A/N: Okay guys, thank you so much for your support here! And I promise to update Fever next. But you gotta write when inspiration comes, so... here I am! And now... it's time to meet the OTHER Gracepunks! Muahahahahahaha! Oh yeah, and I forgot to mention... NOT A SLASH! Enjoy.
Gracepunk
Andrew slowly blinked his eyes open. He saw that he was no longer in the dark forest; instead, he was lying in a small, warm room that was lit only by a large multitude of flickering Christmas lights. The bed he was lying on felt similar to the one he had woken up in. His left arm still felt like it was burning.
Suddenly, someone leaned over him into his field of vision. Shocked, Andrew lashed out with his good arm and rolled to his right, where he ended up falling off the bed. When he fell, his right arm hit something, and he felt blood start to drip down his arm. He landed on his knees with no strength to stand back up, using only his bleeding right arm to stay off the ground.
He felt hands on his back. "It's okay," said a calm voice behind him. "I'm not going to hurt you. You're safe now."
Andrew felt himself being lifted back up onto the bed. Once back up, he managed to get himself into a sitting position by leaning against the wall. Only then was he able to get a good look at the person who had helped him.
Standing in front of him was a boy about his age, maybe a bit older. The boy had red hair, and his right eye was forest green. Andrew couldn't tell if he was Graced or not, because his left eye was missing, and a leather eye patch had taken it's place. He was wearing a brown jacket with two large buttons on the front, similar to Andrew's jacket. Looking around, Andrew saw that the small room only contained the bed he was sitting on, along with a wooden chair and a small bedside table, which held his bag and jacket. The table must have been what he hit his arm on.
"W-who are you?" asked Andrew shakily.
"My name's Ben," said the boy, holding out his hand.
"Andrew." He also held out his hand to shake, but he winced at the cut on his elbow.
"Oh, let me fix that..." said Ben, taking Andrew's right arm.
"What are you-" Andrew stopped short when Ben's fingertips started to glow a slight green. Ben gently placed his fingers on Andrew's arm right next to the cut. A cool sensation spread through his arm, and a moment later, the cut closed up completely, not even leaving a scar. Ben took a step back and allowed Andrew to examine his arm.
"Feel better?" asked Ben after a moment.
Andrew laughed a bit and looked up at Ben. "You're a Healer!"
Ben nodded, smiling. "Best Grace of them all... well, aside from yours."
Andrew shook his head. "I don't think my Grace is the best..." he muttered, looking down at his left shoulder. The burn had been bandaged tightly and his arm was now in a sling.
"Yeah... sorry about your shoulder," said Ben, almost guiltily. "I'm usually pretty good with burns, but that one was so deep..."
"Well, I've never made so much fire at one time..." said Andrew.
"So what happened anyways?" asked Ben, pulling up the chair and sitting down. "I mean, one minute there's a bunch of fire, and then a snap, and then the fire was gone and you were unconscious with a bleeding shoulder."
Andrew groaned. "It's called backlash. I kinda panicked and lost control, and it snapped right back at me."
"Hm... but I thought you would be immune to your own fire," said Ben.
"When I have control of it, I'm immune. When I lose control, I burn just like anyone else... But what about you? Is it even possible for you to get hurt?" asked Andrew.
"Sure it is," said Ben, tapping on his eye patch. "I just heal a lot faster than normal. I mean, when I lost my eye I didn't even realize it was gone until that night, when James started dumping water on my head to wash off the blood..."
Andrew winced at the though. "So... who's James?" he asked after a minute.
Ben looked at his watch. "He'll be back in a few minutes... I think he said something about getting food."
Andrew nodded a bit. "So uh... what kind of Healer are you? I mean... I've heard that there are different kinds of Healers, so..."
"I can heal wounds," said Ben. "Y'know, simple flesh wounds, burn wounds, stab wounds, bullet wounds... and the occasional broken bone or paper cut. But I can't heal any sicknesses or infections. That's an entirely different league. I can't heal poison either, but I do know how to get it out."
"What about an infected wound?" asked Andrew.
Ben shook his head. "Nope. That's why I wasn't sure if your shoulder got infected." A second later, Ben leaned forward and pressed the back of his hand to Andrew's forehead. "In fact, you still feel a bit feverish..."
"That's my Grace," said Andrew. "My temperature has always been about three degrees above average... That's why I hardly ever get cold."
Ben nodded. "That seems useful."
Andrew shrugged, smiling. "So where are we?" he asked.
"Somewhere way out in the forest," said Ben. "On the edge of the blast zone."
"The blast zone?" asked Andrew. "So there were bombs?"
Ben looked shocked. "You mean... you mean you don't know about the bombs? The war?"
Andrew shook his head.
Ben stared at him. "Where did you come from anyways...?" he asked. "And why were you in the Dead City?"
"I don't know!" exclaimed Andrew. "I just woke up there in an old hospital." He lowered his voice a bit. "There was a body in the room with me..."
Ben was quiet for a moment. "You just... woke up there?"
Andrew nodded.
"Do you know how long you were asleep...?"
Andrew had no idea. He opened his mouth to say so, but at that moment the door opened, and a man poked his head in.
"Is he awake yet?" the man asked.
"See for yourself," said Ben, moving aside so that the man could see Andrew.
"Fantastic!" exclaimed the man, fully entering the room. He was holding a small tray of food. It wasn't much – just a few pieces of bread, a few strawberries, and a glass of water – but just the sight of it made Andrew's mouth water.
"Here," said the man, setting the tray on Andrew's lap. "You look like you need it."
Andrew could barely get the words "Thank you" out of his mouth before it was filled with bread and strawberries.
"Don't hurt yourself," laughed Ben as Andrew viciously tore apart one of the pieces of bread.
After about ten seconds, the food was all gone and Andrew was slightly less ravenous. Now that there was no more food left to distract him, Andrew was able to get a good look at the other man who had come in. It was clear that he was much older than Ben; probably about 50. He had brown hair with streaks of gray in it; however, most of the gray streaks were hidden under a dark gray hat that he was wearing. He was wearing a white long-sleeve shirt with a brown vest and a gray bow-tie. His right eye was silver, and his left eye was brown. Andrew wondered what his Grace was.
"Well, it's good that you're awake," said the man. "My name's James. And you are...?"
"Andrew," he said, smiling. "Um... were you the two that I followed into the forest?"
Both James and Ben nodded.
"We were out there looking for more car batteries," said Ben.
"What do you need car batteries for...?" asked Andrew.
"We don't get electricity out here," explained James. "This place had been abandoned for years when we found it, so we've been using car batteries and plane batteries to power the lights."
Andrew held up his hands. "Hold on, back up. Where did you get plane batteries? And where are we? And... when did this war start?"
James glanced over at Ben. "He doesn't know...?"
Ben shook his head. "He doesn't even know how long he's been in a coma..."
"I'm still sitting right here!" exclaimed Andrew, starting to get frustrated. "And who said anything about being in a coma?"
"We can only assume..." said James. "You know nothing about the war, or the attacks. And judging by your diminished physique, you've been in a coma for quite some time. Also, those scars on your chest mean that you've been kept alive by multiple life-sustaining machines."
"Not to mention that thing around your neck," said Ben, gesturing to the chain around Andrew's neck.
"This?" asked Andrew, pulling the necklace out from under his shirt. The circular rust-colored pendant glinted in the dim light. "How is this thing keeping me alive?" He started to take the necklace off.
"NO!" exclaimed Ben, lunging forward. He grabbed Andrew's arms and pinned them to his side, preventing him from removing the necklace. "I wouldn't do that if I were you."
"Why not...?" asked Andrew cautiously.
"Because..." Ben gulped and slowly let go of Andrew's arms. He slowly sat back and looked down at his feet. "Because when we brought you in here to fix your shoulder, I took it off and... your heart stopped."
Andrew stared at him for a moment before looking down at the pendant. He slowly tucked it safely back inside his shirt.
"So..." said Andrew after a minute, "who was that guy out there with the knives? And why was he hunting us?"
"I don't think he'll be doing much hunting now that you've blasted his eye out," laughed Ben. "Karma's a bitch, isn't it?"
James elbowed Ben in the ribs before explaining. "We're being hunted because we've all got valuable Graces."
"But why does it matter what Graces we have?" asked Andrew, starting to get frustrated again.
"Because of the war!" came a voice from by the door. Ben and James jumped at the sound of the voice and whipped around, at the same time stepping out of the way so that Andrew could see who had just entered.
By the door stood a man about the same age as James, maybe a bit older. He had the same olive skin tone as Andrew, and he had white hair. He was wearing a white jacket that was held together with a large belt buckle; a red cape was draped over his shoulders and was held on with a large reddish-purple gem. He was wearing a tall hat that looked like it once belonged to a pope, and he was holding a large staff with a curved and slightly jagged edge at the top. The hat had a number 1 inked onto the front, and the staff had a bell on the end. His right eye was the same reddish-purple as the gem, and his left eye was a golden yellow. He stalked forward slowly, his narrowed eyes focused on Andrew.
"So clueless..." he muttered, looking Andrew up and down as if he were examining a piece of rotten meat.
"I'm only clueless because nobody will tell me anything," Andrew snapped back, already on edge.
The man smirked. "Even if you knew everything about the war and the Gracebeasts, you would still find something to be clueless about."
"Christopher, leave the boy alone," said James, stepping in front of Andrew. "He only just woke up!"
James and the man, Christopher, glared at each other for a solid minute, and they probably would have stayed that way until the door opened and someone else walked in.
The person that walked in was so big that Andrew swore he felt the ground shake. The man was a solid six and a half, maybe seven feet tall! His arms were as thick as tree trunks, and he was carrying a large axe. He had dark brown, almost black, hair, pale skin, a goatee, and he was wearing a torn up white jacket along with what looked like makeshift shoulder pads that might as well have been made of wood. The jacket was held together with three black clips; well, technically two clips since the middle clip was broken. Andrew could see the number 8 inked onto the right shoulder of the jacket. He also noticed that the man's right eye was blue, and his left eye was brown. Andrew had a hunch that this guy had a strength Grace.
Christopher turned towards the giant. "Our new guest seems confused..." he said. The huge guy lifted his axe a bit and somehow made himself look even more intimidating.
Turning away from the still-glaring James, Christopher started to walk towards the door. "Follow me," he said over his shoulder. Ben, James, and the huge guy instantly followed him, and Andrew had a strong impulse to follow also. He shakily got to his feet and grabbed his jacket and bag off of the bedside table. He quickly shrugged his jacket on over his good shoulder and slung his bag on before following after the group.
As soon as he stepped out of the room, he stopped and looked around, his jaw agape. Now he finally realized where they were. They were in an old abandoned cathedral. The floor they were on was dark and dusty; Andrew could see the dust particles floating through the air, filtering the sunlight streaming through the dirty windows. Seeing the sunlight confirmed that it had been at least a day since he woke up in the city.
A hand on his shoulder snapped him out of his trance. Looking over, he saw Ben standing next to him. The huge guy was standing right behind them. Gulping, Andrew started walking with Ben next to him and the huge guy following right behind. Up ahead, Christopher and James were walking; James still looked like he wanted to smash something over Christopher's head. As they walked, Andrew noticed the number 2 drawn on the back of James' vest. Christopher's cape was covering up his number, but Andrew had a feeling that he already knew what it was.
Looking ahead, Andrew saw that they were walking towards what looked like the bottom half of an elevator. As they reached it, Andrew saw that he was right. The elevator had been cut clean in half, almost surgically. The sliding mechanical doors had been replaced by a single door on hinges, and there was strange device that looked like a mechanical crank attached to the wall of the elevator opposite of the door. The crank was attached to a multitude of thick cables that stretched upwards and into the shadows of the ceiling. The edge of the elevator came up to Andrew's chest.
Christopher opened the door and stepped inside, followed by James and Ben. Andrew started to step in, but the big guy behind him gave him a rough shove, nearly sending him sprawling and confirming his suspicions about him having a strength Grace all in one second. Andrew would have face-planted against the hard floor of the elevator if Ben hadn't caught him.
"Not funny, Josh," Ben snarled at the big guy, who was now laughing as he slammed the door shut behind him. Sighing, Ben helped Andrew back to his feet. "You better hold on," he said.
"I think he just cracked my spine..." moaned Andrew quietly as he grabbed onto the edge of the elevator. Turning, he saw James flip a switch, and the elevator lurched upwards. The mechanical crank was activated and the elevator started to rise up into the shadows.
Looking across the elevator, Andrew saw that Christopher was glaring at him as if he wanted to stab him with a fork. Andrew gulped, but before he got the chance to say anything, the elevator stopped with a jolt.
"Rusty hacked-together stupid piece of metal..." James muttered under his breath as examined the mechanical crank, which had stopped working and was now smoking and throwing off sparks.
"What happened?" grumbled the huge guy, Josh, in a voice as deep as thunder.
"The generator died," groaned James. "I'll have to lift it up manually."
Andrew glanced over at Ben, who gave him a reassuring nod.
James knelt down next to the side of the metal casing surrounding the crank. He placed both hands flat against the metal surface and closed his eyes. Almost immediately, arcs of electricity started jumping across his fingers. The elevator started to move again.
A minute later, the elevator rose above the ceiling and came up into a brighter room. Now Andrew could really tell that they were in a cathedral. The room was old and the ceiling was high. There were bookcases lining the wall to the right of the elevator. High on the wall across the room was a large stain-glass window with what looked to be a throne on the wall under it. A few tables were scattered around the room and there were a few doors that lead off into different parts of the cathedral. Andrew noticed that something had been drawn on the wall in black ink, but he couldn't quite tell what it was.
Turning, Andrew saw Ben flip a lever on the side of the crank. When he did that, James opened his eyes and took his hands off of the crank. Christopher swung the door open and exited the elevator, followed closely by Josh.
Ben started to step out, but he turned and looked back and James, who was now adjusting something on the crank. "Are you coming?" he asked.
James shook his head. "I have to go back down and repair the generator before nightfall," he said without looking up. "You stay with Andrew and make sure Josh doesn't try and throw him down the elevator shaft."
Ben nodded and took Andrew by his good arm. "C'mon..." he said, leading Andrew out of the elevator. Once they were out, James swung the door closed and released the latch on the side of the crank. The elevator slowly descended out of view.
Ben and Andrew walked forward after Christopher and Josh. As they walked, however, Andrew saw something move out of the corner of his eye. As he looked over towards where he had seen the movement, he saw a dark shadow disappear into a dark room in the far corner of the main room.
Before Andrew could open his mouth to ask Ben about the shadow, he felt a hand on his good shoulder. Turning, he saw that the hand belonged to Christopher.
"I'm going to assume that you know absolutely nothing about the war," said Christopher. "So stay quiet and don't interrupt me." With that, he turned and faced the window and began to speak.
"Tensions have always run high between the Graced and the Ungraced," he said. "They thought us to be unnatural monsters; that our being here is just an accident."
Andrew tried to open his mouth to speak, but he found that he couldn't.
"But," Christopher continued, "they were simply jealous. They envied the powers we possessed, and that turned them into monsters."
Now Andrew found the power to break the spell that was keeping him from speaking. "That's not true for every Ungraced person," he said.
Christopher whipped around, his eyes wide with shock. "You-... I... I told you not to interrupt!" he exclaimed, more shocked than angry.
Andrew ignored him. "Not all Ungraced people are monsters," he said angrily. "My parents were Ungraced!"
"And my sister was Ungraced, and she's dead now because of it," Christopher snarled back. "And if you interrupt me again, I'll have Josh throw you down the elevator shaft."
Andrew glanced over at the giant, who was standing there mindlessly scratching his backside.
"Anyways," said Christopher, continuing his lecture, "the Ungraced population became paranoid that we were trying to take over the world and enslave them. They attacked us first... and that city-" Christopher pointed towards the direction of the Dead City, "-was the first place they struck. Most of the population was Graced... We didn't stand a chance against the bombs..."
Planes flew overhead. Explosions rocked the ground. Buildings crumbled and collapsed. The sky was black with smoke and the ground was stained red with blood. The war had truly begun.
Four people were hiding in an old building on the edge of the city, so close to the forest that it was nearly surrounded by trees on all sides. Inside the building, Christopher stood by the door waiting, Josh was pacing nervously, and James was attending to a small dark-haired boy who was lying on the floor, curled up in a ball. The boy had already bled through the bandages wrapped around his pale chest, and he had started to cough up blood.
"There they are!" exclaimed Christopher. He pulled the door open, and on the other side stood a girl wearing a white jacket. Her long black hair was pulled back in a high ponytail, and her blue right eye and gray left eye shone with fear and excitement.
"I found the others," she said breathlessly, ignoring the bleeding gash on her upper right arm. She turned back to a large pile of burnt debris and waved her hand. The first to run into the building were two children, both of them wearing identical blue hoodies. They were twins, no older than 13. Once they were safely inside, the dark-haired girl waved again.
Another pair of twins dashed out from behind the debris. These two were easier to tell apart, even though they both had red hair, the same skin tone, and looked exactly the same. Their eyes were different, and they wore different colored shirts. The boy with the green right eye, brown left eye, and green shirt was Ben. The boy with the brown right eye, green left eye, and blue shirt was his twin, Henry. As soon as they made it inside the building, the girl entered too and Christopher closed the door.
"We can't stay here long," said Christopher, turning to the group. "I know somewhere deep in the forest where we can hide."
"The forest?" exclaimed the girl as she knelt down next to the bleeding boy. "But it's the middle of January! We'll all freeze to death!"
Another explosion shook the building. The bombs were getting closer.
"Either we risk freezing out in the forest, or we die here by the hand of the Ungraced!" Christopher shouted.
That was when the fire bomb hit the building. The flaming ball of metal crashed down so close to Ben that some of his hair got singed.
"EVERYBODY OUT!" Christopher shouted, shoving the younger twins through the door. Josh and James were quick to follow. The girl quickly picked up the bleeding boy, her younger brother, and ran out the door, following the others.
Henry and Ben were almost out the door when Ben tripped. When Henry saw his brother go down, he stopped and turned.
"Keep going!" Ben shouted as he got to his feet. But it was too late. The bomb exploded in a massive ball of fire, destroying the building and sending the brothers flying into the forest.
Ben was only unconscious for a moment. When he lifted his head and looked around, he was aware of a burning pain on the left side of his face and on his lower back. He couldn't feel his legs, and his ears were ringing. Craning his neck around, Ben saw a long piece of metal shrapnel sticking out of his back. The shrapnel had gone right through his spine. Reaching back, he yanked the piece of metal out so that the nerves could reattach themselves and give him his legs back.
That was when he saw Henry, lying ten feet away, not moving.
Gasping, he army-crawled towards his brother. By the time he made it there, his spine had repaired itself and he regained feeling in his legs. Pushing himself up on his knees, he leaned over his brother.
"Henry?" he gasped. "Henry, can you hear me?"
Henry didn't respond. He was dead pale, and there was blood dripping down his forehead. That was when Ben saw the long piece of metal shrapnel sticking out of Henry's stomach.
"B-Ben..." Henry gasped out, feebly grabbing his brother's arm. Blood was already started to drip out of his mouth.
"C-c-calm d-down," gasped Ben. "Y-y-you'll b-be o-o-okay..." He reached down and gently pulled the shard of metal out as clean as he could. He knew he had to heal his brother, because Henry couldn't heal himself. Henry could only heal sickness.
Ben gently placed his trembling, bloody hands around the wound. He tried to blink back the tears, but his vision was still blurry. The wound was starting to close, but not fast enough. Henry coughed convulsively, causing the wound to open up again. More and more blood was pouring out, and Henry's hand had gone as cold as ice. Ben tried again to heal the wound, but he couldn't focus. It was all too much.
"Ben..." Henry gasped out, his voice barely a whisper.
"Y-y-you're o-okay..." Ben stammered frantically, trying to staunch the bleeding.
"Ben..." His hand fell from Ben's arm.
"Y-y-you're g-g-gonna b-be f-f-fine..." His hands were now covered in his brother's blood.
"Ben..."
He finally stopped and looked at Henry, tears streaming down his face. "Y-yeah...?"
Henry smiled weakly, his eyes glassy. "I'll t-tell M-Mom and D-Dad t-that you s-said hi..." Then he closed his eyes, let out a long sigh, and died...
Ben sat there, not wanting to believe it. His brother was gone. He had been too late to save him.
Suddenly, he felt someone grab his arm and start to drag him away.
"NO!" he screamed, reaching out towards his brother.
"Ben, listen to me," said a voice in his ear, a voice he knew belonged to James. "He's gone. There's nothing you can do. We have to go now."
"I can't leave him!" Ben cried, the tears flowing faster.
"We have to," said another voice, this one belonging to the dark-haired girl. She grabbed Ben's arm and helped James drag him away from the body!
"NO!" Ben screamed again, his voice cracking as he started to sob. "PLEASE, NO!" He started thrashing, trying to get out of James and the girl's grip and get back to his brother. After a minute, when he realized escape was futile, he stopped struggling. Instead, he let out a long, blood-chilling scream that echoed through the darkening forest. And then he went limp.
By the time they reached the others, Ben was catatonic. As James and the girl dragged him past Christopher, the girl glared and shook her head. Christopher looked at the ground, trying not to let the guilt of ordering them to leave Ben behind show.
"This way..." he said quietly, starting to walk deeper into the forest. He was followed by James and the girl, who were still dragging Ben, and Josh, who was carrying the unconscious bleeding boy, and the silent hooded twins. The sounds of war and death followed them all the way from the city.
"...I brought us here," finished Christopher, "to a Sanctuary. And here we waited, until the war eventually moved on. When the world outside grew quiet, I knew we were safe..."
Now Andrew felt like he could speak without getting tossed down the elevator shaft. "But we're not safe..." he said. "We're still being hunted like animals!"
Christopher sighed. "That is the work of the Gracebeasts," he said, gesturing to the drawing on the wall. Now Andrew could see that the picture was a frightening silhouette of the man with the knives and the agility of a cat.
"What are Gracebeasts?" asked Andrew cautiously. "And why are they hunting us?"
"Gracebeasts are men who have been given unnatural Graces in unnatural ways," said Christopher.
"Wait... you mean man-made Graces?" exclaimed Andrew.
"That's exactly what I mean," said Christopher. "And they're hunting us because the war is still being waged elsewhere. They need valuable Graces like ours to help win the war."
Andrew shook his head. "So... whose side are we on?"
Christopher turned and started to walk towards his throne. "We're on nobody's side, because nobody is on our side." When he reached his throne, he sat down with a sigh. "Take him to the watchtower," he said to Ben. "Go show him what I mean..."
Ben nodded and gestured for Andrew to follow him. They walked towards one of the doors near the elevator; however, as they walked, Andrew heard an eerie sound coming from the dark room. It sounded like somebody was humming.
Christopher watched as they left the room. Once they were gone, Josh turned to him.
"Need me to stop Stripes from humming?" he asked.
Christopher shook his head slowly. "No... why don't you go sharpen your machete or something."
Josh nodded and quickly left the room. As soon as he was gone, Christopher reached into his pocket and pulled out the small photograph he always kept with him. He looked at it, and his little sister looked back. He closed his eyes, but that didn't stop the tears from escaping.
After a few minutes of silent crying, he opened his eyes again and looked towards the dark room. He saw a pair of wide eyes looking back at him, but he didn't really care. The boy would never tell anyone that he actually had a heart...
A/N: Okay, this chapter was originally gonna be longer, but I really wanted to stop on that note. Even though I don't like 1, we all know that he really does care...
And if anybody finds the Lord of the Rings quote, I'll give them a giant cookie! So... enjoy and review! =D