SHAH!
A flash of blue light sparked, and in a blink, Uriel found himself back in the topless carriage.
Night seemed to have fallen. The skies were dark and the blowing winds colder. In the buildings and houses dotting the settlement, torches and lamps were lit, their flames bending with each gust.
Rain fell from the dark skies, thunder rumbling across the air, the distant sound of rustling leaves echoing through the streets.
Many Inhumans, as Uriel had decided to call them, walked through the settlement, protected by umbrellas, their faint chatter reaching him through the rain.
'Whatever.'
Ignoring the rain that soaked him, Uriel collapsed into his seat, exhaustion washing over him.
His body ached, bruised and cut, but thankfully it wasn't that bad, nothing he couldn't handle.
'It's fine, I guess.' He rubbed at his wet skin, massaging the large bruise lining his ribs, groaning and wincing as he did.
'If I hadn't done my best, I would've been last and disappointed, so I did my best, got last, and am disappointed.' He chuckled weakly at the thought.
'But at least I tried.'
He slouched further into the seat, sliding against the soaked wood, letting his head loll back for a second.
Falling droplets of water and the gentle push and pull of the wind brushed against his steaming body, soothing his aches. Each cold touch stung, then softened into relief.
The sound of rain, rustling leaves, and the distant hum of the settlement calmed his mind, his thoughts sinking into a tranquil nothing.
He relaxed.
And within moments, it was as if the trial had never happened. As if he hadn't been sprinting through death a second ago.
The smell of cooking food wafted from the many chimneys scattered across the settlement, his mouth watering as his thoughts drifted toward hunger, toward warmth, toward anything that wasn't fear.
But just as he was about to fall into one of his usual long trains of thought, something surfaced.
'Aether.'
He closed his eyes.
He tried to remember the strange sensation he'd felt in the expanse of darkness, the warmth and the cold. Against all expectations, it was…easy.
In a single breath, he felt the warm and cold flows return, so clearly that it almost felt like he'd developed a new sense, like a muscle he'd never known he had.
Fascinated, Uriel pulled on the cold flow. Around an outstretched finger, a white wisp of fog-like energy manifested.
His eyes widened.
'…wow…'
He tugged at the warm flow, and beside the white wisp, a blood-red one appeared, much thinner, yet somehow far more…alive, like it pulsed with a faint stubbornness.
'It said Natal and Atmospheric… the red wisp, Natal Aether, must be the energy in my body. In all our bodies. And the white wisp…'
He looked up, and something clicked.
It felt as though a filter had overlaid his vision. Countless wisps filled the air, an endless variety of colors dominated by thick white, dancing and drifting through the carriage like invisible dust made visible.
It was blinding and overwhelming, but with a subtle shift of focus, his vision changed. Instead of seeing the colors, he could feel them, subconsciously; pressure, density, temperament.
Like another set of eyes he couldn't see through, yet could still use, paradoxical, but natural.
SHAH!
The aether in the air seemed to sense him. In perfect synchronicity, the wisps surged toward Uriel, softly wrapping around his body, clinging like curious pets.
He giggled, the sensation ticklish.
"Haha! Stop!"
The wisps, strangely alive and aware, only grew more excited at his laughter, swirling around him in harmonic waves, brushing his neck and arms in playful spirals.
What had once been thin fog thickened into heavy clouds of essence, denser than liquid or solid, yet fluid and amorphous all the same.
"Can you…talk?" Uriel asked, barely restraining a giggle.
He'd always been ticklish.
The multicolored mass didn't answer, but something brushed against his subconscious, a vague response, a feeling more than a word.
"Yes… but no," he concluded.
Curiosity stirred. He pulled on his natal aether.
As if it had been waiting, his aether erupted outward.
SHAH!
A massive cloud of crimson energy burst from him, dwarfing the multicolored atmospheric aether dancing across his skin.
But they didn't clash.
Instead, the bloody mass condensed and—
"Hahaha! No! Please! Wait—"
—it joined in, tickling him mercilessly, as if offended he'd thought it would be any different.
…
Enoch blinked, and in a flash, he was back in the carriage.
[5. Enoch Lothyn Thorne]
He glanced at his ranking, sneered inwardly, and shoved the thought aside.
Thunder cracked, lightning briefly illuminating the night.
He looked ahead and saw Uriel, peacefully asleep at the back of the carriage, faint snores escaping him.
Rain fell onto Uriel, but a spectral force wrapped around his body, warming him and pushing the water away as if it wasn't allowed to touch him.
Enoch's eyes widened more than they ever had before. His breath hitched, his heart stuttering hard enough to hurt.
'W-what?! Already?!'
This wasn't supposed to happen so early.
'Someone messed with the time—'
"Hm?"
Uriel stirred, sitting up and blinking blearily before recognizing Enoch.
He got to his feet and rushed over.
"Hey!"
He nearly slipped, but caught himself, noticing in passing that his body felt… sturdier. His feet didn't wobble the same way. His breath didn't catch as sharply.
'That's weird.'
"Sorry, I forgot to go looking for you. Well, not forgot, I just fell asleep. Haven't slept in a while, you know."
"How's your housing—holy gods!"
Uriel froze as he noticed Enoch's condition.
A massive gash tore across his chest, infected and oozing. His face and arms were covered in deep cuts and bruises, some fresh, some already darkening.
"What the hell happened?!" He pulled off his shirt and pressed it against Enoch's chest, trying to shield the wound from the rain.
He didn't know how to treat injuries, but leaving it exposed felt wrong. The smell alone made his stomach twist.
Enoch finally snapped out of it, refocusing on Uriel, still acting as if his wounds didn't exist.
"Looking for me? What are you talking about? I just got back."
He nodded in thanks, taking the shirt and wrapping it tightly around his chest.
Uriel winced at the sight; torn flesh, shifting bone, blood seeping through, the wet cloth turning heavy almost instantly.
"Got back? From where?" His eyes widened. "Did I miss a trial?!"
Enoch paused, then sighed and flicked Uriel's forehead.
"Are you dumb?"
He patted his shoulder.
"You got first."