Prism Academy 3- Prologue (Patreon)

Prologue

Terror would be an understatement for what Priska was feeling. She was stuck in a nightmare. No, that wasn’t fair, nightmares made more sense than this. At least they did whenever she’d remembered one as a child. There had always been a connection to the events of her life no matter how warped or odd.

Wherever she was now, it was like nothing she had ever experienced. At first, she had thought it was completely empty. That seemed like wishful thinking though. The emptiness was very alive, but whatever filled this space was so alien to her that just looking threatened her sanity.

None of the many gods which her grandmother had told her about could explain the things here. She felt like she’d been her for hours, but knew it likely had only been minutes. Some time had passed though. She’d seen flashes of light, streaks of darkness and experienced sounds she could taste, and smells she could feel.

Most bizarre had been when Aden and someone else had appeared in her eyes. They’d been like streaks of color. Probably to other people. An orange streak and a violet streak next to the dazzling swirl of color which was Aden. He’d only skirted long the edge of this place never sinking into the quagmire she found herself stuck in.

Priska cried out to him. It felt cowardly. Worse, it felt like a betrayal. If he came to her, would he be stuck in this hell with her? Then he was gone. She thought he had seen her but seemed shocked.

A few moments later he had appeared again. His outfit was different this time. It didn’t seem possible that there had been time for him to have changed, yet he had. Something was off about that, but she didn’t know what it was. The second he had appeared the colors around him had been even denser, richer, almost like he was the only real thing here.

Now she tried to make herself as small as possible. The last thing she wanted for any of the horrors to notice her. She had no god to pray to, all she could do was plead in her mind for Aden to return.

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Cara woke up. The days had been going by in a haze. At she didn’t scream when she woke up today. The pain was inside not pushing against her. It wasn’t gone, but at least it didn’t feel angry now. She was almost positive that she was at Prism Academy, but that didn’t seem possible.

The last thing she remembered was being in her apartment. She’d gotten home from work and taken some bliss. Then there was the feeling of being grabbed. A part of Cara thought that Aden had returned to her. Didn’t he know that she couldn’t live without him. She’d said mean things, but Aden knew her. He had to know she didn’t mean those words.

Well, she had meant them, but only in the moment. That was her hurt speaking. Then there was pain. It had been unending. She felt different now, stronger, but weaker at the same time. The pain was waiting, she just knew it. Maybe today she would be able to remember.

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Feinston sighed. He was tired of having this argument. If it wasn’t some government rep, it was a board member, or even various corporate interests. Today it was his own right-hand woman. Catherine was supposed to be taking work off of his plate not adding more to it.

“Dr. Feinston, even you had to admit that it’s worrisome. Perhaps there is something wrong with him?”

“There is absolutely no reason to believe that.”

“Of course, there is. It’s been four months since he lost a bond.”

Feinston pinched the bridge of his nose. “He isn’t the first Refractor to lose a Ray. It is torture, but almost everyone survives it. There is no reason to think that he won’t.”

“Need I remind you that almost everyone else has rebounded within a couple of months. The pain is too intense not to. They all go through it, the cycle of loss and regret, but they give in and fill the hurt.”

“He has bonded again since Queenie. He managed to get Demis to bond with him. I would have thought that would be enough of a coup for you.”

“Aden hasn’t filled his blue bond though. That should be the one causing him the pain. And he isn’t just any Refractor. He is too valuable for this to be left to chance. How do we know what is normal for a prism? Based on Lean Man’s reports, the sheer number of evolutions he has obtained so far is beyond anything we have on record.

“You know what will happen if he hasn’t filled his bonds prior to the six month deadline. You can’t be okay with Soros or the military getting any more control over him.”

“General Wilson seems thrilled. He is doing ten times as many frontline missions as he agreed to. I suspect at this point, if the general could get a commitment for more of the same that he’d give up getting a military bond.”

“Be that as it may, I’m not suggesting that we do anything untoward, but surely a trainee could submit for a few physical and psychological exams. He is still a trainee at the academy, isn’t he?”

Another sigh. She did have a point. Catherine could be a bitch, but she was an effective administrator. “Fine, I’ll just need to find the right way to broach this with him. But even he shouldn’t be able to argue against a few simple tests.”

Ms. Misago smiled. “That’s all I’m asking for.”