Back with the second installment. Hope you enjoy. Drop a review if you wish. I'm not too concerned with them, but I'll admit that they're pretty nice.
Disclaimer: I do not own any of the characters, elements, or borrowed plot ideas from any source I acquire them from, specifically KingsIsle. I merely own any original characters I create.
"Blah" = talking
"Blah" = thoughts, writing, sound effects, or flashbacks
"BLAH"= Yelling
(Blah)= scene change
A lone figure sat atop the roof of a three story, stone building, his legs dangling off its edge. The loose fabric of his hooded, ankle length coat whipped and waved in the small gusts. Ashen eyes, once staring at the rising of the early morning sun, looked down at the few pedestrians below him, getting an early start on their activities for the day.
He was suddenly alerted to a presence behind him: the slightly transparent, cloaked form of a Lost Soul, hovering a few inches above the rooftop. A deep eerie call sounded from its throat and without turning to face it, the figure spoke.
"The students found the passage, yes?" Another ghostly wail emanated from its hood. "What of the tree's defenses? How far were they able to infiltrate?" A silent pause followed, and when the ghost answered again, the figure's eyes widened momentarily. His gloved hand rose into the air, and three more Lost Souls materialized into existence with a snap of his fingers. "Find them. Notify the others when you have located the Exseed."
The soul's hooded heads nodded in confirmation, and they each blasted off into a different direction, whipping through the air like birds in flight. The figure tucked a few strands of hair that had been displaced by the force of their takeoff out of the way. His eyes returned to the rising sun, its orange light just now beginning to pierce darkness of morning.
EXSEED
Second Pip: Identity
It was at this moment that Victoria Flaresong understood the meaning of terror.
Of course, she knew the definition of the word, a form of unbridled fear. But it wasn't until now that she had truly comprehended its scope: realizing the difference in power between her and the glowing white haired boy in front of her, the realization that he could break her at any moment he pleased. It was this fear that left her completely transfixed, unable to budge even a single muscle fiber.
His hand, light brightly pulsing from his skin, was brought back; his fingers straightened and packed together like a spearhead. Then, his mouth upturned into a malicious grin, and his hand thrust directly into the center of her chest.
Victoria's eyes snapped open and she shot forward, throwing blanket and sheet off her torso. She looked around the relatively medium sized confines of her dorm room. Nothing seemed out of place or unordinary. Her sparsely populated bookcase and study desk sat against the left wall while a clothes cabinet occupied its opposite; standard furniture that had come with the space.
It took her a few moments to calm her haggard, erratic breath down, and it was at that point that she noticed her left hand placed in between her two collarbones. A cold sweat had secreted from the majority of her skin, a repulsive fact she took note to correct with a quick trip to the room's adjacent washroom.
The light of the morning sun pouring into the bathroom window freed her from having to light a sconce, and she took the liberty to assess herself in the mirror above the sink. The sight of her hair, a maze of golden tangles, and the bags under her eyelids did nothing to raise her spirits. A quick splash of cold sink water gave her a sense of rejuvenation and proper awakening, something she desperately needed to convince her that the nightmare was indeed a resident of her imagination.
Clank!
The girl's head shot around, and she immediately rushed back into her bedroom, making sure to grab the broom leaning against her desk. Then, she exited her room and stepped into the short hallway connecting to the front door and the kitchen. The clanking of pots and pans continued resounding, accompanied by the rattling of boxes and bags. She slowly crept along the wall. Someone was definitely in her kitchen; the noise plus the muffled grunts only validated that fact.
Her grip tightened around the broom handle and after a deep silent breath, she leapt into the kitchen.
Unfortunately, her foot came in contact with a discarded iron pan. She stumbled forwards into the uninvited visitor and they collided with a simultaneous yelp, the contents of the cereal box he held spilling onto the floor just as his back made contact. Victoria shot up instantly, taking this unplanned chance to quickly grab her broom, but she stopped halfway, frozen in place just above him.
Spiky black hair, tan skin; she had definitely seen this boy before. They stared into each other's eyes for what seemed minutes and before she could even open her mouth to speak, her dorm room door eased open and in walked the worst two people that could have been there at that moment.
"Hey Victoria, are you awa-?"
Ty Stormwhisper and Tala Mythhammer looked down at the scene unfolded before them. Victoria, clad in nothing but pajama pants and a tight-fitting tank top, was perched precariously over a tan, stark naked boy, their faces only centimeters apart. What's more, the blonde seemed to be sweating and breathing hard, and a menagerie of cereal flakes had been strewn across the floor.
Victoria's head turned to the two new boys, and within a moment she realized what the situation may look like from an outside view. Ty was the first to comment, turning back towards the door.
"Sorry about that. Just pick up where you left off f-"
"DON'T COME TO CONCLUSIONS ON YOUR OWN!"
…..
"…and that's when I accidentally fell. That's all it was."
The two boys seemed to express acceptance of her explanation. Well, Tala at least; knowing Ty, he wouldn't let her live this one down for quite a few months.
The three Ravenwood students and their special guest all sat around in the girl's bedroom. She and Ty sat on her rather uncomfortable mattress, Tala occupied her desk chair, and the mysterious boy took to the floor, happily munching on cereal. The Diviner had brought along a pair of his own boxers and pajama pants, finally giving the boy much needed clothing.
"Anyway, what are you guys doing here so early?" She asked, hoping to change the topic. "It's barely six o'clock." Ty began to answer accordingly.
"Just decided to pay a little visit and to make sure he hadn't jumped you or anything. Imagine my surprise to find it was the other way arou-" The blonde's hand clasped firmly over the brunette's mouth, and she gave him a simple smile chock full of the vilest of intentions.
"We really just came over to bring our friend here some pants." Tala clarified. "Though there is some truth to what Ty says. We were rather worried."
"Why was he left with me anyway?" She queried.
"Your dorm was closest after we escaped from the chamber." The boy leaned back in his chair, eyes wandering to the ceiling above. "It's still hard to believe everything that happened last night. Feels kind of like some weird dream."
"But that dream is now our reality. We have to be careful about how we handle this." Ty tacked on. The other two gave him confused looks, signaling him to go on. "If that giant treant trying to kill us was any indication, we broke into a highly classified, guarded area. Basically, if anybody finds about this, we could be expelled." Flaresong and Mythhammer gulped simultaneously. Stormwhisper gestured to the mystery boy, who had by now virtually tuned out their conversation. "On the other hand, we can't keep him hidden forever."
"So what do we do?" Victoria asked.
The group fell quiet after that while the boy continued to happily devour the cereal box's contents, completely unaware of the somber mood. At length, Ty answered. "We keep quiet for now, at least. Do you two have classes?" He received two nods in reply. "Alright. I don't have classes until the afternoon today, so I'll stay here and keep an eye on him."
"We'll have to think of something in the meantime." Victoria stood to her feet, releasing a coupled yawn and stretch of her back. "Let me get dressed. I'll see you in class, Tala." The boy in question gave her a nod as she returned to the bathroom, then sent Ty a small wave before heading for the dorm room's exit. Once he had successfully exited and Victoria's restroom door closed and locked, Ty looked towards the raven haired teenager and breathed out a pleasant sigh.
"Well looks like it's just you and me. My name is Ty Stormwhisper." A curious, childlike innocence shone in the boy's emerald green eyes. Ty nodded, then smirked.
"Though you can just call me Lord Ty."
…..
The synchronized sounding of school bells resonated through hallways and classrooms, and the Beginner Symbols teacher Herbert Runewarden let out a disappointed sigh. The students sat in their desks before him with hopeful look in each and every eye. He chuckled to himself, then closed the book he had been lecturing with.
"Alright, class. I suppose that's enough for today." Each and every child stood from his or her chair, securing books and bags. He did his best to speak over the clatter of the activity. "Make sure to go over the notes on page fifty seven."
Victoria and Tala shuffled out of the room with the remainder of the mass and into the grand hallway of the General Studies building. As always just after the end of a period, the sunlit corridor was completely packed full of moving bodies dressed in a variety of colorful outfits and the two students did their best to navigate the cramped space, finally ending up in the main entryway. Upon exiting the building, the duo made a left down the cobblestone path, a route not currently traveled by many students.
"It's great that we have most of the same classes together." Victoria remarked, making conversation with her fellow scholar. Two of her school books were hugged close to her chest. "I've been too busy to make any friends here."
"I know what you mean." Tala responded with smile, adjusting the straps on his brown leather backpack. "It seems like every day is endless practice and study. What about Ty?"
"Oh I knew him way before I entered Ravenwood." Her eyes shifted down towards the floor, and the male could see the subtle gloom in both them and her voice, no matter how hard she tried to hide it. "We grew up togeth-"
Victoria instantly paused; both her voice and her body, and Tala found himself overcome by the same paralysis. Their bodies simply tensed up at that moment for no apparent reason, though the boy could feel the faint hand of magic washing over his skin, and presumably hers. Eye movement seemed to be functioning properly, though, and two looked around as best they could for the source of the sudden affliction.
Their answer came in the condescending, almost livid voice of Professor Cyrus Drake, who appeared in a flash of yellow light before them. Two wooden constructs stood to either side of him, each with a blue vest and matching cap. They circled around the duo's transfixed bodies and took defensive stances as if keeping them from escaping. Cyrus continued to stare at the students, and they returned the gesture with fear and confusion.
"I will release you from the spell momentarily." He began, his voice low. "When I do, you will not move and you will not speak unless otherwise directed by me. If you attempt to escape, you will be erased. Instantly."
He snapped his fingers, and the two released a breath they didn't know they were holding. Feeling returned to their arms and legs, and it was at that moment that Tala recognized the spell he had used. The boy wasn't aware that the Stun spell had the power to completely paralyze an entire body. Whether it was to his own lack of magical power or to the vastness of the professor's, he was unsure. Regardless, he and Victoria did as they had been instructed, and Cyrus continued.
"We have viable reason to believe that the two of you were involved in the infiltration of a highly classified area. Is this true?" Both gave no answer for a moment, and then solemnly nodded. "Very well; your punishment will be decided at a later time. There are more pressing matters to attend to." His gaze narrowed. "Answer wisely. In the center of the room, there was a large crystal. What happened to it?"
Victoria spoke up after another quiet moment. "When we entered the room, we were attacked by that huge treant. When it tried to get me, I dodged, and its claw scraped against that crystal." She gulped under his scrutinizing eye. "After that, the crystal began to glow, then it just…just exploded, and out came this glowing boy with white hair…"
"Glowing…boy?" The professor breathed out the words.
"Yes." Tala affirmed. "And for some reason, the treant wouldn't attack him, even as we were carrying him when he passed out."
"You have the boy?" Both students were taken aback by the strange urgency laced in his tone, but nodded. "Take me to him immediately. It is utmost importance that we find him as soon as possible. He is in grave danger."
….
"Hmmm…."
Ty Stormwhisper looked down towards his hand of cards: one four, two threes, a seven, and lastly a two. Nothing special; just a simple pair. His purple orbs traveled from the cards faces to the face of his opponent, and after a few seconds of scrutinizing he found himself unable to read the mysterious boy's visage. Of two things he was almost positive. First, the boy's hand definitely had to be much better than the Diviner's, and second, he had one good poker face.
It was then that he remembered his opponent had absolutely no idea how to play this game.
Honestly, he had no recollection of anything. From what the student was able to coax out of him through yes or no questions that were answered with silent nods, the only thing that the boy remembered was awakening this morning and being 'attacked' by Victoria. Not even anything that had transpired the previous night; any pieces were either blurs in his memory at best or simply nonexistent at worst. He was relieved to notice that while the male seemed unable to talk, he could at least understand most of what Ty was saying. It was confusing to say the least, though the wizard did his best not to dwell on it too much.
"One pair!" The boy stared with a curious countenance as Ty laid his hand down on Victoria's bedroom floor. The storm wizard gave him a raised eyebrow. "Let's see you beat this."
The teen looked wide eyed at his cards. Then, in the same manner, he set them on the wooden boards beneath him and breathed out a confident huff. Ty looked down, and deadpanned. Five hearts, a ten, Jack, Queen, King, and Ace; in other words, a Royal Flush.
"Sorry, kid." He began, lying through his teeth and pointing at the cards. "That's no good. All of yours have the same pattern. Mine have more variety, so I win." The boy suddenly grew somber, and Ty couldn't help but feel a twang of guilt.
That guilt was soon forgotten with a knock at the room's entry. Ty raised an eyebrow at the pounding. He couldn't imagine who it could be at this time; most students were already in their next class by now. As the knocking continued, the Diviner asked the boy to gather up the cards while he made his way towards the door.
Halfway there, he stopped in his tracks. He wasn't sure why or what, but there was an overwhelming sense of dread emanating from whatever was on the other side of that door. He took a step forward as another series of knocks rapped on the door, then another until he was exactly a yard length from the door. The pounding stopped soon after and a creepy silence filled the space, which was eventually interrupted by Ty's voice.
"Who is it?"
A pause, then out of nowhere, the long steely blade of a sword pierced through the door, soaring towards his position. On pure instinct, he jumped backwards, though not fast enough to completely escape harm. The tip of the blade pierced his chest and he let out a grunt of pain, stumbling back onto the floor and gripping the wound with his hands. The sword retracted from the door slowly, scratching along its wood. A rushing tackle forced the door open, inadvertently breaking part of its hinges, and two figures stepped in.
Hideous rattling accompanied the first's entrance, followed by the scraping of boots and his scimitar against the ground, which he had not bothered to re-sheath. Ty looked up amidst the searing pain, clenching his teeth, and couldn't help but marvel at the animated skeletal soldier walking towards him. The black shield clasped in its left hand was clearly made of the same metal as its helmet. A crimson fabric made for a makeshift loin cloth, the only source of material hanging from its sun-bleached bones. The wizard's eyes widened in disbelief at the second: a cloaked figure clad in nothing but midnight black, the shadow of his hood far reaching enough to cover everything above bottom of his eyes.
The skeleton waddled in step by step, his presumed master keeping a good distance behind him, and as they both passed the downed Diviner without even paying him heed, he moved to see the skull image plastered across the cloaked man's back.
"You…" He struggled to breathe the words out. "You're that…"
"Yes, I am." His response was low and indifferent. "I must thank you. You made my job much easier."
"What…are you…talking about…?"
"Him." He raised a finger at the boy in front of him, who was slowly creeping back as far away as possible, fear evident in his eyes. "As you're already aware, the boy's chamber was heavily guarded, though I wasn't sure to what degree. When I heard you conversing about the Exseed myth, I gave you that map in hopes you'd look for the passage and…perform a test run of sorts."
Ty gritted his teeth, anger almost wholly replacing his previous agony. "You…you used us just to test out its defenses?"
"You were nothing more than disposable pawns." He stated matter-of-factly. "Imagine my surprise when you not only survive, but bring back the Exseed with you." The hooded man's gaze focused solely on the boy, and he brought an inviting hand up. "Even more, this all powerful seed turns out to be a pathetic little boy. I do so detest unnecessary physical force, young one, so if you would come with me."
The boy's body began to shake uncontrollably and his eyes continued to shoot back in forth between his potential kidnapper and his wounded friend on the floor. Moments passed, and the man narrowed his eyelids, releasing a discontent sigh. With a simple snap of his fingers, his armed minion sheathed its sword and trudged forward, wrapping the bones of its fingers around the child's neck. It hoisted him into the air amidst his grunting and flailing, and the hooded man gestured for the skeleton to follow him out the door.
"Where do you think you're going?" The man looked down towards his left boot, his face blank upon seeing Ty's fingers keeping hold around it. The Diviner raised his head and his own lips formed into a defiant smirk. "You chose the wrong guy to piss off."
"Really?" His voice seemed disinterested as he reached his hand back and grabbed the handle of his minion's sheathed sword. Its blade came free with an iron rasp, and he rested the scimitar's end just inches above the teenager's neck. "Perhaps I should end his life then. Wouldn't want to take any chances."
Tears began to pour out of the boy's eyes as he watched the scene forming before him, though the skeleton's grip was too strong for him despite its lack of muscles. The man raised the blade high above his head, its end almost scraping against the ceiling, and as it began its descent, Ty closed his eyes in acceptance, though his grin didn't budge an inch.
The hooded individual stopped at that moment, acting quickly enough to divert the momentum to the side. The blade slashed a cut in Ty's pointed hat, just missing the top hairs of his head underneath. The Diviner's focus moved towards the event that had drawn the attention of his beheader.
In one instant, the boy's messy hair flashed from midnight black to the purest white, and his once emerald green irises had completely vanished. Time seemed to stop for that one interval, and in the midst of that momentary silence, the boy's hand shot forward in tandem with a violent pulse of energy, breaking cleanly through rib cage and grabbing hold of its spinal cord. A second energy burst followed up the first, completely decimating everything in the vicinity around his hand. The skeleton's spine split in half, and it collapsed to the ground lifeless.
"Seems you have some fight in you after all." The man remarked as the boy's feet touched down, his eyes burning with a quiet intensity.
"He's not the only one."
The man heard Ty's voice from a few meters away, and noticed just then that he could no longer feel the student's hand on his boot. However, an even more threatening noise originated above him drew his attention upward. It could only be described as a portal; a blackened wormhole with a diameter the length of its summoner, and something seemed to be traveling through it. He was greeted to that something a second later when three lavender bats, each the size of cats and wreathed with torrents of electricity, emerged and began to encircle him. A violent explosion of pure electrical energy ripped apart floor and wall alike, and Ty had to shield his eyes to keep from going blind.
When the light subsided, the Diviner looked at the unfolded scene. The blast had indeed torn through most of the floor in Victoria's bedroom and part of the short hallway leading to the kitchen and front door. Smoke wafted from gaping holes in the adjacent walls, their ends burned by the excessive heat energy. Even more fumes encompassed the impact site where a sizeable crater had been left in the destructions wake. It was impossible to see directly through this smoke, though off to the side he could see the Exseed boy in the far corner breathing heavily. His white hair had vanished once again, and his emerald green eyes were once again in their usual place.
At this point, Ty relaxed his body against one of the walls in the hallway. Blood continued to pour through his chest wound. His breathing seemed unaffected, so he reasoned the sword must have just missed his lungs. Regardless, it was times like these that he wished he had taken a few life magic classes; at least enough practice to seal up a small wound.
"If that kid hadn't distracted him, I wouldn't have had enough time to draw the storm sigil." Ty's purple eyes returned to the site of that same spell, just as the smoke began clearing away.
"Did you think you won?"
The wizard's breath cut off in an instant as the familiar voice sounded from the crater. The smoke was now clear enough to reveal the hooded man's form. Every last inch of his body was covered with bones, unevenly charred to a fine black by the spell's electricity.
"The skeleton's bones…" Ty began to reason, noticing the disappearance of the man's minion. "He shielded himself from the electricity by covering himself with the bones. But…there's no way that one skeleton could have covered his whole body."
The man began a slow saunter forward towards Ty, every step lingering longer than the last. Pieces and chunks of bone fell to the ground one by one, and the realization finally came to Ty as he saw four femurs on the man's body.
"To be able to draw a storm sigil in that situation while wounded; you have talent, kid." The man's voice admitted, oddly much lower and raspier than it had been before. "If I hadn't summoned a second skeleton's bones, I might have taken quite a bit of damage."
"This guy…he's on a different level than me." A small smirk graced Ty's lips, and he looked over to the boy who was still breathing heavily, seemingly so exhausted that he couldn't even stand. The cloaked man stopped midway between the two boys and from the floor behind him, a Lost Soul rose through the boards. It let out a deep, haunting wail, apparently capturing the man's attention.
"A professor's headed this way? How troublesome; we don't have the power to take on that kind of magic yet." His focus moved to the boy behind, who struggled to look up at him. The man pointed his finger, then began tracing a black colored sigil in the air. "Congratulations, boy. You just learned your own identity." A large dark rift opened up behind him, and he turned, walking into it.
"We'll meet again, Exseed."
The hole closed just as he issued his last words, and the moment he disappeared, the boy looked down at his hands with fear evident in his eyes. For some reason, all he could remember was being gripped by the man's skeleton, and when he regained his sense of self, the skeleton was snapped in half on the floor.
A groan from Ty brought him out of his reverie, and the boy quickly made his way to the wounded Diviner. As he looked around in a worried panic, the sound of hurried footsteps preceded the entrance of Victoria, Tala, Cyrus, and his two wooden golems into the dorm room.
"What happened here!" Tala asked, astounded at the damage around the place.
"Ty!" Victoria knelt down next to the brown haired boy, scanning his chest wound with horrified eyes. "Ty, are you okay? What happened here?"
"Grab him, Mr. Mythhammer." Cyrus commanded, and the initially surprised student heeded his call, helping the constructs to lift the Diviner up and out of the room. "The wound is shallow, but we must treat him immediately to prevent complications. Quickly all of you; we make haste towards the medical center."
"What's going on, professor?" Victoria's brown eyes were on the verge of tears. The normally stoic Drake could not help but feel a twinge of regret, and he turned away from her, walking after the others. He gestured for her to bring the boy with her.
"Once your friend is in stable condition, I shall explain everything to you."
(Author's Notes)
Phew, there's chapter two. Hope you guys enjoyed. Next chapter should answer some of the more general questions, as it can be a little hard to follow at this point.
Thanks to all those that have been reading, and stay tuned for next chapter.