The Lightwielder Files

Chapter 17

The light in Max’s hands glowed brighter and brighter, He found he was able to c control it better as well now. Abetha looked on from the rim of her coffee cup with a slight air of being impressed, even though Max thought that it would take a lot for a person to make Abetha impressed.

“So you’ve found the Light?” she said in her airy voice. Max couldn't help the proud smile coming up on his face. He had done it. It took some time and effort but he finally did it.

“Now you must continue it," she said sagely. “But for the time being well done.”

There was a smile on her face which Max returned with full measure.

“Thank you, Abetha," he replied, leaving through the doorway that had appeared in the wall.

“No problem”, Abetha replied taking a long thoughtful sip from her mug as if she could sense something coming that Max didn’t. Maybe she did, he was begging to assume that she was an Astra after all. When he passed through the doorway he found himself in a part of the Luce Order that he didn’t recognize. He knew he was still in the Order building, however, because of the high concentration of Light he could feel and he could see the light hanging along with the ceiling that was particular to the Order building. He followed some red and gold round lights along the floor heading to the hallway adjacent to him. He stopped when he came close to a room radiating with Light. Curious, he pulled the doorknob and it opened. The room was dark, which felt strange in a place dedicated to light but suddenly something flashed through the air, momentarily stunning him. His eyes then adjusted to the light when another flash came and she wisely didn’t look at it directly. He noticed that it was a bolt of lightning. Many others followed in quick succession, a billowing crescendo complete with drums of thunder and the sound of panting.

Max turned his ear to the sound of deep breaths and he realized that he had interrupted someone’s practice session. He was about to go back the way he came when the light came back on, startling him.

“Max is that you?” a voice called out from behind him. Mona’s voice, high and tense. He turned around to see Mona with a stank top and shorts with her hands on her hips and beads of sweat dripping from her forehead. How long had she been in here?

“Yeah, it is," he replied sheepishly, already edging back towards the door, but Mona held up a hand to stop him. “I’m sorry I’m always interrupting your practice sessions.”

Mona shook her head fondly with a hint of exhaustion coating her features.

“Hey, you say that but I think you arrive at the times when I need a break from what I’m doing," she replied with a tired smile. “So I should really be thanking you.”

Max smiled shyly in response. Mona looked him over with an appraising eye as if in the last couple of hours she had seen him, he had changed somehow.

“I’m sorry I’m staring but you look like you’ve changed”, she asked. “Have you changed?”

Max gave a low chortle. “I haven’t shaved today if that’s what you mean.”

Mona chuckled throwing her whole body into it.

“No that’s not it, it’s something though. I’ll figure it out, don’t worry.”

Max smiled brightly still chuffed about getting a handle on his powers.

"I think I've figured out my powers today," Max said a spring in his step that couldn't stop him from hopping eagerly from foot to foot. His energy must have been infectious because he could see Mona doing the same thing.

"Really that's good to hear ", she replied a certain weight lifting from her shoulder there was a cloud of sadness still casting shade on her face. Max wonders what was wrong but before she could ask she continued, “ How do you feel now?”

Max thought hard for a minute how did he feel now that he had better control and his power?

“It feels like I found a part of me that was missing but at the same time it was there all long does that make sense?”

Mona looked down thoughtfully at her feet, an idle smile playing on her lips.

"That's a great way to put it," Mona replied, a wistful tone lacing her voice. “ I'm proud of you, you know.”

Max began to frown and sense that there was something not quite right with Mona.

“Hey are you ok?” he asked coming closer stopping at a respectful distance.

“Yeah, sort of, well…” Mona trailed off something Max wasn't sure she was even capable of. Then he stepped closer to let her know that she could confide in him if she felt she needed to but that there was no pressure if she didn't want to.

She huffed a low heavy breath, pushing a red strand of her hair out of her eyes. Her hands placed firmly on her hips with a slightly faraway look in her eyes.

Then she took a deep breath and began to tell the story of her day.

“My stepmom arrived back today," she said with a certain finality in her tone.

“Oh, yeah, I remembered that Adam said she was coming back today”, Max said in realization. “How did it go?”

Mona huffed out a bitter chuckle and began to pace gently around the expanse of the room.

“Yeah. Don’t get me wrong it feels great to have her back with everything that is going on but that the same time it’s just so hard having her back here at a time like this, you know?”

She looked at him with an odd sort of expectation that quickly under Max’s piteous gaze. She gave a butter chuckle wrapping her arms around herself as if trying to hold herself together to stop her entire being from falling apart into oblivion.

Max crossed the distance to be closer to her and to ask in a very kind and low voice, “Is it because Algar Fray eas responsible for your mom dying?”

Mona turned to him with a whip of her neck as fast as a flash of lightning.

Max cautiously went on and touch the edge of the touchy subject, “Do you feel like Nicole kind of came into your life because of such a bad thing happening?”

Mona’s breathing became harsh as if she was in the midst of battle instead of safe in the Luce Order building in a room that could be tempered to her emotions and bent to her will. Max was afraid that maybe he had broken her but then her face softened to an almost vulnerable look.

She sighed scratching the back of her neck gently.

“Wow Max ready to play therapist aren’t you?” she said with a bitter laugh, deep and hollow and Max was really worried that he had crossed a line.

“I’m sorry I didn’t mean too”, he quickly apologized, not really sure what he wanted to say. “I just observed…”

“No, you’re right I am a bit iffy about Nicole more than I probably should be, but you’re right sometimes I think that she unfairly benefited from my mom’s death. It’s stupid I know she had nothing to do with it, but it just feels dark and unsatisfactory, you know.”

Max nodded sympathetically. “I know how you feel. I can't really think of someone else taking my mom’s place and I barley know her.”

Mona smiled a little in response still holding her arms tightly around herself.

“Though it hasn’t been all bad”, she said with a thoughtful, fond and gentle smile. “Adam’s her son, he;s my brother and I wouldn’t trade him for the world. I love him too much, he’s my partner in crime one of the most important people in my life.”

She sat down crosslegged on the lino floor and Max got down with her opposite her.

“That’s life, isn’t it. Full of trade-offs. Never knowing what is going to come from what choice you’re going to make.”

She gave Max a wry smile rearranging her hair.

“Sorry to wax philosophical all of a sudden.”

“No problem, I can’t say I didn’t enjoy it.”

Mona chuckled and studied Max out of the corner of her eye.

“So how was the first day of training for you?” she asked.

Max huffed as he gave her the lowdown of how his day went after he had stormed out of the dining hall. Mona then told him and she nearly knocked the teeth out of one of his accusers. He laughed and told her that he appreciated the thought but was glad that she didn’t resort to violence. He told her about his physical training and how ti had been hard the first time but how he was sure it would be better tomorrow. He told her how his light training had gone and how he was able to find the light deep within himself and was able to bring it out when he need it now. He demonstrated a bring a ball of light forming at his fingertips.

Mona’s eyes widened.

Max chuckled as her tosed the ball of light from hand to hand. “ You look surprised you've never seen a Solar in action before?”

“Don’t get cocky," Mona said with a wry girn, “And to answer your question, yes I have seen a Solar in action, some older and more experienced than you but you. You’re something different, something I haven’t seen before.”

Max scoffed shifting to a sitting position where he was hugging his knee.

“Yeah, that seems to be the word you Lightwielders like using to describe me.”

Suddenly Mona reached over to him and punched him off his rockers.

They both laughed as he dodged her next attempt to get him off.

“Now, now Max Vandhurst," she chided in a fond tone, “you can’t say you Lightwielders anymore you’re a Lightwielder too you know, especially now that you can summon balls of light.”

Max couldn’t help the smile that was coming over his face. Him a Lightwielder finally. He knew deep down in his heart that this was where he belonged. He was sure of it. Right now he wanted nothing more than to see his father and show him all that he had to learn and that he was really a Lightwielder and that finally, he had found somewhere where he could belong.

The light disappeared from his hand as he looked at Mona with a fond expression.

Mona suddenly got up and held out her hand to Max he took it with a puzzled expression on his face.

“What are you up to?£ Mona Davenymeyer, he asked and was well aware of how small and almost dainty like Mona’s hand felt in his, which was a strange feeling.

They walked all the way to the back of the very bright room and Max found it very odd that only moment before it had been covered in streaks of lightning.

“What is this room exactly?” he asked, still fascinated by the memory of what he had seen before.

“It’s a training room," Mona replied going a complicated box in the room and pressed a complicated combination unto the keypad. “Specifically for Light training. You can see the effects of your Light without all the harmful, painful parts.”

Max was amazed. “That sounds impressive but how dies it work exactly.”

Mona moved back towards Max and gestured for him to summon his Light which he did.

Gold sparks emanate from his hadn dancing around his fingertips glowing brighter and brighter until they emanaeted into a golden orb enveloping thee room in a warm glow as if they were stanifnd in the middle of thousand splendid sumsn bleniding together semallessly. Mona stood next to Max totally enthralled by the sight, Max couldn't help but feel totally at home.

Then he felt a warm honey-like substance coating him from the inside out.

He looked down at himself and saw that as the last time at the pub he was glowing bring and iridescent like a smaller version of the sun. It was the best feeling he had had in a long time and Mona standing beside him somehow made it all the better.

He laughed in pure delight and Monna did the same. He turned to face her, emerald eyes meeting brown ones.

“You really are something, Max Vandhurst," Mona said, her voice low and almost reverential.

Max looked away shyly.

“I’m really not”, he said shyly. “I’ve only been here a few days, I’ve only just unlocked my Light, and no matter how hard I train or however much I learn, I know I’ll never be as great a Lightwielder as you.”

Mona blushed slightly, the smile ever growing on her face. She felt both proud and humbled at the same time.

She looked to the side, a simple smile on her face.

“Just because I can cut up a monster in nineteen different ways and run really fast over long distances and have killer reflexes and am very skilled in electrocution techniques, it doesn’t mean that I am the best Lightwielder out there," Mona said then added with a mock flourish, “But I definitely am up there.”

The mirth disappeared from her face and she was now looking at Max with a completely serious yet earnest expression. She was so close now, he could see every single one of her long eyelashes. He swore he could see one curve near the direction of her pupil and could see some golden flecks in her iris that were most certainly not a result of the light show around them.

She shifted closer so that the tips of their shoes were almost touching and would most certainly, if either one of them took another step forward they would be brushing up against each other. Mona’s voice was now a low and velvet contralto that blew some of Max’s brown hair across his forehead. He found that he could not take his eyes off of her, and he was the one glowing between the two of them.

“You have a fighting spirit”, Mona said.

“So do you”, Max interrupted feeling awfully warm right now. It was because of the overuse of his power and the already stuffy room. Yeah, that was all it was.

Mona scoffed gently taking another small step.