Ever since my first legacy developed, almost three years ago, I stopped being tormented to my face. I still heard little whispers from the others here and there, followed by laughter from their friends and a quick little glance in my were right to insult me behind my back. Anyone who tried doing it to my face would be in utter agony.

I was no longer the scared little kid that they plucked from the west coast of Canada. That kid had been replaced with the heartless asshole I had become. I loved inflicting pain on others, watching as they writhed in agony, begging me to show them mercy; it made me feel a rush of euphoria. I loved reading the Great Book almost as much.

All the other history books they had us study were boring, but the Great book was written a lot simpler, by Beloved Leader, Setrakus Ra himself. He tells the story of how the Mogs saw an opportunity for power, and they seized it. It explains how Lorien was too weak to see the potential so they had to be destroyed, and how merciful Beloved Leader was when he spared the lives of the garde children who were raised in the compound. Should have let them all die on Lorien if you ask me.

A Vatborn Mog walks in the door, a sign that my studying time is over. I close the Great Book, placing it neatly on the pile where all of Earth's boring history books are stacked. After standing, I push my chair in and head towards the door.

"Five is waiting for you." He tells me, awaiting my response.

"You're dismissed." I tell him. He turns around and shuffles away awkwardly. It felt weird to give the Vatborn's orders, but Ethan had demanded and Five and I be more assertive since we both will be leaders some day.

Commander Deltoch has promised the two of us, in exchange for our loyalty and aid in capturing the resistant Garde, a place in the ranks of the Mogadorian Empire. Commanders, each with a continent to rule over. It made me giddy just thinking about it. I had wanted Canada, but Five already had dibs, so I was torn between choosing South America or Africa, I'd be fine with either.

I assume the Mogs know by now that I'm not like Five; one of the Elder chosen garde, but they still see my potential and strive for power. Part of that I think rubbed off from being around Five so much.

My legacy to subdue my enemies in seconds is probably why Deltoch doesn't think I'm completely useless, despite it taking so long to develop. He offered Five and I positions as Commanders once we proved our devoted loyalty. All we had to do was help them track down the remaining five Loric Garde.

Nine, Five's target, is still trapped in a cell somewhere in the detention center. The charm that protects Five also protects Nine, so the Mogs are searching for a way to break the spell. Many loyal Mogs are willing to sacrifice their lives testing it.

Using the telekinesis that had only just developed, I close the door behind me and make my way to one of the training rooms where Five is waiting for me.

"How's it going?" I ask Five when I arrive at the training room. Multiple objects lay around him. He was either practicing his telekinesis, or his externa, the ability to turn himself into the material of any object he touches.

"They found another garde." He grins, a twinkle in his eyes.

"Another one?" I frowned. "Which one?" It had only been a few months since they had tracked Number Three to Malaysia and eliminated him. Five and I had been training when the fresh scar burned into his ankle.

"They think he's Number Four, tracked him to a place called Paradise, Ohio. " He told me, rolling a small steel ball in his palm. He always had that steel ball, along with a rubber one his kept in his pocket. As he spoke, he shifted from a shiny metal to his normal fleshy skin. It was cool to watch. "The survivors of the battle that went on there say that another garde was there too."

"So there were two of them?" I said slowly. "That must mean that they are gathering together."

"What idiots." Five laughed. "They don't stand a chance against the Mogs. I mean, seriously? Five teenagers against an entire army?"

"Do they know what number the other garde was?" I asked.

"Yeah." Five nodded. "The Mogs recognized her as Number Six. Apparently they had had her in their custody before, but she escaped. I guess she's with that other garde now."

"They can't hide for long." I shrugged. "Beloved Leader's armies will prevail." We hadn't yet had the opportunity to meet the Beloved Leader, but it couldn't be much longer now.

I remember my Dad telling my sister and I stories of a powerful god that created the world and its entirety. Recalling these stories, based on what I've read in the Great Book and been taught in my studies, my Dad could have been describing Setrakus Ra himself.

Dad. Melody. I still felt a hollow pit in my stomach whenever I thought about them, which these days was becoming scarce. Whenever I did, I always reflected back to that day the tornado arrived and uprooted everything. The day everything changed. The more I thought about it, the more I had come to realize that it hadn't been a tornado at all, but a mogadorian ship.

"Where did I come from?" I wondered at loud. At first, I hadn't realized that words had actually escaped my mouth at all but Five's reaction confirmed that they had.

"Lorien, you dumbass." Five snorted, folding his arms.

"Obviously," I rolled my eyes. "But how?" I insisted. "I'm not part of the nine, and I wasn't spared by the Mogs. I was living with my Dad and sister, and the Mogs tracked us down to our country home. My Dad said it was a tornado, but I know now it was a Mog ship. So how did I get to Earth? Was my Dad really my cepan?" Questions were swarming around in my head and I couldn't stop them. "Does Melody have legacies too?"

"Does any of that matter?" Five retorted. "You're here now. What does it matter how you got here? As for Melody, I already told you, Andy; you don't need her anymore. She was just some cover your cepan picked up. Besides, why would you want a sister when you have such an awesome brother?" His crooked grin convinced me to drop it.

"You're right." I laughed. "I don't need her anymore." With that, I pushed all thoughts of Melody and my old life to the very back of my head, where they couldn't disrupt me anymore. I was so close to becoming a Commander alongside Five, I didn't need anything distracting me from achieving that goal. They are dead, just like the old me.

"So what should we work on today?" Five asked, collecting the random items he had sprawled out on the ground. Using his telekinesis, he floats all items to the side of the room. There are various weapons out for our use.

"How about hand to hand combat?" I suggested, nodding towards the weapons that were awaiting our usage. I had improved in combat a lot, since that was practically all I could work on when I didn't have any legacies, but it was always good to get practice in.

Ever since Five discovered that I could feel pain, he pushed me hard until my pain tolerance had gone up. I barely felt the blows that Five managed to land here and there, and whenever I managed to land a blow on him, I felt the pain from that as well.

"Sounds like a plan to me." Five grinned. "Choose your weapon." Using his telekinesis, he floated one of the steel swords over to himself. After thinking it over, I decide to choose the same weapon, and using my rusty telekinesis, the sword floating wobbly over to my side. When it was firmly in my hand, I prepared myself into a fighting stance.

"Ready?" I asked Five. He adjusted his feet till he was mirroring my stance, and we both locked eye contact. His response was to propel himself forward, using his flight as an advantage to gain momentum.

When I first started my training, his blow would have knocked me on my ass, but now, after watching him use this tactic multiple times, I was prepared. Using his uncontrollable launch to my own advantage, I leaped out of the way at the last moment so he couldn't bounce back and retaliate right away. Before he could turn himself around, I slashed at him with the sword.

I didn't swing hard, it never usually had an effect on Five anyways, but when the blade came in contact with Five's skin, instead of the rushing feeling of pain that normally followed when I tried to hurt him, I landed a blow, making him give a sudden cry of pain as blood began to ooze from his arm.

"What the hell?" He seethed, holding his arm. His sword hit the ground, sending a loud echo across the training room. "How could this happen?"

"Five, I'm so sorry." I stammered, dropping my weapon. The blood dripping from his arm sent a cold chill down my spine. I wasn't used to this feeling; remorse.

Normally when I inflicted pain upon one of the others, I felt good, and I never wanted that feeling to stop. I wanted this feeling to just go away, but staring at the pool of Five's blood kept me in a frozen trance. The sound of the door snapping open is what broke me out of it. Commander Deltoch stormed towards us, a scowl on his face.

"How did this happen?" He demanded, his powerful voice echoing through the room.

"I don't know." I shook my head. "I just struck him and he felt pain."

"This is good," Deltoch grinned wildly. "Beloved Leader will be pleased to hear that his charity case has broken the Loric Charm." He keeps on chattering, but all I could think about was the blood. I've spilled blood lots of times; from the other garde, and from countless of vatborn soldiers, so why does spilling Five's blood make me feel so awful?


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