Worth Dying For

Volume I Chapter I

Two sets of foot steps pounded against the cold ground. Grass soon gave way to dirt and two figures found themselves standing on at the edge of a very high cliff. The boy ran a hand through his hair and sighed.

"We're going to die.."
"No we aren't."
"Yes we are! I shouldn't have come out here. I shouldn't have brought you!"
"I'll be fine Ayon." The girl insisted with a smile.
"Amy..."

He was about to smile back when a bullet ripped right through Amy's chest and into his shoulder. Ayon put a hand over his wound and reached out to Amy as she fell to the ground, all his shouting was drowned out by the wave of fire that pushed them off the cliff and into the ocean.

Ayon sat up fast, his eyes darted around the room. He was sitting in his sixth period class. Everyone was staring at him.
"Do you need to step outside for a minute Mr. Eopia?" His teacher, Mr. Barron asked.

Ayon was a third year student in high school. The year had begun a few months ago, and this was his last. He was a sixteen year old boy with short, messy, black hair, sapphire blue eyes, and light skin. Like all other boys in his school he wore a uniform. A pair of black slacks, white shirt, black leather shoes, and a black jacket with a symbol on the back.

"N-no... I'm fine."
"Are you sure?"
"Yes."

The teacher sighed and continued his lecture on the human respiratory system, while Ayon looked out the window at the huge skyscraper in the distance. That building, and the building he sat in right now were part of HOPE. HOPE is the organization formed by the people who came to Earth from Avalon. The organization's headquarters sits on an absolutely massive plot of land and is comprised of four main buildings, the towers, and many smaller buildings like the school. The objective of HOPE is to fight darkness and keep the world safe, from what? The terrible things that lurk in the shadows. All the daemons and monsters that plague people. Soldiers and henchmen of Rhita Gawr, and who better to fight these horrible things than the soldiers of Dagda. And as for whythere is a school in such a fine establishment, well, every student in this school is studying to be a part of HOPE. They are all going to be working at this place, whether they be scientists or officers, or something else.
"And with that, the day ends!" The teacher exclaimed dramatically as the bell rang. All the students got up and left the room as Ayon continued to stare out the window.
"Mr. Eopia?"

"Ayon, it's time for you to go now. Classes are over."
"Sorry Mr. Barron. I'll see you tomorrow."

Ayon grabbed his bag and walked out into the hallway. As he rounded a corner someone tapped him on the shoulder.
"'Ey, Ayon."
"Hey Pierce." Ayon turned to greet his good friend.

Pierce smiled at Ayon with a hint of mischief in his silver eyes. His white hair was a bit longer than Ayon's, and even messier.

"Let me tell you a little plan I got. Let's go to the mess 'fer dinner and pick us up a couple lady friends."

"No thank you. I have to go to the dorms and do my schoolwork."
"Bah, don't be such a stick in the mud."
"Getting a girlfriend is the last thing on my mind right now."

"You've had one before, you can do it again." He spoke with a slightly thicker accent than Ayon.

"Don't talk about her Pierce."
"It wasn't 'yer fault what 'appened to 'er Ayon."
"Yes it was."
"No, it wasn't. Now. Let's go." He began to push Ayon.

They walked down to the first story and outside into the courtyard. Pierce immediately started waving and greeting every pretty girl that passed by. Ayon sighed and shook his head. After a few minutes of walking they came to the mess hall. Pierce unbuttoned his jacket and went inside.
"Look at all the skirts! And it looks like there are some new faces as well, transfer students eh?"
"By the thousand groves. You've got to be the biggest skirt chaser ever.."
"What? I enjoy looking at all the pretty ladies." He smirked as he took a tray and got in line at the front.
"Or maybe you're just an outrageous pervert." Ayon said, taking a tray as well.

"A pervert, me? No my good sir, I am merely a male of the human race. And as such it just so happens that I like the breasts of female humans."
"You just made a sentence long synonym for pervert..."

They went down the line, getting their food from various cooks behind the counter. Today's dinner was chicken breast with rosemary, salt, and pepper, mashed potatoes, and steamed carrots. Pierce took a glass from the end and filled it with cola from the soda fountain, Ayon opted for milk.
"Gross man."
"What?"
"Do ya' have to drink milk with every meal?"
"It builds strong bones." He took a sip while they walked over to an empty table and took a seat.

"So, what was up with you today? You were just sittin' there and staring..an' sleeping."
"I was thinking."
"About Amy?"
"...Yeah."
"Look man. That was all in the past? You've gotta stop blaming yourself 'fer what happened to 'er-" he rose up a bit, looking past Ayon. "Ey, super hottie sittin' over there all by 'erself."

Ayon looked behind him at the girl he was talking about. She was just sitting there picking at her food. And, Pierce was right, she was quite beautiful. The girl swept a bang of her long, wavy chocolate brown hair behind her ear. Her clothing was the same as the other girls; leather slip-on shoes, thigh high black stockings, a pleated, black thigh length skirt, white undershirt, and black jacket. Her gray eyes met Ayon's and she smiled.
"Uh-oh, she sees you checkin' her out. Go say hi." Pierce kicked Ayon's shin under the table.
"I don't want to."
"Yes you do."

Pierce stood and grabbed Ayon by the collar, dragging him towards the girl. Ayon quickly grabbed his tray and milk with a look of dismay. Her eyes followed them over.
"Excuse me, do you mind if my friend and I have a seat?"
"Not at all." She said quietly.

The white haired young man set his food down and sat, followed by Ayon, who sighed.
"Don't be so rude, we're in the presence of a beautiful girl."
"Thank you." She smiled.
"Don't mention it. I'm Pierce, and this is my good friend Ayon. We're both glad to meet you."

"Nice to meet you too, my name is Timpani, but you can call me Ti."

"Alright, Ti. Hey, I've not seen you before. Are you new here?"
"Yes, I'm a transfer student. I wanted to come here to graduate and be an officer."
"Oooh, where are ya' from?"

"America."

"A pretty American girl. Well have I got just the thing for you." Pierce put an arm around Ayon and messed with his hair. "A handsome Welshman, just for you. Say hi Ayon."
"Hello Ti." He greeted her while pushing Pierce away.
"Hi Ayon."
"So, what do you think of HOPE so far?" Ayon asked.

"It's really nice."

It was at this time that a rather large third year student stepped up to their table. He glared at Ayon and Pierce before turning to Ti.
"Ti, what are you doing hanging around these dumb Brits?"
"Ugh, Dinatius..."

"Hey hey hey." Pierce cut Ti off. "We ain't Brits. If you couldn't tell, we're in Wales ya' dumb bastard."
"What did you call me?" He got in Pierces face.
"You heard me." Pierce stood up to the larger student. "We're Welsh, you ignorant ass."
"Well look at the tough guy talking to me like he owns the place."
"Me? The tough guy? No, that would be him." He pointed to Ayon and shirked away.
"You?" Dinatius turned to Ayon.

"What do you mean 'you'?"

"You wanna fight me?"
"Nooo. I have no intention of fighting you."
"Am I too weak for you or something?"
"I never said that."
"What're you? Scared?"

A large fist slammed into Ayon's face. The hall went silent. Ayon stood and spat some blood before throwing his fist into Dinatius' jaw. With a roar the larger boy rammed into Ayon, but Ayon didn't slide backwards. Before Dinatius could even think about what had just happened to him he fell over. A stream of blue lightning coursed along Ayon's arm. Cheers erupted from all around and two teachers, followed by a medic burst though the crowd.
"What happened here?"
"This brute picked a fight with us, but Ayon put him to sleep." Pierce answered.
The medic knelt down and felt for the felled bully's pulse. Feeling the heartbeat he sighed and stood.

"Your particular element is dangerous Mr. Eopia. You should know not to use it on your fellow classmates."
"I've never seen this guy before. He was a real jerk. He seemed to know you Ti.."
"Yeah, I know him. His name is Dinatius. He was in my homeroom class back in America. He's like a creepy stalker who thinks he's the toughest person around." She answered him. The medic checked Ayon out and proceeded to take Dinatius away with the help of the teachers.

"Sounds like a total prick."
"Mhm."
"How are you holdin' up Ayon?"
"I'm fine." He rubbed his cheek.

"Good. Let's get outta here huh? We can eat something at the dorms. Later Ti." He turned to leave.
"Yeah." Ayon cracked his neck and followed Pierce. "Bye Ti."
"Wait. What house are you guys in?"
"Branch."
"Great, so am I! I can walk with you."
"Oh, we don't walk around here missy." Pierce smirked.
"What do you mean?"
"You'll see."