VIV
The Truth Behind Religion
~Violet~
When I began talking with Emily about Luke...Luca... I learned far more than I would have liked.
I also learned more about myself than I had originally thought possible.
Things like my being one of these people called...Psychics.
People who were born with an innate ability to do different things that normal people can't.
Things like being able to move things with their minds or being able to read other people's minds.
Emily, for one, could use Magic and Astrakinesis, or the ability of manipulating astral energy.
It seemed that people like us could sense one another if we tried hard enough.
Kind of like getting a sense of kinship between two people who had never met before.
That's probably why I have felt so comfortable around Luca despite just meeting him.
Or, why I'm okay with Emily, Maria, or anyone else that was somehow connected to Luca.
Well, besides Rose-Mary.
From what Emily had told me, Rose was just Human yet seemed to have some kind of Psychic ability that hadn't manifested.
"I think it has something to do with the crystals." I blurted out during one of the conversations we'd have about "Original Psychics" and "New-Age Psychics".
"What do you mean?" Madison asked, partially confused by my outburst.
"I think the crystals can give powers to those who don't have them. Or, maybe they just give, and enhance, powers that someone may already have." I replied.
"Do you think that's why they took Luca?" Maria asked softly. "Because he had already figured this out?"
"Luca was smart, but how could he have figured that out?" Rose inquired.
"Before Luca vanished for two weeks, he looked tired like he hadn't slept in several days. The night that he left, he screamed at everyone, telling them that they were wrong for believing that he was strong since he had lost his powers." Emily whispered.
I looked over to her, shock evident on my face.
I could feel the blood leave my face as realization dawned on me.
"We can lose out powers?!" I exclaimed, only to be met with nods.
"At least, that's what happened to Luca and he was stronger than anyone we've ever seen." Maria told me.
For several moments, I stared at everyone as they nodded their heads slowly.
"From what I remember, Luca always looked tired so maybe he was spending as much time as he could trying to figure out what these crystals could do?" Rose brought up, interrupting our prolonged silence.
"If that's true, then it's no wonder he was taken by the Government. But, how could one person gather more information on a foreign object than an entire Government Research team?" I asked.
"That just shows how smart he is..." Emily spoke gently.
Everyone was silent once again as we each thought of the boy we'd each gotten to know.
Some of us our entire lives while the rest of us for only a few weeks.
A few days later, I now found myself back at school, yet not wholly wanting to be there.
It was like being back in school myself, instead of being a teenager getting taught things that would never apply to my day-to-day life, I'm now an adult watching as all of the students, teachers and faculty are tested by the scientists.
We still hadn't received word on Luca nor the soldier who had taken him.
Despite the numerous scientists and soldiers we ask, no one was authorized to tell us anything.
That, or they didn't know.
Regardless, Luca was still gone and we were no closer to figuring out anything about these crystals.
Well, that's at least what the scientists believe.
In reality, we've been conducting our own research at Maria and Madison's house as it was far enough from school that we could work without fear of being watched while still being in close proximity to the houses of everyone else.
From what we could figure out, these crystals were similar to a computer, or a robot, waiting to be programmed for something to do.
Now, they weren't able to automatically do anything we desired, but they could turn into other objects other than crystals.
We had found this out when Emily was holding her blue crystal and forgot where her pen was. Before anyone knew what was happening, the crystal had become a light blue pen.
In a panic, she told the crystal to change back causing it to do so.
For several moments, all we could do is look at her in awe as she had made a new breakthrough with her crystal.
From then on, we'd begun to change our crystals into as many things as we could think of in order to test just how far we could take them.
It seemed that anything organic, or at least liquid and/or consumable, was out of the question as it had caused one of the crystals to spark before combusting then slowly turning to ash.
As long as it was clothes, armor, weapons, stationary materials, etc. we were fine.
While we were studying the crystals, it did seem that if two users came in close proximity of one another, different aspects of each crystal became enhanced.
Things like the crystal's power would multiply by two or more depending on the amount of crystals each user had.
The highest we could go without feeling either drained, or too hyped up on energy, was 52 crystals for five separate users.
Then, as the days turned into weeks, we were all wondering where Luca had been taken to.
The world had changed drastically since he'd been gone.
People were getting slaughtered on the street randomly and the murderers would only take the person's crystal(s).
No one used money anymore.
The government had fallen out of order after the attack on a Research Base located 100 miles from our small town.
We'd even begun to see other races in our world.
People called these races "Demi-Humans" due to their animal, and monster, attributes while still remaining mostly human.
Demi-Humans appeared in all different shapes and sizes, no pun intended, as some were as small as newborn infants while others were as large as nearly two fully grown men stacked on top of one another.
Each of these sizes generally was because of the type of animal they were mimicking.
For those who had traits like a mouse, rat, or other small animal, they never seemed to be any larger than 5' 6'' – 5' 8''.
Those with the traits of a tiger, lion, raccoon or even cats and dogs didn't appear any larger than this either.
Then it came to those who possessed traits similar to Rhinos, or other large creatures.
These types of Demi-Humans could appear as large as 7 to 8 feet tall.
Though, we didn't just see Demi-Humans who looked like animals.
We also saw other races.
Races such as Demons, Angels, Gods and many, many monsters.
It seemed as though every single being ever thought up, or conceived in myth, had somehow bled into our world.
Whether or not it was because of the crystals was still to be seen, but the rise in tension between humans and the other races seemed to grow everyday.
Some humans had demanded each race to return to their world while others tried to take these races in as friends.
The deities such as Angels, Demons and Gods kept to themselves.
Then, there where the monsters...
The monsters began to attack all races left and right with almost no self control.
It didn't matter to the monsters whether or not they were attacking infant, child or adult.
That is what made them far more dangerous than anyone wielding crystals, or the attack on the Research Facility by a group of Angels.
At least everything else wasn't killing children.
~Luca~
The attack on the Research Facility where I had been working came as a surprise to everyone inside.
Not that we were being attacked by beings other than Human, but because the things killing us with sick, satisfied expressions on their faces were Angels. The same beings who were supposed to be good and help mankind had murdered hundreds of people with the precision of psychotic serial killers.
I remember that day all to well, despite my desire to forget.
It was January 18th, 2020 when my definition on Good and Evil was forever changed.
On that day, I was going through my 'normal' routine of helping both General and Sargent Blackborne's soldiers and scientists learn to use and wield the crystals with as much precision as possible.
I had been doing that for a few weeks and, for all intents and purposes, had personally elected myself their "General" besides General Blackborne.
To keep up with this thought of mine, I even took a couple of the unmarked badges lying around Sargent Blackborne's office and stitched them to create my own rank, name and battalion.
My symbol was one that I had created when I was a child.
It was the symbol of my book, "The Ins and Outs of Spell Casting" and a mark I had used in many different projects to claim it as my own.
The symbol was of a circular mask with two ovals in the middle in an attempt to make an eye. Outside of the ''Eye Mask'' was several different lines with only four going through the mask.
Making it, and seeing it on occasion, brought me a sense of peace despite the odd, almost sinister look of the mark.
Then, I had my last name "Walker" plastered on my left while my battalion was on my right.
My battalion was the Last Hope because if all else failed, I believed with every inch of my soul I would be the only one to save Humanity and all those who side with us.
I may have been powerless, but if spending time with the soldiers had taught me one thing, it was that you didn't need powers to help those in need.
You needed your wit and the will to see it all through.
But, let's get back to January 18th, 2020. The day that changed my perception on the world even more than my childhood already had.
I'd gone through the motions of teaching, instructing, and making sure everyone knew how to use the crystals almost, if not as much, as I could.
"Mr. Walker, can I speak with you for a second?" Sargent Blackborne asked as she interrupted my class.
"Of course, Lizz." I answered, knowing full well that she didn't like to be called by her first name. I watched as her eyes narrowed before she took a deep breath. "I'll be with Lizzy, so why don't all of you keep practicing. Oh, and if any of you hear screams of agony be sure to come to my rescue, alright?"
This caused the room to erupt in laughter while the Sargent began to simmer in anger.
"Try not to die, Luca!" One of the men exclaimed as Lizz and I walked out of the room.
I continued to follow her into her office where her mother, Helen, was sat.
"Mr. Walker, we need to talk." She spoke immediately.
"Mind if I catch a breather real quick? Lizzy here walks with the speed of someone trying not to be caught stealing the Bill of Rights." I gasped out, bending down slightly in an attempt to catch my breath.
"No. This is far more important than your lack of physical endurance." She said sternly. "This is about an attack on the Facility."
I stopped joking right then and there.
"What about an attack?" I quickly asked, adrenaline starting to pump into my veins.
"We don't know very much about the attack, other than the Demi-Humans are freaking out." Lizzy answered. "They seem far more on edge and panicked, almost as if this attack could be for them as well."
"Have they said who was attacking?" I inquired.
"No."
"What about time? Or, how close the attackers are?"
"No. Nothing."
I could feel my frustration starting to grow as my mind raced with every possibility of what could be attacking us.
Just as I was about to speak, I heard a loud explosion followed by the ground shaking violently.
Immediately, I ran towards the intercom and screamed into it.
"EVACUATE THE FACILITY, IMMEDIATELY! THIS IS NOT A DRILL! I REPEAT, EVACUATE THE REASEARCH FACILITY IMMEDIATELY! THIS IS NOT A DRILL!" By the time I finished, another explosion was felt, knocking all of us to the ground. "You guys need to get out of here! I'm going to free the Demi-Humans!"
"Why would you do that?! They're not Human!" Lizz spoke, however I had already jumped up to my feet and rushed out the door.
"LUCA!" Was all I heard before another ear-splitting explosion was heard, this time right behind me.
Despite the darkness all around me, the ringing in my ears assured me that I was still alive.
With a lot of shaking, I slowly got back up and ran towards the elevator leading downwards to the Foreign Research Department.
I didn't know why I was running towards the Demi-Humans since I hadn't seen, or even heard them since I was first brought here.
The emergency lights were activated down here, allowing me to catch glimpses of where I was going with the flickering red lights.
By the time I reached department were the Demi-Humans were being held, I could see the ground begin to open up as Humans with the brightest white wings descended upon the prisoners.
"Your time has come, beast-men!" One of the winged people called out. "God has no use for you in this world! So, we were sent to eliminate you!"
"You and these pathetic Humans." Another said, throwing a limp Lizzy on the ground several yards in front of me. "Toying with things beyond their understanding."
As Lizzy landed on the ground, I heard a slight groan come from her slightly parted lips.
LIZZ! I screamed inside my mind.
Then, all hell broke loose.
I heard one of the Demi-Humans cry "Angels" before the winged people descended upon them like a predators who've been starved several days until finally having a chance at an All-You-Can-Eat buffet.
The satisfied grins the Angels wore as they began to slaughter the Demi-Humans was horrifying.
For a moment, I felt myself be petrified just by looking at them. Then, my legs began to move and bring my entire body towards the monsters in divine form.
Before I could react mentally, my hand reached up to my necklace and ripped off the obsidian arrowhead.
I now found myself running towards a group of blood-thirsty Angels who's sole focus was now on me.
"Ah, another Human?" One called.
"This one seems different, brother. Be careful." Another replied. "It would be best to take him on all at once."
"Silence, Gabriel." The first Angel called out. "Just because Mother favors you doesn't mean you're the strongest."
The girl's name is Gabriel? Was my only thought as the tougher looking Angel shot towards me, wielding a large, two-handed hammer.
"Michael!" Gabriel screamed before her brothers and sisters lept towards me, following who I guess was the Archangel Michael.
By the time Michael reached me, I subconsciously willed the crystal to form my Colt M1911 and shot the Archangel in the face.
Everyone stopped as Michael looked down at me, then at my gun before touching his hand to the bullet wound in his temple.
"Well done, Human." Michael said before collapsing onto the ground.
"MICHAEL!" Gabriel screamed in a high pitch.
"BROTHER!" The other angels exclaimed as the angels ran towards their fallen brother who laid in a pool of golden blood.
I looked down at Michael before looking at Gabriel then down at my gun.
For a moment, I contemplated shooting the rest of them but decided against it.
"It's too early in the day to commit genocide on the Angels." I muttered before walking towards the caged Demi-Humans. "Let's go. While they're distracted."
I could see the dozen or so Demi-Humans left nod their heads before we all ran towards the elevator.
As we passed Lizz, I picked her up and threw her over my shoulder before I continued running towards our only escape.
The instant we all got out of the elevator, I looked around at all of the fire that had consumed the Facility while I was underneath.
"Sir." One of the Demi-Humans said interrupted my thoughts. "We could extinguish the flames if we had water."
I looked around the room before I took notice of the vending machine that was behind a pillar of flames.
Formulating a plan in my mind, I grabbed a couple red crystals from my jacket and willed them to cover my legs, chest and arms in armor before throwing my hood and gas mask over my face in an attempt to keep as much of the flames off of my body as possible.
I heard a couple of the Demi-Humans gasp as I ran into the flames, punched through the glass on the vending machine then ran back to the turtle-looking Demi-Human.
I gave him the bottled water and watched in fascination as he and a couple other Marine-Looking people drank the water before seemingly glowing a bit then suddenly dousing the entire hallway in water.
We then began to continue running, occasionally stopping to extinguish more flames that were in our way, help some other people escape and make sure that everyone was safe for the time being.
When we finally got out of the Facility, everyone got within a safe distance before the building crumbled further.
"Is everyone okay?" I asked, looking around at all of the faces of people who I barely knew. Everyone nodded as a couple of younger Demi-Humans walked up to me.
"A-Are you The Unknown Hero?" The Cat-like child asked me. I raised an eyebrow to her and shook my head.
"No. My name is Luca Walker. I'm just a normal guy doing what anyone else would do for those in need." I answered her.
"But, you can manipulate the Earth!" The Dog-like child exclaimed. "The Unknown Hero can manipulate the Earth just like you!"
"Yeah!" A Mouse-like child exclaimed, though immediately grew timid as I looked at her. "S-Sorry..."
Instead of replying to her, I looked around at everyone and noticed that the children were all female, well the children that weren't infants.
The same children that were in front of me now.
"We apologize, sir." The turtle-like man said as he walked up to me. "In our world, there is a legend of a man who combats the Evil and frees the enslaved people in all worlds."
"There's no need to apologize. They're still children, so they don't know any better." I replied, looking down at the Dog and Cat Demi-Humans. "There are a lot of people in my world who can manipulate the Earth like I did. In fact, this became very common a while ago."
"Oh..." They both responded dishearteningly.
"What are your names?" I asked them.
"They don't have names, sir." The Turtle-Man said. "When they were born, their parents were killed. They had been placed in different homes with other families before we were suddenly brought to your world."
This caused me to look at both children who looked away from me.
"Well, why don't I call you 'Aria' and you 'Penelope'." I said, causing both of them to look at me.
"What about me?" The mouse-girl asked.
"You're name will be...Haley Rae." I replied.
I could see the Demi-Humans faces start to light up with joy.
"I'm Aria!" The Dog-Girl exclaimed.
"And I'm Penelope!" The Cat-Girl exclaimed.
"Thank you, Mr. Luca." Haley Rae said.
"Thank you again, kind sir." Turtle-Man said. "We are forever in your debt."
"It's not a big deal." I replied. "I'll see you guys later."
With that, I waved the three girls and the other Demi-Humans off before walking away.
Where? I don't know.
What I do know is that if the Angels are here, then that means so are the Demons... I thought to myself as I pulled up my hood and placed my gas mask on. Better keep these on while I'm out in the open. There's no telling when the Angels will want my head again.