big fight between you and Jason Brain was going on about earlier?”

“Ms. Price you were eavesdropping,” says an embarrassed Gale.

Chloe and Gale continue their walk through the Garden, giggling with each other along the way.

***

Riley, Miranda, Mikey, and JJ are seated in the Academy Library, with books scattered all over their table.

An overwhelmed Riley holds his head, desperate for the ongoing torture at the hands of Miranda to end.

“Academy History, who were the original Quin,” asks a relentless and straight-faced Miranda.

“They honestly expect me to memorize the names of people who died hundreds of years ago?” asks Riley in frustration.

“It’s called history for a reason Riley,” an annoyed Miranda responds.

Riley lowers his head.

“Geopolitics, how many independent great Nations are there?”

“Two, Candor and Novalia,” Riley responds.

“Wrong, there are three Great Nations that remain separate from the Alliance, you forgot Eudora,” scolds Miranda.

“But didn’t that entire continent vanish?” asks a confused Riley.

“Aether 101, what is Aether?”

“A source of energy within us that allows us to use our powers.”

“Come on Miranda, that was easy, even for Riley,” says JJ.

“How many Aether points are there in the body?”

JJ counts on his fingers trying to figure it out.

“Miranda, just take it easy, this isn’t life or death,” urges Riley.

“Yea Miranda, cool it. And besides, these are Nimbus level questions. That’s below Riley’s level,” says Mikey.

“Cool it? They’re subjecting him to a comprehensive assessment. Do you boys know the objective of a comprehensive assessment?” asks Miranda.

Mikey, JJ, and Riley shake their heads in the negative.

“It’s a test touching on key elements from each grade up to the current one, to determine fundamental gaps in student learning,” Miranda responds, much to everyone’s confusion.

“They want to see if Riley learned anything from his years at the Academy,” she further simplifies.

“If he didn’t learn anything, he wouldn’t have been able to move to higher classes in the first place Miranda,” challenges Mikey.

“My thoughts exactly Mikey,” says Miranda.

Riley begins to panic and holds his head.

“What’s wrong with you Riley?” asks JJ.

“Yes Riley, tell us,” probes Miranda.

Riley mumbles something under his breath.

“What’s that?” Miranda presses.

“I copied off Brain in all my exams,” says Riley.

“But if you were cheating all these years, how did you fail your first Cirrus I final exams?” asks Mikey.

Miranda face palms. “That was the year Brain broke out in eruptions and had to be quarantined, wasn’t it?

“Yes,” says Riley, lowering his head in shame.

Miranda looks up and stares at the library ceiling in disbelief.

“Look Miranda, I just need your help getting caught up to your level, I’ll ask Brain to help out with the Cirrus I stuff,” says Riley.

“I’ve read the textbooks for all the grades Riley,” Miranda responds, still staring at the ceiling.

“You have?” asks Riley.

“She has,” says Mikey and JJ in unison.

“So can you help me?” asks Riley.

“Ofcourse I can,” Miranda responds, refocusing her gaze on Riley. “But on one condition,” she continues.

“What’s that?”

“We need help with our Aether control.”

“Is that right, Ms. ‘I’ve read the textbooks for all the grades,’” Riley mocks.

Miranda gets flustered. “Theory is one thing Riley; practical application is another.”

“Yea, we want to be able to finally get one over on Lady M and V. They always see through our tricks,” says JJ.

“That’s right,” says Miranda. Despite your shockingly long list of shortcomings, your water control is impressive.”

“I’ll just ignore that first bit, you little smart mouth.”

Miranda smiles. “So we got a deal?”

“Sure, why not.”

Miranda and the boys jump in jubilation.

Riley looks on and smiles. “They really are just kids at the end of the day,” he says to himself.

Lorna Rijkard, the long-legged Academy Librarian rushes over and shoos Miranda and the boys.

They quickly comply but begin to laugh once again as soon as Ms. Rijkard moves away.