Has any ever told you that finals suck? Well trust me, they do. And having to write with a pencil in my mouth probably didn't help any. My upper right arm had a clean break and was in a sling with a splint, while my lower left arm was split into three pieces at the break. I had a full forearm cast with immobilized fingers. Fun. And while we Fleshies heal quickly, bones only heal so fast. The best of us can shave maybe a week off heal time for bones. Consigned to weeks of useless limbs, I began the laborious task of filling out exempt forms for the exhibition exams. It's about midnight now, and I'm having a hard time focusing on writing.

It's really beautiful outside tonight. A cool breeze is blowing from the north and the sky is clear and the moon is bright and I don't feel the urge to sleep at all. I remember when I was 13 and dedicated my life to becoming nocturnal. My mom shut that down after three days. I suppose I should explain how my arms healed so fast, but it will make more sense if I tell it along with the first day of second semester. And I don't want to write anymore now anyway.

Sorry I haven't written in so long, I had a rather hard time with two broken arms. But that comes later. It was Saturday night, the night of the big dance at the end of Music week. After hearing me imitate singers all week, the rest of the guy in the dorm had decided that I would be the one to represent our dorm in the Vocal Cover event. It involved singing at least one song while a live band (made of previous event winners) played the instrumental with you. It was a rather hard event to win, and honestly I had no idea why I was chosen. When it was my events turn, I began to sweat and started wondering how hard everyone was going to laugh. One of the official handed out slips indicating the songs that each of us was to sing. I took mine and hurriedly opened it up, preventing any anxiety from building. When I saw the song I was to play, I almost laughed. "Bohemian Rhapsody" is one of my favorite songs, and I know it by heart. The contest got a whole lot more fun after that.

After I had sung my song, I waited back stage for the winner to be announced. The few minutes it took seemed to last forever. The suspense had been built, the stage was set. And the winner was... a tie. But it was a tie between me and a sophomore from Dorm 4. We were allowed to pick the song that we were going to sing, and the person who sung their song the best won. The sophomore went first, singing "Turn the Page." After waiting for his cheering to die down, I stepped onto the stage. Tjaden, who was playing bass, winked at me. I gathered the musicians together, and told them the song to play. A few of them laughed, but they all headed back to their instruments and got prepared. I nodded to the head guitar, and the familiar intro began to play. I smiled, knowing how funny this was going to be.

"Scotty doesn't know

that Fiona and me

do it in my van every Sunday."

A wild cheer had gone up through the crowd. People were clapping and jumping up and down, and I started to really get into it. Suddenly a fist came out of nowhere. I raised my left arm to block, but with no time to react, the punch landed on vulnerable bone. My ulna snapped with a sickening crack. I was determined to win the contest now, so I continued singing. Holding the mike in my right hand, I pseudo-kicked with my left foot. I pulled my foot down into a lunge step, and, tossing the mike into the air swung towards my attacker. Suddenly my arm stopped against my will. I felt my upper arm snap, and I cried out in pain and spun to knee my second attacker in the balls. I was getting seriously pissed. I couldn't concentrate enough to see the first attacker's pressure points, and I couldn't hit the ones I had memorized with my feet. So I improvised.

The first kick stunned him, and the second one brought him down. I looked to the crowd, who was utterly silent. I managed to smile, and everyone started cheering.

I woke up in the the infirmary a day later, not sure how I had got there. Alan smiled as I regained consciousness.

"Alan, where am I?"

"The infirmary, if you must know."

"And why am I here?"

"You blacked out in front of a crowd of people; really, it's not much of a stretch."

"How long was I out?"

"The better part of a day."

"WHAT!? Why so long!?"

"Stone stages are particularly unforgiving to the back of one's head. Now, you need to rest. You have finals tomorrow."

I know, I thought it was crap too. The second semester starts in a few days, and I'm not sure if I'm ready.

Wednesday was Break Day. No music was played, and most just didn't move. At about nine in the morning, I threw myself out of bed and crawled to the dining hall. Breakfast was being served all day, so I took my time and ate very, very slowly. At eleven, I left the mess hall to go back to bed and did a full flip over a small child. After landing very painfully on my face, I rolled over to see if the child was alright. He stood stoically, for the most part pretending I didn't exist. I rose to my feet and asked in a sincere tone, "Are you alright?"

The boy looked up at me, still without expression. I looked down at his dull gold eyes. They seemed to dance with dark shapes, twisting and writhing inside of his mind. I turned to leave, and suddenly I froze, I couldn't move. I was inside a golden yellow sphere, covered on the inside by strange symbols: runes. The boy strode in front of me, and the sphere shifted to keep both of us inside it. The boy motioned with his arm, and my body bent down to him of its own will. My own face a few inches from his, the boys eyes now seemed to glow.

"Stay away from my kind, Arbiter. You may not like what you find."

The orb disappeared, and I fell to the ground. I looked up, and the boy was half way down the hall. So went my first conversation with a rune writer.

At twelve, when I got back to my dorm, I flopped down on a couch. After five minutes of staring at a wall, I went down to the courtyard to read a book. When I got there, I found Greta and Zoe sitting under a tree, chatting away. I decided to do something interesting with my time, so I went at sat next to them.

"Oh hey, B. How's it going?" While Spirits technically participated in Music Week, the didn't get very into it, and it was obvious by her refreshedness that Greta had been sleeping.

"Brain. Fried." I was lucky to get both words out.

"Oh my Gosh. This week has been SO much fun, hasn't it, B?"

I turned to Greta, lost for words that I couldn't have said anyway.

"She's still pumped on music from last night."

"Oh."

Zoe, still enthused, kept up her questions.

"So what did you do last night?"

"Sleep... around."

"Zach!... With who?"

"No one."

"Oh. Ohhhhhh ok in various places. What did you do this morning?"

"Ate."

"Good, good. What are you going to do the rest of the day?"

"Crawl in a hole and die."

"Oh ha ha. What are you really going to do?"

"Sleep. Eat. Work.... abs."

Greta blushed slightly and turned away, and Zoe laughed at her.

"Wow, Greta, you have such an ab fetish."

Over the next few minutes, the conversation between the girls dissolved into squabbling. Suddenly, Greta turned to me.

"So, Zach what do you think?"

But I was already asleep.

So on Monday, all that happened was that we played Ninja to the Mortal Kombat Theme all day. Absolutely nothing else. Ninja is game in which 3-7 people stand in a circle with their hands together. One of the people cries "NINJA!" and everyone strikes a pose. Then the person who cried Ninja tries to stike one of the hands of another person. Since you only get one "move," you must leave your hand extended if you strike at someone. If the attacker is successful in hitting another's hand, that person is out. If not, play continues as normal. Everyone plays in turn, moving clockwise. If someone moves out of turn or flinches when not being struck at, they are also out. Also, when striking at an opponent, one step or jump is allowed. Double strikes (striking with both hands at once) are allowed but are risky. At any time that it is your turn, you may move to position yourself without striking. This uses one turn. You can also use one turn to move yourself into the original standing position. If everyone returns to the original position, Ninja may be recalled. Last person standing wins.

The obvious skill in this game is speed, but strategy and unpredictability are just as important. Due to the nature of the participants, the games were fast paced, but it was surprising how quickly people began perfecting their game. Soon it appeared that full on sparring sessions were going on, with 4 or 5 person groups flying all over the school. Since there were no limits on match locations, I soon found myself playing upside down in the girls 3rd floor bathroom. How, you may ask? Two things: water pipes and strong ankles. The Spirit girls were not pleased, but the Fleshy girls either joined us or... ahem. Tried to distract us. Unfortunately Jeff, the biggest perv I know, got distracted. His nose is still crooked. Fortunately for Jeff, he blacked out on the stone floor, so the Spirit girls had the guts to take him to the infirmary. Those of us who didn't get distracted (i.e. everyone but Jeff) continued on since he fell out of turn and was therefore out. This may seem cold, but like I said, we were in the zone. A few hours later, a supper, we all went to Jeff and apologized for not helping him, then smacked him across the back of the head for being such an obvious pervert. I think Daniel mad him break his nose again. Exhausted from a day of horse play, everyone in my room went to bed while worked on my abs.

Did I mention I hate ab work outs?

Friday morning I woke up earlier to dig out an instrument. It was really hard to decide, but I finally worked it down to either my sitar or my violin. The sitar is wild and exotic, the violin classic and refined. It was a hard decision, but I ultimately went with the violin. Most of the other guys in the dorm were tuning guitars or warming up horns. There were a few other violins, but I saw some cellos and upright basses, meaning that a quartet might be possible. I quickly warmed up my violin and made my way to class. As soon as I walked into Light Weapons I knew that this week was going to be way too much fun. Kids were sitting in various places aroung the room, playing and listen to music. I sat over by Dani and Lisa, who I already kneew liked classical music.
"Hi B."
"How's it going?"
"Hello Dani, Lisa. I'm feeling good this morning. You guys excited for this week?"
They looked at each other knowingly and I was beginning to wonder if something was wrong when Dani snapped her head back to look at me.
"Yeah, Music Week is usually lots of fun."
I wasn't sure if there was something I was missing, but I went ahead and started playing. Smiles lit up both of the girls faces. I played the Allegro con bria from Violin Sonata No. 1, playing quietly and emotionally. I closed my eyes as I began to drift off into the music, but soon I could hear someone laughing at me. I opened my eyes to a view of the ceiling, and I knew I'd done it again. Everytime I play the violin I close my eyes... and lay on my back. It's not a problem when I'm alone, but when I'm standing up and playing for someone, it's kinda weird. I laughed it off, but I didn't play for the rest of the period. From then on, I just started out laying on the ground. It attracted some questions, but not nearly as much laughing. During lunch, a few of us got together and played one of Beethoven's string quartets.

Saturday was a riot. No literally, a riot. At eight o'clock in the morning, music was blasted all over the school. Not pop music either, the kind of music your mom doesn't want you to listen to. I jumped out of bed, and as I threw on some pants, I could feel a buzz coming already. Then "Come Out and Play" by The Offspring came on, and me and I'm pretty sure every other guy in the dorm ran out without bothering to put a shirt. There were so many of us that we didn't fit through the door, so a few of us went right through the walls. We all went running down the halls. getting way too excited and having way too much fun. We had just made into the Main Hall when the song ended. Then "One" by Metallica began to play. I sank to my knees, losing myself in the familiar rythmn. I knew every second of the song, and soon I was only slightly concious, my mind off in its own little world. I knew that I wa on my knees, and that was about it. You see, when a normal listens to music they like, endorphins are released that make you feel good. A concert atmosphere releases adrenaline as well as other stimulants. When a flesh mage is in similar circumstances, their mind releases a huge array of chemicals that have afffects that vary from person to person. When these chemicals hit me, I suddenly became super-aware of every detail of my surroundings. A few feet a way from me, a girl was laying on the floor, moaning softly, where as the guy next to me was on his feet spinning his head wildly as if he was seeing unimanginable things. And the music, oh the music. It felt like my soul was vibrating in time with the melodies. Many songs played, and during that time I saw images, felt things that I had never experienced. As "Fade to Black" played, I felt a strange sensation begin to spread through my body. It felt like a combonation of fire and electricity at the same time. At first I thought I might be having an orgasm, but then a crushing darkness flooded me. Cold trickled down my limbs, and my legs jeked me to my feet. Suddenly, a energy filled my body, an unspeakable wildness that danced and weaved through every cell in my body. It was like I was the most hyper I'd ever been, but I was so hyper my brain couldn't comprehend it. The energy buit and built and built until I thought it would burst from me. Somewhere, deep in my mind, something gave way. I let out a feral yell, louder than even the music. People snapped out of trances to look at me, and even though I realized there were terrified of me, I couldn't stop. As the song ended, I could fell the energy leaving. When the music stopped and I gained control of my body again, I gently smiled to the people staring at me.

And then I collapsed.

The black limousine pulled to a halt, signaling my return to the Academy of Magic. Alan, as Professor Long asked me to now call him, and I walked through the gate and up the front steps, meeting suprisingly few people along the way.
"Hurry to your dormitory, Belerophon (unfortunately Alan wasn't picking up on my nickname), I believe the staff is currently announcing something you won't want to miss."


Even though I almost ran back to my dorm, I caught the Ranged Weapons instructor just as she walked out off the dormitory. She nodded at my slightly pleading look and gestured into the room. I opened the door to find the Common Parlor, or Common, as it is also known, full of people chatting amongst themselves. A few people from my classes waved as I walked by, but I kept walking until I saw George and Joshua sitting on one of the short couches on the western wall of the room.
"Hey guys, what's all the fuss about?"
Joshua answered first, nodding something to himself as he turned to my face.
"Music Week begins on Friday."
George followed him up with a bit more detail.
"Music Week is a student celebration week centered around music. There are activities, games, a few parties, and at the end of the week there is a large dance. You might want to start working on your abs now."
"Abs?"
"The King of the Music is the guy with the best musical performance in his category. If you enter in anything but Funk, you'll have to take your shirt off to win."
"I'll remember that."
"And also, be careful around campus this week."
"Why?"
"The Week of Music has an odd effect on the school," replied Joshua. "Since music has such strong reaction in the human body... well, haven't you ever gotten high on music?"
I'd never heard it phrased that way, but since I knew what he meant I answered honestly.
"Why yes, yes I have."
George leaned in again, a look that could only be described as glee covering his face.
"Imagine everyone in the school on a music-driven adrenaline rush!"
I thought the kid was going to jump right out of his seat.
After a few minutes of discussion on adrenaline as stimulant versus norepinephrine, we got around to discussing our favorite genres of music. I learned that Joshua was in to electronica and very surprisingly, rap. I said that I liked classical and rock. George shared my taste in classical music but said he prefers jazz to rock.
Just then Dvarek walked over to where the three of us were sitting. He was grinning, as usual, and was holding an acoustic guitar.
"Hey B. Josh. George."
"Hey Dvarek. What are you doing in our dorm?" I asked.
"Picking up the guitar I'm playing this week."
"This week?" Oops. I was going to have to dig deep to find my instruments.
"Anyone who's anyone plays an instrument all week."
"Any suggestions?"
He shot me a quizzical look. "How many do you play?"
"Electric guitar, sax, violin, piano, sitar, and the mandolin..."
I had noticed that George and Josh were now staring at me. Something seemed to nag at Josh.
"All saxes?"
"Yes."
"Electric bass, too?"
"Yes."
Josh nodded to himself again, something that was really starting to annoy me.
"Can't you do a mnemonic blink?"
"No, actually. It was something I was never able to grasp."
Dvarek turned back to me. "Started on your abs yet?"
"Nope. But I heard about that."
"Well, good luck."

That night I went ahead and started on my abs, pushing my endurance to the limit. Rather than foolishly concentrating on front abs, I also did obliques and back, along with pecks to even out my upper body. It was the first time in weeks that I was to tired to continue working.

I hope to sleep well.

The island that my training took place on was quite small. A ten foot diameter circle of stone dominated the eastern half of the island, with the western twenty feet covered with brush and a single small tree. I stood in the stone circle and turned to face Professor Long.
"How will my training present itself today?"
"You handled the Arbiter news fairly quickly," he responded.
"It doesn't change who I am, and I still have much to learn." I bent into a crouch and then slid into the forward stance, presenting my right hand in the proper position.
Prof. Long smiled and a chuckle escaped his lips.
"That sounds like my favorite student. But we won't be sparring today."
I stood erect, slightly puzzled.
"Today you are going to begin learning about the second part of Death Fist. The pressure points."
"Pressure points? Like acupuncture?"
Long chuckled again. "Even more powerful, but much simpler. There are 1637 pressure points in the human body that can be manipulated, but only 700 or so of those are suitable for battle."
"And how does someone manipulate these points?"
Long smiled one of his more mischievous smiles.
"Before you learn to touch, you must learn to see."
And so for the rest of the day Long and I did a number of chi exercises designed to allow me to access and see chi both in myself and others. I made progress, but it was frustratingly difficult to see chi in other beings than myself.
"Belerophon, this is the most difficult part of the training," explained Long after a few hours of struggling," as a flesh mage, controlling your own body comes as second nature. But that makes seeing how others control their bodies that much more difficult. It can take months for someone to master this phase of the Death Fist."
And so I practiced until the sun began to set. But still no luck. I slept well, and so I woke up long before the sun rose. I swam back out to the island, and was meditating in the predawn calm when a couple paddled by in a canoe. They didn't see me, and so their conversation went on interrupted. The woman was rattling off a long list of fishing gadgets she wanted to bring. The man shook his head and replied quietly, "Honey, you can't make a fish believe that your lure is real. But what you can do is make your lure act like it's real."
Realization hit me like a tidal wave. I was going about trying to see chi completely the wrong way. Rather than trying to make someone else's chi visible to my eyes, I should try to make my eyes attuned to seeing other people's already present chi. I sat down in the center of the stone circle, focusing my chi to once again begin practicing. I could tell the difference between my two attempts immediately. My eyes began to tingle, as though I could feel my chi flowing to them. A blink seemed to last for an eternity, and then my eyes opened.
And I saw.
Bushes flickered, trees danced, the water swirled with strange patterns.
But the sky, the shifting, twisting, breathing, living sky held my attention.