“No. No. This can’t be real,” Zayn said. He stood aback along with Akira, seeing Solomon alive before his eyes. It was as if his worst nightmare had come to life.
Solomon looked back at Zayn and Akira, ecstatic to see just how much his presence was affecting Zayn. It gave him his own malicious sense of joy.
“I always wanted a reunion,” Solomon said. “Never thought it would be this way though. How’s your mom…and dad? Do they still talk about me?”
“Shut up!” Zayn shouted. “You’re supposed to be dead.”
“You’re correct. But I didn’t really like it much down there,” Solomon said. “Now, let’s keep the reminiscing to a minimum. I’m a little hungry.”
“What are you? A vampire?” Akira asked.
“Akira…siren form, NOW!” Zayn ordered.
“I wouldn’t do that if I were you,” Solomon said.
Solomon drew out his saxophone and blew out a thunderous beat from it. The sound was so loud that Zayn and Akira couldn’t handle it as they placed their hands on their ears, trying to close it off. Zayn could feel himself becoming numb as the sounds started to take over his body, almost like they were holding him hostage.
“What the hell is this?!” Akira shouted, her ears still hurting from the sound. Both Zayn and Akira fell to the ground on their knees, unable to bear the saxophone’s screeching noises.
“Akira! You have to try and transform!” Zayn said.
“That’s kinda hard to do at the moment!” Akira retorted.
Seeing them down, Solomon stopped playing. “Well then. Looks like you two have had enough music for one day,” Solomon said. “I’ll be on my way then.”
As Solomon turned around, he stopped, looking back at Zayn. Seeing him on the ground in such a weak state brought back so many memories. He almost wanted to laugh.
“I look forward to seeing you again, Zayn,” Solomon said.
Solomon blew out another tune from his saxophone, but this time a puff of gray smoke emerged from it, shrouding him. He suddenly disappeared while Zayn looked on as he remained on the ground, his ears still buzzing from the intense sound that had just rung his ears.
***
On the other hand, Sana was walking down in the hall by herself while Aiden happened to be on the other side. I wonder where Rey went. He hasn’t talked to anyone all day, Sana thought as she kept walking. I hope everything is all right.
As she continued to walk, Aiden stopped as he saw her and said, “Sana.”
Sana looked up at Aiden as she stopped in the hall. Aiden stepped towards Sana and said, “I wanted to talk to you about your training.”
“Yes, Aiden. Tell me.”
“Your first training session will be today after school. I have spoken to Headmaster Devil. He will send the trainer for you. You and Rey just have to go to the gymnasium.”
“I thought you would be training us.”
“Well…let’s just say I have other things in my hands at the moment. Anyways, I hope this won’t be an issue.”
“Yeah. No problem.”
“Good. I will see you later.”
With that, Aiden left and went his way while Sana continued walking. As Sana was walking in the hall, she noticed Rey was sitting alone beside a windowsill in the hallway. Confused, Sana went towards Rey, sitting down beside him as he looked out the window. She tapped him on his shoulder, startling him as he turned to her.
“Are you okay, Rey?” Sana asked.
“Yeah. I’m fine.”
“Then why are you sitting here alone?”
“It’s nothing.”
“Rey, don’t lie to me. Just like you, I know when something is wrong.”
“Sana…I’m just not in the mood right now. Is there something important you needed to tell me?”
“Just one thing. We have training after school in the gymnasium. You have to be there.”
“Okay. Now if you don’t mind, I want to be alone.”
With that, Rey got up and went his own way while Sana watched him go. She didn’t understand what was going on with him. He was a seemingly different person. Suddenly, he was closed off from her. She wondered if the memories of the Madame Naga fight were starting to get to him. But she remembered how much he emphasized to her that he’d be okay. It was all too confusing. And she couldn’t piece anything together because he wouldn’t say anything.
***
Back in Rutham City, Zayn and Akira called up the Rutham Detective Force to take care of the woman’s body. It didn’t take long for the authorities to arrive. After some questioning, Zayn and Akira waited in the same alley till they were given permission to leave. Akira looked at Zayn, who was clearly very shaken.
“Who was that guy?” Akira asked. “He took us down before we could even make a move.”
“A figment of our imagination.”
“Zayn…I don’t get it. If he’s dead, then why was he alive and well right before us?”
“I don’t know, damn it! He’s supposed to be dead. Of all people, I should know.”
“Well, clearly he’s not. And we need to find out why.”
Seeing Zayn was so frustrated, Akira decided to let him be for a moment, so he could calm down. She watched as the authorities proceeded to take the body into their vehicle after covering it up with a thick white cloth. After the body was taken in, the head detective made his way towards Zayn and Akira.
“All right. We’ll be taking care of things from here. You kids are free to go,” the head detective said.
“You don’t need us for further questioning?” Akira asked.
“No, this incident is pretty much the same as all the other ones,” the head detective said.
“What do you mean?” Zayn asked.
“I guess you both aren’t from here. Well, this has happened before. In the exact manner as well. Bodies found, seemingly dead. Except they’re not dead,” the head detective said.
“Not dead?” Zayn asked.
“Yeah. The woman’s heartbeat is still there. Same as the other bodies we’ve found like this. And they all have their skin turned gray. It’s almost like they’re in a frozen state of some kind,” the head detective said.
Zayn looked at Akira, who seemed just as confused as he was. He wondered what Solomon did to that woman. If he didn’t kill her, what did he do?
“Anyways, you kids are the first to give us a description of someone who did this. We’ve been lacking that for all this time,” the head detective said. “We’ll hopefully be able to manage finding this guy now.”
As the head detective left with his team, Zayn stood, puzzled. He had a mixture of emotions going on. It was almost too much to handle. He thought it was best to just leave.
***
After a couple of hours had passed, Zayn and Akira had returned safely to the academy. Akira had gone back to her room at the girls’ dorm house. Alone in his office, Zayn had come as Headmaster Devil had called for him to meet him.
“You wanted something?” Zayn asked.
“How’d everything go? Did you find out anything regarding the disappearances?”
“I actually don’t want to talk about it.”
“Why? Did something happen?”
“I just don’t want to talk about it.”
“Son, what happened there?”
“I said I don’t want to talk about it!”
Headmaster Devil kept quiet. He was stunned to see Zayn raise his voice. He wondered if something serious had happened in Rutham City. Seeing how upset Zayn was, he felt it was best to leave the matter for later.
“I’m sorry. I didn’t mean to upset you, son,” Headmaster Devil said. “Don’t worry about the other task either.”
“Task?”
“Yeah. It’s from Aiden. You know Sana J. Malik? And her partner, Rey Murgatroyd?”
“Yeah.”
“They are partaking in some extra training lessons. And until Aiden is available, he wanted you to train with them.”
“What? Why me?”
“Technically you’ll mostly be training with Sana. It’s only for a while. But if you’re not feeling up to it, I can let Aiden know.”
“It’s fine. I’ll do it. Where do I have to go?”
“Just head over to the gymnasium and you’ll meet with her there.”
Zayn nodded and headed out of the office. After he left, Headmaster Devil pondered, I wonder what happened to him? I may have to ask Akira.
***
After school, Sana went straight to the gymnasium by herself. As she entered, she realized she was the only one there. She stood inside as she waited for Rey to come. “Where could Rey be?” Sana asked. “He better get here on time. And where’s this coach?”
Just then, Zayn entered the gymnasium much to Sana’s surprise.
“Zayn? What are you doing here?” Sana asked.
“Aiden told me to come here for your training.”
“You mean…you’re the coach?”
“I’m just as surprised as you are. This really isn’t worth my time. But what can I do?”
“Excuse me?!”
“What?”
“What do you mean it’s not worth your time?!”
“Look, I’ve had a rough day. There’s better things I could be doing, but I’m just here because my dad-“
“Well, you’re pretty rude. If you think I’m not worth your time, then you’re underestimating me.”
“Am I?”
“Let’s start. And you’ll see why.”
Zayn was surprised to see Sana act so fiery towards him. Well, okay then, Zayn thought. Let’s see if she’s as good as she claims.
“Where’s Rey?”
“I don’t know. He should be coming.”
“Whatever. I hate to wait. I’ll start things with you. Show me one of your basic attacks.”
Sana immediately drew out her wand, tapping it to transform it into her trishula. She spun her trishula around in circular motion and then plunged it to the ground, calling out, “Ember Fury!” Once the trishula struck the ground, ember began to burst in a fiery trail that traveled across the floor.
“Not bad,” Zayn said upon seeing the trail of ember. “But it lacks finesse.”
“Finesse? What does finesse have anything to do with my attacks?”
“The crisper an attack is…the finer the outcome will be.”
“As far as I know, an attack is just an attack. If it succeeds in striking its target, it shouldn’t matter how it looks.”
“You don’t see my point? We’ll have to do this differently then. Are you up for a little combat?”
“Yes I am.”
Zayn drew out his wand, tapping it to transform it into his clarinet. Good thing I saw him battle Rey and Neil. I at least have an idea of what he can do, Sana thought as she eyed Zayn. And he’s yet to see my skills at work.
Sana made her first move and held her trishula up high, swinging it like a bat as a burst of fiery energy was shot from it, directly aiming at Zayn. Zayn grabbed hold of his clarinet and called out, “B-flat major.” Once Zayn played the clarinet, a gust of sand immediately swirled its way out from the clarinet, spiraling its way towards Sana. The sand had blocked out her fire energy attack and made its way towards her. Alarmed, Sana jumped out of the way as the sand hit directly against the wall, forming a kind of cocoon.
Sand? I didn’t see him do this the other day, Sana thought.
“Had enough yet?” Zayn asked.
Sana grunted as she ran towards Zayn. “Pyro Strike!” Sana called out her attack as she dug her trishula to the ground, making it crack as a fiery path formed along the cracks. Zayn jumped back so the path wouldn’t reach him. But instead, Sana snuck behind him and struck him with a gush of fire from her trishula that took Zayn out across the floor. The fiery path had dissolved by then as Sana stood valiantly.
A diversion. Good move, Zayn thought as he slowly got up and composed himself.
“You’re actually a lot better than I thought,” Zayn told Sana as he stood. “But let’s see if you can handle this.”
Zayn played his clarinet in the F major scale, which produced a small energy beam that made its way towards Sana. Sana prepared herself by getting in a proper stance with her trishula. Once the energy beam had gotten close to her, she used her trishula to deflect it. But by doing so, the energy beam broke and released a super-sonic sound wave that was so strong that it hit Sana against the wall. Everything happened so quickly that she was unable to process it, let alone get up.
“What…kind of…energy beam is that?” Sana asked, shaken by the attack.
“You might want to relax,” Zayn told Sana. “After that attack, you’ll be hard of hearing. And your body might have a hard time dealing with the vibrations.”
Sana patted her ears a bit to make the sounds go away. After a moment, she looked at Zayn and said, “Okay. Explain yourself.”
“That was my sound energy beam attack. Its power is so great that even countering it still causes damage to my opponent.”
“I’ve never experienced anything like that. But…I don’t get it. How does your clarinet have control over sand and sound?”
“Well, how do you think Akira and I are partners? We both have control over sand and sound. Having dual powers is actually not too uncommon for ringmasters and human-beasts. My clarinet isn’t like an ordinary one. Because of which, the scales of my clarinet each have their own unique attacks. Some have sound. Some have sand.”
Unbelievable. His power alone is far greater than I could’ve ever imagined. It’s no wonder Aiden spoke so highly of them, Sana thought.
“I will admit…you’re actually a good competitor,” Zayn said. “But like I said…the finesse was missing. You may think that such a thing is trivial in battling. But just think about it. That sneak attack you pulled on me…was very effective. But at the same time, anyone can do that. It’s not exactly new. Now I don’t like to brag…but with my energy beam attack…you thought you could easily deflect it and you’d be fine. And that wasn’t the case. Details in one’s attacks and attention to technique always pull greater outcomes than the ones with great power.”
Now I get it. I understand why he’s the best. He doesn’t focus on hitting with the most powerful attack. He focuses on the detail of an attack and what kind of a response he can trigger from his opponent, Sana thought as she began to stand up while Zayn walked towards her.
“One thing is certain. I was wrong about you,” Zayn told Sana. “So, from now on, we just have to shift your focus from power to technique.”
Well then…I guess I’m going to learn a lot from this guy after all, Sana thought as she looked back at Zayn.
“I think that’s enough for today. Right?”
“Yeah, sure. Thank you.”
“For what?”
“For showing me what I didn’t know before.”
“This was nothing. You’ve got spunk, Sana. Knowing that now, I’m not gonna go easy on you.”
“I wouldn’t want anything else.”
With their first training session over, Sana and Zayn walked out of the gymnasium together. As they walked side by side, Sana realized that Rey had never arrived. She turned to Zayn and said, “I don’t know why Rey didn’t show up. This is a first for him.”
“Maybe try to reach him. Something could’ve come up.”
“Yeah, I will. He’s been acting a little different lately.”
“You mean since that attack?”
“You know about the attacks on the school?”
“I may be new here, but it helps to have my father around to fill me in on things. From what I know, you both endured a lot that day. And he was heavily injured. Have the two of you ever lost a battle like this before?”
“No. The truth is, I’m doing all this because of that. I don’t want what happened that day to ever happen again.”
“Well, Rey is probably going through the same struggles as you. It’s a hurdle that you both will have to overcome together. If you give him time, he’ll come around.”
“Wow, I never thought you’d be the kind of person to give such sound advice.”
“Well, you don’t actually know someone till you get to know them, right?”
“Right. Just like how you didn’t know how strong I was till you saw me in action.”
“Yeah, sure. I’ll see you tomorrow then.”
Sana waved bye to Zayn, heading down the hallway. Before Zayn was about to leave, he could sense someone’s presence lurking nearby. He put his hands in his pockets and said, “My senses are very strong, so whoever you are, you can show yourself.”
Zayn’s instinct was right. Someone was indeed nearby. Hearing sounds of footsteps coming from behind, he turned around to see it was Krystal, who was standing right by the gym entrance. Despite him knowing someone was near, he was surprised to see it was Krystal of all people. She’s here? And more quiet than usual, Zayn thought.
“Okay! Spill! How’d you know I was nearby?! You didn’t even see me!”
“There it is. You’re still a loudmouth.”
“Excuse me?!”
“What are you doing around here?”
“I was just passing by and I saw you guys train. That’s all. I didn’t know you were the one training Sana.”
“My dad asked me to help since Aiden is occupied. Don’t tell me you’re interested in training.”
“So, what if I was?!”
“I don’t have time for additional people. I already have a lot going on as it is.”
“Well, I didn’t ask to train with you! I’m perfectly capable of training on my own! That means I can find my own ways of getting extra help.”
“If you say so.”
Zayn proceeded to leave while Krystal looked at him, annoyed. So arrogant! Krystal thought. I outta-
“Here’s a suggestion,” Zayn said. “If you want to find ways to get stronger, knowledge is power. Start from there.”
Zayn headed right down the hallway with Krystal watching him go. She was intrigued by his words. As frustrating as Zayn could be, he was leading her in a direction she could never imagine for herself. She wanted to see how strong she could become. And Zayn’s words only amplified the sound of her will. They made her more eager to take her skills as a ringmaster to the next level.
Copyright © 2021 Meryl T
All rights reserved. All illustrations created by Meryl T.
The Ringmasters Society 