At the arena, Zayn, Akira, Rey, and Neil made their way towards the center stage. Zayn and Akira took the right side while Rey and Neil took the left. Both sides were getting ready for the match, getting into battle stances. “So, Neil…you sure we can do this?” Rey asked. “I mean, our powers aren’t exactly a match made in heaven.”
“I know that. That’s exactly what makes a cool combination,” Neil said. “We’ll be twice as powerful when taking these two on!”
“Good point! We got this in the bag,” Rey smirked.
“You ready, new kid?!” Neil exclaimed.
“You really have no idea who you’re up against,” Zayn said.
“I’d take his word for it,” Akira told Rey and Neil.
“Whatever! We’re still gonna take you out!” Rey said.
“You’re still up for this?” Zayn asked Akira.
“Of course. I could use a little fun on the first day of school,” Akira replied.
“All right! Enough talking!” Neil exclaimed. “Ready, Rey?!”
“Hell yeah!” Rey smirked as he transformed into his beast form.
At that time, Sana had arrived at the arena, seeing Zayn and Akira up against Rey and Neil. “They’re not joking. They actually are going to battle them,” Sana said. “Why doesn’t this idiocy surprise me?”
Neil stood his ground as he drew out his wand, preparing to fight. “All right! I’m about ready for some action!” Neil smirked. “So, you guys gonna make a move or what?!”
“Akira…siren form,” Zayn said.
“Right,” Akira said.
Akira’s body suddenly gave off a stunning golden glow that was so bright that it blinded Rey and Neil’s eyes, making them look away. As the glow began to fade, she had transformed. A set of bright white feathered wings with gold accents emerged from her back while her arms were wrapped with golden ribbons that completely tied around her arms like the straps of ballet shoes. She wore a gold crown around her forehead and a gold choker that was wrapped around her neck. Her outfit had changed to that of a sleeveless green gown that had an upper portion in the shape of wings. The dress had a high slit, revealing a pair of golden sandals adorned by her feet.
Sana was stunned by Akira’s transformation. It was unlike anything she had seen before.
“She’s a human-beast?” Sana asked. “This transformation is unlike anything I’ve seen before.”
***
Meanwhile, Aiden had finally arrived at his classroom while the students continued to chatter amongst themselves. “Hello, class. Sorry I’m late. I had some important work to get done,” Aiden apologized.
As Aiden put down his binder on his desk, the students settled down. Aiden turned to the chalkboard to write down the objective for today’s class. But before he could even grab the chalk, he was alarmed by the sound of running footsteps entering the classroom. He turned to his right to see it was Professor D’Sena.
“Everything okay, Professor D’Sena?” Aiden asked.
“No. There’s a fight going on in the arena. Two staff workers reported seeing students over there,” Professor D’Sena said. “They told me that two of the students involved appear to be Rey and Neil.”
“Wow. Those two get into so many antics that even the staff workers know them by name,” Krystal said.
“I should’ve known they’d pull something like that,” Prince said, shaking his head.
Hearing all of this, the students began to chatter once again. Aiden sighed. He knew he had to go take care of whatever shenanigans Neil had gotten himself into.
“All right. Settle down everyone,” Aiden told the class. “Krystal, Prince, and Heer, you three come with me. Professor D’Sena, do you mind watching the students while I’m gone?”
“I can do that. No problem,” Professor D’Sena said.
Krystal, Heer, and Prince followed Aiden out of the classroom, heading towards the staircase to go down to the arena.
***
“HA! So, you can turn into a bird lady?! Big deal!” Neil exclaimed. “We’re still gonna beat you!”
“I said it once. I’ll say it again. You have no idea who you’re dealing with,” Zayn said.
“Shut up! Are we gonna talk all day or fight?!” Neil exclaimed.
“We could say the same to you,” Akira talked back. “If you’re so pumped up, why don’t you make a move?”
At that time, Aiden, Krystal, Prince, and Heer had arrived at the arena. They went over to the bleachers where Sana was standing by. She turned around to them and said, “Oh, thank goodness you guys are here.”
“What’s going on, Sana?” Aiden asked.
“I just came here. It appears Rey and Neil are challenging the new students to a battle,” Sana said.
“They’re such morons. Shouldn’t Rey be recovering?” Krystal said.
“Neil picks up a fight wherever he goes. There’s nothing that can make him stop now,” Heer said.
“Those two idiots don’t even know who they’re dealing with,” Aiden said as he kept his eyes on Zayn and Akira.
“Do you know who they are?” Sana asked Aiden. “I was curious about the girl. What kind of human-beast is she?”
“That girl is Akira Flareborne. And the boy is Zayn Hawkwing…Headmaster Devil’s son,” Aiden replied.
“WHAT?!” Sana, Krystal, Prince, and Heer reacted in unison.
“Headmaster Devil has a son?!” Krystal asked. “No way!”
“I thought the old man’s never been married,” Prince said.
“He was. Devil’s ex-wife is Tatia Hawkwing, Zayn’s mother,” Aiden began to explain. “Tatia is a ringmaster herself, who happens to be a member of the Ringmasters Society. They were together for quite a while.”
“No wonder the old man always has women coming to his office,” Prince said.
“Then that means Rey and Neil are dealing with no ordinary ringmaster,” Sana said.
“Correct,” Aiden agreed. “You’ll see for yourself.”
“Or you could stop them since you have the power to do so,” Sana retorted.
“To be fair, Rey and Neil have to be punished for picking up a fight even if one wasn’t physically fought. So, we might as well amuse ourselves and see what happens,” Aiden countered.
“Solid point there,” Prince nodded in agreement.
“But Rey is injured! You can’t just let him fight these guys when he’s supposed to be resting!” Sana exclaimed.
“Knowing Zayn and Akira, they’ll most likely not be so hard on them. If I’m wrong, I’ll stop things immediately,” Aiden responded.
“All right, Rey! Start with a fireball attack!” Neil ordered Rey. Rey nodded, emitting a fireball from his roar. Even though he was used to following Sana’s lead, he was comfortable with Neil by his side. As the fireball came towards Akira, Zayn looked up and said, “Sand Strike, Akira!”
Akira nodded as her wings rose upward and flapped vigorously, launching a mighty sandstorm that hit the fireball, blowing it out like it was nothing. And the strength of the sandstorm was enough to hit Rey directly. The impact wasn’t too bad, so Rey managed to remain standing, holding his ground.
“Damn it! Let’s do it right this time!” Neil exclaimed as he transformed his wand into his bow and arrow. “Try your Ember Claw move! I’ll back you up.”
Rey proceeded forward, leaping upward as he got the claws of his paw ready. And Neil got his arrow aligned with his bow, running towards Zayn and Akira as he prepared to fire. But Zayn wasn’t about to just stand idle. Zayn drew out his wand, tapping it immediately as it transformed into a clarinet.
“Akira, let’s go for C-flat major,” Zayn ordered. Akira nodded as she took a deep breath and started to sing. As she began to sing, Zayn raised his clarinet upward, playing it and releasing a sound wave that amplified Akira’s singing voice. Her harmonious vocals stopped Rey in his tracks, making him transform back into his human form. It was an unusual feeling. It felt as though the sound itself from Akira’s vocals and Zayn’s clarinet had taken over his body. He felt a shift of some kind take over inside of him.
“What the hell?! What are you doing?!” Neil shouted at Rey as he stopped in his tracks.
“Wow. That’s a beautiful voice,” Rey said.
“What happened?” Sana asked. “He’s just standing there now.”
“It’s like he’s in some kind of trance,” Krystal said.
“That’s the power of Akira Flareborne, especially when she has Zayn around,” Aiden explained. “You see…Akira is no ordinary human-beast. She’s part siren.”
“A siren?” Sana said.
“How do sirens even fall into the human-beast category?” Heer asked.
“You all are familiar with human-beasts that have the forms of wild animals found on Earth. Sirens are classified under mystical human-beasts. They come from Euphoceus, a universe just like ours,” Aiden continued.
“Euphoceus? That’s an interesting name for a magical world,” Krystal said. “So, this girl’s not even from Earth. I wonder how she even got here.”
“Many Euphocians have made their way to Earth. Some of them just prefer our simpler ways of life. Others find the ringmaster academies here to be more fruitful in training and understanding their abilities,” Aiden replied.
It’s actually amazing, Krystal thought as she watched Zayn and Akira closely, paying attention to just how much synchronicity they had on display. They have control over sound and sand. And yet they manage to pull off both with so much grace.
As Akira continued to sing and Zayn amplified her voice further with his clarinet, Rey was slowly making his way towards Akira’s direction. He had no control over himself. The sounds of Akira’s voice had him tangled in a rope of sound that was pulling his body further and further.
“What are you doing, Rey?! Attack her!” Neil ordered. But it was no use. Rey remained in a trance-like state as he continued to go towards Akira. Zayn slowly stopped playing his clarinet. This was the signal for Akira.
In an instant, Rey was tied down by his arm, his body landing on the ground with a thud. The impact was strong enough to snap him back to reality. Akira had Rey tied down with the use of the ribbons around her arms. She smirked, “Got you.”
“What the hell?!” Rey exclaimed.
“This is bad,” Neil said.
Akira spun herself around, twirling as Rey was dragged around and around like a rag doll. She continued to spin as if she was performing ballet, her spins looking more like delicate pirouettes. And finally, she stopped in her movement and raised up her leg, pulling Rey forward by the ribbon and calling out, “Siren Whip!” as she kicked him directly in the chest. This released the ribbon off Rey’s arm as it wrapped itself back onto Akira’s arm. Rey landed onto the ground harshly, his chest hurting from the impact.
“Rey!” Sana called out.
“What the hell was that?!” Krystal exclaimed.
“That’s one of her usual moves,” Aiden said. “It’s a combo attack used to draw in the enemy and then strike them when they’re fully hypnotized.”
“Hypnosis? It seems his clarinet does a lot more than play music,” Prince noticed.
“Yes,” Aiden responded. “It’s true. Zayn’s clarinet does more than creating good tunes. Each note he plays releases a different kind of attack to coordinate with Akira’s attacks.”
“Wow, their battling style is quite different from what I’ve seen,” Heer said.
“How do you know so much about them?” Krystal asked Aiden.
“They’re an exceptional team. I’ve seen them in action myself when I was travelling around for training with my master. It’s because they’re so skilled that they were even able to join your class without formally completing their freshman year here,” Aiden explained.
“Are you sure the connections have nothing to do with that?” Prince asked.
“Well, yes, there is that. But even connections can’t deny raw talent,” Aiden said.
“I can’t argue with that,” Sana said.
“Damn you!” Neil shouted in frustration.
“Looks like someone’s getting a bit agitated,” Zayn said. “You really want to keep going?”
“Of course!” Neil replied.
“So, you still haven’t learned. You might want to back down now while you can,” Akira said.
“Quit yapping and bring it on!” Neil exclaimed.
“Very well,” Zayn said. “Akira, you know what to do!”
“Wait!” a voice shouted.
Zayn, Akira, and Neil turned around to see Sana coming to the arena stage along with Heer, Prince, and Krystal. She ran over to Rey, who was still on the ground in pain.
Sana grabbed hold of Rey and turned to Zayn and Akira, pleading, “Listen to me. He was already injured prior to this battle. So, please discontinue this fight.”
“What?!” Neil exclaimed. “Sana, why are you-“
“Shut up, Neil! You know better than to influence him to take part in a battle when he should’ve been resting!” Sana shouted.
“He’s your partner?” Akira asked. “Well, you should keep a better eye on him next time.”
“I was watching him. I can’t do much when he acts like an idiot,” Sana said.
“Who are you calling an idiot, Sana?!” Rey said.
“I told you not to go and fight and look what you did.”
“And I said I could handle it.”
“Oh, sure. You were really handling it when you got yourself tossed around like a human yo-yo.”
“I was doing fine!”
“No, you weren’t.”
“All right. Its fine,” Zayn said. “This battle was over before it started anyway.”
“Hey! I’m not through with you yet! I want a rematch! You hear me!” Neil shouted.
“You’ll get that when you learn to be more respectful,” Heer said as she shook her head and dragged Neil away from the stage by pulling his arm while Aiden looked on, rolling his eyes.
Sana helped Rey get up. As upset as she was, she knew she had to calm down. Rey could tell she was upset. And in a case like this, he thought it was best to keep quiet for a while.
“Come on,” Sana said. “Let’s take you back to the health center.”
With that, Sana helped Rey walk as the two left the arena.
Akira transformed back into human form, turning to Zayn. “So, what do you think of this school?” Akira asked Zayn.
“Eh. Nothing much to speak of yet,” Zayn replied.
“Wow! You two are quite the duo!” Krystal exclaimed.
“Thanks,” Zayn said. “And you are?”
“My name’s Krystal. And this is my partner, Prince. We’re in the same year as you guys,” Krystal said.
“You two might be the most normal people we’ve met at this school,” Akira said.
“Trust me. Krystal is far from normal,” Prince said.
“Shut up, Prince!” Krystal exclaimed. “Anyways, since you two are new here, why don’t we show you around the school? “
“But we have class,” Prince said.
“Please. It’s not like we’re missing out on much today,” Krystal said.
“That’d be nice actually,” Akira said. “Right, Zayn?”
“I guess. It’s not like I have anything else to do,” Zayn said.
Aiden looked at both Zayn and Akira as the two headed back inside the academy with Krystal and Prince. It’s a good thing Sana intervened. Otherwise…things could’ve gotten ugly, Aiden thought. This was only a taste of what Zayn and Akira could do. Time will tell…when they’ll show their full potential.
***
In the hallway on the first floor, Heer continued to pull Neil along until he finally pulled his arm out from her grasp. “What the hell?! I was already gonna take them on again! And you bring me here!” Neil shouted at Heer.
“Is that all you can say for yourself now?”
“Whoah! What’s with the tone all of a sudden, Heer?”
“Neil…you need to understand. I know you want to prove your strength to others. But today wasn’t right. You put Rey’s health at risk out there.”
“I didn’t mean to. I just thought it would be fun.”
“Fun? You think it’s fun to have your friend taken out like that? Besides, that’s only half of what’s wrong here.”
“Well, what’s the other half?”
“It seems like you always tend to go with Rey for everything. I’m your partner and yet, sometimes I feel like I’m not.”
“I don’t get it. You were just now reprimanding me for making Rey fight.”
“I know. And that is wrong. But what’s also wrong is you don’t treat me like your partner. And I don’t know why.”
Heer sighed, leaving Neil alone as she simply walked away. She couldn’t pinpoint why she was so upset. And she didn’t think Neil would understand anytime soon. Neil watched Heer walk away, puzzled by her frustrations. It was one thing when it was about Runa. But this time, he didn’t know what to think.
***
Back in the intensive care unit, Sana helped Rey get into bed, tucking him in with a blue fuzzy blanket. While doing so, she looked at the scar on his neck. It was a reminder of what had happened the other day. And it seemed like it had gotten larger. Sana looked away, unable to bear the sight of the wound. Just looking at it makes me feel guilty, Sana thought.
As Sana began to leave, she was stopped. Her hand had been caught. As she turned around, she saw Rey, who was wide awake, grasping tightly onto her hand. “Listen,” Rey said. “I know you’re worried about me. You don’t have to be. We we’re just having fun.”
“Rey, this isn’t funny. You could’ve made things worse for yourself today.”
“But I’m fine. No matter how tough those guys were, it’s not like they were going to kill me.”
“Rey…you might be able to take this lightly. But I can’t. You’ve never gotten an injury like this before.”
“And that’s okay. Sometimes things like this happen and you just deal with it. And I’ll get through it. Or should I say, we’ll get through it. That’s what partners do, right?”
Sana looked at Rey in silence. She knew in her heart that Rey was being completely honest with her. She nodded, but a part of her was left feeling unsure. What challenges would lie ahead for her and Rey?
Copyright © 2021 Meryl T
All rights reserved. All illustrations created by Meryl T.
The Ringmasters Society 