Spectrum #20: Fear, Part 4

Thanks for everyone who were patient enough to see me write 20 chapters of this.

Chapter 20: Fear, Part 4

Maria and Sam were ducking in and out of alleyways to avoid the sudden insurgence of monsters, as she wasn't sure she could take them on by herself with such massive amounts. She pressed her back against the corner of a wall, Sam mimicking her somewhat but more panicked as she peered around the corner, finding a Riftfallen rat the size of a dog looking around for food. She turned to the kid, putting her finger over her lips in a silent way of her usual telling him to shut the fuck up. He nodded as Maria quietly drew her blade.

She walked quietly, trying to avoid a fairly large pool of water formed by the recent rain dripping from a leaky gutter of an apartment. She spun the blade around in her hand, stabbing it in the back of the head with little fuss in one swift movement. She pulled her blade and lightly wiping it off on her sleeve. “Okay, we're good.” Maria said loudly enough so that Sam could hear. He came walking out behind the corner as Maria leaned up against one of the walls.

“How much farther is the shelter, anyway?” The kid complained, Maria tapping the interface to check a GPS mapped area of where they currently are. “It's about a mile, but since we've been dipping back and fourth like dumb asses I suspect we've been walking twice as much as that.” Maria answered, lightly scrolling back and forth to figure out the route. “You know you just called yourself a dumb ass, right?” He mentioned, Maria looking up as her eyes widened. “Holy shit, you're right.” She realized, before leaning down and pressing another button.

“HQ, Any word on Lily's condition?” Maria asked, one of the intel staff responded quickly in side of Cpt. Geralt's scanning room. “She was extracted and is currently in serious condition as of 3:47PM.” He replied, Maria sighing and turning off the broadcast for now. “Well... damn.” Maria muttered, checking the map one last time. “Unfortunately we have no choice but to head down the street. It's another 1000 feet until the shelter, but we're completely shot when it comes down to dipping through back roads unless you want to go rummaging through peoples houses as a shortcut.” Maria explained.

The kid scratched his chin and adjusted his baseball cap for his favorite professional wrestler. “And what's wrong with going through peoples houses?” Maria turned around, glaring at him with a wide eyed glare. “...Have you EVER GONE TO SCHOOL!? No one likes it when you break in to their house, kid.” Maria complained, bending down to get eye level with him.. which was only a couple of inches.

“Uhh... Fine. So why were we not on the road again?” He asked her, She walked around a dumpster and looked around the other side.. And it was currently packed with Riftfallen... While she could spend time counting all of them, that would be both 1; A massive waste of time. And 2; kind of keeping her from actually doing her job. “Well I was going to say 'so we don't get turned into paste on the road,' but we have no choice but to make a b-line for the shelter.” Maria replied, the kid peering around the corner as well and realizing that there was at least a couple dozen Riftfallen between them and where they're supposed to go.

“Are you out of your mind!? Why can't we just call in a helicopter?!” Sam complained to her but Maria sighed and turned to him once again. “Extraction points are for large groups of people to remove them as efficiently as possible, they aren't going to pick up a single Spectrum member and snot nosed kid... It isn't a taxi service.” Maria scolded, the kid sighing and looking at the floor. “So... Are we screwed?” He asked her out of the sense of fear that was washing over him. Maria growled and looked back around the corner at the Riftfallen.
“No.” Maria stated, slowly lifting her wrist up to her face to speak into it. “What do you mean?” He asked, Maria hitting another button to open her communicator. “All members of Solstice and all remaining members of Equinox... I need you guys here right damn now.” Maria spoke, before continuing. “Hell, EVERYONE IN THE VICINITY. There is a large mount of Riftfallen approaching the evacuation site and I need as many people as possible to help me cut a swath through them.” She announced, looking back at the kid before glancing up at the dumpster he was standing next to.

“This isn't an order, but if you don't want me to do my best ground beef impression, I suggest you help me the fuck out.” She finished, waiting for a reply. “You got it, Roth.” Erika replied, followed by Robin. “Me and Florence are going t-” She was cut off by her little brother yelling over her. “WE'RE GONNA SAVE YOU!” He shouted, Robin then sighing out of frustration. “I'll wake Caleb and we'll get there soon enough.” Jonah answered, before Maria turned to the kid and flipped open one of the doors to the dumpster.

“Get in.” Maria demanded, the kid looking at her like she is out of her damn mind. “...Why?” The kid asked, not sure he could come up with an insult for her from how out of nowhere this was. “I'm going to be fighting a bunch of shit that's going to murder you if you're ANYWHERE NEAR the action. You're gonna hide in here and only come out when either me or someone else says you can.” Maria explained, the kid still frowning a bit. “Are you sure?” He asked, Maria started to glare at him with annoyance. “Just get your scrawny ass in the dumpster already.” She snapped at him, he sighed and climbed into the dumpster which was luckily empty, though still quite putrid.

“Are you sure this is the only way I can be safe?” He asked, looking at the ground a bit and lightly stomping his foot. It was made of steel and gave a loud ringing sound. “Yeah, I'm pretty sure.” Maria said with some confidence, but he looked up at her with confusion once again. “So what are you going to go do?” He asked, not entirely sure of what hiding in a dumpster is supposed to help with. Maria reached up to grab the lid and look down at him. “Duck your head.” She stared, he was about to ask why, when suddenly he realized he should probably duck. Maria slamming the door shut on top of him and leaving him in complete darkness.

“Have fun in the dumpster, kid! I have to go stab some shit.” Maria said before walking into the street and visually counting all the monsters she saw in her head. While her combat training actually did help her fight the damn things, she wasn't sure how many she could actually take at once. She needs to think of something to make them come in waves so she can deal with them instead of being surrounded on all sides. She looked around her surroundings and found a rusted iron pipe resting on the side of the sidewalk near where some of the rain drains into the waterways beneath the streets. She grabs it and slowly walks away to a near by lamp post, lightly banging it and slowly getting louder.

This was her seeing how loud she could make the sound and lure some of the pack of creatures away by making the ones farther back or with worse hearing miss the sound. Four or five wolves perk their head and ears up and slowly come padding toward her, teeth bared as she grinned at them. “Come on, fuckers. It's playtime...” She said, trying to goad them closer to her as her other hand kept her sword pointed at them.

“A little more...” She said, banging a bit harder as one came lunging at her with a leap so high she was forced to look upward. She swiftly swung the pile and it smashed into it's head hard enough to kill it. “By the way, I hate dogs.” She said, drawing both her swords and launching herself as the small pack of beasts charged her all at once.

Jonah and Caleb were sitting outside of the shelter, he just got Maria's distress call and looked down at Caleb. Who was sitting up against the wall of the building, hugging his knees as he was taking a quick nap before the helicopter would have arrive to extract him and the rest of his team. “Uhh.. Caleb?” Jonah quietly said, bending his knees and looking at Caleb to see if he would notice him.

Caleb instantly planted his hands on the ground and jumped straight up onto his feet. “Yeah?” He asked, Jonah being shocked by his sudden awakening enough for him to shout and fall on his back. “AHH!” He shouted, Caleb crossing his hands and shaking his head. “What? I'm a light sleeper.” Caleb remarked, Jonah standing up and dusting off his shirt and pants. “Give a guy a fair warning first, jeeze...” He complained, but Caleb lightly patted him on the shoulder.

“Well, partner. Why wake me up?” He asked, Crossing his arms and looking around as he saw team Solstice currently looking at the both of them. “Maria needs help, we're going to give her a hand.” Jonah answered, Caleb scratching his head. “Did she sprain her ankle?” He wondered, completely confused as he barely saw a monster on his way there. Morgan walked up, patting her finger-less gloved hand on Jonahs shoulder as she walked up next to him. “Nah, it's a shit load of monsters. Let's go and kill stuff.” Morgan spoke flatly, with a slight grin. Caleb grinned as well and pumped his fist in response.

“Alright, let's move!” He shouted, Jonah drawing his sword and raising his shield as he broke out into a light run along with the 5 other rookie students. Caleb taking the lead with Morgan, Jonah following just behind with Erika, Florence and Robin. “Do you see them!?” Erika shouted, Morgan squinting a bit and seeing the big pile of monsters congregating just on the horizon. “Got an eye on them, T-minus one minute!” She shouted, drawing her huge sword from it's sheathe strapped to her back, holding it in both of her hands to one side as she ran.

They blitzed to Maria, when they got close enough they noticed that she was in the middle of the frey, slashing defensively at whatever attacks her, even if there was a massive amount of wolves surrounding her on all sides, she was putting all of her effort into dodging and just trying to slowly whittle the pack down, even if they were faster than her. One of them launched up and sliced at her, with Maria promptly dodging to one side and slashing it so it shot a geyser of black colored blood onto her visage.

Another minute later, Morgan charged pulse into her legs and launched herself over the entire pack of monsters to crash land on one just about to attack Maria, she pulled her blade out and slashed through a wave of small nearby wolves. “The cavalry has arrived!” Morgan shouted, turning her back to Maria to watch her flank. Maria panting a bit as she was starting to run out of gas. “Took you guys long enough, dick bags.” Maria complained, Leaping up and slashing a monster, though getting slashed across the chest hard enough to slice slightly into her armor.

“We like to make it dramatic.” Morgan replied, launching herself forward and clearing another swath of monsters with her claymore. Caleb's mace surrounded itself with fire as he dashed in shield first, swinging it and causing a massive fireball to blast and burn the small wolves to a cinder several yards away. “Only small fries? What a let down.” He commented, smashing one upside the head with a squelching ping sound, sending it flying as he blocked another one's attack just to parry it into Maria's abrupt stabbing. “Hey, it's one on like.. fifty!” She complained, at him as well, he just chuckled a bit as he continued to attack the Riftfallen left and right, clearly taking the most out for himself. “Well, I just wanted to point out that these were all juniors.”

He joked, before one caught him off guard, pouncing him to the ground and snarling at his face. Maria booted him off quickly and looked down at him with disdain. “Yeah... Whatever.” She remarked with a sigh, spinning and slashing another two approaching her. The battle continued on as they fought the huge pack off. Normally this would be much more difficult but luckily enough this hasn't developed into the usual powerful force packs these big normally become. After about 20 minutes of straight combat, all of them were wiped out, a blood soaked Maria lightly panting and slowly sheathing her blood caked swords back into the scabbards.

“Fuck... I didn't think we'd ever run out of them.” She sighed, Caleb putting his mace back into his holster as he walked up to her. Maria leaning down to put her hands on her knees and pant heavily. “Be glad this only took a while.” He commented, oddly more serious than he normally acts. Maria stood up and shook her head a bit. “What do you mean by that?” She asked, he just glared at her. “Don't act like what we just did is what all Spectrum fights... These guys were bottom of the barrel and I don't think any of you should feel confident.” He answered, Maria looking at the floor before scoffing a bit. “What a load.” She complained, but he shook his head at her and pointed the finger.

“The largest Riftfallen ever recorded was over 125 feet and required over 20 different teams to properly take down.” He answered, Maria's eyes opened wide at that, her arms slacking as she looked nearly shocked. “How the fuck do you fight that!?” She yelled, but he looked away for a second, before looking back at her and placing a hand on his hip. “Really damn carefully.” He answered, before cracking his knuckles and taking a stretch. Maria felt her confidence deflate a bit.. even if this was a big group of wolves... These were small fries? What did she even get herself into?

Then she realized she stuffed a kid into a dumpster nearly half an hour ago. “Shit.” She muttered to herself, dashing over the strewn bodies of the wolves slowly turning into smoke around her and making it into the back alleyway. Propping the lid up and looking at the kid as he squinted to adjust to the brightness of the light of the world after being put in a dank box for 30 minutes straight.

He looked at Maria, her face, arms, jacket and red scarf all drenched in a deep black, oil like blood. “What the hell happened to you?” He asked her, climbing out and lightly trying to get the circulation back into his tired legs from just sitting there for so long, something an active kid his age doesn't normally do. “I didn't think Riftfallen bled that much...” She answered, Closing the lid and crossing her arms as he looked around the corner. “Is it safe?” He asked, noticing all the slain monsters and 6 other Spectrum members sitting just beside them for a short rest.

“No shit it's safe, now lets get you to your mom already.” She said, patting him on the shoulder and bringing him out to the rest of the Spectrum members. “Who's the kid?” Morgan asked, looking at the ten year old kid walking next to Maria. “I uhh.. rescued him, kinda.” She kind of shrugged off that part, the kid looking up at her a bit as Morgan sighed. “Uhh... You know that KLP were probably going to rescue him, right?” She mentioned, Maria casually lifting her middle finger up at her.

“...Well the mother wanted me to go get him.” She mentioned, looking away from Morgan since she was feeling kind of stupid. “His dad died.” She added at the end of that, Morgan frowned a little and patted him on the shoulder. “Well... Shit.” Morgan sputtered out, looking down at him and lightly pushing him so they could walk to the shelter. “I'm sorry kid, losing a parent is always hard.” She said, walking with him, but the kid glared up at her somewhat. “I lost my parents before I was even 4 years old.” She answered, the kid's leer turned into a frown as the rest of the team quietly walked back to the helipad near the shelter where people were filtering in to be extracted. They walked beside Sienna and Ashley, who were awaiting their respective teams.
Sienna walked up to Maria and grabbed her in a tight hug, Maria struggling in her arms but realizing that she was too tired to break free, sighed and just lightly hugged her back instead. “I heard about what happened, Sis.” Sienna said, giving her a squeeze before letting go, Maria promptly taking a step back to avoid another hug. “Heh... I'm fine.” Maria replied with a light chuckle, rubbing the back of her head as Sienna inspected her thoroughly. “I don't think I've ever seen someone covered in so much blood.” Sienna commented, Maria was drenched in so much Riftfallen blood that the black pools predominantly coated her milky colored skin, it stained her hair, her scarf, her gloves, her boots and her jacket all at once.

“I kind of.. went overkill.” She responded, not really using any discretion about how messy the fight could get. “...Just promise me you'll shower after this.” Sienna demanded, Maria glaring up at her and huffing just a bit. “What are you, my mom?” Maria stated sardonically, Sienna breaking out into a chuckle at that as she pat her once again on her shoulder. “Even worse than a mother, you're my little Mary-Wary-kins.” She said, the last bit in a sarcastic sing-song tone to embarrass her just a bit.

“If you ever say that again, I'll bend your fingers so far back you'll be praising me for being able to itch your own damn forearms.” Maria growled out, but Sienna just chuckled again at her. “Sounds fun, Maria.” She shrugged the entire threat as a joke, as the helicopter descended in front of them both. “Look... You did great, Maria. I'm proud of you.” Sienna stated, placing her hands on Maria's shoulders and looking at her straight in her eyes. Maria just quietly looking back at her with no malice, but not sure what to say either.

“Keep up the good work, sis.” She said, before climbing back into the helicopter. Maria looked at the floor and crossed her arms over her own chest. “Thanks... I guess.” She muttered, before looking up at both teams Equinox and Solstice, standing just behind her. “Hell of a night, huh Roth?” Caleb said with a smile. Maria turned to him and quietly walked past him. “You could say that.” She answered, walking farther away from him. He turned around and raised his voice as her as she walked away. “Uhh... Where are you going?” He asked her, Maria turned back to him with a calm face as she stuffed her hands into her pockets. “Just need to check on something.” She responded, walking along the sidewal k and turning to the shelter.

She walked up the concrete steps and lightly pushed the blast proof glass doors aside. Slowly walking along the polished wood floor as she saw the near hundreds amount of evacuee's sitting in chairs awaiting their numbers to be drawn so they could go to a safer area via helicopter. She quietly looked around, scanning across the room until she found Sam, who was currently hugging her mother, face right in her stomach. She looked at the floor silently, getting ready to turn around when Gale once again showed up on her shoulder.

“Maria, You worked your butt off to help him... You could at least say hello.” He mentioned, Maria sighed and lightly began to walk toward them. “Fine, but it's gonna be awkward as shit.” She muttered, slowly walking up in front of the mother as she looked away from her kid and gently released her son. “Oh...You're the girl who went after my son.” She mentioned, the kid turning to her and smiling. “There's the girl that taught me all those new words!” He shouted, the mother slapping Maria in the face very firmly.

“What the hell!?” Maria shouted at her, the mother frowning at her indignantly. “That's for cursing in front of my child!” She claimed, before her expression softened and she looked up at Maria, who was currently rubbing her cheek in a bit of pain from the sudden slapping. “Thank you for bringing him back to me.” She said with a somber voice.

Maria frowned a little, reaching up to rub her arm as she tried to speak softly... But seriously, that slap to the face annoyed the shit out of her. “I'm sorry about your husband.” Maria muttered somewhat nervous to the mother's reaction. The mother frowned and wiped a hint of a tear that was forming in her eye. “If what Sam said was true... He died trying to protect him.” She replied, Looking down at Sam as he fiddled with his baseball cap.

“That's something only a father could do... Give up his life so no one could touch a hair on his son's head. I couldn't be mad at anyone, even if I will mourn him dearly...” She said, sighing a bit as she gently rubbed her son's shoulders. “I know... I just wanted to apologize I couldn't do more.” Maria closed her eyes, turning away before she started feeling any more emotions... She wasn't a big fan of getting sappy around other people. “Wait!” She shouted at Maria, making her stop in her tracks and turn her shoulder back to look at them.

“What's your name?” She asked suddenly, looking at her somewhat nervously. “I just want to know the name of the person who brought my son back.” She explained, Maria sighing and lightly raising her hand up to wave at them both. “The name's Maria Roth.” Maria answered, before spinning on a heel and beginning to walk away backwards from them and pointing an accusatory finger. “And you two better take care of yourselves, because I'll be annoyed as shit if I have to rescue you again!” She added to try and save some face before heading to the helicopter and returning back to her academy.

Spectrum #14: Smile

Spectrum: You put that **** on everything.

Chapter 14: Smile

Maria yawned and sat up out of her bed, now on the lower bunk instead of the top because she constantly fell out of it. Snowy climbed off of her lap and ran over to drink some water as Maria rubbed her eyes. She felt extremely sore, but she was pretty used to waking up feeling like she was about to split in half from just how much they've been forcing her to work out along with training and sparring with the fighting club. She didn't bother to make her bed and just pulled open her drawer to find her uniform for the day.

She glanced up at a mirror, realizing that she hasn't cut her hair in five months as it was getting down to her neck and shoulders in length, but was still somewhat unkempt since all she did was comb it. “Morning!” Lily spoke from a desk with a small chair to Maria's left. She looked up at her while rubbing a free eye. She was sitting at the table, writing in a small book with a cup of coffee in a white mug sitting beside it. She took a sip as Maria walked over to glance over her shoulder. “What are you doing?” She said, groggily.

“I kind of forgot I was supposed to do a journal.. I guess all the working out got me distracted.” She replied and sat the mug back down while writing in the journal. Maria felt kind of cold since unless you shut the blinds, the cold early winter air would start to seep through the big window in their dorm room, so she started to put on her shirt and jacket along with her dress pants to have less skin hitting the air than her normal sleeping gear of pajama pants and a tanktop. “Journals are for children, Lily. Aren't you old enough to not write one?” She said, leaving her jacket unbuttoned as she sifted around for her scarf.

“Well.. I chose to write one because I could. You're never truly too old for anything.” She argued with a friendly tone, shaking her pen since the ink is slowly beginning to run dry. It was the same one she was using for her history classes. “Well I'm just condemning you by saying it's pointless.” Maria snarked back, slinging her long red scarf around her neck. She wasn't usually the type for style, she doesn't wear make up or do much to make herself look any different from day to day, but she wore that scarf nearly every day since it was repaired.

“...Where did Jonah go?” Maria asked, noticing that he was oddly absent, he usually wakes up at about the same time she does. Lily finished her coffee and turned her chair to face Maria. “He left early to go see Ashley.” She answered, Maria walking to the door and pulling it open as Lily quickly got out of her chair and stared up at her. “H-hey! I'm not ready yet!” She stammered, but Maria lightly shrugged her shoulders as she turned to face her. “I'd rather just get this over with.” Maria answered before shutting the door behind her.

Lily huffed and finished the rest of her journal quickly, running out of the door to catch up with Maria, who was just walking down the red carpeted staircase. “...What do you want for your birthday, Maria?” Lily asked Maria, as Maria's birthday was actually only a couple of days away. “My birthday...?” Maria drifted off a bit when she spoke, she actually forgot her own birthday was coming up so soon. “Yeah Maria... Your birthday, it's on Memoria, remember?” Lily reminded her, Maria looking away as they head out the front door. The blast of cold air hit both of them and made them shiver. It was cold, but not snowing. It's the kind of sharp cold you could only get when there was clear skies.

“I can't believe I forgot...” Maria commented, was it not that important anymore? She was born on a national holiday so it usually overtook her birthday in importance, but she's not sure she celebrated a birthday since the year her parents passed away. It was quite miserable in that hospital she stayed in.

“It's fine Maria. People usually pick the national holidays over some random person's birthday.” She consoled Maria, who shrugged her shoulders as they walked down to the parking lot, the area they were supposed to meet. Jonah was sitting on a chair as 5 more people were speaking to each other and began to walk away from him.

It was consisting entirely of familiar faces, Sienna, the instructor. And her students, Erika, Florence, Robin and Morgan. They stopped just beside Maria and Lily to speak to one another since it didn't appear that Ashley had arrived. “Hello you two.” Robin said with a smile, Lily smiled and nodded her head. “Hey Robin!” She greeted her with a smile, but then turned to face Morgan. “Hey, Morgan.” She also spoke, she was still trying to get Morgan to slowly try and make up with her by just being friendly, Morgan lightly nodded her head to acknowledge her. “Hey.” She replied flatly, there was no disgust or disdain like there used to be, but it was still nowhere near a friendly atmosphere.

“Sienna taught us so many cool things, Lily! I didn't know pulse did so many things.” Florence said with the excitement of a school girl, bouncing on his toes and clenching his fists in joy. Lily gently nodded and gave a friendly smile. “I'm excited, too.. I can't wait to actually learn how to fight monsters like a real Slayer.” She replied, gently brushing some of her blonde hair out of her eyes as the winter winds blasted the cold morning air. “Good luck, you two.” Morgan said, reaching up to punch Maria casually on the shoulder as they left.

Well, most of them left, Maria usually just chuckled at Morgans light roughhousing since it was a friendly gesture, but she couldn't break her stare from Sienna. As she was just glaring down at her younger sister with her icy blue eyes. Maria glared back at her, slightly narrowing her eyelids as they quietly leered at one another with no silence. While this was only for a brief couple of seconds, it felt like almost an hour for both of them, including Lily. The air got uncomfortably cold for Lily, the hairs standing on the back of her neck as she knew the situation between the both of them was never patched up. It was just a glare of disrespect for each other.

“...Later.” Sienna spoke tersely, breaking eye contact and walking away without saying a single word more. Maria watched her leave as Sienna lightly slung her long white coat over a shoulder, turning a corner to get back to her own group. “W-what was that for?” Lily quietly asked Maria, who just turned back and walked toward the bench with Jonah sitting in it. “It doesn't matter right now.” Maria shrugged off the question as Jonah smiled, standing up to wave at both of the girls. “You finally made it!” He said with a mixture of joy and impatience, his longer hair pulled back into a somewhat loose ponytail to keep his long bangs from getting in his eyes.

“Yeah, sorry we're late Jonah. Maria slept in again...” Lily commented as Maria quickly glared at her with a grumpy sneer. “Hey, screw you...” She complained, but Lily just gave a teasing chuckle as Maria folded her arms and looked away. “Eh, it's fine really. She isn't here yet anyway.” Jonah commented, standing up and stretching as Lily walked over to sit on the same bench. “What were the others here for?” She asked him, her arms resting together on their lap as Maria started to practice her shadow boxing with the air while Lily and Jonah spoke to each other.

“They just got done with the instructor teaching everyone about how to use pulse, Sienna didn't want me to interrupt them so I just kind of sat here until they were done.” He explained, Lily stretching just a bit as she watched Maria try and smack around the air like it owed her some money. Lily glanced up and saw Ashley walking up with a large bag slung over her back, walking around Maria and placing it at their feet. “We're gonna need your weapons for this.” Ashley stated as she unzipped the bag, revealing she got all of their weapons beforehand.
Maria stopped striking at the air and knelt down to pick up her twin short swords, they were on a belt that wrapped around her waist, the sheathes crossing to make an X near her back to quickly pull out and slash in one motion. She quietly strapped them on as Lily grabbed the scabbard to her straight sword, holding it in one hand while Jonah grabbed his sword and buckler as Ashley began to address the three of them.

“Now, I didn't tell you three this since we were so busy with physical training.” She started, everyone now with their weapons properly sheathed and standing so their feet pressed together, backs straight on the cracked pavement of the parking lot. “And that is, I think you need to all understand the reality of this situation before we continue.” She added, lightly looking over the three of them. It's only been a week since Gabriel was forced to leave and Lily and Jonah were put down by it, though she couldn't really read Maria about it. “Gabriel is just an example of how things can never really go your way, so I feel you all need to know this final warning before we even begin to progress.” She warned, everyone looking at her and not yet asking a question. The air once again grew heavy as her expression grew dour.

“I want you to keep one thing in mind, do not be a hero. Heroes are reserves for comic books and children stories on the television. Heroes are the thing people tell you when they want you to feel like you have the potential to be special just by eating your vitamins and saying your prayers. You are NOT special, you will NEVER BE special. Just because the world is from your own perspective doesn't mean you're exempt of it's rules. You burn, you bleed, and you die.” She stated, slowly pacing between the three as they didn't break their gaze from her.

“Don't focus on being a hero, focus on your own self preservation; Because at the end of the day, your body is all that you get and there are no refunds. Every single time you get hurt is a bigger risk of you dying, and since dying is something you probably don't want.. keep this in mind. If you think that risking death is worth it if you become a hero, then you don't deserve to be here and you can leave if you wish. I implore you, please don't risk your life for a cause you don't believe in. I'd hate to see any of you get killed because of it.” She finished, stopping to look at the three of them. They gingerly nodded at her in agreement, though it seemed like no one was second guessing her speech.

“I want to hear from each of you the true reason why you're here, be honest about it and don't give me any bullshit about duty or honor... Everyone in life has a goal and being here isn't the place to hold your regrets.” She asked of the rest of them, Lily raising her hand so Ashley would recognize she wished to go first. “Go ahead, Sterling.” She observed, Lily taking a deep breath as she looked back at Maria. “...My father changed when my mother divorced him. He drowned himself in his own work that I don't think he could ever escape, he completely pushed me out of his life and.. every single day I realized that all I was to him was pretty much an extension to the lifespan of his company. I was just another Sterling, the fact that I'm Lily didn't matter.” She started to confess, Ashley placing her hands onto her shoulders as she listened, Maria lifting a knee onto the bench to rest her chin on it since she didn't feel like standing in the salute position for an hour.

“I... wanted out.” She stammered, gulping quietly as since it was the first time she admitted this to someone else, and it was proving to be a bit difficult. “But... No matter where I went, all I would be known as is the heir to someone who's holding a death grip on an entire market so he's the only competitor.. I would be a laughing stock if I tried to work somewhere modest like a library or a restaurant, they would see it as some kind of publicity stunt.” She continued, the cold making her shoulders shiver softly as the cold wind swept through the flat parking lot, making the leafless trees begin to creak behind her.

“I felt like Spectum was the only place where I wouldn't live under his shadow anymore, everyone knows I'm taking this seriously when I help rescue them from a burning wreckage, or a monster infested home...” She looked straight as Ashley as her eyes shone with a mixture of somber determination. “I'm here to earn everyone's respect, I'm here because I want to feel like this is a difference I've made in peoples lives without having to sling money at every problem and hope it goes away like the rest of the world tries to do.” She finished, walking back to the bench and take a seat. “That's plenty good enough, Lily.” She said with a smile, looking at the other two as Jonah stood up for his turn.

“Uhh... Well...” He stammered, trying to come up with the right words to say, before lifting a fist to his mouth to cough into it awkwardly as everyone stared at him patiently. “Uhh... Okay, here goes.” He recollected himself, smacking his cheeks with his face once or twice to get himself to focus. “My family history consisted mostly of people who entered the medical field. When your parents are super into something, you kind of pick up some knowledge from them before you even attempt to get training.” He spoke calmly, putting a hand on his heart to make it seem more important to him.

“Though... Eventually it got to the point where entering the medical field was pretty much family tradition, But, I was born with an immune deficiency and I grew up sick for most of my childhood. I was bullied and every lunch I had to pop down 10 pills along with the lunch my mom packed with me, I ended up being stuck with 'Pillboy' as my nickname.” He said with a forced chuckle at his own expense, though he didn't hear anyone laugh with him which made him quickly stifle it.

“It got bad enough that I had to drop out at 14, then I was pretty much stuck being home schooled while my mom and dad groomed me into being a doctor. I didn't like to have a constant expectation floating over my head that I'm forced to meet. It felt like I didn't get to choose what I wanted my life to turn into.” He explained, lightly lifting his arm to lightly rub his other shoulder in a fit of awkwardness. “I wanted to break away from the predestined thing and gamble how well I do, I'm tired of just being the school wimp...” He bowed his head, walking back as Maria stood up to take the spot he was in, though the look on her face just looked incredulous.

“...Do I really?” She asked, with some semblance of disrespect, she thought the entire thing was just cheesy and stupid, and to be honest she shouldn't really bother. “Yes, you do.” Ashley replied, leaning her weight onto one leg and shaking her head as she waited for her. “Why?” Maria asked in annoyance, Ashley chuckling and patting her once or twice on her head. “Having a goal is the most important thing you could have to actually make you work your best, You might as well give yourself one.” She chastised, Maria groaning and rolling her eyes before attempting to come up with a reason to be here.

“I'm here because I want the Riftfallen dead. They took something important away from me, they took something away something important from so many people that they deserve WHATEVER is coming to them. And I'm planning on giving them hell personally...” Maria began to rant, glaring back at the three people surrounding her as she spoke. “Yet, People always try to deter me from getting what I want. The teachers at the boarding school advised me to wait a couple of years before I joined because apparently this wasn't the wisest decision... They can go fuck themselves. My sister tried to take hold of my life and force me out of doing this in hopes to protect me... Fuck her too. Even the head council at Spectrum have chastised me for both my age and how I've been acting;” She continued to raise her voice, pacing the ground back and fourth as she used expressive gestures with her arms to facilitate her emotions. Her slightly rough but young voice becoming a bit more coarse as she yelled.

“And they can go fuck themselves too! I'm fucking sick of people telling me WHAT I WANT! I know what I want! I want them dead! Every single fucking one is on my list and I swear to the maker that I'll BURN THEIR EVERYTHING THAT THEY HAVE EVER LOVED! I WILL BURN THEIR FAMILY, AND THEIR WORLD, EVEN THEIR OWN GOD WITH MY OWN TWO FUCKING HANDS!” She began to scream at Ashley in a furor, Lily beginning to shivering from Maria pretty effectively losing her shit in front of her. “Is that enough motivation for you, you motivational book reading fuckwit!? DON'T YOU EVER DOUBT ME AGAI-” She choked before the last word as a pain began to erupt up her entire back, causing it to constrict along with her shoulders as a pain formed on her face.

She dropped to her knees and fell forward, face planting into the rocky asphalt underneath her as she began to growl in pain, hands lifting up to her face to keep it up. She began to cough viciously, an uncomfortable amount of blood spraying onto the ground below as she effectively hacked up a lung. “Maria!” Lily shouted, getting off the bench and kneeling down to place a hand on her shoulder, hoping to maybe help her out. “What's happening!?” She squeaked in a panic as Maria kept coughing up blood, before it finally subsided, though she was in enough pain to roll into one side and curl up into a ball.

“I forgot Maria suffered from Ash Syndrome.” Ashley stated, reaching down and rolling her onto her back so she looked up at the sky. “A symptom is severe pain along with some internal bleeding, which can either because at random times or caused by periods of extreme emotions...” She explained, Maria coughing some more before settling back down. “Knowing Maria's instability... It's kind of a lethal cocktail.” She stood back up and walked over to look at a nearby tree. Sticking her fingers into her mouth and blowing for a sharp whistling sound.

“What do we do!?” Lily asked still afraid of what was happening, holding Maria in her arms as she tried to push her off, she didn't like having people so close when she was pissed off. “It will subside, leave her be for now.” Ashley stated, Lily nodding her head and letting go of Maria as she shivered in a ball on the ground. From behind the tree, a man walked out. He was tall with a broad physique, his hair was a short but slicked back dark brunette, he had a scruffy face full of stubble, but not yet a fully grown beard. His eyes were brown and he was wearing the standard Spectrum student uniform. In one hand he was holding a large heater shield, in his other and he held an Axe, about big enough to swing with either one or two hands.

“Wow, I could hear one of you yelling from all the way over there.” He joked, placing his hands on his hips as he looked at Maria currently trying to recollect herself on the ground. Jonah looked up at him and squinted just a bit as he actually looked kind of familiar. He didn't exactly know why just yet but it was still a feeling he was getting. “Uhh... You okay miss?” The man asked, standing much taller than anyone else in the group. He even had 5 or 6 inches over Jonah in height, as he was the tallest one of the four by a couple of inches.

“Shit...” Maria muttered under her breath, finally feeling the pain subside as she stumbled back onto her feet, Lily offered to help, but Maria just lifted a hand to push her away. “And who the hell at you?” She asked as her eyes caught him in a glance, her arms rubbing her chest from it being still pretty sore. He grinned at her, pointing a thumb at himself as he announced himself like everyone knew who he was already. “Caleb Callahan, a pleasure to meet all of you.” He claimed, Jonah's face suddenly just sunk into a huge frown from the realization. “Oh god... Not you.” He exclaimed quietly as the tall brown haired man walked up to look down at him. “Hey there, Pill boy!” He said jokingly, Jonah just glaring down and away as he looked at him. “Oh come on, Jonah... No love for an old friend?” He wondered, Jonah looking up at him with a glare. “You were more of bully than a friend, Caleb.”

Caleb raised his brow at that, tilting his head to one side and lightly stroking his beard. “Oh come on, Jo. You're just exaggerating, aren't you?” He tried to brush it off, but Jonah got frustrated and pointed at him in accusation. “You beat me up and took my money whenever I had any, you called me names constantly and on top of all of that, you STUFFED ME INTO A LOCKER 17 times!” Jonah ranted, Glaring up at him as he raised his arms up and lightly waved them both to try and get him to back off. “Okay, okay, fine. I was pretty bad when I was a teen, okay? I had time to cool off..” He said, he was only 18 but it's been nearly 3 or 4 years now, at least they could admit that they've both matured.

“I dropped out and became home schooled because of your crap!” Jonah yelled at him, his hands trembling just a bit as he felt like his spine started to come back him. He felt like Caleb was going to punch him in the face, but it never came. “Wait, THAT'S why you left?” He wondered, being somewhat surprised that he could have had such a profound effect. “Yeah, I left because of you... You dipshit. Why are you even here?” He asked with some venom in his voice, some of Maria's derisiveness rubbing off of him after being around her for months at a time.

“I was actually here for about 2 years now, I heard you've joined from your parents only a month ago and I wanted to join your team when you had a spot opened.” He explained, Jonah frowning and looking away. “Gabriel left because his sister died and his parents wanted to be with him...” Jonah spoke with agitation, wondering how long he waited to take an opportunity. “I'm sorry about that, but you were down to 3 people, you can't be a team unless you have 4 or more people. This is so you guys don't get strapped with a stranger.” He tried to justify his actions, but Jonah just turned to walk away from him and walk over to the brick walled outskirts of the academy at the side of the parking lot. “I'd rather have a stranger.” He commented.

Caleb sighed to himself as Ashley shook her head from annoyance, looking at her students and speaking in a loud, commanding tone. “In line!” She shouted, they have had that command burned into their minds by the 5 months of military style training they've been undertaking, and all drop what they were doing to stand shoulder to should while Ashley began to pace between the four of them. “Caleb already knows this, but I'm gonna introduce the rest of you to the concept of Pulse.” She began to explain, looking up at everyone as Maria seemed to have calmed down and was listening as well.

“Pulse was invented by a man who realized that he had powers when wielding it, and eventually this was turned into one of the biggest advantages we have over the Riftfallen in the 40 years the rift has been opened.” She explained, vaguely mentioning Lily's father, Alexander Sterling. “The way pulse works is that having Red Ash near you allows you to propagate your own natural energy into two different forms. The first is the Pulse itself, the next is what can be referred to as 'magic.' The actual scientific term is long and boring and pretty much no one uses it unless you want bonus points for being formal on an essay or some crap.” That last comment got a chuckle out of Jonah, since he was used to practicing formal writing whenever his mother made him write anything.

“The most basic one is Pulse, which will be the one we learn first.” She said, stopping and drawing her blade to let it dangle in front of her while it rested in her left hand. “Pulse is comprised of the natural energy your body and soul uses to allow you to do basic functions. This is the same energy you use for your stamina, which means it's technically based on your metabolism. Making sure you have a decent sleep schedule and diet is crucial as it allows you to use your pulse and stamina more effectively.” She spoke to all three of them. To Maria, this all sounded a bit absurd to her, she's never seen how it works at all and it seemed so abstract and stupid that she couldn't wrap her head around how it could even work. “Keep in mind that using Pulse drains your stamina, so you each need to find a balance between magic, pulse and physical combat that suits your fighting style. Unless that is... you want to pass out.”
“Channeling your Pulse allows you to repel objects away from you, like an invisible armor. Though crafty Spectrum members have found out they can use Pulse to repel THEIR ENTIRE BODY away from the ground. This allows them to dash and leap at insane speeds, along with dampening their own descent speed to survive long falls with little to no damage, it's kind of like being your own spring loaded catapult.” She said, walking up to the tall Caleb and patting him on the shoulder. “Leap over that wall.” She ordered, He nodded and stepped forward.

“Caleb is going to show you guys an example, that wall is about 10 feet high and nearly impossible for someone to leap over. But with Pulse...” She trailed off, as Caleb broke into a run, planting his legs on the ground and bending his knees as what felt like a gust of wind blasted beneath his feet, before launching himself nearly 12 feet into the air, clearing the tall fence of bricks like it was just a speedbump. Maria just looked confused as much as Jonah was, but Lily's eyes lit up like diamonds. “Woooooooow!!! THAT WAS AWESOME!” She shouted like an excited 12 year old, hands to her face and bouncing on her feet to try and contain her joy. As Caleb leaped back over, landing in a 3 point stance before dusting his coat off from any excess dirt. “It's not a problem.” He said, finishing the sentence for Ashley.

“So... How the hell do we do it?” Maria asked, Pulling her twin swords from the scabbards strapped to her waist, spinning in both of her hands and using her typical reverse grip style, since they seemed more comfortable to her that way. Ashley smiled and gave a short laugh. “I enjoy the enthusiasm to try already... Focus your mind and imagine a fire near your heart. Push it away from you and towards wherever you need it.” She explained, lightly patting Maria on the shoulder as she was glad to see her fully recovering back to her normal, if grumpy, self.

“It's pretty abstract at first, but eventually it becomes something you don't even think about doing. It's kind of like breathing that way.. it becomes a thing on it's own.” She continued as Maria tried to concentrate, before breaking out into a run. She bent her knees and got ready to jump, but as she leaped, she realized that she DIDN'T USE PULSE AT ALL. Smashing face first into the wall hard enough that Lily thought she might need to be peeled off. She fell back onto the ground and stared up to the sky as her vision blurred from being suddenly dizzy.

“Well.. We have a lot of progress to make.” Ashley said, reaching down as Maria's vision realigned, leaning down to stick out her hand and help Maria back up. Maria stood back up and shook her head to try and recover a little faster.

“Well that was bullshit..” She commented sardonically, before Ashley went to begin the true training.

Spectrum Intermission: Winter

This chapter takes place between 13 and 14

Intermission 1: Winter
Decem 14, 534 Post Bellum
Journal Entry #39

“It's been so long since I've written in this journal. The last time I wrote in this was when I decided to leave for Spectrum. I can't believe it's been six months since I ran off from my home. There are so many things you lose track of when you join here, and one of those is time.

The next five months after we got accepted were devoted entirely to physical training and conditioning our bodies to actually be ready to fight real threats at the our physical best. We were woken up at 5 AM every morning by our instructor, typically with some kind of air horn which at first I feared to be waken up by, but eventually I became desensitized to it and it just started to get on my nerves. It got me up pretty consistently, so I guess that the airhorn is doing it's job.

The first thing we would do is go for a 10 mile run, this was required by everyone who was enlisted by Spectrum and mostly a requirement for the 4 month physical training period. The entire run would take about an hour, though at first it took me more than an hour due to just not being used to it. To be honest, I'm kind of surprised at how out of shape I actually was.

I mean, I thought I was healthy but as soon as I got about a week in I realized I'm kind of... weak. Eventually I was able to keep pace with Maria, I'm kind of surprised she spent so much time on her physical rehabilitation, but I guess when you have no family and spent all of your time cooped up in the hospital, all you do is run or work out.

The next thing was running along a pretty big obstacle course, it was full of things like jumps, swings, stuff to climb and sidle across to pretty much test your maneuverability. The first time I completed it.. I was in the bottom 20 with my total time. Keep in mind that there is currently 852 students at the academy so... that's pretty dismal to be honest. Maria eventually got into the top 40 times, since it's mostly a speed and agility test and she has that down pat. Jonah also scored as low as I did, though Gabriel managed to hit the top 100 as well.

After that, We do this weird thing called Yoga, it's mostly just stretching and breathing exercises. The rooms tend to fit about 50 people and ours is ran by a guy named Joseph Page, he seems excited about everything especially when it comes to doing glute exercises. Something about holding back the hands of time, that notion makes absolutely no sense and I wonder why they hire such eccentric instructors for all of these sections of physical training.

After that is sparring, we had wooden versions of our weapons made, though I swapped back to a straight sword when I realized that the Scimitar wasn't working out. Luckily for me, my fencing training is starting to integrate with the sword training I've been getting from Instructor Willows, I pretty much always win our little practice sword fights with other first year students, though sometimes I'm still surprised by how many different fighting styles people seem to have. It pretty much means I have to memorize each person's fighting style and how to beat them, which can be pretty mentally taxing and I'm sure no one else thinks about these things that much.

After all of that is EVEN MORE RUNNING, another 10 mile run to top it off. I understand that we need to be in fighting condition, but I was starting to get really bad blisters on my feet from just having to run constantly all day with only one break for eating lunch.

Maria's starting to get a little better, she still has her moments where she'll get mean or upset for no particular reason. She has this weird habit sometimes of not sleeping all night, just leaning against a chair and sipping a glass or water or a cup of coffee and not really looking at anything in particular. She's told me that it's mostly her not being able to sleep, though one or two times I heard her mumbling to herself, almost like having a conversation with someone who wasn't there. She doesn't seem to be getting worse or anything, so I guess you take the bad with the good.

She does a couple of things that seem just absurd to me if she's pretty much burning about 6 hours of workouts every single week. On top of that, every weekend she puts in about 2-4 hours in that fighting club she joined. At the end of the week, she's so drained I pretty much have to pull her out of bed. I guess the good thing that comes out of that is she just doesn't have enough energy to complain to anyone anymore.

Jonah is a bit odd sometimes, he seems a lot more solemn than he lets on. It's like as soon as he's done interacting with people he'll just sink his head and wander off somewhere alone for a couple of hours before coming back. I don't really know if something is bothering him because every time I ask, he'll just say everything is fine and thank me for caring. But how am I supposed to know what's wrong if he doesn't tell me?

He enjoys knitting club though, I'm really glad he's found something in his life that he can enjoy even when hes going through troubles like he is now. Otherwise, he's just been struggling with his physical training, apparently he was sick most of the time when he was a little kid and he grew up missing months of his school just not being able to leave the house. Luckily, his parents are both doctors and taught him a lot of stuff themselves.

Morgan is very taciturn with me, I don't think we've ever had a conversation longer than 2 or 3 sentences ever since that fight during our initiation exams. I could understand why with how irrational I got when she accused me of being a crook, but well.. You think one of us would try and patch it up already. I've tried but to be honest I'm actually a little nervous to do it, I keep thinking I'm just going to end up making things worse...

I'm not sure I've interacted much with Erika, though she seems very kind and helpful to her team and everyone seems to tolerate her pretty well, I would like to come hang out with her once all this physical training is done, to be honest I've been working out so much that every day has become kind of a blur in my own head consisting entirely of me running, it's absurd.

Florence and Robin come to visit us sometimes and both seem to be pretty enjoyable to hang out with. I am kind of jealous of Robin's bravado sometimes, I wish I could become as passionate as she is when it comes to dealing with other people's situations. I sometimes see her with me whenever I go to my history class for college credits. She keeps me awake after that one time I fell asleep during class and ended up with a piece of paper attached to my face. That doesn't seem to be a problem after autumn began when it started to get colder

Since winter kicked in, I realized that I didn't pack any winter outfits with me when I moved out of my dad's manor. I guess I assumed that the dorms were heated enough for me not to worry about it, but my hindsight makes me sound like a complete idiot. To be honest it would make me miss home if it wasn't so cold and dead where I've lived the past couple of years. But I digress, this isn't really the point of this journal.

Gabriel's sister's home was destroyed by invading Riftfallen, he got the phone call just this last week. His parents got a hold of him and requested him to leave Spectrum academy and he acceded to leave. He was very upset about the entire thing because well.. He spent enough time with us to actually consider us his friends. So unfortunately that leaves us one person short, but Ashley spoke to us yesterday about finding a new person to join our team. Apparently he's been here for about a year or so and knows what he's doing. He left his own team to join this one, but I'm not exactly sure why, so here is my reminder to remember to talk to him about this. If I forget, I'm stupid.

This entire thing is just a reminder to me that we're in danger nearly every single day by just being here while the black split in the sky looms overhead. You can have a normal day and then just have it ruined by what seems to be a natural disaster. It isn't ever out of malice, it's just... doesn't care what gets destroyed. Both this and what happened with Maria are only reminders of the times we live in now.

Oh, I forgot to mention the fact Maria is alive. I'm kind of wondering how I wrote about Maria's mood improving when I thought she was dead for two and a half years and that her being alive would be a much higher priority. It makes it sound like I found her corpse and it's behavior is 'better' than before. Well, Maria's alive. There, I said it. Maybe I'm just so used to her being not dead that I forgot I thought she was dead; Life is weird.

She really loves her cat.. Which she's called 'Cat.' She refuses to call it Snowy for some reason, even when I asked her to get it's nametag and collar she insisted on calling it 'Cat' instead of Snowy, luckily I superseded her and managed to get it's proper name printed on it's cute pink collar. Then I found out it was a boy... My bad. It's actually funny, Snowy climbs onto Maria's shoulders like a parrot when they are together, it's the strangest sight I've ever seen.

At first I missed my home, but eventually I got used to not having all of luxuries I got accustomed to, at first I didn't know how to live without all the things I was used to. People to clean up my room, cook my food, parcel out my day into a schedule, tell me where to go, tell me what to wear, tell me what to say... And all of that left in an instant, I still have access to my savings account, which is probably more than what most students have here since Maria never seems to have enough money for her own food some days without my help.

But after a while, it's been kind of freeing. For the past couple of years I knew that my father didn't really see me anything more than just my last name. As soon as he passed away all I would have is ownership of the company, but I'll still be living the same way I live now, with everyone picking everything best for me. I don't consider myself a rebel, but I don't think I could go back to a life where I don't get an option to decide how I live.

It's all thanks to my butler, Alistair; who probably acted more like a father to me than my own dad ever since he divorced my mother and bent the rules so they couldn't take any of his claim. He got me out of there, gave me my bags and gave me places to go. Because of what happened to Maria, I felt like I should do something that felt more real... defending others instead of sitting behind the scenes, ignoring everyone and everything like they're ants on an anthill.

My therapist told me that these were originally to help me cope with my life issues in a clean and timely manner, but as I was writing this I kind of wondered why I continued to write them.

Sometimes at night I do think that maybe being in Spectrum will kill me, it keeps me up and makes me restless in my bed until I'm forced to get out and walk around until I calm down. I guess that's a fear everyone here has, but at the same time we're the only people with tools to help stop them. A new doctrine was passed with heavy financial backing by my own father to make it so these tools can only be used by people affiliated with Spectrum, Sometimes I feel like I'm writing my own memoir instead of a journal...

I'm still not 100% sure about how Rosewall treats weapons. Back when they had much looser laws, we nearly erupted in a civil war after the Astrians invaded, and suddenly these weapons used to combat Riftfallen were stripped from anyone who owned them. Maybe I don't know enough about ethics to actually comment, there are professionals for these things and I'm just some rich girl trying to fight alongside with a bunch of people willing to risk their lives.

Today is the day our physical conditioning ends and we enter specialized combat training. Apparently Ashley is going to introduce us to the new team member along with showing off something that is supposed to be the entire reason the Ash weapons allow us to fight off Riftfallen, it's pretty interesting to see that in action, but it's also really exciting for the possibility to use it myself.

I should stop here, Maria's annoyed that we're going to be late to go see Ashley.

Things to do:
Meet sister and mother
Think about job after Spectrum
Buy clothes that aren't REALLY INAPPROPRIATE FOR WINTER – Priority.
Help Maria find hobby that doesn't involve punching strangers in the face. – Also a priority."

BONUS JOURNAL
Maria Journal Entry #1
Decim 15, 534 Post Bellum
Journals suck.

What am I, twelve?