Chapter 63: Before Training

Morning light rested against the window. Markus opened his eyes and for several seconds, he didn’t move. He simply stared at the ceiling.

Then he turned his head toward the window.

The glass was covered with a thin layer of frost around the edges, and the pale sunlight coming through it painted a dull strip across the floor.

Markus slowly sat up...he rubbed his eyes.

’Another morning, another day and another training session.’ he thought.

He looked toward the window again, ’Two weeks.’

It had been two weeks since the training had started becoming more intense.

’Two weeks of fighting....Two weeks of testing abilities.

Two weeks of waking up sore, training until exhaustion, eating, sleeping, and doing it all again.’

Markus swung his legs over the side of the bed, "My entire life is training now."

He stood and his body immediately reminded him of yesterday’s session.

His shoulders were sore, his arms felt heavy and sadly his legs weren’t much better.

Markus stretched his neck, "I’m twenty-six years old." He walked toward the window, "And somehow I spend my mornings getting punched by teenagers and grown men."

He stared outside....

The grounds of the Foundation were quiet. A few security personnel moved through the courtyard and beyond them, the surrounding trees stood motionless beneath the cold morning air.

Markus placed one hand against the glass, "When did this become normal?"

He couldn’t remember the last time he’d had a completely ordinary morning with no training, no Mark 8 and no Victor standing somewhere nearby with that expression that made everyone feel like they were being studied.

’Just waking up, rating breakfast, going somewhere and coming home....Normal.’

Markus almost laughed, "Normal."

The word sounded strange now, he stepped away from the window. His reflection staring back at him.

He looked different. There was more muscle around his shoulders now, his movements had become sharper..even his eyes looked different. His blonde hair was loosing colour leaning towards white more and more.

Two weeks of fighting had changed him, he understood his ability better.

Before, he had thought of his crystallization as something simple, ’ touch them..it spread, you can reverse it or transform them.’

Now he understood that it was more complicated.

He could control the spread, he could choose where the crystallization started, he could manipulate the form and, more importantly, he had begun learning how to fight without relying entirely on it.

That had been the biggest lesson.

His power wasn’t supposed to replace his body, it was supposed to become part of it.

Markus grabbed a shirt from the chair. He pulled it over his head.

Then came the knock...three quiet taps.

Markus looked toward the door, "Come in." The door opened and Ash stepped inside.

He was already wearing his training clothes, his mask hung around his neck rather than covering his face..he had a few scars around his mouth.

His hair was slightly messy.

Markus looked at him, "You’re early."

Ash glanced at his watch, "We have approximately forty-seven minutes until we’re scheduled to begin training."

Markus stared, "You actually calculated that?"

Ash shrugged, "I like knowing how much time I have."

Markus smiled, "That’s something I never understood about you."

"What?" Ash asked.

"You’re always prepared." Markus said.

Ash leaned against the doorway, "Someone has to be."

Markus walked toward the table, he picked up a bottle of water, "You’re twenty-four, right?"

Ash nodded, "Twenty-four."

Markus looked at him, "For some reason, I thought you were younger."

Ash laughed, "Everyone does."

Markus took a drink, "You don’t look twenty-two."

"I get that a lot." Ash said.

"You look eighteen."

"I’ll take that as a compliment." Ash replied with a smile.

"It wasn’t."

Ash laughed again.

Markus sat down.

Ash remained by the door for a moment before entering fully.

Markus looked at him, "You know, after yesterday, I realized something."

"What?" Ash asked.

"You’re actually not that young." Markus answered.

Ash raised an eyebrow, "Compared to you?"

"Exactly." Markus leaned back, "I’m twenty-six."

"Four years older." Ash said.

"Exactly." Markus smiled.

Ash laughed, "That’s not much."

"It is when you’re twenty-four."

"No, it isn’t." Ashell snapped.

Markus pointed at him, "You’re still young."

Ash shook his head, "So are you."

"No." Markus replied.

"Yes." Ashell pestered

"I’m twenty-six."

"That’s still young." Ashell said.

Markus stared at him, "Don’t say that."

"Why?" Ash asked.

"Because I don’t want to think about getting older."

Ash smiled, "You’re scared of twenty-seven?"

"I’m not scared." Markus replied.

"You sounded scared."

Markus threw the bottle cap at him.

Ash caught it, "See?"

Markus shook his head, "Annoying."

Ash placed the cap on the table, "You’re the one who started it."

Markus smiled and for a moment, neither spoke.

Then Ash’s expression became quieter, "You’ve changed."

Markus looked at him, "What?"

"Since we first met." Ash spoke.

Markus nodded, "You have too."

Ash looked down, "I guess."

Markus studied him, "You’re different."

"How?" Ashell questioned.

"More confident now."

Ash laughed quietly, "I’m not sure that’s the word I’d use."

"What would you use?" Markus asked.

"Less afraid." Ash answered.

Markus looked at him as Ash’s fingers moved slightly.

He looked toward the window, "When I first came here, I didn’t know what to do."

Markus said nothing and Ash continued, "I didn’t understand what had happened to me."

He touched the side of his mask, "I didn’t understand the crystals."

He paused.

"I didn’t understand why my body had changed."

Markus watched him carefully.

Ash looked down at his hands, "And I definitely didn’t understand why everyone around me was changing too."

Markus nodded, "You were younger then."

"Much younger in your terms"

"How old were you?" Markus questioned.

Ash thought for a moment, "Nine-teen."

Markus’s expression changed, "Nine-teen?....really. You lie...you were a scientist were’nt you."

Ash nodded, " I was an assistant..i was on attachment."

Markus leaned back, "That young huh?"

"Yeah."

Ash looked toward the window, "I was Nine-teen when everything happened."

He paused.

"I remember my father."

Markus didn’t interrupt as Ash’s voice became quieter, "I remember holding his hand."

Markus watched him.

"Tightly." Ash’s fingers curled slightly, "I didn’t want to let go."

He looked down, "I remember thinking that if I kept holding his hand, he would stay."

Markus remained silent.

Ash swallowed hard, "But he didn’t." The room stayed quiet.

Ash looked toward the window again, "A lot has happened since then."

Markus nodded, "Yeah."

"Sometimes it feels like it happened yesterday." Ash rubbed the back of his neck, "And sometimes it feels like it happened to somebody else."

Markus understood that feeling, "You were a kid."

Ash nodded, " A teen."

"You’ve had to grow up fast." Markus said.

Ash smiled faintly, "I didn’t really get a choice."

Markus looked down at his hands, "None of us did."

Ash nodded. The silence between them wasn’t uncomfortable.

It was different. Like neither of them needed to fill it.

Markus eventually spoke, "You know what I remember?"

Ash looked at him, "What?"

"Before all this."

Ash waited.

"Felix." Markus mumbled.

Ash’s expression changed immediately.

Markus noticed, "You remember him?"

"Of course." Ash replied.

Markus looked toward the floor, "He was someone my father always made me look to."

Ash nodded slowly, "He was my friend."

Markus leaned back, "I still think about him sometimes."

"Me too." Ash said with a pained expression.

Markus stared at the ceiling, "It’s strange."

"What?" Ash asked

"Thinking about how everything started." He looked at Ash, "Back then, when we thought it was controlled."

Ash smiled sadly, "None of us even understood what Mark 8 really was."

"No." Markus said.

Markus paused, "Felix was always different, though."

Ash nodded, "He was."

"He always had that look."

"What look?" Ash asked.

"Like he was already thinking ten steps ahead."

Ash laughed quietly, "That sounds like him."

Markus smiled, "He could be an idiot."

Ash laughed, "He definitely could."

Marcus looked down, "Then he disappeared."

Ash didn’t respond.

Markus continued, "Now he’s just gone."

Ash looked toward the window, "Felix is prob doing som shii."

Markus looked at him, "You think so?"

"I don’t know." Ash’s voice was uncertain, "But I don’t think he’s gone since this team was formed for the soul purpose of retriving him at least it was."

Markus nodded slowly, "I hope you’re right."

Ash looked at him, "Why?"

"Because I don’t want to believe that when his tracker stopped that was the end of his story."

Markus paused, "Not after everything...when his tracker stopped, we stopped the operation to find him because they think he is dead and now we just train."

Ash nodded, "Neither do I."

Markus leaned forward, "You know what was strange?"

"What?" Ash asked.

"Felix and Darius." Markus spoke

Ash looked at him, "They were the only two who seemed completely unaffected by everything."

Markus nodded, "Exactly...Everyone else changed, everyone." Marcus rubbed his hands together, "But those two..."

He shook his head, "Nothing."

Ash thought about it, "Maybe they were stronger."

"Maybe." Markus agreed.

"Or maybe they were different from the beginning." Ash said.

Markus looked at him, "That possibility bothers me."

"Why?" Ashell asked.

"Because if Mark 8 changed everyone else..." He paused, "Why didn’t it change them?"

Ash didn’t answer.

Markus looked toward the door, "There are still too many things we don’t understand."

Ash nodded.

"That’s why Victor keeps testing us." Markus sighed, "Victor."

Ash smiled, "Your father."

"That man is impossible." Markus said.

"He’s your father." Ash said

"He is technically yours too now." Markus replied.

Ash laughed, "Only on paper."

Markus smiled, "He never tells us anything."

"He tells us what we need to know." Ash spoke.

"That isn’t the same thing."

"No it isnt" Ashell said.

Markus leaned back, "You know what I think?"

"What?" Ash asked.

"He knows more about us than we know about ourselves."

Ash looked at him, "I think you’re right."

Markus shook his head, "That’s what scares me."

Ash remained silent as Markus looked at his watch. Then back at Ash, "You know, despite everything..."

"What?"

"I’m glad you’re here." Markus smiled.

Ash looked at him with wide eyes.

Markus shrugged, "Don’t make it weird."

Ash smiled, "I wasn’t going to."

"You were thinking about it."

"I wasn’t." Ash said.

"You definitely were."

Ash laughed.

Markus smiled, "Seriously, though."

Ash nodded, "Yeah."

Markus looked toward the window, "It’s good having someone around who remembers what it was like before all this."

Ash nodded, "Yeah."

"And someone who knows Felix." Markus added.

"Yeah."

They sat in silence again. Then Ash looked at his watch, "Thirty-one minutes."

Markus groaned, "Already?"

"You’re the one who wanted to talk." Ash scoffed.

"You came to my room." Markus retaliated.

"You invited me in."

Markus pointed at him, "Technicality."

Ash smiled, "You need to get ready."

Markus stood, "I am ready."

"You’re still barefoot."

Markus looked down and he was.

He sighed, "Damn."

Ash laughed as Markus grabbed his shoes, "You know, you’re still a child."

Ash raised an eyebrow, "I’m twenty-four"

"Exactly."

"That doesn’t make me a child." Ash said.

"Compared to me?" Markus sneered.

"Yes."

Markus smiled, "Exactly."

Ash shook his head, "You’re impossible."

Markus sat down and put on his shoes, "Maybe."

Ash waited as Marcus tied the second shoe then stood. He looked toward his watch.

The display showed the time and a small notification appeared.

"TRAINING SESSION: 07 MINUTES."

Markus stared at it. Ash checked his own, "Seven minutes."

Markus sighed, "Already?"

Ash nodded.

Markus walked toward the door.

He stopped, for a second, he looked back at the room, the quiet morning and then he looked at Ash, "Ready?"

Ash pulled his mask up, "Always."

Markus opened the door, "Let’s go."

They stepped into the hallway.

Markus glanced at his watch one final time.

The countdown continued, seven minutes, six minutes, five.

The morning was over. It was time to train.::