"All the techniques we're about to teach you were passed down through both of our families," Mrs. Frewin said, hands clasped behind her back. "They won't make you masters overnight, but they'll keep you alive."
Akilah raised a hand. "Didn't you just say our modes are different for everyone?"
"They are," Mr. Frewin replied. "But every skill has fundamentals. Before you can shape spirit, you need to know how to draw it out."
"Oh." Akilah nodded and immediately scribbled in her notebook.
Mr. Frewin walked to the garden and knelt beside a patch of soil where a seedling barely broke the surface.
"Spirit exists in all living things," he said. "Including this."
He held his hand over the sprout.
The air warmed.
Before the children's eyes, the plant surged upward, stem thickening, petals unfolding, until a full flower swayed gently in the breeze.
Amora gasped. Chase actually shut up.
"That's exactly what Vida did!" Hendrix said, turning toward her.
Vida shrugged, a smug little smile tugging at her lips. "Guess I'm just talented."
"That you did it by accident and will never do it again?" Chase snorted.
"You haven't done it once, idiot," Akilah shot back.
"Watch me."
The five of them knelt, clumsy at first, mimicking Mr. Frewin's posture.
"Don't force it," he said, resting a hand briefly on Chase's shoulder. "Spirit responds best to emotion. Think of something that stirs you, happy or sad."
Chase and Amora glanced at each other. Chase grinned. Amora smiled shyly.
Akilah hesitated. A tight, bitter feeling surfaced—loneliness, sharp and unwanted. She shoved it aside and thought instead about how irritating the boys were.
That helped.
Vida struggled longer. Friends. Too broad. She narrowed it.
Hendrix.
Her face warmed. She quickly redirected her thoughts.
When she looked over-
Hendrix was crying.
Silent tears slid down his face as he hovered his hands over the soil, eyes shut tight.
Vida's breath caught.
She'd never seen him cry.
"Uh… Vida?" Akilah nudged her. "You might wanna look."
Vida's plant had bloomed.
So had Hendrix's.
They hadn't noticed.
"Okay, absolutely not," Chase whispered. "Amora, we need to step it up before Akilah cheats."
"I can hear you," Akilah muttered. "And I will beat your ass."
Mr. Frewin stood, brushing dirt from his hands. "Good work. Let's take a break. I'm making beef stroganoff tonight."
"I'm starving," Akilah said immediately.
"Why?" Hendrix smirked. "Your flower's still dead."
Chase wheezed with laughter.
Akilah cracked her knuckles.
"Before violence happens," Mr. Frewin added calmly, "someone needs to grab ingredients."
"I'll go!" Vida said, already standing.
"Buddy system," Mr. Frewin warned.
"I'll go," Hendrix said, resting a hand on her head as he passed.
"Hey—!" Vida stumbled after him.
The walk was short. Ten minutes there, ten back. They talked the whole way, about training, about spirit, about how unfair Akilah was.
Then the laughter faded.
"Hey," Vida said quietly. "What were you thinking about earlier?"
"When?"
"When you were crying."
Hendrix stopped. Took her hand gently.
"You really shouldn't do that."
"Do wh—?"
"Pick at your nails." He smiled. "You just did them."
It didn't answer the question.
At the store, the clerk waved at them. Familiar. Safe.
They were almost done when Hendrix said, "Life's not vague. You'll figure it out. I know you will."
A man down the aisle slowed.
A Correctional Force badge caught the light.
Officer 1060 leaned on the counter as the kids left.
"You know those two?" he asked casually.
"Kids from the foster home down the street," the clerk answered. "Good kids."
Officer 1060 smiled. "Thanks."
Outside, he watched them disappear down the street.
He tapped his earpiece.
"Mark the foster home on Washington Street," he said quietly. "For later."
The next day.
Training resumed.
"Hendrix. Vida. With me," Mr. Frewin said.
The others groaned.
"Channel spirit," Mr. Frewin instructed, "but this time, visualize your mode. Materialize it."
He left them alone.
Hendrix focused. Strings. Wood. Weight.
Vida stared at her hands.
"How do I hold life?"
"Represent it," Hendrix said. "Plants are alive."
Her eyes lit up.
"Hendrix. You're a genius."
She poked his side.
"Hey—!" He laughed, breaking focus.
Across the yard, Akilah slammed Chase's face into the dirt.
"Deserved," she said flatly.
Later, all five went to the store.
They didn't make it far.
"Hey," a man said, stepping into their path. "Quick question."
Officer 1060 smiled too wide.
"What's this 'spirit' stuff you were talking about the other day?"
Chase opened his mouth.
Vida stepped forward. "It's a game."
Officer 1060 studied them.
Then he nodded. "Of course."
He walked away.
The house came into view.
The door was splintered.
"What the—" Chase whispered.
The door lay in pieces.