Chapter 26 #2
“Don’t be. It’s fine.” Rain waved it off.
“It’s nice to be able to speak openly with you all.
I have my sister, but I try not to burden her with more worries.
She’s had to endure enough of my downfalls.
Other aetherials always have their own agendas.
But with you guys… I trust your judgement. I respect your opinions.”
They all looked at him with something like honour. Rain didn’t need his channel open to know what they felt.
“My father hasn’t reacted to the announcement yet.
I expect he’ll be furious. I don’t want to scare you, but there are a lot of changes coming and I’ll be at the centre of it.
I want you to know I’ll do everything in my power to protect each of you.
You’ve shown me unconditional friendship and support I’ve never experienced before. I hope to repay you however I can.”
“You do realise unconditional means there’s nothing to repay, right?” Daphne said.
“Yeah, you don’t owe us anything, mate,” Thomas added.
Rain smiled his first real smile of the day.
“Okay, you’re right. I just appreciate you all.
” He lifted his hands in surrender. “I want to make your lives easier. Easier to be friends without sneaking into Grey Territory just to spend time together. I want to become a king you can be proud of and not fear. I’m vowing to each of you now: whatever the future holds, I’ll do everything in my power to change the world as we know it. ”
The team stared at him like he’d sprouted a second head, and Rain suddenly felt painfully aware of himself.
“Why does it sound like you’re about to leave us?” Jay asked quietly.
“We have a competition to win. I’m not going anywhere,” Rain replied.
“And after the competition? If we don’t make it far—are you going to disappear then?” Jay pressed, frustration sharpening his tone.
“I don’t know. I haven’t thought that far ahead. Most of you will be travelling home.” Rain said it gently, though the truth of it sat heavy in his chest. They would drift apart. Of course they would.
“Oh, I can’t think about that,” Emily groaned, clinging to Daphne’s arm. “It makes me super sad that we’re all going to be separated.”
“What about us?” Jay cut in, eyes narrowing at Rain.
Rain looked away, pushing off the wall. This wasn’t a conversation they should have in front of everyone—and he wasn’t ready to face the mess of feelings between them.
The guilt alone, every time he saw the fading welts on Jay’s beautiful, angelic face, made him want to walk away for Jay’s sake.
But the thought of actually doing it felt unbearable.
“Come on. Let’s start training. That’s what we’re here for,” Rain called, ignoring Jay’s burning stare.
“Great. Just ignore me then,” Jay muttered as Rain walked off. “Very mature.” Rain heard it and fought a smile. Jay was infuriatingly cute when annoyed.
Rain stepped into the centre of the half-pipe.
“From here on, the events test our combined skills. Our weaknesses will show because we all have to run the entire course. Our strength is teamwork. We need to trust each other and stay focused. Today’s drill: run up the ramp, haul yourself onto the platform, give me ten push-ups, run back down, ten burpee push-ups, repeat. ”
The girls groaned.
“That’s the spirit. Rogan; how many sets?”
Everyone turned. Rogan froze like a startled deer.
“Fif—” He caught Emily’s glare. “Twenty-five?”
“Easy. Let’s go.”
Rain stayed back, observing. He knew exactly who would struggle and wanted to see how they handled it.
Wren and Jasmine reached the rim first with speed and technique.
Jasmine swung up effortlessly; Wren scrambled but made it.
Rogan, Thomas, and Jay followed. Daphne barely clung on long enough to pull herself up.
Emily tried every strategy she could think of but slid back down each time.
Sean, all muscle and no momentum, couldn’t quite catch the ledge.
By the time the others were on their second set, Emily and Sean were still stuck.
“Come on, Emily, you’ve got this!” Wren called as she passed her but didn’t slow down to help. Sean stared at the ramp like it had personally insulted him.
Rain watched for three more sets before stepping in.
“Emily, you with me?”
“Yeah—why?” she panted.
“When I’m up there, run and take my hand.”
She nodded. Rain sprinted up, twisted, and sat on the edge. “Go.”
She ran; he caught her hand and pulled her up with ease.
“Sean. Run as fast as you can. I’ll help you reach the edge.”
“I can’t make it that far.”
“Trust me.”
Sean sighed, then ran. Rain pushed energy behind him, a firm invisible force launching him high enough to grab the ledge. Sean hauled himself up easily.
“Good. We’ll do that every time,” Rain said. They nodded, falling into push-ups.
From then on, the three of them moved as a unit, waiting for each other, encouraging each other, then climbing together. Meanwhile, Jay, Thomas, Daphne, and Wren began to falter, limbs shaking, technique slipping. Rain didn’t help them. Not yet.
By the time Rain’s trio finished all twenty-five sets, only Rogan and Jasmine had beaten them. The rest were still struggling through their final rounds.
“Any help?” Jay rasped, clutching his ribs, breath ragged. He’d slid down the ramp again.
“Sure. All you had to do was ask.” Rain jogged up, lay flat on the platform, and held out his hand. Jay hesitated, exhausted, then grabbed it. Rain pulled him up; Jay released him instantly, like Rain’s touch burned, and dropped into his last push-ups.
Rain almost asked if he was okay but Jay struggled through his last set, so he held his tongue.
“Anyone else need a little teamwork?” Rain called from the platform.
“Yes—please,” Wren wheezed. “Two more times.”
He helped her, then Daphne. Thomas finished alone.
When they finally collapsed onto the benches, sweaty, defeated, and gasping, Rain sat opposite them.
“Okay. That was severely disappointing.”
“It isn’t our fault,, we did our best,” Daphne protested.
“Really?” Rain arched a brow. “Explain to me how it isn’t your fault that you tackled that exercise as individuals instead of a team.”
Silence. Realisation sank in.
“We are a team. And we need to start thinking like one. If one of us falls, we all fall. I started last. Two of our members couldn’t make the height.
But the moment the three of us worked together, we beat most of you.
We encouraged each other. We finished together. That is how we should be performing.”
He let the words settle.
“Do you think Purple will make mistakes like this on Velday?”
Thomas scowled. “Okay, we get it. We suck.”
“That isn’t it at all,” Rain countered. “Thinking like that won’t get us closer to a win.
We need to learn how to work together, and that’s what this week is for.
I realise we may have to rely on my power for certain things.
Sean isn’t going to scale heights as easily as the rest of us, and he’s not exactly small enough to carry like Emily.
So, I think it’s worth getting you all used to the feel of my power, just in case. ”
He opened his channel, scanning the group wanting a read on his suggestion. They looked exactly how they felt: exhausted, frustrated, disappointed in themselves.
That’s when he felt it; Jay’s energy flickering, thinning, turning hazy.
Rain was on his feet before he consciously decided to move. He reached Jay just as he fell backward, catching him with his power and then in his arms. He lifted him from the bench and lowered him gently to the ground, rolling him onto his side.
The team rushed in around them.
“Jay! Jay, can you hear me?” Rain pressed two fingers to his pulse, already scanning his energy. Jay was breathing, but his heart hammered too fast, and his skin was clammy. Rain felt a sharp echo of pain in his own ribs as he traced Jay’s aura.
He lifted Jay’s crimson shirt and the entire left side of his ribcage was a storm of bruises. Gasps rippled through the group.
“Fuck! Why didn’t you say something?” Rain breathed, voice tight with fear. He leaned down, resting his forehead against Jay’s. “I’m so sorry,” he whispered, kissing him gently.
Jay’s eyes rolled, his body twitching as he fought to stay conscious.
“I’ll get water. Jaz, come with me,” Wren said, already sprinting off.
“Everything’s okay. I’m here,” Rain murmured, keeping his voice steady even as Jay’s pain tugged at him like a hook.
Rain pressed his hand lightly over the bruised ribs, isolating his power.
The bone was broken. Something inside him—instinct, memory, he wasn’t sure, but it felt ancient—pulled at him to siphon the pain.
He shouldn’t be able to do that.
But he tried.
As he willed the pain away from Jay, it stabbed into Rain’s own ribcage, stealing his breath. Jay’s body eased. His breathing slowed. His muscles relaxed. His eyes fluttered open, blue and dazed.
Rain kept breathing through the pain he’d taken on. He’d never broken a bone before; the sensation was foreign, sharp, but manageable. His thought back to the little girl in his vision, the one who took her brother’s pain.
“What happened?” Jay croaked.
“You fainted. You’re okay. I’m here.” Rain cupped his face. “Don’t move yet. You might not feel the pain, but you’re hurt, badly. Why didn’t you tell me?” Jay’s face was soft, vulnerable; he wasn’t meant to carry this kind of pain.
“I didn’t want you to worry,” Jay whispered.
“I will always worry about you,” Rain said, leaning closer despite the ache in his side. “You have my heart.” He kissed him softly.
Jay sniffed, blinking fast. Rain recognised the sadness radiating off him as something more than related to his pain.
“What’s wrong?” he asked gently.
“I miss you,” Jay sobbed, a single tear slipping down his cheek before he wiped it away. Rain’s heart clenched. He sent warmth and love through their connection, soothing him, wishing he could pull him into his arms without hurting him.
“I’ve missed you too,” Rain murmured.