Abigail was nervous. Of course, she had every right to be.
Here she was, a girl with a second-tier power, about to enter herself into a school for only the strongest ability users.
How was she going to survive?
Abigail squared her shoulders, pushing her insecurities into the back of her head and lifting her chin as she walked forward. This was right. She had earned this.
Abigail breathed in deeply, inhaling until her lungs were full, then continued walking. As she stepped over the threshold, she let it all out, making a soft whooshing sound. A little ritual for herself. As she took in her first breath of the academy air, she imagined her persona changing into someone else. More strong, more sure.
This was her place. She had earned it. And she would make the most of it.
Abigail noticed lights. Everywhere, there were lights. What was going on? Was there some sort of welcoming party? That couldn't be right, could it? She was the only one coming in today. Her ability was only a low-tier flame control. There wasn't anything special about it. Perhaps it was a symbol of opulence to be able to have lights everywhere. Her district had had a few lights, most belonging to the mayor, and one or two to a noble with an exceptional gift for politics. She thought his name was James or something like that. It didn't really matter.
This wealth! To so openly display such power, wasn't that just like asking for it to be stolen? She couldn't think of a single urchin where she came from that wouldn't have nabbed at least three by this time.
"Lost, new kid?"
The voice came from behind her. She could almost hear the smirk in that voice. She turned to find a student in uniform lounging in midair above the gate.
Abigail's jaw dropped. It probably wasn't uncommon, but she had never seen such a blatant and careless use of power. The district where she came from hadn't produced an ability user over tier three for decades, at least as long as anyone could remember. Sure, there were fables that the Founder had come from their district, but each of the seven districts had those tales.
The boy smirked down at her, and there was something about his gaze that drew her eyes to his. A small moment of magnetism. He hopped down, as if pushing off a platform. Was he making the air solid? How was that possible?
Even when he landed, his feet hit the air an inch or so above the ground and stayed there. He wore his uniform messy, as if he didn't care about his appearance enough to straighten it, but somehow, that made him look even better. He gave Abigail another smirk as he walked up, and she could feel her heartbeat pounding.
Was he really looking at her? Why would he care about her? She just had a low-tier ability.
She glanced over her shoulder, just to make sure. As if the moniker 'new kid' wasn't enough.
What was going on? He stood in front of her, still smirking.
"Well? You mute, new kid?" he asked. She shook her head 'no' quickly, though the way she couldn't force even one syllable out to answer him didn't exactly speak for her case.
He grinned. Clearly, he found her flustered state hilarious. He glanced over her shoulder, and grinned even wider. She quickly looked too, eager to look away from him before she started blushing, but what she saw made it even worse.
There were a couple girls muttering quietly among themselves and occasionally sending glares her way. What was this? She had never felt anything like this before. Even in front of her crush in high school, she hadn't been so utterly mortified to be noticed like this.
Ignoring further questions from him, she quickly ducked her head and hurried on. Unfortunately, she didn't get far before she found this hand on her shoulder.
"Hey, I'm sorry, new kid. He does that," the guy said. Strangely enough, his voice didn't match what she had heard before. She turned back to look at him, and did a double take.
It wasn't very noticeable, but if you had been looking, and she had, it was quite obvious that he was very different than he had been moments before. He was no longer hovering above the ground, for one thing. For another, his gaze no longer held that hypnotic quality that it had before.
She cocked her head, then, feeling stupid and very, very confused, she asked,
"Who's 'he'?"
"Xavier," he answered easily. His manner was much more relaxed now. She frowned. No, that wasn't right. He had been relaxed before, too. Now he was just... normal? There was an edge to his air before. One she couldn't quite identify.
Or don't want to, a part of her thought, but she batted it down, blushing slightly. Again.
"You good, new kid?" he asked. She nodded immediately. Of course she was okay.
"So you're Xavier?" Abigail asked, still feeling awkward.
"No," he said. Abigail cocked her head, confused. "I'm Jake."
"But you said..." Abigail trailed off. What had he said? That Xavier had done... What? He had done that. Referring to the way he had been looking at her, or his air, or whatever it was that had made her feel so strange. Could it possibly be that she was misinterpreting his words?
But no. He had the same face, the same hair, the same loose, carefree, sloppily donned uniform. Even if his shifted manner made him look entirely different, like a different person, it...
Like a different person.
Abigail's heart almost stopped. What had he said, that Xavier had done it? But he was the same person....
Right?
It couldn't possibly be multiple personalities, could it? How would someone like that get into such a prestigious school? Even if his power was strong, which it did seem to be, they wouldn't let a crazy person in here, would they?
Then again, they may not turn away anyone, if they were strong enough. Abigail knew, through her extensive studies, that the creatures were getting more and more bold, and she saw the strain it placed on the heroes, even if no one else did.
"So, you've figured it out, have you?" Jake asked. It was Jake, right? He didn't seem as amused by everything, but he also didn't seem like.... What had he called the other one? Xavier? Could he have more personalities than just two?
"What's your name?" Abigail asked cautiously. He grinned.
"We're Hashim," he said. "Hashim Kamal."
We're. We are. Not I am. We are.
Abigail nodded.
"So, you really do have multiple personalities?" she asked, heart fluttering. If this was true, what would it mean about his ability? Didn't people usually have an ability based on their perspective on life? This was an amazing opportunity to study something no one had seen before.
He nodded, and smiled.
That smile.
Hashim Kamal, you are a mystery.
And I'm going to figure you out.