She got to her seat, scooted all the way to the window, and sagged. She hugged her bag and pulled her sunglasses up to rest on her head.
Seconds later, someone had the nerve to replay her fight out loud. Others followed suit. The silence turned into the clanging and clinking of Gladius blades. It filled her ears as Ariel hugged her handbag tighter. She heard herself grunting in one recording and crying in another. She rummaged through her handbag until she found her earphones, then plugged them in and watched the bus gently ascend.
Now that she was calm and quiet, she felt the aching in her thigh. She looked out at the city above the immediate buildings, the rows of vehicles in the air, the train gliding on transparent tracks, the aircrafts at higher altitudes. This wasn’t like when she was out at sea with Marissa and Cassandra. Yet somehow, she was able to get lost in the movements of the city. She closed her eyes to meditate on the simple flow of air through her, but a pinch on her hem, followed by several tugs, jarred her to the person behind her.
“Can I get your autograph?” a girl said, a face Ariel had never seen before. Then again, Ariel couldn’t possibly know all twelve thousand residents.
Ariel sighed and offered a smile. “Sure.” She searched for a pen, but the little girl had it all: an electronic notebook and a light-emitting pen. Ariel forced a smile. “And who am I making this out to?” she asked, rolling the lines into an almost illegible A.S.
“To Tanya,” the girl said, bubbly. Ariel was a little on edge as her peripheral vision picked up wide, adoring eyes. She barely swerved the last letter of Tanya before the girl asked, “Will you fight him again soon?”
Ariel glanced away and chuckled a little. But watching the beaming face of the little one, with her jaw atop her two overlapping hands on the top of the chair, prevented Ariel from ignoring her. Ariel sighed and said, “He cheated. He should have started from the bottom, not gone after me. Derrick, Pedro, Kaliope, Terence, Angie—any of those guys would have been good for him. I feel betrayed, you know? He’s supposed to be family. He knows how much I want this.”
“Do you mind if I sit next to you?”
“No. Go ahead.”
“He was courageous, Ariel,” Tanya said, sliding into the seat. “That’s all we care about. In our eyes, you were pretty much unstoppable, but he’s given other players hope.”
“I get that, but by undermining me?”
“I know, but that’s not how it’s being viewed. He was an outsider to Gladius, and he carved a place for himself among the swordfighters. Even some newcomers like me will be trying out for Gladius because of him. We’ll probably suck,” she chuckled, and Ariel couldn’t help but smile too, “but at least we would have tried.”
Ariel struggled with the anger she felt toward Demetrius, but she nodded. The chatter in the bus and the sounds of blades clashing began to cause a visceral reaction. Her heart pounded with each clash.
“Would you be my mentor?” asked Tanya, looking down at her knees.
Ariel looked at her, saw that Tanya was serious, and wondered why. She had just lost to Demetrius, he had just made a fool of her. “I’m not a blademaster, Tanya.”
“You don’t have to be. There’s no rule that says you have to be a blademaster.”
“I don’t get it. Why would you…”
“You didn’t beat your brother. So what? What champion hasn’t failed before?”
Champion? Ariel smothered the smile that was creeping up and turned to the window. “I’ll think about it.”
“I’ll be trying out this evening at seven if you’re interested.”
Ariel nodded, still looking out through the window at Virtus City. It sparkled with every light of the sun. The skies of the planet Eos were always so crisp, always so blue, just as they were when humans first settled on the planet.
The bus slowed, along with every other vehicle in the air. As it hovered in place, sirens could be heard for miles. Ariel was curious. She sat up. Several Virtus Guard vehicles zipped past her. A pursuit was happening before her eyes. In a few months, she’d be eligible to become an independent officer of the Virtus Guard, but she had her eyes on the Virtus Force. She didn’t want to police Virtus City; she wanted to join the Special Forces all around Eos.
The school was a distinct structure compared to the buildings around it. It was much bigger than the Arena. A veritable fortress of its own, with thousands of buses descending to drop off students. Ariel had come here to begin her journey into the Virtus Force. This was the Zeda Academy.
When the bus landed on a pad, everything froze. The driverless bus instructed everyone to remain for a quick inspection. Ariel planted herself back in her seat, raising an eyebrow at Tanya, who shrugged.
The chatter in the bus lowered to an eerie silence as two Virtus Guard officers holstered their weapons when they came into view.
“Nobody panic,” said the first officer. “The city is under a full Virtus Guard sweep.”
From behind them, an AU (Attack Unit) stepped forward, with eyes the color of the sun. Its silver chrome body and synthetic lips warped with its movement. It was as anatomically close to human beings as a naked humanoid robot could get without being too inappropriate. Attack Units rarely stepped foot on Virtus soil, so awe escaped the mouths of many of the students as the robot lowered itself to one knee and rolled a ball across the floor. Its fingers curled flawlessly; its dexterity was impeccable.
Pale blue light covered every part of the bus as the ball moved through the center aisle and back. Everyone and everything was caught in the light beam’s web before it returned to the AU’s hands.
“All clear,” the AU said to the officers behind it. But then, the AU caught Ariel’s gaze. Silence rippled through the bus as everyone turned to Ariel. A deep concern rushed to squeeze her chest as she remained motionless.
“Is everything all right?” asked one of the officers, attempting to see past the AU at whoever it was observing.
“Oh yes, everything is all right.” The AU turned around along with the officers, but before reaching the stairs, it took one last look at Ariel, who was now sinking lower into her seat, and smiled.
Ariel remembered the last thing her mother had said to her: …live a quiet life and do not bring any attention to yourself. She had been deliberately disobeying her mother. She now tried to convince herself that an AU staring and smiling was perfectly normal. She gulped. What did this mean? She followed her fellow students out of the bus and into one of the campus entrances. Was her game so deplorable that an AU had taken notice? She headed straight for class.
Ariel spotted Manny sitting alone in the quickly filling lecture hall. Hundreds of students trooped in, splitting into lines as they climbed the four stairs to take their seats. She clutched her things and carefully made her way to the seat next to him. Her cheeks rose at Manny, who clearly knew she wanted something.
“You won’t believe what happened to me,” she said, ignoring the disinterest on his face. “An AU stared at me and smiled. What’s happening to me?” She snickered nervously. Her attempt to soften the mood apparently did nothing, as Manny gazed somewhere else.
“Is it possible that my game against Demetrius could be spun as illegal?” she asked, one hand caressing the other, her full eyes fixed on Manny.
She removed her gaze when his quiet stare told her “no way.” She squeezed her hands into fists and exhaled. Then, applause roared throughout the hall, and Ariel looked up to see Demetrius.
He headed for the stairs, but requests for autographs slowed him down. Ariel dug into the desk.
She’d make him pay. That had been, and still was, her plan.
She observed him engaging with the crowd at the foot of the steps. He smiled at them. He laughed with one. Shook hands with another. She’d make him suffer. Excruciatingly.