Cyn stared out the window of the bus, sighing with a tired look while fiddling with a small silver switch blade that gleamed. Watching the people pass by talking on their phones like nothing was going on.
The school bus was filled with the noise of a bunch of 12 and 13 year olds having a blast from a messed school. Blaring music loudly, trying to pickpocket the driver while he was trying to focus on Florida traffic, the usual stuff.
Cyn hated that, watching people act normal when the child had such issues with handling the problems that were issued. Cyn wondered why they couldn't be normal. Why couldn't they be a normal person. They could never have normal moments, one thing led to another and Cyn had to run away from home or from school and never look back. It's been that way for years.
First thing that had plagued the child was the drawings they did in art class. They just… came to life. No one believed them but they did, birds, rats and other things just came right off the page and ran or flew off. At first it wasn't bad but he befriended his drawings and everyone looked at him like a freak when the black and white ink drawings landed on him and seemed to relax.
Another time, Cyn was writing something, they didn't know what it was, but it was something in another language, but the page burst into flame the moment they finished. They then tried to write it on the ground in some wood chips.
Easy to say, many people had to be taken to the hospital, well, besides Cyn who was in the middle of it and was perfectly fine. Cyn thought they were glowing for a moment when it ended, the flames billowing around them for just a moment.
Not to mention the third time that Cyn did something strange: a large man was trying to take them away, kidnap Cyn or so it seemed to the child and with one scream of something… He was gone. Just leaving a beetle running across the group in circles.
All sorts of small things that made them hate themself with passion at times for being so weird, not to mention awkward. So now they sat on the back of the bus with a ragged shirt two times their size and pants with a belt barely keeping them up.
Scrawny and thin, Cyn waited for lunch to be passed out to each student, looking like a homeless kid not having eaten in days. Deep brown eyes showed tiredness and boredom as they watched everything in the school bus pass by them, twirling the long deep brown hair around in the ponytail on their head.
"Hey Cyn, you got any money for us?" A nasally voice snarked.
"Yeah we're hungry." a dim-witted man chuckled.
"Maybe buy us a snack? Hehe. Freak." a much gruffier and older sounding voice bellowed, each voice coming from in front of him.
Cyn winced, looking up and seeing the three bullies that had made fun of them throughout the school year: Greg, Steven, and Ronald (in that order of speaking). Greg had black hair in a mullet with glasses that seemed to be from decades earlier with a long black t-shirt that did not compliment his acne-covered, pale-skinned face. Steven was a darker-skinned man, around the colour of a nice dark oak tree with an afro and wearing a Death Leopard tee. Ronald was the worst, freckles dotting his near albino skin with curly, messy red hair that seemed to be ready to ignite like a fire.
"No money on me." Cyn said, raising their hands up in mock surrender. They looked at them as if Cyn was lying, (which by the way, they weren't). The small bit they had was a few ones that Cyn had saved for a rainy day.
Thankfully, the 3 bullies bought it and moved forward to sit in the seats in front of them for now, letting the young man let out a breath of relief. Being 12 years old was hard, being part of Florida's new detention program was worse.
You see, Cyn was damn near homeless, or at least was, darting from house to house that'd let them crash on a bed (sometimes a chair or the floor, Cyn wasn't picky). But eventually Cyn moved to a homeless shelter, and was now going to Florida's School for Gifted Minds.
It made Cyn snort at the idea of going to the school… why? They weren't gifted, just crazy and the doctors tried to put him on so many medications for their ADHD, dyslexia and possible autism, at this point they've lost count. They hated the feeling of being drugged up.
Hearing the teacher speak, Cyn sat up and tried to pay attention to him beginning the talk about the museum they were heading to. But Cyn couldn't focus on them for a little more than a moment at a time with their head just… pounding. They heard a voice in their head, female, stern…
"Cyn Kluttz. You will have a choice today. Choose wisely."
Cyn looked shocked for a moment, shaking their head and looking around for the voice… Such a voice they had never heard it before. It sounded so forceful and strong, not anything like anyone on this bus. So… Ancient.
Their thoughts were once again interrupted by the teacher on the bus, "... and Cyn, what is the building we're going to be visiting today?" the teacher asked, making Cyn flinch hard.
"Um, sorry Mr. Kiron. No, I don't know." Cyn said sheepishly.
Mr. Kiron was a short 5' man that could give a glare and shift it back to a perky loving face in a moment. He always wore a leather duster jacket and black t-shirt with a white tie. Cyn was never sure how he managed to pull that off but he somehow did, long pants and wrist cuffs included. In Cyn's opinion, he looked like a twenty year old trying to look like a goth fifteen year old.
Mr. Kiros huffed and gave them a glare, and looked as if he wanted to kill Cyn before turning back to the others, speaking in a peppy voice to them about a museum they were visiting, "Today we will be visiting the pirate and treasure museum!"
People groaned, one kid (who was the class nerd) cheered in excitement before quieting from all of the glares sent their way. Cyn just watched the bus arrive with a confused sigh.
Today was a choice? Maybe the choice could be turning their teacher into an ant. The thought brought them amusement as they hid the knife they were holding into their boot.
It wasn't long before all the troublemakers that were called 'students' were lined up, pushing and cursing to each other with some pushing each other back and forth and laughing. Cyn was in the back, watching the others with a tired look in their eyes as they eventually made their way into the museum.
To be fair, Cyn found the museum pretty cool. Pirate memorabilia littered the floor and walls, with Cyn noticing something new with each glance. Old cannons, ships' steering wheels, pieces of real gold, even a sword that was made of some kind of gold. It was shining? Cyn blinked and the shining gold blade looked dulled now, less like gold and more like a different metal.
They were confused beyond belief for a moment before shaking their head and moving along, no need to seem even more crazy with seeing things. Though Mr. Kiron seemed to be interested, saying in a peppy voice, "This blade was supposed to be of Chrysaor's blade, a pirate of the seas. Some say he's still out there, looking, looting!"
Mr. Kiron was getting a little bit excited, or at least that was what it seemed like. They moved throughout the exhibits, Ronald making comments the entire time or punching Cyn to which they just gritted their teeth.
Cyn didn't want to cause another scene at another school seeing as they ran away from 4 already from 3 different states. Mr. Kiron eventually led them to a ship that was recovered from the bottom of the sea, reading off a podium, but not before beginning to go on and on about its history.
History always intrigued Cyn, and it had been one of the few classes he was good at and knew a decent amount of, so Cyn was definitely filling out the worksheet, at least before Ronald finally muttered something loud enough for Kiron to catch it.
"Yes, Cyn? Is there something you'd like to say?" Mr. Kiron said, sounding bubbly and excited.
Cyn's ears turned red as their mouth opened for a moment but nothing came out. At least for a moment, "I didn't say anything sir! That was Ronald!" protested Cyn, but they knew it was a losing battle as Mr. Kiron huffed and rolled his eyes.
"Cyn, there's no need to lie, but if you insist on not telling the truth, we'll be talking after this tour, just you and I." Mr. Kiron spat out with glee for a moment before sniffing heavily in the air. Then his face turned sour, as he continued to move along.
Cyn sighed but didn't hear Ronald laughing like they expected, glancing back and seeing something they didn't expect: anger. He looked angry at them while Cyn just shivered. He seemed downright murderous with such anger… The child felt the staring at the back of their neck.
The student wished they could use electronics of some kind, just to listen to some music with a phone but they didn't dare have one on themselves. Strange things always happened when using a phone, or computer or anything of the sort that made them run away from the schools. So instead, they just hummed some Powerwolf under their breath and to themselves, trying to ignore the stare of death from Ronald.
They could still feel the stares from Ronald on them as they continued with the tour. As the tour continued on and eventually ended, thankfully, the group went for lunch inside the building as well. Cyn moved to go sit alone, taking a peanut butter and jelly sandwich from the basket with all of the others, at least before an arm wrapped around their shoulder.
Cyn stiffened and looked over to whoever did this, it being Ronald who had a sneer on his face. "Come on freak. We're going back in for a moment." Ronald said, beginning to drag the young boy into the building.
Looking back, his two goons were busy chatting away to Mr. Kiron, maybe talking about grades or something else, it seemed to keep the attention away.
Maybe talking about how Cyn was a horrible person who sold papers to students and did homework for others which was only half true. Cyn didn't have the strength to fight Ronald, he seemed… stronger. It was hard to even move centimeters in his iron hold as the two went further and further into the museum.
They only went down a few corridors, turning left, right, right, left… As they passed by that strange sword, Ronald took a wide berth around it, which Cyn noted. This was unlike the boy, but Cyn said nothing. They didn't want to be struck even more than before or what would be coming, so they grimaced, letting themself (not that they could fight back) be dragged further in.
Eventually they were shoved forward, stumbling for a few moments before spinning around to stare at Ronald who smirked. The freckled boy crossed his arms, staring at Cyn as if they were a fine morsel.
"You did well, half-blood. I thought you'd be just a mortal, but your constant yammering and blabbering about your powers really sealed your fate." Ronald spoke, voice ice cold while Cyn just kept glancing around them.
A few cannons on the left, a large hanging ship above them with a single thick, sturdy rope, was dangling above Ronald. A few flintlocks in cases off to the side on the right.
Nothing in here with the exhibit empty except for the two of them, not even staff.
"Half-blood? I'm not half anything man, so that insult doesn't mean anything, and powers? Not sure what you're talking about." Cyn muttered, still holding up his hands defensively with a laugh ringing out from Ronald.
"I see, you still don't know your powers. I see the satyr didn't catch your scent until recently either. How lucky am I. I get to feast on demigod flesh." Ronald snarled, moving his arms to the side, and for a moment Cyn thought their eyes were playing tricks on them. From his head, Ronald grew bony, saw-toothed protuberances. His body grew bigger and more muscular. Suddenly, Ronald wasn't a teenager anymore. Cyn said the only thing that came to their mind when seeing the monster, sharp serrated "horns" on its head.
"You're a human unicorn with way more than one horn! A quintouplecorn? Well you have more than five horns though…"
The creature that once was Ronald charged towards Cyn with a snarl, attempting to gut him with one pass. Cyn didn't wish to be impaled, so they dove to one side and scrambled past some debris as the monster barrelled past the kid with a roar, the protuberances grazing their chest and cutting Cyn's shirt up.
Cyn's heart was pounding, eyes focused, breathing slightly out of pattern. Everything felt… right. As if this was something they should be used to handling, but nobody was ready to see the human unicorn barrel past anyone.
"I am no unicorn you infernal godling! I am an Aeternae! A legendary monster! I fought against Alexander the Great himself!" The not-unicorn yelled out, spinning around which caused Cyn to blink. Alexander the Great? This thing fought it? Wasn't that like, thousands of years ago? The blood was making Cyn feel woozy as they swayed, stumbling for a moment as Cyn watched it trickle down their chest.
"You're weak godling. You're fresh blood." the Aeternae growled out, moving to charge forward once again with speed beyond that of an olympic runner. Cyn did the only thing that came to mind. They drew their switchblade and threw it like a dart at the rope that the ship hung from.
It nailed the shot and cut the rope and it fell with a silent groan onto the Aeternae as it moved to charge once again, smashing and crashing into the ground with wood and dust collecting. Cyn coughed a little, watching in amazement.
They didn't expect to hit the shot but surprisingly they hit it dead on. Landing on the rubble perfectly, thinking the creature was dead they smiled. "Not so tough now, are you Aeternum!"
The rubble then moved, with Cyn backing up a little in fright. Then the rubble began to shift while the creature began trying to pull itself out, bits of wood jammed into its body. At that, Cyn began to run.
It was hard trying to outrun a creature like this Aeternae, charging and swiping with the protrusions on its head to skewer Cyn through the chest. Thankfully, the child was able to scoot and scramble around corners in time to let the creature barrel past them, and they were only getting minor cuts to arms, chest and back.
For now, Cyn was just running around and through the exhibits one at a time, ducking under his arm as they smashed into a display as the monster stumbled past. Cyn's heart was smashing through their chest, trembling, but not stopping at all during this time while they were moving. What could they do? Would a knife do something?
Looking over to the nearest display, the strange sword was resting at the bottom of the display, shimmering and glowing softly, this time for real. It didn't look like a blade that was dipped in gold, it looked like it was made of gold.
In a split second decision, Cyn took the blade and it wobbled in their hands, so Cyn started gripping it with two hands. The Aeternae turned around and hissed at the sword, keeping a distance back with eyes glued to the blade.
"Enchanted Gold… I remember when Alexander used that against us himself. You're trembling with that blade. Drop the weapon, make this easy on the both of us." the saw-headed creature murmured, scraping its feet across the floor before charging.
Cyn was trembling, the blood dripping on the floor from several cuts making their head spin, the roaring of their heartbeat pounding away in their head, the awkwardness of the blade in their hands… It was all too much for them, it felt like, but the moment they let their guard down, they'd die.
Deciding to make a final stand before the adrenaline died down, they charged forward with a yell of defiance. In a moment's decision, seconds before being run through the chest by long spear-like bones, they crouched and broke out into a baseball style slide, coming up to stab the creature in the chest.
The blade connected and slid into the beast, cutting it open and it made a terrible screech before turning into a cloud of yellow, sulfur-like dust that gently rained down onto the ground and Cyn.
The child panted, eyes wide and full of terror for a moment. "CYN KLUTTZ! WHAT IN-" A familiar voice yelled for a moment, before Cyn turned around, frantically still running off adrenaline as they saw a face they were terrified to see.
"M-Mr. Kiron. I uh… I um…" they sputtered out, blinking and unsure for a moment, looking around as they gulped, seeing the broken walls, torn tiles, and smashed exhibits. They were going to have to run again.
"... You took out the monster, yeah? By yourself?" Mr. Kiron asked with a stunned look for a moment glancing around, as Cyn nodded slowly, still covered in that yellow dust with wild eyes. Cyn quickly brushed it off, not wanting what remained of Ronald all over him, it was gross.
"We've got work to do kid, we need to get you to camp. Come on, we're going back to the others. And that sword… Keep it on you. We may need it." Mr. Kiron said, while Cyn blankly looked at him for a moment before shaking their head and nodding vigorously. Cyn grabbed the scabbard and put the awkward sword on their waist before stumbling over to the teacher who bleated like a goat. They'd heard that before and thought it was some strange laugh, but hearing now, with much more heightened senses, it sounded like a goat's bleat.
The teacher caught the child, muttering something under his breath and nodded. "The sword should be hidden from the mortals now. Knew something was weird about you. But be wary, we still have two other monsters here that want to eat you and kill me."
Looking down at the sword, Cyn wondered how this thing could be hidden from people, for a moment they swore it looked like a key ring, a My Little Pony keyring.
"W-what… What's going on? Where's Ronald, why was he a unicorn monster thing, why did he keep calling me half-blood?" Cyn asked, leaning on the teacher who grimaced.
"Lotta questions in a time I can't answer them. Just trust me and everything will be fine." Cyn nodded, satisfied with the answer for now and hobbled off, leaning onto the teacher who guided them to the others.
And there's the first part of my story, any questions or ideas review and I hope you enjoy what is going on. ^^ Hit out