"I'm headed out for a while, Ash."
"You can't, Headmaster."
"Why not-"
"Because you have a shit ton of stuff to do?"
"As far as I'm concerned, people wait for me- not the other way around. Besides,
I need to see what the ##### found so interesting in the boy."
>
The next day
Decey's backyard
"You guys sure took a long time!" Pit bellowed, waving at us in the distance. I could almost feel him smirking, and I wouldn't blame him.
Pit brought food from outside. Apparently, it was called 'takeout' and felt super convenient considering the circumstances. We made our way and sat at the table. After a while of munching, Pit spoke.
"So Decey, did you use protection?"
Two metallic forks dropped in unison.
"Yeah, I did," I said, as I continued eating, inviting the side-eye from Uncle Pit.
"I'm sorry, Pit. I had a fever, and he was taking care of me." Heet interjected, resting her forehead on her propped up hands.
"I thought I'd get better by sun fall, but it just got worse and worse."
"Well," Pit exclaimed, "I hope you're ready to push past your limits. The Headmaster is pretty tough on people he finds not useless.
And you guys might just be them."
*whooooosh*
"Holy shit. You remodeled, Pit?" A voice came out of nowhere.
No, it came from behind.
"I thought I said, no Gravitonizing inside, Headmaster Lye," Pit exclaimed, hugging the person.
"I didn't expect Kela to remove the trophy section of the house. She sure was egotistical when it came to showing off.
Nice to see you again, Pit."
The two of us stood up stiffly. I was unsure of what to do, so I awkwardly bowed.
"No, please don't bow. A handshake is enough, December."
"You know who I am?"
"Why wouldn't I? You're my student's nephew-"
"Aunt Kela was your student? Like a personally mentored type of student?"
"Bingo. Can you blame me? She's a fucking monster when it came down to it. Remember, Pit?"
Uncle Pit let out a nervous laugh.
"I'd rather not think about those days."
"You're Heet Treaf, right?"
"It's an honor to meet you, Headmaster Lye." She said, offering to shake his hand.
"I've heard a lot about you from-"
"My mom gloats way too much, Headmaster," Heet cut in quickly.
"I assure you I'm not as impulsive as she makes me out to be."
".
I hope so."
What bothered me the most was the way Uncle Pit described the Headmaster, which made me think he was an old guy whose beard tickled the floor with every step he made.
He looks only a couple of years older than me. He had blond hair with white streaks and a black coat with an unusual emblem in his chest pocket. He wore silky black shoes that satisfyingly reflected light.
"Blonde don't crack, huh? I guess that's the new saying." I said under my breath, smirking.
"You're not wrong, but you could say it's a side effect of my Function." Lye smiled, tapping my shoulders.
It didn't sit right with me, the fact that his eyes were different. They carried the notion that they could see more.
"Well, let's get started."
.
"Do you know what Domain Manipulation is?" Lye asked, starting with the obvious.
The cold breeze sent shivers along my spine as the smell of grass drifted throughout the yard.
"From what I understand, it's the way we allow the Domain to be shaped in any form."
"You wanna know what I think it is?" He said, sitting down and plucking out only the long blades of grass.
He continued,
"Everything in this world is made up of Domain.
Then what's the difference between this and the Ambient Domain?
You know what Ambient Domain is, right?"
"It's pretty verbatim to me, Professor." I answered.
"Well, what is it according to my little rant?"
The gears began turning in my head, and I could see Heet was actively trying to think about it too. Pit couldn't, even if he wanted to, but it was nice to see.
My mind locked onto a specific memory of mine.
Give me the power to Create.
It was too little to go off of, yet felt so right at the moment.
"Domain that hasn't been made into something." I said, under my breath.
Lye's eyes widened. His mouth was only slightly open, while his shimmering cyan blue eyes only grew brighter.
It was the presence that grew.
It wasn't my spine that felt shivers, it was something else. It was the 'muscle' . It didn't invite Lye's gaze, and was afraid to be under it. I balled up my hands on the dirt.
How does he-
"Yes. But what confuses me the most is, if everything was already made into something, why do we have Ambient Domain? What was the criteria it had to meet to be something? What if, God's rules, were simply out of reach of it? I mean, who am I to even start fathoming about God and his Rules?" His voice trails off, almost as if he just remembered who he was talking to.
"Everything in the Universe needs to be in it's most stable state. It works in physics, why not here?"
Lye picked up a branch.
"So how can I determine that this is a stable state for a particular unit of Domain?"
"Maybe that's because there are external factors to it."
"And the sky is blue. What else? Think."
Give us the Power To Rewrite the Laws.
"Someone willed it to be that way."
I sat next to Lye, grabbing the branch, turning it round and round.
"It's the same way Domain Manipulation works for me. I imagine this mold, and my Domain goes inside it, realizing it in Reality. My imagination only limits me to think of 'molds'. The image in their head is simply something we cannot fathom.
Like you said,
Who are we to even dare how God thinks?"
The branch slipped from my fingers, after swinging it way too many times. The silence was damning. I looked up at everyone, and no one dared to say a word.
The look on Pit was pure awe, and/or confusion.
The look on Heet was admiration.
I couldn't make out the expression Professor Lye wore. I was too scared to face him.
"That still doesn't explain why Ambient Domain exists."
"How about we do what every great Physicist does?"
"And what's that?"
"Logic we don't understand is usually handled in one of two ways: we either create new ideas that acknowledge and build around it, or we assume its very nature is to slip past our understanding."
Heet placed her hand on Pit's shoulder, waking him up.
"Did you know all of this, Heet?" He whispered.
"No. Of course not-"
"Alright. Get up. It's time for you to show me what to do."
.
They were all waiting for me to do something. Anything.
I looked at Heet for support, because I was scared. She nodded and smiled, and just like that, I was able to do anything.
A bead of sweat rolled down my neck.
What was the easiest shape?
A circle.
I imagined a circle in front of me. I could see it spark into existence, that grey-purplish tint to the void in space.
Once it was conceived, it hovered wherever I imagined it could within my field of vision. I rested it right above my torso.
Lye stood there, completely silent. It was a different silence than Pit's and Heet's , who didn't know what was going on.
*rustle*
Almost instantly, gusts of wind erupted, splitting the path ahead of me, followed by an invisible attack, and an indescribable sound following afterwards.
A tree that was unfortunately in the path, had its stump completely disintegrated. The thud, along with the bassy aftershock of the attack signaled everyone to snap back to reality.
"Decey. Was that what you did that day..?" Heet asked cautiously, her mouth wide open.
"Yeah."
Lye walked towards me. I could feel every step he took towards me as imminent danger. He grinned and grabbed me by my shoulders.
"That was impressive, December." He patted me on my head, and turned towards Uncle Pit, smirking with proudness oozing from every pore from his body.
Lye raised his hands in response.
"I guess you weren't exaggerating in the letter, Pit."
"I-" He scratched his head, trying to form words.
"This wasn't what I meant."
"Alright then. Heet, it's your turn now. Although on the way here, I already decided what I wanted to do with you."
Heet stiffened.
Lye pulled out a special amulet from his pocket. Its' authentic golden shimmer complimented the sun which just reached its peak.
"Your test is to try and steal this from me."
"Well, is that all?" She said, taking her shoes off.
I joined Uncle Pit and crouched down.
Eyes wide open.
This is your first time, Decey, witnessing two Defined go at it.
Everything you see will help you in the future.
Heet finished stretching, while Lye adjusted his collar, placing the amulet hanging from the left pocket.
"3 , 2, 1-" A blur of clothes shifted in an eye's blink, with Heet lying on the ground, wincing.
Lye appeared from where Heet was initially standing, gesturing her to get up.
"You didn't even let me finish the countdown, Child." He taunted.
I couldn't even begin to process the speed at which the two were. I knew Heet was fast, unnaturally fast, but not to this extent.
And to think the Headmaster isn't even trying..
All I could do was muster up a sigh of relief, knowing how much there is to this new world I've been acquainted to.
Heet slowly got up and dusted off the dirt on her shoulders. She blitzed, leaving footsteps leading towards Lye in a hastily attempt. For a split-second, I could see disappointment glint in his eyes, as he simply stepped aside.
Was it that he was so ridiculously fast, he could see this as if it was a snail, trudging on the ground, or was it because he could 'see' her.
I glanced at Uncle Pit, who had his mouth filled with salted roasted nuts, his thick hands rustling the ribbon attached packet, fishing for more.
Heet tripped and fell down again, at the same spot she did at first. Her face screamed annoyed. She punched the ground, gritted her teeth, and got back up, her legs wobbling.
This wasn't like her. She could make trips to a city, located several kilometers away from here, with hills rolling like they have no business.
This didn't feel like Heet.
Why was she tired?
Oh.
He doesn't know that, does he?
"Do you think Heet is going to loose this, Decey?" Uncle Pit's voice came out muffled.
I brought down my hand on his thigh.
"I think she has something in store."
Instantly, I felt a huge wave of Domain splurge all over the field. It was from Heet- a calm, yet ferocious Ocean of Domain that filled her entire body.
Lye's expression changed.
"That's more like it-"
"Shut up for like a minute." She interrupted.
Heet leaped at Lye, her fingertips only grazing the amulet. Lye shoved her aside, yet she retained her balance.
"Your speed is incredible to witness, Heet. But do you know why it doesn't work on me?" Lye asked, taking out the amulet right in front of her, and analyzing it's pristine corners.
"I don't recall asking, Headmaster."
She went at it again, and again from every direction possible, getting Lye to actually be physical instead of dodging. The wind began to whistle, as Heet only got faster and faster. The dust from Heet's footprints began to glide in the air.
Lye was still able to push her aside in those small windows of milliseconds.
His expression instantly changed. He lost track of her. It wasn't that she was too fast- he could still feel the gusts of wind pacing right by him.
"Finally got around using that, huh?" He said to himself.
His eyes frantically searched for any trace of her. He couldn't see anything ahead of him, thanks to the dust.
The energy instantly switched. Lye's expression went from slightly overwhelmed to one of full focus. He instantly locked onto something on the floor and practically teleported away from something chasing him.
"Aghh." I screamed. My eyes felt ice-cold. I closed my eyes, pressing down as hard as I could, but it wouldn't stop.
Once I opened them reluctantly, I could see it.
I could see splatters of Domain on the ground, arranged in a circular formation.
Out of nowhere, footsteps slowly appeared, making their way to Lye. Yet there was a problem, they appeared way too slow for Heet.
Lye sighed, anticipating the enemy up ahead.
*jingle*
A voice appeared from behind the Headmaster, and as the dust settled, I laughed.
"Looking for this?"