The Talents of the Fallen - 22. Part Twenty-One: Dueling Loves

Chapter Twenty-One: Dueling Loves

Two years later:

Now seventeen Aaron had grown to his full height. Though still below average, his participation in gymnastics and soccer had given he the body of an excellent athlete. It was a body that two of his closest friends lusted after.

For whatever reason, the headmaster had paired Aaron with his top students. Those included the telekinetic Andrew, Sam the school’s strongest empath, and Jon and his superhuman physique.

Aaron was the team’s mixed Talent member. After years of private training he had learned how to use his ability to block out most Talents and send them back to their user. Only the headmaster knew the nature of his Talent. The rest of the school on the other hand saw him as a jack of all trades.

Addition to his ability to reflect the Talents of others he had the passive empathic ability to make himself seem inconsequential to the point that he was near invisible. This caused his opponents to underestimate the threat he posed.

That did not mean he was unbeatable. He had no means of reflecting Jon’s Talent as it was focused within Jon himself and not aimed at Aaron. He also was not immune to one of Jon’s other Talents… that of his animalistic magnetism and charisma. While he could block it out from a distance it only took the brief moment of physical contact and Aaron was his to do with as he pleased.

The same was true with Sam. While Aaron could block out his emotional attacks from a distance, if he too were to come in physical contact with him Sam could inflict on him the worst forms of terror or greatest pleasures.

Out of the three he had no weakness which Andy could exploit. Though his ability to used telekinesis was the strongest ever recorded at the school no amount of force could break through Aaron’s defenses.

As was the tradition each student was given a nickname based on the nature of their Talents. Jon was known as Lion. Sam was Nightmare. Andy was Destroyer, while Aaron was known as Shield. The only thing missing from their team was a good mentalist.

One day near the start of the spring semester Aaron once again found himself alone with Jon in the gymnastics gymnasium. He had just finished running through his ring routine and was preparing to drop when he noticed Jon standing on the mat with open arms, ready to catch him.

“Come on babe you can’t stay up there forever.”

“Damn it Jon I’m not in the mood for one of your games.”

“You will be once I get my hands on you.”

“Look Andy is my boyfriend. The sooner you accept that the better.”

“Andsy Pansy… you need a real man taking care of you.”

“And you are a man?”

“Come on A, you know you want me.”

“As a friend.” Not able to hold himself up any longer he let himself drop. Before his feet touched the mat Jon jumped and caught him midair. The two landed hard on the mat knocking the wind out of Aaron.

He looked up to see Jon looking down at him and noticed he was in his arms. “Got ya.”

Under the thrall by the power of Jon’s Talent, Aaron could do nothing towards resisting the kisses Jon showered him with. He could feel both their cocks straining under their jocks, urging to be freed.

“You do know I love you.”

“You tell that to all the men you screw.”

“Yes but with you I actually mean it. I want you in the worst way. If you were a member of one of the old families my father might let me marry you as one of my three husbands but as it is I will have to settle with these all too rare trysts.” He slipped his gym shorts down to his ankles and pulled his cock free from his jock. Using his teeth he did the same to Aaron. “Boy you’re hot.” He kissed him again. “So hot.” He licked Aaron’s left nipple. “Very, very hot.” He licked the right one. “God… You burn what little common sense I have and turn me into a beast.” He moved to take Aaron’s cock in his mouth.

Right before his lips past the mushroom shaped head Jon was forced off Aaron and flung to the opposite side of the room. Standing in the doorway, Andy had both hands stretched out towards Aaron. “You okay hon?”

With the loss of physical contact Jon’s power over him began to slacken. “Ask me after I’ve had a breather.”

“No problem. Get yourself together while I deal with this idiot.” Turning his attention back on his rival he saw him charge at him like a juggernaut. Reach for his Talent he directed it at Jon but instead of throwing him back he was only able to slow him down. Jon had gone from using the power of his charisma to that of his physical Talents.

It soon became clear the two were caught in a never ending tug of war. Aaron wasn’t going to leave until the issue was settled. Siphoning off a portion of the telekinetic energy Andy had aimed at Jon, he used it to hit Jon from the side. The redirected attack caught him off guard and knocked him off his feet. Andy was then able to left Jon off the floor and imprisons him in a chain of kinetic force.

Aaron went over to where Jon struggled and gave him a sympathetic look. “I know you love me Jon and in a way I love you too but don’t you ever play that sort of trick on me again.”

“Will you at least give me a kiss goodbye?”

Aaron knew the short contact might be all it would take for him to fall back under Jon’s spell but he had been honest. He did love the creep. Stepping on his toes he let his lips brush against Jon’s.

Before he and Andy knew it Jon broke the chains of air that held him and had Aaron in a tight embrace. “I love you more than you will ever know.” Then, by his own free will he let Aaron go. He turned to Andy. “You have no idea how lucky you are.”

“Actually I think I do. If you are ever in the market for a trio you might consider joining Aaron and I for a group date.”

“Really… you wouldn’t mind me tagging along?” Jon was shocked. He had always assumed Andy was the jealous type.

“A date… not our bed.”

“We’ll see about that.” Jon waved goodbye to the pair as they left.

“A group date?” Aaron asked on the way back to the dorms.

“He is a hot fuck. Better we deal with him on our own terms than me having to worry about him jumping your bones each time I turn around. Oh by the way, we’re about to get our fifth member.”

“Fifth… you mean a mentalist?”

“Yep, and you wouldn’t imagine who the poor sucker is.”

“Who?”

“Someone like us.”

“You mean the Coven?”

“Much worse. He’s fully converted but after being captured and deprogramed he’s somewhat back to normal.

“What do you mean by somewhat.”

“I mean he’s still a bit of a train wreck which is why he was sent here. The Order hopes you and I will be able to bring him back to reality.”

“It is not like we are all that normal.”

“Hey in the last three years both of us have made great strides towards normality. You are probably supernormal.”

“Supernormal?”

“Yes, you do everything you can to appear normal that it comes off as being unnatural.”

“Am I really?” Aaron squeezed his hands into a pair of tight fists.

“Hey, I don’t mind. I’ll take you any way I can. Especially in bed.”

Since the formation of their sparring team the four of them had shared one of the full sized apartments reserved for the top team. Out of the five bedrooms however only two ever got much use. Aaron and Andy had shared the same bed since day one. While it took a bit longer before Andrew could forgive Aaron for having sex with Jon the two rarely felt comfortable without the other lying next to them. As for Jon and Sam… their mutual empathic abilities fueled the sex drives as much as their rivalry. While Jon never hid the fact that the one he really wanted was Aaron he didn’t protest too much about having to sleep with Sam.

The addition of a 5^th member would greatly change the group dynamic. Unless one of the pair became open to a threesome he would clearly be the odd man out. After today’s events Andy made it clear he might be willing to add Jon to the group but Andy was also hinting that the new person would pose more problems that either wanted to deal with.

“What‘s he like?”

Andrew didn’t know where to begin. “He’s a mess. Very paranoid which is anything reason why my brother thought you would be good for him. One of your Talents is your ability to make yourself seem nonthreatening.”

“You mean helpless.”

“I would not go that far.”

“But it is why Jon wants to get into my pants so bad. He likes the helpless and weak. It’s his signature fetish.”

“And you love being in the arms of a strong dominate man… that is why you two are almost prefect for each other.”

“Are you trying to get rid of me?”

“No, just teasing. Anyhoo... my brother is expecting us to show him some extra TLC if you get my meaning.”

“Your brother is a jerk.”

“He is the headmaster.”

“He also treats me like his favorite lab rat.”

“That’s only because he has a thing for you.”

“What the hell?” If the headmaster did have a thing for him this was the first time Aaron had heard of it.

“You heard me… what can I say we Balthazar boys have good taste in men. But don’t worry, he knows better than to poach on my territory. Of course if anything were to happen to me…”

Aaron elbowed him hard. “Not funny.”

Andrew grabbed Aaron by the waist and pulled them together. “I didn’t mean for it to be. He lifted Aaron up till their lips met. A few of the students who saw them let out whistles and cat calls. Most of them were actually jealous. While everyone agreed the two were a pair of weirdoes, they were also among the hottest men on campus. “I need to get you back to the apartment.”

“Why? So you can finish what Jon started.”

“I hope to do more than finish.”

Once in the apartment the pair took off their goggles and left them on the floor. By mutual agreement with their roommates the lights were kept intentionally dim. They headed straight for the bedroom and stripped down. They then slipped under the sheets and wrapped their bodies around each other.

No one but the pair knew of Aaron’s third Talent. With the Graft’s help he had learned how to project his dreams and greatest fantasy on other people. The only person he used it on was Andy. With that ability there was little need of physical love making yet even as Aaron shared his most passionate desired Andy did his best to physically play them out. By the end of it they were left both physically and mentally exhausted yet also more attuned to each other emotionally then before.

“I wonder what fantasies you have about Jon.”

“Why…” The tension in Aaron’s tone warned Andy he was treading into dangerous territory.

“Because I think it would do you both some good to live them out.”

“Why do you keep saying that? Have you turned into a voyeur or are you afraid you’re not enough for me?”

“Sometimes… I know if Jon hit on me as much as he does you I don’t think I would have done as well holding him off.”

“I still don’t get your point.”

“I’m tainted Aaron.”

“Oh not this again.” Aaron rolled and turned his back to Andy. “I don’t care if you have the Coven Virus.”

“But it does limit what we do in the bedroom.”

“That’s what the dream projections are for.”

“But don’t you ever wonder what it would be like for us to really go all the way.”

“Sometimes.” Aaron admitted. “But not enough to cheat on you.”

“I just want you to be happy."

“And I am.”

“But wouldn’t you be even happier if you had Jon as a lover?”

“No… it will only remind us why we can’t do the same. Now unless you really want to piss me off let’s not talk about this ever again.”

Andy pulled Aaron back to face him. “You know I would do anything for you.”

“Ditto.”

There was a knock on the front door.

Andy knew who it had to be. “You stay here.” He pulled on his pants but nothing else. “The next few months are going to be hard on us all. Remember that.”

“When are things ever easy?” Aaron replied.

A few moments later Andy returned with the headmaster and another man. He had bright blond hair, rich tanned skin and bright blue eyes… the marks of the converted. His appearance could not help but trigger a deep stabbing pain in Aaron heart. He looked so much like Landon.

“Aaron this is Joshua. Joshua this is Aaron.”

“It’s nice to meet you.” The young man spoke with a bit of a stutter.

“I hope it is.” Aaron looked away to hide his tears.

Greg went over to Aaron. He didn’t know what Aaron’s reaction would be but his was not among them. “Are you all right Aaron?”

“Bad memories.” He replied. He had yet to tell anyone about Landon. Deep down he knew telling them he had been friendly with one of the Master’s Proctors would only lead to trouble.

“If you ever feel the need to talk about it…” He brushed Aaron’s cheek with the tips of his fingers.

Aaron rolled away. “No… this is something I need to deal with myself.”

“Then I will leave you three to it.” The headmaster gave Aaron one last inquisitive look then left.

Andy scratched his chin as he tried to measure the situation. He turned to Joshua. “Do you now understand why you are here?”

Joshua looked at Aaron, smiled and nodded. “To my relief I do.”

Aaron flopped back down on the bed and rolled onto his stomach. He looked up at the pair with his head held up by his hands which were propped up by his elbows. “Care to fill me in.”

“He can’t read your thoughts. There are only a handful of people he can say that about.”

“If silence is golden then you are Fort Knox.” Joshua sat down on the foot of the bed. He closed his eyes and sighed. You have no idea what it is like to hear the thoughts of every person who gets near you. When I entered this apartment everything went suddenly silent. I couldn’t even hear the headmaster’s thoughts. This is probably the happiest day I can remember since my Talent developed. I guess by your appearance you two have had the pleasure of being the guests of the Master.”

“I’ve had some but nothing compared to Aaron. He was practically born into the Coven.”

“Yet he wasn’t converted? Amazing… Supposedly I was in their custody for three years. It felt like a century passed while they worked at converting me. No one can resist the power of the Master forever.” Joshua began unbuttoning his shirt. “He is the most powerful empath in the world if not all time. I can physically control a person and plant false memories but I can’t force someone to love me. He can. Before the Order rescued me I was one of his Chosen.” He let his shirt fall. Taking up most of his chest and stomach was the shield and three skulls of the Conclave marked with the Latin words Blood, Flesh, and Bone. “I’ve tried to have the mark removed but it is not your typical tattoo. It is biological, a symptom of the Coven virus for which there is no cure. Even now the virus is still in me waiting to take over again.”

“That’s what the diet is for. We’re both on it. Though Aaron doesn’t have the virus he’s sticking to it too.”

“Why do you.”

Aaron didn’t know how to answer that question. He didn’t want to lie but he also didn’t dare bring up Landon. “It is how I protected myself from conversion.”

“But how did you know about the diet in the first place. Someone would have had to have told you about it. I wish someone had told me… I might have avoided total conversion if I had.”

“It wouldn’t have made a difference. They would have made you eat the cake.” Aaron replied. It was only through Landon’s quick thinking that have saved him from the madness that took over all the others.

“Cake Day… yes. They claimed it was red velvet but the red color is from it being soaked in human blood.”

“Please…” Aaron felt himself getting sick. The last thing he wanted was to be reminded of what happened that day.

“Sorry… I shouldn’t be bringing it up… especially when it had to have happened when you were still quite young.”

Andy went to Aaron and did his best to comfort him. “That would be best.”

“I understand I am to be the 5^th member of your dueling group. Rumor has it that your team is among the top rated.”

“We’ve have had some success.” Andy said with false modesty.

Aaron for his part did his best not to blush. “We won’t know how good we really are until the Council Tournament.”

“You are actually competing in the Arena this year?”

Andrew could not keep a smug grin off his face. “We managed to win enough duels to qualify.”

“Amazing… but not completely so.” Joshua looked at Andrew and nodded. He was sure he understood why Andy would want to take part in the tournament. “It is quite dangerous for someone so young to take part in the Council competition. You will be up against the best teams the ruling families can muster.”

“We hope to make up what we lack in pure force with the diverse abilities of our team.”

“Yes… Take you for instance are the highest rank telekinetic in your age group. Everyone knows about Jon the Lion. Sam of course is the high rank Empath. Then there is your wild card… Aaron. Nobody seems to be able to make up their mind what your true Talent is. That if anything gives you quite the edge against the major teams.”

“What role do you plan to play?” Aaron asked.

“I am a living mind bomb.”

“A mind bomb?”

“A human form of an old forbidden anti-Talent weapon. I can release an explosion of mental energy that will cause most opponents to lose their ability to use their Talents for a short period of time. There are those who are strong enough to shield themselves but even they will suffer the equivalent of a cluster headache.”

“A cluster headache?” Andy asked.

“Think of a migraine only ten times worse.” Aaron replied.

“True.” Joshua nodded.

“I have one question… aren’t controlling who is affected by a mind bomb impossible.”

“It is but the headmaster is hoping the famous Shield will be able to protect all of you from the worst of the psychic explosions.”

“That would be quite the feat of he could. Think you can do that Aaron?” Andy asked.

“I don’t know… I’ve never dealt with a mind bomb and I’m not saying I’m looking forward to.”

“We will be able to practice before the tournament.” Andy said. Unlike Aaron he was excited by the chance that the team would be able to use Joshua’s mind bomb without having to deal with its worst effects. It would give them an unbeatable advantage against all the other teams. Winning the team championship would be a major step forward. By the way Joshua was looking at him he had to know what he was up to. He could only hope the telepath kept his mouth shut until there was no way for Aaron to escape his fate.

Joshua soon left but not before giving each a kiss on the forehead. He did indeed know what Andrew was up to yet he saw no reason to intervene. He could tell the two truly loved each other… the issue of Andrew having the Coven Virus was a problem but it was one Joshua could use to his advantage. No matter what, he wanted to keep Aaron as close to him as possible. The gift of silence he offered was one he would never give up willingly. There was also the fact that he was curious to discover how Aaron’s Talent really worked. He didn’t really believe someone with mixed abilities could block out the Talents of other without any effort. His Talent had to be more complex than that and even rarer. He was sure the Three Wise Men had the answer but the AI’s almost never answered any question given to them. They guarded the secrets of the Engineers too well.

There was the bloodline reader. Connected to the Three Wise Men’s database of known bloodlines it would tell the ancestral history of anyone born with the Talent. All that was required was for them to put their hand on the scanner and presto-chango a detailed record of the person’s blood history would be displayed on a giant screen.

Unfortunately the device was located several thousand miles away at the headquarters of the Grand Council in London. Unlike the one in Chicago it was not open to anyone with Talent. Only high ranking members of the ruling families were allowed entrance. If Andrew’s plan succeeded Aaron would become a member of one of the three most powerful families and would have easy access but that would only be true if his plan worked.

Poor Aaron… he has no idea of what he was getting into. Joshua had just left the apartment when another member of the team arrived.

“Hello? And who might you be?”

“Uhmmm… Joshua. I’m the newest member of the team. You must be Jon.”

“Ah, the telepath. I take it you knew who I am because you read it from my mind?”

“I wish I hadn’t but my ability to control my Talent is not what it used to be.”

“So I was told.” With mental Talent his only weakness he was deeply suspicious of the newest member of the team. “Look… just promise me you won’t go snooping into things that are none of your business.”

Before he could stop himself Joshua said something he would come to regret. “You mean your plan to trap Aaron into marrying your sister.”

“What did you say?”

“Nothing… forget I said anything.”

“You said I was planning on having Aaron marry my sister. Why on Earth would I want that?”

“Because it is t the only way the Council will allow you and the Blip have a more official relationship.”

“Why can’t I do so now? I don’t need my sister to make that happen.”

“But you do. Because he not a member of the Families, he is barred from marrying into one such as yours. If he wins the tournament he would have the right to be adopted into a ruling family… such as yours. It would however still require him to marry into the family, such as yours, which is why you will try to force him into marrying your sister.”

“Not force… I would never try to force him to marry her.”

“Let me correct myself… you will try to entrap him into marry your sister. Unfortunately you are not the only one who has thought about doing that. Wait… forget I said that.”

“You seem to want me to forget a lot of things. I don’t have to ask who the other person is. Andy must think he can get Aaron to marry his twin sister for the same reason.”

“He does.”

“Well I won’t let him. I have more than a few tricks up my sleeve. I can beat him at his own game. You however are not to bring them up with Andy. Understand?”

“Of course. But you do know that if your plan works that it would cause an immediate conflict between your family and Andrew’s. It could even lead to war.”

“We might have our differences but Andy and I won’t let it go that far. We might want the same thing but the survival of our families comes first.”

“Be careful, by winning him you might also lose him.”