The Gifted by Aaron K. Redshaw Page B

around and I think you'll be impressed.”
    I looked at the others. “Can we think about
this?” Tracy asked.
    “Sure, but remember, once you chose you must
stay on that path. That’s the rule. Stay here until you decide,
then chose a direction. And don't worry, you will still see each
other back in your rooms and at meals.”
    “Thanks,” said Tracy with a big smile on her
face. And then Abe turned his face toward me with a look of
confusion, and paused as if thinking about something. After a
moment, he smiled again and turned towards Focused Arts and walked
off.
    “Which way?” asked Han.
    “Let's not split up,” I said.
    “I agree,” said Han.
    “As much as I want to agree with you,” said
Tracy, “I really think if we stay together, we won’t learn as much.
We should try both types and then report on what we learned. If we
ever get out of here, we’ll have more information.”
    “Good point,” said Guido. “So how should we
divide?” Everyone was looking at me. Then as if realizing what they
were doing, they all looked away.
    “Well,” Tracy said. “ I would like to
learn other gifts, even if it means losing some of my own.”
    “I’m in the same camp,” said Guido.
    “Han, you want to go with me?” I said.
    “Okay,” said Han, barely above a whisper.
    “Great,” I said, “we'll meet back here for
dinner to talk.”
    We split up. Tracy and Guido went north and
Han and I went south.
    Once we walked through the south entrance,
Han and I entered a hallway that led straight for a little while
with a couple of small rooms on both sides. Each room had a blue
mat on the floor, like in a training dojo. We followed everyone
else to the end of the hallway where it finally opened out onto a
large auditorium. This was the auditorium where we had been
captured on the balcony, but no one was using the balcony now. We
could see a bunch of kids already assembled inside. They were
sitting in chairs and some had notebooks out.
    Dozens of rows went downward in steps toward
a stage at the bottom. Someone was standing on the stage. “That
looks like Abe,” I said.
    “I think so,” whispered Han.
    “Shhhh,” said a kid sitting in front of us.
We found some chairs at the back and sat down.
    Abe was already talking, “. . .and remember
that at this academy you are the weapons of choice. If you were to
encounter a situation, and you knew that you had a power that would
be useful, you are the expert on your own ability. I don’t have to
direct you. You are more powerful than you realize on your
own.”
    Han whispered, “I can feel it from here.”
    “What?” I asked.
    “His gift,” said Han.
    Abe kept talking. “You should know that we
trust you completely.” He gave a warm smile. I felt that he really
did trust me and I felt privileged. “That's one thing this place is
built on, trust. You trust me and I trust you, because it’s only
together that we can change the world!” I felt like maybe I could
make a difference in the world. “So practice hard. Be the expert in
your field. No two people have yet been found to possess the same
exact powers. That means you’re special. Duplication is what Mixed
Arts students are good at, but you are my black belts in your art.
Be the best you can be in order to crush the enemy. We have powers
which place us above others, so let’s use them to rule!”
    Students clapped and he walked off of the
stage while a girl, who looked a little older, came up front. She
was tall and had a large dark braid running down her back. I didn’t
feel the same confidence I did from Abe, but she was pretty and
smiled nicely. She spoke with a low voice for a girl. “Get together
with your trainers and spend some time on the basics before you
move on to specialized training. Trainers, your goal is that
someday those you train will become trainers as well. Today’s focus
will be confusion to the enemy. Have a good session, and remember:
Power to conquer!”
    Everyone yelled