Malia's Might

Chapter 9: A breath of fresh air.

Mason was lost in his own thoughts on his way to school.  He was thinking of all the details he needed to get in order so that he could have his beauty watched.  He needed to assign someone he trusted to no end with the task.  He hated to admit that the number of people he knew that would fit into that category were few.  He could count them on one hand with fingers to spare; he shook his head as the realization came to him that he didn’t even know what stop she was driven to.  He hadn’t stuck around long enough to get that valuable insight.  Now he would have to have someone not only set in place to get the information about her he was desperately craving but he would also have to have them tail her to her stop and school just so that he would be able to have the information needed to put them in place.  Maybe he still had things to learn he thought.

                He opened the large double doors and walked into the hall when he was hit with a new smell and the lingering sense of the power he had sensed at the mansion.  The scent was faint but he would know that hint of power anywhere.  He found himself drawn to it, even without thinking his feet made their way down the hall and he was unable to stop himself from wandering wherever they were taking him.  It was almost as if a part of him knew that he needed to go and he was not about to deny his soul.  He may be the king of his people but he still had a soul and he was not about to have it start to wither by denying it the urge he felt now.  It was as if he knew instinctively that his soul desperately needed whatever it was drawing him towards and to deny it would cause him to lose a piece.  That was something he was not about to endure.  He had seen those of his people who had allowed their souls to shrivel and blow away like ashes in the wind and he would not allow that to be what he became.

                He could feel himself becoming closer and closer to the source he was seeking, he was drawn as if by an invisible line that would not allow him to deter from the path.  So single mindedly focused was he that the others in the hall immediately parted for him to pass unhindered.  He must have been giving off his own energy signature that they immediately diverted their gaze to the floor and moved in huddled masses away from his being.  He imagined that depending on their branch of the supernatural he was either emitting an aura of either ice or flame.  He had never understood how he could produce both at once; you would think that they would cancel each other out leaving him as nothing more than a void.  He had been told by his few trusted that the sense they got from him depended on the branch they themselves belonged as if they each came with their own warning systems in place to make them aware of the danger and his body reacted as necessary to give them warning.  Like his own metaphysical side was inherently giving them warning not to cross him or they would suffer without him even having to utter a word.  He usually felt uncomfortable with this knowledge but right now he was never more grateful that it could clear a path as he was now.

                Mason found himself nearing the office entryway when he looked up and caught a glimpse of his beauty leaving through those very doors and heading off toward the banks of lockers at the far end of the hall.  Could he really be so lucky that she would end up here?  If she was here she must know about the power she possessed.  He was surrounded by the supernatural in every direction here, his school was full of them.  It was just simpler to have them all in one location on each territory.  That way there was no explaining things to mortals or accidental discoveries.  He just couldn’t shake the sense that this was not the case with her though.  She seemed to be unaware of the hint of power that seemed to be leaking out of her very form.  It was as if it was locked away and something had chipped away at the containment and now it was slowly weakening its bonds and all the while she was blissfully unaware.  Mason had the odd thought at the same time he thought that perhaps he would be able to simply ask her about it himself.  Before Mason was able to get that chance though his thoughts were broken by the shrill shrieking of a harpy down the hall near the bank of lockers.

                He made his way towards the wretched creature in order to inspect the situation and see if it warranted his intrusion.  This was his territory and unfortunately that meant that he was responsible to settle all disputes between groups on his lands.  When he reached the squabbling wretch he found that his beauty was staring wide eyed and she had the scent of honest fear and confusion coming from her every pore.  He felt his beast bristle at the knowledge that something had done this to her.  He was about to come to her aide when she stammered out that she was sorry, but she was new and had misread the locker posting she was given.  She had made an honest mistake about not only the locker but also the beast that was itching to get at her right that moment.

                His beauty was staring into the enraged face of none other than the head cheerleader.  She had apparently tried to open her locker and had mixed up her numbers ending up instead at the door of this chirping mess.  He could see that the harpy was just looking for an excuse to tear into her, and it would have been warranted if the scent of truth wasn’t pouring out of his beauty right now.  He linked to his second and explained that he needed to cool down the situation without actually getting involved.  Ranger nodded back to him and was instantly moving.

                “Hey, she said she was new, she obviously just got the wrong one.  Geez Belle, let the girl go she didn’t mean any disrespect.”  He was standing firmly between Mason’s beauty and the harpy as Mason watched her take the opportunity to make a hasty retreat down the hall.  The harpy was clearly still ruffled by the whole incident but what Mason got from it was that his beauty obviously had no idea the situation she was in here.  After all, she had just enraged an actual harpy and had not reacted whatsoever to the danger that posed.  Mason made a note to keep an eye on her himself, he could not have anything happening to her here.  Especially when he felt it in his bones that it was his job to safeguard her well-being no matter the cost.  He was determined to find out what their connection was before it drove him insane and most of all he wanted to know why she seemed to be unfazed by it at all.

                Mason followed her throughout the day as she seemed to be bumbling from one end of the building to the next.  He desperately wanted to step in and take over for her after she seemed to turn into a bathroom instead of a classroom for what seemed like the umpteenth time.  Something told him that if he mentioned that she looked to need help she would instead shy away from him rather than accepting it.  He wanted to be close to her but also wanted her to actually want him there rather than be scared of him like it seemed everyone else was.  He was heading to his locker right before heading to lunch when the opportunity he had been looking for seemed to fall right into his lap.

                His beauty was sitting on the floor right in front of his locker.  She seemed to have given up on the archaic map the office still insisted on handing out to new arrivals.  They felt tradition was best but he believed that the old map with it’s out of date symbols was way past needing retirement.  For instance, without knowing what you were looking at and having training in the symbols of their history the thing would look much like the ancient hieroglyphics that humans tended to document from Egypt.  Mason’s ears picked up her voice among the noise of the crowded hallway and he had to quickly cover his mouth to hide the smile and chuckle that wanted to erupt from him.  Was she actually talking to the kitten poster that hung across the hallway?  She actually sounded like she was either commiserating with that hang in there kitty or starting to accuse it of something.  Even if she sounded slightly crazy he still thought she sounded amazing to him.

                He soon stood in front of her and was looking down at the top of her raven hair when she realized he had stopped his progress and was right in front of her.  She looked up with slightly startled eyes and he saw her lips part as she took in a breath.  She was staring at him as if she was waiting for him to speak and he took the time to take in her features.  She was more beautiful without the separation of the glass between them.  It took a moment for him to calm his rapidly pounding heart and even then he had to clear his throat to be able to speak without his other half trying to come through in his voice.

                “You are sitting in front of my locker.”  Mason felt like kicking himself.  Was that all he was going to say?!  He felt like ranting at himself, he wanted to say so much more but the words seemed to be lodged in his throat and refused to make them heard.  He had wanted to sound witty and sincere and instead he sounded cold and aloof.

                She looked at him and he used one finger to point at the locker that was in fact behind her back. “S..Sorry, I’ll just get out of your way now.”  She said as she slid her body further down the hall without getting up.  Mason put his belongings away as he wracked his mind for a way to continue their brief conversation.

                Mason closed his locker and turned to look at her.  Her cheeks were tinted with a hint of pink that let her embarrassment show but at the same time intensified the green of her eyes.   He was finally able to tear his eyes away from her mouth and speak again. “You lost or something?”  Great going Mason, what sparkling conversation you are capable of!  He was already mentally kicking himself again and prepared to leave when she responded.

                “Yeah actually, I can’t figure out this darn map thingy and I am supposed to be heading to lunch and then to Senior English, where ever that is.” He had to stifle the urge to laugh at her gesture as her quirky humor resonated with him.

                  “Well, the lunchroom is down the hall that way and on the right.”  He pointed back down the hall.  He had managed to hide all but a small smile that played on his lips and she visibly relaxed.  He could see her get slightly frustrated as she glared back down the hallway as if it had personally insulted her.  Feeling an opening to getting to know more about her Mason took the chance. “If you want you can just follow me, I have lunch now and then Senior English after.”

                He was rewarded with a genuine smile as it lit up her face.  “Really, that would be great.  Thanks.”  He shrugged as if it was no big deal to him even though her smile had made his heart begin to thunder in his ears.

“My name’s Malia by the way, nice to meet you.”  Mason heard the words as she gave him her name and to his ears it sounded perfect.  He looked at her offered hand and shrugged knowing he couldn’t bring himself to touch her and then let her go.  Rather than scare her he simply returned the gift and gave her his name as well before turning to lead the way.