Marc Arden and the Siphilon Academy

- Calárosi

Marc had just relayed the events that took place in the market that day, to Dom and his mother. He recalled the voice of Mr. Costa, blurting out aloud that his father was the one who was killed at Acanon. After that, there was only the shock to overcome. Marc didn't remember them walking back home. His mind was fixed on Mr. Costa's horrible laugh and the mental sight of his father dead.

As he talked, he vaguely caught Rose shedding a few quiet tears. His sister seemed to be taking their father's death way more heavily than him.

"I never got to know him…" Rose muttered out coldly.

Delaneira had nothing to say to comfort Rose. She herself slumped onto her chair and brought a hand to her face.

Dom bowed his head and fixed his stare on the floor throughout Marc's talk, listening intently.

Scarlett gripped Marc's hand and squeezed it, trying to comfort him. But there was no bringing warmth to the embers in a fireplace. Marc had nothing to be comforted from. It was as if his father was never his. All he felt was blank nothingness. He just pulsed in anger at whoever did this. They killed an innocent man. Arden wasn't a cruel man, he just had high expectations.

Delaneira pried her hands off her cold, stricken face. She looked at her son regretfully.

"I'll never forgive myself for pushing that man in danger's way." She croaked, voice clogged with emotion. "And I'll never forgive myself for putting you through this Marc. This is all my fault!"

Marc drowned out his mother's words from his thoughts. He knew there was his inheritance waiting for him at Acanon.

He distractedly accepted his mother's hug,

"I have to go." He blurted.

Dom was the first to respond. He hummed beneath his breath and c****d his head at Marc.

"And where will you go?"

Marc didn't look at Dom, but answered,

"Wherever I need to go to rescind my father's legacy. His inheritance means nothing to me, but I know more than anyone that this hooded man hunting for it, and therefore hunting me down for answers."

Delaneira pulled away from her son, looking down at his face.

"You need not go anywhere. You are safe from evil. I need you to promise me that you will attend the Academy, instead of pursuing madness!"

"It is not a matter of my safety! My father learned a considerable amount of knowledge about the Siphilon - and especially Andergard - more than any other civilian. If the Offbendi gets hold of his work, who knows what weight of help they will acquire?" Marc retorted angrily.

Dom stood up. "We cannot afford to lose this chase, Delaneira. Not like last time." Dom looked at Delaneira with conscious vigor.

Marc cut Dom a look, a puzzled expression settling across his face. Scarlett let go of his hand, walked away to sit down beside Rose, and hugged her consolingly.

Delaneira shook her head at Dom. "I can't allow this! You of all know what it cost us last time! If it is Anentimos – and I believe not – then it is out of the question."

Marc decided to speak up. "But mother, I can't bear the thought of it. Something feels wrong!"

Dom nodded and said, "I agree, this case needs supervision. And if this isn't Anentimos, then there's nothing to fear."

Marc addressed his mother, "Then let me go. Let me fix whatever my father has destroyed!"

Dom silenced Marc with a raise of his hand, "No Marc. This matter needs a professional at hand. You are highly inexperienced and need to focus more on training. You will go to the Siphilon Academy. Is. That. Clear?"

Marc's mouth fell open. One moment Dom was backing him up. The next, Dom was chastising him. Dom took his silence as an affirmative.

"I will go myself. You know that I can't stay here, Delaneira." Dom continued, his tone was filled with pain, but he still spoke confidently.

Marc threw his hands up in frustration. He looked at his mother, for the final verdict. She sighed and nodded to Dom.

Marc slumped and glanced at Scarlett, who was shaking her head at him.

"Don't go." She seemed to be communicating.

Delaneira was troubled as she overlooked her disappointed son, clearly in need of time to process her thoughts.

Dom collected his money pouch from the settee and pulled out his bow and quiver from the cabinet under the staircase.

"I'll be off then." That was all he said. Marc sensed that he tried to voice out that his journey wasn't going to be a big deal. His uncertainty made Marc worry much more.

Delaneira struggled against her mind battle, she was tired after her work meet and needed some rest, least of all in need of authorizing a departure that weakened the Elbendi force in Middenheim.

"Just be careful, Dom. I can't bear to lose you." She concluded in reply.

Before Marc could ask any questions, Dom nodded firmly, to each and every one of them. His eyes landed on Marc and gave him a lingering stare, then with a swish of his cloak, he strode to the door, opened it, and disappeared out the door without a backward glance. The door swung shut with a boom, leaving them in desolate silence.

Delaneira wiped her perspiring forehead with the back of her hand and suggested, "Why don't you all spend some time together, give me some time to deal with my mind, okay?"

She smiled apologetically at them all. She didn't have to.

Marc tried to hide his disheartened look from his mother, watching his mother retreat to her study – through his peripheral vision - as he climbed up the stairs rigidly.

Marc reached the first floor and walked straight into his room without a word. Scarlett and Rose followed him in. His room was dimly lit and Marc couldn't stand the bright, white lamps, so he lit his palms on fire and sagged on his bed, clapping his hands to his face, shut himself out. Scarlett exhaled sharply at the sight of Marc's flaming face.

Rose stared pointedly from Marc to Scarlett, slightly unnerved by Marc's dejected behavior. She locked eyes with Scarlett for a fraction of a second before leaving the room hurriedly, shutting the door to a close.

With a groan, Marc looked up from his hands. Scarlett was observing him silently, expecting some kind of reaction or response. Marc needed some seconds to realize it was just him and Scarlett, alone.

The latter approached him worriedly.

"Marc, what's wrong?" Scarlett asked, her voice impassive.

Marc calmed himself down with controlled breaths. He avoided Scarlett's eyes but replied,

"Dom shouldn't have left. You heard my mother. What if something happens to him? What if he doesn't make it back alive?" Marc stared back at Scarlett helplessly. Scarlett leaned forwards and grabbed Marc's shoulders, shaking them roughly.

"He will survive, have faith in him. He's made up of something way stronger than anything I've seen in anyone!" Scarlett's voice shook in angrily.

"When you almost died, risking your life to save me, and being so stupid while you were at it, he never lost hope in saving you! He was always so calm, telling me that you would make it out alive."

He shook his head, defeat. Lowering his eyes away from the light of the setting sun, seeping through the window.

"It should've been me, not him…this was my fight."

Scarlett sat beside Marc on his bed, causing the bed to creak noisily under her weight. She twisted Marc's shoulders firmly, forcing him to face her.

Marc continued to avoid Scarlett's eyes until she could stand it no more.

"Look at me, Marc!" Scarlett dropped her voice to an alarmingly low whisper. She thought of every time Marc fell into trouble, not caring about throwing himself in danger to protect everyone else.

Marc slowly and reluctantly glanced up at her eyes.

"You can't keep taking the blame for all that has happened. Dom chose to go. Sometimes, people choose to do things for you, especially if they love you."

Scarlett let go of Marc and crossed her arms,

"Pathetic way to honor Dom's kindness. By simply giving up!"

Marc's throat constricted. He urged himself out of his stupor. The weight of Scarlett's words finally crashed down upon him.

"I'm so sorry…" Marc croaked.

"I'm so sorry…" Marc repeated louder, "These past few days were…too much… I didn't stop to think about everything happening and how much has changed." Marc hated himself so much. He fell silent, waiting for the moment to pass. The only sound in the room came from his palms, still lit, flaring merrily.

Scarlett sighed and stood up, looking down at him briefly before making her way to the door, speaking quickly,

"I'm only here because I almost killed you at the pond when all you did was save my sorry neck everywhere I stepped. Consider the favor returned."

Marc smiled weakly, even though she wasn't looking. She opened the door, light streaming into Marc's room. For a fraction of a second, Marc noticed Scarlett's face blotched with angry tears, as she turned around, standing in the doorway. She was about to shut the door when Marc stood up,

"Scarlett wait!" He called out, thoughts swimming around his head rapidly.

Scarlett paused, contemplating leaving, but hurriedly wiped the tears off her face, plastering a bored expression on, and stepped back into the room.

"What?"

"Thank you for this, and you know…everything." Marc blurted out lamely. "If there's any way I can make it up to you…"

Marc lapsed into an awkward silence, shifting his weight from one foot to the other.

Scarlett uncomfortably looked at Marc. "There's no need. Just remember that I'll always be there for you...even though I may not show it."

Marc tried to think of something to say, but his mind was blank.

"Scarlett I-"

"It's cool. I'm not mad at you." Scarlett finally said. "I just need some air…long day."

Marc nodded, disappointed.

Behind Scarlett, footsteps sounded. Rose's face loomed into view, behind Scarlett's shoulder.

"…how's hopeless boy d-"

Rose halted at the doorway. Visible confusion overcame her expression as she looked back and forth between Marc and Scarlett.

Marc squinted at Rose, "Hopeless?"

Rose took a fragment of a second to shoot Scarlett a questioning look, before sheepishly shrugging at Marc,

"Nothing, do you want me to leave or…?"

"What? No! I was just heading out!" Scarlett pitched loudly.

Rose noticed Marc shuffling between his feet, slightly uneasy.

"I'm bored. How about we blow off some steam at the training hall?"

Marc smiled at Rose, then looked at Scarlett, who nodded and shrugged as if to say "I guess." Rose left the doorway without another word.

Marc and Scarlett left the room in unison and went down the stairs two steps at a time, trying to catch up with Rose.

Rose was nowhere to be seen in the hall. Marc absentmindedly walked into the kitchen and noticed a door on the far side of the adjacent pantry.

"Over here!" Marc hollered at Scarlett. She was standing outside Delaneira's office door, unsure if she should knock and call for Rose.

Scarlett walked past Marc and into the pantry area, pushing through the door, bringing them into a dark, spacious room. The moment Scarlett stepped in, lights turned on, illuminating the room. Four tall floodlights stood at each corner of the room.

Marc looked around. For all its spaciousness and grandeur, Marc felt a twinge of claustrophobia, especially if he were to fight a Siph inside. There were tall cabinets lined up around the hall, and a small alcove off to one corner, sporting a sort of white pod.

Marc joined Scarlett in observing some magical items shelved inside a cabinet. He identified the Diochetes, but had no idea what some orbs and crystals were.

Marc was about to turn the handle to open the cabinet when a voice said, "I wouldn't touch that if I were you."

Scarlett and Marc whirled around. The latter protectively stepped in front of Scarlett.

A translucent figure drifted in the air towards them, feet barely avoiding terra firma. The figure bore pale white skin with silver features etched across its face.

"There is a forcefield coating the cabinet, the impact of repulsion could kill you."

Marc swept a backward glance at the cabinet before returning his eyes to the figure, asking,

"Who are you? Why would something this dangerous be placed here?"

The figure obliged, gladly answering,

"I am Andreíkelo. A Moon Tsiráki crafted by Lady Delaneira. I serve as the guard of this house and an extra training facility." Andreíkelo added the last bit of his statement with a bit of pride. He ignored Marc's second question.

Marc was surprised by his ability to show emotion. Scarlett pushed Marc aside by his chest,

"I can take care of myself. Almost killed you, remember?" Scarlett grinned mischievously. She turned her head to look more closely at Andreíkelo.

"I see you've gotten all chummy-chummy with Andre. Too bad he won't serve as our dummy in this training."

Rose entered the training hall, looking straight at Andre.

"Let me ask, they fell for the cabinets? Don't bother Andre, it was rhetorical."

Andre disregarded the latest statement of Rose, referring to the previous one.

"I can serve you in any way possible for this training, my Lady. You need only say the word." Rose pondered his words.

"Perfect. You are to call these two…" Rose pointed at Marc and Scarlett. "…as Lord and Lady, respectively. You also have to prepare the hall for training. The usual Pulsium settings. Other than that, I don't need you." She concluded lazily, shooing Andre away.

"As you wish, my Lady." Andre looked at Marc and Scarlett. "My Lord, my Lady. Excuse me." With that, he receded back to his pod, inside that alcove at the corner of the training hall.

"Now that that's taken care of… let's get started!" Rose announced with great gusto and manic energy.

"What did you mean by 'Pulsium settings,' Rose?" Scarlett fired.

"You'll see," Rose replied with a smile.

Rose started backing away from Marc and Scarlett, gaining space, so Marc imitated her, choosing a side that favored his dominant left arm.

"Andre! Now!" Rose called out to Andre's pod. At once, floodlights from all four corners of the hall turned on. The lights were so strong, Marc didn't need to worry about anyone sneaking up on him. He could spot an ant crawling on the floor. Suddenly, the walls of the training hall shuddered, and panels of Pulsium metal bars lowered down from the ceiling edges, falling to a standstill along all four sides of the training hall with a loud thump.

"Pulsium allows us to train with our elements freely. Experiment with our elements without spending loads of energy. It's the closest we have to using Diochetes. Keep in mind we still can hurt ourselves, so be careful." Rose explained. Marc and Scarlett shared a look of wonder, itching to use their...

"Elements!" Rose called out a second time, immediately bringing forth her element. A powerful white aura glowed out of her, tinged with a light shade of yellow.

"What's that?" Enquired Marc, eyeing the white light warily.

Rose laughed and pointed her palm at him, bursting a beam of white, soundless light directly at him. Marc braced himself for impact, but it never hit him. The white light passed cleanly through him, doing nothing whatsoever. Rose maintained the strike for a few more seconds when Marc felt it. It was the same comfort he felt when heating himself on fire. The same tingle of immunity to heat.

Rose was a Light bender.

"Oh, so this is Light," Marc said out loud. Scarlett stifled a giggle at Rose.

The latter was bewildered. "But how? It usually works by now."

"Did I ever tell you I was immune to heat?" Marc laughed in delight, that laugh was wiped off his face the moment he felt the heat intensify. He widened his eyes in realization. Light benders can harm him as long as they maintain their beam for long enough. He wasn't immune to heat after all. A temperature higher than fire could still harm him.

Marc coolly bore the heat for a few minutes longer before stepping out of the beam of Light. He sensed inside him, and felt the pleasant rush of fire engulfing his whole being, but this time without controlling it to the tip of his skin, he let it burst free. Rose widened her eyes at Marc, flames flaring along his limbs, expanding across his chest, dancing in his hair. His Fire threw a golden shade of light around him.

"My brother is attuned to fire?" For the first time since Marc met Rose, he heard uncertainty creeping into her tone.

"Show off!" Scarlett muttered and instantaneously wrapped herself inside a hurricane of Water and Wind.

Marc's Fire was much stronger and bigger than Scarlett's hurricane, and Marc presumed he could hold out longer against her this time, so he had no reason to worry.

Rose's mouth fell open at the sight of Scarlett. She threw her hands up, wailing,

"Now what am I supposed to do? One of my opponents is a fireball and the other is a stupefying hurricane. Are there any other elements I should be aware of?" She scowled at Marc and Scarlett pointedly.

Scarlett shook her head. Marc said,

"I used to have Metal, but I lost it a few days ago."

Rose flinched at Marc, wondering why he said it out so casually.

"I'm so sorry!" She looked genuinely sorry.

Marc waved her off, shrugging. He redirected the attention to her.

"Are there any other elements we should be aware of?"

Rose stood, uncomfortably. Contemplating whether to tell him or not.

"Well, I'm attuned to Blood. You know, I could kill or heal a person."

It was Marc and Scarlett's turn to hang their mouths open. Rose shook her head at them.

"It's no use. I have to be immensely powerful to kill someone so easily. All I can manage right now are a few cuts and bruises. I can heal decently though, and mama says I'll probably develop the Moon element, just like her." Rose tipped her chin up proudly.

Marc was just about to instruct Rose to cut his forearm when a sizzle sounded from his left. He jumped.

Scarlett laughed and shot another splash of water, causing steam to cover Marc's vision. That's when Rose got an idea.

She rushed at Scarlett and was going to get doused in water, but at the last second, Rose lit her palms up with black-spot inducing bright Light and flashed it into Scarlett's eyes, instantly blinding her.

Rose took that chance to kick Scarlett's legs out from under her. Scarlett fell crashing to the ground, bringing an entire pool of water down with her.

The water extinguished quite a lot of Marc's Fire. Marc collected the remaining ball of fire and crafted a lance of flame.

As he drove it towards Rose, he lowered the heat considerably. The lance struck her on her hand, causing the skin to become an angry pink patch.

"Ow! You'll pay for that, Marc!" Rose rushed at him next, flashing Light at him too.

Scarlett got up and spewed water at Rose's feet, causing her to slip and crash to the ground. Rose managed to regain her footing but got herself hopelessly surrounded.

Marc grew fire around him, while Scarlett collected all the spilled water and maintained her hurricane. They both started to compress Rose at the centre of the hall.

Rose, believing Marc was still immune to heat, shot a beam of light at Scarlett instead.

Scarlett halted and began cooling the heat with water. She couldn't keep at it though, as the intensity of the light continued to increase. She had to break her stance, therefore allowing Rose more space.

Marc kept approaching Rose, increasing his Fire size slowly, inch by inch.

Rose tried her luck, shooting beams of light from both her palms, fusing them into one powerful beam directed right at Marc.

This was exactly what Marc feared Rose would do, but he had a plan, and now was the time to execute it.

He increased his pace of approach, dodging from side to side to cause Rose to expend that extra amount of effort to maintain her aim. Still, his time was running out, soon the heat would grow too unbearable and he couldn't meet face-to-face with Scarlett and Rose after they realize his weakness.

He reached within melee range of Rose when the Fire's glow fell on Rose's frame. She let out a frustrated shout and lowered her palms to the floor, still blasting out Light.

Marc sensed her Light vibrate in strong waves. Her feet suddenly lifted off the ground. She scowled in effort, her face was strained, throat constricted. Slowly she rose high enough to vault herself over Marc and to the other side.

Scarlett had no choice but to throw herself at Marc, catching him by surprise. He immediately brought in his energy supplies, determined to come out on top.

Their elements fought back and forth, ravaging against each other. Scarlett started redirecting all the steam at Marc, causing him to perspire and tire.

All Marc could do was hope to achieve a brilliant temper in his Fire, so strong that it would leave no chance for Scarlett to retaliate. He worked on building size in such a short time, whereas Scarlett used up her energy to maintain her hurricane whilst redirecting steam.

Marc began to glow gold from within.

He took this as a sign that his fire was strong enough to evaporate Scarlett's entire water supply.

He continued growing his fire - just in case - until gold light shined outwards, illuminating the training hall, overriding the floodlights.

With a cry, Marc dispelled all his fire, driving it through Scarlett's hurricane, which evaporated in seconds.

Scarlett exclaimed in shock and immediately used her energy reserves to bring forth a Wind shield.

Marc was about to cheer, when the golden light around him threatened to burst. He strained himself - trying to keep it in - but with a guttural, painful scream, Marc succumbed and gave way. The golden light flew in a wave, in all directions, causing the air itself to radiate by its sheer power.

Scarlett catapulted away from Marc through the brunt force of his golden wave. Her Wind shield lay swirling with mist, at her side.

Rose was sprawled on the ground, panting after her effort to fly away. The golden wave hit her too, but she was unscathed.

Marc observed all this within a fraction of a second. And just after that almighty wrench, Marc's lungs failed him. The energy cost was too much, even with the assist of the Pulsium hall. He dropped to the ground, lifeless. Readying himself to a slow and excruciatingly painful death.

The door to the training hall flew open. Delaneira strode in and shot one sweeping look across the room. Seconds later, she dispelled her own wave of moonlight.

The silver wave passed clean through Marc and he immediately regained control over his lungs. He felt cuts and bruises wrack all over his body. Without him noticing it, Rose had used the Blood element all over him.

Within seconds, all his wounds were healed.

Delaneira was already leading a fully restored Rose towards Scarlett. Marc widened his eyes in shock.

Scarlett groaned as she got to her feet. Nothing seemed to have hurt her except for the fact that she was several tones darker in her skin.

Delaneira and Rose combined their powers and directed their healing properties towards Scarlett. Gradually her skin began to lighten.

"Wh-What happened?" Marc asked weakly. "What did I do?"

Delaneira whirled around to face Marc. She flashed Moon magic around him, and proceeded to place her palm on his chest, the same way she did the first time she examined him.

"What you just did was overuse your Fire element. It seems that my worst suspicions are true."

Marc was confused, how could him overusing his Fire element prove his mother's worst suspicions to be…true?

"What do you mean, mother?"

She veered her eye contact away from him.

"I found…fragments of the Sun element embedded in you-" Scarlett and Rose gasped in awe. "-when I first sensed around you, it didn't feel strong enough for you to dispel such a strong wave, so I assumed you gained those fragments from… Paderon's grave. We call it inheritance. It seems that you didn't need those fragments of Sun. You had the potential all along to hone the Sun element at your own pace."

Delaneira rubbed her arms, lost in thought, worrying creases etched themselves onto her forehead.

"You overused your Fire element and the energy cost nearly killed you. The Sun element has neutralizing and healing abilities, so it tried to save you when you were in dire need, but because of your lack of control over the element, you instinctively repelled it away, causing the wave to fly off in every direction."

"Is that why you rushed down here?" Marc asked. His mother nodded to him.

"Not only that, but Sun has disarming properties." Delaneira continued "The more powerful the wave, the longer your opponent will be disarmed. The only way to countervail the effect is with Moon magic, which is a very difficult task to carry out, and highly dangerous if goes wrong!"

Delaneira stood still.

Marc was unnerved by her sudden stillness.

"Did I dispel a disarming wave of Sun? Is that why nothing happened to Scarlett and Rose?"

His mother widened her eyes at him, something dawning upon her. She nodded slowly in horror.

"You didn't just dispel it, Marc! You sent it island-wide across Lorenzia. All around us, as we speak, benders are being disarmed. The further away they are, the lesser the timeframe they'll be disarmed. But that's not the case!"

Delaneira looked at her son, dead in the eye.

"Every Siphilon will know about you. They will know that a Sun bender walks the earth again. They will know exactly where the wave came from, and they'll be coming for you."