Chapter 16: The true villain
A few days later…
Time: 7AM I think
Spring 2005
"Rennan, why did you ask me to come here?"
It had been a few days after what happened and the weekend rolled by. It was an early Saturday morning and Rennan had asked me to accompany him somewhere. I didn't know why he asked my parents first and then me. Me being curious, I followed him.
As I walked behind Rennan, the crisp cool air brushed past my face, the smell of water was strong as the sky was drifting between shades of sunset orange and sky blue.
"I'm going to teach you something. Something that every angel should know." Rennan answered me.
I followed him up the grassy and stone-filled path, climbing higher and higher from the starting point. This reminded me of the school trips I would go to and mostly tried to avoid the other kids in case they tried to throw something at me.
"How long is this path?" I complained. "I feel like we've been walking forever."
"Not long now."
Rennan and I were both dressed for the walk this morning. He had a wooly jacket, beige boots and flight goggles which I didn't know why he was wearing. I was dressed in a tracksuit jacket and pants, black boots and just on my forehead, were a pair of white rimmed flight goggles that Rennan had given me before we set off.
Since I knew it was going to be some time before we got to where Rennan wanted us to go, I changed the subject. "So...about what happened with the other three?"
"I gave them the explanation. They're in on the secret now." Rennan answered.
"So are they half or full angels?"
"Half angels. Just like Violet." Rennan kept his eyes forward and stepped over a sharp rock. "They grew up on Earth, just like you."
"Do you know who they are? I mean the angel parent?"
"That's tricky but I do know the identities of two of them. The twins, Milena and Chris are the daughter and son of the Vessel of Gabriel. The mother is human."
"Who? I don't think I know him."
"The Archangel of Strength and Messages." Rennan answered. "It's strange. Milena's Heavenforce is strong while Chris's isn't. Chris is superhumanly strong but Milena can break her arm if she punches too hard. It's a strange juxtaposition."
"What about Leo?"
"That..I have no idea." Rennan shrugged. "His angel parent has control over Ice, that's all I can gather for now. It's funny, Kian. I thought that when I took this position, I was teaching 4 Celestials but here I am teaching 7. Must be a lucky number."
"Celestials?"
"Yes. It's a term for all of us. Spiritual Angels, Fallen Angels, Angelic Vessels and Demonic Vessels. We're all Celestials."
"Oh. That's cool. I have one more question about what happened. What did Phoenix do?"
"You have to be more specific, Kian." Rennan chuckled. "He did a lot of things."
"I mean the one where he put his hands together and the circle formed around him." I said. "Jazmine said you managed to help her."
Rennan went still and turned to me. "It's an ancient Hellforce technique. Far back during the days where angels and demons fought against each other and well-anyone that moved. That technique brings out what the target dislikes, their insecurities, their regrets, their failures, all in an attempt to break their will to fight. You counter in two ways. You cloak yourself in Heavenforce."
"And the other?"
"You have no regrets, no failures, nothing that can be used against you. It's possible in theory but in practise, it's impossible. No matter how small a regret or an insecurity is, you'll be brought down, your confidence will be destroyed." Rennan explained.
"How did you break out of it?"
"I cloaked myself in Heavenforce before that technique was released. I then extended that cloak to Violet and then Jazmine when I managed to get up and walk."
"And I guess that's how she broke me out of it too?"
"Something like that. While you were holding the Sword of Michael, you were protected from the effects, ever so slightly. Key world being slightly, you still needed help and the motivation to fight through them. Everyone has regrets and bad memories they never want to see again, I'm sure you saw them too. When you have your friends and loved ones helping you, fighting what you don't like about yourself is manageable." Rennan patted my head.
"But what did I do?" I asked. "All I did was blast the room with Heavenforce."
"When you blasted the room with Heavenforce, you did the opposite of what Phoenix did. You reinforced their will to fight. You showed everyone their strengths, their best moments. They saw the reason why they fought, a reason why they kept going. Harry, Chris, Marcel, Milena and Leo. You gave them all the boost to win the fight. It's a good thing you brought it along." Rennan gave me a little grin.
"I didn't know I was doing the opposite. I just thought that if it was Hellforce, then a blast of Heavenforce would counter it?"
"You thought correctly. Heavenforce and Hellforce are like the concept of Yin and Yang, two forces that oppose and need each other. Rage against Patience, Violence against Peace, Passion against Detachment. Those forces are in every cell of your body and they coexist because of your hybrid nature. If you wish to get stronger, the key is controlling those two extremes" Rennan explained. "As you get older, you'll gather more and more regrets, even the ones you think are the smallest will affect you. Remember you have people who love you, so always ask for their help."
"I'll try my best."
I would have taken another step but Rennan put his hand out and I stopped. It was a good thing too because I would have fallen of a cliff
"We're here." Rennan kneeled in front of me. "This is where I wanted to take you. Welcome to the peak of Mount Vivas, the highest naturally occurring mountain peak in Locus, 5 km above sea level. Look below, Kian, you can see the whole city of Acochester."
Rennan was right.
It was an amazing view of the big city below us. I saw people starting their day first thing in the morning while the sun peeked through the clouds. It was really high and a part of me wanted to for some reason soar through the skies like a bird. I wanted to jump and soar through the air like a plane, free from the ground.
But that was impossible
I couldn't fly right?
"Yes you can."
"What?!" I turned to Rennan
"You can fly." Rennan said with a smile. "That's why I brought you here. Every celestial wants to fly and soar through the air, to enjoy the freedom that comes with flight. It's their birthright."
"Rennan, what are you talking about?!" I stepped back from the cliff. "I don't know how to fly?!"
"You do." he nodded. "It's just hidden inside you."
"Even if that was true, how am I even going to start?!"
"With a leap of faith."
Rennan pushed the goggles down my face and before I could react, he pushed me over the edge and I went tumbling down.
And that was the story of how I died.
Just kidding but then you already knew that didn't you?
As I fell through the air, I saw the ground approaching me faster and faster. The wind blew my hair back and I couldn't think of what to do. I was in a state of pure shock. What should I do?! What could I do? had to do something if I wanted to avoid dying and ending up a splat on the ground.
I saw the faces of my parents, my brother, my sister, my friends, my teacher, my dog.
I couldn't die here!
I felt a large build up of heat release from my back and somehow I came to a sharp stop, so sharp that I felt like I was hit with a gut punch.
"W-w-w-"
"You made a good start."
I turned my face upwards to see Rennan floating in front of me with his arms crossed.
"RENNAN!" I screamed at him. "WHY DID YOU PUSH ME OFF THE EDGE?!"
He put his hands up and chuckled. "I would have caught you if you didn't release your wings. Trust me, my dad did this to me when I was young too. It's actually a good way to get it going."
"HOW DO I GET OUT OF THIS?!"
"You output your life energy in one direction if you want to go a certain way. Eg. if you want to go forward, you produce energy backwards, go up, energy down. Understand?"
"All of my energy?!"
"No, just a little. The more you use your energy, the more efficient it will become. When you breathed fire for the first time, it took almost all your energy right? Think of it like a muscle, the more you use your Life energy on a technique, the more energy efficient and stronger said technique will become.""
"Okay. So how do I output energy then?"
"Gather the energy around you and push it down to your feet. Think of a moment which makes you the happiest, that's how you start it." Rennan said. "Then pretend you're a fighter jet."
I tried to do as he said. I concentrated and looked within myself searching for the energy I knew I had in me. I thought of a few happy memories, my family and I on vacation and before I knew it, I was floating up like a hot air balloon
"I'm flying?! HA-HA, I'M FLYING!"
"That's just hovering but you've made a good start today." Rennan chuckled. He uncrossed his arms and in a flash of light, a pair of silver wings emerged out of his back. "Your wings will help you when stabilizing. Try and do your best to follow where I go, ok?"
His wings turned upwards and he ascended upwards, blowing a gust of air into my face. I looked up and I managed to see him climb higher and higher into the sky leaving a cloud trail behind him.
I tried my best and I flew up, feeling my wings adjust itself to the high speed motion. I did my best to follow but I just wasn't as fast as him.
He stopped his rise and headed towards the sunlight. I followed. The clouds parted and the moment the sun rays hit me, I felt hypercharged with energy, so much that I felt like I could do anything I wanted to. Rennan increased his speed and lowered his flight altitude and I followed suit, trying my best to keep up with him but trailing
We flew for about I think 30 minutes and I did my best to follow Rennan as he circled the city below us. I wondered if the people below us were looking up at us, wondering who these two humanoid people were suddenly airbourne and why a child was trailing behind. Then again, they might not pay it any attention since everyone had superpowers in this world.
I glanced forward and saw Rennan doing some flight maneuvers that made my eyes pop out. Rennan was like a stunt plane and one of the impressive stunts he did was when he wrapped his wings around himself as he headed straight down, only to stop sharply and rise back again with his wings opening sharply.
One day, I was going to try doing that move.
The flying came to a stop a few minutes later when he lowered his flight altitude and flew parallel against the ground. His wings turned flat against the air and he landed on the ground.
I did my best to land but ended up messing up the landing and skidded across the granite ground and ended up knee sliding like I was celebrating scoring a goal in a football game. I got up and brushed the dirt across my knees.
"Careful Kian. Take it slow next time, okay?" Rennan walked over to where I landed.
"Y-yeah." I nodded. "That was fun!"
"Flying should be fun. I know with practise you'll be able to break the sound barrier with ease." Rennan said. "I remember my first time, I couldn't follow my dad at all."
"Your dad? Is he the angel?"
Rennan nodded. "He was. He was a teacher and…" his face went through a few emotions. "He was a good man. He's here."
"Can I meet him?"
"That is the second part of why I brought you here." Rennan gestured around me and I looked where he pointed to see a giant tablet in the middle with smaller stones around the place with flowers on it
"What is this? This has to be a mistake right? Did you take a wrong turn-or I mean wrong flight?"
"No mistake." Rennan turned serious. "Follow me."
I walked behind Rennan. I knew what this place was. It was pretty obvious from the grieving expressions and dark clothes. Rennan had brought me to a graveyard for reasons.
"The people you see with gravestones are the victims of the disaster 6 years ago. They were people just like you and me, some of them innocent civilians and most of them brave heroes who gave up their lives defending them." Rennan explained.
It felt eerie walking among the burial ground of so many people. A part of me felt like all the bodies buried were all looking at me. A chill ran up my spine and I ran in front of Rennan.
"Why bring me here? To scare me?"
He shook his head. "Of course not. I brought you here to teach you something. This is what can happen, people die, heroes can lose and lose what they care about. Money, status, people, a sense of safety and belonging. That's what we have to lose everytime we do our job, when we defend the innocent against villains."
I followed as he spoke and we ended up stopping in front of a gravestone that I didn't think was anything special at first.
"Why did we stop?" I asked innocently
"Look."
I looked where he pointed and I read the name on the stone below me.
"Revan Silva, Loving Father and Teacher."
"...Oh."
"My mum still lives on Earth, my sister makes sure to check up on her every other day." Rennan started. "She still misses him to this day."
"What happened?"
"He died saving people. All while I was having a fun time out on Earth." Rennan clenched his fist. "I partied and enjoyed myself while the whole of Acochester was in the middle of a disaster!"
"Go on?"
"I only realised too late what happened too late. When I arrived, I found my dad bleeding out while he had done his best to fight against what happened. You should have seen him, he ended up saving 1000 civilians."
Rennan wiped his tears away. "I felt awful about what I did, how I let him down and before Dad died, I promised him that I would be a teacher just like him. It's the only way I can repay him. He was there for me at my worst, I couldn't be there when he was at his worst."
"You didn't know the attack was happening," I said. "So it wasn't like you knew anything about it."
"Maybe." Rennan sighed. "If I could have only gotten there sooner."
"I see you remembered."
I turned to see someone dressed in a clean black suit. This person held a bouquet of flowers in one hand and an umbrella in the other, dripping with rain. He wore his blonde hair in a slicked-back style and his amber eyes glanced at me and Rennan
"Yeah, how could I not?" Rennan turned to answer him. "I didn't know what to get him."
"That's okay," the man started walking towards us. "He wasn't really someone who wanted a lot."
"Um," I turned to Rennan. "Who is this guy? Did you and your dad know him?"
"You could say that. That man Kian-" Rennan pointed "-is my older brother, Alvennan."
"Really?" I looked at Alvennan and realised that there were some similar features between him and Rennan which was obvious in hindsight. "Rennan, I didn't know you had a brother."
"I was going to tell you later but I just didn't get the chance to. Guess you have met now." Rennan placed his hand in his pocket. "My brother was on another planet so you wouldn't have met him."
"So you were the one that made them U-turn the policy?" Alvennan looked at me. "And at the same time, saved the school against the traitor. Not bad for a student."
I turned to Rennan. "He knows?"
"Yes." Rennan nodded. "Only your friends, your parents and the parents of said friends know who was the real hero that night."
"And he's an angel too, right?"
"Half Angel," Alvennan announced. "And I know who you are, Kiannan. I'm a Throne Ranked Angel."
"Throne?" I asked. "What's that?"
"Angel Rank. It's one above Guardian, my own rank." Rennan agreed. "He took the exam for it and passed. I couldn't take it because I was in the middle of getting my teaching qualifications so you know."
"You can still take it now can't you Ren?" Alvennan asked. "Don't tell me that you're using that as an excuse?"
"Someone's got to look after Kian and my class!" Rennan stated. "Besides, I told Dad I would be a teacher so...no higher ranks for a while."
"How do you move up ranks?" I asked Rennan.
Rennan nodded. "You take a test. Part written, part practical. An angel of a higher rank, usually one above your own, is there to present you with your new rank once you finish with those two parts. Provided you passed the test successfully of course."
"I couldn't believe the news I heard from the Council's own mouth," Alvennan spoke. "All that work trying to get them to change, 6 years of it and a child does it in one night. I should have been here to see their expressions, should have been painted and hung up at a museum."
"Don't worry, I'm pretty sure there are pictures of them everywhere now. " Rennan grinned. "They were shocked alright. One of them tried to nick the evidence from Kian. Njoro and I were there so he was okay."
Alvennan dry chuckled. "Wouldn't surprise me that they tried it."
While Rennan and Alvennan talked, my gaze wandered around the graveyard. There were people bringing flowers to gravestones as the morning began to set in. There was a range of expressions but all of them were sad.
They cried, they smiled sadly and all they could do was remember the person that had died in front of the gravestone in front of them.
Seeing them, seeing all this suffering, I never wanted to let this happen to anyone.
I didn't care if it was a stranger or if it was someone I knew, no one should have ever go through the pain of seeing someone they care about die. Even if I was young, even if I was still 12, I was going to do my best
I saw a flash of red hair and it grabbed my attention. I turned and saw Jazmine, walking hand in hand with someone tall. It took me only a few seconds to realise it was Njoro. I followed them until they stopped at a certain gravestone, one that was slightly larger than the others around it and was under the shade of a large oak tree. Jazmine kneeled in front of it and placed a bouquet of appropriately named Jazmine flowers.
"Hey, Jazmine," I said softly to get their attention.
The pair turned sharply and as soon as they saw me, Njoro went rigid. "K-kian!" Jazmine looked shocked. "W-what are you doing here?!"
"I saw you and I thought I might say hi."
"T-that's good but this isn't really a good time!" Njoro sweat dropped
"Why not?" I raised my eyebrow. "I'm not interrupting anything am I?"
"That's not it." Njoro shook his head. "It's j-j-just-"
He stepped forward and that's when I saw it.
The reason why he had suddenly gone stiff at my appearance. He didn't have a problem with me but with something else that belonged to me. Behind his right leg, there was a piece of text on the gravestone.
"Kianna Cassandra Garcia, Loving Mother and Wife."
A Sharp spike of pain rang throughout my head and I doubled over with a scream.
"~You are such a good kid, Kian~"
"~I'm sorry your mum isn't here, I'll look after you~"
"~Mikayla, you should take him out more!~
"~Oh, there's so much more that I want to pass on to you.. I wish I could stay with you longer...I love you."
Images of a red-haired woman came flooding back into my head again. I didn't know who she was and I didn't know her name but it felt like I knew her very well. Images of this woman carrying me on her shoulders while my mum smiled at me, She squished my cheeks and laughed and to confuse me further, the last image I saw of her was her covered in blood and kissing my forehead.
The images vanished but the pain rang throughout my head.
Jazmine rushed over to me and tried to help me up but Njoro just stood still. Jazmine grabbed my shoulders. "Are you okay? Kian...talk to me?!"
"W-why…" I winced at the pain behind my eyes. "W-why is my name on there?! I'm not dead! And who is this Kianna person?!"
Jazmine and Njoro had a silent conversation before Jazmine looked at me. "Kian..that's the name of my mother."
"Mother?!" I raised my eyebrows. "If she's your mother then why does she have the same name as me?!"
Njoro went to answer but I heard footsteps behind me and glanced to see 4 people jogging over to me. Alvennan and Rennan made up two and the last two were someone I didn't expect.
"Kian?!" Marceline asked me. "W-what happened here? Njoro you too?!"
"You lose sight of him for one second and this is where he ends up?" Alvennan asked Rennan.
"Yeah, it's a problem that we've tried to work on." Rennan sighed. "So far unsuccessful. Always a rebel."
"Must run in the family."
"Kian, why were you screaming?!" Marcel asked me. He looked at Rennan and then Alvennan. "Why is our teacher here and...Alvin, why are you here?!"
"Marcel, don't call me that!" Alvennan sighed. "I'm not a chipmunk!"
"You know each other?!" I asked Marcel
Rennan interrupted me. "Kian why were you-" he glanced at the gravestone and then sighed. "I see."
"I see...I see what?" I asked Rennan. "What's going on?!" I winced as the headache started to intensify.
Rennan glanced at Njoro, Marceline, Marcel, Jazmine and me"...I think it's time we tell them the whole truth. After what happened, we know it's her again. She's still trying to kill them."
"Who?!" I groaned. "You guys aren't making any sense. Who wants to kill me?!"
"The person behind this." Rennan held up a knife that I knew I recognised before. It had a white inverted triangle on the flat edge of the blade.
"Isn't that what Phoenix used against you?"
Rennan nodded and put it away. "He thought he broke my phone but I had my screen protector on. They come in so handy. I can get you one if-"
Alvennan coughed.
"Right, sorry." Rennan cleared his throat. "We need to tell you something...something very important. Even more than your true identities. It's time we tell you the whole truth...and the true villain."
In our classroom.
"Why did you have to call my parents?"
I stood in the classroom as I faced my parents. I was joined by Marcel, Jazmine and their parents plus Lucas and Rennan.
"Because it's important." Jazmine jabbed at my shoulder. "That's why!"
"Kids, focus!" Njoro said sternly. "We didn't come here to argue amongst ourselves."
"Yeah," Marcel agreed. "How can it be more important than our true identities?"
Mum stood up and started to speak. "Kian, Marcel, Jazmine. What's the earliest memory you remember?"
"I remember playing with my Dad." Marcel replied.
"Yeah, something like that." Jazmine answered.
"I think I was walking and you were helping me." I answered my Mum's question
Her expression didn't change. "Okay. Now, can you remember your 6th birthday?"
"Yeah," I replied. "It was-
I tried to remember. I honestly did my best but I had nothing. I remember my 7th, 8th, 9th and so on until I was 12 but I had nothing for my 6th birthday.
"You don't remember, do you?" Dad asked me. "Any of you?"
"No, not really." Jazmine and Marcel shook their heads.
"Isn't that normal?" I asked my parents. "I mean you can't remember when you were a kid right?"
"You start to remember between the ages of 2 and 4, Kian. You should have definitely remembered a birthday party. You remember every birthday from 7 onwards right?" Lucas asked me
"Well, y-yeah." I said. "But if that was the case, why can't I remember it?"
Mum shuffled on her seat and glanced across to everyone in the room. "...We were going to tell this to you when you were older. Maybe when you were 16 or 17 but after what happened...after what nearly happened a few months ago, you kids deserve to know the truth behind everything."
"What truth?" Marcel asked.
She wiped something off the corner of her eyes. "Please forgive me for what we decided to do. We did it because we love you kids so much."
Her blue eyes glowed bright, brighter than the light outside and the longer I stared it became as bright as a star.
And that's when it hit me.
There was a reason why being on Locus was familiar. The moment I stepped into this world, I felt like I had been there before but that wasn't correct, right? I was born and I had lived my life on Earth.
Wrong.
At least some of it was.
I was born on Earth, that was correct but Earth wasn't the only place I lived. was only born there when my parents visited the planet but I was on Locus long before the day Mum took me to school here.
The memories of living on Locus came rushing back. Memories I didn't know I had. Those memories, those flashes I had been having before, the ones I saw at random times were these memories.
I had known Jazmine and Marcel longer than last August. I had known them since I was 5.
Since our parents kept in touch and stuck together, we ended up playing together just the three of us a lot of the time like the little kids we were. Sometimes we played with each other until our parents were forced to drag us away because we had stayed for too long.
And the red-haired woman I had seen?
That was Kianna Cassandra Garcia. She was Jazmine's demon mother and my Mum's best friend. When I was playing with her, she used to tell me stories of how my Mum was an excellent warrior and how she saved her life a few times.
Now I knew why Jazmine reacted like that when she heard my name in the Police station.
She was the woman I was named after.
I was named after the woman that saved my Mum's life.
Kianna would look after me when my parents were busy with superhero stuff even though she was a superhero herself. She didn't care about how busy she could get, all she cared about was spending time with her daughter and me.
Before I was even born, Kianna was named my godmother and she took every moment she could to spoil me. She spoiled Jazmine too by getting her pretty stuff like dresses and hair clips with butterflies that my mum and Njoro weren't too happy about.
But we were happy. We were supposed to have a happy childhood, spent around the people we loved and maybe grow up to be heroes in a world that praised and welcomed anyone who had the guts to be a hero
The childhood that I was supposed to have, that we were supposed to have...was all gone in a matter of a few hours.
It was just a day after my 6th birthday, my parents were talking to the parents of the other 2 and...wait...had I seen Marcel's father before? Maybe I was thinking of someone else. Marcel had gone to her mother's side so me and Jazmine were playing together.
An ear piercing siren rang throughout the whole city. A siren that all of us who lived on Locus knew meant one thing
A planetary invasion
I didn't remember much of what happened next but it was catastrophic.
I saw the streets I had grown up on burned to cinders, inferno's roaring through the peaceful garden that my parents would take me to walk around in. In the chaos, I didn't see my parents but Kianna came to our rescue. She grabbed the two of us in her arms and ran to safety.
I saw heroes try to defend the world, against creatures I had yet to know as they reaped the death and destruction around them.
"Kina, I'm giving this to you for now." Kianna placed a hand on my forehead and I felt a pulse of energy course through me that I didn't question
Orange lightning surrounded me as she ran and it came to a stop when I heard the person responsible for this invasion.
"There you are!"
The voice caused chills to run down my spine. I looked to where it came from and saw a tall woman in a black cloak. She had a golden scythe and smiled at me cruelly, her blood red eyes making me cower in Kianna's warm embrace.
"You won't lay a hand on them!" Kianna shouted. "You destroyed our planet, Empena. I won't let you destroy our future!"
Empena laughed as she handled her scythe. "You are a tough one aren't you? For some reason, why do your powers seem to work now? With the others, they were so easy to defeat. I can thank you species for that. Give me the two Nephilim and I'll perhaps think of sparing this world."
Kinna growled, her green eyes glowing ever so bright. She placed me and Jazmine down. "Stay here and don't go anywhere okay? I'll be taking what I gave you, Kina."
I nodded and felt that pulse again for a second.
"Making them an easy target for me? How pitiful!" Empena brandished her scythe and it glowed. She went to slash but she found herself blocked by Kianna's long spear.
"YOU LAY A HAND ON THEM AND I'LL KILL YOU!" Kianna roared.
Thus began an intense battle. The two women fought fiercely, spear against scythe as the destruction from the battle was felt around them.
I thought that Kianna would win but it all went so wrong in a matter of seconds,
I heard metallic clinking behind me and found a gun pointed at Jazmine and my heart jumped to my throat.
"JAZMINE!" My body moved on it's own and I went to defend her but Kianna beat me to it. She appeared in a flash and destroyed the gun that was pointing at her daughter.
That was the first mistake
I smiled but I heard a gust of wind and turned around. This Empena woman appeared in front of me and held her scythe above me.
She smiled at me cruelly. "You shouldn't have been born. Now die with the rest of your race! Let me be completely immortal!"
SCHWICK!
She didn't hurt me but it did hurt someone else.
Kianna took the blow and the scythe pierced through her chest. Kianna coughed up blood as Jazmine and I watched with shocked eyes.
Empena smirked. "Useless."
She tried to take the blade out but Kianna grabbed her hands. "Not useless. Did you really think I didn't have a plan when I fought you?! Stupid Bitch,
"What are you doing?!" Empena struggled to free herself from her grip. "How are you still fighting? How are you not dead?!"
"You aren't a mother, so don't pretend like you understand it!" Kianna brought her head back and headbutted Empena, hard enough to daze her.
Kianna took in a big breath and looked at the two of us, tears flowing from green eyes. She looked back at Empena and a orange-red aura started flowing around the pair
"W-what is this?!" Empena shouted. "W-what are you doing?!"
"When you took our energy, you gained our weakness too. This wouldn't work if you weren't carrying so much Hellforce in your system. You will never step foot on this world again, you'll never touch those kids ever again!" Kianna shouted. "HELLFORCE RAPTURE SEAL: TOTAL BANISHMENT!"
The aura flared up and Empena screamed in pain. Kianna just smirked and wiped the blood from her mouth.
"You can feel it can't you? Every cell of your body is being forcibly transported somewhere in the universe. You ever step foot on this world again, you'll be disintegrated! You and your armies!"
All around us, the monsters that caused so much destruction were now turning to cinders in front of me.
"N-no!" Empena looked at her disintegrating hands. "H-How can a demon defeat me! I am justice! I am peace and-"
Kianna headbutted her hard and blood spewed out of Empena's nose.
"Is this Justice? Killing so many innocent people just to get to us?!" Kianna retorted.
Empena regained her composure and looked at the two of us before setting her eyesight on Kianna. "I'll come back. I'll kill those children! I'll kill the Nephilim! "
"No you won't! They'll be stronger, they'll be greater than us and they will defeat you. They will avenge their species. Now get out of this world!" Kianna roared one last time.
Empena screamed her last as she and her armies were taken away from Locus, all in a flash of dark orange light. Kianna dropped to one knee and she noticed how one of her hands was starting to turn into particles of light
She hobbled over to and smiled at the two of us. "I'm sorry you had to see that."
"M-mum," Jazmine held on to her mum's hand. "W-what was that, and why is your hand glowing?"
She laughed sadly and brought the two of us close to her chest, she made sure none of the blood got on us.
"M-mummy is going away for a while. T-there was so much I wanted to see from the both of you. I wanted to see you grow up, I wanted to see you become strong and courageous just like your parents." Kianna's voice caught on a few of those words
I looked up to see her crying her eyes out.
"Bella, Kina...Don't be picky.. Eat lots and grow strong.. Make sure that you shower and clean yourself every day and stay warm….don't stay up late.. your bodies will need lots of sleep.. and make friends.. You don't need a lot of friends.. Just a few.. ones you can really, really trust...ones that will be there to support you... I wasn't very good at it, but keep up with your studies and practice using your hell and heavenforce techniques every day….remember that everyone has strengths and weaknesses.. so don't get too depressed if you can't do something well.." she went on.
"Mummy," Jazmine asked her mother, tears flowing from her eyes too. "Where are you going? Please stay, daddy will be sad!"
Kianna shook her head and smiled sadly. "I can't. I-I've been hurt very badly. Tell your dad that I loved him so much."
Parts of her body were starting to turn more and more into light as she talked.
"Just a few more things...another prohibition is boys. All you need to remember is that this world is made up of men and women.. So it's only natural to take an interest in boys when you're older, Bella….But just don't get hooked on bad boys...find..find someone who'll love and protect you, just like me….this goes for you too Kina, find a girl who'll love and protect you. I know this is selfish of me to ask….but promise me one thing, Please -promise me y-you'll protect her, Kian! You too Jazmine. Please protect each other."
"I w-will." I agreed.
"Me t-too, Mum." Jazmine stuttered out a reply.
She held both of us tighter and I could hear her sob loudly. "Kina, Bella. from now on, you're going to face lots of pain and hardship..so be true to yourself.. have a dream and have the confidence to make that dream come true.. there's so much.. Oh, so much more that I wanted to tell you... I wish I could stay with you longer...just remember...Kina, Bella, I love you."
The last memory I had was how bright her smile was before she vanished into light and flew up into the air.
The stream of memories ended and I found myself back in the classroom. My heart ached and I wiped the tears away from my eyes. Everyone in the room were all shedding tears.
"We found the pair of you crying for her." Mum began. "She was always the best of us and I didn't even get to say goodbye. Her sacrifice saved so many people that day."
"W-where did she go?" my voice was breaking
"She was a demon but she went to Heaven. She was a true hero, sacrificing her life for the people she loved. When a vessel dies, they return to Heaven or Hell, depending on your actions. " Dad explained.
His red eyes glowed bright and he clenched his fist. "The woman you saw, Empena, was the person who destroyed our planet all those eons ago."
"What?!" I double took. "So you knew-"
"We didn't know at the time." Mum stated. "We found out. That alarm was there so if she were to invade, we would be ready. When she did, we decided it wasn't safe for you three to be here anymore. You and Marcel were taken to Earth and Jazmine, well Njoro decided to look after her on Locus. We assigned Rennan to look after you, Kian and Alvennan was assigned for Marcel. Of course before that happened, we visited Earth and Locus regularly but we decided to sever that once we decided it was too dangerous."
"I-is that what happened to my mother?" Jazmine asked my parents, her hands shaking. "Was this Empena woman who killed her?"
"Yes!." Njoro agreed.
Jazmine growled at her dad. "Why did you keep this from me?!"
"Because we thought you were too young to know that." Njoro sighed. "We-we wanted to let you grow up naturally. Children should be children, they shouldn't live the tragedies of war! It was our fault you had to suffer. If we were careful...perhaps something like that won't have happened."
"My dad...that was the last time I saw him. He even said goodbye like he knew he was going to die." Marcel stated.
"Why tell us now?" I asked my parents.
"Because I believe Phoenix was manipulated by one of Empena's minions. Phoenix destroys the school, no heroes left to defend it, Locus gets destroyed." Rennan explained. "It'll explain how Phoenix got the Hellforce, that bitch drained the vessels she killed like cattle. She distributed their life forces like toys!"
"Thank you for telling us." I turned to my parents. "Now I know what those visions I was having were."
"What do we do now?" Marcel asked me
"Isn't it obvious? We honour Kianna's wish. We find and defeat this Empena woman!" I clenched my fist. "I'll avenge her...I'll avenge who she killed that day, I'll avenge my planet! I'll bring her down!"
A few months later…
May 2005
"So...how do you like Earth?"
Jazmine and I walked alongside the street as we made our way to school for our final lessons for the year. Both of us were still letting the new information sink in, that we had known each before that first meeting at the police station.
Jazmine came over to my house this morning which was a welcome surprise. My parents invited her in and she had some of the breakfast that my dad served us. She loved playing with Alciel.
"It's...nice." Jazmine started. "Your dad is a very good cook."
I nodded. "Yes he is. He even taught me a few things!"
"Really? What can you cook?"
"He taught me how to fry an egg!"
"Please," she rolled her eyes. "Everyone can do that. You can boil an egg with just your hand. No cooker needed."
I chuckled. "Oh yeah, never thought of that."
"Your dog was very cute. He's very fluffy." Jazmine chuckled. "Is..is it okay if I keep playing with him?"
"Yeah it's okay. He's very friendly." I answered. "Jazmine, do you have a soft spot for animals?"
"That easy to figure out?" she played with strands of her hair. "Yes I do, don't tell anyone okay?"
"It's okay. I won't." I agreed.
"So is this what you have to do, walk to Eden even if it gets cold?" she asked me. "It's really chilly"
"It gets colder in the winter and it doesn't bother me." I shrugged. "Guess when I have an affinity to fire, it explains why."
"There's a lot more snow in Acochester than in London." I said. "I've seen a lot more snowmen there in the last 6 months than the last 6 years here."
"I want to say something.." Jazmine started. "I'm sorry."
"Sorry for what?"
"I'm sorry for hitting you and being a bitch when I first met you...well, when I met you for the first time after the memory wipe." She clarified
"You already apologised for that, there's no need to do it a second time."
"So you don't think I'm a bitch now?"
"Not at all. I mean, I think you're rude sometimes but overall, I think you're a good person."
She wanted to pout but all she did was hide a smile. "So...how are you gonna beat this Empena woman then?"
"I have no idea yet. I'll just keep training hard. I'm still a kid for now and I've got a lot to learn but I'll do it. I have to."
"Well, don't get in trouble, okay." She punched my shoulder lightly. "You aren't exactly careful. You tripped up a lot when you ran when you tried to chase me. It's funny seeing you cry when I took your kit kat bars."
"Oh yeah? I remember scaring you so much that you never left Kianna's side." I retorted.
"That was one time!" she crossed her arms and pouted. "I'll do my best to support you. If we work together, we have a better chance of defeating Empena. Just don't try to ask for my help all the time, okay?"
I raised an eyebrow. "What's so bad about helping me?"
"Nothing, nothing at all. It's just well, I can get to make fun of you when you fall flat on your face. That might distract me from doing what I wanted to do, you know?"
"I see." I rolled my eyes as I watched her have a giggle at my expense.
"Look what we got here!"
I turned to that voice and I just sighed knowing who was now in front of me. Varahard and Kai stood there high with their highschool uniforms. A smug expression danced across their faces as they looked at me.
"Not them again." I sighed
"Who are they?" Jazmine whispered into my ear.
"You know those people I was talking about before we went to save the school?The ones who bullied me?"
"Ahhh." she nodded. "That's the pair."
"So, Kian," Varahard started to speak condescendingly. "Did you get expelled? That last fight was your last chance right?"
"No, I didn't get expelled. Mr Gears...he had a flight to catch so I wasn't expelled." I replied with a smile. "What's been going on with you?"
Varahard and Kai looked taken aback slightly. "You're lying! You were expelled!"
"You can go check with him but...it might be difficult." I shrugged.
"Do you still want to be a superhero?" Varahard asked me again. "You have to realise how they're not real right? Come on, Kian. Grow up!"
I put an arm out to stop Jazmine from attacking him. "Maybe to you but it's a little different to me." I said to him, "I hope I never see you again. I've got bigger stuff to deal with than a couple of dickheads who think they're better than me."
"You're a freak!" Kai yelled behind Varahard, his pale fat face turning bright red at my comment. "Where do you go now, freak? Do you go to freak school?!"
"Kian…" Jazmine had her fist clenched
"There's no need to do anything," I whispered to her. "We don't need to listen to them. We're Nephilms remember? They're just normal humans. If we attacked, we could end up killing them. You know how strong we are."
She unclenched her fist. "Is this what you had to deal with?"
"Unfortunately, yes."
Back then, if it was 6 months earlier...I would be a mess if they talked to me like that. Just because I faced this kind of abuse didn't mean my skin was thicker, I was just nervous around them, about what they could say next
But for some reason today, that feeling of nervousness, that sinking feeling of dread and despair that I once felt…
It wasn't there.
"Why aren't you saying anything?" Varahard yelled at me.
"I don't need to say anything," I replied. "I have nothing to say to you Varahard or to you Kai. Beat it and get lost."
If I could take a picture of their faces but Varahard had one last attempt to break my newfound confidence down. "Oh I get it!" he started laughing. "He's acting so brave and big because he's got a girlfriend now. That's right!"
"Girlfriend?!" Jazmine raised an eyebrow
"No girlfriend, she's just a friend," I replied calmly. "If that's all you have to say then we're done here. I won't see ya around."
The two of us turned around and started heading our way, paying no attention to Varahard or Kai. It would have gone that way but Kai had to open his fat mouth.
"Is that it Kianna... Are you running back to your mummy?!" Kai shouted. "You can't deal with us, we'll kick your head in-"
PUNCH!
I punched Kai right in the middle of his stomach and stood over him, watching him crumple to the floor coughing and hacking. "Careful what you say...Kai, some of us don't have that luxury."
I heard Varahard move and blocked his overhead punch in an instant. "What happened to you?! You weren't like this before?!" he stared at me with those dark eyes of his.
"It's simple really. I just grew up." I kicked Varahard in between his legs twice in succession and watched him squirm and scream on the floor. "I'm not that kid you know. That little kid who wanted to be a hero? That's not me." I ignored his painful screams. "Get in my way again Varahard...and I'll make sure you never stand up again, understand me?!"
I left the pair of them on the floor and walked to rejoin Jazmine. She stood there smugly.
"What?" I asked
"So...what about the part about not attacking them?" She raised an eyebrow. "Got carried away didn't you?"
"They deserved it. They deserve more but I think it was enough." I shrugged. "I can't have them insult Kianna."
Jazmine chuckled and put her hand out. "Well, thank you. We're going to be late at this rate, come on."
"You offering me a lift?"
"Yeah. I know you can't catch up with me," she smirked.
And with that, I gave my hand to her and she dragged me all the way to school. If only the following years were all fun and games like that. Life would be so much easier.
And that's it. Wow, it's been a while since I started this 16 chapter arc. The next chapters will continue the PJO part of the story.
Can you believe that it's been almost a year since I started this arc? Time flew so fast didn't it? I will edit some of the earlier chapters for spag and make it link up better
Until the next time.
