The Same Cloth

Morning came slowly.

Leo had been awake for hours.

He sat on the edge of his bed, staring at his hands.

He had barely slept after what happened in the training yard.

Lightning.

Fire.

Plasma.

He had managed to combine them again.

Not for long.

Not perfectly.

But it had happened.

After four years of believing that whatever potential he had possessed as a child was gone, Leo had finally seen it again.

He should have been excited.

Instead, he was afraid.

Because if he could still use plasma, then another possibility existed.

Maybe his father had been right.

Maybe he really had been special.

And if that was true, then what had happened to him over the last four years wasn’t simply failure.

Someone had allowed it to happen.

Leo pushed the thought away.

He wasn’t ready to think about that.

He got dressed and left his room.

The clan was beginning to wake.

Servants moved through the halls.

Young warriors headed toward the training grounds.

The smell of breakfast drifted through the compound.

Leo’s stomach growled.

He ignored it.

He was almost to the training yard when someone stepped in front of him.

Celine.

She had her arms crossed.

“You’re up early.”

Leo nodded.

“Couldn’t sleep.”

“Neither could I.”

“Why?”

She stared at him.

“Because I saw you practicing until almost midnight.”

Leo looked away.

“I lost track of time.”

“You always lose track of time when you’re training.”

“I’m sorry.”

“Don’t apologize.”

Celine stepped closer.

“You did it again, didn’t you?”

Leo hesitated.

“Did what?”

“Plasma.”

He looked at her.

“How did you know?”

“I watched you.”

“Oh.”

“That’s all you have to say?”

“What should I say?”

Celine sighed.

“You really are terrible at talking about yourself.”

Leo smiled faintly.

“Probably.”

She shook her head.

“Show me.”

Leo glanced around.

“The training grounds aren’t empty.”

“So?”

“I don’t want people watching.”

“Then we’ll find somewhere else.”

Leo hesitated.

Celine grabbed his wrist.

“Come on.”

She pulled him toward a smaller training area behind one of the unused storage buildings.

Nobody came there anymore.

The ground was cracked and overgrown.

Perfect.

Leo stood in the center.

Celine leaned against the wall.

“Go ahead.”

Leo raised his hand.

Lightning appeared.

Celine watched carefully.

“Again.”

He summoned fire.

The flame burned above his palm.

“Now combine them.”

Leo took a breath.

He brought the two elements together.

At first, nothing happened.

Then the fire twisted around the lightning.

The two energies began to merge.

A brilliant white-blue sphere appeared.

Celine’s eyes widened.

Leo grinned.

“It worked.”

“Again.”

Leo frowned.

“What?”

“Again.”

“Why?”

“Because I want to see if you can do it twice.”

Leo laughed.

“You sound like my father.”

Celine’s smile faded.

Leo immediately regretted saying it.

“I’m sorry.”

“Don’t be.”

She looked at him.

“Do it again.”

Leo nodded.

He tried.

The plasma formed.

This time it lasted longer.

But the moment he tried to increase its size, the energy destabilized.

The sphere exploded.

Leo was thrown backward.

Celine immediately pushed away from the wall.

“Leo!”

He hit the ground.

For several seconds, he didn’t move.

Then he groaned.

“I’m okay.”

Celine rushed over.

“You idiot!”

“I’m fine.”

“You’re bleeding.”

Leo touched his forehead.

His fingers came away with a small amount of blood.

“It’s nothing.”

“Nothing?”

She glared at him.

“You just exploded.”

“It wasn’t that bad.”

“You were thrown ten feet.”

Leo sat up.

“That’s not very far.”

Celine stared at him.

Then she started laughing.

Leo looked confused.

“What?”

“You haven’t changed.”

“What do you mean?”

“Your father used to say exactly the same thing.”

Leo’s smile faded.

Celine crouched beside him.

“I’m sorry.”

He looked down.

“No.”

“What?”

“Don’t be.”

Leo stood.

“I’m tired of being sorry.”

Celine didn’t answer.

He looked at his hands.

“For four years, I thought there was something wrong with me.”

“There isn’t.”

“I know that now.”

He looked toward the old training grounds.

“But I don’t understand why.”

Celine’s expression became serious.

“What do you mean?”

“Why did I stop improving?”

“You were neglected.”

Leo shook his head.

“That’s part of it.”

“What else?”

“I don’t know.”

He looked at his hands again.

“But when I was younger, plasma came naturally.”

“And now?”

“Now I have to force it.”

Celine considered that.

“Maybe you’re out of practice.”

“Maybe.”

Leo didn’t sound convinced.

Celine stood.

“Then practice.”

He looked at her.

“That’s your advice?”

“Yes.”

“That’s terrible advice.”

“It’s simple advice.”

“There’s a difference.”

Celine smiled.

“Come on.”

They spent the rest of the morning training.

Leo failed dozens of times.

Sometimes lightning and fire simply refused to combine.

Sometimes the resulting plasma collapsed immediately.

Once, Leo managed to create a sphere large enough to light the entire training area.

Then it exploded.

Again.

And again.

But every failure taught him something.

The energy was unstable when he tried to force it.

It became stronger when he allowed the two elements to interact naturally.

By midday, Leo was exhausted.

Celine sat beside him.

“You’re improving.”

“Slowly.”

“That’s still improving.”

Leo looked at her.

“Thank you.”

“For what?”

“Helping me.”

She smiled.

“That’s what friends do.”

Leo nodded.

Friends.

The word felt strange.

He had spent so much of the last four years alone that he had forgotten what it was like to have someone beside him.

Celine nudged him.

“You know, you’re allowed to rely on people.”

“I know.”

“You don’t act like it.”

“I’m trying.”

She smiled.

“I know.”

Across the clan compound, Lance was reviewing reports.

His morning had been unusually unpleasant.

Three separate instructors had mentioned Leo.

His progress.

His training.

His unusual elemental activity.

Lance had dismissed the first report.

The second had irritated him.

The third had made him angry.

He put the report down.

“Impossible.”

The elder standing across from him frowned.

“What is?”

“Leo.”

“What about him?”

“He’s improving.”

The elder shrugged.

“Perhaps.”

“He shouldn’t be.”

“Why?”

Lance looked at him.

The elder immediately understood.

“Because you believe his talent was exhausted?”

Lance said nothing.

The elder sighed.

“You’ve spent four years watching him decline.”

“And?”

“And perhaps you were wrong.”

Lance’s expression hardened.

“No.”

The elder stared at him.

“Lance.”

“He was given every opportunity.”

“No.”

Lance looked sharply at him.

“What?”

The elder spoke carefully.

“Everyone knows Leo hasn’t received the same resources as your sons.”

Lance’s face darkened.

“Are you accusing me of something?”

“I’m saying the records speak for themselves.”

Lance stood.

“Be careful.”

The elder didn’t move.

“Why?”

“Because I am the patriarch.”

“For now.”

Silence filled the room.

Lance’s eyes narrowed.

The elder simply walked away.

Lance remained standing.

His hands were shaking.

Leo.

Always Leo.

Even now.

Even after four years.

Lance had believed that grief had broken him.

That Lawrence’s death had taken away the only thing that mattered.

He had believed Leo would eventually disappear into mediocrity.

But now the boy was training again.

And people were noticing.

Lance looked toward the window.

He could see the training grounds in the distance.

He remembered Lawrence.

His brother.

The man who had always been stronger.

The man who had always received everything.

The man who had died and somehow still managed to cast a shadow over Lance’s life.

And now his son was beginning to do the same.

Lance clenched his fist.

“No.”

He would not allow it.

That evening, Leo returned home exhausted.

He barely made it through the door before sitting down.

Celine had gone back to her family.

Leo was alone.

Again.

He looked around the house.

The silence was familiar.

But it didn’t feel quite as heavy as before.

He had spent the entire day training.

For the first time in years, he had something to look forward to.

He went outside.

The sun was setting.

Leo raised his hand.

Lightning.

Fire.

He slowly brought them together.

The energies twisted.

The plasma appeared.

This time, he didn’t force it.

He simply let it exist.

The sphere hovered above his palm.

White-blue light illuminated his face.

Leo smiled.

“Father.”

He looked at the plasma.

“You were right.”

The sphere flickered.

“Power isn’t everything.”

He paused.

“But I think you would have liked this.”

The plasma brightened.

Then vanished.

Leo lowered his hand.

He looked toward the mountains.

“I’ll become strong.”

His voice was quiet.

“I’ll become strong enough to protect everyone.”

A familiar voice came from behind him.

“That’s a dangerous promise.”

Leo turned.

Catherine stood several yards away.

He smiled.

“How long have you been there?”

“Long enough.”

“You walk too quietly.”

“So I’ve been told.”

She approached.

“You’ve been training.”

“Yes.”

“Your control is improving.”

“You can tell?”

“I can feel it.”

Leo looked at her curiously.

“What does it feel like?”

Catherine thought.

“Like standing beside a storm.”

Leo laughed.

“That sounds dangerous.”

“It might be.”

She sat beneath the tree.

Leo joined her.

For a while, they watched the sunset.

Then Catherine spoke.

“You miss them.”

Leo knew immediately who she meant.

“Every day.”

“I know.”

“Sometimes I think I’m getting better.”

“Better?”

“At living without them.”

Catherine remained silent.

“But then something happens.”

Leo looked at the horizon.

“I hear someone laugh like my mother.”

He swallowed.

“Or I see someone training like my father.”

His voice became quieter.

“And for a moment…”

He stopped.

Catherine waited.

“For a moment, I forget.”

He looked down.

“Then I remember.”

Catherine placed a hand on his shoulder.

“You don’t have to stop missing them.”

Leo looked at her.

“What?”

“You don’t have to stop loving them just because they’re gone.”

He stared at her.

No one had ever said that to him.

For years, Leo had treated his grief like a weakness.

Something he had to overcome.

Something he had to bury.

But Catherine was telling him that perhaps he didn’t have to.

Maybe he could carry it.

Maybe remembering his parents wasn’t something holding him back.

Maybe it was part of who he was.

Leo smiled.

“Thank you.”

Catherine smiled.

“You’re welcome.”

A breeze passed through the trees.

For a moment, everything was peaceful.

Then Catherine’s expression changed.

She looked toward the forest.

Leo noticed.

“What?”

“Nothing.”

“You look worried.”

“I don’t know.”

She closed her eyes.

For a brief instant, the world seemed to shift around her.

A sensation.

A flicker.

Something she couldn’t explain.

She saw—

No.

Not saw.

Felt.

A moment that had already happened.

A moment that hadn’t happened.

Both at once.

Catherine opened her eyes.

“What was that?”

Leo frowned.

“What?”

She shook her head.

“Nothing.”

But she knew it wasn’t nothing.

Something had touched her time affinity.

Something connected to the past.

Something connected to a dungeon.

And something connected to Leo.

She didn’t know what it meant yet.

Neither did Leo.

For now, the two simply sat beneath the tree.

Neither noticed the figure standing beyond the edge of the compound.

Lance watched them.

His eyes remained fixed on Leo.

The young man who had once been broken was beginning to recover.

His posture was different.

His eyes were different.

There was determination there now.

And Lance knew determination was dangerous.

Especially in someone with three elemental affinities.

Especially in Lawrence’s son.

Lance turned away.

He walked back toward the main compound.

Behind him, Leo continued training.

Lightning appeared.

Fire followed.

Then plasma.

The brilliant energy illuminated the darkness.

Leo watched it carefully.

He had spent four years believing that he had lost his future.

Now, for the first time, he wondered if perhaps his future had simply been waiting for him to reclaim it.

He didn’t know that others were beginning to notice.

He didn’t know that his uncle was afraid.

He didn’t know that Celine’s life was about to change.

And he didn’t know that the tragedy waiting for the two sisters would soon become the next wound carved into the lives of the three people who would eventually become a family.

For the moment, Leo only knew one thing.

He was getting stronger.

And this time, nobody was going to tell him to stop.

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