Remember how I said I'd come back in April? I LIED! I COME BACK…..THE WEEK BEFORE APRIL! AHA! YOU'VE BEEN japed! It was different to what you were….I'll stop now.
Man...the world went to shit, huh? What with the Coronavirus and all that. You know how the San Francisco Bay Area was just locked down? That's where I live.
To be honest, I'm not afraid of the Virus itself. I just hate what it's done to everything else. The lockdowns, the economy, The Toilet Paper crisis of 2020. The fact that I couldn't find shredded parmesan at safeway. Everyone INCLUDING MY FATHER buying guns...for some reason. At least the memes have been good.
Anyway, I'm sure ya'll have heard enough COVID news for...well, ever. So I'll change the subject. Here you'll be introduced to the Covelight Trilogy's female lead, as well as Jackson's unique ability, clairvoyance. We're reaching the halfway point assuming I don't draw out the ending. So things will be moving a lot faster now. Let's get into this.
"Look, I think it's fine, you're just being paranoid."
"Maybe, but I seriously can't shake this feeling."
"Look, when we get to the house, we'll check both of the trunks, and if we find someone we'll detain them."
"Alright."
We're about 5 minutes away from the house, we had to take an alternate route to shake off any heat we might've been carrying. Ever since we left, I've been feeling on edge, like someone is watching, listening, or straight up in the car with us. Cobalt thinks I'm just paranoid, to be honest, I think I might be paranoid myself.
I look to my arm, studying the two white stripes running along the inside and outside of my arm. The upside down triangle on the front and back of my hand. What have I learned so far regarding my abilities?
The most basic is my explosive ball of light, which I've been calling a Flash Pulse.
If I crush a flash pulse or create one with a closed fist, I create a blade that extends in front of my knuckles. I don't have a name for it yet... I think I'll go with Heaven's Saber.
Said Heaven's Saber can be projected into a domed shield. For a name, I think I'll call it Radiant Barrier.
That's it in terms of my offensive abilities. I may learn more over time. Then there's my more utility based abilities.
If I focus my power throughout my whole body, I can bend the light around me to turn myself invisible to the naked eye, but as I learned from Pluto. I can still be seen through other means, such as thermal. Useful in a pinch, but I shouldn't rely on it. I've called this ability Camouflage, I was gonna call it Refraction, but Camouflage seems a bit more fitting.
Next, I passively absorb sunlight to mend wounds, so far I'm not sure how much exactly I can heal. It doesn't seem to work unless I'm in direct contact with sunlight. I also know that I can manually absorb light to recover, though I'm not experienced enough to efficiently pull it off. I'm sure I can get the hang of it with enough practice. I wonder, will I over-charge myself if I absorb too much light? Questions for later. I'm dubbing this ability Photosynthesis.
Finally, there's whatever I did earlier. Where the world slowed down and I was able to move a short distance before everything returned to normal. I really don't know how I did that. But for now I think I'll call it... Blink. As it seemed to be almost like a short teleport to the outside world. I'll have to see if I can do it again, learn more about it.
Cobalt mentioned that I was A Chosen of light, which suggests that there are more like me, or at some point WERE more like me. The thought of others like me is comforting, in a way. If I could find one, oh the amount of questions I'd have for them.
Do they share the same set of powers, or is every Chosen of light unique, with their own powers? Can some control light more than others? If we share the same powers, is there "official"names for the abilities, or does everyone have their own names? How do you become Chosen? Why is my blood white? How many abilities are there that I don't know of?
I shake my head, we're at the house, I need to stop zoning out. "Right then." Cobalt announces, grabbing his rifle from the dashboard. We both get out and head to the front. Cobalt presses a button on Angel. The front of the weapon splits open and flips over, the rails at the end, collapsing into the receiver. A barrel pops out of the gap, the muzzle glowing blue, the scope is pulled into the top of the receiver blending flawlessly with the body. 3 holographic rings replace the area, acting as a short sight for closer ranges. So that's Angel's SMG configuration. Cobalt touches the Frunk with his foot, quickly aiming into it as the lid pops up. Though it appears to be empty, save for a small case with papers spilling out of it. Cobalt moves on to the rear trunk. I hop on his shoulder, as I'm not tall enough to see into the trunk, myself. He pops it open and aims his weapon.
…
Nothing aside from the car's battery. Cobalt and I sigh. "See? Nothing." Cobalt grunts. I shrug, "Yeah. I guess I was just being paranoid. Sorry."
"Hey, we got the drives. It's fine."
I nod. "Right. I'll go get them." I announce, hopping off of his shoulder and heading back to the passenger side. I collect the drives, damn they're heavy. I decide to take multiple trips. I grab the communication drive. I exit the garage, spotting Cobalt unlocking the door. I head down the path, however I stop when I see a green light appear behind Cobalt.
Wait….
THAT'S THE SHAPE OF A SNIVY'S TAIL!
"COBALT! BEHIND YOU!" I shout as the tail flies upward. "Wha-AGH!" He shouts, however he can't react quick enough. The leaf blade slams against the back of his head, he's knocked into the door. His eyes roll back and shut. The culprit suddenly becomes known.
Shimmering fractal particles dissipate. A Snivy sticks their landing. They open their eyes and look at me. Their eyes are a vivid aqua blue. They have a black bandana around their neck. The Snivy grins upon eye contact, they giggle a bit. "I found you!" She cheers.
She winks at me, before flipping up her bandana, which then turns her invisible. I hear her footsteps on the deck, before she hits the pavement, now she's inaudible. I drop the drive and enter a defensive stance. "Turning invisible when you were hiding in the trunk to make us think you weren't there. Clever." I quip. I hear her giggle to my left. I quickly fire a Flash Pulse in that direction. She yelps as the pulse hits the ground and explodes in a flash, I can see her cloak break for a small second as it gets washed out by the light.
Suddenly I see the world turn dark. I can see a black orb where she just was. I can feel a resonance with this orb.
I feel something.
I feel….light, underneath that black exterior, I feel light. I see the darkness suddenly crack. Before the world returns to normal.
….what the fuck was that?
I hear her yell from behind me. I quickly dart my vision around to see her readying a red knife. I quickly jump to the side and hit her in the back with a Heaven's Saber. A weak one, anyway. She growls as she's thrown to the ground, quickly picking herself back up.
She spits out a small bit of blood. "Got another one in ya?" She taunts. I see the world fade again, a larger crack has appeared in the shell. The world returns. She turns invisible again.
"Oh you think you have the advantage here?" I taunt. I Camouflage myself and move to the side. "Eh? What the-?" I hear her mutter.
I slightly make out a shimmer. I squint to try and get a better look, but then my vision turns pink.
I can see her, clearly now.
Wait.
I stop squinting, my vision returns to normal, I squint again. It happens again. I grin. "I can see the full light spectrum!" I explain. I can see her slightly panic. I shoot a Flash Pulse at her, impacting her in the chest. She screams as she's thrown into the grass. Her cloak disabled.
I see the orb again, it chips, causing a small bit of light to shine through.
The Pulse revealed my position, too. She grunts and stands back up. "You are one stubborn motherfucker." I remark. "I have to! This can be my ticket to becoming a Covelight Elite! All I need to do is stop you!" She shouts. She twirls open her butterfly knife. "I don't need stealth to kill you!" She screams, rushing me with her knife. I summon a Saber and prepare for hand to hand combat. She swipes at my chest, I jump backwards, swiping downwards with my Saber, hitting her on the snout.
Another chip.
She grunts, but doesn't stop her assault. She tackles me to the ground, straddling my hips. She raises her knife, I cross my arms. She slams her knife down, I catch the blade between my wrists. She struggles as she pushes harder and harder down. "JUST DIE!" She screams in rage. I grin, "Gotcha." I chirp. Forming a Flash Pulse in both of my hands, before turning my palms toward her. She gasps, eyes widening. I fire both of them, point blank, right at her face. She screams in agony as she soars through the air.
The shell shatters, as I see nothing but light.
She lands on the deck, sparking with energy. She sits up for a second looking right at me. She looks exhausted.
"Who the fuck are you…..?" She groans, before blacking out. I spend a second to catch my breath.
"Holy fuck…" I sigh.
…
"You gotta be kidding me." Cobalt grumbles, staring at our intruder, who I've tied to a chair. She's still unconscious, and I still don't know what that whole orb thing was.
"What?" I ask him. Cobalt places his hands on his head. "Oooohhh nooo…. I know who this is…" he explains.
"Who?"
"Her name is Violet. She's the adopted daughter of Mayrum Covelight."
Wait…
DAUGHTER?!
"Oh shit!" I exclaim. "Yeah! Mayrum's going to try extra hard to find us now!" He explains.
"What are we going to do about her?! We can't just keep her here!" I inquire. Cobalt nods, "Right...uuuhhh...We use her as ransom, we ask him to drop the charges in return for her."
"Cobalt. That's the worst idea you've had yet." I ridicule.
"Well I don't see you coming up with better ide-"
"Mmmmmmmh…."
Our prisoner opens her eyes. Cobalt has disappeared. "Ah fuck no!" He shouts from the door frame. "What?" I ask, wondering what his problem is. "Long story short, she was turned into a living weapon by ex-Covelight scientists and adopted by Mayrum in hopes of reversing the damage!"
"She's tied down, Cobalt." I explain with a glare.
"Who…?" She groans, her voice sounds softer than before. She gazes groggily at me. "Wha... what happened…?" She groans. "Well I hit you in the head with a pair of magic concussion balls made of light. Try anything funny and I double that." I explain.
"Th-...the voice…" she mutters, glancing downward. I tilt my head a bit in confusion. "Voice?" I ask.
"It's….gone…" she whispers.
"The voice is gone." She exclaims. She darts her vision to me. "How? How did you do it?!" She demands. "I don't...what are you talking about?" I ask. "They implanted my mind with that of a serial killer! Mayrum tried for years to find a way to undo it, and yet you come along and do it in seconds! How did you do it?!" She shouts.
"Don't listen to her, Jackson! She's just trying to lull you into a false sense of security." Cobalt explains, not moving from the door frame.
I look Violet in the eyes. "While I was fighting you, I caught glimpses. Of a black shell around a white orb. Every time I hit you, I chipped a piece of the darkness away, leaving only the light. Now you tell me that your mind is no longer being controlled by an experiment to turn you into a weapon. The dots add up." I explain.
"What is your name?"
"It's….Alexis...though, I'm so used to going by Violet at this point...so...I guess you can call me by that?"
"Any family, Violet?"
"I don't know…..it's still a little fuzzy."
"I know what you mean."
"Jackson, are you saying you're trusting this psycho?" Cobalt quivers.
"I'm giving her the benefit of the doubt." I reply.
"...thank you…" she interrupts. I turn back to her.
"I…. have been taking the backseat to my life for years... you undid that. Thank you. I don't…" she starts trailing off.
Well, whatever I'm doing better not bite me in the ass.
I uncuff her from the chair and stand her up. "Here, you probably haven't slept in a while. There's a bedroom downstairs, get some rest." I offer. She nods and groggily heads downstairs.
I hear a door shut from downstairs.
"Jackson."
"I know."
"WHAT THE FUCK ARE YOU DOING MATE?!"
"Look, I just have a feeling alright."
"A FEELING?!"
"Look, something was happening during our fight. I was catching glimpses of something."
"Huh? Glimpses of what?"
"I think... I was seeing her soul, Cobalt."
"What? No, that can't be right! I might not know much about nightbring religion in regards to Chosen of light, but I'm pretty sure they don't have the ability to see a person's soul!" He fumes
"Look, as the fight went on, I started to chip away at some kinda dark shell around her soul. When the fight was over, I had completely destroyed the shell. Now I can already tell that she's a completely different person."
"Jackson, you're not making any sense."
"I think what I'm trying to say is I have the ability to draw out the light in other people."
"And you think somehow she's not gonna try and kill us the second she wakes up."
"Well... I don't know, again I have a feeling."
"We ARE NOT jeopardizing ourselves because you have a soft spot for those in your egg group!"
"...what? No, that's not what this is about! Cobalt, think about it, this is Mayrum's adopted daughter. Imagine the advantage we'd have with her on our side! Look, she knows Mayrum better than anyone! She can give us information as to why this is happening, and she can help to convince him to let us go."
Cobalt makes a motion like he wants to speak, but stops himself.
"Alright... I'll trust your instincts, just know. If this backfires. That's on you."
"Okay, I'll take responsibility for this. We'll see what happens when she wakes up."
"Fine, I'm going to bed early."
"Alright, good night Cobalt."
Cobalt heads upstairs to the loft. I myself don't feel particularly tired, so I decide to light the fireplace and watch the disappearing sun out of the window.
"Jackson." An unknown voice echoes in my mind. I shoot upwards in my seat, gazing around the room, "Hello?" I ask.
"...answers…..give….you…. come..." the voice echoes.
"Who are you?" I ask, still darting my vision around the room.
Silence.
...what was that?
They said something about giving me answers, everything else was unintelligible.
...
That was a message.
A message for me!
Wait! What was the rest of it?!
Next time: Chapter 8, The Message.
Next Friday
