"All the tactics we're about to teach you were passed down to us through both of our families, and we are certain it'll help you five become strong in no time." Mrs. Frewin stated
"Won't we have to do things differently? You literally just said that our modes are unique from person to person." Akilah interjected.
"In every skill, there are the basics. You need to know how to bring spirit forth to be able to use it in the first place"
"Ohh.. ok" Akilah continued to write down these notes in her notebook.
Mr. Frewin walked over to the garden. He then sat down in front of it.
"All living things have spirit. Including these flowers. To make sure that you have at least a basic control of spirit, we want to see you grow these seedlings with your spirit alone. Just like Vida did. Watch"
Mr. Frewin put his hands up to a flower that was barely breaching the ground. In no time the seedling grew into a fully grown flower. The children ooh'd and awe'd in amazement.
"That's exactly like what you did, Vida!" Hendrix turned to Vida.
"Heh, what can I say?" Vida had a confident smirk on her.
"That you did it by accident and you'll never do it again?" Chase snickered at Vida.
"You haven't even done it once, idiot!" Akilah said.
"Watch me!"
Chase and Akilah got right to copying the gestures of Mr. Frewin as the other three followed in their footsteps.
"Later, you'll be able to control your spirit like another limb, but right now we want to make it easy for you. Spirit can become more intense and easier to draw out when charged with emotion. So, think about something that gets you emotional, whether that be happy or sad." Mr. Frewin put her hand on the kids' shoulders.
Of course, Chase and Amora looked at each other, Chase giving an affirming smirk as Amora gave a shy one.
As for the others, it was a bit harder. Akilah began to think of a feeling, this bitter loneliness. She didn't entirely know where it came from. She switched the subject of her thoughts fast, she thought about how much the boys of the group pissed her off, that seemed to work a bit.
Vida's took a while too. She thought about her friends. That might be too vague, though. She thought to zero in on one.
"Let's go with… Hendrix." Vida thought.
She began to blush… Mysteriously.
She decided to go back to her friends as a whole.
"Speaking of him, how is Hendrix doing on it?" Vida thought.
She turned to her right, where Hendrix had sat when he saw the youngest seedling he could find that wasn't already taken.
He was crying.
Vida was confused. She didn't know of a time when she had seen Hendrix cry. He was always so aloof and laid back about everything. She was usually the one telling him to take it seriously. She was just about to ask him what was wrong, when..
"Vida, you and Hendrix's plants are crazy!" Akilah bumped Vida with her shoulder to pull her attention towards her front.
Hendrix's daffodil had sprouted into a fully fledged flower, and so had Vida's. They barely noticed, seeing as Hendrix's eyes were closed, and Vida was busy figuring out Hendrix.
"Oh, hell no. Amora c'mon we need to catch up before Akilah starts cheating." Chase whispered to Amora.
"Dude, we're 6 inches away from each other and your voice is loud as usual. I'm going to beat your ass once we're done with this." Akilah whispered back
Chase looked around to see if anyone heard her response, but everyone was caught up on the fully grown flowers.
"You two are amazing as usual. I'm sure the other three will catch up in no time. For now, we can take a break. I'll cook my infamous beef stroganoff tonight, how about it?" Mr. Frewin asked in a playful manner.
"I'm starviiing!" Akilah said.
"Why? You didn't do anything, your flower is still the same." Hendrix said with a back-handed smile.
Chase began to die of laughter.
"Oh, I'm keeping that promise, Chase. And you got yourself in deep shit too now, Hendrix." Akilah started rolling up her sleeves as the two boys started speed walking away in fear.
"Before you five get to your antics, I need someone to go get the ingredients from the store for dinner." Mr. Frewin exclaimed to the running teens.
"Oh, I'll go! I've been meaning to get out." Vida raised her hand, excitedly.
"Who's going to go with her, remember to stick to the buddy system guys." Mr. Frewin wagged his finger.
"I'll go. C'mon, Vida." Hendrix said while putting a hand on her head like he always does.
"Hey!" Vida said as she stumbled, starting to walk with him.
The walk wasn't far, it was about a ten minute walk there, and a ten minute walk back. The whole time, Hendrix and Vida excitedly talked about what Vida called their "Super Training".
The two laughed as there was a quiet moment. Vida remembered what she wanted to ask Hendrix.
"Hey, Hendrix" Vida began to fidget at her fingernails.
"What's up?"
"What were you thinking about back there?"
"When?"
"When we were trying to grow the flowers, you were crying and.. Well, I was just-" Vida was interrupted as Hendrix grabbed her hand.
"You really shouldn't do that."
"Do w-what?" Vida began to stutter and blush.
"Pick at your fingernails. You just did them up, I wouldn't want you to have to do them all over again, haha." Hendrix smiled. But Vida still wore a concerned face.
They got to the grocery store. The nice man behind the counter was one the children were very familiar with. They waved at him as they entered the grocery store. Throughout their shopping, they continued to talk about their "Super Training"
"I think once you start working with your mode, you'll get it down super quick. I don't care what they say about it being vague. I know you'll be great" Hendrix said with a smile
Across the aisle, a man in uniform that wore the "Correctional Force" badge overheard the conversation. His interest was piqued.
He followed the two teens from a safe distance. When the kids checked out at the register and were on the way out of the store, the officer went up to the man behind the counter.
"Officer 1060 Swarm with the Correctional Force of the United Nation." Officer 1060 flashed his badge at the worker.
"Do you know the identity of those two right there?" 1060 pointed at Hendrix and Vida, who were now outside of the store doors.
"Oh, those two? They're two of the Frewin's kids. It's a foster home not far from here. They're nice kids, sir. Please, whatever they did, they didn't mean any harm." The man behind the counter stated this with some concern.
"That's enough. Thank you for your time." Officer 1060 made his way out of the store, where he would continue to follow the two from far behind them.
He continued to do this until they entered their home. Then, Officer 1060 put a finger to his ear piece.
"Mark the Frewin's on the correctional list for later. I'll send you the address… Yeah… For later… 10-4" Officer 1060 made his way back to his car.
The Next day.
"Alright, are you guys ready to continue your training?" Mrs. Frewin said with her signature cheery smile.
"You three are going to continue trying to grow your flowers. Hendrix, Vida, come with me." Mr. Frewin ushered the two over to the other side of the backyard as Mrs. Frewin stayed with the three lagging behind.
"I've got to catch up to Vida." Amora said as she began to concentrate on her flower.
"Right there with you." Akilah said
On the other side of the backyard, Mr. Frewin instructed the two prodigies.
"Alright, this might seem like a big jump, but I'm sure you guys can do it, and I'm sure the other three will be able to as well, once they catch up. All I want you to do it channel your spirit into your hands like you did before, but we're going to add a step. Instead of visualizing just anything, I want you to visualize your Mode. Imagine it materializing into your hands. That way, we'll kill two birds with one stone. You'll be able to materialize something, while not relying on emotion to use Spirit."
The kids listened attentively.
"It'll probably take a long time, so I'll go get some water. Start whenever you guys are ready, I'll be back." Mr. Frewin got up and walked towards the house as he left the two kids sitting on the grass, pondering.
"This'll probably be a little harder for you than me, huh?" Hendrix asked Vida.
"Why'd u say that?"
"I mean. It's easier to think about a guitar in my hands than it is… Well… Life."
"Oh, I guess so. Hmm." Vida put her hand to her chin, sarcastically.
"That's probably what they meant when they said your types of modes are more difficult."
"Hmm.."
"You could represent something with life." Hendrix pondered on Vida's dilemma as he began to try to materialize a guitar.
Vida continued to think as Hendrix got started. Mr. Frewin got back with the waters.
"What're you thinking about, Vida?"
"How am I supposed to hold… Life… In my hands?" Vida gestured holding something in her hands with utter confusion.
"Haha. Well, we did warn you about these kinds of modes. Conceptual modes are the hardest to master, but they can end up being used in the widest variety of ways, if you have enough spirit stores."
"Hendrix said to find something to represent it."
"That would work perfectly. You can work from there once you're able to master something specific."
Mr. Frewin got up to go check on Mrs. Frewin and the three others.
"I'll be right back, but Vida, keep thinking about it. And Hendrix, keep trying to materialize it."
"Hmm… Represent.."
"I know how much you love plants. They're alive" Hendrix said while he continued to try to materialize a guitar.
"Hendrix! Genius alert!" Vida poked at Hendrix's side while a smile came to her face.
"Hey! Wait! That tickles, c'mon!" Hendrix began to burst out in the laughter he was trying to hold back.
"Hmph, I'll be over there soon. I'm not supposed to be stuck with this loser." Akilah whispered.
"Me?" Amora pouted.
"No you're great as always, Amora." Akilah patted her head.
"I'm talking about your good for nothing boyfriend." Akilah gave Chase a sharp stare.
"You're on the same level as me, there's no room to talk!" Chase stuck his tongue out at Akilah, over the head of Amora.
"Birdbrain!"
"Dummy!"
"Idiot!"
"Ugly!" Chase immediately regretted these words.
"Remember that you deserve this." Akilah grabbed Chase from over Amora and planted his face into the dirt, making a surprisingly deep dent. Akilah then dusted her hands off and got back to her training.
"Babe, can you help me get up?" Chase said with a muffled voice.
"I got you babe." Amora said while trying to hold back her laugh.
"It's not funny"
Two hours later.
Vida and Hendrix sat in silence as they continued to try to materialize their modes.
Hendrix was getting close. He could feel it.
"Think of a plant.. Hmm." Vida wondered until her train of thought was rudely interrupted.
"Yes! Mrs. Frewin look!" Amora stood up as she pointed at her now fully grown plant.
"Good job Amora! Mr. Frewin, can you explain the next step to Amora?" Mrs. Frewin directed her over to Vida and Hendrix while Chase and Akilah looked on in despair.
As day turned to afternoon, dinner was being prepared again, and again, the Frewin's sent their children to get the ingredients.
"This time, can all five of you go? I might as well get everything for the week." Mrs. Frewin smiled with an enforcing look as Chase looked away from the action movie he was watching in despair.
"Alright.. I guess" Chase groaned.
The five of them started their walk with the shopping list in Akilah's hand.
"We have to get back in time for the finale, I timed it perfectly, there's a commercial break right now" Chase continued to yap on about the movie he was watching until Hendrix tapped his chest, indicating to him to stop walking.
He noticed the other four staring at a man walking up to them. He waved and smiled. He looked normal to Chase, but it seemed everyone else thought he was suspicious.
"Hey! Excuse me! I'd just like to ask a question or two. I saw the two of you at the grocery store yesterday," The man pointed at Hendrix and Vida. Officer 1060 was wearing normal clothes now, his off duty clothes.
"I just wanted to ask about something I overheard, what is all that Spirit and Mode you were on about? Was it a movie? It sounded interesting!" Officer 1060 gave a cheery personality that almost seemed cartoonish.
"Uhh.." Chase stuttered, catching himself as he remembered what Mr. and Mrs. Frewin warned them about.
"The government that we live under doesn't want you to know that this power naturally resides in us. Only a few know about this today." The image of Mrs. Frewin telling them this flashed through their minds.
"We" Vida stopped Chase, scared of what he would accidentally spill. "We don't know what you're talking about. It was probably some dumb game we were playing!" Vida feigned an innocent smile.
"Ahh I see, well I'll let you guys get on your way. Sorry for the intrusion!" Officer 1060 made his way back to the all black car he came from as the children's fake smiles turned to concerned looks.
"I wonder what they do to people who find out about Spirit." Vida said once Officer 1060 was out of sight.
"I wouldn't want to find out." Akilah responded.
The rest of the walk was peaceful, but quiet. They went into the grocery store with concern on their faces still. They would have to ask how serious that encounter was when they got back to the house.
The children turned the corner back to the house, still pondering how concerned they should be about the interaction.
"What the-" Chase pointed at the front of their house.
The door was in pieces.