Interlude 2.3
Updated: Sep 17, 2023
Rae found Juli in a training room. He expected to find Juli there; what he did not expect was to find them meditating. The former mafia member was anything but peaceful, and it did not seem like clearing their mind was their highest priority. But sure enough, Juli was sitting on the floor, legs crossed, eyes closed.
A small, baby pink flame flickered in front of Juli. As Rae watched, the flames wrapped around themselves to form a small knife with a needle-point blade. Almost as soon as the knife took form, however, the flames dissipated, and Juli opened their eyes with a groan.
“Hey,” Rae greeted, leaning on the doorframe. “What are you up to?”
“Giving myself a headache,” Juli grumbled. “You know, the usual.” Rae raised an eyebrow.
“Ah, sorry, I’m just frustrated,” Juli said quickly. “If you really want t’ know, I’ve been trying to figure out my powers. The fight with the shadow clones—it got me thinking in a lot of ways. For example…”
Juli called a small, baby pink flame to the palm of their hand.
“My flames never had this color before. But it doesn’t feel wrong or anything, and it doesn’t feel like when Minerva’s flames helped me in our first battle against The Necromancer. It feels…” Juli trailed off in contemplation. “It feels kind of like I was wearing a shoe that fit wrong for my whole life, and now I finally found Cinderella’s glass slipper. Or whatever.” Juli extinguished the flame.
“That’s not all you’re thinking about,” Rae noted.
Juli’s lips quirked up in a half-smile. “What are you, Karyme? Reading my mind and all.”
“Hey, maybe she’s been teaching me her secrets,” Rae said with a laugh. He crossed the room and took a seat next to Juli. “So, what’s with the flame knife?”
“Oh. Um, well.” Juli averted their gaze. “That flame octopus thing my shadow clone did—I’ve never done that. I don’t even know if I can do that. But…” They extended a hand, and the pink flames at their palm coalesced into a knife yet again.
“I can do this. Which means I’ve been thinking about my power all wrong,” Juli continued. “I don’t think I’m actually a pyrokinetic in the traditional sense. Pyrokinetics can turn heat in the air into fire and manipulate existing flames.”
“I think my power is to create things from my own fire. But I don’t really know.” Juli looked up at Rae, umber eyes shining with uncertainty. Rae placed a hand on Juli’s shoulder.
“It sounds to me like you’ve got a better grasp on things than me,” xe assured them. “If you want confirmation, though, you should ask Karyme.” Juli’s expression brightened.
“Oh, that’s a great idea!” they exclaimed. “Thanks, lawyer man! Now…” Juli cocked their head to the side in curiosity. “I’m sure you didn’t come here to listen to my problems. What brings you out here?”
Rae bit xyr lip. “The last fight got me thinking, too,” xe admitted. “About my powers, sure. But also about how I’m basically useless in a fight.”
Juli blinked. “Lawyer man, you’re not being serious, are ya? You saved like half our asses in that fight.”
Rae shook xyr head. “That’s all well and good, but that’s not really what I meant. Other than Karyme, I’m the only one who doesn’t know my way around a weapon. Karyme’s power lends itself better to reading the battlefield from behind Dani’s shields, so she doesn’t really need to know how to use a weapon. But me?”
“Every time I switch with someone or something, it puts me right in the center of the action, and because I have no way to defend myself, I end up running.” Rae’s fingers subconsciously went up to the half-melted earring dangling from his left ear. “If I keep this up, I’m going to get hurt.”
“I see, I see.” Juli nodded in understanding. “You want me to teach you how to use a knife.”
“Now who’s reading minds?” Rae teased. Juli laughed.
“All right, lawyer man.” Juli rose to their feet and dusted themself off. “I’ll teach you basic self defense. In return, I want you to give me ideas for how to use my powers.”
It was Rae’s turn to be taken off guard.
“What do you mean?” xe asked.
“Well, you’ve only known the true extent of your powers for like a month, right?” Juli pointed out. “But you’re super inventive with it. And quick on your feet, to boot!” Rae stared blankly at Juli. Juli let out an exasperated sigh.
“Okay, okay, let’s take the beginning of the last fight for example,” Juli continued. “When Shadow Joshua was about to give me a concussion, you switched with him. If I had been in your spot, I don’t think that idea would have even crossed my mind—I would’ve just switched with the person getting attacked instead of the attacker. And that would have ended poorly.”
“So,” Juli concluded. “I’m not as smart as you, and you’re not as good a fighter as me.” Rae wasn’t sure xe agreed with that, but xe decided not to press the point.
“I think we can come to a—what’s it called?” Juli asked. “Oh, right! A mutually beneficial arrangement.” They offered a hand to Rae, and Rae accepted, rising to xyr feet.
“All right, Juli,” xe said slowly. “Not sure how much I can help, but you’ve got yourself a deal.”
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