Valitharian Arc

by AaronMikaski

Valitharian High School is the only place safe for the Supernatural Race known as the Blue-Bloods. The Blue-Bloods are the next step in the evolutionary ladder, who are born with supernatural powers that were otherwise impossible to humans. Take on the story of a young teenager, Mariat Blante who is separated from his comrades, and finds himself lost in a vast world of prejudice.

Valitharian Arc

Chapter 1

Usually, when I picture a High School, I picture dirty floors, crappy lunches, crappier classes, sweaty locker rooms, and terrible people who say they are "Popular." But alas, I was completely and utterly wrong. The floors were polished marble, the lunches were fancy and gourmet, the classes were beautiful and I saw a lounge corner in each classroom, the gym was clean, and the locker rooms, spotless, the people were a little on the pompous side, but they definitely weren't bullies like at my many other schools.

Oh right, I'm Mariat, and the school I'm talking about, is Valitharian High School, school for the "gifted and special." No, not special as in Down syndrome or Autism. You see, Valitharian is a haven for people like me. What kind of people you might ask. Well, I'm what they call "not human" I was born with abilities, normal humans are unable to do. That's right, I have superpowers, and not just any powers, I have the power to generate electricity from my body. How did I discover this power, you ask? I would rather not talk about.

You can't find this school on your own, you have to be chosen by the Directors, powerful beings that can sense and lock onto powerful blood. These Directors aren't human, they are kind of like a gargoyle with a snake body, and a human face. They take you to this school after you discover your power. The school does teach you some basic stuff in the real world, but for the most part the classes are learning to control your power, and finding a place in the real world to use them. You see, Humans and… us, don't get along very well, we often fight to keep ourselves safe, though there have been many occurrences when someone with a really powerful ability contracts the OPS (Over-Power Syndrome), and would go completely nuts with their ability.

Don't get me wrong, on numerous occasion where the normal people are the instigator, which I could understand if that fueled their ambition to judge humanity. Am I that way? No, I have thought about it many times, but that seems too gory for me to even think about it. On many occasions, my anger got the better of me, and I kind of… well you see… that person… is kind of… an amnesiac now, I swear he was the instigator here, I was simply minding my own business, when these guys started picking on me, they started making fun of me, most of it was comical and in no taste whatsoever. Then, one of them decided to make a smart remark about my father (Who had died in a freak accident I was told). That's when things got violent. My consciousness had blanked out and to this day I don't know what actually happened. All I know is that when I woke up, the guy who made a remark about my father was on the other side of the school, covered in soot, his friends were looking at me with total look of shock. I checked my hand and saw that they were pitch black and covered in ash. I then checked the boy, a large crater in the wall had formed in front of the burned body. He's alive still, thank God, but he has no recollection of anything. After discovering my powers I took some time to reflect those times where I blanked out and connected them to my power.

That was I believe the fifth school I got kicked out of. Oh, that reminds me, my kind of people, have difficulty staying in school, and the few who do manage to get to school, live their life pretty happily. But some of us, are considered delinquents and often discover our power in the event of protecting ourselves, or someone we love. Our powers essentially give themselves away when we're in danger. Until you've faced danger (Which trust me, if you have powers, you are fated to get into mortal danger), you won't know if you're one of us. I mean, sure you'll begin to get freaky dreams in your adolescent years. You know, runic markings appearing in your dream, premonitions, voices, etc. If you read this and you begin to see these, do not panic, stay calm, and whatever you do, do NOT, and I cannot stress enough, do NOT, tell anyone about these dreams, there are other people who will be looking for you. Bad people, who wish to eliminate our entire existence. They work for some secret non-government organization. They cover up our existence, and if they get the chance, they'll eliminate our existence entirely.

I'm not entirely sure how they find out. Some people theorized that they record everyone, everywhere. This has become a very large conspiracy to us, mainly because you can never speak about this place in public. But enough of that I want to tell you more about the school. My locker wasn't anything special, except, you know, it was nothing but a void that seemingly infinite space. I was a little scared to put anything in there in fear that I would ever find it again. "Oh so you're the new student," a boy said standing from behind me. I spun around to find a boy probably sixteen, my age, with black, medium hair, and pale skin. He could've fooled anyone as a normal boy, had he not had two separate colored irises. One eyes was a beautiful cobalt (No homo), the other, bright crimson. The boy realized I was looking at his eyes, "Heterochromia Iridium," he explained, "Means I have two separate colored irises." I've seen people like that, but they mostly had blue and green eyes. "So what's your name," he asked grinning. "Mariat Blante," I answered, "Yours?" "Jason," he said, "Jason Delarosa." Jason was a very happy spirit, he didn't seem to have any sort of negative emotion in him, or otherwise, if he did, he was hiding it very well.

Jason was the first person that I met, and man am I glad. Jason was kind, happy, smart, quick, intuitive, pretty much everything that any friend could've ever wanted. "So where are you from Mariat," Jason said as we both walked through the hallway. "Stockholm, Sweden," I replied. "Sweden? You don't sound very Swedish," Jason said bluntly. "Wow, okay watch the stereotype," I said a little bit offended, "To answer your question on why I don't sound Swedish, my mother is American, She was on a business trip to Sweden, when she ran into my father. My mother moved to Stockholm and they got married. My father was killed a few years after my birth. My mother raised me the rest of the way so I just became accustomed to having my mother's accent."

Jason's face didn't change to anything, I was half expecting pity, but with Jason he was the same as he was when I met him, "Well that explains a lot, sorry to hear about your father, but you're over it right? I feel that making that a scene will only remind you which is probably not helpful is it." I simply smiled, Jason must understand what it's like to be reminded. "So I'm sure you've been to the gym, right," Jason asked as we stalked off. "Yeah, why," I asked confused on where he was going with this. "Good, that might be your most important class," Jason said turning back and smiling. "Wow, at my original schools, my most important class was probably math," I said casually. Jason laughed, "Well, gym is important because this is where they test your abilities, and based on how well you do, you get ranked."

"Really," I said casually, "What kind of ranks." Jason pulled out a chart. The chart listed off many different names. "Right now you're down here," Jason said pointing down to the lowest part, plainly written it said "Noob." I looked at the chart and found a small arrow pointed at Catalyst. "That's my rank right now," Jason said happily. "So what's your power anyways," I asked. Jason smiled as if he was pleased I asked. He put out his hand and formed an icicle, he grabbed it and chomped down happily on it. "I have the power to manipulate water in any way possible. That means I can manipulate its movement, shape, and temperature," Jason said through mouthful of ice. "So basically if you wanted to you could control a human being, seeming how 70% of the human is made of water," I said a tad bit nervous, if anything this guy should be suffering the most from OPS. "Pretty much," Jason said dismissing the piece of ice back into water vapor. "What about your power," Jason asked. "Oh I have the power to control lightning," I said proudly. "Oooh fascinating, care to demonstrate," Jason asked, genuinely excited. "Um is that safe? I mean am I even allowed to use my powers here," I asked wearily. "I was able to use my power in this school, why not you," Jason said. Logical, I closed my eyes and concentrated on the space between me and a wall. I felt a sudden shot of heat, energy, and light, brighten my eyelids. I first heard an earsplitting roar of noise as the lightning shot out of my hand. When I opened my eyes, I saw a scorch mark on the wall in front of me. Jason clapped his hands as he laughed like a madman. "Oh yeah, you and I are going to get along juuuuust fine," Jason said happily.

A few students burst around the corner with very official looking dresses, I could only assume that they were student representatives or something. "What is the meaning of that noise," a girl shouted angrily, "We were in the middle of a very important meeting!" "Ah, loosen up a little, Sis," Jason said trying to hug her. "Don't touch me Demon," the girl said grabbing onto Jason, she grabbed his finger and began to bend them over his hand, making him kneel, "I'm ashamed to be related to your defiled blood, now what happened, did Jason set off lightning again?" This girl was seriously scary, and I've seen some pretty nasty ladies in my past, "um… err…" I stuttered, "I was the one to set off…the lightning." The girl looked at me with ice cold resentment, as if she was hoping Jason did it so she could continue to attack him. She let go of Jason and approached me, it took every will in my body not to run away from this spawn of Satan.

"Oh, right you're the new kid, aren't you," she said putting out her hand, "Mariat, isn't it?" I nodded, hesitant to grab her hand for the fear that she might Judo Flip me. "I'm Alice," she said, "Alice Delarosa." She was a short one, if I had to guess, she was maybe fifteen years old. She had long black hair put into a neat ponytail, she had cobalt eyes (Much like Jason, except you know both of her eyes were the same color). "Oh, sorry you had to witness that," she said gesturing grudgingly at poor Jason writhing on the floor looking at his fingers, "I'm really a nice person, honest." "You could've fooled me," I said under my breath. "What was that," she asked her very aura read "DANGER, DANGER: Handle with care." "Eh… err… nothing," I said quickly. "That's what I thought," Heather said happily. She looked at her friend, "Come, we still have much to discuss." They walked away, Alice made one short stop to kick Jason in the stomach. "That's your sister," I asked in disbelief. "Yeah, my more successful sibling Alice, she always shared a disdain for me," Jason said getting up. "Why," I asked, "Why did she call you a demon?" Jason's smiled smoldered, he obviously didn't want to talk about it. He covered his sadness with happiness, "She's just a killjoy, follow me, I want show you the gang!"

Chapter 2

Jason and I walked through the hallways for a while until we came across a library. The library was huge and there was by far the largest accumulation of books I have ever seen. We walked through the seemingly endless maze of shelves and books until we got to what must've been the lobby. In the lobby there were large round tables scattered all around. One of the tables was occupied by four people, who seemed to be playing something on a 3 DS ®. Jason walked up to them happily, "Hey guys I want you to meet my new friend." They all looked up from their games, and saw me. One of them sighed, "Jason, really? Don't you have enough friends?" Jason laughed, "Yeah but this guy's special." One of them stifled a laugh, "Yeah we know he's special otherwise he wouldn't be here, I mean it is called 'Valitharian High School for the gifted and SPECIAL'." "Besides what's his power anyways," one of them said returning to his games. Jason was about to say something, but I thought that it would be much more appropriate to show him. I pointed my finger at him and shot a bolt of electricity at his game shutting it off. He sighed, "I was playing that." He put out his hand and a weird marking appeared in the air. It looked a lot like a clock. The arm on the clock marking began to rotate counter-clockwise and his DS began to work as good as new. "He has the power to make something age, or return to a former state in the past," Jason explained. Color me impress, I was interested to know what he could do with the full extent of his power. "So you're a thunder-user, huh," one of them said. This boy had brown hair, tan skin and red eyes. In a way he was the complete opposite of Jason's sister. His hair was short and brown compared to long and black, he had bright red eyes compared to dark blue eyes, and tan compared to pale. He smirked, "I'm Blaine Ecteron, what's your name?" "I'm Mariat Blante," I said putting out my hand. He smirked and returned to his game. Well then, he's going to be a problem. "I'm Devin Livergood," the one who repaired his game said. He was, in very few ways, the same as Blaine but his hair was shorter, he had pale blue eyes, and was a little wider.

He wasn't fat, but he was wider than Blaine. Devin had this glint of mischief in his eyes that made him look a lot like a troublemaker. This sent up a warning sign that read, DANGER: Can and will prank you somewhere and sometime in your life. Devin went back to his game, "Hey Blaine do you have a Charizard on you?" "Sure, I'll breed it for you if you give me your Suicune," Blaine said happily. "No way, that's not fair at all," Devin said angrily. Blaine shrugged, "Well I guess you don't want a Charizard." Devin sighed and pressed at the button on his game furiously. A girl was very absorbed in drawing a picture. She was really great at drawing, she was drawing some sort of anime girl. When she finished, the drawing began to move. I rubbed my eyes, thinking that maybe the ride made me exhausted. The drawing was beginning to walk around the paper. She was grabbing the end of the paper like she was hoping to find an exit. I didn't blame her, I would also want to leave if I was nothing but a fictional character trapped on a piece of paper. "That's really neat," I said looking at the drawing. She looked up. She had blonde hair bunched up into a messy bun. She had hazel eyes, covered by glasses, and pale skin. "And who are you," she asked erasing her drawing. I kind of felt bad for the doodle, "Mariat Blante." "I'm Sarah Carrel," she said looking at the completely blank paper. Another boy was sitting next to Devin watching him play, "And this is Dalton Marjerison," Jason said gesturing to the tall boy, "It would be best not to engage in a conversation with him." The boy was very tall, and had a very dark tan going on, or otherwise that was his natural skin color, he had black hair and brown eyes. He looked up at me, "Ah, your Mariat aren't you, you are the new kid from Sweden, right? Before you even ask how I know, I have the power to identify someone just by their face, then I can use their powers, lightning isn't it?"

I opened my mouth to ask why that is even a thing but Jason looked at me and gave me an "It's not worth it," face. I sighed, "So these are your friends, huh?" Jason smiled, "They are definitely better than some of the people that you'll meet here." I was about to protest that the other people aren't that mean, but Dalton already beat me to the line, "You haven't met everyone here, Mariat." Almost on cue, a few people burst into the room firing a blast of wind at us. Jason flicked his wrist and an ice wall materialized in front of us, blocking the wind. "Was that even necessary," Jason said unimpressed. The boy strutted with utter confidence, like someone who just won the lottery. He was short, very skinny, and had some weird bowl hair cut going on (You know the haircuts that the girls just LOVE). I already could tell that this guy was going to be a problem. "What are you doing here anyways this a place for books and learning," Devin said putting away his game. "I simply came to read and learn," the boy said unconvincingly. Devin stifled a grin, "Wait, you read?" Everyone at the table laughed except for me, mainly because I didn't know what to think about this guy, yet. The boy got angry and raised his hand. Devin's chair flipped over, firing him into Sarah. She looked at her drawing and found that it had been ruined by that boy. She sighed and began to scribble angrily. "Let that be a reminder to you all," the boy said proudly. "What an egocentric lunatic," I thought to myself. Sarah then stood up and brought that piece of paper with her. "You going to stick up for your boyfriend now," the boy said tauntingly. "You ruined my picture," Sarah said coldly, putting her hand against her paper. Her hand vanished into the paper and pulled out a real life katana, "Prepare to die." The boy backed away when Sarah pointed the blade at him. She then lunged, making the boy flee. Sarah stopped pursuing the boy when he left the library, and stabbed the paper with the katana. Instead, the katana disappeared as Sarah continuously pushed the sword inward. "Hey thanks, Sarah," Devin said getting up to brush himself off. "Who was that guy anyways," I asked looking at the exit. "That was Jared Lawrence," Dalton replied. "He's one of those kids that you just got to hate him, regardless of how much money he has," Blaine said bitterly. Suddenly, a bell rang that alarmed the entire group. "What's that bell for," I asked. "That is the battle alarm, which means that a battle for rank exchange has begun," Jason said excitedly. In an instant they all rushed out of the library to go watch, leaving me by myself.

I walked trying not to draw any unnecessary attention. I found a large crowd in the hallway and made a vague assumption that this is where the battle was taking place. I got closer, but immediately wished I hadn't. As I approached the group they all separated revealing a body that was flying right at me. I didn't have time to react and the body collided into me knocking me down. I looked around, dizzied, and in an immense amount of pain. The body on top of me grunted and got up. I got up shortly after. "Hey no fair, he blocked your fall," the opponent complained. "I-I'm sorry I-I'll just g-go now," I stammered nervously. "Are you sassing me boy," he asked angrily. "N-no I was-," I began but got interrupted by his rage.

"I think he wants to battle," he said furiously. I tried to protest but was pushed into the ring. I tried to leave but they were blocking my way. I sighed, "I think we got off to a huge misunderstanding, I was simply try-," I tried to reason with the already angered person, but he swung a fist at me. I dodged and witnessed as he broke a wall. "Is this school crazy or something," I thought to myself frantically. He swung again. "Okay well I'm in this I need to get myself out," I thought. He swung recklessly at me and I slid under his arm appearing behind him, "He's strong, but not inherently fast." He turned around and punched with all his might. I dodged going under his arm. I stuck my index and middle finger together and jabbed him in the arm. When I made contact with his arm, I released a shock, enough to paralyze but not enough to cause damage to the tissue. I stood up and turned around in time to see his arm flop lifelessly by his side. He looked furiously at me, "What did you do to my arm? I can't feel anything!" I jabbed a pressure point in your arm, causing a blockage in the nerve single, you won't be able to do anything with it for a while," I said getting into a fighting stance. He roared with rage and grabbed onto a piece of metal. His skin and clothe began to turn to the same color as that piece of metal. He moved his good arm and it made a metallic sound as it moved. He ran at me and punched with full force. I didn't get the time to sidestepped and got punched right in the gut. I fell on the ground and writhed in pain. He then proceeded to kick me. He kicked me so many times that I think I went numb from the pain. Suddenly, an overwhelming urge went through my body. He kicked one more time but I put my hand out to block the kick. I grabbed his foot and released a large amount of the energy I stored in a short burst. He stepped away and held is foot in pain. I slowly got up as the pain shot through my body. I ignored it and focused on the problem. He recovered and ran at me again, this time instead of dodging, I grabbed his face and released another burst of my power. My palm glowed as the poor kid felt power of electricity course through his body. He kneeled onto the ground and I let go. I put out my index finger, and without even thinking I moved my finger into a circle formation. As I did so, a trail of lightning trailed behind. I made a full revolution with my finger and found a circle of lightning. A voice in my head said, "Odin's gate." The circle, as if on cue, grew three spheres. These spheres shot a beam into the center of the circle. The beam met at the center and grew one giant sphere. The giant sphere shot a beam of pure energy at the boy firing him backwards. I snapped out of it and ran towards the boy. The boy was still conscious, thank goodness. The last thing I needed was everyone thinking I was the new kid who's gonna kill everyone. I looked around and found everyone looking at me with utter fear and shock (No pun intended).

Jason, Blaine, Devin, Dalton, and Sarah, were all equally surprised. "What just happened," I asked fearfully. Alice pushed her way through the crowd and found me and that boy. "I know what it looks like but I didn't mean to," I said frantically. She ran towards the body, "Is Devin here," Alice asked concerned. Devin walked past me. "Could you please," Alice asked. Devin nodded and made a dome around him and Alice. Orbs began to float out of the boy and his wounds that I caused quickly healed to normal. "You," Alice said sharply looking at me. I jumped back, "Y-yes?" "Did you do this," she asked looking me over. "I swear I don't know what came over me I lost control of my body and-," she cut me off, "Just answer the question, did you, or did you not, do this?" I nodded timidly. She glanced at the body and then at me again. "Follow me," she said walking down the hallway. I timidly followed after her. Everyone kind of parted away from me, "Great now everyone thinks I'm some sort of murderer," I thought to myself. "Well I could've been a heck of a lot worse, I could've actually killed him," a voice said in my head. The voice was a lot different than my own. I was about to ask but was cut off by Alice, "Go on in." I walked into a room and was greeted by the smell of tea. It was a nauseating smell, and it almost made me fall on the floor. I gasped and continued to walk through the room. Alice walked in as well and closed the door behind me. The room wasn't very big but it was definitely fancy. The walls were red along with the floors. There was a fancy mahogany desk with a bunch paper works stacked on one side. Behind the desk was an old man with a large white beard. Though he was old, he had a youthful looking smile. It was filled with confidence and happiness. "This is Mr. Valitharian," Alice said. "So what seems to be the trouble," Mr. Valitharian asked kindly. "It's hard to explain," I said nervously. "He had used a level 5 attack," Alice said casually. Mr. Valitharian looked at Alice then at me, "Is that so?" Mr. Valitharian said impressed. "Am I in trouble," I asked shuffling my feet nervously. "No, people here often get into this kind of shape, don't worry you're not in trouble but I am interested in how you were able to use a level 5 attack so fluently," Mr. Valitharian said happily. I sighed with relief it would've been just plain sad if I had gotten kicked out of the only existing haven for me. "He said that he couldn't control himself," Alice said. Mr. Valitharian looked at me some more, "Young man, is it possible that you already discovered your Arcanist?" "My what," I asked. "Arcanist are manifestation of our consciousness, they live within our Mana Pool as a secondary being," Alice explained, "so how exactly did you use that ability." "I heard a voice in my head whisper 'Odin's Gate,' and before I could understand what was going on, I began to use the ability," I said. Mr. Valitharian nodded, "Well it seems that it can't be helped, you are now a Probationary Student." "Probationary Student," I asked confused. "They are special students who already have access to their Arcanist, basically they are not allowed to duel classmates for prizes or points, but they are on a whole new level of power much higher than other normal rank," Mr. Valitharian said, "You can still go on missions, but only with other Probationary Students. There are now six in all counting you now."

Chapter 3

After making special arrangements I was sent to my dorm. The dorm was reasonably big, but I felt so enclosed. I laid on my bed and tried to make sense of it all. I must've not known how tired I really was, for as soon as my head hit the bed I was out like a light. I opened my eyes to find myself in a pitch black area. I sat up and found I was in some kind of liquid, I scooped up the liquid and found that it had the same characteristics of black coffee. I didn't think drinking it would've been my best move here. I began to hear sloshing as something approached. As the person approached, I found he looked a little like me, he had my brown hair, though his was a little more even. The only thing that differed him from me was that he had purple eyes instead of golden eyes. He stopped in front of me and offered his hand, "It's a little too wet to be sitting, don't you think," he asked in a mellow tone. I took his hand and he helped me up. "What is this place," I asked looking around. "This is your Mana Pool, or well your hypothetical Mana Pool. You're actually in your subconscious," The boy said, "Your Mana is your energy and it travels throughout your body like blood. Your Mana is a disposable energy that quickly regenerates. Only people like you have this running through your vein. Right now it's inactive so it's black. Trust me, when it's active, it's a sight to see."

"Okay, then who are you," I asked kicking the liquid. "Why, I'm your Arcanist," the boy bowed, "My name is Dante." "So you were the one whispering to me," I said. Dante nodded, then a thought occurred to me, "Wait, how was I able to use that ability," Dante looked at the water, "You drew power from my Mana Pool. We Arcanist were once great power users, or Bannou. We are incarnations of Bannous. Certain Bannous are assigned to certain Rimiteddo. We help in any way possible to keep our embodiment safe, because if our embodiment dies, we disappear from existence." I looked around the dark area, "So basically, and correct me if I'm wrong, you are an incarnations of some great power user, or Bannou before me, and I am your Embodiment. We live in some symbiotic harmony to keep each other safe. I stabilize your otherwise shaky existences, and you keep me safe from harm to continue sustain you." Dante nodded, "You pick up fast, which makes you just like your father." I froze, "You know my father?" Dante nodded, "He was a great man, and we were friends before…" Dante paused and looked away. "What? What happened Dante," I asked eager to understand what actually happened to my father. Suddenly, I heard a rumbling the water began to get unsettled, and before I knew it, I was being pushed back by a torrent of the black liquid.

I woke up back in my bed. Looking around, I found that it was approaching daybreak. I got out of bed and got on my uniform. My uniform was a black tuxedo with a tie, a pair of dress pants, and dress shoes. I put it all on and evaluated myself in the mirror, "You look good," Dante said in my head. "Thanks," I said, trying to figure out how they had found out my clothe size. "Dante, what happened to my father," I asked straightening my tie. Dante didn't respond immediately, "You father was murdered," Dante said sadly. I stopped, "Murdered?" Dante sighed, "I don't know how, or who did it, but I do know that they covered it up for your mother because she was a Hiriki, or powerless person. Reasonable, though the thought struck me like a hammer. "Thanks for telling me," I said passing my emotions. I've always learned to just accept things for what they are and not let my emotions get the better of me. I smiled and exited my dorm. As soon as I opened my door, I was greeted by Jason, "Morning," he said happily. "Morning," I replied a little concerned on how long he was waiting out here.

"So you're a Probationary Student," Jason asked without hesitation. "Wha-? How did you," I attempted to ask. "Not much gets by us," Dalton said appearing behind Jason. I sighed, "What's it matter to you?" "Because we are the other five probationary students," Devin said leaning against the wall next to my door. "Wait, so you're telling me that you are," I attempted. "Yup, we're your comrades, and since you don't have a clan you can join ours," Jason said happily. "Clan what's that," I asked confused. "Man you really are dumb, aren't you," Blaine said walking down the hallway, "Clans are groups that extend to thirty-six people. They can do missions and go to war with other clans to gain prizes like no homework, pizza parties, and even money." I stopped him there, "But we're Probationary Students, we can't get into fight." "True, but that's only for the prizes, we can fight other clans simply because we want to prove we're stronger than they are," Sarah said sitting next to my door drawing. "So, what do you think do you want to join our clan," Jason asked sticking out his hand to handshake. I pondered the thought, this was the only group I was remotely qualified to join, and the people, for the most part, were nice. I stuck out my hand and shook, "Yeah I'm in." Jason smiled, "Then welcome to the Cool Kids Club."

"So tell me what missions are like," I said as we walked down the hallway. "Missions are quest that are requested by Mr. Valitharian, our Headmaster. You are allowed six people on a quest conveniently enough. By doing these quests, we try to help humanity in any way possible in hope of being free to coexist in this world," Jason said as we walked down the hallway to the gym. I scoffed, "That's never going to happen." Jason's smile faded and looked at me, "And why do you think that." His voice had changed as well, it was darker, colder, and very hollow. "Jason," I asked. I glanced at Jason's eyes and saw that the red eye was subtly glowing, you wouldn't be able to tell if you took one glance, but after staring at the eyes, I could definitely see the red eye was reflecting a lot more light than the blue, or maybe, it was producing its own. His face had changed too, it went from carefree and happy to angry and malicious. "Why do you think that's never going to happen," Jason asked. "I'm just saying that seven billion people in the world and we somehow manage to make our existence seem beneficial to all of it is a longshot," I said evenly. I'm not pessimistic, I'm realistic. I've learned to accept things for what they are, and to hope for the best, but prepare for the worst. Jason's eye dimmed back down and his sunny face returned, "Oh okay." We walked on like nothing happened, I slowed down so I was next to Blaine. "What was that about," I whispered to Blaine. Blaine looked at me darkly, "I won't normally say this to anyone, but since you're part of the clan, I'll tell you only this: Jason can be an entirely different person if he needs to be, don't get on his bad side." I looked onto Jason and thought, "Am I on his bad side?"

We've been walking for what felt like forever, but finally we came across a board. On the board were a bunch of posters. "What about this one," Jason asked unpinning one of the posters. If I had to assume, this was a mission board, I've played enough Pokemon Mystery Dungeon ® to know my objects. The poster had a mission on it.

MISSING

I had went spelunking in a cave, looking for my dog who had ran off, I had brought the dogs favorite flute, in hope of attracting to beast. I found the dog but a creature of some kind had found me, and chased me out leaving the flute behind. The dog won't do anything without it. Could you retrieve my flute please I'll make it worth your while.

-Reward $500

"Seems a little comical don't you think," Devin remarked, "I was thinking maybe this would be better." Devin pulled off a poster and brandished it in front of us. The poster had a drawn picture of a giant beast:

KILL

This beast had killed my family when we went hunting last summer. I coped the lost, but I pledged revenge upon this demon. Seeming how I'm old now, I need a youth to kill this creature and bring any part of its body as proof. The creature has the ability to make any creature burst into flame when it looks at you. I witnessed this as my wife was burnt to a crisp. I will be sure to pay you handsomely for your troubles.

-Reward $1250

"Gruesome but it pays well, and with our new kid I think that this will work well," Jason said happily, "Is everybody in?" Everyone agreed except me. I was worried about that bit saying I could be burnt alive. "Don't worry if you catch fire, Devin can repair you as good as new," Dalton said as usual reading my mind. I pondered the thought, this was my chance to get a taste of other peoples power, so why not? "Okay I'm in." They all cheered and went to the headmaster. "We wish to take this job," Jason said placing down the paper. Mr. Valitharian looked up happily, "And who will be accompanying you?" "Devin Livergood, Dalton Marjerison, Sarah Carrel, Blaine Ecteron, and the new kid, Mariat Blante," Jason said happily. Mr. Valitharian smiled, "And the weapon that will be accompanying them?" "I'll be carrying Cerulean," Jason said, "Devin will be carrying Epoch, Dalton will have Athena's Spear, Sarah will be using God's Hand, Blaine will be using Vulcan's Hammer, and Mariat will be using…" Jason looked at Mariat, "What was your weapon again?" "I don't have a weapon," I said.

The room broke into an awkward silence as everyone looked onto me. "That can't be right, your weapon always has a mean of finding you after you discover your power. It's drawn to you," Blaine said. I recalled my path. Nope, nothing. There was not a single bit of memory of me holding, finding, or being drawn to a weapon. "I'm afraid, without a weapon, Mariat won't be able to attend," Mr. Valitharian said sadly. "Give him a break, let him come this one time, he'll have us by his side so there's no way he can get hurt," Jason pleaded. Mr. Valitharian looked around, as if he wanted to make sure no one was watching. He grabbed the stamped and slammed it on the paper. A large, red, plainly written stamp had be inked into the paper. "You're the best," Jason said snatching the paper. "I'm counting on you to bring him back safely," Mr. Valitharian said playfully. We walked outside, as I gave one final look at Mr. Valitharian he smiled happily and put his finger to his mouth to signal me to be quiet. I nodded and caught up with the rest. We walked outside and followed the path to a small building where a Director was standing guard. Jason walked up confidently and put up the approved paper. The Director nodded and guided us inside. The inside was a giant dome with a large circle in the middle. On the border of the circle stood panels. "Mariat you wait here, we got to change," Jason said handing the paper to me. They walked to a small area dedicated to changing. I looked at the paper and observed the monster, "Are you sure you can trust these guys," Dante said finally. "I don't know, I really don't have a choice do I," I thought to myself. "Guess not, but just be careful, that Jason character is a shifty one," Dante said. "I will, thanks Dante," I said.

Jason was the first to walk from behind his changing room. I was so confused with how he got all that gear. Instead of the class attire, Jason was wearing casual blue jeans, tennis shoes, he had a blue jacket on and a sword sheathed on his belt. He walked up to me and grabbed the paper, "Is something wrong, Mariat," Jason said noticing my surprise. "How did you get that clothing," I asked appalled. "Oh, right, you're not familiar how the lockers here work," Jason said folding the poster, "You might have noticed that the lockers here are nothing but a void on the inside, right? Well, since that is so, you can access you items from any of the specially created lockers, so I just put my stuff in there and grabbed it from the lockers in the changing room." I wonder how those lockers know who's accessing the locker. Next, Blaine came out, he was wearing tattered blue jeans, black tennis shoes, a leather vest with a red undershirt, leather gloves, and sunglasses. "Sheesh, could this kid show off anymore," I said to Jason. Jason laughed, "Yeah, he's a bit of a show off, but he's wicked powerful, he has a larger Mana Pool than any of us." "I thought you were more powerful," I said. "I am only by weakness, his power is fire. Me being water gives me an advantage, but he can use a lot more power than I can," Jason said. Understandable, but still, he could be a little more modest, just because he's powerful, doesn't mean he has to act so flashy. At his side was a large double sided hammer with a flame crest on it.

Devin walked out, with just a casual pair of pants, a casual shirt, casual shoes, and a staff that had a clock on top, Epoch. Devin was the kind, I imagine, to make himself look like the least likely to be a target, so he dressed up so he seemed casual and, in short, invisible. Dalton then showed up, he was a little flashy, but not so flashy. He wore a trench coat, tennis shoes, and a fedora. The rest of the features were hiding under his trench coat. He had a spear that was strapped to his back.

Sarah had a green jacket, blue jeans (What's up with all the blue jeans), and a small fancy pen. "Okay, we're ready then," Jason said looking over the paper. Jason brought the paper up to the Director. The Director snatched the paper and looked over it. He silently pointed towards the circle. The group walked in, I quickly joined them. We all stepped into the circle as The Director watched intently. It then ate the form, which really confused me. The Director's mouth began to glow blue, and before I could react it shot a blue fire ball, engulfing us all. The flame wasn't hot, not even warm. I began to feel nauseated, like how you get when you stand up on a moving vehicle. I closed my eyes, and when I opened them again, I was no longer in Europe. We were in some kind of jungle, it was hot and humid. "Venezuela, huh," Jason said standing up, and adjusting his sword. I looked around, we were on some sort of mountain overlooking a large jungle. I saw a large area filled with ruins. "That's our destination," Jason said pointing at the ruins. We walked through the muggy atmosphere, swatting at bugs. Finally after we reached the ruins we stopped to get a drink, Jason pulled out water bottles and handed them to us. Devin sighed, "Jason could cool mine down a bit, please." Jason put his finger on the water bottle and the water bottle got foggy as water condensed on the side. "Luckily, since it's so muggy and humid out here, my powers will be at their best," Jason said happily.

After gulping down the rest of our water we searched the ruins, we split up into groups of two. Jason went with Blaine, Dalton went with Sarah, and Devin went with me. "Maybe we'll find some treasures in here," Devin said greedily looking around. I had to smile, "Yeah maybe I can find my weapon here." Devin froze in his track, I looked at him. He looked extremely surprised, "Get behind me Mariat," Devin said. I stood behind him, as he raise his staff. He brought the staff with such a force that echoed throughout the valley. The spot where Devin brought down his staff glowed and soon enough, a dome had engulfed us both. The ruins looked so much different than before, the broken, mossy, ground was now restored, polished, and clean. "What did you do," I asked looking around. "We are looking at the ruins a few decades before now," Devin said raising his staff again. "Why did you do that," I asked. "I got a time scent," Devin replied, like I was supposed to know what that is. "You could say I'm like a Google search, you give me a topic, and if there is anything relevant in the area, I'll get a trail of it. Then, if I stab the trail with Epoch, it will reflect the timeline so I can see where it is," Devin explained looking around. That's incredibly useful, "So what brought the scent," I asked. "You had mention a weapon, that's what brought up the trail, so maybe," Devin trailed off staring intently at nothing. He began to walk into a certain direction. I saw up ahead, there was nothing but an enclosed area and the edge of the cliff. When our dome had touched the enclosed area, it changed. It became opened. Devin walked through it like it was nothing, I followed after. "How did we," I asked confused. "We are now existing in an entirely different timeline, we can't interact with anything, but we have the accessibility that existed at that time," Devin said. Okay, Devin probably has the most useful power there is, not the strongest, but as far as it comes to learning about history, and better yet, being able to observe it, that's pretty impressive.

Devin pushed a button on his staff and the globe that surrounded us shrank back into the staff. We were now in an abandoned cave, the entrance in which we came in was blocked so the only other way was the looming stair case downward. "Mind giving us a light," Devin said, putting his staff away. I snapped my finger, and an orb of electricity formed on my finger. It glowed brilliantly, no longer making the stair case look so intimidating. We walked down the stair case for a while until we came across a large expanse. In the center of room was some sort staff. As we approached it, the staff showed off more features. In a way it looked like an icepick/walking stick hybrid. On the top was a small notch the curved to a sharp point, on the other side of the notch was a sort of edge that looks like a shovel. On the other side of the large shaft was a spike that shot into the ground. "This must be the weapon," Devin said studying it, "Well it's yours, go on take it." I hesitantly reached out to grab shaft of the weapon. As soon as my hand touched the shaft my vision fuzzed out and I fell over. I began to see the memories of a man much older than I am. He had brown hair, golden eyes, and a small goatee. He looked like me if I was thirty years old. This must have been his weapon. I flashed over his memories like they were just a bunch images in a jumbled memories. Then, it stopped on one of the memories. It showed my mom. I tried to reach out, but I had no body. Mom was holding a baby, probably me. She was happily playing with me. "So what should we call," mom said. "How about, Mariat," the man said. My eyes widen, that was my father. They memory flashed by and I was awoken by Devin. "Hey are you alright," Devin said shaking me awake. I slowly lifted my head and found the staff in front of me. "Hey what happened," Devin said relieved, "You grabbed onto the staff, and then you collapsed, having a seizure." I looked at the staff, "I saw a memory of my father. His memory must've been sealed into this." Devin sighed, "Well I'm just glad you're alright, if Jason found out that you died, I don't think he would believe that I didn't have a thing to do with it." I laughed and stood up. "Well we should probably get our way out of here.

We walked back up the flight of stairs, which was a hell of a lot more tiring than going down. Finally we reached the enclosed area. Devin slammed Epoch down again, and the globe appeared around us again. The enclosed area vanished. We walked through and put away his staff. "Hey where did you guys go," Jason said rushing towards us. "Oh we were just looking around for some treasures," Devin said innocently. "Did you find anything," Jason asked. "We found Mariat's weapon," Devin said grabbing my weapon and brandishing it. "Well, then I guess our being here was fate," Jason said. "Where are the others," I asked snatching my weapon back. Blaine went to gather the others, we think we found where the monster is residing," Jason said. "Then we best not keep them waiting," Devin said. We walked through the ruins until we came across a cave. Blaine was already waiting in the cave with the others. "Finally, you guys ready," Blaine said sitting up. "Yeah let's get this over with," Devin said tiredly, "This place is far too humid for me." Jason laughed, "Yeah let's get going."

Chapter 4

The cave was dank and exceptionally dark for my taste. Blaine and I lit up the cave pretty well though. The cave took a large incline downward until we came across a cliff leading to a large clearing. "Well this is a minor setback," Devin said. "Nonsense," Jason said. He put out his hand, and as we all watched, a large platform of ice had formed out of the air. "The dampness of the air makes my powers incredibly useful," Jason said walking onto the levitating ice platform. We all got on hesitantly making sure the ice wasn't exceptionally slick. Once we were all on, Jason flicked his wrist and the platform descended to the large clearing. "Hey Devin do you think you can get the Time Scent on that monster," I asked. Devin nodded and looked around, "There it is," Devin said pointing to nothing. He raised Epoch and brought it down with such a force that the staff echoed throughout the cave. For a moment nothing happened, but then a globe engulfed us all. We looked around, "Good to know we are in the monster's cave," Blaine said. Devin stopped the globe, "Yeah, he's definitely here." As if on cue, a ferocious roar was heard from all around the cave. A large serpent-like creature slithered out of the shadows. "Okay I don't think a Leviathan was on the paper," Dalton said looking up at the giant creature in awe. "No kidding, don't let it bite you, they carry a terrible toxin on them," Jason said. We readied our weapons to strike.

The Leviathan lunged at Devin, but before he could strike, Devin slammed his staff on the ground and disappeared. He was now behind me, as the snake slammed face-first into the ground. "How did you…" I trailed off. "I froze time," Devin said casually, "Duck." I turned back to the Leviathan in time to dodge its lunge. Its massive body soared above just by a few inch. I ran to a safe place as the others attacked it, not that I was scared or anything, but I've never fought a Leviathan (Not many people can boast that they have either), and these people know what they were doing. I looked at my staff and found two switches and a button under both of them. The first switch was right under the Ice pick part, and the second switch was under the Spike on the bottom. I looked at the switch and could barely make out the word "Retract," I could only assume that maybe it could be shot. I pushed the button and pressed button. Sure enough, when I hit the button the icepick shot out. It was connected to a rope so I guessed it could be a grappling hook. I hit the switch so it was now on retract, when I hit the button the rope shot back to the shaft with such an amazing force. "Okay this has just entered a whole new meaning of usefulness," I said to myself. I ran at the monster and shot the hook at a piece of vine that was sticking out of the roof. The hook spun around the vine, and then notched its way into crevasse. I turned the hook onto retract and hit the button again. My body was jarred out of sudden excitement as I was lifted off the ground like nothing. Before I even knew it, I was above the Leviathan at the top of the cave. I hit the button again, and the rope retracted this time. I hit the other button and the spike shot at the monster.

The spike hit the monster right in the scale and bounced harmlessly off, "Of course it has an indestructible hide," I thought to myself as I plummeted onto the monster. I landed onto its neck and held on for dear life as the monster began to shake furiously to get me off. I focused all my power into its neck and it stopped for a moment. "Hey nice job Mariat," Jason said as he ran at the monster. He jumped onto the paralyzed monsters nose and took out his sword. He prepared to lunge at the monster's eye. At that moment the snake regain movement and shook violently, knocking Jason down. It also caught me off guard, because as he shook I lost my grip and fell off. I was now on the ground dazed, and, for some reason, in an excruciating amount of pain. I tried to sit up and found that a spike rock had stabbed into my back. I looked back up and found that the snake was towering over me. It lunged, I blinked, and when I opened my eyes again, I was not in front of snake anymore, I was staring up at the cave's canopy. I looked around and found Devin exhausted. "Did you…" I trailed off. "Yeah, freezing time is very taxing stuff," Devin said with a heavy sigh. His nose began to bleed, "Devin you're bleeding," I said. "Yeah if you use up all of your Mana Pool, the power will inflict damage on you as a price," Devin said dabbing his upper lip was a tissue. I tried to sit up but I remembered I had a rock in my back. I rolled over, "Devin can you see a rock in my back," I asked. "Yeah, why," he asked. "Pull it out," I said. "Are you serious," Devin asked concerned. "Do it," I said harshly. He grabbed the rock and counted down, "3…2…1." He jerked and the rock ripped out leaving nothing but pain behind. I yelped as the pain coursed its way up and down my body. I got up trying hard to ignore the pain. "Will you be alright," Devin asked throwing the rock away. "I'll be fine," I said though I definitely didn't feel fine. I ran to join the fight again but it seemed that the monster was stronger than all of them. I could tell that they were using their Arcanist too. They all glowed with a mysterious blue aura.

"Okay, Dante," I said, "Let's do it." I tapped into Dante's Mana Pool, and immediately felt better. My leg no longer felt heavy, my back no longer ached, and my head wasn't pounding anymore. I scanned the Leviathan for an opening, any kind. Finally I found a small patch of skin that wasn't covered in scale. I shot my hook and it spun around the Leviathan's neck. I retracted the hook and got pulled on top of the Leviathan again. I paralyzed the Leviathan and ran for its weak spot. I jumped off the neck and looked back to find the bare patch. I shot the spike part at the Leviathan's neck and retracted it again. I got pulled at the Leviathan, feet first, at super speed. I began to focus the rest of my energy into the sole of my feet. My feet began to spark with energy. "Thor's Hammer," I yelled as I slammed into the Leviathan.

Instead of bouncing off I shot right through the Leviathan's neck and broke out of the Leviathan's mouth. I felt a sickening rush of Thick blood and organ tissues as I passed through its neck. I landed on the other side of the Leviathan and stopped right in front of my friends. They looked at me in total awe, "Mariat… how did you…" Jason said putting his sword away. I looked back at the monster as it began to flail around, blood spurting everywhere. The giant snake's scales began to fall off as if they weren't attached at all. Suddenly the snake's skin began to spaz as its body began to quickly decompose. Just then I realized that we needed an appendage from it in order to prove that we killed it. I shot my at the snakes neck. The rope looped around the entire snake's neck. I noticed another button right under the button that fires the hook. The button said, "Purge." I hit the button without hesitation, and as we all watched, the rope began to grow long, crude blades on it. The blades began to spin rapidly as the rope sawed right through the snake's skin. The Leviathan's head fell with a heavy thud on the ground.

The head stayed, but the rest of the body withered away into nothing. We all stared at the remains of the snake wither away in silence, until nothing was left beside the skull. "That was pretty impressive how you found its weak spot, and utilized the full extent of your weapon," Dalton said, strapping his spear back to his back. "Yeah and what's more, you manage to decapitate it," Devin said walking over. "Mariat," Jason asked, "Have you used that weapon before? Because you used it so perfectly, as if it was one of your own." "No," I said looking at my weapon, now completely blood soaked, "I never wield a weapon before, much less this one." "It doesn't matter, He did it, we should be proud of him for that," Blaine said happily raising his hand for a high five. They all began to celebrate, I was going to join in until I felt immediately woozy. My legs got wobbly, and I lost my balance. A shot of pain rippled through my body when I landed on my arm. I looked at my arm, and found that a large fang had stabbed my arm deeply. The other's ran towards me, "Mariat are you alright," Blaine asked. I pointed weakly to the fang, unable to speak. They all looked at the fang. They all nervously glanced at one another. I faintly hear laughter, and looked to my right. A man with a black cloak had appeared out of the shadows. They began to speak, my friends got angry and got in front of me with their weapons ready. I blacked out after that.

Chapter 5

I was back in that dark room when I fell asleep last time. I got out of the liquid and looked around. "Dante," I called out, "Dante!" No response, this kind of freaked me out. I was freaked out because, Jason had mentioned that the Leviathan had some sort of toxin. Since I had a fang in my arm, I could only guess that what happened back there was a result of the toxin. If that's the case, then I could be dead right now, and Dante would… No, no I can't think like that. I walked around the endless abyss, calling out Dante's name. I lost track of time, and how many times I called out his name. As I walked tiredly through the abyss, I tripped over something and fell into the water. I huddled into a little ball, I've felt this alone a long time ago, it was the feeling when I found out my father had died in that train accident. I began to cry. I promised myself that I would move on, but I never could move on from that, truth be told, that was the thing weighing heaviest on my mind right now. "Father…" I said weakly, "Why did you leave me. After a few minutes of feeling sorry for myself, I got out of the water, my clothes drenched in that liquid. Luckily, it was warm in my mind, so it's not like I was cold. I looked back and grabbed whatever it was that tripped me. It was my weapon, though for some reason it was glowing.

I looked at the weapon and sighed, "I suppose you're trying to tell me something." I don't know how long I was in this abyss, but I know I was definitely stuck here for a while. Then something struck me like a hammer. Dante had said that when we die, we go on to newly born children who have powers. "Does that mean…" I thought to myself, "Did I… Die?" I got really light headed and leaned on my weapon for support. "No," a voice said from behind me. I spun around, it was Dante! "Sorry, about disappearing, you were on the verge of death and I was being dragged away." I sighed, "So I'm still alive, then." Dante nodded, "I see you found your dad's weapon." I regarded the weapon. "So how do I get out of here," I asked. "It would seem like you're in a coma so you have to will yourself awake," Dante said grimly. "Okay, how do I do that," I asked. "Try thinking about a will to survive," Dante said, "Think about a reason for your existence." I closed my eyes and thought about my family, and school. When I opened my eyes, I was still inside the abyss. "No good," I said. "What did you think about," Dante asked. "My family, and school," I said. "Maybe, it's because that's not what's driving you to live," Dante said, "I think there is some memory that was locked away from you, try and think about things that you forgotten." I looked at him, like he just told me to dance on the sun, "How on earth do I think of something forgotten." "Has there been any memories that you never could understand, but for some reason it was really important and you could never remember why," Dante asked. I nodded, "There was this one time when someone asked me why I exist," I recalled. It was true there was once this bully who asked me why I exist. "When he asked, I recalled my father telling me something, but I never could remember what he said," I said sadly. "Good, then concentrate on that, it might get you back," Dante said happily. I thought about that, suddenly a bunch of orbs began to fly towards me. I reached out to grab one of them. The orb expanded and a video-like memory appeared. I was looking through my eyes again, like it was happening right now. "Remember this, Mariat, you always have a reason to live, and if you can't find it, then keep looking, you are the reason you exist," My father said. The memory faded but I reached out to grab it before it could escape. That might have been the only memory of my father and I didn't want to leave it alone.

Dante grabbed my shoulder, "You can't wallow on the past, you got to keep moving forward." I nodded and let go of the memory. The memory turned back into an orb and floated into the depth of the abyss. I sighed pitifully. Dante crouched and patted my head, "Your dad wouldn't want you to be depressed about him, he would want you to keep moving forward, that's what's been getting you through these years, so don't fall now." I nodded, I now had a reason to live though, I needed to figure out who killed my father, and avenge him. I closed my eyes and an overwhelming force pushed me out of my subconscious.

When I woke up I was still in the cave. I got up and looked around. "Jason, Blaine, Sarah," I called out, "Devin, Dalton!" I looked at my body to make sure I was still in one piece. I wasn't injured beyond a scrape and a large scar on my arm. I got up and grabbed my weapon. "Did they abandon me," I asked myself. I found my way out of the cave. It was just turning morning. "How long was I out," I asked myself. Judging by the fact that my arm that held a large fang was now just a scar, I must've been out for a few days, but if that's the case, who took care of me? I walked down the trail that lead us to the ruins and came across a village. I walked into the village hoping that no one would see me any different than some tourist. "Dante, this is Venezuela, right," I asked. "Indeed," Dante said, "Why?" "Well the school is back in Europe, so how exactly am I going to get back," I thought as I looked for a payphone. "Great, I don't have any way of getting back, I don't know how to speak these people's language, and I don't have any money," I thought miserably. "Let's get to the shore, this is, if I'm correct, the Port of Spain so we shouldn't be that far from the ocean," Dante said. I looked around for any sign of water. Finally I saw a small speck of something glistening behind some lush jungles. I walked outside of the village, and waited until I wasn't able to be seen. I shot my weapon's hook side and climbed one of the trees. I got a nice view and saw that that was indeed the ocean. I sighed with relief, "At least we found the ocean, now comes the tricky part, how to cross it." "It would seem that there is no choice," Dante said grimly, "You're going to have to travel to Alaska and cross over the narrow strait that runs in between Alaska and Russia." "That sound fun," I said sadly. "Well there is a way to make this faster," Dante said happily. "I'm open to suggestions," I said climbing down from the tree. "You could always ride a power cable," Dante said. "You mean I can do that," I asked. "Yes, anything that's actively conducting electricity can be rode like a current," Dante said, "I did it all the time!" "Well it's my best option," I said.

I stopped by a shop and grabbed a map of Venezuela. The man at the register didn't accept IOUs so I had to do the unspeakable. I looked around, luckily no one was watching. "I'm really sorry I have to do this," I said regretfully. I grabbed one of his flailing arms and shot a jolt of electricity through his body. It was enough to stun him, but not to cause any damage. I laid him safely on the floor and turned the sign to close. I snagged a backpack and put as many food items in there as possible along with the map. I then grabbed a pair of shades and a hat to protect me from the sun. "Why do you need those," Dante asked. "I have two reason for that, if I run out of Mana in the daytime, this will help not draw any attention, and also this is a Third-World Continent, which means that chances are I might run into places that don't have electricity, so for protection from the sun I grabbed these," I said. I walked out of the store casually and strapped the backpack around my shoulders. I looked up for any power lines, finally after what seemed like forever I found one. "Okay Dante, how do I accomplish this," I asked following the line. "Just find a place away from everybody, then touch the cord and concentrate on moving where you want to be, it should do the rest," Dante said. I followed the line outside of town.

Finally, I managed to find a place outside of town where the line was attached. I grappled onto a tree that was running right under the line. When I made contact with the wire my vision began zoom away from me. I was still where I was, but I felt like the cord was pulling my vision with it I was able to see the full extent of line and where it headed. When I finally stopped I was on the border of Panama and South America. I concentrated on that area, and like being shot out of a cannon, my body quickly made its way to where my vision was. I found myself hanging from the Power line as people watched me dangle there. One of the guards said something to me in a foreign language, but I think that he was somewhere along the lines of, "What the heck are you doing hanging from the power lines, boy." I climbed my way towards the pole and climbed down using the metal ladders that are imbedded into the wood. The guard walked over to me and spoke to me in that foreign language again. I sighed "Sorry mister I don't speak the same language." "What are you doing here," He said with a Mexican accent. "That's better, my friends crossed the border without me and I was just wondering if I could get a free pass, c'mon what kind of harm do you think a child can do," I said innocently. The man sighed, "I'm sorry but without any money you won't be getting by here." "There you are Joshua," An American accent said behind me. A man with blonde hair and a dress shirt and pants came marching up to me. "Sorry officer, he has a tendency of going off into his own world sometimes," the man said apologetically. "This kid is yours," the man asked. "What are you doing," I hissed at him. "Just play along," he whispered, "Yes officer tragically, he's a little crazy." "Boy do you know this man," the officer asked looking at me. "Why yes doctor," I said with false stupidity, "This is the emperor of Rome." The man gestured to me like that proved his point. "Okay keep a better eye on your child next time," the officer said. The man ushered me into the back seat of his car. "Okay who are you," I asked dropping the crazy act. "I'm Dan MacHelen," The man said extending his hand for a shake, "And who are you?" "I'm Mariat Blante," I said shaking his hand, "So why did you help me?" "We super humans got to look out for each other, I saw you appear on that line in a flash." "You can use powers to," I asked relieved that he was on my side, "What's your power?" "Mind Control," the man said proudly, "Yours?" "Electricity," I said.

We drove up to the toll road and I acted insane again, talking to my imaginary friend, Kyle, as Dan paid the toll. "So where are you from," Dan asked. "I'm from Europe," I said. "Pretty far from home aren't we," he asked teasingly. "Yeah, I was on a mission that took place in South America, but I got abandoned by my comrades so I'm going North to Alaska to cross the strait," I said. I don't know why I was letting this guy on so much of my plan, but I felt like I could just trust him. "What were you doing in South America," I asked. "Oh, like you, I had a mission to finish there, must be fate that made us cross path," Dan said. "So where are we going then," I asked. "We are heading to Sonora, we can part ways there, unfortunately I can't help you get to Europe but I can offer a free ride closer to your destination," Dan said. "I thank you for your hospitality," I said gratefully. "Hey no problem, if you get tired go ahead and crawl in the back, there is a bed," Dan said gesturing behind me. I pulled out my phone and looked at the service, it was a full bar. The battery was almost dead though, I knew I should've charged it before hand. I dialed the School's phone and hoped that they would pick up.

Sure enough, Mr. Valitharian picked up in his deep voice, "Hello?" "Headmaster, thank goodness," I said relieved. "Mariat," Mr. Valitharian said excitedly, "How are you still alive, I thought that the Leviathan would've killed you?" "I'm surprised too, listen I don't have much time to speak, I'm on my way back to school I'll be back there within the week," I said hastily. "Good, good, your friends will be there waiting for -." The phone died. I sighed with relief, "Well I'm not dead yet." "So you go to Valitharian High School," Dan asked. "You've been there," I asked. "Of course, all powerful bloods go, I'm no exception, I graduated a decade ago." "Wow, that is extremely coincidental," I said. "Indeed, you should get some rest, you probably used a lot of your energy," Dan said. I saw a small flash in his eyes and almost immediately I felt compelled to fall asleep. I crawled into the back and fell asleep almost instantly. I was back in the abyss with Dante, "I don't trust this guy." "Why, he helped us didn't he," I said defensively. "Yes, but isn't it just a little sketchy that this guy just so happens to have power, just so happens to be from the same school, and just so happens to be helping you," Chain said. It was a reasonable thought, "I see where you're coming from, but if we get into a situation I still have you." "Yes, but he also knows mind control, my idea avert the eyes at all cost, don't look him in the eyes directly, okay," Chain said. "Right," I agreed. Man should I have listened to him.

Chapter 6

When I woke up, I was no longer in a vehicle, I was in some darkened room, kneeling, and in cuffs. "What did I tell you," Dante said. "Where am I," I asked. "You'll find out eventually," Dan said stepping out of the shadows. "Why are you doing this," I asked reaching for my weapon, nada, not there. "I need answers, and you'll be the one answering them," Dan said holding up my weapon. "Hey! Give that back," I yelled helplessly. "You are not in the position to give me orders," Dan said happily. "What answers do you want," I asked. "Where is the school," Dan said dropping the weapon. "You said that you've been to that school, so why can't you figure it out yourself," I said. "I would, but unfortunately I'm unable to find it," Dan said sadly. "Why do you want to get to the school anyways," I asked. "Because I want to destroy it," Dan said casually, as if it was obvious. "What, why on earth would you want to destroy the only known haven for our kind," I asked in shock. "Because, that school is teaching you kids to act kindly to the humans when in truth we should kill the humans," Dan said. He laughed maniacally.

"So that's it," I said indifferently, "Tell me, would that make us any better than the humans?" "What do you mean, of course," Dan said. "How," I asked, "Humanity has gone to such an extent to rid us of our existence, doing this will make us no better than they are." I forced all my energy into the shackles, which made them burst, "I'm sick of humanity and us always fighting," I said sharply, "Why can't we just accept each other for who we are?" "How did you-," Dan began. "If this is your plan, then I will stop you," I interrupted, "Odin's Gate!" I tapped into Dante's Mana Pool and made the same motion that I did back at the school. "What!? How are you able to use that advance of a move, unless," Dan paused than laughed, "You're a Probationary Student aren't you." I created the circle and let it charge, "Any last words?" Dan laughed and then stared at me directly, "Yes, Die!" he said. In that instant his eyes turned red. I averted eye contact just in time to not get mind controlled. "No," I said calmly, putting my hands over my eyes, "You die." I released the energy from my attack. I heard a loud rumble as the energy shot at Dan shooting him through the building. I uncovered my eyes, and saw that a large hole had formed in the building. I walked out of the building and squinted at the sun. I found the man covered in cinder a couple of yards away. I walked over to him, and watched as he slowly died. Dan laughed weakly, "We'll see how long your idea of Utopia will get you," Dan said with a raspy voice. "Violence breeds violence, kindness breed kindness," I said, "It's the only chance we have to share this world."

Finally, Dan stopped breathing. I sighed and collapsed on the ground. "I never thought I had it in me to kill someone," I said quietly. "You did wonderfully Mariat, you fought for what you believed in," Dante said happily. Dan's body than began to deteriorate into nothing, leaving nothing left, but a strange orb. The orb levitated up into the air and floated over to me. The orb melted into my body. "Wha-What just happened," I asked frantically, looking under my shirt. "Ah, right, I forgot about the regulations," Dante said timidly. "What Regulation," I asked. "Well, when a powerful blood kills another powerful blood, they absorb their energy and power," Dante said hesitantly, "The school didn't tell anyone because let's face it, if they did, there wouldn't be much stopping the children from attacking their own kind." "So now I can use Mind Control," I asked. "Yes," Dante said.

I walked back towards the building and grabbed my weapon and bag. When I exited the building I put on my hat and looked around. Nothing but a clear blue sky, desert sand, and cacti in every direction. "Well, this is a predicament," I said. I looked at the other side of the building, there was a road, but no telling where it lead. I walked over to the vehicle, "Luckily I know how to drive," I said climbing into the car. The keys were already in the ignition, I suppose Dan was going to get me to tell him where the school is, kill me, and then quickly speed away. Glad that didn't work. I turned the ignition, put on my seat belt, adjusted the mirror, and sped off leaving dust behind me. The road was clear for the most part, with the exception of Semis and a few families looking to take a vacation. I turned on the radio, nothing but Spanish talk shows and Mexican bands. I sighed, "Right, we're in Mexico." I have no problem with Mexicans, it's just that I would like to know what people are saying. I kept the radio on nonetheless, I needed something to ease my mind. Finally we reached the city of Acapulco. "At least he got us a fair distance," I said a happily, "I'll just park somewhere that's not crowded, follow a power line, leave the key in the ignition for some lucky person and go the rest of the way by foot." "Sounds like a plan," Dante said.

Finally, I reached the end of the city and followed the line for a few miles and then stopped. I grabbed all my stuff and left the key in the ignition. I climbed the power line pole and touched the line. Again, I saw where the lines ended. This went all the way to Durango. I concentrated on that and in a breeze, I was already there. As soon as I felt myself stop I got so weak that I just fell from the wire. The mixture of Odin's Gate, and then this must've really lowered me down. I got up, out of breath and looked around. Good, this time no one was looking. I grabbed a water from my bag. It wasn't cold anymore, but hey, it was better than nothing. I drank the bottle entirely. I know it's technically taboo to go into a store and just go to the bathroom, or refill on water without paying, but I didn't have any money and I wanted to conserve my water for when I don't have a store. I walked into the grocery store and was greeted by cold air. I refilled my water and walked out, getting a few funny looks from the cashier. I walked throughout the city looking for a place shady to rest. Finally I found a relatively clean alley way. It's also taboo to sleep in dark alley ways alone. I was just on a roll of breaking taboos that could save my life. I walked into a corner that was hidden by a dumpster, not exactly first class, but it was at least hidden. I climbed behind the dumpster and laid flatly. I used my backpack as a pillow and hoped for the best, that I didn't get mugged, attacked, or bitten by bugs. It didn't take much to fall asleep, really. When I woke up, I was still the way I was left. The only down side, I had left my mouth open, so my mouth was pretty dry, and also I don't know what kind of creatures could have gotten in there. I grabbed my water and drank it. I stood up and noticed the sun had dipped behind a building leaving the alley even darker. I climbed out from behind the dumpster, feeling immensely better. I mean except for feeling a little gross from sleeping on the street. I walked out from the alley way and looked around. The sun wasn't completely gone, so it was turning to evening.

I walked down the sidewalk, trying to keep my head down. I would've succeeded in it too, had it not been for the gang who were beating up on a kid. The kid, right off the bat, was different from a human. His eyes were a silver and gold. "Hey," I said approaching them, "Leave that kid alone." "You shouldn't stick your nose where it doesn't belong, tourist," One of them said. "Yeah beat it or you'll be next," another said. "Why are you picking on him anyways," I asked. "He's one of those power-bloods, so we're teaching him a lesson, now beat it," one of them said, he looked to be the leader, because he stood taller than the rest of them, and the others followed his orders. "So what," I asked. "What do you mean so what, we need to show them where their rightful place is, they're the Devil's children," the leader said. One of them kicked the boy in the face, which made me act. I rammed into the guy who kicked the boy, knocking him over, and yelled "Leave him alone!" The other two, grabbed me and pinned me on the wall. "Is this kid, your brother or something," the leader said. "No I'm just sticking up for my kind," I said bluntly. The leader flinched, "You are one of them?" He then laughed and punched me on the ground. I fell on the ground and spit out blood. Before I could gain my balance, one of the guys stomped on my hand, "Now this is how it's going to go," the leader said, "I'm going to kill you slowly, then I'm going to kill this kid."

"Typical humans," I said, surprising myself, "You have been spoiled with your title as the Apex Predator, and now we came along, took away your title, and made you second." The man smiled and pulled out a knife. I looked him in the eye and said, "It's despicable people like you who make us attack you, why don't you just off yourself," I said sinisterly. Without hesitation, the boss put the knife and jabbed it into his neck. I stared dumbstruck at what I just did, "Did I just…" The man flopped to the floor choking on his own blood as it gushed out of his neck. The two other guys ran to the boss as he slowly choked to death. I got up, unable to control my body, "Dante is this you," I thought to myself. "No I'm not doing this," Dante said in a panicking tone. "Now then," I said in a hollow tone, "Your turn." The two guys looked at me and I smiled, "Kill each other," I commanded coldly. Their eyes blanked out and looked at each other. They both pulled out a knife and lunged at each other without hesitation, stabbing each other in the gut. As soon as they died I regained my ability to control. I stared at the pile of newly killed bodies. "Dante, what happened to me," I asked horrified by myself. "It's a side effect of gaining a new power," Dante said, "You will begin to gain their personality for a few days. It will subside eventually," Dante said. I crouched in front of the boy, "Are you okay?" The boy nodded timidly, "Thank you for helping," he said quietly. "No problem, though I have to admit, I addressed this situation poorly," I said glancing at the dead body. The boy nodded timidly. "So what's your name," I asked changing the subject. "Ben Martinez," he said. "And what's your power," I asked. "Healing," he said timidly. Healing seemed like a pretty harmless power, so why would those thugs attack him. "Well you should run along home," I said. The boy stood up in a trance, got on his bike and rode off. I walked out of the alley and walked as casually as a psychopathic murderer could. Before I managed to leave the block, I heard a scream and turned back. I saw everyone gather around at the alley. I whispered, "I'm so sorry." I turned my back and walked the other way, I needed to get away from people for a while.

Chapter 7

I walked around the city until finally, I found the exit. I walked a few kilometers and got ready to get out of here. "Um… excuse me," a familiar voice said from behind me. I turned around to find that kid that I saved, "What are you doing here, I told you to go home." "That's the thing, I-I don't have a home," the boy said shuffling his feet. I sighed, "Well, it's dangerous to tag along with me I'm afraid, sorry kid, I don't want to get another innocent person involved in my ordeals." "Please take me with you," the kid said getting down on his knees and putting his hands together as if he was praying, "For once I felt safe when you were there!" Tears began to well up in his eyes, how was I supposed to deny him? I sighed exasperated, "Fine, but you need to follow my orders to the point, and whatever you do, don't trail off." The boy smiled and nodded. "Okay, then come one, we'll be travelling using this power line," I said putting out my hand. He grabbed on, and with that we left.

When I reached my limit, I forced our way out of the power line. I slowly made my way off the power line with my newfound friend. I looked around and found a sign, "Phoenix is that way for another ten miles we should go that way," I said. "How did you do that," Ben asked. "Oh, right you haven't seen my other power," I said, "I have the power to control lightning, and if there is an object that is actively conducting electricity, I can travel with the current." Ben looked on with utter amazement. "Oh, right what's your name anyways I didn't get a chance to ask," Ben asked. He was right, "I'm Mariat Blante, now let's get moving, keep close to me." We walked on the road, while the sun slowly vanished. I considered it a blessing, it was hotter than Hell out here with that sun. Sweden was so much nicer than this. We walked for a foot-aching eternity, but finally, we found Phoenix. We walked around the city looking for a hotel but mostly we found nothing but restaurants. I looked at the food displayed in the window and sighed. I pulled out something to eat in my backpack. I found a bag of beef jerky, wasn't exactly South American, but hey, if the rumors I hear about them are true, this is a blessing. I gave some to Ben and he chomped happily on it. We walked around the bustling city fruitlessly looking for a hotel to stay in. People who walked by gave us both looks like we didn't belong here. Finally, we came across a small hotel, not exactly five stars, but again, I'm not going to complain. We walked into the hotel and walked up to the front desk. The man looked at us, and smiled, "And what can I do for you, boys," he asked kindly. "Oh, we took a walk into town, my little brother took off without me so I had to track him down, but now I found him, and I'm pretty sure our parents are worried sick," I lied. "And do you have your key," the man asked. "That's the problem, I lost my key amongst the city, and my brother forgot altogether, so we were wondering if we could get a new one," I said.

"Sorry, kid but I'm not able to give you a second key," the man said assertively. He did his job pretty well, I have to give him that. I sighed, "I'm really sorry to do this, but we need a room now," I said using my new found power. I felt a bit of pressure form in my eyes. The man looked daze and grabbed a key. He gave me the key, "Good, now register us as paid," I said, as the pressure in my eye began to build. He took a pen and wrote on the register sheet, "Okay, you are checked in, your room is C12," he said sleepily. I stopped the mind control, and immediately I was jarred with a sudden, but deafening amount of pain. I crumpled onto the ground. "Mariat are you alright," Ben said. "I'm fine, let's go," I said, though I definitely didn't feel that way. Ben guided me to the room. We reached the room and walked inside and fell onto the bed. I opened my eyes and found that they were blurry, "Crap, I better not be going blind," I said. "What," Ben said, "Why would you be going blind?" "I have two powers see," I said, "Mind control is the second one, but I overused it and now my eyes have sustained damage." "Here let me take a look," Ben said approaching me. I looked at him, though I could barely make out his form. He put his hands in front of my eyes and a green glow emanated from his hands. When he took his hands off my eyes I could see clearly again. "That's pretty useful," I said. Ben smiled, "It's the least I can do."

It didn't take much for us to get to sleep, we turned off the light and we were out. I didn't go to my Mana Pool, I guess Dante didn't need to say anything. I dreamt about my final bit of memories before my abandonment. I remember that old man that appeared, "I wonder who he was," I thought to myself. The rest of my dreams were just nonsensical delusions caused by my own consciousness trying to make sense of everything. When I woke up, Ben was in the other bed, completely passed out. He kind of reminded me of a little brother I never had. I looked out the window, the sky was turning grey. I walked into our bathroom and took a long, well-deserved shower, and reflected on my actions. I felt so wrong using my power to get what I wanted. I especially felt sorry for the family members of the three guys who I just made kill themselves. "Don't worry, they deserved it," a voice said. The voice was my own, but it was darker, more sinister. If I had to guess, it was my alternate personality. A separate being that was created by the absorption of that new power. I sighed, although making people do things against their will was so under me, it kind of felt empowering to be able to force people to do my bidding, and in a way, it was fun, though, the after mass of it was definitely not fun. I'll need to work on my Mana Pool if I'm going to use that more often. "What am I thinking? This isn't me, get a hold of yourself," I said. I was beginning to worry myself. I didn't think that my power could get so addicting to use. "You are simply feeling side-effects of your new powers, you'll get over it eventually," Dante said.

I got out of the shower and dried myself off. I put on my old clothing that were beginning to get ripe, we need to stop by a Walmart or something. When I exited the bathroom, Ben was standing in front of the bathroom door, somehow seeming… happier. "Get washed up, then we're heading out," I said stepping out of his way. I laid on the bed and saw what was on TV. I was of course greeted with the mass suicide. The media definitely blew it out of proportion. They made it seem like us power-users had attacked innocent civilians, anything to make us look like savages. "An example of how Humanity has been spoiled of their title as Apex Predators," I said coldly. I would've been making fun of the television but I stopped after hearing loud thumping from the halls. Now, I know that it could've been just children jumping in the hallway, but you're also forgetting we constantly get hunted, so hearing that immediately translated to someone was here and we were going to die. I opened my door cautiously and looked around. Just as I thought, just some kids jumping up and down. I sighed and closed my door. I went back to my bed and laid down again, just in time to find out that they were getting close to us. Those non-government agents were already in Arizona. I cursed and packed my things. Ben walked out, "Get ready we're leaving," I said hastily. He nodded and got ready without questions. After packing the rest of our things, and making sure we weren't forgetting anything important, we headed out. I put the key in the turn-in trey and walked out the door without another word. "So where are we going anyways," Ben said. "We're going to the store to get you a hat and sunglasses," I said. "That's not what I'm asking," Ben said, "You aren't wandering, trust me, I know what wandering looks like, you have a destination, what is our destination?" "We are heading to a haven," I said, "It's a place where you can live without fear of persecution."

We came across a small gas station and walked in. "Now, act natural, I'm going to get you a hat, sunglasses, and some water, don't get into a situation," I said patting his shoulders. He nodded and stayed right at the door. I found a nice little traveler's hat, sunglasses that would definitely cover Ben's mismatched eyes, and a large water bottle. I walked past the cash register, but was stop by the worker there, "You're going to have to pay for that." I turned around immediately felt the pressure in my eyes again, "But we already did," I said calmly. He stared blankly and nodded, "Right, sorry." I stopped the mind control and walked out. "Here," I said handing the stolen items to Ben, "Take off the price tags." Finally we headed off to where ever my powers would take me. I realize that this gets repetitive, but honestly, what did you expect? We look like humans in every way except for Ben's mismatched eyes. When I finally felt my limit, I forced our way out of the current. Unfortunately, this time, instead of being near a city, or better, in a city, we were in the middle of nowhere. I sighed, "Well, it seems like we'll have to take the rest of this by foot. Luckily, morning was still starting wherever we are, so it was cool, and I think we are just starting to enter the temperate zone of America.

We walked along the dark road, as the sun slowly made its way up. Now that it was just a little brighter I could make out tall bluegrass everywhere. We must've been in a more rural side of America, if had to guess, Wyoming or Montana. I'm so glad that electricity goes the same speed as light. It's just a shame that it takes up a decent amount of energy. I looked back over to Ben to make sure he was still following. Sure enough he was walking right behind me, with his sunglasses on his shirt and his hat drawn behind his head. A few cars passed by us every once in a while, none stopping to pick us up, which I was glad. I've already had enough with getting picked up by people, ever since Dan showed up. I didn't need to risk that anymore. After trudging through the rural lands for hours with the now high sun beating us down with heat, we reached Cody Wyoming. I sighed, "Finally, civilization." We looked around the city for a place to sit down, and came across an old looking County Library. We stopped in and basked in the air conditioned building. "We'll stay here for a few hours to recharge, then we'll head back out," I said walking around. I grabbed a book and found a comfortable spot in the library and read. I really must make a note of places never to go when exploring the country, because I'm running out spaces in my memory to write them down.

Chapter 8

Things were going just peachy, up until I began to feel this eerie presence around me. I don't know how to explain it, I just felt this powerful aura surrounding the library. It wasn't necessarily evil, it was just powerful. Finally, after being bugged out of my mind, I closed my book and looked around for anything supernatural. I saw Ben happily reading a chapter book. I smiled a little bit, he certainly was enjoying himself. I walked around the library a little bit more trying to figure out what this atmosphere was until I think I found it. In the corner of the library a boy my age was writing in some sort of leather-bound book. The book was where the energy was originating from. "Dante do you feel that," I thought. "Yeah, that boy must be a wielder," Dante said. "A wielder," I asked, "What's that?" "They are people, handpicked by God to guard sacred relics of his creations. If I had to guess, he has the Book of Fate, and the Quill of Creation. Both are very powerful relics," Dante said. "Is he dangerous," I asked. "I don't think they are, God usually picks only the most pure of heart to watch over his relics." That "usually," part was the word that was getting to me.

"Can I help you," the boy said looking up from his book. I realized that I was looking at the book. I looked away, "No I was just wondering why you were writing in your diary here, usually people want to keep their diary secluded." The guy shrugged, "I see no reason to, I see it this way, if people really want to know what I'm writing about, then I guess I'm more interesting than I thought." That's one way to look at it. "I also noticed that you are writing with a quill, it's a little late for that, isn't it," I said observing the quill. He looked at his quill and laughed, "It's not actually a quill, it's actually a pen in the shape of a quill. How on earth did you mistake that?" I looked away embarrassed. The boy looked back to his book, as I walked back. I would've kept moving but was stop by a weird gurgling noise coming from the hallway. I walked down the hallway half expecting a sink to be overflowing, I couldn't have been more wrong.

I moved down the hallway hearing whether or not the noise was getting closer. Finally, I heard the noise best at the door at the end of the hall. I slowly opened the door and found the librarian, impaled. There was a large stone spike sticking out of his abdomen. I had to look away before I got sick. The librarian was already long dead. I looked around room for any clues, avoiding any eye contact with the dead librarian. Finally, I found a note on the table, "Death to the Blue-Bloods!" "Blue-Bloods? What are those," I asked out loud. "Sounds like some sort of new slang for our kind," Dante said. "So you found it," the boy asked standing at the doorway. "Did you do this," I asked horrified. "No, I foresaw it," he said casually, "Your Mariat Blante, aren't you?" I opened my mouth to say something but didn't have enough time to ask, before a large explosion echoed through the library. "I'll explain everything later," the boy said and ran back into the hallway, me chasing after him.

Remind me to never stay in one place for too long. We ran out and saw this big Anubis-looking creature. It was definitely a jackal of some sort. "What is that thing," I asked staring at the sheer size of it. "It must be some sort of creature from Egyptian Mythology," the boy said. I could see the semblance. It was a giant, shirtless jackal. It had a pitch black, muscular body similar to that of a human, but the head of a dog. I pulled out my weapon, "No time to lose." I ran at it hoping to maybe decapitate it with my weapon. The fortunate thing, it had no unbreakable hide. The unfortunate thing, it was much faster, more agile, and smarter than the Leviathan, so even if I did get on him, he had an easier time throwing me off. Finally, I managed to analyze a fighting pattern in this thing. If I would approach him, he would attack with his axe and if I dodge he would strike with his free hand, then if you dodge all that and manage to grab on to his arm, he would shake you off. I ran at him, and just as I suspected, he struck with the axe. I sidestepped the axe and jumped. Before he could bring out his arm, I shot the rope at his shoulder and hit the Purge button. Just like last time, it turned into a chainsaw and tore right through his shoulder.

The Jackal let out a screech of sheer pain and dropped as black fluid poured out of his arm. "You're pretty good, Mariat but let me finish this," the boy said. He grabbed his quill and wrote a symbol in the area. The symbol disappeared in the air, then nothing happened. "That's it," I asked unimpressed. Suddenly, a hissing sound was heard as a giant black axe, started to form out of thin air. The axe grew in size every second, making it look way more intimidating. The axe floated over to the jackal and shot down with such force. Axe shot right through the jackal's neck making it disintegrate immediately. "No, that was it," the boy said putting the pen away.

"Mariat," Ben yelled frantically running towards me. "Oh good, you're still alive," I said relieved. I honestly wasn't thinking about it at the moment, but afterwards it did occur to me. "Ah, and you must be Ben Martinez," the boy said looking Ben over. "Who are you," I asked looking back at the kid. "Ah, right, I have not introduced myself, I'm Tim Ventus." "How do you know us," I asked. Tim lifted up his diary, "I'm a Wielder, assigned with the Book of Fate and the Quill of Creation as my relics." "Told you so," Dante said triumphantly. "Shut it," I thought to myself. "I, or rather, my book, foresaw your coming," Tim said with a small smirk. "Does that mean you foresaw the death of that man, or the giant jackal? Why didn't you do something," I asked. "Because Fate doesn't like to be wrong, if you foil Fate's plan and make her wrong, then she's going to retaliate with something worse," Tim said sadly, "To avoid anything worse, I only attempt to look at or change fate if it's absolutely necessary." That was reasonable, I've given up on trying to discern on whether or not our lives are ours, or if some force is constantly compelling us to do something.

"So why are you here in the first place, then," I said trying to ignore the black blood that hasn't disappeared. "I'm here to join you," Tim said happily. "Wait, what," I asked utterly confused, "Why on Earth are you wanting to join us?" "Though this thing tells me pretty much everything I need to know about the future, I'm not allowed to look at it, otherwise I could change my actions, thus, changing fate, the, and I heard about this haven in Europe, then I read that you would be coming, so I took my opportunity," Tim said, "So what do you say? Team up?" He stuck out his hand to handshake. "Eh, why not," I said and shook his hand, "But I got one question." "Name it," Tim said. "The Quill of Creation allows you to create anything out of thin air, right? So if that's the case, you wouldn't need to fight you got whatever you need right there, so why do you need us," I asked. "Reasonable question," Tim said, "God made all of his relic to share some extent of his power, but he always makes sure it's safe for him, just imagine it, if an item of God had the same exact power of God, then he had the audacity to give it to me, that sounds like an ingredient for trouble, so it has its limitations," Tim explained, "Summoning large things will make it run out of energy and will have to recharge, the larger the creation, the larger amount of time I have to wait to use it again." "So it's like a Cool down rate for some special move you see in Skyrim or something," I said sounding like my normal geeky self. Tim laughed, "If that's what you want to compare it to, then so be it, yes, it's like using a shout or ability in Skyrim."

Tim grabbed his stuff off the table. "I should probably repair this," Tim said pulling out his quill. He drew a symbol in the air. For a second nothing happened, but next thing I knew, the roof, wall, and floor were all repairing themselves. "That should do it, okay, I'm ready," Tim said happily. Luckily, due to the commotion, no one could pin that I did anything supernatural, in fact the only thing that really caught people's attention, was the library repairing itself. "Okay, next stop Canada," I said as we grabbed onto a power line and headed off.

The travel was fine, except you know, we got cut off because there was a power outage so there was no electrical current to travel with. When we got to the power outage we were drove right out of the wire and forced to the ground. "Is everyone alright," I asked. "Yeah, though I definitely could went without falling on a rock," Tim said getting up. "I'm fine to," Ben said. "So where are we," Tim said. I looked around expecting to see a sign, "It's hard to say, let's look around." It wasn't exceptionally hot out, and it seemed it was only going to get colder. An oncoming storm was approaching, if I had to guess, we had about thirty minutes. "We don't have to worry, we can just get onto the wire that's still conducting electricity," I said. "That's not going to work, often time if there is a complete town power outage, that means an entire chunk was knocked off the grid, it could take us hours to find an area where the power is still working," Tim said. "Well, we don't have an hour, those clouds are signs of severe storms, it would definitely be in our best interest not to get stuck in there," I said. "Well maybe we can use them as a means to travel," Ben said. "I can't fly, Ben," I said. "Oh, right," Ben said a little embarrassed. "Well, I guess could just find a place to rest here," Tim said. "Agreed, I'm a little tired anyways, it must be from the extra amount of people that I'm carrying," I said exhausted.

It didn't take long for the clouds to completely take over the sun, and when it did, I could already feel the change in atmosphere. I guess you could say it was my paranoia speaking, but the atmosphere seemed to change with the oncoming storm, it felt colder, darker, and more menacing. Don't get me wrong, I'm actually very fond of storms, even before I found out about my powers, I just found a fascinations with them. I guess it was some hidden instinct of mine to enjoy storms. All except this one, this storm seemed evil, and I could feel the darkness covering the earth. "You're right to fear the storm," a girl said behind us. This girl was decked out in some sort of assassin's uniform. She had knives covering her torso, and a long black sheath covering a large katana on her back. "Ah, Kayla, Fate told of your coming," Tim said. Kayla flinched, "How do you know who I am." "Very few things get past me," Tim said smiling sweetly. "You're foreigners here, aren't you," Kayla said looking at Ben and me. "Y-yes," I stammered, a little intimidated by the large sword on her back. "You best come with me, it's dangerous during storms," Kayla said walking away. We glanced at one another. "Don't worry, she's not going to hurt us," Tim said and followed Kayla. I guess we had no choice. We followed Kayla into a large house. "You'll be safe here until the storm passes," Kayla said. "So what's with the getup," I asked. "It's my outfit, I have it on in case I run into demons, I'm a Blue-Blood, I'm Kayla Fussell," she said. There it is again, "Blue-Blood," what does that mean. "What's your power," I asked. "W-what, you're not freaked out," Kayla said a little confused. "No, we're all Blue-Bloods," I said, "I'm Mariat Blante, a Thunder Head, this is Ben Martinez, The White Mage (Common Final Fantasy reference), and Tim Ventus, the…" I paused and looked at Tim, "What was your power again?" "Oh, right, I never said what my power was, Wind, I can use wind," Tim said. "Right, this is Tim Venus, a Wind Wielder," I said returning to Kayla. "So you're all users to," Kayla asked. We all nodded. We would've kept talking had the door not been broken down by monkeys.

Chapter 9

They literally looked like silhouettes of monkeys. They were completely black, and we're crawling on all fours, they had a long tail, and a humanoid face. Their eyes were completely white in contrast to their body. "What are those things," I asked. "Katakanas," Kayla said frustrated, "Can you guys fight?" We all nodded. "Good, because there are going to be a lot," Kayla said and ran out, sword ready.

The Katakanas weren't exactly the most difficult things to fight, they just came in such large quantities it wouldn't take long to get overwhelmed. I pulled out my weapon and struck down as many as I can. "Damn, they just keep coming," I said cutting through a few. "We won't be able to take them all on at this rate," Tim said firing off arrows with his pen, "Kayla, what do we do?" I looked over at Kayla who was slashing through the Katakanas like a badass. "We need to destroy the gate," Kayla said, "Destroy the gate, and the rest will disappear!" "Okay, where is the gate," I said pushing a few Katakanas away. "Over there," Kayla said pointing at a dark spiral at the edge of the town. Tim smirked, "I got an idea." He put his index finger and middle finger together and pointed at the spiral, "Dark Typhoon," He said. Immediately, a whirlwind of darkness shot out of his finger firing right at the spiral. The wind deflected harmlessly off, "As I expected," Tim said calmly, "Everyone jump into the wind, it will take you right to the gate!" "What about you," I said a bit concerned. "If you destroy the gate I won't have to worry. Kayla didn't hesitate, she ran into the wind and was shot across the town, I turned to Ben who had made himself comfortable behind me, "You stay here and keep Tim safe, I'm going to help Kayla." Ben nodded and ran to Tim. I jumped into the wind current and felt my body get swept away.

The Katakanas were everywhere around the spiral. When we got there it took some effort to thwart the Katakanas, but more kept entering through the gate. "Enough with this," I said frustrated. I found two tree in a perfect formations to act as a slingshot. I shot both ends of my weapon at both trees and shot myself into the air. Once I was high enough I did just what I did back in Venezuela. I tucked my feet together and spiraled back at the earth as I got closer I built enough momentum and yelled the attacks name, "Thor's Hammer!" Just then I slammed into the ground with such force that the asphalt around me rose, flinging Katakanas into each other. Hitting the ground also set off a torrent of pure energy, knocking over everyone in the vicinity. When the energy that was surrounding me disappeared I couldn't see anything because of the Katakanas disappearing in a dark cloud. Finally, the haze settled and I saw the absolute carnage that I have caused. Some houses couldn't take the hit and crumbled, cars that were originally on the street, found their way into houses, trees had been uprooted and tossed across the town. "I guess I overdid it," I said a little stunned by the amount of power I had used. "You think," Kayla grunted as she got off the ground. "Well on the bright side, there are no more monsters," I said happily. "Yeah and on the darker news, the entire town has been destroyed," Kayla said sadly. I heard sirens in the distance, "I think it would be best if we left," I said, "Come with us." "What," Kayla said shocked. "Come on," I said, "They aren't going to accept you here you might as well come with us." I put out my hand. Kayla hesitated for a moment, I couldn't blame her, I cause a great amount of damage to the city, which could be seen as intimidating. She extended her hand and shook mine. I smiled, "Now come on, we probably don't want to be seen by the cops." Kayla smiled, "Yeah, you psychopath."

We were able to take refuge in Kayla's house without getting caught. The cops didn't think much of us, they gave some odd looks to Kayla who was still in combat clothing. Once we got back, Tim and Ben were sitting on a couch that was somehow saved by the explosion. "So what happened," Tim said getting up, "We were fighting the last of those Katakanas, then some large shockwave of energy blew the rest away along with the entire town." "Right, I kind of got carried away," I said scratching my head nervously, "But enough of that, get your stuff guys, we're leaving." Kayla walked into her room and came back looking like a normal tomboy girl. She had a grey sweatshirt, baggy blue jeans, running shoes, and a back pack strapped over her back. "Okay," I began, "Are you guys ready to head off?" Everyone nodded. "Good, I got some bad news though," I sighed, "There are too many of you guys, I won't be able to transport us via power lines. Which means, we're walking from now on." Tim sighed, "Well this might be slightly problematic but I think we can pull through, we'll just have to make sure to stick together," Tim looked at Kayla, "Which means no lone wolf bull crap." Kayla scowled at him, "What makes you think I'm going to do that, I didn't do that when we were fighting." "You just struck me as a lone wolf," Tim said. "Well maybe you shouldn't judge a book by its cover," Kayla said. "Guys, seriously," I said sharply, "We can't afford to fight each other, the whole worlds against us." Tim and Kayla looked away from each other angrily. I sighed nervously, "Okay well if you guys are done with your petty squabble we should probably be heading out," I said frustrated. And with that we headed off.

I definitely wasn't prepared to walk, especially in the blazing heat. Don't get me wrong, it was definitely cooler than Phoenix, but back in Sweden, the highest it ever got was something like seventy degrees, ninety degrees was definitely out of my comfort zone. At least there was a breeze going on, otherwise I would've cooked, "Hey Tim, do you think your pen can draw some clouds in the sky to block out that sun," I said breathlessly. Tim took out his Pen and drew a symbol in the air, clouds began to form. "There, that should buy some time," Tim said putting his pen back. The shade definitely felt better. Finally, after hours of walking I got sick of the heat. I put up my thumb to hitchhike. The others looked at me like I was crazy, "Leave this to me," I said. Finally, a man pulled up to help us, he was driving a white van so only hint of skepticism occurred to me when he said, "Climb in the back." I smiled and looked at him, "Actually we'll take the van." The pressure in my eye began to swell as I mind controlled the man to step out of the van. Everyone climbed into the van and sped off, leaving the creepy, possible pedophile in the dust. "Okay, remind me never to question you," Kayla said from the back of the van. "I'll make a mental note of that," I said triumphantly, "Check in the back to make sure that guy wasn't a pedophile." "Wow," Tim said, "Paranoid much?" "He simply looked like it, so shut up," I said. Tim and Kayla laughed. "What's a pedophile," Ben said beside me. I looked at him and remembered that he could have only been like eight years old. "Well, a pedophile is a bad man that finds a very gross interest in little kids," I said uneasily. "What kind of interest," Ben said confused. I looked at him, "I'll tell you when you're old enough to understand." Ben probably read my face, which I was hoping read, "Inappropriate."

"So where are we heading off to anyways," Kayla asked. "We're heading off to Europe where Valitharian High School is," I said. "So is that like a high school for our kind," Kayla asked. I nodded, "Yeah, or at least until humanity figures out that we are the next step in the evolutionary ladder." "By the way what is your power," Tim said, "You never told us back there." "Oh, right," Kayla said, "It's the power to teleport." I slammed on the break, "You mean to tell me that a stole this automobile when you could've just teleported us to our destination?" Kayla smiled sympathetically, "I didn't want to steal the spotlight from you, you looked like you were having such fun leading us, and besides with all of you to teleport I would only be able to get to Billings, we should take advantage of what we got and run the engine dry, then we can teleport." I nodded, "Fair enough." I got back on the gas and head off again, the people behind me were probably a little pissed at me for stopping in the middle of the road.

"So Tim, does that book only tell the fate of you or the fate of the world," I asked. Tim looked up from the back of the van, "Why are you so curious." "I couldn't help but notice that you left us completely in the dark of our fate, so I was just wondering if that thing has its limits," I explained. "Yes it only tells my fate, sorry I wish I could help," Tim said. "No it's no problem, if it did tell about our fate I would've asked if you were a little more helpful with it, but seeming how it only tells your fate it can't be helped," I said with a shrug. The sky was getting dark, so I was assuming that we spent a while fighting those Katakanas, "What do you guys say we stop in Columbus and rest for the night," I asked. "I'm down with that, can we get ice cream," Tim said. I laughed, even though we are all in this horrible mess, we still act like it's no big deal. "Sure," I said, as we pulled off the highway into the small town of Columbus.

Chapter 10

Jason

"What the Hell were you thinking," Alice yelled jabbing a rapier at me like I was some sort of monster, "Dammit Jason, why can't you make my job easy for once!?" "Look, sis, I'm sorry, I didn't know that Mariat was going jump into a Leviathan's mouth, if I had I would've asked him to stay back," I said dodging the sharp point of the rapier. "Look, Jason, my job is to make sure all the students are kept safe, and then you have to go dragging a noob into a class five battle, you're not making my job easy," Alice said coldly. "I'll have you know that Mariat was kicking ass out there, the only reason he didn't make it back was because that old guy had to blast us away," Chain said out loud. "Shut up, Chain," I yelled at myself. "Hey, I'm sticking up for the poor kid, I don't know what you're doing," Chain said. "Chain stay out of this, this isn't your conversation," Alice said, "Look, he's in your clan, so it's your responsibility to get a clan member back, don't blow it." "I hear you," I said grimly.

It has been roughly two weeks since that whole incident happened, and still not a word from Mariat, I really worry about that kid. I could only imagine the kind of pranks I could pull with his kind of power at my disposal. I walked glumly back to the library. "So how was your sister," Blaine said coyly. "The same as ever," I said grudgingly. "What are we going to do about Mariat, if only we could get back to that area, then maybe I could time trace him," Devin said glumly. "Look, no point on worrying about it, we can't return there, so we can only have faith in Mariat until then," I said. "But what if he dies," Devin said. I wanted to say something comforting, but truth be told, I've been pondering that possibility too. "He isn't dead," Dalton spoke up, "He has too much to live for to give up now." Leave it to Dalton to know everything. "We could talk to Mr. Valitharian, maybe he knows something," Sarah said. "I think that's our best choice, let's go," I said.

Mr. Valitharian was on the phone, very much unlike him. He signaled us to sit down quietly while he finishes the call. "Good, good, your friends will be waiting for you," Mr. Valitharian said happily, "Hello? Hello? Dang it, got disconnected." He turned off the phone and turned to us, "That was Mariat he's still alive. I felt an overwhelming surge of relief fill my body. Everyone sighed, "That's exactly what we came here to ask, actually," I said relieved. "Hey sir," Blaine asked, "Do you think that there's a possibility you can give us permission to go look for him?" "I'm afraid not," Mr. Valitharian said sadly, "You brought to my attention a man who supposedly knew our school. I checked the roster and there was no record of this man ever existing in this school, so I believe that it's in our greatest interest to lay low for a little bit, or at least until we found out that man's intention." We all nodded sadly, "Well thank you for your time," I said and got up. Once we were all out of the room we clustered around the lockers. "Okay so we know that he's alive, which means that we can relax a little," Devin said. I nodded but something was still bugging me. That man said that Mariat was the key to his awakening, correct me if I'm wrong, but pretty much any game that I've played, anyone trying to awaken himself, must be like some sort of ultimately powerful being, and there is always a dangerous, and often time, sacrificial process to it. I've played enough RPG to know that much. What if Mariat is to bring about the end of the world? "Nah, that can't be, Mariat's strong but he's not Ragnarok strong," Chain said in the back of my head. "And how would you know that, Chain," I asked myself. "I'm a demon, I know these things," Chain said casually. "Right, I forget that sometimes," I thought to myself. "So what's our plan, boss," Blaine asked me. "Probably something stupid," I said casually. "Of course, well lead the way," Blaine said with a big grin. We all ran to our locker and grabbed our stuff and ran outside. "Devin, let's go back to the time in which we were just leaving," I said. Devin nodded and slammed his staff into the dirt. "We'll be safe here won't we," I asked. "Yes, we don't exist in this timeline, we just have the same accessibility that we did in this timeline," Devin affirmed. We walked through the door that was originally locked, and then through the portal, that was originally closed. The portal took us back to Venezuela. Devin stopped the time globe and we were back in our present time. "Devin, look for Mariat," I commanded. Devin nodded and looked around. "There," Devin said pointing in a certain direction.

We followed Devin, until we came to a village. Devin walked into a convenient store. "Sarah draw a picture of Mariat," Devin said. Sarah began to scribble into her notebook. "Excuse me, sir, do you speak English," Devin said walking up to the clerk. "I speak English," the man said, "What can I do for tourist?" "Have you seen this kid," Devin said, as Sarah produced a perfect resemblance of Mariat. Almost immediately, the man backed away in utter fear, "Demon," The man said fearfully, "Monster, Monstro!" "I'm going to assume that's a yes," Devin said flatly, "Do you know where he went?" The man was far to shaken up by something, whatever Mariat did, it must've been pretty terrifying. Finally, he pointed weakly north, towards Mexico. We thanked him and walked off. "What do you think Mariat did that was so terrifying," Blaine asked. "He would've only used paralysis on him," Dalton said intelligently, "He's not the kind to hurt someone." "Whatever you say stalker," Blaine said teasingly. "Come on," I said moving on, "Mariat couldn't have gotten that far by walking." "Um, Jason," Dalton asked, "He's probably a lot further than we think he is." "Oh, what is it now, don't tell me he can teleport," I said frustrated. "Well it could be taken like that," Dalton said blatantly, "His power is electricity, but he can also travel along any conductor that is actively conducting electricity." "Fantastic," I said sarcastically, "He could have used his power to travel across the ocean, all he would've had to do, was shock the water and follow with the current." "Nope, that wouldn't work," Dalton said, "We still have a chance, I mean I'm sure that Mariat's Arcanist told him about that power, but he has a small Mana Pool, even with the Arcanist Mariat wouldn't be able to make it across the ocean, he probably took the smart route and used the power line." That makes me feel a little better. Suddenly my phone rang, it was Alice. A feeling of dread passed through my body. I answered the phone, "Where are you and your friends, Jason," Alice said in a sweet tone. "We're out at the store," I lied. "Really, because I'm at the store right now and I don't see you at all," Alice said. Curse Alice and her weird prediction ability. "You're out looking for Mariat, aren't you," Alice said unimpressed. "Yes," I admitted. "Dammit Jason, if you get your friends killed, so help me God I will kill you," Alice said. "Don't worry, God doesn't need a prayer to want to kill me," I said and shut the phone off. "That was Alice, wasn't it," Dalton said. I nodded, "Okay, well then the chase is on," I said, and set off on our journey.

Chapter 11

Mariat

First problem: There were only two beds, so one of us had to sleep on the same bed as Kayla. Second Problem: There was no water pressure at all, so good luck on taking a shower. "Well, this hotel's definitely not what I was hoping for, couldn't you get us two rooms," Tim complained. "I'm trying to be more conservative of my powers, for some reason, whenever I use that Mind Control ability, I end up losing a little bit of my sanity." They looked at me wearily. "But don't worry, I'm trying my best to keep my bad side at bay," I said. After arguing who sleeps on the same bed as Kayla, (By the way, I think Kayla was pretty offended by how much we were arguing, but in my defense, I'd be far too uncomfortable sleeping with a girl since that would've been my first time), we finally reached an agreement, I would sleep with Ben, and Tim would sleep with Kayla. The beds were at least relatively clean, which I was glad, that was the first good part about this hotel. Sleeping was no problem, I got into the bed and fell right to sleep.

When I opened my eyes again, I was back in the abyss. Dante was standing in front of me with his back turned to me. "Hey, what's up, Dante," I said. I heard nothing but peculiar dripping sounds. "Hey, Dante, are you alright," I asked concerned. Again, nothing but dripping sounds. I saw ripples forming around my ankles. I followed the ripples and saw they originated in front of Dante. I slowly walked closer to him. I saw some sort of liquid falling from his face. It definitely wasn't water, it was blood. I grabbed Dante's shoulder and spun him around. His face had been ripped clean off, revealing nothing but muscles, blood, and bones. I gasped, and backed away, falling into the water. Dante began to stagger closer to me. "D-Dante? What happened you," I asked frantically. I pushed myself upward and ran away from the creature. I bumped into another person. It was Ben, he was, in many ways the same conditions, his eyes had been ripped out of their sockets. I gasped frantically. "Ma-ri-at," Ben asked. I backed away and ran away. What the heck was going on? Why were they in this state? I couldn't think straight. I heard my name being called from behind me, it sounded like Tim. I kept running I didn't want to see anymore, then I hit the barrier.

I looked around the abyss looking for some way out, then I looked back and saw the creature walking towards me. I began to panic and huddled up against the barrier. I curled up into a ball like how I did when I was a child. I wasn't able to think, all I could feel was fear, sadness, and depression. I was about to scream out for some sort of help, but then I felt this overwhelming take over. It wasn't anger as much as it was indifference, I felt like this no longer bothered me. I got up and just stared at the creatures. Then I felt this sort of maniacal happiness. I began to laugh psychotic as I brought up my hand. What was this? Was this bottled up madness, or did I just snap? I couldn't tell, I guess since I still had control it was madness. I pointed my hand at Ben and lunged at him, completely decapitating him. I should've felt fear, but I didn't, I felt happy. "Another nightmare gone," I said, unaware of what I was talking about. I dispatched the others in the same way. Once the final one had collapsed, limply into the water, I regain my humanity. I stepped back slowly, feeling sick to my stomach. What did I just do? This, along with many other questions were what I thought. "Excellent, you've finally awoken," a deep voice said behind me. I spun around to find a black silhouette, standing patiently behind me. "What do you mean 'I've finally awoken'," I said. The man gave a bright white smile, which kind of glowed in the darkness. His smile revealed sharp fangs, "I needed your full potential unlocked," the man said casual, "That is needed if you're to awaken Him." "Could you go a little more in depth," I asked, irritated by all these unanswered questions, swirling into my head like a vortex. The man smiled wider, which more looked like a wolf, baring fangs. "All of your questions will be answered in time," he said happily, "We'll meet again, I'm sure of it." His shadowy body began to disappear like, how paper dissolved into water. "Wait! Who are you," I asked frantically. It was too late, he had vanished.

I collapsed into the water, and watched as my friends disappeared in the same fashion. I stared blankly at my dark reflection and pondered what that man said. "He needed my full potential unlocked," I repeated, "What is my full potential?" I looked at my reflection and for just a second, I didn't see my grim face, instead, I saw a psychotic look. I screamed and hit the water, revealing my grim face again. "Who am I," I asked looking at my bloody hands, that we're beginning to disappear just like the bodies. I sighed and laid my head into the water. I began to hear the echo of rushing water as the tidal wave of my consciousness approached. I felt a blast of cold water, and woke up.

When I woke up, Tim and Ben we're both looking at me happily. "Good morning, sleepy head," Tim said cheerfully. I groaned and sat myself up, "Morning," I said groggily, "Where's Kayla?" "She's getting dressed, apparently she's the only person prepared for multiple days of travelling," Tim said happily. "Well, when are we heading out," Ben asked. "After Kayla is done," I said. "Okay where are we heading," Tim asked. I produced a map of Montana and looked around for our town. "If we take I-87, which begins in Billings, we should be able to make it to Glasgow by sundown, if we hurry," I said observing the map. Kayla walked out of the room with tattered blue jeans, a red t-shirt, and black gloves. "Okay, we're ready," I said getting out of bed, "We'll stop by the gas station for breakfast." We bustled out of the hotel room and walked over to our van. The van took a few tries to start, but afterwards, it ran without any hiccups. We stopped by the gas station and refilled on gas, I had to use the clerk's credit card to refill. Afterwards, we walked in and grabbed some snacks. I found out that when trying to mind control someone multiple time, it requires a lot more power to actually fulfill that power. I got into the van and put my food on the floor. "Okay, look out Glasgow, here we come," I said and began the journey.

The journey was long, tiring, nagging, uncomfortable, and to say the least, boring. I mean, occasionally something would come on the radio, some love-stricken, American song that I never heard, and Tim and Kayla would jam out. I couldn't help but laugh at their spirit. Luckily, the trip was long, so I got a lot of time to think to myself. Our major hiccup, was navigating through Billings. I mean, sure, I've been through large cities, but I had to get used to driving on the right side of everything. In Europe, cars are designed to be driven on the left, so this was a whole know concept to me altogether. Then, you got these crazy humans, that don't know how to drive, even if their life depended on it, which believe me, for some that would've been a valid case. At last, though, I managed to find my way out of the city and onto Interstate 87. Then, the real fun began. We tried to pass the time playing I-Spy, or talking about things we all had in common: video games, anime, and manga. I-Spy worked for a few hours, but soon everything went baron, and there weren't any astounding features. Then came the talk about video games. We talked about our favorite games, mine being Final Fantasy, Pokemon Gen 1-4, and Borderlands 2. We laughed and talked, and for the most part, we were having a great time. Then we stopped for fuel and lunch. We stopped at a gas station/café and ate. A boy about my age walked over and stood by our table. "You've cause quite a lot of trouble, Mariat," he said laying down the paper. In bold letters, the words printed out, "Blue-Bloods Obliterate Innocent Town, The peaceful town of Reed Point was completely leveled, after a group of Blue-Bloods, made it their own." "What the hell," I said looking at the paper. I looked back at the boy, "Where did you find this," I asked staring at the boy.

"I think a better question is, where I didn't find it," The boy said, leaning on the table, "There's not a single place that's not selling it." I looked at the paper's casualty chart. Seven people dead, the entire population is wounded, wonderful. In a way I know this is my fault, but let's be honest, they blew this a little out of proportion, for example, it said, "With the destruction of businesses in the great city of Reed Point, it will greatly impact our economy." Don't make me laugh, for starters, that wasn't even a city, almost smaller than a town, more like a small drive-by town. Secondly, those small businesses couldn't have been making that good of business, sure it may give the county a small dip in money, but nothing like what they said. "So where are you heading," They body asked. "What's it matter to you anyways, and better yet, who are you," I said pushing the newspaper away. "Or right, I'm Darias Zephenia," The boy said with a small bow, "I'm a Blue-Blood just like you guys." "Okay, I'm sorry, but this is the first time I heard that name, what is a Blue-Blood," I asked. "Blue-Bloods is a relatively trendy word for us, it's an informal way of addressing our kind, and we get it because our blood glows blue when we use powers, "Tim said," Supposedly, that is." "Anyways," Darius said glancing at me, "I heard that you guys were travelling to the haven, many Blue-Bloods in America have seen you as a sort of ray of hope, because of your 'successes." Darius put up his two fingers as if quoting that word. "If only they knew that the true Mariat was really a cute little teddy bear," Darius said with a maniacal grin, "The truth is, you have a lot to answer for, the Blue-Bloods have begun to revolt thanks to the carnage that you caused, if you don't do something soon, chances are, the entire world will entire a civil war with the Blue-Bloods, and let's face it, when it comes to pride, humanity will pretty much anything to keep their petty pride in check." I felt a chill ran down my spine when he said anything. Truth is, I kind of knew that we were going to get into a war with the humans anyways. Darius sat on the table across from us, "Listen, I got an idea, to prolong our Earth, but I'm not going to be able to do it alone," Darius put out his hand, "You got yourself into this mess, you need to get yourself back out, so let's join forces." "Why do you care, don't you want to see us defeat the humans," I asked. "As tempting as a civil war sounds, chances are, humanity will start not only a war, but the destruction along with it, remember humanity invented the atomic bomb, if they were to launch off all of those, the entire Earth would be ashen forever. I mean sure there might be people that could stop that, but the stakes are far too high," Darius said grimly, "Our only chance, is to stop this diplomatically." "And how do you suppose you're going to do that," Tim said. "I heard you can use Mind Control, if you could 'talk' the president into reaching a diplomatic solution, we could prolong the existence of this entire Earth," Darius said looking at me.

In any other circumstance, I would've said no, but seeming how I might of just started World War III, I didn't really have much of a choice, this was my fault, I need to be sure to set it right. I felt my soul get ripped apart by this, I desperately wanted to get back to Europe, back home, back to the haven. Alas, I can't, I must set things right, or there might not be anything to return to. I sighed, "Fine, how do you suppose we get there?" I could my friends protest behind me, I put my hand up, and immediately they stop. Darius smirked, "Glad to see you saw it my way, Luckily, I have a way of getting there and back within the day." That shattered a little bit of my worry, an extra day, sure I'll take it. What was really getting to me, was the fact, that this guy had the face that said "WARNING," all over it. Darius gestured us to follow him. We did, my friends did so as well, though they seemed distraught about it. I sighed and turned to them, "Look, I know that you guys want to get to the haven, but this is my mess, I must clean it up." "We understand," Tim said. "Yeah, beside if you don't, we probably wouldn't get to live life to the fullest for very long," Kayla said. I nodded and followed Darius. If only I knew what awaited me.

Chapter 12

We stepped out into a small area behind the Café, it was completely vacant. Darius put his hands into the air, and then made a half-oval. Purple lights, trailed behind his hand until this large door-like oval formed. "My power is the ability to open up a rift in our world, I can then open up another rift where ever I need to go," Darius explained. He put his hand against the oval and it opened like a door. Inside was not the rest of the parking lot, a blue vortex was swirling on the inside. "There's no way I'm stepping into that," I said, already having second thoughts. "Well, unless, you plan to grow wings, or travel amongst the clouds, this is your fastest means of transportation," Darius said. I sighed, realizing there was no way out of this. Darius ran into the vortex and disappeared. Ben, Tim, and Kayla, all ran with him. I sighed, "Man this sucks!" I ran into the vortex and immediately felt butterflies in my stomach. First of all, I wasn't running on anything, it was just The Rift, no trail, no solid platform, just The Rift. Secondly, I could hear screaming in there, like tormented souls. Finally, after what seemed like an unbarring eternity, I found a door that lead back to the real world. Exiting was like being back in civilization after a while of being stuck on a deserted island or being afloat the vast ocean. I sighed and hugged the ground. "See it wasn't that bad," Darius said coyly.

After regaining my balance and sense of direction, I was finally able to understand where I was. I was in the front of the White House. "Wow, I mean I've seen pictures of the White House, but I didn't think it was this huge," I said in total awe. "Yeah, let's not dawdle, we need to get to the president before he makes his speech," Darius said summoning a pistol for thin air. "We shouldn't have to worry about any setback, right," Tim asked. "Well, there is one setback we'll have to get rid of, Dead-Wind," Darius said grimly. "Care to elaborate," I said. "Dead-Wind, the nullifying Blue-Blood, and the only one that is actually honorably known," Darius explained, "His power nullifies our powers, rendering Blue-Bloods useless to him." "Fantastic," I said, "We'll have to be careful around him." We snuck up the stairways to the doors and crouched under the windows. I peaked in the window, no one. I silently beckoned the others the go inside and followed after them.

Sneaking around the White House wasn't the most difficult task in the world. No one stood guard around the area, the real problem was navigating. That's when we ran into Dead-Wind. Dead-Wind was a young fellow with a black, ripped up cloak. He had piercing purple eyes, "And who might you be," He said with a dark tone. "Oh, we're just tourist who got lost, could you point us to the tyrannosaurus exhibit," Tim said. "This is the White House, not a Museum," Dead-Wind, obviously not buying Tim's attempt. "Drop the act, Tim," Darius said readying his gun, "This guy is sharp." "You're Blue-Bloods aren't you, I can sense your mana," Dead-Wind said apathetically. "Yeah, now let us pass," I said. I was hoping not to use my mind control, because every time I use it, someone dies. "I'm afraid I can't do that, you're here to assassinate the President, aren't you? I can't have you starting a war," Dead-Wind said readying a lunge. "Forget it, Mariat, we won't be able to reason with him," Darius said. Dead-Wind lunged with incredible speed and jabbed Tim right in the stomach. Tim crumpled onto the ground as a small stripe of blue energy shot out of Dead-Wind's hand. I just stood there in a daze. Darius shot at Dead-Wind with silenced shots. Dead-Wind evaded the attack and lunged at Darius. Darius quickly created a Rift and appeared behind Dead-Wind. Dead-Wind smirked and disappeared into shadows. Dead-Wind appeared on the roof and tackled Darius to the ground.

Dead-Wind got up, leaving Darius writhing in pain. I just stood there in shock as he readied another attack at me. When he lunged, I just had enough time to evade the attack. Dead-Wind disappeared into shadows just like he did before. I realized he was repeating his moves, and immediately looked up at the ceiling. Dead-Wind appeared and plummeted towards me. I evaded again letting him slam into a wall. "You have impressive reflexes, I'll save you for last," Dead-Wind said recovering from his fall. He lunged at Kayla with extreme speed, ramming her into a wall. Kayla coughed and toppled onto the floor. He didn't even take time to ready a lunge, he just jabbed Ben right in the stomach and he fell. Man I'm useless, the least I could've done was try and paralyze him. He turned to me and readied a lunge, this time using a different stance. I got ready to dodge his attack but was too late. He lunged at maximum speed and rammed me into a wall. I actually went through the wall and landed in the other room. An immense amount pain surged through my body as I got up, and I think I broke my shoulder. "You're still up," Dead-Wind asked. He smirked and readied another attack. "Okay, there is no way I'll be able to beat his speed, what am I to do," I thought to myself. "You could always use your true potential," a voice said in my head. It didn't sound like Dante, I didn't have time for introductions, "How do I do that," I asked. "Let me take over," the voice said. It was a little skeptical that a voice in my head demanded control over my body. I really don't have a choice though. I released control over my body and felt a sudden surge of energy rush through my body. I was no longer in control of my body, more like watching from a camera.

I raised my hand and created a circle, then I made circle in that circle. "Thor's Torrent," I whispered in a voice that wasn't my own. Suddenly, the sky outside darkened, and the wind picked up. Lightning shot down and hit the circle, completely obliterating the roof above me. "What? I nullified your Mana," Dead-Wind said in awe. "Yes, in any normal Blue-Blood circumstance that would've been true," I said, "But alas, I'm not Blue-Blood, I'm Silver-Blood." The circle began to rotate into a gyroscopic manner. "Now then," I said sadistically, "Die!" On cue, circle shot at Dead-Wind and exploded with brilliant light. When the light let up, Dead-Wind was nowhere to be seen. I felt myself regain control of my body, and toppled to the floor as if something that had been supporting me had been taken away. I tried to raise my right arm, and realized that it was broken. I cringed and stopped using my right arm. "Fabulous, I lost my right arm," I said to myself sarcastically. It wasn't long until Ben, (The White Mage as I refer to him silently, because I'm geek) woke up and healed us to full health. "How on Earth did you beat Dead-Wind," Darius said staring at me in total awe. "I'm stronger than I look," I said. "Hey Dante, what are Silver-Bloods," I asked in my head. "Silver-Bloods are sort legend, apparently the story goes that a Blue-Blood who is descendent of two generations of full Blue-Bloods are born with powers that are unrivaled by mere Blue-Bloods. If that's the case, you are the first Silver-Blood ever born," Dante said. "And I don't suppose you can tell me who that voice in my head was," I asked. "I'm afraid not," Dante said sadly. "Here's a question, my Thor's Hammer levelled a small town, but this other ability, Thor's Torrent, only had a small shockwave, why is it that Thor's Hammer, a smaller technique, better than Thor's Torrent, a larger technique?," I asked. "Thor's Torrent, is a level 10 ability, and the most powerful of the abilities of Thunder-users. It only affects those who oppose the user," Dante said, "Whoever used that, must have been a master of Thunder." I sighed, "Well at least he got me out of that pickle." "Hey, Mariat," Tim said, trying to get my attention, "Are you ready to stop the end of the world?" I smirked and nodded, "Readier than I'll ever be."

Chapter 13

Jason

It didn't take much to hijack a car. All I really needed to do was make the driver step out by controlling the water in his body. It didn't take much to get to past the American Border into America. Man do I wish I stayed in Mexico, though. We stopped in a small city known as Cowlic to get Gas. That was what we were supposed to do. We ended up catching a breaking new article on the national news. Actually, scratch that, two Breaking news articles. One was live. The first was talking about an entire city in Montana being levelled by a Blue-Blood. Someone caught a very poor picture of the Blue-Blood responsible, and I almost retched when I saw who did it. It was Mariat. I gasped, "Why is Mariat on TV right now?" "I think he's on TV bec-," Devin tried to say, but I silenced him. "This is definitely unlike Mariat," Dalton said, "I know Mariat well enough to know he wouldn't do something like this." "Well, let's hope your power doesn't lie," Blaine said staring in total awe at the TV. We would've kept going, but then we caught another Breaking News article. This one was live from Washington D.C. Apparently a group of Blue-Bloods had stormed the White House. And the helicopter caught a glimpse of one of them. Could you guess who it was? No, it wasn't Michael Jackson back from the dead, it was Mariat, of course.

The Headline read, "Blue-Bloods Wage War on America." I face-palmed myself. "This is not good," Chain said in my head. "No kidding," I said. "Wait I got an idea," Sarah chirped, "Devin freeze time." "I can't freeze time for a week while we make our way to Washington," Devin said. "No, not that, if I could draw a perfect replica of what's going on right now, I could make a door all the way to Washington," Sarah said pulling out God's Hand and a piece of paper as large as a door. "Oh, impressive idea, Sarah," Blaine said happily. "I aim to please," Sarah said with a smirk. Devin rotated his staff into a circle, like what Band Leaders do with their staff. He slammed the staff onto the ground as a small clock formed. The hour hand and minute hand rapidly spun around, but then began to slow down until they completely stopped. "Okay, Sarah you got approximately a half an hour, our time, now get to it. Sure enough, the TV stopped, paused on the picture of the White House, Mariat and his new crew fighting off the Guards. Sarah drew frantically, and we all stayed away so she could draw in peace. I stared at the TV in dismay, looking at Mariat's face. I sighed, "I wonder what's causing him to cause such destruction. Finally, twenty-five minutes later, Sarah perked up and put the paper against the wall. "Okay, when you end the Time Stop, this paper should act as a doorway. Devin didn't hesitate to end it. He collapsed onto the ground and sighed heavily, his head beading with sweat. Almost immediately, the doorway-shaped paper took on color and looked exactly like the scene on the TV. We ran through and was greeted by a literally less heated environment, metaphorically the opposite. We had made to mistakes. First one, Sarah drew it from a birds-eye view, since this doorway was exactly where the scene took place, we were a few kilometers in the air. Second reason, we were in the middle of carnage. There was a fire fight going on where we were. We landed fine thanks to the Lincoln Memorial Reflecting Pool.

The bullets were not so easy. "Sarah, barrier now," I commanded, not having the time to enter a "Please," in my statement. Sarah nodded and drew a dome around us, forming a barrier. We ran out of the way of the fire fight and took some time to gain our bearings. "Okay," I said out of breath, "Now we need to find Mariat and stop him from causing a World War III." After working out a "completely," fool proof plan, we executed the plan. Blaine turned into an actual flame and soared across the air like a fireball. He landed on the back balcony of the White House and waved us to follow. "Sarah, that's your cue," I said. Sarah nodded and drew a group photo of all of us being right next to Blaine. Before you even ask why we didn't do this in the first place to bring back Mariat, it's an output ability, she send things other places, but she can't retrieve lives, and secondly, she needed a setting in order to send us somewhere. In a quick motion, the paper began to expand and engulf us all, making us appear right where Blaine was. We all tried entering the back, but it was locked. "Devin, now's your turn," I commanded. Devin nodded and slammed his staff on the ground as a large globe formed around us. He walked through the door with no trouble then. "Okay, now comes the really fun part, finding Mariat and stopping him," Blaine said. "He went that way," Dalton said pointing with his spear to the right. I love Dalton's Clairvoyance by the way.

We followed Dalton's lead until we came to a large door. The door was cracked open just the slightest. We peaked inside and saw Mariat and a few others, one of them was just a child. I could feel Chain's anger towards that child though, could he be… an angel? No time to think about it, I burst into the door and stopped Mariat from making the biggest mistake of Blue-Blood's life.

Chapter 14

Mariat

How the Hell did Jason get to me so quickly? "Jason, how did you…" I trailed off. "Mariat, Stop! You don't know what you're doing," Jason said frantically. Judging by his heavy breathing and beads of sweat, he had been running for a while. I passed off the feeling of surprise and returned to what my objective was, "Actually I know exactly what I'm doing, I'm going to stop the president here from waging war against the Blue-Bloods, and lead humanity to the light of acceptance," I said justly. Judging by the drastic change in his facial expression, what I said took him off guard. "Wait, what," Jason said utterly lost, "You mean you aren't going to kill the president?" "Hell, no," I blurted out, "Though we have the upper advantage, they would go too far to get rid of us, as far as destroying the world." "Wait, wait, Mariat you know these guys," Tim said, looking at my original friends. "Yeah, they're friends from the haven," I said, "I'm actually quite surprise they made it here, did the news get out to Global news?" "Actually, we came looking for you after we found out you were missing," Blaine said. "A little late, eh," I said unimpressed, "Honestly, that was three weeks ago." "Right, Mr. Valitharian was behind that, he didn't want any of us going out ever since that attack with the old man," Jason said nervously. "So you did this on your own accord," I asked surprised. I will admit, I did feel a little bubbly inside. My friends would go through so much just to find me. "Of course, you're one of us, we never turn our back on our friends," Jason said. This would've been rather touching if it weren't for the helicopters opening fire on us.

Suddenly, an array of bullets shot through the window firing glass everywhere. I cursed and looked back at the president. I would've said something but suddenly, my entire reality rippled like water. I'm not joking, everything that wasn't my friends and President Black, began to ripple and then everything turned black. The area illuminated again and I was no longer in the white house. Hell, I don't think we were even in Washington D.C. It was a large stone ruin, in fact it was the same ruins in which we fought the Leviathan. "What the hell," Tim said looking around, "What just happened?" I let go of the President who just laid on the ground dazed. "I don't know, but this is Venezuela," I said, "How on Earth did we go a quarter of the way around the world?" "I was the one who did that," a gruff voice said behind us. I spun around and saw an old man in a white cloak. "You," I said surprised, "You were here the first time." "Indeed," the old man said happily, "I'm glad that you remember, Mariat." "Who are you," Jason said, stepping in front the old man and I, sword ready. "Right, I don't think we had a proper introduction did we," The old man said casually, "I'm Dominic Demetri." I don't know what it was but I felt an incredible amount of pressure behind his name, like I knew it somehow. "So how are those memories serving you Mariat," Dominic asked coyly. "What do you mean," I asked. "I'm impressed your mother managed to keep your memories hidden from you for so long," Dominic said happily. "What are you talking about," I asked incredibly interested in what he was saying.

"You're Silver Blood, it means you come from two different generations of Blue-Bloods," Dominic said, "Your mother had the power to rewrite memories." "What's the difference between a Silver-Blood and Blue-Blood," I asked. "Silver-Bloods Mana burns slower than Blue-Blood, allowing for longer durations, along with that, their power is enhanced, and grows faster than Blue-Bloods," Dominic said, "Haven't you wondered why you were progressing so much faster than mere Blue-Bloods?" It was true, I wonder how I progressed in strength with so much more ease than my companions. "But if what you say is true, and I am born from two Blue-Bloods, than was it spontaneous, or genetics," I asked. "Genetics, "Dominic answered, "Your father was a lightning-user before you, no? His father was lightning-user before him as well." "But I thought that Blue-Bloods were spontaneous," I said. "In most cases it is," Dominic explained, "Your family is the first family to have an actual hereditary power," Dominic said. "So if I inherited my father's power, why didn't I inherit my mother's powers," I asked. "I'm sure you're familiar with the Punnet Square, right," Dominic asked. "Yeah it's that square that shows mixture of trait, right," I said. "Indeed, your father's power was a dominant trait, as opposed to your mother whose power was a recessive trait," Dominic explained, "So you have that hidden potential in you, but it's hidden under many different layers of Genetics."

"Enough talk," Jason shouted, "You're the one who put us through this mess!" Dominic laughed, "Mess? I made no mess, Mariat handled himself very well in the outside world, in fact, he worked far greater than I imagined, the only mess that was caused, was your audacity to downgrade him, he is far greater than you'll ever be." Jason must've heard enough, he ran at Dominic with his sword, Dominic pointed his finger at Jason. Jason collapsed onto the floor completely paralyzed. "What did you do," Jason grunted. "I stopped your nerves from moving," Dominic said, as if obvious, "Ah, Jason, contractor of the Prince of Sin." "What," I asked, "Jason what is he talking about." Dominic gasped, "He never told you, my word how can you trust a friend who doesn't tell you the truth, your Friend Jason, here, made a contract with a demon, that goes by the name of Chain, He's the son of the Devil." "Jason, is this true," I asked. Jason sighed, "No sense in hiding it any longer, yes, Chain is my Arcanist, I made a pact with him."

I honestly didn't know what to say, I've seen my fair share of demons, but if Jason was half demon, does that mean I should fear him? I couldn't say that because then I would be no different than how humans treat Blue-Bloods. But on the other hand, Jason doesn't actually have an Arcanist it's just a pact from a demon. "My question is, why hide it," Dominic chimed, "Honestly, the demon isn't dangerous, or well, not yet anyways, why would you hide a perfectly harmless demon?" "You seem to be all knowing, why would you not know this," Jason said, still on the ground. "I do, but now the thought has provoked your friends, soon enough your darkest secret will be out, and once it's out, you'll be exiled, banished from the human world, where all demons belong," Dominic said happily. I stepped in front of Jason and Dominic, "I don't care if he's a demon, and he hasn't tried hurting people, so he can't be that bad." "As much as I would enjoy to tell you why you should fear him, the truth is best told by the liar," Dominic said, "But enough of that, let's get down to business!" "What business," I asked. Dominic turned around with a huge grin on his face, "Why, destroying the world, of course!"

Chapter 15

His words echoed throughout the ruins with an eerie sort of weight to them. "What do you mean," I asked. "You father's side of the family was a sort of legend. Seeming how they were the only Blue-Blooded family. They made a vow to never mate with another Blue-Blood, for they feared what the mixture of two Blue-Blooded genomes would do to the child, oh they had rights to fear," Dominic sat on a small stone pedestal, "They were wise group, if only your father had known that your mother had powers too. You see, your mother kept her powers in check, and only used them when it was absolutely necessary." "In what time would rewriting someone's memory be necessary," I asked. "What's say that their child found about the murder of his father, he became so overcame with emotion that his powers when berserk, in order for the mother to calm her child, she rewrote his memories, so now his old man didn't get murdered, he died in train crash." "What are you saying, I knew my father's murder," I asked. "Indeed, actually, now that I think of it, most of your memories from age six and younger, were all fabricated by your mother." "That can't be true, I remember my memories so vividly," I said unable to believe what he was saying. "Well if you don't believe me, you could ask her yourself," Dominic said, waving his hand until a dark patch at the other side of the ruins brightened, revealing mom. "Ah, Heather, so glad you could join us," Dominic smirked.

I couldn't believe my eyes, My mother was standing right in front of me, she had this look of pure fear on her face. "Well, Heather," Dominic began, "Why don't you tell your son what actually happened to you husband." Mother turned her place face towards me as a small tear fell down her cheek. "What are you doing here mother," I asked surprised. "I knew you wouldn't take my words for it so I had to bring your kin," Dominic said. "Mariat," Mother said, "I'm sorry I've been keeping this a secret from you, it was for yours and everyone else's protection." "Protection from what," I asked, "What could you have been protecting me from." "Yourself," Mother said quietly, "You were a child of Extreme Catastrophic potentials, in order for me to keep you safe, I had to keep you in the dark." "But why did you have to take all of my memories back then," I asked. "I had to make you lose the bond you had with your father, your reaction to his death would've been deadly had I not," mother said with a scared tone, "I couldn't risk your powers getting out of hand, so I hid your memories entirely."

So many different emotions were swirling in my head, I felt betrayed, that my mother lied to me, saddened to what actually happened to my father, frustrated that I had felt so distant from my father, and scared about this "potential," mother was talking about. "Okay, I did what you asked, now please, remove this curse from me," Heather said to Dominic. "Sure," Dominic said. He disappeared and appeared right in front of mother with a sword, and with one swift movement slashed right through her neck. I stood in total shock as my mother's head rolled off her shoulders and landed on the ground with a heavy thud, "Unfortunately curses can't be reversed or taken away, the only way to get rid of a curse is through death," Dominic said wiping off the blood on his blade with a handkerchief. He pointed at Jason. Jason began to twitch and got up. "Now then the one thing Heather didn't know was who killed your father," Dominic said with a grin, "I think you already know where this is going, yes, I killed your father." That's when my anger hit me like a hammer. My entire body began to get engulfed a black mist that came out of nowhere, "Why," I asked resentfully, "Why have you gone so far to piss me off." "Well since the time is almost here, I might as well tell you," Dominic said, "God created a many different object of massive power, for example, the Book of Fate and the Quill of Creation that Tim hold over there. God created one item that hold superiority over every other item. This item has the ability to cause kill anyone under the category in which wielder specifies. Unfortunately, in order to activate the power of this weapon, A large quantity of energy is needed, you, child, will suffice." "What are you talking about," I asked. "I am the wielder of said weapon, but you are the child of legends who'll power it, you are the Advent Child, predestined to carry out the annihilation of sin, which means all of humanity," Dominic said putting his hand out, "Now comes the time of reckoning, it's time to awaken Genesis."

A pure white sword shot out of the ground, it shot right into Dominic's hand and gleamed with an unearthly glow. It wasn't evil, it was pure. "Why would God entrust the fate of the world to a Blue-Blood," I asked. "He doesn't entrust the fate of the world to me, he entrust the entire fate of humanity to me," Dominic said, "Humanity is so immersed in sin, and refused to clean up their act, so God must do it for them, and in doing so, erases any trace of their existence." "I'm not going to follow with your plan, after all you've done to me, what's stopping me from killing you instead," I asked. Dominic sighed, "I was afraid you would say that, alas though, I've waited far too long to stop now." Dominic dashed at me. At first I thought he was going to attack ME, "Ha, and what's that going to do, you kill me, you lose the only chance to awaken your weapon," I said triumphantly. He smirked and stopped an inch from my face. He then disappeared and appeared behind me, and as I watched, he butchered all of my friend, both those from the school and those I had met on the journey. They didn't stand a chance. Dominic appeared back where he was standing before and smirked smugly. That's when my hatred seized control of my body. The black fog thickened and began to swirl around violently.

Dominic smirked and got ready to block. A shot of some sort of black energy shot out of the black mist and collided with Dominic. Dominic put out his sword. When the Black energy hit the sword it began to get absorbed. I stopped using that power began to charge at him, my black mist took on the form of me, my hand grew sharp talons. He lunged with his sword and collided with such force that the caver began to crack. "You'll die by my hand," I said with a dangerously evil tone. "That' what I want to hear," Dominic said happily and pushed me away. I landed on a wall and lunged back at him with extreme speed. He dashed along the floor and jumped slashing through my dark cloak. I landed on the ground and winced. The place where his blade struck me glowed brilliant white. I put my hand over it and it went back to normal. I put my hand out and a large circle glowed in the air. "Odin's Gate," I shouted. A blast of electricity shot at him with a loud crackle. Instead of shooting at him, it turned and hit the blade. Dominic smirked, "What's the matter out of juice already?" I got into a battle stance and formed a black blade from the mist. I ran at him and slashed at where he was standing. He jumped out of the way and shot an orb of white light. It slowed down until it was right in front of me. It exploded with such force that I found myself pretty deep into a wall of rock. I got out of the rock and laid on the ground exhausted. I tried to stand up but was knocked down by Dominic. "How disappointing," he said, "I thought you were supposed to be strong." The black mist began to dissipate. I collapsed to the ground completely out of energy. I cursed to myself, "What can I do?" A voice echoed in my head, "Ragnarok." Ragnarok, Keeper of Sin, and Destroyer of the world. It is the opposite of Genesis, of course, but how? "Let me take over again," the voice said. I release control of my body and I felt strength beyond anything I ever felt before course through my body.

I pushed myself off the ground, completely ignoring Dominic's foot on my back. I forced myself off flipping Dominic over. "How the-," Dominic said, staggering back up. He smirked again, "I commend you for your persistency, but I'm growing bored, it's time to end this." He lunged at me with extreme speed. I put out my hand as his sword came down and blocked the sword. The blade didn't even puncture didn't even puncture skin. "How did you—," Suddenly I shot my hand through Dominic's abdomen, "You were a good tool Dominic," I said, but it wasn't me speaking, "But I relieve you of your duty, now" "Wh-who are you," Dominic said weakly. "Ragnarok," I said sinisterly. I took my hand out of his abdomen and he crumpled to the floor, and began to disintegrate. All of his power began to melt into my body and I learned all of them. I started to wipe my finger of all the blood. "What do you mean you were a good tool," I asked. "I was using him to get you to summon me," Ragnarok said, "He planned on baptizing the world and cleansing it of all sin, I'm a blade forged in sin, so that would be erasing me from existence, and I can't have that." "So what happens now," I asked. "I'll take this sword and destroy it, and then, I'll do what my mission is, send the world into chaos and disorder, those humans believe of a False Sheppard, an Anti-Christ, well I'm that creature that they feared the most, and with the president conveniently here, I hold the most influential man at my disposal, which means I won't be needing you anymore either." I felt head rush and fell to the ground. The president got up dazed and grabbed Genesis. I definitely didn't like the vision that Ragnarok was proposing, so I did what any normal deranged idiot do, I fought him. I shot the blade out of Ragnarok's hand. "Child, you dare pick a fight with the Satan's weapon," Ragnarok scoffed. The blade skidded to the side. I got up slowly and quickly realized something, When Blue-Bloods die at the hand of other Blue-Bloods, the decease disintegrate, but my mother and friends didn't, are they not dead yet?

I got up weakly and got ready to attack Ragnarok again. Ragnarok sighed, "I must say you are either the dumbest person in the world, or the bravest, but I'm leaning more for the dumbest." He lunged at me with unmatchable speed and slammed me into a wall. I didn't even know what to do now, attacking him head on is a suicide mission, and I don't have enough energy to attack him using my Mana. "Dante are you there," I asked. "Yeah I'm here," Dante responded. "I need to use your Mana Pool," I said urgently. "Okay," he said. I felt my energy replenish instantly. "Well, well, you got back up, I'm impressed," Ragnarok said, "Are you using your Arcanist's Mana Pool?" I wondered to myself for a bit. When Dominic died, my body absorbed his powers, do I have it or does Ragnarok have it. I pointed at Ragnarok, and a flash of white energy shot at Ragnarok. It exploded and knocked Ragnarok into a wall. I quickly thought up a new tactic while he was dazed. I heard some sort of muttering originating from the direction of the sword. I ran and grabbed Genesis. As soon as I touched the hilt the entire world began to ripple like how it did when we teleported here in the first place. When the rippling stopped, I was in some sort of monastery. "So you heard my call," said a gruff voice behind me. I spun and found some old man in a black cloak. I readied Genesis, "Who are you." "No need to fear me, I wish to talk," the old man said, "I'm Damion." I eased a bit and lowered the sword. "Why did you call me," I asked. "I have a pressing matter to bring to you, and in return, I'll teach you how to use that sword, this will only take a few hours," Damion said. "I don't have a few hours, the entire world will get thrown into Chaos if I don't stop Ragnarok," I said. "Don't worry about that now," Damion said producing a normal pocket watch, "I'm a wielder gifted with the Watch of Delay, with it, I can stop the Universal clock for an entire day."

I calmed down and followed him into the monastery. It was beautiful inside. It was calm, quiet, colorful, and for once, I felt safe here. "Now then please sit down and I'll tell you everything," Damion said gesturing to a chair. "So what is this pressing matter you speak of," I asked. "As you know, you are Silver-Blood, a Blue-Blood with atrocious powers beyond any Blue-Blood, but you are known from many different cultures," Damion explained, "By many, you are known as the Harbinger of Chaos, Prince of Madness, or Ragnarok in the flesh." "Glad I'm thought of so highly," I muttered, "But wait, I just saw Ragnarok a few minutes ago how am I him?" "Though Ragnarok has left your body, his essence is still within him, like residue, his essence darkens your soul, and makes you dangerous. You saw how he seized control of you." "But that was my anger," I argued. "True, but you wouldn't have been able to summon that power from your anger, anger is an emotion, it has now power over your Mana," Damion countered. "Okay, then why are you telling me this," I asked. "That residue will constantly control your bodies when your emotions become too strong," Damion said, "The only way to ensure the safety of the Earth and everyone on it is to separate you from the rest of the world." I paused, "You mean like solitary confinement?" "Indeed," Damion said grimly, "It's the only way to keep our world safe, I realize if you are hesitant, but time is of the essence and you must think about the whole instead of the one." I nodded, "I know… but this is my entire life we're talking about, being separated from the rest of humanity and Blue-bloods for the rest of my life… it's just a lot to take in." "I understand, but we must do this," Damion said. I nodded, "Fine, give me the secret of the sword, and then I'll leave for good."

Chapter 15

"When the time is right, call me," he said. How on Earth am I supposed to know when the time is right? I didn't get to ask that question, along with the multitude of other questions I wanted answered, but he sent me back to the ruins. Not a second had passed when I returned, Ragnarok was still in a wall and mother was still "dead" along with my friends. On the Bright side, Damion regenerated all of my mana. On the bad side, Ragnarok was not a happy camper (though I wasn't when I got hit with an explosive ball of light, and then went flying into a wall). Ragnarok got out angrily, "You pissed off the wrong demon friend." Something tells me friend is rhetorical. He lunged at me with super speed. Without even thinking I slashed and got him right in the arm. He crumpled to the ground holding his arm. He ran at me again and I jumped.

"Thor's Hammer," I yelled and began to coming down with incredible speed. "What, how are you able to use that you should've been drained," Ragnarok asked, I slammed into the ground knocking Ragnarok off his feet. I didn't give him any time to regain his balance. I lunged at him sword at the ready. I jabbed, slashed, cleaved, and bashed every section of his body. I kicked him away, and pointed at the sky. Orbs of light began to form above Ragnarok. I shot my finger down ward. The orbs of light, on cue shot down as lightning bolts struck down. I ran at Ragnarok for one final blow. Thor's Judgment," I yelled inexplicably. I don't know where it came from, but for some reason, my mana created an entirely new technique for me. Circles of lightning began to align until there were roughly ten of them standing in between me and Ragnarok. Running through one launched me in the direction I was going. By the time I had reached the fifth ring, I was already going faster than a jet. Unable to control my body, I put my arm behind me. A large hammer made entirely of lightning began to form. When I reached the ninth ring, I brought the hammer up and swung down with such intense force, that when my hammer made contact with Ragnarok I could feel all of the momentum, all the shear energy leave my body and pass on right into Ragnarok.

When I finally gained control of my body again, I felt my entire Mana Pool drain. I heaved a sigh and looked at the now large crater where Ragnarok's body (Or President Black's body) laid. When I say body, I really mean what's left of it. The momentum of my strike completely ripped Black's body apart. I sighed with relief, "He couldn't have possibly lived through that, right?" "I've never seen an attack like that where did you learn it," Dante said. "I'm not sure, I kind of was speaking from my gut," I admitted, "I honestly didn't know that was even an attack." "It's not," Dante said. "FOOLISH MORTAL," A loud, insidious, and tragically familiar voice said. "DID YOU THINK THAT YOU HAD THE POWER TO DESTROY ME," Ragnarok said, though this time it wasn't from the direction of what's left of Black, it was everywhere, "I AM FORGED FROM SIN, CRAFTED FROM THE DESTRUCTION OF YOUR PEOPLE!" I looked around trying frantically to pin point on his location. "I'M EVERYWHERE, YOU CAN NOT SIMPLY DESTROY ME WITH SIMPLE ATTACKS," Ragnarok said, with a violent roar. Suddenly, black mist began to spew from the ground and formed into a large contained cloud. Red glowing eyes formed in the cloud, "I'M THE EMBODIMENT OF RAGNAROK, I'M NOT A SWORD, OR ANY NORMAL WEAPON, I'M A BLIGHT, I HAVE NO TRUE FORM, YET MY EXISTENCE IS VERY WELL KNOWN," Ragnarok roared. A large hammer of dark mist protruded from the cloud and knocked me up into the air. I regain my bearing and found myself soaring through the air while a large black cloud floated after me. "This must be the time I was looking for," I said grabbing the sword, "The time where Ragnarok exposes his true self." I readied my sword and used the last of my energy to launch myself at the cloud. As soon as the blade hit the cloud time stopped again and a faded version of Damion appeared, "This marks the end of your interaction with humanity, but marks the dawn of a new era, an era in which you've been dreaming of for so long," Damion approached and embraced me, "I'm sorry it has to end this way Grandson."

Chapter 16

Jason

Mariat has a way with disappearing. I woke up back in that large chamber, although it was hardly a chamber now. The roof was completely demolished. The walls and floor was scorched, cracked, cratered, and broken. The only thing that was moderately safe was where we were. Don't ask me how, I've been asleep for the entire time. I recall hit over the head with that damned sword. Speaking of which, I wonder where that guy is, I want to give him a piece of my mind. I looked around for any form of life. I saw Mariat's mother laying on the ground. For some reason her head was still intact. I'm pretty sure I saw her get decapitated. I ran over to here and checker her out. She was alive, along with the rest of my friends. Then I saw him. Dominic laid on the ground, a large hole in his abdomen. He was already cold. No sign of Mariat. I heard footsteps rushing down the ruins. Before I knew it my friends and I were at gun point of a few dozen South American soldiers. They were speaking in a language I didn't understand. Then a large man walked down, he was very official looking, probably a Prime Minister. "Were you guys fighting that creature," he said with a heavy South American accent. Because I was fearing for my life and the rest of my friends, I decided to play along with this. I nodded timidly. The man ordered something in a foreign language and the soldiers lowered their weapons. "We have you and your friends to thank for destroying that monstrosity.

Medics and other specialist ran in and collected my friends as soldiers escorted us to a military car. "Where are you taking us," I asked. "Were taking your friends to the hospital to take care of them," He said. "Okay, then what," I asked with a slightly aggressive attitude. "No need to be distrustful," the Prime minister said, "I realized you have a lot of reasons to be aggressive towards us humans, we have a lot to answer for, and we will with the proof we gathered here." He pulled out a video tape and played the video. If I had to guess, the video was a few miles away from the ruins, I watched as the ceiling of the ruins exploded and a small black figure launched out of the ceiling. A large black cloud came running at the figure. The figure began to glow and lunged at the cloud. Suddenly, a bright light took up the entire screen, and the black cloud disappeared along with the figure. The video stop there. "If I had to guess that black cloud sought out for our destruction didn't it," The Prime Minister asked. I assume the black cloud must've been Dominic and the figure was probably Mariat. I nodded, "That creature sought to purge the Earth of all of humanity." "Then we're in your debt," The Prime Minister said.

The car stopped at a hospital and my friends were rushed in. Once we were rushed into a room I sat down and relaxed. "Chain, did you ever see the president back there," I asked, looking up at the ceiling. "No," Chain said, "If I had to guess, he was killed in the collateral damage." I nodded grimly, "Good luck trying to explain that to America." "I'm sure there already preparing to wage war on the Blue-Bloods," Chain said grimly. "Maybe the news has something to say about it," I said. I scrounged around for the remote and turned on the television. I was greeted by the news reporting in America. "Lucky us," I said. They were, of course, speaking in a foreign language, but I think I was able to interpret the many hundred USA soldier marching on the Television. Suddenly a Breaking News article came up. It showed an old man standing on the balcony of the White House. "Hear me people," the old man began, "Until a new president is elected, I, Vice President Grey Wolf, will take the position of presidency, and I command the military to stand down." Many people began to protest, "People please, don't you understand that they attacked us out of vengeance, don't you realize that it is our fault, we treated them as if they were atrocities, monsters to be prodded at. We have no room to attack them because we were the ones attacking them at the start." The Television connection began to cut out. "Well at least someone is doing something," I said, "But still, what about Mariat, he wasn't at the ruins, was he?" "No, I'm afraid not, we could only guess that he sacrificed himself for us," Chain said. I nodded, "Well, he gave up his life for a good cause."

After a few hours, my friends, and Mariat's friends began to wake up. Finally, after everyone was back on their feet, the Prime Minister (I forgot his name, it was too hard to pronounce for me) gave us a ride back to Europe. When we arrived we were greeted by the ever-so-cheerful sister Alice and Mr. Valitharian, who had a mixture of distraught and relief on his face. They asked a lot of questions, mainly about if we found Mariat. I had to break the news about his death. A few weeks later the news came out with the video that I saw in the car. Hopefully, this will serve as a way for all of us just to get along. Don't get me wrong, I know that I will take some time for humanity to get along with Blue-Bloods, and vice versa. Traditions like these are difficult to break, but I hope that maybe in a few years I can walk into city with confident instead of fear. I sighed, "This world might still be able to redeem itself."

Epilogue

Yeah, sorry this wasn't as long as my previous story, but I plan on doing a sequel of this story, so look out for that one in a few month. Did you enjoy reading it? If you saw something you didn't like you can leave a comment telling me what it is. I live off the criticism you guys give me. I want to be a better writer but I can't do that without your guys help.

This story had its good sides and it bad side. On the positive note, the story was easier than my previous story. The reason is because pokemon already had its own rules, boundaries, and guidelines, while this, I could do whatever I wanted this was my world. On the negative note, this was all original, or for the most part, but the ninety-nine percent that was original was tough. I didn't have anything to go off of, and I often laid in my bed wide awake pondering how I wanted to progress.

But when the story was completed I got this feeling of accomplishment, I managed to make a story solely on my imagination. Like I said though, if you see anything that you would've changed go ahead and point it out, I'll see if I can make it better in the other story. Until then, though, ciao!

-By: Aaron Mikaski