“Stand up Cian,” an angelic voice spoke to me, causing me to glance around—it was eerily familiar but I couldn’t place it.

Everything was still, not even the droplets of liquid that had been sprayed around moved. I tried to take the moment to further observe my surroundings. For some reason however, everything was all blurry making it impossible to focus on anything in particular that wasn’t directly around me.

“It’s time to take the first step. A promise has been made and it must be kept,” she continued, her voice emanating from everywhere around me.

“W-who are you? What promise?!” I yelled in confusion.

“You will remember in due time,” she said, as I felt a soft sensation brush across my cheek.

Time immediately began to move again. The purple liquid started to flow towards me, absorbing into my skin. It felt as if magma was forcing itself through every vein in my body and I felt power course through me. The old man froze, staring in shock.

“No…NO! We were successful? We truly were? But…why now?!” The old man protested as he rose from his sitting position.

My body started to move as if on its own, no longer under my control. Outstretching my hand towards the old man I could feel him trembling, his quanum retreating, before erupting in anger.

“You…You dare display your sins for me to bear?!” The old man’s visceral anger boiled out.

“Qalsapha yatra krest naviir,” I found myself saying.

As I walked forward, the last of the purple liquid vanished into me before erupting out of my body as a thick purple aura that distorted the air. Silver arms swung towards me but dissolved into nothing before making contact. The old man tried to summon more quanum from within himself but it too dissolved.

“I see…you are truly an unfortunate one, you carry the gravest sin of all. You must be Khasar Tal-Vasra Navest…The Calamity...” he squeezed out as his body was erased by my aura.

“C-Cian?” Nicole called to me, with caution.

With the old man gone the binds had lifted and she was once again able to move freely. She slowly crept forwards until I put my hand out, signaling her to stay back.

“I don’t know what this is. Do not come closer,” I commanded, finally regaining some control over myself.

“But...that old man, you sent him away didn’t you?” She asked, confused and suddenly more alert as she heard Alden get back to his feet.

“No, he didn’t just send him away. He erased him, his body, his quanum…Everything. The only thing left of him is in our memories," Alden said, readying his swords just in case.

“Wait, you mean he’s dead? You killed him?!” Nicole asked, in shock.

“Nero, any thoughts? You’ve been awfully quiet,” Alden asked, looking down anxiously at the ring on his finger which embodied his Dratmana.

“Sorry Master, I was simply processing the intense amount of data from this event. It seems that I have no records of this and therefore am unable to speculate. This however, is not simply quanum, it is almost something else entirely,” Nero stated quizzically.

“What are we going to do?” Nicole asked before the reality of the situation finally sunk in. “I guess in the end it was self defense…but still-”

“That’s enough. Think about how Cian must feel. Given that he’s the one who did it,” Alden bit out between clenched teeth, his nails digging into his palms as he clenched his fists.

Slowly, the odd power began to fade away and I felt as though I had run a few kilometers through a muddy bog. Falling to one knee I pushed out a smile. I was exhausted but this sensation was invigorating at the same time. I knew I should probably feel bad for killing someone but I felt absolutely nothing at all.

“Cadeyrn, anything to say for yourself?” I asked pointedly.

“Th- data not- vailable…Something- to distort Dratmana…we not stable here,” Cadeyrn stated, its voice distorted and its statement not quite complete.

“On another note…Your tag team was impressive,” I said in an effort to change topics. “I was not expecting Nicole to pelt me in the side. That was a rather large snowball I might add,” I said, forcing myself to my feet and locking eyes with Nicole- she blushed furiously.

“I’m sorry!!!” Nicole yelled, genuinely concerned that I might be angry.

“He’s just teasing you. Anyways, what’s done is done, let’s search for anything useful. I don’t think it will be long before someone makes it down here to investigate,” Alden said, relaxing his posture as he walked up behind Nicole, patting her on the back.

“Yeah…surprisingly, I don’t think I’m as affected as I should be. I think that’s what bothers me the most,” Nicole said, looking a little bit uncomfortable as she rubbed her arm anxiously.

“Indeed…anyways, good call Alden, we should find that terminal he was using,” I said, looking around for it.

“It's over here, dummy,” Nicole chided as she moved towards the terminal.

Alden and I made our way over, peering over her shoulder as she immediately began working it. The files were in the middle of being deleted and Nicole had just barely managed to stop it. Most of what was left had been corrupted from the process. I started reading one file titled ‘Talis Reconciliation Project’ but it was in a language I didn’t quite understand. I made out one familiar phrase however, ‘Alsa zyes nas vestremact ostre neyvesh’.

“I guess, this has been a fruitless pursuit,” Alden said, as sirens and shouting sounded above us.

“Yeah…It doesn’t look like I can salvage much of this,” Nicole moped.

“Well, we need to save the file titled ‘Talis Reconciliation Project’, it may be important,” I said adamantly.

“Yes, well, how exactly am I to do that? There’s no interface…” Nicole chided.

She had gotten much more comfortable with Alden and I, much to the point where it was as if she had been with us since…forever. Nicole was clearly far more adaptable than I gave her credit for—especially if she can put up with Alden’s non-stop sarcasm.

“Sounds like a problem you need to solve,” Alden teased as he went off to quickly check for anything else that might be useful.

“I may be of assistance,” Meigetsu suddenly stated, causing me to glance at Nicole’s bracelet which housed her Dratmana.

“I should be able to copy and reconstruct some of the data in this terminal, please give me a moment,” Meigetsu stated, as it started to glow in a cool blue light.

Unlawfully taken from Royal Road, this story should be reported if seen on Amazon.

As Meigetsu did–whatever it was doing–we heard loud groups of footsteps above us and more shouting followed by what sounded like a chainsaw.

“Well, that’s certainly not ideal,” Alden said, as he stared at the door while picking up a very wet notebook.

“We need to leave. Meigetsu, please hurry!” Nicole said, nervously shuffling her feet.

Given the amount of noise, I assumed it was likely the police had been called. They likely also called the fire department in order to get through the thick doors protecting the basement of the school. As if I was some sort of prophet, the door to the stairwell gave way and people came rushing into the room. In that instant, Alden swung one sword sending a wave of water across the ground towards the stairwell and then swung the other creating a gust of wind which froze the water solid creating a wall.

“That will hold…for a time,” Alden stated, as if saying ‘let's hurry this up shall we’.

“Sorry, it’s done now. Let’s go!” Nicole said, as she began running for the opening in the ceiling and then nearly fell over as I grabbed her arm.

“Sorry, no time,” I said as Alden put his hand on my shoulder.

With a flash of blue light we were suddenly on his balcony.

“W-what…?” Nicole asked, stunned, before losing her balance from the disorientation and then, consequently, her breakfast.

Alden and I supported her with one hand on each side as she finished retching.

“Easy-does-it now. It gets easier after the first time,” Alden stated, apologetically.

I struggled to hold Nicole’s arm down as she tried to spin and punch Alden in mock anger.

“Now, now. It all worked out didn’t it?” I laughed, handing her a cloth to wipe her face.

“Hmph, a bit of warning would be nice. So when did you get this worked out?” Nicole asked, shaking me off and walking towards a chair to take a seat.

“Well…I’ve always been able to. As long as I set the coordinates beforehand, Cadeyrn can take me anywhere, but if it's more than just me, I need Alden’s quanum to make it work for some reason,” I explained as I made my way into Alden’s room from the balcony.

Our fatigue was quickly forgotten as we decidedly skipped school to discuss the day’s events. The waterlogged notebook Alden had found in the lab was nearly fully intact. We waited until it was dry before we started picking apart its contents.

“Look here, it says ‘According to my research, a gateway to the city of the gods exists between the 3rd and 4th worlds but I am still unable to find a suitable vessel’ then it leads into some odd dotted pattern underneath,” Alden said, reading through the notebook.

“I’m trying to wrap my head around his comments on sins. I think it's safe to say I’m related to all of this in some way…” I said, scratching my chin.

Nicole sat back in her chair, head tilted back, staring at the ceiling–this was her odd signature thinking position. I reached for my glass of water and took a sip, it was room temperature so I immediately placed it back down. Suddenly, Nicole sat up and yanked the notebook from Alden’s hands causing him to look at her in offense. She grabbed a piece of paper from her backpack and traced the dots before handing the notebook back. She then started connecting the dots with small lines.

“It’s a map…I’m not sure how I know, but I just do. I don’t know of what though,” Nicole said, as she finished drawing and placed the paper on the table in front of us.

I leaned over, taking a look at the drawing and immediately noticed the formation. I quickly pulled out my phone and began typing furiously.

“Found it!” I said, showing them a picture on my phone.

“I don’t get it…It’s just the…” Alden trailed off, his eyes growing wider.

“What? What are you guys connecting about that you’re not saying to me. I don’t have your MENtal telepathy,” Nicole chided, losing her patience.

“Well, that was painful…” I said as I watched Alden keel over in laughter.

“Oh man, that was awful Nicole,” Alden teased.

“And yet, you still haven’t clued me in…” she sighed.

“It’s the Alcove behind my father’s shop on the south end of the island. Something about the way you drew the lines really connected the dots,” I said, grinning at my own clever banter as Nicole groaned.

“Ok, everyone out of my house now. You’ve clearly overstayed your welcome,” Alden chided playfully.

“Nicole started it,” I whined in mock offense.

“Anyways…” Nicole said, rolling her eyes.

“Why are these things connected? It seems too random,” she continued, leaning forward looking at me, arms resting on her knees.

Our eyes locked, her warm hazel eyes tugging at my soul. Realizing we were staring, we quickly looked away from each other. Alden had the decency, for once, to ignore the display.

“I think it’s time for a field trip,” I said as I stood up from my chair, stretching. “You alright now Cadeyrn and Inazuma?” I asked, making my way onto the balcony.

“Yes Master,” they responded affirmatively, having recovered from the ordeal in the basement.

“Good,” I said, turning around to face Alden and Nicole as they joined me on the balcony.

“To the alcove?” Alden asked.

“Yep!” I exclaimed, floating upwards with Alden following suit.

“Uhh… I’m not great at flying yet,” Nicole admitted sheepishly.

“Don’t worry, if you fall, I’m sure Cian will catch you,” Alden teased as I glared daggers at him. “Wow, I can almost feel that,” Alden continued before flying away.

“Let’s go, I’ll stick close,” I said to Nicole, blushing as she nodded her head nervously in response.

Being the middle of the day, we placed an obscuring seal around ourselves and began our flight towards the alcove on the south end of the island. On our way over, we passed above the school—there were several fire trucks, police cars, an ambulance and some strange golden cars with an odd symbol on top parked at the entrance. I motioned at Nicole and Alden and then pointed but they just shrugged—we’d have to investigate that later. As we approached the alcove, I started feeling an odd tingling sensation around my body.

“Master, there’s something strange in the air up ahead,” Cadeyrn alerted me.

I gestured to Alden and Nicole to stop as a flock of storm petrels swarmed around us in formation. They danced through the air, observing us, before they dove down into the alcove to perch. Taking a hint, I followed them in, waving to Nicole and Alden to follow. We landed on a large stone outcropping above the alcove, it was littered with feathers.

“Well then…this is certainly different,” Nicole said, as she began to look around.

“Agreed,” I said, observing the birds below us.

Suddenly a petrel shot up from down below and perched on Alden’s shoulder. Alden gently stroked its head as it chirped approvingly.

“It seems to be asking us why we’re here?” Alden said, questioningly.

“You can understand it?!” I asked in shock.

“Apparently?” Alden replied, calmly taking a seat on a rock.

“Master, these birds appear to be a non-native species to the 3rd world. There is zero record of these birds,” Nero stated matter-of-factly.

“Nonsense, these are clearly storm petrels,” I argued, taking a seat next to Alden.

“They are simply borrowing their form. There appears to be a strange energy existent in these creatures,” Nero rebutted and the bird squawked loudly in response.

“Youngling?! How rude. I’ll have you know I’ve existed for at least two-hundred years,” Nero seemed to be arguing with the bird, which then squawked repeatedly in return.

“It’s laughing at him…Interesting creature,” Alden said, amused.

Nicole had wandered further on to the outcropping to examine the grass and odd topaz crystals growing everywhere. There was no snow, in fact, the air was warm and with that realization Nicole decided to take her coat off and sling it over her arm—no use sweating for no reason.

Venturing further across the top of the flattened cliff, Nicole came across some larger topaz crystals which seemed purposefully arranged. She carefully placed her hand on top of it then vanished without a trace.

“Nicole!” I shouted, leaping up, as I watched her vanish from the corner of my eye.

The birds all began chirping and squawking loudly.

“I don’t understand, but...they say ‘It has begun’? At any rate, we better try and follow her!” Alden said, as he moved towards the large topaz crystals but I had already started making my way towards them. Together, we ran up to the crystals, placed our hands on them and too vanished.