By the time morning came, I'd be greeted by an aching jaw and the smell of a warm breakfast. sitting up from my bed I found I'd still been wearing my pilot suit.

To my right Satomi and Talia had been seated next to me, enjoying breakfast themselves.

"Oh Good morning, Soran," Greeted Satomi as she turned toward the bed in her chair. "Did you get a good amount of rest?"

"I would've if Claire hadn't beaten me silly last night," I groaned. "Anyway... What are you two doing here?"

"Satomi wanted to bring ya some breakfast and I wanted to come with," spoke Talia. "You should've seen the monstrous scolding Claire got last night."

I was a bit relieved to hear that although it wasn't needed. Claire was right in her anger but she didn't have to kick my ass that bad. Looking down at the tray sitting over me I found a decent breakfast. Pancakes, Toast, and some cheesy grits.

"Well thanks for checking up on me I guess, and for the food."

Before I could dig in, Talia put a small chip on my plate. It had the Go Raiser Emblem on it. She had a similar chip and slotted it in her A.U.D. and her eyes began to light up blue.

"Ugh... Do I really have to watch it on an A.U.D. The larger screen is much more comfortable."

"Ya sound like such an old timer," Talia sighed. "Besides, requisitions said it wasn't a priority to have that installed here."

As much as I'd rather have a larger screen, it was probably better this way. It would keep up my image as a Commander a lot better for the crew. Slotting the chip in my implant, the first episode began to play almost instantly. In front of my eyes was a screen where I'd watch the actors play out their stories as if I'd been watching from a small distance. I did my best to eat slowly since the experience was completely virtual.

Halfway through my breakfast, I'd reached the climax of the episode where the protagonist, Iori Junya obtained the power of Raiser to defeat the Death Army. He used a specialized handgun that allowed him to transform into the legendary warrior to defeat the evil of Majin Rai.

Even though I could feel my childlike excitement rise within me as the episode played out, when Junya transformed into Go Raiser, it annoyed me a bit. My Anima was nothing like Go Raiser. I'd been fighting like some kind of blood knight in my anger which nearly cost us the mission and above all else the lives of my friends. I'd would've rathered something more powerful and heroic. Something I could've used to save people's lives that day instead of what I did.

By the time the credits rolled I'd lost my appetite. The timing couldn't have been better because someone pounded on the door about three times.

"Yo Snow white, we gotta gather in the... Oh pardon me, I didn't mean to interrupt your quality time."

"Y-you got the wrong idea, Andrew," I stammered. "They were just making sure I was ok was all."

Try as I might there was nothing I could do to stop Andrew's room-temperature brain from conjuring whatever weird thoughts it did.

"Is it that time?" asked Talia as she finished the last of her breakfast.

"Yep, Edwin wants us to gather in the sparring hall. He's got some sort of surprise for us."

As Talia stood from her seat, she and Satomi began to head for the door. From then on the vibe changed. While Andrew had a smile on his face I could tell it wasn't real. An unbelievable amount of malice oozed from him. It wasn't just him, but the girls as well. Their Auras darkened as they left.

It was like I'd been on the other side of my anger for once. Electing to just follow their lead, I changed out of my pilot suit. Hitting the showers after training would've probably been the best thing for me. Passing through my door the corridor was already empty. Thank Arcadia for the Animus system. While I was on my way to the sparring hall, my mind couldn't stop itself from playing back to the events of yesterday. Even though I wanted to feel what the others were feeling, I just couldn't. A part of me felt it was too dangerous to get like them and it was because of the power I displayed.

Thinking of that dreadful time also got me thinking of Clarke. I'm sure now he'd probably tell me to cheer up or something. That would've been easier if he were still with us. So I just shuffled through a playlist of music from this cool RPG I played and tried drowning out my thoughts with it.

As I reached the sparing hall I saw that every officer was gathered inside. It was clear that this was purely an Arcadian-only experience even with Claudia being there.

"Ah, young Xenthos," greeted Edwin. I'm so glad you seem to be in better spirits. I do believe you are a tad late though."

I hadn't known to be on time for anything but it was probably better to go with the flow on this one. Of all the things I'd been in the mood for, arguing with an old man was not one of them.

Claudia who stood next to Edwin stepped forward and cleared her throat. "The council has recognized your success in yesterday's mission. They send their heartfelt congratulations and offer their condolences in light of Officer Wright's passing."

"Yes, that was quite tragic. Truly a loss that will be felt by our crew," said Edwin.

I saw Claire ball her fist up, but Andrew took her hand as if trying to keep her from blurting something unnecessary. An action that caught Edwin's eye.

"Please forgive my tone, Ms. Wright. It seems I still have no idea how to 'read the room' as your earthlings put it. I actually wish to call upon a brief moment to grieve your fallen kin."

Hearing Edwin trying to be genuine was... actually rather nice for a change. Even though you couldn't tell whether or not he was being serious, he at least had a way of saying it right.

So for a moment, everyone was left in their grief. Even Alice and Seraph who didn't even know Clarke for that long. As the moment passed, Edwin clapped his hands and smiled.

"Thank you for allowing the moment Ms. Wright, and I thank you for forgiving me as well."

Even though she just looked away, her grip loosened now. It wasn't easy getting Claire to calm down but Edwin managed it somehow.

"Now, I shall teach you all how to use the instruments of your revenge."

"Revenge?" questioned Alice. "Isn't learning how to control our abilities more important than that?"

It's virtually the same thing young Milos," Edwin shrugged. "Lucian is a cautious individual and will always remain cautious of his enemy's potential. It is why he would rather have you all join his side willingly than have you become his enemies."

"His underlings sure have a hard time grasping that," scoffed Andrew.

"Precisely," Edwin agreed. "Which is why we much make Lucian's worst fears come to light."

Edwin held out his hand and a ball of black energy materialized. "The 'Esper' abilities you lot possessed before becoming hybrids were extraordinary was it not?"

Claire raised her hand in which he allowed her time to speak. "What about me? I didn't even have an Esper ability before I got this marker?"

Edwin chuckled a bit before answering. "Do you lot not notice how much Ether your bodies absorb just by being around it? You're not the first beings to receive gifts from the Ether and you certainly won't be the last."

That strangely enough made sense, which is weird none of us even thought about it before.

"Now the first step in your revenge against Lucian and his menagerie of henchmen is to attain your true strength," Edwin continued. "Which starts by thinking like an Arcadian."

Something easier said than done, and I was an Arcadian.

"To think like an Arcadian, one must not think of their powers as extraordinary abilities. You must use your abilities as naturally as you breathe or sleep."

Closing his eyes, he took a few deep breaths. As he did, the orb grew as he inhaled and shrank as he exhaled. It was the same thing, Clarke used to show Andrew and me as an exercise to calm ourselves.

I held out my hand and summoned forth a ball of white flames. I tried replicating the exercise only for the ball to become somewhat unstable as it grew and shrank. For some reason, I couldn't properly use the technique as I could before. Something was different and I couldn't tell what.

"Your commander has the right idea," Edwin continued. "But it seems his abnormal case? I wonder if any of you could spy the difference?"

All eyes were on me now which was a little embarrassing, to say the least. Before going any further I thought about something else. Waving my hand I called on 9th Light and as the blade materialized I caught it with my right hand.

"Ah... It seems the young fool is onto something."

Ignoring Edwin, I tried the exercise again focusing my energy on the sword now. The flame was still a bit unstable but not as much as before. It was easier to get the flames to grow and shrink with every breath.

"Hey So-So, why aren't you using all of your power?"

The question came from Talia, who seemed to examine my Astra more than the technique.

"Is there something you see Ms. Vitalis?" Edwin asked.

"Yeah... When I first used the Hermit, I could see and understand everything about objects. Everything they are made of and their power sources. It was weird when I saw Soran's sword before but I couldn't put my finger on it."

Edwin stroked his chin and then looked at Alice. "My dear if you wouldn't mind?"

Alice seemed to understand, then held out her hand. A sudden chill came over the room before the ice began to form from the moisture in the air. Alice's Reiterpallach materialized from within and she held it for everyone to see.

"Alright Ms. Vitallis," said Edwin. "Could you tell us the difference between Soran and Alice's Astras?"

It took Talia a second but she seem to get it now that she had a good look. "It's almost as if Soran's sword isn't complete. I can tell it's still a weapon rather than a part of Soran himself, unlike Alice's sword."

It was a strange observation but not one that didn't elicit some excitement from Edwin. He came over to me and put his hand on the weapon. I was going to protest until I saw his hand wasn't even bothered by the beam blade.

"Ah yes, the reason why your awakening wasn't complete. Summon the gun boy."

My friends were a little startled by Edwin's request and even I wanted to just say no. There were far more important things than fear at the moment. So taking my prosthetic hand off of the blade I focused my mind on the image of that gun I used. What did I call it again? Zero Dark?

The instant I found the image the firearm materialized in my hand out of black flames. A revolver with a long barrel. It seemed too unwieldy to even fire normally and had too much of a sinister design for my tastes.

"Nayari save us, How customized did you need this," gasped Talia. She examined the firearm so closely it was like a child seeing some cool toy. She managed to slip the weapon from my grasp. The thing looked like it would break her arm as soon as she pulled the trigger.

"50. cal bullets... A top-break frame... It's even got an auto ejection mechanism... This thing is nuts. Though there's something off with it."

"It's not something I plan on using very often," I said. "It's too dangerous to use it and the Black flame."

"Why not?" Edwin asked. "The power is a part of you?"

"You get knocked on the head or something? You saw what I did down there?"

Edwin's smile faded, and he morphed the black orb's shape into a dagger. Raising the dagger to my throat he looked into my eyes making sure I wouldn't look away.

"If the tip of this dagger so much as touches your skin you would cease to be. Gone in an instant."

As he finished speaking he poked my neck with the tip of the dagger. I thought I wouldn't even have the time to close my eyes but I did so anyway feeling the fear rising through me.

The problem was that I was still there. Granted I just felt cold steel touching my neck, I still existed. Looking away from him in just a moment I noticed my friends all armed to the teeth with their Astras ready to cut down Edwin. But when I didn't suddenly disappear they didn't move an inch.

"The Death Marker is the most unstable Marker of them all," spoke Edwin. "It requires such refined control that if I were incompetent I could erase everything and everyone on this ship. There wouldn't be a shred of atoms left of anything. Even the very space would be gone."

"The problem with this Marker is that it is very difficult to die, more so than any Arcadian would have trouble with... Yet I do not allow it to control me."

Edwin let go of the dagger and it crumbled into nothingness. He backed away slowly raising his hands as he did.

"To learn the Akashic Arts is to learn oneself. You must use all that you are if you are to grasp victory. If you can't understand that, then you are not fit to be in command Soran Xenthos."

It was infuriating to even listen to him. For as much as I had to put up with trying to even make it this far, he wasn't the one who got to say that. But as much as it pained me to admit he was right. Not learning how to control my powers was a problem before and it could be a problem in the future. But I was pissed so I wasn't going to respond very kindly.

"Tch... You know how to piss a guy off. Fine then... I'll prove that I got what it takes. I don't care what you throw at me. I can take it "

Edwin smiled, and it was the widest and creepiest smile I'd ever seen.

"Very well young Xenthos... Your true education begins..."