The Primordial Path

by ericwinter

Your life sucks. From bullies to an insane mother, you have more than your fair share of troubles, and little to make things worth it. But, one day, you discover something. An ancient artifact will grant you powers you couldn't even begin to imagine. But how will you use them? ANd what happens when the whole world starts to seem a lot more complicated than it once was? Quest!

1. Chapter 1

Alright, this is going to be… interesting. For those of you new to me as a writer, HI! For those of you not, don't worry, I am working on my other stories as well. I've just been trying to sort out a recent injury, and figuring out what it will mean for my life over the next couple months. Nothing big, don't worry, but things will be a bit shaky. For now, however, I have something brand-new, and quite possibly unique to Fanfiction to present to you. (If not, please feel free to correct me)

So to start off with, this is what is known on Spacebattles as a 'quest'. It is, in essence, a 'choose your own adventure' story, except governed by popular vote. I, the GM, write a chapter, and at the end of it present to you, the readers, a choice. Majority vote decides the path taken, as well as influencing the character's stats, which will in turn influence future choices, events, and abilities. Fair warning, this story has also been posted on SpaceBattles, so I will also be taking input from there.

Alright, that should be good for now, so I'll let you all get on with it. Try not to blow the world up while you're at it, yeah?

XXX

School sucked. You knew that, of course. It was inevitable that an institution which insisted on locking hundreds of kids in limited space for seven hours a day, five days a week-at minimum-would have a lot of flaws. But there was something about today, as you listened to Mr. McGregory's voice drone on and on about variables and equations, that gnawed at your failing sanity. :Your eyes rested unwaveringly on the clock, watching is it ticked painfully slowly towards lunchtime. At least then you could distract yourself from the utter boredom with eating.

For a moment, you took your eyes off the clock, since there were still several minutes until the bell and if you stared any longer you suspected your dreams would be haunted by numbers cackling at your suffering. Instead, you swept your gaze over the rest of the class, amusing yourself at analyzing their own methods of ignoring the teacher. Several were asleep, heads buried in their arms and lines of drool slipping down their lips, and you could see several more drowsing towards that direction. Other, braver souls had their phones out, more often than not held under tables or behind bags they had rested upon their desks. The only person who appeared to be paying a lick of attention was Greg Crauley, but even his usual enthusiasm was dulled by hunger and the general air of listlessness in the room.

You glanced back down to your own desk, and the old, ratty book lying there. You had read your copy of The Return of the King half a million times already, and it showed in the peeling spine and stained pages. You would pick it up again, but apathy and the ticking of the clock stayed your hand. It would only be a few more minutes until Lunch, and that was hardly enough to get to a good stopping place. Then again, it might kill the last stretch of time…

You were just chewing your lip, contemplating the matter, when a sudden buzzing practically had you jumping in your seat. It would seem in your distraction you hadn't noticed McGregory finishing his lecture, or the clock finally hitting one. With a shrug, you stood up and collected your bag and book, following the crowd as it spilled out into the well-practised ease you weaved through them, making your way up to the roof. It was a quiet place, isolated from the cliques and groups of the rest of the school, and a harmless rebellion against the rules that sent a tiny thrill through you every time you stepped out the door.

Once outside, you collapsed into a sitting position, sighing as your gaze took in the New York skyline. Your school, St. Marie's Institutional Facility, was located smack dab in the middle of Manhattan's urban jungle. You found it deliciously ironic. Just like you, the building was lost amongst the sea of steel and glass skyscrapers, an unremarkable ant among titans. You were one student among hundreds, as St. Marie's was one school among hundreds. Nothing interesting ever happened there, and nothing ever would.

With a jerk, you caught hold of the deprecating thoughts and pushed them out. Depression was an old friend, one that had been your companion for several years as you struggled against the futility and dullness of your life. You hardly needed to encourage it more with thoughts like those, especially while your lunch hour was wasting slowly away. With another sigh, you pulled out your lunch, a simple salad composed from lettuce and dressing, and set to eating.

You were halfway through the meal and a good few pages into your book-reading as you ate to distract your thoughts- when the sudden sound of metal banging on metal caught your attention, and you looked up. Walking out onto the roof were three girls, tall and glamorous in their school uniforms and fancy jewelry that glimmered in the midday light. You knew them.

"Oh look, if it isn't Jenna!" The lead girl, a willowy redhead cried out in surprise that was so fake you could practically hear the plastic crackling of her smile. Her two lackeys, one with dark coffee-colored skin and another who looked almost like a vampire with how pale she was, giggled. "Fancy seeing you up here, all alone."

"What do you want, Melanie?" You asked, rising slowly and eyeing the trio of girls. They were… well, beautiful was a bit of an understatement. With soft skin, luscious curves, and faces that most artists would have died fro the chance to paint, the three girls looked like supermodels, even at the age of seventeen. They were the only things of real note at St. Mary's, three gorgeous students who were expected to become celebrities by practically everyone; a shame their personalities were just as ugly and poisonous as their bodies were beautiful.

"Want, Jenna? Why, me, Bella, and Lauren were just coming up here to eat our lunch in private." You narrowed your eyes at Melanie's smile, which was deceptively innocent as she held up a small lunchbox that glared pink. Behind her, the other two did the same. "We didn't even know you were up here."

"Right, because you always eat on the roof." You said, not even trying to hide your sarcasm. They didn't, of course, you were usually up here yourself, while they stayed in the actual cafeteria, reigning amongst their court of sycophants. Today, however, you weren't in any mood for their games.

"We felt like a change today." the other pale one said, Lauren, you remembered. "You don't mind, do you?" You almost snorted at the request. There was little you could do to stop them, of course, and they knew it. Instead, however, you sighed and picked up your things.

"Go right ahead. I was about to go inside, anyways." You lied, before trying to step past the trio. Unsurprisingly, however, they closed ranks, blocking your way, and you had to bite back a vicious curse.

"You're here anyways Jenna, why not stay and hang out with us for a while?" The last, Bella, asked with honey in her tone, and your lips curled downwards. You had expected this, of course. There was little other reason for the trio to come up here except tormenting you, and would hardly have let you go so easily. Still, you couldn't help but wonder while glaring at their sharp eyes and razor-edged smiles, what could they be trying this time?

"No thank you," You said carefully, trying to copy their fake smiles as best you could. Somehow, id didn't feel like it worked as their own widened. "I have some extra homework that really needs to get done…" You trailed off when the girls, as one, took a step forward, and you unconsciously shifted back to match.

"Oh who cares about homework? We should talk about the dance instead! Tonight will be so much fun!" Your eyes widened as Melanie spoke. So that was what they were going for. Suddenly you were thankful this was happening on the roof, and not in the cafeteria where everyone could see.

"I'd rather not." You said carefully, gulping heavily. This wasn't going to end well, you knew it.

"What's wrong?" Bella asked, and in an instant, the entire scene shifted. No longer did any of the three girls try to hide the predatory gleam in their eyes, or the wolfish twist of their smiles. They moved forward like a well-oiled machine, surrounding you until they had formed a tight circle. With you trapped inside. "Don't you have a date?"

"Of course she doesn't." Lauren answered for you, her vicious smile widening. "Who would ask out someone as ugly as her?" You flinched at the insult, even as you tried to stand your ground.

"Move." You tried to say, but it was weak, and the trio just stepped closer, until they were practically hugging you. Melanie shoved you, throwing your body into Bella.

"Why should we, Jenna? What's a stupid, dateless nerd like you going to do?" She asked, but you didn't answer when Bella, sneering in disgust, shoved you back. As you impacted, your lunch and book, which you had been holding onto tightly, were sent sprawling to the ground.

"Hey!" You shouted, anger finally boiling over at the sight, and your fists balled. The next moment, however, the three girls abandoned their little game of throwing you around, and you were instead sent sprawling to the ground. Pain blossomed in your cheek as it crashed with the hard concrete surface, and you bit back a loud moan. That would likely bruise. When you finally managed to fight back the sensation and push yourself to your knees, however, you froze.

"Give me my book back." Your voice was deathly quiet as you stared at the three girls. Melanie looked up from the paperback in her hands, a dangerous glint in her eye.

"You know," She started conversationally, turning your book over slowly. With every second you felt something, a small, glowing pit of her, build up within cared little for your salad, scattered on the roof and already blowing in a gentle breeze. No, your focus was wholly upon the book where it rested in those cruel, vicious hands with their carefully manicured nails. "I see you reading this quite often. I wonder, is it important?" You stiffened at her words, even as images flashed through your mind of a kind smile and gentle arms. Frantically, you pushed back the thoguths, meeting Melanie's sparkling eyes.

"Of course not. It's just a book." You tried to say it as noncommittally as possible, shrugging, but Melanie didn't buy it. Her eyes narrowed, and she exchanged glances with her two followers. Then, without even a hint of warning, she tore the book in half.

"No!" You screamed, even as you felt your heart being torn asunder. You stared for several long seconds as Melanie laughed, a cruel, high sound that usually set you bones quivering, and tossed the two pieces at the ground in front of you.

"Oops." She said, laughing again, and this time her friends joined in. You didn't react, but with every moment the sound of their mirth went on, you felt something snap. The heat, the sheer anger that had been growing as Melanie took one of your few precious possessions in her hands, blossomed. Suddenly, you felt a terrible fire burning in your veins as you stood, glaring at the girl.

"How… dare you." In contrast to the heat within, your voice was like ice, a frigid blizzard that instantly snapped all three of the trio's eyes to you. You took a step closer, relishing in the fear that you could suddenly see shining in their eyes. "How dare you!" Again, the words came spilling out, but now they were a scream, a cry of the outrage you could feel clawing at your heart. The trio jumped, and before you could take one step closer, turned and ran for the door leading back inside. For one second, one terrible, burning second, you wanted to follow them. You wanted to chase those three bitches down and beat them black and blue. But then the sound ofa page turning caught your ear, and you glanced down at the two forlorn book-halves, flapping lightly in the wind. Suddenly, all the anger drained away, and you collapsed to your knees to pick the split volumes up.

"I am so stupid." You muttered, staring at the book. Shame and despair twisted your stomach, and you closed your eyes. Why hadn't you fought back? There were three of them, yes, but as you saw at the end, every last one of those bitches were cowards. But then, you were too, weren't you? For years, they had bullied you, and for years you had let them. And now, they had finally destroyed something utterly irreplaceable. It was too far.

When the bell rang, signalling Lunch's end, you stayed on the roof.

XXX

The walk home after school was quiet, relatively speaking. There were, of course, the usual New York sounds of busy streets and more people shoved into a single city than was honestly reasonable, but your mind, at least, was two halves of your book were safely ensconced within your bag, but you could still see it in your mind's eye, sitting forlorn and destroyed on the roof. One might have expected you to be angsting over it, your thoughts swirling with emotion and self-deprecation, but truthfully, you had done that already. The rest of the school day had been spent on the roof, thinking, doubting, and ranting at yourself for being such a fool and a coward. Now, however, there was a single thought in your head, crystallized after you realized just how badly you had fucked up.

First, you realized, the book wasn't important. Well, it was, but honestly, Melanie hadn't even really destroyed it. You could easily find a bookstore or something and have the binding be redone. Even now it just looked like two separate books which missed a cover each. Given enough time, the damage might progress to the point where they fell apart, but that would take awhile. The real problem was you.

You didn't quite remember when it started, but Melanie, Lauren, and Bella had been bullying you for quite a while. It made sense of course. They were the three glamorous and popular girls, while you were the quiet, bookish girl who hid in libraries and read all day. Not that that was a bad thing, of course, but there was a reason cliches existed. That had to stop. You were sick and tired of being pushed around, of being laughed at and humiliated. And now that they had escalated from simple taunts and insults to actual vandalism? It was time to get your shit together.

You sighed heavily as you turned one last corner to come face to face with your home. IT was a big building, three stories high and built out of old red brick that only avoided crumbling with copious amounts of faith and luck. You pushed open the front door, wincing as it screeched like a dying cat. Inside, you paused to take a look around.

The building was separated into four levels, each with a different tenant, and a middling set of oaken stairs connecting them. The first, strangely, was actually a shop rather than residence, owned by an old asian woman named Ami. She was… a bit wacky, but you had always liked her, especially when she kicked pushy customers out of her shop with some sort of weird kung-fu. It was highly amusing to waaatch cocky gang-bangers get their asses handed to them by a cranky grandma. Sometimes, living in the seedier parts of town had benefits.

You gave a small smile to Ami as you passed her front door, letting your eyes linger on the wares inside for a moment. Most of them looked like cheap knock-offs, copies of ancient relics from all over the world, but a few actually looked like they might be real. You didn't linger long, however, quickly making your way up the stairs to the third floor. The second and fourth were occupied by other families, usually, and Ami lived in her shop as far as you knew, so you and your mother had the entire floor to yourselves.

"Hey Mom, I'm home!" You called out as you entered, unsure of whether you would receive an answer, before dropping your bag by the door and kicking your shoes off. The next moment, however, a beautiful woman with soft black hair and twinkling blue eyes came out of the small doorway that led to the kitchen, smiling softly.

"Hello, honey. How are you?" You grinned at the softly spoken words, stepping forward to wrap her in a warm hug. It looked like today was one of her good days.

"I'm good, Mom. You?" You asked as she stepped back and patted your head softly.

"I'm just fine." Your mom said, before returning to the kitchen. You followed, sitting at the small wooden table to watch as she started working. "Dinner should be ready by the time your father gets home." In an instant, the smile slid off your face, and you winced. Of course, it had been too good to be true. Always, you hoped, and always, your dreams were crushed.

"Mom…" You started, but stopped when she paused and turned to look at you curiously. You didn't want to do this, didn't want to bring her world crashing down. But you had to. It was unhealthy to let her go on, and the longer you waited, the worse it would get. "Mom, Dad's not coming home." At first, she didn't seem to understand your words. Her head cocked to the side, curious.

"What do you mean, honey? Of course your father is coming home. He'll be here within the hour." Again, you winced, closing your eyes so you didn't have to look at your mom's face. You could see it already, the hint of hysteria hiding behind her eyes, and the fragile smile she wore that looked like it could shatter with the slightest shift.

"Mom…" You struggled to find the strength to speak. This… it hurt. It hurt every time you had to come home and tell your mom the truth. Sometimes, you wondered if her bad days weren't actually better. At least then you didn't have to feel the guilt and pain as it tried to tear your heart to shreds. "Dad's dead Mom. He's been dead for a long time." There was silence. For a long, long moment, you sat there, eyes closed and barely breathing. You could almost hear the fear in it, the disbelief. You wanted to sigh, but held it in, afraid to break the peace.

"No." Your mom finally broke the silence, and you breathed in sharply at the sound of her voice. It was harsh, and so very cold that you feared it might freeze your blood solid. Carefully, you opened your eyes to look at her. She was standing in the same place, her face dead, and you almost wanted to close your eyes again. "No, I don't believe you."

"Mom-" You tried, standing, but you were cut off as a plate flew past your head like a bullet, forcing you to duck.

'NO!" She screamed as the ceramic dish shattered, and you bit back a curse. IF she was throwing things, then she had just gone from good to very, very bad. You kicked the chair you had been seated in back to give you space and stood back up warily.

"Mom, calm down." You said, raising your hands as if to surrender, but again you were forced to duck as another dish, a cup this time, soared towards you. You sidestepped, letting it past, before darting forward as fast as you could. You crashed into her just as she picked up a dark red appliance you recognised as the toaster.

"Let me go!" Your mom screamed, dropping her weapon and thrashing wildly as you tried to grab hold of her arms. They flailed, fighting to escape your hands, until one caught you across the cheek. You flinched, pain from your earlier meeting with the school's rooftop flaring, and the crazed woman beneath you took the chance to escape. She darted up and away, grabbing a chair as she went and planting herself in the doorway.

"Mom, please, let's just talk about this, okay?" You begged, rising slowly and taking a step forwards. You stopped, however, as she snarled at you, her face twisted into a vicious caricature.

"I don't know who you are, but you're not my daughter. My girl is sweet, kind. She doesn't tell such terrible lies." You froze, snapping your mouth shut as bile tried to climb its way up your throat. You had heard the words before, more times than you could count, but they always hurt. They tore at you, a reminder once again that your mother was no longer whole.

"Mom, I swear, I'm not going to hurt you. Please, put down the chair." For a moment, you prayed it might work. A flash of something, some hint of understanding, but an instant later, it was gone. Her grip tightened, and you just barely managed to drop before the chair took your head off as it soared past. There was a crack, the sound of wood splintering, and when next you looked up, your mother was gone. You heard the faint sound of a door slamming shut, and sighed. She must have locked herself in her room, which meant she wouldn't be coming out again until tomorrow, at the latest.

"I hate it when that happens." You muttered to yourself as you stood, casting a glance at the wreckage. Two dishes and a chair. It wasn't too bad, considering. At least she didn't get you thrown out of the a sigh, you set about cleaning up the mess, before finishing the meal she had been making. It was an old one, familiar, and you managed it easily, taking your share before putting the rest in the fridge. Then, finally, you grabbed your bag from where you left it and went to your room.

The bedroom was a simple thing, with a twin-sized mattress shoved against the wall, a cluttered desk for doing homework and using the ancient computer resting upon it, and a small bookcase. You crashed on the bed, sighing heavily. It was always terrifying when you mom snapped like , she was just angry, drinking heavily and ranting about the unfairness of the world. Others, she just denied everything, hiding fearfully whenever you tried to push. But the forgetfulness, and the fury that came after when you insisted on the truth… It made you wonder if she would ever truly heal.

Letting out a groan, you pushed the worries and fears aside, forcing yourself to stand up and walk over to the bookcase. Idly, you let your finger trail over the numerous titles, ticking each one off in your mind as you remembered the many stories of fantasy and adventure. When it landed on an empty spot, however, beside two siblings, you stopped, struggling to fight back a sudden welling of , you reached over to where you had left your bag and opened it, pulling out the two halves of The Return of the King. You carefully pressed them together, and then slid it into its place, before rocking back on your heels as memories assaulted you.

The book had been your father's. His favorite, in fact, and one you could remember him reading almost all the time. The Trilogy were, as he put it, 'the pinnacle of literature, and a truly powerful tale.' When the uniformed man showed up at your doorstep with a consolation medal, that book had been held in his other hand. Supposedly, your father asked his CO to return it to your mother if anything happened to him. When she didn't take it, you did.

Again, you crashed onto the bed, shoving the painful memories away and wiping at your eyes. Crying wouldn't change the past, as much as you might wish it. Your father was dead, your mother a broken wreck of denial, and you had bullying issues. Two of those things you could do nothing about. The third, however… You sat up on your bed, a grim smile twisting at your lips. You had options. One of them had to work.

XXX

1) Go to the bookstore. Your first priority was fixing your father's book, and besides, being a nerd was nothing to be ashamed about. Perhaps a good book might help you figure out how to deal with the trio.

2)Ask Ami to teach you kung-fu. If the trio tries anything next time, you could always knock them on their asses. Maybe that would get them to leave you alone. Besides, history has always been a passion of yours, and those artifacts might be cool to look at.

3)Dig through your closet for something nice. Those bitches wanted to challenge you by mentioning the dance. Well, perhaps you could send a message that you weren't scared by crashing the party. If nothing else, it would be a dramatic entrance.