Opening my eyes for the fourth time today I'd notice my location was completely different. I'd been in a large room with hospital cots surrounded by curtains. I'd been dressed in a white patient's garb and my tattered clothes were folded neatly on a table next to me. On the opposite side of me was the nurse's desk and a woman was seated there. She seemed to be examing something on a datapad and was obviously in whatever was on it to notice I was awake. Normally this would've been the school nurse who'd probably notice a conscious patient from a notification on the pad itself but a U.A.D. But given the robotic cat ears peeking out of her lavender-colored hair, I wanted nothing to do with whatever she was enamored with.

The moment I tried sinking back into the bedsheets she spun around in her chair. As our eyes met the two of us stopped moving completely. Her goggle-like glasses couldn't hide the dark circles underneath her amber eyes. I'd try to sink back into the covers once more but realized that it was far too late as a distorted Cheshire grin formed across her lips. She scooted over toward my cot and yanked the covers from my bed. Her slender fingers gripped my chin tightly as she examined my face at an uncomfortable distance.

"You, my dear nephew are a scientific marvel! I can't believe I'm in the same room with a being made up of Ether. It's no wonder you can't digest it without throwing it up."

"Do you mind letting go and backing up some," I managed to mumble. She did let go but she continued to examine me. First the eyes, then the nose, and finally she shoved a thermometer in my mouth. The device chimed twice while displaying 36 degrees celsius.

"Oh if I could just get a tissue sample from you. If ethics and common law weren't such dastardly barriers I'd have been able to study you to the fullest extent."

I quickly threw my hands up before she could ramble on anymore. "Hold on slow down Kat. I just woke up can you chill out please."

Her robotic ears drooped down and she sat back in her seat. Taking a deep breath she recollected herself. "My apologies Soran. When you were being transported here I was told you'd received severe damage to your body. But as you arrived you were completely healed."

That at least explained why I was in the infirmary now. But there were more pressing concerns. As much as I wanted to bolt out of the infirmary since my Aunt seemed to have commandeered the nurse's office there was much I needed to know. Even though she was the great Dr. Katia Machina who was the inventor of the U.A.D. and the Ghosts, I'd rather not get poked and prodded in the name of science. But considering I don't even know what I am beyond what Solomon said, I reluctantly had to bargain with the devil.

"Um... What ended up happening after all of that?

Kat straightened herself in her seat. Her expression changed from curious to serious. "The Peacekeeper force is investigating Cadet Buncho's actions and has detained a student that was related to them," she explained. "The cadet confessed to aiding Buncho in plotting your murder. It was over the horn you cut off years ago."

Butch's motive wasn't surprising. He was right about me dishonoring him by cutting it off. I thought my Dad was going to lose it when the words "diplomatic incident" kept getting thrown about.

"I've been analyzing the footage," Katia continued. "Donnell asked me due to the strange happenings of your match." She handed the datapad to me and as I examined its contents something monumental stuck out. Playing the footage that was on the pad, the events of the match played out exactly as they did before. It was a bit painful to watch myself get torn to shreds in the first half. So much so that I almost tossed the datapad to the ground in a fit of anger. But on a smaller window, a chart for Ether radiation kept rising and falling as the match went on. It was at a low level until Butch changed his weapon. It elevated slightly and it looked as though an aura began to surround Butch and his weapon.

When I got to the portion where Butch was about to deliver the final blow it hadn't even been a few seconds before the chart skyrocketed to levels even I hadn't seen before. The white flames and my own body generated so much Ether that I could've sworn I was looking at the city's generator.

"I can at least see why you're so curious," I said. "But what's that got to do with everything that went down."

Katia took the datapad back from me, then tapped on it a few times. When she handed it back she had a display of my medical records from two different periods. One from two weeks ago and one from just an hour ago.

"Ever since you were little you've always radiated a little Ether. Everyone does when they become Espers. Ether radiation isn't harmful at all to organics but it can have various side effects. But if you look at your vitals now..."

Doing what she said I examined the information laid out. She was correct, everything looked different than before. It seemed that my heartbeat was a bit faster and the amount of Ether radiation in my body was off the charts. Which meant everything that happened in whatever subconscious reality I went to was true. I knew this would probably bite me in the ass but it was better than not knowing anything.

"Have you ever had the suspicion that I was neither Promethean nor Human?"

Katia thought to herself for a moment. As she did she examined me again like before but not as roughly as last time. She then shook her head. "From the moment your Father found you on Prometheus all those years ago I never thought you were either. Considering how advanced the craft you crash-landed in was plus the fact you've been able to utilize an Esper ability despite never ingesting Ether before also gave me possible leads. But... Since you asked such a question my deductive reasoning tells me you already know exactly what you are."

Hook, line, and sinker. I didn't know whether or not I should tell Kat this but at this point, not telling her would be a bad thing. Besides, out of everyone I could trust with this kind of information right now, it would be her.

"Well... I know this is going to sound extremely insane and I know this could be impossible. But I'm an Arcadian."

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I closed my eyes, hoping for her to either burst into an extreme fit of laughter or become very angry for making a fool of her. But as the silence continued I decided to open my eyes only to find that she'd still been in serious mode.

"Well... Anything?"

Taking the datapad again she began tapping against its screen vigorously. Handing it back there was some data on some ruins located in Neo Arcadia as well as a video file. "I believe you. It makes perfect sense."

As the shock appeared in my expression she rolled over beside me and began pointing out some things in the datapad. "I've been researching the Megaliths and ruins of Neo Arcadia for some time," she said. "There is evidence to support that Arcadians were the original inhabitants of this planet eons ago. They seemed to have a perfect understanding of Ether and even spoke often of the planet itself being their deity. As beings of Living Ether, it's not difficult to deduce that they would revere their planet to such an extent. The Megaliths are still a mystery but the is something that I have found about them."

She flicked the screen and it swapped to a picture of one of the Megaliths. It was the very same one I saw this morning. "These Megaliths are a device of some sort that can be activated. However, they require some sort of passkey to do so." She switched gears, snatching away the pad and tossing it onto the end of the cot. She then took my right hand and flipped it over revealing the mark that now showed up on it.

"This very same symbol appears on that Megalith, and the moment your Ether radiation levels spiked it began an activation sequence."

"W-Wait," I interjected. "How do you know that it activated? Aren't the Megalith's super off-limits to anyone right now?"

Kat threw her hands up and shook her head, "Come now, If I thought about the legality of how I conduct my research I'd never get anything done. Also, you'd do well never to mention this to either of your parents or Donnell. I do not want to do time in Necro Arcadia."

Duly noted, my Aunt yet again did something highly illegal for the sake of research. I could probably get a sizable bounty for turning her in for the number of things I know at this point.

As I was about to admonish my Aunt for the crap she pulled the door to the infirmary and swung it open. In came a Promethean woman with long blonde hair tied up in a braided ponytail. As she strutted into the room she carried herself with such dignity and grace I could've mistaken her for a Queen or something. Her ethereal presence alone put me at ease. She pulled up a seat next to us and sat down. Afterward, she puffed her cheeks and her brow furrowed.

"Do you know how worried you made me?

The question turned my ease into absolute dread. "U-Um..." and, "W-Well you see..." These were the only words I could manage.

She cupped both hands over my cheeks and leaned in so close I swear she was about to burn my eyes out with the glare she gave me. The anger and worry behind those peridot eyes ran my blood colder than any near-death experience I've had today. The only thing scarier than getting nearly run through by a giant cleaver is a worried Mother.

"You finally get to come back to school and I hear you've been fighting, drawing weapons in class, and you even nearly died... Soran Xenthos, I'm starting to believe that I can no longer let you out of my sight."

"Nice to see you Mom," I greeted.

She turned her gaze over to Kat, who at this point had been trying to weasel her way back to her desk to become too occupied to say anything. A futile attempt in the presence of my Mom.

"Katia... Did you find anything wrong with my son?"

Turning back around to face us, she shook her head. "Not a single problem with him Crystal. Just a little fatigue and some drowsiness."

Mom didn't seem like she believed a word from Katia because she began examining me all over. Even in places, I didn't want her to look. "Mom I'm fine you don't have to..." Before I could finish my sentence she placed her hands on my chest. A green aura began to emanate from her hands and as it spread all around me I began to feel an abundance of relief wash over me. Any aches or pains I might've had were gone in an instant. Mom sat back in her seat and her stern expression softened.

"You do not have to worry about any consequences from today," she said. "Donnell told me everything that happened and as far as the Peacekeeper force is concerned you acted in self-defense. However, it doesn't excuse how reckless you have been today. You've made a lot of people worry about you."

I started to feel bad about all of that. True I could've handled this morning's altercation a little better but the duel wasn't my fault. Then it suddenly hit me. I almost jolted out of my cot before my Mom stopped me. "What about my friends? Are they alright? Are they hurt?"

Both Kat and Mom shook their heads though Kat pulled back up to the cot. "They're fine for the most part. None of them got hurt but they were caught up in something."

Seeing my expression stiffen, Kat waved her hand telling me not to worry. "Your friends are being examined for any possible injuries as we speak. From what I've seen they were affected by the Ether radiation you emitted in the arena. They all have similar marks to yours."

Something to worry about but it would have to wait. Seeing my Mom perk up hearing about a mark she began examining me again. Finding the mark on my hand her stern look returned.

"When the in blazes did you get a tattoo?"

Running my fingers through my hair it was a bit difficult to explain how I even got the mark. That is until I remembered the conversation Solomon and I had. Lying to Mom often got me in a huge amount of trouble, so I decided to tell her everything. As she listened she kept quiet and her worry only grew exponentially. I did leave out the parts about Solomon as it would sound way too crazy for either of them to hear. But I did at least explain the Marker part.

Mom rubbed her forehead, seemingly overwhelmed by all the information. A part of me was worried she might not accept my origins so easily. She placed her hands on her lap and her expression stiffened.

"Your father and I knew you'd eventually find out your origins someday. But to think you were one of the Exalted ones. It's something that wouldn't have ever crossed my mind at all."

Good, I'd at least gotten one normal response today. But it was concerning she didn't seem too bothered by all of it.

"Listen to me Soran," she demanded. "I believe that some previously unrelated events have now aligned themselves. Even though this information I will share with you is an absolute top secret I believe you should know."

With a wave of her hand, a display was generated. The display had the same thumbnail as the video Talia managed to grab. Pressing play Mom allowed me to view the video in its entirety. It didn't start the same way. The Mech appeared right in front of the soldier and began blasting away at different areas away from him. Then it looked down noticing the soldier and bent down to look at him. Its green eyes glowed in a sinister light as they nearly covered the screen.

"The time is almost near. Soon you'll all know my name..."

The mech rose to its feet and aimed its cannon straight at the soldier. The rest I needn't recall.

"What you just watched was a scene from a few days ago," Kat said. "A base on Neo Arcadia's Moon Nautilus was attacked by a faction not related to any enemy the Prime System has had in the past. The Ether radiation that was detected had the same output as yours did."

Kat didn't have to explain that to me. I know why she did but for some reason, I knew exactly what was going on. Not only have I heard that voice before, but I'd also heard it moments before I passed out last time. Then before that, I'd heard it in my nightmares.

Suddenly the room went completely dark, then the lights came back in turning into a red hue. A loud alarm began to blare throughout the building and the intercom activated.

"Warning... Warning... Five unidentified craft are rapidly approaching Albion Academy... All personnel must evacuate immediately... Warning... Warning... Hostilities will commence... Please evacuate immediately.”