Unclassified; Zero and Still Standing

Mahirah stopped in front of Seth.

"Say it again. I want to hear it."

Her hair was already out of control. All the curls had taken over, there was not a single straight hair on her head.

Seth wasn’t the least pleased to see her. He didn’t bother hiding it either.

"Aren’t you supposed to be hitting trees or something?" He asked in reply.

Mahirah was a bit taken aback. She frowned at him.

"You have some nerve..."

Seth brushed past her to pick up the map he had dropped.

"Hey, prefect."

A voice called from the slope above.

All heads turned.

Norman swaggered down the slope.

Mahirah let out an irritated sound.

Seth already looked exhausted.

He had just come down to get some water and a little peace of mind before they began carrying out the Directive for the day.

And he had ended up having to deal with Apollo, Mahirah and now, Norman. All in the space of a few minutes.

"Hey," Norman said, stopping in front of Seth. "We’ve been waiting for over an hour. Where are the mushrooms?"

Seth looked at him from head to toe.

His trousers sagged below his waist. His jacket was tied loosely around his head like a turban.

His eyes were red. And he gave off a faint but unpleasant smell.

"What are you staring at?" Norman shot at Seth.

"Have you been smoking?" Seth asked.

Mahirah studied Norman. Her face tightened in disgust.

"Just a few drags. But I don’t see how that’s any of your business." Norman said.

"It is our business." Mahirah snapped. "You’re a member of this class and not to mention Prep. How can you go around acting like this?"

Norman glanced at her.

"Mind your business curly." He faced Seth again. "I came here to talk to the class prefect. Not assistant prefect."

He made sure to put more emphasis on the last sentence.

Mahirah gritted her teeth.

"Back to what I was saying." Norman continued. "Where are the mushrooms at? So we can get this over with and return to base."

Seth didn’t hesitate.

"Go take a look at the stream." He said, eyes narrowed. "You’ll see a mushroom soon enough."

Norman’s face slowly reddened.

"Did you just call me a mushroom?"

Seth intentionally pushed up his glasses.

"You seemed just fine with calling people that a minute ago."

Norman fumed.

"Why you..."

"Stop it." Mahirah interrupted. "What has gotten into you lately? Irrational behavior, truancy and now taking ’a few drags’ during trials?"

She studied him again.

"Maybe you should look at yourself. You look like shit."

"You bitch!"

Norman spun to her, raising a fist towards her face.

Seth reacted immediately and caught it.

It slammed into his palm.

His fingers enclosed and held on tight.

Mahirah stared in surprise.

Norman tried pulling away but his fist remained stiff.

Seth had a dangerous look in his eyes. Anger.

"Let go of me, you freak." Norman wriggled, glaring at him in return.

Seth didn’t budge.

The muscles in his forearm tightened.

Norman’s fist was slowly being crushed under the pressure.

Then Mahirah blinked.

And pulled Seth’s hand away with equal strength.

Seth instantly snapped out of his rage.

Norman staggered back with a painful groan.

"I don’t recall requesting your help." Mahirah said to Seth. "I don’t need you to save me. I can handle it on my own."

Seth was back to looking exhausted.

"And who says I was trying to save you?" He asked. "I was just trying to lend him some common sense. Don’t get ahead of yourself."

Mahirah folded her arms defensively.

"And since when did common sense get passed through fist fights?"

"You can ask that to the Aegis Program when you finally get in."

Mahirah was already boiling.

"This is exactly why I can’t stand the sight of you. You’re such a self righteous—"

"Go on. Say it. There are no Instructors around at the moment. Feel free."

Mahirah was trying hard not to boil over. If she did, that would be the end of it.

While they were busy arguing, Norman had drifted to the side clutching his fist.

He tried straightening his fingers.

They remained bent.

He glared at them both, seething with anger.

Then he raised his good arm, stretching out his fingers in the direction of the other side of the stream.

A large boulder lying by the bank lifted off the ground.

Norman jerked his arm forward.

The boulder came flying across with terrifying speed.

Towards the bickering squad members.

Mahirah was in the middle of a comeback when Seth saw the object coming for them.

Fast.

He lunged at Mahirah.

They collided.

Feet in the air.

Falling.

But the boulder was closer to them than they were to the ground.

Already a breath away.

Seth spun Mahirah to the other side.

So he had his back to the incoming rock instead.

He snapped his eyes shut.

Braced himself for impact.

One second passed.

And another.

Thud.

They hit the ground.

They were both stiff for a moment.

"Ugh!" Came Mahirah.

Seth looked backwards.

The boulder was suspended in the air.

Shaking violently.

Excessively.

Mahirah stared at the boulder in astonishment.

Norman’s eyes were wide where he stood.

His arms were down to his sides.

He took a few steps backwards.

The earth vibrated beneath them.

The stream rumbled.

The birds in the trees nearby took to the skies in fright.

The boulder gave a violent crack.

Then another.

And another.

Until the entire surface was covered.

Seth immediately threw himself over Mahirah.

The boulder exploded.

But instead of rock particles descending heavily upon them—

Fine sand fell like rain.

Seth slowly lifted himself from Mahirah.

Mahirah sat up.

The noise and vibrations had stopped.

Apollo stood before them.

Before the black sand that had been something that was about to crush them a minute ago.

He quickly scanned them both.

"I take it you guys are unharmed?" He asked, although he didn’t seem the least concerned.

Seth stood.

Mahirah followed, dusting her uniform.

Apollo glanced sideways.

Norman stood stiff at a reasonable distance, blinking rapidly.

Apollo’s eyes narrowed.

Norman briskly walked away. Rushing up the slope.

He stumbled a few times before disappearing into the trees.

"Don’t think saving me once means I couldn’t have handled it myself." Mahirah began.

Seth sighed, exasperated.

His glasses had cracked from the fall. He took them off.

"I don’t care either way." He replied, a bit pissed.

Mahirah scoffed. "And I don’t care if you care either."

Apollo sighed.

"Same old." He muttered.

Just then, Heidi Nyreth emerged from the bushes behind.

Looking all dark and gloomy as always.

She made her way down.

Mahirah frowned in disapproval on seeing her.

Seth immediately became serious.

Apollo looked like he wanted to be anywhere but here.

"You’re back." Seth said. "What’s the update on our opponents?"

Heidi’s dark gaze flickered between them.

At the smooth black sand. At Seth’s glasses.

"I did as instructed." She said. "I’ve been spying on 11-D since dawn. They’re on their way here now. For Capture and Bounty."

Seth glanced at his glasses. He was getting more irritated by the minute.

"Corvane." He called.

Mahirah scowled at him.

"Alert the rest of the squad. Tell them to be ready. The targets are arriving."

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