Chapter poll: If you could only choose one, would you rather... 

Be Arcanese nobility

or 

Learn to use the Power

...............................

"I'm going to warn you again- I have no idea what I'm doing. Like, I have no idea. Whatever prior knowledge you think I have, I don't have it. Any of it," Chase raised his hands defensively in front of his face, hoping that the gesture would help make his point clear. He sat at one of the desks in a small, empty Academy classroom while Commander Chu paced intimidatingly along the front of the room. Seeing that she showed no signs of even beginning to regard his words, he continued. "No, really. I may be able to read the probs fast, but that's just because I've been doing it my whole life without actually realizing what I was doing. I can't do this whole Power thing. I can't move things with my mind-"

"Cease your blabbering. We only have an hour before Project PROB is scheduled to leave for America. I am perfectly aware of your utter incompetence- that's why I'm here to fix it. Now," Chu pulled a small rubber ball out of her pocket with a flourish. It wasn't particularly remarkable- in fact, it was probably the most unremarkable thing Chase had seen in Arcana so far. Painted brown and filled with cheap glitter that moved when you shook it, it looked like the kind of junk you'd pick up for free at a carnival or a convention. 

"Suppose I were to throw this ball at your face. What would you do?" Chu's next words were far less ordinary than the object in her hand. 

"Uh... I'd catch it? Or at least, I'd try to." Chase didn't see how her question had anything to do with the Order or the Power, and being with Chu in a semi-dark classroom with no one else in the vicinity already had him too nervous to offer a more well thought-out response. Part of him was glad that the rest of Project PROB was making preparations for their journey and wouldn't see him make a fool of himself, but he hadn't realized how much confidence their presence had given him up until now. Without them as a distraction, he was all too aware of just how much of a hot mess he really was.

A hot mess? Nah, you're not hot. Just a mess. He could almost hear his sister's taunting words in his head. 

His sweaty curls stuck to his forehead and he was pretty sure he'd mis-buttoned his shirt. He felt like he hadn't slept in days, spending all his downtime at his father's penthouse paging fervently through all sorts of Academy textbooks on the Power, his once idle, unchallenged brain hungry for new knowledge.

"Yes, indeed," Chu nodded, pausing in front of his desk. Chase's eyes widened. That was really the answer she wanted? She placed the ball in front of him before stepping back toward the whiteboard at the front of the room and issuing a simple order. "Throw it at me."

Chase looked up at her, his hand shaking as he raised the ball in the air. She asked you to do it- don't be a chicken. Taking in a deep breath, he hurled the ball forward. It was by no means a good throw, nor was it well-aimed, but the ball still managed to head in Chu's general direction. Centering herself, Chu jumped up in the air, springing off of the whiteboard to gain leverage and effortlessly dodging the ball. Chase only stared, dumbstruck, as she landed gracefully on both feet, retrieving the ball from the floor and tossing it back to him.

"Throw it again."

What a show-off, Chase thought as he obeyed her. This time, there was no acrobatic display. She simply reached forward, catching the ball as soon as it got within a few inches of her face.

"Two times, you threw the ball at me," Chu mused, absentmindedly rolling the ball around her palm. "Both times, I prevented it from hitting me, but in very different ways. Tell me now, which way is more practical...more realistic?"

"The second way," Chase instantly replied. That was easy. Anyone would rather simply catch a ball than do a weird, fancy backflip over it.

"Correct," Chu nodded. If she was even remotely pleased with his answers so far, she didn't show it. "And why is that?"

"Uh... because it's faster. Easier."

"Precisely," Chu paused in front of Chase's desk. "See how naturally those answers came to you? For thousands of years, evolution has steered the human race toward greater efficiency. How to digest your food, pump your blood, extract oxygen from your environment, all with the lowest possible energetic input. You would rather catch the ball because it requires less energy- because energy conservation is a fundamental skill that our ancestors have been honing for millennia."

"Now," her voice slowed down, as if she were preparing for some dramatic revelation. "What if I told you there was a way to dodge the ball with even less energetic input. What if you didn't even have to move your hand?" Chase watched as the ball rose from Chu's hand, stopping just in front of her face. "It will not come any closer, simply because I don't want it to. My brain will not allow it to. Now, you try."

Before he could even think, she hurled the ball at him. He flinched, ducking just as it flew over his head.

"There is no need to move a muscle!" Chu shouted as the ball returned to her hand. "This should feel as natural as breathing. You are choosing the least energetically expensive way to get a task done, just as evolution has prepared you to do! Now, stop the ball!"

She threw it again, and this time, he had no time to dodge. He watched helplessly as it rammed into his nose, snapping his head backwards. Groaning, he rubbed his neck, giving Chu an irritated look.

"Don't you see?" Chu smiled triumphantly. "Sometimes you don't have the time to move your body. Sometimes your reflexes aren't fast enough- well, in your case, a lot of the time. Stop trying so hard. Just open your mind and let your thoughts be in control." The ball returned to Chu's hand for an instant before flying toward Chase's face even faster than before, bouncing off his chin and shooting back to Chu in an endless cycle. Chase held up his hands but they did nothing to stop the ball from zooming past them and continuously hitting him in the face. It wasn't particularly painful, but it sure was annoying- a lot like when his sister repeatedly prodded him in the shoulder in an immature attempt to get his attention.

"Stop!" Chase finally yelled as aggressively as he could (which wasn't very aggressive at all). He held up his gloved hand, watching as his PW assumed its true form, shooting out a small black dart that embedded itself in the rubber ball as it hurtled toward him. The dart erupted in flames and Chase grinned with satisfaction, but the smile quickly dropped off his face.

Not only did the dart do nothing to change the ball's path, but it was now flaming and headed straight for Chase's head.

Chase wanted to sink into a hole. Stupid, stupid, stupid- look what you've done, Chase, now it's on fire! So much for showing her how much you've practiced your aim...

He closed his eyes, pressing his fingers to his temples as he focused all his energy inward. Time seemed to slow down as his breathing grew calmer and more even, allowing him to concentrate on nothing but the ball in front of him. When he opened his eyes, the ball was still there, only, it was no longer on fire. An unnatural gust of wind had put the flames out, leaving a slightly charred rubber ball hovering just above Chase's nose. Lowering his sweaty hands, he gazed at it in wonder. It was so close that he had to cross his eyes to look at it, yet it didn't come any closer.

It will not come any closer, simply because I don't want it to. My brain will not allow it to.

"Whoa!" Chase exclaimed with childish delight, not taking his eyes off the ball. For a moment, he forgot that he was in the presence of the stoic Luna Chu herself. "I did it! Did you see that? I'm telekinetic! I can't wait to tell Juliana..."

Chu did not look amused. She sighed in frustration as the ball dropped to the floor. "That was me, graciously saving you from the humiliating experience of burning yourself with your own PW. Let's try again."

Before Chase had the chance to be disappointed in his failure, Juliana burst through the door. She wore another one of her red peacoats but it did little to distract from her tall Crimson Angel boots and the flexible mask slung around her wrist. Clearly, she wasn't expecting to be spotted- after all, it was a Saturday and the Academy was practically deserted. Not even the Arcanese were crazy enough to be at school on the weekend.

"I'm so sorry to interrupt your er...lesson but it'll take us at least an hour to get to America, even in the PROBJet, so we need to get started now if we want to make it there before dark." She paused, looking only momentarily concerned by the slight bruises on Chase's cheeks. She was obviously familiar with Commander Chu's methods of instruction, however, because her attention quickly shifted elsewhere. "Hayley and Roy are waiting in the Jet outside. We've loaded your helmet and all of your other equipment, so we should be ready to leave as soon as you are."

"Right," Chu accepted hesitantly, giving Chase a quick nod. "You're dismissed."

Chase had never been happier to leave a room. He sprung up from his chair, joining Juliana in the doorway. The two young Heirs quietly made their way down the empty, dimly lit hallway, Juliana placing her mask over her face and tossing her peacoat over her arm as they went. Noticing the two gaping holes on her back where it looked like something had been hastily cut out, Chase broke the silence. 

"Your wings..." 

"An unnecessary liability," Juliana replied brusquely. "It's about time I leave them in the depths of my childish imagination... where they belong." 

Chase couldn't believe he was hearing these words come out of the dreamy Juliana's mouth. There was a time when he had believed she could do absolutely anything, but he was beginning to realize her limits. And judging from the serious expression on her face and the jagged slashes on the back of her suit from when she'd probably hacked off her wings in a fit of rage, so was she.