Kian 7: That's your dad?!

Violet helped me as I walked to where this Lucas person was. Judging from what Rennan told Violet, it seemed like he was a better healer than Violet. From what I knew, Lucas was Violet's father and for some bizarre reason, I hadn't met him at all!

"Whatcha thinking about?" Violet asked me

"Oh," I turned to face her. "I haven't really met your dad have I?"

"Yes, you have," Violet said. "When you punched that monster into the sky?"

"I don't remember that," I replied. "I was unconscious."

"Oh yeah," Violet agreed. "Forgot about that. Well, you're going to love him. He's the one who taught me how to use my powers!"

"I guess I can thank him for you helping me back there." I rubbed my wrist, remembering the impact when I launched that monster into the sky.

"Speaking of which. Kian, why did you hold back against her?"

"Hold back?"

She nodded. "When you punched that monster, you launched him into the sky, this time, when you punched her, you sent her flying into the wall."

"I-I don't really know to be honest," I answered truthfully. What she said was indeed true. So what changed? Did I subconsciously hold back because I didn't want to hurt her? I had no idea.

"Well, it doesn't really matter," Violet said. "She deserved it for what she said about you."

I smiled at her defending me. "Thanks, Violet. I'm surprised that you didn't run in there and fight her by yourself."

She recoiled at what I said. "Kian!" she said, offended. "I'm supposed to help people, not fight them! You should know this!" she lightly elbowed me in the ribs

"Ow!" I hissed at the pain. "I'm sorry, I'm sorry!"

She looked concerned and placed her hand on where she poked me. Within moments, the pain vanished and I glanced downwards to see her hand glowing slightly. "Sorry," she said. "I didn't mean for it to hurt that much."

"It's my fault. I shouldn't have said that." I replied

She smiled at me, her blue eyes dancing with joy almost. "Kian, it's my fault, not yours. I shouldn't have reacted like that, especially since you're injured," she patted my head gently. "Come on, we should be close to where my Dad is."

We had ended up in what looked like a hospital reception, just like normal. What was not normal was the various kinds of people going in and out of it. I was weirded out by it but to everyone else, it looked like your average Tuesday.

"Kian, can you stand or do you need me to help?" Violet asked me

I shook my head. "I can stand on my own. I just don't think I can walk for long."

She nodded and hugged me. "Stay put, I'm going to find my dad and make him take a look at you. You'll be okay right?"

"Yeah, I'll be fine." I grinned at her.

She patted my head and ran off, leaving me in the reception area all to myself.

The reception itself was very busy, a lot of people walking in and out, all sorts of lifeforms actually. Some of them were happy to leave and the others sad to enter which was justified because some of them carried injuries, much worse than my own.

"...I was only trying to help!.."

I turned to face where the voice came from. "I told you. You can't play hero, kid. You're not supposed to even use your power!"

Me being ever so curious, I decided to see what was going on. There was an adult, arms crossed and looking down at a little kid who looked really sorry to be there almost.

"Don't you know what happened 6 years ago? It's only because of weaklings like you that it happened!" the adult barked out.

The adult was actually someone I had seen earlier, his dark hair was slicked back and his lime-green eyes glinted with cruelty. "Get out before I have to take care of you myself!"

"Hey!" I stepped in.

"Kid?" Mitras snapped towards me. "What are you doing here?!"

I didn't answer as I stood in shock. I didn't have any plan to act on and thus, I had no clue what to do. This, however, was a well-timed distraction as the small kid that was being shouted at ran off around the corner

"Come on!" Mitras complained looking back at the running kid and then at me. "Do you know what you just did?!"

"Saved him from you." I quipped back. "Why were you shouting at him anyway?!"

"Because he used his powers!" Mitras stated. "He's not supposed to!"

"Why?"

"Because he's a civilian, a commoner at that!" he muttered the last part. "Only those who come here can use their powers!"

"What if your life was in danger?" I asked him. "Would you just die instead of being saved by him?"

He laughed mockingly. "I don't need his help, I can defend myself. What are you saying, that everyone should be allowed to go here?"

"Yeah, I am." I crossed my arms. "What's wrong with it?"

"What's wrong with it?" he repeated in a falsetto voice. "Because of what happened 6 years ago kid."

I remembered what Noriel said, that there was an attack 6 years ago and a lot of people died. "What did they do?!"

"They weren't strong enough," Mitras said sadly. "There were these things and we couldn't do much. So many heroes died that day. That's why we only allow the strong in, we don't want to lose more lives."

It made sense but surely there was a better explanation of why so many people died, not just because they were weak. "What exactly happened?"

"T-"

"Kian!"

I snapped my head to see Violet running in. "I found my dad, come on let's go!" She didn't give me a second to think as she dragged me away deeper into Space Hospital.


A few minutes later…

"Violet, slow down!" I complained. She took me through the complex and long winding hospital walls, not taking a second to listen to me.

"I can't, Dad only has a few minutes of his break left. Every minute wasted is a life lost," Violet replied, still looking ahead. "That's what he says!"

I decided to shut up until I met Violet's dad because she made quite a good point. My Mum used to tell me the same thing too before I went to school. Looking back on it, it was just a way to get me into school faster.

She stopped suddenly and slightly opened a green curtain in front of me. "Wait here for a bit, okay?"

I nodded and she vanished behind the curtain leaving me to my thoughts. I looked around the place I was and was surprised at how quiet it was. There were no patients and it just felt eerie. Some part of me thought that Violet just brought me here just so she could pop out from the curtain and scare me.

"Kian, my dad will see you now." Violet broke the silence.

"He's there, right?" I asked her. "You aren't going to scare me are you?"

She chuckled. "Of course not, come on. Dad's in a bit of a hurry."

As I opened the curtain and since I've never met the man, I thought that Violet's dad would look a lot like her, the same chocolate skin and the same dark black hair.

"Hey, Kian. What brings you here?"

To my surprise, I was very wrong! Violet's dad smiled at me warmly while he sat on his table, his blue eyes putting me at ease as soon as I met them. His bright blonde hair fell just either side of his eyes making him look like he came straight out of the Backstreet Boys.

"Er…" I stammered. "H-hi!"

"Why so nervous?" Lucas (Violet's Dad) asked me. "We have met before after you sent that Dem-I mean monster to the sky. You saved a lot of people that day!"

"U-uh, thanks," I replied all the while trying to push down my embarrassment at the same time. "So, uh, your Violet's dad?"

He laughed and patted my head. "Was I not what you expected? It's okay, I understand. Violet takes more from her mother than she does me." he laughed warmly. "Now, can you tell me what happened to you?"

"Dad!" Violet pouted. "I already told you!"

"I know, I know. I need to hear his side too, you know." Lucas chuckled and patted her head like he had done me. I was beginning to think that she did that because of her dad and I couldn't help but admit that I liked it, I felt safe and sound when she did it.

"Kian, can you please tell me what happened?" Lucas asked me again.

I sat on the medical bed that was near me and explained what had happened with the spar I had earlier, how I managed to fight against Jazmine before the fight was called off.

Lucas nodded with hmms. "I see. And you're feeling sore?"

I nodded. "As soon as I stopped I did. I felt like I ran 12 marathons."

"I know what's going on." Lucas said with a bright gleam in his eyes. "You feel sore because when you're reinforcing your body, your muscles go through something called hypertrophy."

"Hypertrophy?" I asked him. "What does that mean?"

"Muscle growth," Violet explained. "The more exercise you do to a certain muscle, the bigger it gets."

"So you're saying that my reinforcement is something like that?" I asked Lucas.

He nodded. "Yes of course I am. Now, you need a lot of energy to increase muscle mass and your ability to reinforce your body does that."

"Cool!" I replied

"Now here comes the bit where I explain why you get tired. You need a lot of energy and how does the body get that? The answer is sleep, that's why you feel tired. Got it?"

I nodded. "I see. I guess that kind of power always has a side effect huh?"

"Powers usually do. I can manipulate energy inside me to heal people but I can run out of it quickly. To solve that issue, I have to absorb sunlight. " Lucas explained.

"It happens to me too." Violet jumped in. "Whenever I run out, I stand in the sun to recharge quicker."

"That's good and all but I came in because I had some bruises too. Violet said she couldn't heal me from it." I explained

"Ah, must be because your body is too exhausted for Violet to help. She doesn't have enough energy to heal all of your injuries. I can help with that." Lucas stood up from his seat and pressed his hands on my forehead

As soon as he did, the bruising I felt along my ribs and my cut lip was healed within seconds. I could almost feel the pain vanish within the seconds.

"Feel better?" Lucas smiled at me.

"Yeah, I do. Thanks a lot!"

He smiled and patted my head again. "Don't go getting into fights again. Especially against No-I mean Ms. Garcia. I've heard she's pretty tough."

"Why would she do something like that?!" Violet moved to my side. "Kian didn't do anything to her!"

"Did you insult her?" Lucas asked

"I guess, I say something about her mum, maybe that's why."

Lucas thought in his head before he spoke. "If you do see her, apologise for that. It's not good to get into a fight with a classmate on your first day."

"And if she does decide to fight you again, I'll be there to help you, okay?" Violet put a comforting hand on my shoulder.

"I know, I'll-

~Fires burned everything I saw~

~An evil cackle ran throughout the scene~

~Red and blue fire crackled in harmony~

I gasped as again, those images started to fill my head again. What were they? And why did I feel so scared and why did it feel like it was something I had lived through?

"Kian?" Lucas snapped his fingers. "Kian, are you still with us?"

"I-I am. Sorry, I think I got lost in my head." I grinned at the two of them to say that I was indeed fine and it was nothing to be worried about.

"Good. I've written a note saying what happens if someone stops you. Go to class and try not to end up fighting another classmate, I'm already busy as it is!" Lucas quickly wrote down a note and handed it to me.

"Sunshine, I'm trusting you to take him back to class," Lucas patted her head and then left the small room, leaving just the two of us alone.

"Why is your dad so busy?" I asked Violet.

Violet sat next to me and her shoulders slouched forward. "It's because of what's happening on the planet. Lots and lots of protests mean lots of injured people. Sometimes he ends up staying overnight here and I rarely get to see him."

"Oh," I could only say. "Well, when I'm a hero, I'll try and stop the protests. That way, your dad can come home!"

Violet smiled at me. "That would be nice. But it's going to be hard trying to get the board to agree with you. Because they don't stop the protests, dad can't come home to my Mum and me."

"I'll change it. I know I will!" I replied adamantly. "I will!"

"I believe you. But if we spend too much time here, you'll end up missing the rest of the school day. Let's go to class." Violet jumped off the medical bed and I followed her, not wanting to miss the rest of my first day.


Truth be told, I was expecting my new classmates to look at me again with anger and sneering eyes. Whenever I came back from a fight, they would look at me like 'How dare he come out unscathed?!' and would only try to infuriate me into letting that happen again like it had happened in my old school.

Fortunately, this wasn't my old school and these weren't my old primary school classmates.

As I entered the class, all of them crowded me and to a nice surprise, complimented me. "That was very cool!" Leo explained. "I wish I could fight like that!"

"I hereby declare you as my rival," Marcel said proudly. "Until the next time we meet!"

"Settle down!" Rennan said. "We still have a class to get too! Kian, sit down and maybe try to pay attention to the remainder of the lesson."

"Yeah, sure," I replied and found my seat.

"So, can someone tell me what led up to the current academic policy?" Rennan asked. "Anybody, we just went over this!"

"I know."

I snapped my head to see Jazmine looking straight ahead, not even sparing me a glance. The rest of the class seemed to hold its breath at the presence of me and her right next to each other.

"Continue please Jazmine?" Rennan asked her.

She sat up straight. "It's because of the Great Disaster 6 years ago, it's also called the Battle of Acochester where we are right now and one of 4 major cities on the planet."

"That is correct."

"The attack took place during the afternoon and late-night but we don't know who caused it, all we know is that a lot of people died. Almost half of the population of Acochester and nearly all of the heroes that tried to stop the attack." Jazmine explained. "The damage to the city itself was almost catastrophic requiring billions of credits to be repaired."

A moment of silence passed before I spoke up. "What are credits?"

"It's currency," Marcel replied. "It's what we use here as money on Locus."

Jazmine ignored me and went ahead. "In the attack, the heroes that served as the council, also called the board were killed and because of that, 6 others took their place. These 6 people were very wealthy and pledged to repair the damage that the attack had caused. However, they believed that the cause of so much death was because the heroes that were deployed were too weak and thus, the current policy was implemented. They only allow children who come from powerful families, ones who have a relative as a hero."

"That's not fair!" I shouted. "They can't do that!"

"Kian, they can," Rennan said rubbing his temples. "They're in charge of making the decisions and even though they're unfair, they have the right to do whatever they choose to do."

"Hmpf!" I sat back on my chair angry at how this council of 6 people decided who went to Eden Academy.

The rest of the lesson went on without any major events. As the school day finished, everyone grabbed their stuff and started packing up to go home. Harry and Violet were just past the door when I felt Renann's hand on my shoulder

"What is it Rennan?" I asked him

He held up the note. "It says you have to do one thing in this note before the class is over."

"What is it?" I replied. "I'm not aware of anything Lucas told me."

Rennan sighed. "You have to apologise."

"Oh," I let that sink in. I glanced around Rennan and saw Jazmine waiting impatiently, her fingers tapping along the side of her arms. In the golden glow of the setting sun, her auburn red hair seemed to glow brightly with the light.

"What about Harry and Violet?" I asked Rennan. "Won't they realise I'm not with them?"

"I told them to wait. Now, get to it, okay?" Rennan turned me to face Jazmine who looked cross to be here almost

"So, what do you have to say for yourself?" her arms were crossed and she frowned at me, probably because she was being held back and was probably missing an episode of Powerpuff Girls or something.

"Uh-" I started. "I'm sorry."

"Sorry, Ms."

"None of that," Rennan stepped in sternly.

Jazmine sighed and started again. "What are you sorry for?"

"I'm sorry that I made you angry in the fight and that I almost killed you," I muttered. I turned to Rennan. "Is that enough?"

"It is," Jazmine spoke up. "Do you want to know why I got so angry with you when you mentioned my Mum?"

I shrugged. "Not really."

Rennan seemed to look down at the floor but I looked back at Jazmine. She shuffled in place and her emerald green eyes seemed to turn watery. "Do you know how many people died that day?"

"I don't."

"14 million. And one of them was…" her voice turned fragile. "One of them was my..my mother."

My heart felt as if it had shattered into a million pieces as she said it. I swear when I was sparring her, I wasn't trying to insult her, it was just something to egg her on. "Jazmine, I'm sorry I didn't know!"

She wiped a tear from her eye. "I know you didn't know about it. I'm sorry I took it so seriously. It's just when I get so angry, I forget to think. And I'm sorry I called you weak too, I was just jealous of how high you scored."

"Oh." I rubbed my head not sure what to say so I said the next best thing. "Apology accepted. Are we cool now or something?"

She opened her crossed arms. "I won't lose my temper when you talk to me that's for sure. I still don't like you but since you are my classmate, I will tolerate you."

"Tolerate me?!" I said offended. "What's that supposed to mean?!"

"I think that's enough." Rennan stepped in. "Kian, Jazmine, go home and remember to get your superhero kits. We're going to do an actual training task instead of just regular PE."

"Awesome!" I turned to Rennan. "I'll see you tomorrow!"

I waved him goodbye and didn't bother to see what Jazmine's reaction was because I cared more about seeing my friends. Still, I felt like a huge dick when I realised I had insulted her dead mother. If I lost my mum, well I don't think I could imagine it.

"Hey," Harry asked me. "What went on in there?"

"Nothing much really," I said. "Oh, by the way, we're going to need our hero kits for tomorrow."

"Yes!" Harry fist-bumped the air. "That's what I like to hear!"

"Jazmine didn't bother you did she?" Violet asked me

"Uh, no, not really," I replied. Out of the corner of my eye, I saw her looking at me before she left without even saying goodbye to me.

I brushed that aside because from what I knew of her, it seemed normal for her. "Let's go home and if my Mum asks about anything, don't mention the fight!"