The storm rumbled far away, for now, at least.

I laid my head back against the rock, staring up into the clear blue sky. Below me in the cloudline, the tempest me roared.

“Out of all the rocks floating up here, you found the grassiest one.” Opening my eyes, I saw a beautiful girl standing over me. Her bronze skin made her violet hair stand out, as it hung over her left eye. She wore a simple jumpsuit as did most fliers, covered in zippered pockets. She had a single satchel hung around her hip from a strap from her shoulder.

“It’s just a matter of looking for the right rock. It’s not like I have much to do anymore.”

“Well I’m just glad you made it.” She pushed a violet lock away from her orange eyes as looked down at me.

“Same here, Rachael. I was beginning to think you might not show.”

“Duh, of course I’d show. I invited you, this was my idea. Besides, someone’s gotta plant the storm trackers, and If there’s a pair of wings I’d trust it’s the pair I trained myself,” she said, extending her hand to help me up. “So, you gonna sit there all day or are we gonna do this?”

“Sounds good to me,” I replied, taking her hand. She pulled me up and the two of us walked to the edge of this rock in the sky.

“Today’s job is to place some signal trackers inside the storm below us. They think it’s going to turn into a hurricane soon so they want to keep an eye on it.”

I looked over the edge at the squall below. Lightning flashed inside the dark, massive, writhing clouds.

Rachael, on the other end, was not looking at our target.

“Oh hey, I can see our home rock out there,” Rachael said, pointing at the large landmass floating in the air, surrounded by clouds and sky. Even from this distance we could make out the roofs of the tallest buildings in the city.

“It’s lucky this thing’s not headed our way, huh? I wouldn’t want this thing to mess up our home rock.”

“Your home rock.” I said, correcting her. “It’s not going to be mine much longer.”

Rachael frowned. “Oh come on, it’s not going to be that bad. I’m sure you’ll be fine,” she said, trying to assure me.

“Yea… of course.” My reply was hollow. Before I could say more, Rachael pulled out her satchel.

“Here, it’s dangerous to go alone, take this.” From her satchel she pulled out a coin-like crystal.

“It’s a thunder talisman. Should keep us safe from any lighting while we’re inside the storm itself.”

I took the crystal talisman and hung it about my neck. I instantly felt its barrier generate the moment I put it on.

“And here’s your signal,” Rachael said as she handed me “Just press the button and jam it into any floating georocks caught in the storm. Make sure to find a big one ok?”

She then handed out one more thing to me: a flimsy pair of goggles.

“And the goggles?”

“Because you always forget to bring them, each and every time,” Rachael said before putting on her own pair. “You don’t want to get blinded at the wrong moment.”

I made the arguments in my head to tell her every reason why I don’t like them, but before a single word came out of my mouth she put the goggles into my hands.

I sighed. It’s Rachael—there’s no fighting this.

“Put them over your eyes and not on your forehead again, ok?” Rachael said as she leapt off the rock and out of my sight, only to come flying back up. She spun, and I saw her pair of majestic, translucent wings tucked into an upward spiral. Reaching the apex of her spin she opened her wings, spreading them wide scattering translucent feathers all around her that faded into light.

“Ready, hot stuff?”

A flashy start. Rachael always had a knack for dramaticism. I wouldn’t have it any other way.

“Always am.”

A single thought brought my wings into existence, my golden feathered wings sprouted from my back. Feathers of energy dropped from them as I gave my wings a flap, exercising those muscles once again as I begrudgingly put my own goggles over my eyes.

With a single flap, I took to the air to join her.

“Here we go. You fly to the west end of the storm and plant your tracker, and I’ll plant mine on the other side. We’ll meet in the middle when you’re done.”

“Got it?”

“Yea.”

“Good. I’ll see you in the eye, hot stuff,” Rachael said, before flying down towards the storm.

I did the same.

---

Winds battered me as I searched the storm.

The winds were no real trouble. It was avoiding everything in the storm that was the trouble. Small georocks mostly. But, it was no big deal either. It wasn’t the big threat to me while I flew around it in this storm.

Just focus. Just focus, damn you.

I told myself again to avoid thinking about everything else.

Don’t think about dad, don’t think about the shit, just the work.

That’s why I had said I would come after all. I needed something, anything to take my mind off my own personal storm. Diving into a literal one had seemed to be a good choice. At least until a rock the size of a doghouse collided with me. I reeled in pain as I heard a soft tink of crystal.

I knew what that was: the talisman. That High Judge would call it well deserved.

God-damned prick. I shouted at my own thoughts. I wasn’t a part of any of that. I didn’t know.

Stop. I said stop. Not here, Fernand. Before another argument inside my head took place again, I put the proverbial breaks on it. I was in the middle of a damned future hurricane. I had to stay focused.

To my horror, I looked down and see only half of my talisman.

Now all I needed was a single bolt of lighting to do what that lynch mob’s wanted from us. I hoped their hate didn’t transcend to nature.

No longer safe from the elements, I thought of what to do next. Even without her there, I knew exactly what Rachael would say.

“Fernand! Get out of there now! It’s too dangerous! If you get struck you’ll plummet into the great abyss!” she’d yell, worry filling those lovely eyes of hers.

Needless to say, the Rachael in my head was completely correct. From the earliest days flying, everyone was taught to stay away from lighting storms. Getting struck, especially when there’s no land below, will get you killed.

There was a little part of me that wondered.

Did I care?

Did I care if I died today? It’d only push off what the High Judge’s decision would be tomorrow. It’d just push off the end of Fernand Brewer for one more day.

A bolt of lightning passes by me. I felt my right wing shatter as the lightning passed through it, the magic holding it together falling right apart.

I felt the winds of the storm take me as I begin to plummet. But as I did, I turned to see where the lightning bolt struck.

A rock. A massive Georock, one the size of a small house.

The perfect rock to plant my tracker on.

With simple focus I recreated my wings and stabilized myself in the wind. I saw the rock, now further away then I would have liked. There’s no reason to look for another rock. I turned, and began to fly in the wind’s direction, beating my wings faster to catch up to the rock. I moved to the left and right, flying by the small rocks caught in the wind.

My perfect rock was close, but not close enough. I couldn’t seem to catch up with it. To my side though, was the solution. The georock from before that broke my tasliman.

Let’s make up for that now.

With an extra push of strength, I pushed myself in front of the damned georock, planting my feet where my chest had once been smashed into it.

I bent my knees as I began to focus my magic. I folded in my wings in preparation.

“Burst!” I shouted as the wind magic kicks into gear. I jumped with all my might off the georock and in the direction of my target. The wind of the storm carried me, the burst of magic propelled me, and joined by the beat of my wings I closed the gap between my target and me.

I saw a crack in the rock, one perfect for my hand. I reached out and grab hold of it.

Yes! Success!

Pulling myself into the rock, I found another crack to slide my foot into to secure my hold on this rock.

The hard part done, with my free hand I pulled out the signal and jammed it into the rock. I pressed the button, and I saw the thing spike itself into the rock.

Except it didn’t. The spike failed to bore into the rock. I hit the button again, and the same result. This time, I heard the metallic clink as it tried to burrow into the boulder.

It wasn’t rock.

It’s Iron.

I heard the rumble of the lightning again.

Oh shit! It’s iron!

Iron conducts. I’m on a giant iron lightning rod without anything to protect myself from being fried.

"Fernand! what the hell are you doing? Get out of there!" I heard my inner Rachael yell at me again. "I don’t wanna see you get killed!"

You think you don’t deserve this? You damn well do. My inner High Judge said.

“I told you, I didn’t do anything! I didn’t even know!”

“Bullshit. The apple doesn’t fall far from the tree, Brewer. You deserve to fry, just like your father’s going to. It just pains me that we can’t prove your involvement.”

With that, I heard another crack of thunder. I had only one choice.

I let go. I fell backwards, away from the floating iron as I watched the lightning strike it.

“God damn it!” I cursed to the heavens. My perfect opportunity was nothing but a bust, and I had nothing to show it.

“You had one job! I specifically hired you people for this! Why the hell did you let them ransack the mansion?”

“You think I had a choice? While you were cowering in your bedroom, I was having to deal with a god-damned lynch mob! I’m not gonna get strung up on a tree for sticking up for you bastards. Be happy the knights came and dispersed the mob, or you and your sister would be hanging right now.”

The doghouse-sized georock, the one that I had used as a springboard and broke my talisman, now broke my back. My back slammed into the georock, shattering my flimsy concentration and my wings along with it.

Sorry, Rachael.

My world went black as I began to fall limp from the rock, spiralling down into the storm. I could make out a loud voice as I plummeted.

“FERNAND!”

Rachael.

I opened my eyes. I was spiraling, the worst possible thing that could happen to a flyer.

Come on, don’t die here. I told myself. She’s waiting for you.

“So, big brother, when do we have to leave? Well, whatever happens, we’ll be fine won’t we? I mean, as long as we have each other.”

I had now fallen out of the storm entirely. As I spun violently, I saw the great abyss below me, nothing but the blue sky to my sides, and the violent storm above me, along with Rachael, flying as fast as she could to catch up with me.

Jess is waiting for you. Get up. Right yourself! GOD DAMN IT, RIGHT YOURSELF! I screamed into my own brain.

“Fernand! Hold on!” I heard her voice shout. Without the storm, her words are crystal clear as I descend into the lower skies.

Enough of me returned. I was awake, and I had to act.

Do something! Do something now!

I reignited my wings, spread them wide, and steadied myself into a glide, turning in the opposite direction of my spin.

I gathered magic into my hands, preparing the burst spell again. As soon as my descent had slowed enough, I fired off my magic and prayed my gambit paid off.

My magic propelled me upwards. Luckily, the clash of the fall and rise had mostly canceled each other out, breaking my tailspin. It had also shattered my wings, which I quickly realized were no longer there when I tried to flap upwards.

“Shit! Shit!” I shouted as I began to fall again, this time, wingless. clawing at the air for something to grab onto before I broke into another tailspin. I tried to reignite my wings. I was not going to die at nineteen.

“GOTCHA!”

I wasn’t falling anymore. I looked up to see Rachael grasping my hand.

“I thought…” she panted, nearly out of breath, “I thought I taught you better than that…”

---

I sat, and waited.

God damn it. I told myself.

Another screw up. And this time, it almost got me killed… again.

I laid back on the fluffy clouds Rachael and I were able to find in the eye of the storm. With a quick magical touch, they made a wonderful resting spot, and a place where Rachael could leave me and finish her job without me.

Without me. She’d be doing that a whole lot more soon.

“Fernand!” I heard to my left.

Rachael’s back, no worse for the wear, emerged from the eyewall of the soon-to-be hurricane.

I smiled as she made her way towards me, giving her a wave, she gave one back.

“Mission complete!” she shouted at me.

Time to get up. I got up off my butt and walked towards her.

“Congratulations!” I replied as she flew up to my cloud and landed. “How’d it go?”

“Good, no thanks to you scaring me half to death,” Rachael said with a huff as she walked up to me.

I frowned as she approached. She pulled me close and pressed her lips to mine, the two of us falling back into the cloud.

“Don’t you ever do that again you idiot,” she said between her kiss. “I nearly thought I lost you.”

I nearly thought the same.

I would respond, but with her lips on mine, there was nothing to do but hold my girlfriend and hold her kiss. A job well done, for her at least.

After a minute of our embrace, Rachael broke the kiss. “Really, Fernand, I know what you’re going through, but you shouldn’t be so reckless.” Keeping me pinned she pointed a finger condescendingly in my face.

“That’s not like you,” she reminded me. “I taught you better than that.”

I stayed silent. What was I supposed to say to that? Once again, my lovely Rachael was right.

“And you know it too. Promise me you won’t do that again?”

Unable to say anything else, I meekly nodded.

“Good. It’s not every day that one of my flight students confesses their love for me, then wins it.”

“It’s not every day that I win the heart of a woman as beautiful as you.”

“Oh, you…” She leaned in and planted another kiss on my forehead. “You’re gonna make me blush. You know it’s things like that then earned you that first date.”

“I know,” I said, as we settled into each other and kissed one more time.

“Good,” she said, giving me another kiss. “I don’t know what I’d do without you.”

Those words.

“Fernand?” Rachael was too quick. She knew what I was thinking.

The thing she didn’t understand, was that she was going to have know what to do without me.

“Look, Fernand, it’s not going to be the end of the world, ok?”

“It is,” I coldly said back.

“We’ve had this conversation before. It’s not, ok?”

We knew our embrace was over. Rachael got off me and sat down. I followed suit.

“As soon as the High Judge makes his decision, I won’t be able to stay in this town any longer.

“The whole damn city thinks I’m my dad’s right hand man. That I’m some sort of thug, or murderer. Hell, I never even knew what he was up to. Sure, my father was a asshole, that’s why he and I barely had anything to do with each other. I just thought he was just doing his job, not—”

Rachael, being the good girl I knew she was, cut me off. “You’re not your father Fernand. I’ve known you for five years, dated you for three of them. I know you, and I know your father. You are not him.”

I sighed. Like always, my Rachael was right.

“I just wish the High Judge believed that too. He thinks I’m a part of all of this. Hell, he thinks Jessabelle’s part of all this! She’s not even fifteen! It’s not like the whole city does either, that attack on the mansion last week proved that. I wish somebody believed it, but they don't.”

I hung my head low. “The whole town is out for our family’s blood and they’re not going to stop until they get it.”

I saw her think, and I knew detective Rachael had put more of the puzzle together. “Did something happen? Did you hear something new?”

“Yeah. The High Judge sat me down and had a talk with me. He and the everyone on the rock made their decision on what’s going to happen.”

“They released the decision already? I didn't see it in the newspaper.”

“They're telling me as a formality. They made the decision that the royal court is going to seize all of my father's assets, and then divide them among his victims and the surviving families. All of them.”

“You’re losing the mansion?”

“Yea. But the High Judge says they don't have enough evidence to prove that Jessabelle and I were involved, and as you know the prosecutor already riled up the whole entire rock thinking we were going to suffer punishment too. So we’re gonna get let out into a whole city that was expecting and wants our blood. There’s no way we’re gonna be able to stay on our rock anymore. When the decision comes tomorrow afternoon, Jessabelle and I are going to have to be as far away from here as possible. ”

I plopped back on the cloud.

“You know, it's funny. Everyone back before this did anything I wanted just because of my last name and… and now because of that bastard’s last name it’s impossible to even show my face anywhere.”

I felt Rachael’s hand sliding to grab my own. “You’re overblowing this,” Rachael said “I know what happened last week was scary-”

“Scary?!” I shouted. “They nearly killed us! If the those knights hadn’t shown up they really would have killed us!”

Rachael shook her head. “They wouldn’t have killed you. A lot of people got mad, they got a right to. It was just a couple of shitheads behind it.. Fernand you’ve overblowing this-”

“-Am I?” I interrupted. “Look what happened to you when they find out my father’s hired you to train me and Jess?”

I saw her frown, but her smile won out between the two.

“Look, I’m not the only flight instructor on our rock, they just took advantage of a bad image and used it to steal some of my clients. It’s fine. Working for the Meteorology guild is where I make most of my money anyway.”

“And what happens to you when they find out you’re dating his son?”

Rachael stopped in her tracks. I could see her face stop cold as the consequences presented themselves in her mind. “What’s gonna happen to me is gonna happen to you. They’re gonna run you out of town.”

“Fernand, what are you saying?”

“What I’m saying is that it’s not safe for you to be seen around me anymore.”

“I know the risks. When I told you I loved you, I—”

“No, you don’t. You weren’t there last week. You didn't see nearly an entire rock break into your house looking for you for some vigilante justice. I'm toxic, Rachael.”

“Just give it time, it’ll blow over.”

“I hope so. The empire does so too. The High Judge said they arranged something for us to help disappear for a couple of months.”

“To where?”

“I can’t say.”

She pouted and looked at me.

“I—I don’t actually know. They didn’t tell us. They just said if Jess and I wanted to disappear, they said they’d help us. If not, they won’t.”

“Well, don’t.”

“Look, once this is all over, your reputation may be in the ground, but it just means you’ll be able to build your reputation as yourself, not your dad’s. You said you always wanted to be out of your father’s shadow, and once this is all done, I promise you people will start seeing the man I fell in love with, not as your father's son.”

I'm a little too far in my father's shadow to dig out of.

“When the decision comes tomorrow, it means we can do the thing I’ve wanted to do for a while now. Move in with me.”

“I can't do that to you Rachael.”

“Nonsense. You and Jess are going to love living with me. Sure, it's nothing compared to your mansion, but it means you won’t need to hide anymore. You can be you, I can be me. We don't need to pretend to be people we’re not; and when the rest of the rock sees the real you they’ll soon discover the man I’ve been in love with too, and things will be ok again.”

Rachael got up from the cloud, and waved for me to do the same.

“So no more moping, ok? This is gonna be tough, but we can pull through this together. It’s what I’m here for, no? Remember when you first started taking my lessons? The hardest part is going through that storm. It may seem scary and impossible, but once you’re out of the storm things aren’t as bad as you think they may be.”

Rachael, once again was right… but…

“Once you’re through this whole thing, things are gonna get better.”

She wasn’t right about that.

“So promise me. Promise me that tomorrow, you two are gonna come to my house, ok? We’ll have a little party, just the three of us.”

“Look, I need to confirm with the guild that I finished the job. So I gotta get going. You want to come along?”

I shook my head. “I’ll pass. I need to get back and start packing.”

“For me, right?”

I nodded. “For you.”

Rachael smiled, taking to the air, hovering just above me.

“I love you,” She said.

“I love you too.” I said back.

“See you soon Fernand.”

...

You won’t.