IGNATIUS The Colors of Rage

Chapter d Photonkinesis

“They want the two of you,” he said.

Emi stepped away from the window and squared herself to him. “Why us? We don’t have anything to do with this.” 

Baine winked. “You don’t have to do anything to be a part of this war. You’re a larger part of it than you’d think, because of who your parents are; The Silgrias, and ours, The Fendersons. Let me explain...” He paused, sorting the information in his head to make it as child friendly as he could. Then, he continued. “There is an order of our kind. We have positions and stations, duties and responsibilities, ranks. If a position of high rank opens it needs to be filled as quickly as possible in order to maintain the order. 

“The New Generation is a person born and raised as the future heir to the family in preparation for such a shortcoming. You two are still The New Generation, until you accept your positions and begin your own New Generation.” He stood straight and stepped away from the open window. “The reason why you are sought out, is because you have the original virus in your blood as well as the necessary evolutionary genes that made it all happen in the first place. If a person outside of the family is given our version of the virus, that alone is not enough. One needs both. And so, it is up to you two to survive this time and then start a New Generation of your own. Only then the virus will continue to grow.”

“They just want to kill us, then?” Iggy paraphrased.

Baine sealed his lips and shook his tilted head. “No. Losing you to them might be the only way to defeat our empire. And for us, the only way to defeat theirs. You are the young king and queen, and many people are expecting you to do some amazing things.” 

Iggy nodded. “They just want to kill us,” he concluded flippantly. 

Baine turned around and came to another window and he leant into it. “Precisely.” 

Baine glared down at Amare who paced far below, and his expression melted into disgust as his train of thought threw itself off track. Then, he momentarily forgot the two standing there.

“The New Generation Queen,” Emi whispered to herself. She looked across at Iggy and grinned. “That’s a prestigious title, wouldn’t you say?”

Iggy peered at Baine’s back, not acknowledging her. He didn’t care about titles anyways. Apparently, he had a whole family setting him up to be this person that he had never even known of. All faceless members standing on his shoulders, wielding their swords, and sending him into a battle blind. He sighed. For so much pressure, there was nearly no support. He shrugged a shoulder and replied, “a prestigious title with very little real reward.” 

As much as he wanted to brush it off, the blood still rushed to his head, leaving his fingers cold. He could feel a dark presence all around him. It was neither person, nor animal, but it had a body. Long reaching arms that were more like wings than limbs that stretched up to the sky and arched downward, wrapping around him. There was an eager force within them to pull him closer. He could sink into it like water. He started to feel sleepy, as if he could lay down inside of the thing, and rest. He understood the wordless promise that the darkness would take him somewhere ideal, alone, yet not. That it harbored a safe, serene place specifically for him. All he was required to do was give into it. He couldn’t resist. It was too easy to convince him to disappear. He took a step back and the whole room shifted. The shadows from the domed ceiling and from all of the little nooks and crannies stretched across the walls and floor to gather around him. The darkness concentrated over him in an embrace, pulling him further in, and engulfing him entirely.

“If anything were to happen-” Baine looked back. His eyes focused over Iggy’s head, then to the right and left, but never landing on the mark. He spun around. “Wh… Where’d Iggy go?”

Emi turned her head and her solid black eyes locked onto Iggy’s, effortlessly. She reached her hand into the dark cloud and grasped his. The light bled from her skin into his like ink into fabric, cutting through the shadow, and revealing him inside. The warm hug of darkness washed away, exposing him, and the cold returned to his body.

Baine’s lips tightened against one another and a crease formed between his eyebrows. “Umbra kinesis.” He cringed. “Back home, we called that the phantom… I only know one other person who does that, and it scared the hell out of me every time.” He formed an anxious fist at his side. “If our father did what I think he did, then we’re going to have an even bigger problem.” He looked at Emi and lifted an eyebrow. “But you can see him?”

She raised an eyebrow, too, mirroring him. “Yea, with no problem. What exactly are you calling the phantom, though? Do you think Iggy is possessed or something?”

Baine shook his head and teetered toward the ladder. “No, he’s not possessed. Let’s go back to where it’s safe, before anyone gets lost.” He pulled his leg out of the window, caught the ladder with his toes, and lowered himself down.

Emi leant over the window sill and stared at him with urgency. “I’m different, too, you know? Haven’t you noticed?”  

He looked up while simultaneously stepping down to the wall. “Yeah, I noticed,” he returned. “But, if you ask me, your gift is silly. You’re nocturnal, yet glowy? Sounds more like a curse!” As he gained distance, he cupped his hands around his mouth and shouted, “besides, even if you use your curse as a gift, your black eyes would give you away!”

She clenched her jaw. “That son of a b***h,” she hissed, tightening her hand into a fist. “How dare he talk down on my blessing?” She looked up at Iggy. “You’re not the only one that is special.” 

Iggy grasped her fist and gave her a little tug. “Of course,” he grinned. He drew her hand out through the window to guide her out of the watchtower first. Silent, they climbed down one after another and regrouped at the bottom.