Alright guys, it's finally here. Shade Hunters—by yours truly.
Warning: Xion haters beware—she's very much likeable in this one. You have been warned.
Yeah, I rewrote the first chapter, because quite frankly, it sucked.
DISCLAIMER: I DON'T OWN ANYTHING MENTIONED IN THIS STORY.
Just this story. Enjoy!
Chapter 001: Are We Normal?
Date: October 5, 2016
[Roxas]
"We're home!" I called.
"Okay!" Xion called back from somewhere upstairs.
Sora and I closed the door and took off our sneakers, tossing them onto a small shelf in the foyer.
"Race you up the stairs," he said, grinning.
"You're on."
Our parents would've yelled at us if we had sprinted up the stairs, when they were still alive, but our older sister was a heck of a lot more lenient. Mom and Dad died in an airplane crash on December 21, 2012, the day the Apocalypse would've occurred. Yeah, I know it's tragic and all, but I've mostly forgotten the pain. I've always been…less emotional, but I don't know why.
"Three…two…one…go!"
I leaped up the first three stairs, Sora right next to me, braced my foot against the adjacent wall and I saw a flash of blue light—
Wait a minute.
I thought I'd been at the base of the second part of the staircase, not at the top. I turned around and saw that yes, I'd somehow gotten from down there all the way to up here.
"How the hell did you do that?" Sora demanded, setting his hands on his hips.
"How the hell should I know?" I replied, checking to see if all of me was still attached to me. Yep, Roxas Curtiss was A-okay and, more importantly, in one piece. "I just saw…something…and then the next second I'm staring down at you."
"What're you two yelling about?" Xion said, walking out of the master bedroom. I got her room and she got our parents' room when she dropped out of college to take care of us.
"Roxas teleported up the stairs!" Sora said excitedly.
Teleported? Oh, for shit's sake…
"I didn't teleport," I sighed. "I just…maybe it was some freak rip in the space-time continuum and I got hurled through the wormhole."
Something flickered across Xion's face—I could've sworn it was surprise, but who could blame her if it was.
"Oh really?" she replied, raising an eyebrow. "Are you sure?"
Both of us stared at her. Why would she say, "Are you sure?" Why not, "What the hell?" or "Are you high, Sora?" or something along those lines?
"I'm pretty sure that I can't teleport," I commented. "I don't even think that's possible."
"How do you know?"
"How do you know someone didn't slip LSD into your lunch?"
Xion slugged me on the shoulder, hard. Strangely enough, it didn't hurt, and I literally didn't even feel the pressure of the punch connecting, but still.
"Hey!" I protested, glaring at her. "What was that for?"
"For being an asshole to Sora, that's what."
Oh right, I forgot to mention that Xion really hates bullies. She used to get picked on for being overweight when she was younger, and although she looks like a carbon copy of Mom now, minus the blue hair. Xion's twenty-two, by the way.
"I was just making a frank observation based on the information I had available," I replied patiently. "Okay, so maybe I need to work on tact. But still."
"You teleported," Sora said flatly, apparently not offended. Then again, my brother's a very easygoing guy. "And before you tell me that that's impossible, give me a reason that doesn't involve a portal through space-time—which, by the way, is teleportation."
"I didn't teleport," I said just as flatly. "And how should I know what just happened? Do I have a degree in theoretical physics? No, I don't."
Actually, my dream job would be at CERN, so in ten years I wouldn't be able to use that argument. In ten years.
"Guys, stop arguing," Xion snapped. "Can't we just treat this like a freak incident?"
Yeah, leave it to Big Sister to ruin an epic battle of wits between brothers.
"Fine…"
I saved the essay file on my laptop before exiting Word. Laptops were standard issue for students these days, as ubiquitous as notebooks and binders were when Xion was in high school and about as expensive. Ah, the wonders of technology and cheap synthetic materials. Of course, all the cool kids had those paper-thin, pocket-sized PCs that could be rolled up in your pocket, but we can't afford them and we don't need them anyways.
I got up, stretched to work out the kinks in my back (if you don't get cramps from sitting in a chair for two hours, you hereby have my envy), and picked up my green-and-black Skull Candy earphones. After doing my homework, I usually either read or listened to songs from my SDAT tape player, the one my dad gave me for my twelfth birthday—the last one we celebrated together before he died in the crash.
I popped a tape into the SDAT's holding slot. A whir, and then "Diary of Jane", by Breaking Benjamin, started up. It's an emo song, I know, but Sora's rap and pop and Xion's classical and country just don't do it for me. Hard rock and metal are the only music I listen to.
"If I had to, I would put myself right beside you…"
"So let me ask, would you like that? Would you like that?"
"And I don't mind if you say this love is the last time."
"So now I'll ask—do you like—"
"AAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHH!"
At first I thought something was wrong with the SDAT player. Ben Burnley's scream had come early and sounded impossibly like Sora—
No, it was Sora.
Fear spiked through me.
"Shit—SORA!"
I ran out of my room, almost colliding with Xion, and jumped all the way down the stairs. I heard Xion screaming at me to be careful, asking if I was alright, but I ignored her and rushed into the living room.
Damnit—he wasn't there. I dashed into the kitchen, and there I found my brother.
"Sora!" I shouted, darting over to him. "Are you okay?"
"I'm fine," he said. His eyes were wide and scared. "But you will not believe what just happened."
Xion skidded past, catching herself on the corner. "Sora, what's wrong?"
He motioned to a knife next to his foot.
"I was peeling an apple, and then I dropped the knife," he said. "But it bounced off my foot. Repeat, it bounced off my foot, and no I'm not kidding."
We stared at him. "What?"
"Seriously!" he insisted, picking up the knife. "Watch!"
"Dude, no—!"
He dropped the knife before I could stop him, but just like he'd said, the blade ricocheted off his toe like the digit was made of stainless steel.
And then we were staring at him again, but now in total shock. I was, at least.
"Alright, just what the fuck is going on?" I demanded. "First I teleported to the top of the stairs—not a single fucking word, Sora—then a knife drops on your foot and you're not even hurt, and—"
"And now I'm glowing blue."
I turned around to see Xion. Glowing…blue. What the hell?
"I think I'm going to go with another WTF," Sora deadpanned, staring at our sister incredulously. Then he raised his palm. Which was also glowing blue. "What the shit."
Even I could see a faint blue glow coming off my nose. And then there was a flash like a camera's, and I blinked tears out of my eyes. Now I could hear a faint humming noise coming out of nowhere.
The glow-y…umm…auras had changed. Sora's had lightened to the same sky-blue of his eyes, Xion's had turned cobalt just like her eyes, and mine was lapis, just like my eyes.
"We're freaks," I muttered under my breath.
"Pretty," Sora remarked, inspecting his arms. His sky-blue aura had solidified, like it was drawn around him using a highlighter. All of our auras had, in fact.
"Is our house built over uranium deposits?" I said sarcastically.
"The glow's green in the comic books, Roxas," Xion replied.
"Comic books, real life, I don't give a damn," I snarled. My voice was rising. "We're circus freaks, for shit's sake!"
"How do you know other people can see these…glows?" Xion asked. "And stop yelling."
"I'm not yelling!"
"Calm down, man," Sora said, rolling his eyes. "Other people probably won't see these."
How the hell could he be so calm? We're freaks! Glowing blue, teleporting freaks that're going to get tossed into cages and poked and prodded by the goddamned feds!
Shit.
Deep breaths, Roxas, deep breaths. No need to freak; be logical. Listen to what they're saying—other people may or may not see the auras, and if they do, they'll probably just think they're high. Somehow. On the other hand, they'll call in CIA and we'll thrown in jail to become lab rats for the rest of our lives—
NO! Calm down, calm down, calm down…
Sora and Xion were staring at me.
"Are you okay, Roxas?" Xion asked.
"No."
"Are you going to freak out again?"
"Depends."
My brother shrugged. "Alright, he's fine," he said. "I propose we name these powers we have."
I began hyperventilating again. Great—first we get these goddamned powers…abilities…whatever…and now we're acknowledging them. Could this get any fucking worse?
"All in favor of the teleportation/super speed power as blitzing."
Nobody raised their hands.
"Blitzing it is, then," Xion said nonchalantly. "And I guess that the blue glows are auras."
ARGH.
"Dude, you look like a ghost," Sora said, raising an eyebrow. "Are you sure you're okay, Roxas?"
"As okay as a goddamned circus freak can be," I snarled, my left eye twitching slightly. "I'll ask you this—what if we're seen like this?"
"One, you already asked that question," Xion replied. "Two, we don't know if people can see these…auras."
"I'm not willing to risk that."
Xion sighed and rubbed her forehead, obviously trying to think of a way to calm me down. She'd failed before she even began. "Roxas, think about this," she said. "What would you rather be, a coward cooped up in the house forever, or a brave guy who's willing to go on with his life?"
"Cowards don't get dissected."
"Touché," Sora chuckled. "I don't think we're going to get dissected, though. That's kind of illegal."
"How do you know that CIA doesn't ignore the law sometimes?"
"If they do, they go to prison," Xion stated. "It's as simple as that."
It was my turn to sigh in frustration.
"Beyond that, now I'm sure that people won't see these auras," Sora said.
I glared at him. "How so, wise one?"
"You can't see the aura in a mirror."
I whirled around, catching a glimpse of myself in the chrome of the sink. Just me—no bizarre blue glow. The human eye interprets reflected light to collect visual data. If I couldn't see my aura in a mirror, then chances were another person wouldn't be able to see it even if they looked directly at me. (I later found out that normal people couldn't see auras for an entirely different reason.)
"Okay, you win," I muttered, slumping. "Doesn't mean I'm going to accept these powers, though."
"You don't have to," Sora said. "You're always going to have them, like it or not."
"And what if they're gone tomorrow?" I retorted. I instantly felt better when I thought that, and it got even sweeter when my brother began sweating.
"Uhhh…"
"They won't be gone tomorrow."
I looked at Xion, whose face was very solemn. She had on that "I'm sure of it" look she inherited from Mom.
"How do you know?" I asked.
"I just know."
It's moments like these that I feel like I'm the only reasonable person in my family.
I started off like this because I didn't want you guys thinking this was some random high school AU. There will be high school chapters, but most of S~H will be action and romance and occasional (dark) humor. Even more setup is due for next chapter, so don't be asking me where the ghosts are.
But really, I hate writing power-discovery chapters. I do.
So how was the first chapter?
And yes, the SDAT player is a reference to Neon Genesis Evangelion.