CHILDREN OF THE SKY
CHAPTER 2
The void; an empty plane of existence stretched across the lands. A white-haired boy sat at the center of the complete nothingness. He studied an orb of pure light that was in his hands. With a delicate roll of his wrist, the boy had the light orbit around him much to his delight.
"Lucian," a seductive voice called to him.
The boy's wrist stopped in its tracks and his orb of light returned to him. The boy stood up, his back against the newcomer—a mysterious, dark figure watched Lucian while slouching in a throne made of crystals. His black, silver-lined pointed boots was tapping the ground beneath it, making crystals jump out. His midnight black cloak flowed in the wind. On top of his shoulders were pauldrons made of diamonds. Chains with crystal trinkets connected them. A black hood had distinctly shrouded his face.
"You're merely powerless," a voice stated slyly.
Lucian turned around to find the source of the voice, and saw the garish figure.
"However, you're not like the others," it continued. "There's something unusual about you."
With a snap of his fingers, the figure disappeared and the throne he left behind dispersed into crystal shards. The diamonds danced in the air, performing a strange ritual. Soon, a blinding beam of light shot out of the crystals straight towards the ground. On instinct, Lucian walked towards the light. As soon as the light faded, a pristine sword with a shining crystalline hilt was revealed. Its blade was dug into the clean white ground.
"'Have you ever wondered about all the secrets of the world,' is that what you asked?" The figure's smooth voice mocked, "Why don't you find out for yourself?"
All of the sudden, the cloaked figure emerged behind Lucian. He retreated for the sword as the figure summoned a fatal sword out of thin air. With a flick of his wrist, the shadowy figure sent it soaring towards Lucian. Lucian dodged the sword; however a trio of knives had unexpectedly plunged into his chest. Lucian dropped to his knees and his blood painted the ground. The figure skipped up to Lucian, chuckling uncontrollably. He kneeled in front of him and they both looked into each others' eyes. Lucian noticed the figure's bright green eyes and how his sinister grin played across his face. He pulled out one of his knives from Lucian's chest. Lucian yelled in agony as his blood freely flowed through the air.
"You really are pathetic," the figure stated, "Any closer and you would be dead. And..." He removed the second to Lucian's painful gasp. "...We wouldn't want that. Oh Lucian, stop your screaming. It isn't suitable for someone like you. Besides, this is a reminder that you are still alive." He concluded by removing the third knife. "You will continue to suffer," he added as he stood up and started to walk away, "until we meet again."
Lucian spat blood into the cold ground. Desperate and shaking, he looked at the shining sword, which was beckoning him to take it. "Who… Who are you?"
"You don't remember me?" The figure stopped in its tracks, grimacing. "Then allow me to jog your memory." He turned around to find Lucian dashing towards him, dragging the blade of light. Within seconds, the rogue had cast off his cloak and then drawn his sword. Sparks flew as the two swords clashed.
Lucian's eyes widened as the figure's identity was revealed. The unknown character looked at Lucian. He had chin-length, silver hair which covered the right side of his face. His vibrant green eyes stared at Lucian's darker ones.
"You don't know the truth, do you?"
He then simply stepped to the side, causing Lucian to lose his balance and fall to the ground. The villain raised his sword, ready to carve into the flesh of his enemy.
Lucian rolled onto his back and blocked the oncoming sword with his. "I'm not ready to give up just yet!" Lucian pushed his opponent back with all the force he could manage. He jumped to his feet and rushed towards his counterpart, sword in hand.
A flash of light engulfed the scene. A chorus of a thousand tortured screams chanted in unison throughout the air.
Lucian's room was engulfed in a bright sunlight. The sleeping boy opened his deep green eyes and grimaced. He rubbed his hand on his forehead, and then ran his fingers through his white, spiky hair. He looked up to his digital clock; ten minutes after five. After a yawn, he sits up on a decent-sized bed under various pearl white sheets. He stares at his room. Its white walls were covered with posters. Next to the bed was a desk filled with papers that consisted of chaotic writing and elaborate doodles. A music player with large headphones was placed beside a lamp. A laptop was placed on the desk as well. A cluttered bookcase – filled with graphic novels, various charms and music and video game cases – stood at an opposite wall. Next to the bookcase was a table with a TV and various video game consoles – a wired mess. On the farthest wall was a walk-in closet. Next to it was a hall that would lead into a bathroom. Past the bathroom, at the very end of the hall, a simple door stood. Everything seemed to be in order.
Disgruntled and still drowsy, Lucian got out of his bed and headed for his closet where he produced a shirt, jeans, and undergarments. With arms filled with clothes, he dragged his feet to the bathroom. He placed his set of clothes next to the sink on a marble countertop, which stood next to the toilet. He grabbed a couple of towels from the cabinet and placed them beside it. Lucian studied his reflection in the mirror above the sink. He stared into his emerald eyes and the sleepless, dark circles around them. He then examined his pasty white skin under the fluorescent lighting. He soon gazed at his hair. He seemed content that his hair was naturally white and spiky in the back while the front was down, tamed, covering his forehead.
"Some vivid nightmare," he thought to himself. "But what was it trying to tell me?"
The boy sighed and turned on the shower to let the relaxing steam from the hot water fill the room and fog up the windows. Beginning to sweat, he took off his T-shirt revealing a rather simplistic and slender frame. Next, his boxers slid down his legs to his ankles, where they flicked the underwear off his feet. Lucian blushed, feeling the warm steam inviting him. He stepped into the shower. His hair's natural spikes soon wilted due to the flowing water. Leaning against the wall underneath the showerhead, he could feel every caress of water rolling down his supple body.
"I've been having strange nightmares lately. They were obscure; the vision hazy, the sound muffled, and everything I touched was dull. I could hardly tell what was happening then." He closed his eyes and lifted his head, feeling the delicate touch of water droplets on his face. "But this one was clear as day. There was a completely blank space, crystals, a sword, and some half-crazed guy who looked almost like me. What did he want from me?"
After some time, the relieved and satisfied boy walked out of the bathroom dragging his feet around his room, looking at its imperfections. He put his laptop, papers, and notebooks inside his messenger bag with ease until something shiny caught his eyes. He inched closer to the side of his desk and found a lanyard with a couple of keys and a few charms. Next to it was a cracked picture frame that held a faded image.
It showcased a young, bright-eyed boy with silver hair wearing a cheeky grin surrounded by what seemed to be a mother and father who looked nothing like him. The father had black Caesar hair with stubble on his cheek. He looked stern without a trace of a smile. His black eyes had a thousand yard stare while his faded wrinkles showed his aging. The mother, with worry lines, looked indeed happy in a stark contrast with her spouse. Her hazel eyes had a twinkle in them while her bronze hair was tied up into a high ponytail. However, there was a fourth figure in the picture that had always piqued Lucian's interest. A pale, curious-looking man in a decorated uniform had turned his back to the camera. But his turned head caught a glance at the couple and child with a concerned expression. His naturally platinum blonde hair was wild like a lion's mane, presumably from the wind.
Lucian grimaced and wrapped his skeletal fingers around his keys and crossed to the bookshelf to randomly pick out a graphic novel, Chronic Crisis and to stuff it inside his messenger bag. With haste, he went down the hall and exited his bedroom without a second glance.
A tall and immaculate establishment obscured the almighty sun. Its ivory-colored bricks and wide windows glistened in the rays. An obelisk stood proudly at the center of an attractive courtyard. Two slabs of stone stood at either end of the idol; one read, "SOMNIUM ACADEMY" while the other marked the year of establishment. Vibrant flower gardens adorned the courtyard in its entire splendor. Wooden benches lined the pristine pavement with absolute modesty. Students crossed through the courtyard without a care in the world.
"Hey Faith," a chipper fellow in a knit hat saluted.
"Zane," an auburn-haired girl responded. "How's it going?"
"I hate this place."
The two continued to rush to their first class in the early morning, struggling through hordes of other opposing students who simply blocked their way. After travelling up a staircase and across a hall, they finally entered their noisy homeroom with exasperated sighs. Loud-mouthed adolescents snickered to each other. Meanwhile, the contrastingly silent students were reading comic books, playing video games, listening to music, or even doodling. Faith and Zane spotted Lucian in a desk next to the window on the far wall, his head buried in his arms. They maneuvered their way through the organized, yet chaotic crowd filled with testosterone-driven boys and desperate girls multilayered with only make-up.
"Don't tell me he dozed off already," Faith chuckled.
"Class hasn't even started yet," Zane joked. "That's a record."
"Rise and shine," Faith messed with Lucian's blizzard-like hair.
"Wakey-wakey," Zane cheerily added.
"I don't wanna," Lucian's muffled voice complained.
"Lucian," Faith persuaded.
Lucian groaned, "Fine." He rose with a yawn and a stretch.
Faith's face had shown traces of triumph when she sat in the desk behind Lucian. Zane took his seat next to Lucian and eavesdropped on a conversation about the latest video game about shooting tentacle monsters which left him disturbed. A bumbling teacher with thin wispy hair, a beard, horn-rimmed glasses and distinct liquor on his breath entered the classroom and wasted a good minute or two to quiet the class and take attendance. Chalk clumsily flew across the board, creating illegible scrawl. Faith produced a spiral notebook and began to draw birds in its margins. Lucian, with the cheek resting on the back of his hand, tried to clear his mind by staring outside the window into a grassy meadow and a forest behind it. Eventually, he submerged into an aura filled with boredom and disinterest. Lucian scanned around the room. He stared into the cracks and crevices in the plaster walls and counted how many times the teacher said, "Um" or "Uh". He then studied the personalities of his classmates, determining whether they were putting on a mask of façade or not. He smiled when he caught a glimpse of Zane balancing a pencil on his nose.
Lucian then resorted to looking at his textbook. He read utterly random words out of context and then put them together to make an underlying sentence that had nothing to do with the subject. Lucian flipped the page, only to see "HELP ME" frantically scribbled on the margins. He ignored this and started to look at the pictures. One was a picture of children who surrounded a campfire. Strangely, their faces were composed of happiness and excitement but their eyes were full of fear. Lucian frowned and flipped the page to read, "HELP ME" again. He flipped pages to see the same thing.
"HELP ME"
"HELP ME"
"HELP ME"
The last pages of the textbook were covered in frantic messages saying, "HELP ME". Lucian slammed his textbook and flipped through his notes. They were all saying, "HELP ME" hysterically. The chalkboard and the posters were saying the same thing. He looked at his oblivious classmates. Lucian soon felt a blistering aura from outside in the warm daylight.
Lucian's pulse doubled as he heard an ear-shattering shriek that shredded through the air.
With wide eyes, he turned his head see the sight of a raging inferno of red and orange. Outside the window, the beautiful plains and the forest behind it were set on fire...
The shriek returned, bone-splitting.
In the center of the field was the nightmarish figure wearing a perfectly twisted grin...
The sirens screeched thrice.
Lucian's emerald eyes widened. Smoke lifted and a mass grave revealed itself behind the man. The bodies of countless, innocent students were to be burned to ash...
The sirens returned, seemingly louder than ever.
Slender, leather fingers inched towards the hood...
Another symphony blared in Lucian's ears.
The sight of crimson-stained silver hair shimmered in the darkness.
The screams completed their final movement of their orchestra.
In a flash, Lucian stashed his notebook and papers away in his backpack and bolted out of the classroom.
"Lucian," Faith called after him, but he was well out of the room. She looked out the window to a normal sight of the untouched plains and the thick forests. Nothing was different; only the bell had rung, signaling the end of a class. She and Zane exchanged looks; his eyes were shocked. He too dashed out of the classroom without a word. "Zane," she yelled. "Wait up!"
Lucian dashed through the halls, cutting through the herds of students. The students were happily talking to each other while the halls around them were set aflame. The drill bells were ironically silent. He turned around the corner to find the stairway blocked off. He then decided to take refuge in a janitor's closet which was surprisingly empty.
Faith eventually caught up with Zane. "Zane, what's going on?"
The usually cheery Zane was now replaced with a graver one.
"Zane?"
Zane looked back at her, golden eyes piercing.
"Wait a minute," Faith thought. "His eyes; they weren't golden before."
"He went this way," he finally broke. "Follow me and hurry."
They dashed across the halls, pushing anyone out of their way. Zane, seeing Faith tripping over couple of feet, grabbed Faith's hand so she would not get lost. Amidst the blur, Faith noticed something black peeking out from the bottom of his jacket – she simply dismissed it. After a climbing a couple of steps, they randomly paused.
"This way," he repeated and made a sharp right turn, dragging Faith with him
Lucian gripped the edge of the sink to hold himself up. The walls around him were peeling apart. The ceiling's plaster tiles deteriorated, showing its bare skeleton. As he was staring into his reflection, he heard Zane opening the creaking door. His blood froze as he turned to see his friend.
"Lucian," he said, his now golden eyes piercing through Lucian's hallucinations.
"GET OUT!"
A pure white aura illuminated from Lucian's hands. The mirror shattered as he threw a spear of light at Zane with intense fury. Faith gasped. In an instinct, Zane took off his snow cap and jacket revealing hidden wolf ears and a tail. Faith's eyes widened right before Zane's jacket flew across her vision. Zane extended his arm and specks of golden light materialized a thin ring. It created a force field for Zane. Soon, the spear of light then evaporated from existence. The golden ring scattered into specks of light.
"It's sad isn't it?" Zane mused, "Life, as we know it, is just deception."
"Zane," Lucian's body hit the ground.
Zane's eyes turned back from golden to a light blue. He turned to Faith with his hands up and tail between his legs. "I'm sorry. I'm so sorry. Please, Faith... Please don't tell anyone."
