Princess of Ruin

Chapter 9 - Exhaustion's Onset

Emery

It seemed every single student except for me at the Ektan Academy for Special Abilities was getting sick. Mikela had told me at lunch earlier that day that Aria had been sick for the past four days and that we should convince her to go to the infirmary to be checked out. I responded by saying that the infirmary was already full to the brim and that it'd be no use. She told me that she'd make a trip into town that afternoon to get medicine and see if that might help. I only shrugged, having a difficult time empathizing with the ill. I hadn't caught an illness in years, and I'd begun to forget what it was like.

"Emery! Focus!" a voice said, pulling me out of my daydream just in time for me to dodge a kick aimed directly at my head. My side pulled painfully at the movement, and I resisted the urge to send Ms. Aiko a glare and instead put my hands up into fighting position, bouncing lightly on my heels. "I know your life's getting a bit crazy right about now, but that's no excuse for you to not pay attention during our lessons. Do you understand me?"

"Yes, ma'am," I muttered. "Many apologies." I hadn't had very much human interaction in the past few days, mostly by choice, and I'd begun slipping back into my old routine of not paying much attention to other humans. It was easier that way, in my opinion. Unfortunately, it was much harder to ignore everyone when there were actually people around me.

"Good. Now take your gloves off and try to hit me." The blood froze in my veins as I stared at my teacher.

"I'm sorry?"

"Take 'em off, Emery. You're never going to learn how to control this if you continue to be afraid of it."

"But-"

"I won't let you hurt me. Don't you worry." Warily, I pulled off my gloves and tossed them to the side. They landed right near where my cane and boots lay abandoned on the floor.

Cocking my head to one side in careful contemplation, I flexed my sock-covered toes against the hard wood before lunging, pushing off with my good leg. Ms. Aiko scooted out of my way easily, sighing in disappointment.

"You're still too scared of hurting me," she chastised, catching my arm and knocking me to the floor. The breath left my body in a painful gust of air. She grabbed my hand, and I flinched. "See? You can control it better than you think, Emery. Just trust yourself and trust that you'll be fine." I blinked and then surged upwards, knocking Ms. Aiko back.

"The headmaster is angry with me," I said as we traded a few blows. I was gaining more confidence with each strike, and I was almost starting to drive the teacher back.

"Of course he is. Your guardian's not keeping to her promise. You really should tell her to be more discreet, you know." In the few moons I'd been at the Academy, Ms. Aiko had been the only teacher I'd really connected with. She was the only one who didn't really seem to be afraid of me.

"Elle does not exactly listen to others, but I shall try to calm her." I brought my arms up to block a particularly-strong kick, and the force of the blow sent me stumbling back a few steps. A sharp pain radiated through my chest, but I ignored it and ducked under Ms. Aiko's next blow to grab her wrist. We both froze for a moment, equally shocked by my actions. It had been more instinct than anything else, and it was taking all of my concentration to keep myself under control.

"You're getting better," Ms. Aiko said, raising an eyebrow. "I'm impressed. Now you just need to figure out how to use your ability without the repercussions."

"Absolutely not."

"Not today," she said, glancing down at my bad leg, which I'd stopped putting weight on without really thinking about it. "You're wheezing. You should go rest for now. We'll continue this tomorrow." I nodded and released her arm. As I went to pick up my things, I saw the teacher brush a few pieces of black ash off her arm, and my chest squeezed a bit.

As I walked across the snowy, darkening campus, I felt my chest squeeze again, but this time, it felt like someone had grabbed my heart and was clenching it in a fist. I gasped in pain, halting and pressing a hand against my chest. I gritted my teeth and waited for the moment to pass, trying to push away my irritation at how foolish my body was.

After a few minutes, my chest loosened again, and I found myself able to take a few steps forward. Then a few more. Then a few more, until I was standing outside my dorm, very much hoping that Aria was either asleep or otherwise occupied. All I wanted to do was shower, complete my homework, and read a book in bed until I found I could fall asleep. I'd been having days of extreme tiredness lately, and this was no exception.

Unfortunately for me, I wasn't going to be so lucky.

I opened the door to find Aria sprawled out on the couch, surrounded by tissues and bags of chips. Her computer was sitting on the coffee table in front of her, and it seemed as though she'd just paused a movie.

"You're back!" Aria said in a very nasally voice. She clearly wasn't feeling much better. "How was your day? Please tell me something interesting happened. I'm bored to death here."

"Where is Mikela?" I asked, looking around for the other roommate. I didn't particularly feel like conversing at the moment, but I would also feel bad about leaving Aria when she looked so pitiful.

"She's buying medicine for me. She just left, so it'll be a while before she gets back. Why?"

"Simply wondering." I sighed a bit as I set my bag down on one of the living room chairs. "I would like to take a shower now, but I shall tell you about my day when I return."

"'Kay!" she said in a much too cheerful voice as I made a quick trip to my room. Aria's throat was still very clearly hurting her, and she looked pale and sickly when I passed her by with my bathrobe and towel. It made me cringe a bit at the thought of how miserable she must be.

I closed the bathroom door carefully behind me and set my fluffy white bathrobe and towel on their respective bars. Very gently, I set my cane on the ground and went to turn the shower on. I let the water run and stepped back, making sure to leave the sliding door open just wide enough for me to slip through. I gave the door one last check and then, satisfied, pulled off my scarf. My gaze caught on the thick black scar - I'd been too lazy to cover it with concealer that morning- and I turned my head away from the mirror, proceeding to strip down until I was only wearing my gloves and my socks. I reached to my side and pulled off the patch stuck to it, folding it so as to cover up the red splotch right in the middle.

Placing one hand against the counter for balance, I bent down and pulled off one sock, revealing blackened toes next to the incredibly pale rest of my foot. With the utmost care, I placed my now-bare foot on the plush carpet, sighing in relief when nothing happened. Even though I hadn't destroyed anything in the bathroom in the two moons I'd been living in the suite, I still felt immense gratitude whenever I didn't break my streak. I pulled off the other sock and stepped closer to the shower, which now had steam rising from it.

Taking a deep breath, I mostly pulled off one glove but kept my fingertips covered and then used those covered fingertips to pull the other glove off. Hands just as black as the gloves that usually covered them tossed the black leather onto the counter and then hovered, away from my surroundings and my body.

"Ok," I whispered to myself. "You can do this." Focusing on my feet and the floor beneath them, I stepped into the shower very carefully. The hot water flowed over my pale skin, making it turn pink, and I let out a little breath. Makeup sloughed off my body, revealing a criss-cross of greying scars covering my skin. As I rubbed the soap through my short hair, my mind drifted off to nowhere in particular, and I let myself clean my body methodically.

Suddenly, as I was rinsing conditioner out of my hair, a sharp pain echoed through my chest and ricocheted down to my right knee. The leg buckled under me, and I had to shoot a hand out to the shower wall to remain upright. I shifted my hand downwards and gripped the metal bar tightly, thankful that despite my protests, Mikela and Aria had decided to have it put in so I wouldn't fall in the shower.

I took in a deep, wheezing breath and calmed myself, flexing my fingers and toes experimentally. When the shower floor didn't disintegrate beneath my feet, I allowed myself to relax again and finished the shower quickly. Just as I was stepping out, though, my chest closed up, and my leg collapsed.

Holding in a cry as I fell, my hand shot out before I could stop it and hit the wall. But my hand just slipped, leaving behind a black handprint, and I went crashing to the floor.