Jace Brontarion
I watched my sister exit the building doors. Probably to perform a lighting divination, her anxiety must have been through the roof.
She worries too much about everything and everyone, a burden too heavy for a person like her to carry.
She was trapped, and I wished for her to be free like me. Free enough to understand that caring changes nothing.
This school wasn't helping her at all; it just shackled her even more.
I wish she weren't set on coming to Xhatal Academy, because now I have to protect her from others who will demand more than she can give.
Now we have to deal with the terrible cluster we were put in.
"Hey, Cloudy, where'd the princess run off to?" a voice below me asked.
I glanced down from the clouds and assumed it was the girl named Mira.
"Checking the weather."
The girl gave me a skeptical look.
"How long does that take?" Cyrus asked.
This was the first time I've laid eyes on him since the Totem games.
"Depends." Both of their faces were frowning at my response.
I didn't care.
My sister was the responsible one, so I always just followed her lead.
Only a few minutes had passed before Sora ran back in. Her hair frizzed, but her demeanor was calm.
She seemed to be in better spirits than before.
"We can start now," Sora said, directing her words toward the exam proctor. The proctor nodded and gestured for us to step through the entrance.
I floated in, and the proctor eyed me up and down.
"Get off that cloud. If you stay on, you'll be able to see over the maze," he demanded.
"I'm good," I responded.
"It's his thing. Getting him off that is impossible," Sora interjected before the proctor could respond.
"We are Brontrarions. It's against our very nature to lie and cheat."
The proctor's eyes narrowed,"Fine, but you can't be more than a foot off the ground."
"Deal," my sister said, sighing as she sent me a little zap.
"Now that we've got that squared away, it's time to explain the test," the proctor said, his voice lulling me to sleep.
I reached for my thermos.
"Your test will be to traverse through this maze while all but one of you is blind folded. There will be three checkpoints that you will have to navigate through. At the start of each checkpoint, the proctor will designate one member to remove their blindfold and lead the group through the maze.
Students will be wearing bracelets that inhibit the flow of cosmic energy, reducing their ability to sense it and the use of constellation abilities.
The leader of the group is to follow a specific signature of cosmic energy. The strength of the cosmic energy will change depending on the area of the maze." The proctor said, passing out the bracelets for us to put on.
"Was that clear for everyone?"
We all nodded. "Perfect. Now it's time to select the first leader."
Sora and Cyrus both took a step forward. "Oh no, the leaders of this test will be based on who has the highest rating in the harmonic astral affinity, an affinity that tends to have the highest innate understanding of cosmic energy."
"How are we going to determine that?" my sister asked.
"It's already been decided. We gathered the information from your astral reflection. So please step back."
Taking out his tablet, the proctor read the name. "The concordant, Jace Brontarion, will lead this test."
Voen palmed his face, Nerena shook her head slightly, and Sora just gave a subtle sigh.
This was the last thing I needed. I wanted to phase into the background and coast.
Oh well.
Blind folds were put on, and the bracelets were activated for the members of my cluster. Everyone was instructed to form a single-file line behind my cloud. Then a small pillar rose from the grey floor, holding a celestial core.
The cosmic energy leaking from it, was coarse and abrasive, forcibly repelling my intent away.
"This is the cosmic energy signature you have to find at the end of the maze." The pillar disappeared beneath the ground, and the Maze door opened.
The moment we entered the maze, the strength of the signature shifted.
It was erratic, cutting in and out like a bad radio. The corridor we went through was narrow, lined with metal sheets cold enough to give you freezer burn if you let your hands linger too long. Reminding me of cloud-diving in the winter back home.
Floating down a dark pathway didn't bother me. My master had taught me to trust my ability to sense cosmic energy more than any other sense.
But I couldn't say the same for my teammates.
Blindfolded, they were obnoxious when it came to following directions.
Every time someone slammed into a wall, which was happening more and more as the maze tightened, they questioned my directions.
A constant; are we going the right way? You didn't lose the signature, did you? Or even, are you sleeping? I found it funny at first, but it got old quickly, and my desire not to be responsible for things going wrong grew.
I followed the signature, and after a short period, the corridor widened back to normal. Now, a crossroads presented itself. There were five different paths we could take.
"What is that noise?" Voen asked, covering his ears, while his body trembled.
"I don't hear anything, Vo," I responded, knowing his ears were better than mine. I even took a glance down the five paths.
I saw nothing that would create the noise he was hearing. It also didn't help that we had these dampeners on.
Normally, I could sense things miles away, but now it was a struggle, forcing me to concentrate harder than ever. I looked back at my cluster; they were unaffected by the noise, but they took small steps with their hands outstretched.
They looked like waddling penguins.
"It's getting louder, something is coming. We need to run!"
Voen sprinted to my left, separating from the group.
"Not cool, Vo, get back here."
But Voen was freaking out, and he couldn't hear my words. I didn't want to do any extra work.
I tapped Sora on her shoulder and asked her to go get Voen.
"Gotcha."
I tore off a piece of my cloud, had Sora jump on it, and commanded it to chase after Voen. He was sprinting frantically, running into walls repeatedly.
I wished I had a camera on hand, so that I could show him just how goofy he looked when we sat in the cafeteria next.
He probably wouldn't enjoy it, but this is gold.
My cloud caught him after he bumped into another wall. He seemed to recognize the cloud's feeling.
"Jace, is that you?" he asked, his hands passing through the cloud.
"It's me, Sora."
"We gotta get out of here."
"Voen, calm down. Nothing is in here with us."
"Sora, it sounds like it's in here with us."
"What is?"
"An astral behemoth."
Then the sound he heard finally reached our ears.
Raspy hisses and deep roars echoed off the walls around us. The hairs on my body stood up, and my cloud began to darken.
Panic began to settle in; we were sitting ducks in this maze.
Paying attention just a bit more, I noticed there weren't any other signatures besides the celestial core from the beginning.
"They're smart."