Chapter 1 Kiara Meitner
A hero is someone who, regardless of the cost, steps forward against adversity, making sacrifices to help others or achieve a noble goal.
Kiara quickly dashes out of the house, unaware of her grandfather’s spirit companion following her. Her gaze was focused on not being marked tardy by her teacher. She quickly sees her friends walking up ahead and runs hard to catch up to them.
“ Hey, it's been a while.” yelling loudly to her friends.
Kiara’s friends jump from her sudden appearance but they all laugh it off together as they continue on their way to school.
“ Where did you come from Kiara?” one of her friends asked, teasing her.
“ I just ran really fast from my house,” she replies, her voice dry and out of breath, wiping the sweat from her forehead.
“ Did you oversleep again?” her other friend teased, a mischievous smile on her face.
Kiara just rolled her eyes as her friends giggled. The air was crisp and gently filled the area with the fresh scent of grass and flowers. The scent of the orchids reminded Kiara for a moment about when life was simple when her parents were still alive, and she was just a simple kid. It was a stark contrast from how intense and fun her life is in life-and-death situations fighting curse spirits.
“ Oh Kiara, how is your grandfather doing?”
Her friend’s comment about her grandfather quickly snaps Kiara out of her memories.
“ Oh he is doing just fine, why do you ask?” her voice was puzzled.
“ Is he some kind of fencing instructor or swordsman because whenever I see him, he is always swinging his blade around and teaching you?”
Kiara’s eyes darted away, her gaze flickering to the ground as her hands twitched. Quickly pushing back her long black hair that covered one side of her face. The question about her grandfather did make her throat tighten but she forced a smile. She couldn’t let her friends know about the Warden society and what she does in her free time.
“ Oh. I mean he is… some swordsman but I swear he is just…. Uhhhh-” Kiara’s rambling is interrupted when she accidentally bumps into a tall white-haired man and his female companion standing next to him. Kiara was caught off guard by the man’s stern, cold, and tired expression. His eyes clearly told her that she was in big trouble.
She couldn’t do anything. It was as if every limb of her body was frozen in fear. The air felt chilled, the man’s presence was unlike anything she felt before. The air around him seemed to intensify.
The man’s companion, the long blonde-haired girl with a stern expression, nudged him on his side with a sharp look, “ Come on brother, don’t give her that look. It was clearly an accident.”
The man said nothing, putting his hand on Kiara’s shoulder, and violently pushed her to the side, catching both her and her friends off guard.
“ Hey! You could at least be gentle.” one of Kiara’s friends yelled out.
“ Let’s get going,” the man’s partner says swiftly, “ Sorry about my brother. He is not gentle with people,”
Kiara tries to push her friends to keep moving on as they are getting late to school. Her friends are busy cursing the man and his sister out for being rude. The day has started pretty awkwardly for her.
“ You should probably teach your brother some manners for once, you hear that you little-” Kiara’s friend exclaims before she and her other friend cover her mouth.
“ Hahaha. Ignore that please,” she whispers something quietly, “ Nina, let’s get going now. The school bell is about to ring in 5 minutes.” The trio runs quickly to make it to school, running past all the civilians passing by.
The man stares back as the trio moves along, his partner nudges his side for them to keep moving.
“ Let’s get going,” she murmured, “ We don’t want to leave big sis all alone any longer now,”
The man’s eyes lingered on Kiara, glaring at her presence, “ That girl…she is a warden. Her spiritual energy has potential but it’s sloppy and too uncontrolled. Filthy human.”
“ Father said not to engage with wardens, “ his sister teased, “ He wouldn’t appreciate your attitude.”
Rolling his eyes, the man turned and walked away, his sister trailing behind him.
“ He is not our father,” he mutters quickly but silently to himself, out of earshot from his sister.
A chilling sensation crawled up Kiara’s spine, it was unlike anything she felt before. She quickly pulls out her pendant but it doesn't shine- a sign of an Elusive in the area. Kiara's eyes dart around but she doesn’t feel anything off in the area, no hint of dark spiritual energy.
Was it that man and his sister?
Kiara slapped her hands on her cheeks to calm herself down, her imagination was running all over the place, and she just bumped into two strangers. That unnerving situation must have made her think there was an Elusive nearby. She hoped school would be kind to her, and her day would be better from this point on.
The school day did not make Kiara’s day any better.
The classroom felt like a prison, the humming of the teacher’s voice faded into the background as her mind wandered. It smelled like chalk dust and stale paper. The outside world felt so colorful through the windows, with the sun peeking through the clouds. It was too disorienting for Kiara.
It would be so much better if I was out fighting Elusives, then stuck in this desk, she thought doodling in her sketchbook.
“ Kiara,” the teacher yelled out her name. She quickly snapped back to reality, but the moment went by quickly. Time felt like it slowed down for an eternity.
Kiara’s friend watches softly smack her head on her desk in Advisory.
“ You really don’t like that teacher don’t you Kiara,” Nina asks.
“ I don’t hate the teacher, I just hate the way she teaches, it’s so slow and boring like… you feel time slowing down in her class,” Kiara exclaims to her friends.
“ I think that’s a you thing. Your attention span is so bad, your brain requires stimulation almost every second, it’s that bad,” Chloe jokes.
I mean if you are constantly jumping off roofs and buildings and working with magic, your brain would be used to fast-paced action all the time Kiara smiles to herself at the thought.
The school bell suddenly rings loudly, echoing down the hallway, signaling the end of the day. Students flood out of their classrooms- some clogging the halls to chat with their friends, while others hurriedly dash towards the exits. Kiara grabbed her notes and stuffed them in her bag. There was a strange sensation that wasn’t quite right. Something was wrong- but Kiara couldn’t place her finger on it. She walks down the stairs chatting with her friends.
Her friends were laughing beside her, unaware of the unease in the area. She is forced to pretend everything is okay with a smile.
“ See you tomorrow,” she said as they parted ways, waving each other off.
As she walked out of the school gates, Kiara tried to blend in with the crowd, but her eyes darted around, scanning for danger, but unaware to her, Edward’s spirit companion was following her. She started sensing a dangerous feeling a couple streets down from where she was. Quickly ignoring her doubts, she dashes into the busy streets to where that dangerous feeling came from.
Meanwhile, Edward sits alone in his dimly lit study room, documents, and loose papers everywhere. He is busy talking on the phone with another person on the receiver. Edward’s eyes dart around, picking up and looking through the loose papers as the call continues.
“ How are things going with your training with Kiara?” the man on the receiver asks, his voice smooth but very disingenuous with the topic.
“ She’s just like any other rank at her age, just a regular D rank,” Edwards replies diligently, his tone stiff, “ Nothing out of the ordinary.”
There is a long silence on the other end. “ Hmm…a D rank huh. The current climate right now is very tense. A and B rank Elusives are growing and evolving at a rate much faster than expected- you know what that means.”
Edward’s eyes darted at a picture frame of him in his younger days, the glare covering up the face of the person next to him in the picture. The memories it brought lingered in his head.
“ I’m doing what I can,” Edward swiftly says, his voice quiet but still controlled. “ But you should already know the drill. We A ranks handle the major threats. It is not Kiara's fight yet or any of the younglings. They are all… too inexperienced.”
The voice on the other end doesn’t seem satisfied with Edward’s answer.
"Perhaps it would be better for Kiara if she were fully integrated with the curriculum—training alongside the other D ranks and below." Edward’s face is stern, his hands clenching into a fist.
“ I still think it’s better if a person close to her should train her. All those younglings should not be forced to train harder because of an increase of A rank Elusives, it’s not their battle it’s ours. Kiara and the rest need time. We should prepare them for what’s to come properly.”
“ Perhaps you are right but remember you asked to be her mentor, while it is true that it is normal for kids her age to still be D rank, a lot of them manage to proceed to at least C and B rank. Maybe your training is not as sufficient as you proclaimed those many years ago.”
“You were about Kiara’s age once, Zhang. I remember training you, you had major respect for me. All full of hope, and you were such a cute boy. Now look at you- no-nonsense, very strict, and rules. What happened to the cute boy that idolized me?” Edward snarks back, clearly trying to tease him.
“ You must be misremembering things, I was always all rules and no-nonsense….” Edward smiles to himself as he hears Zhang breathing heavily to himself. He played directly into Edward’s teasing game.
“Your attempts to change the conversation are not working Edward, we need strong wardens in this day and age, there hasn’t been an S rank in a long time, and we need one as fast as possible.”
Edward’s gaze shifts back onto the photograph, picking it up and examining it, “ I’ll make sure to show you her potential. I’ll make her ready. She’ll not fail you.”
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Tightening his grip on the phone, Edward’s mind flashed to when he was her age. He trained hard and obeyed all orders and rules set by the council but Kiara was different, she inherited that rebellious personality of her father. She had potential but she lacked the discipline and control.
There’s a long pause. The silence consumes Edward, waiting for Zhang’s response. “ I hope you are right. If you ever change your mind, you should at least let her tour the area, but don’t be surprised if your training is not enough for her, the world is changing and it is unforgiving to people like her.”
Zhang rudely hangs up the call on Edward.
He slowly puts the phone back in his pocket and continues working in his study room. Tapping the pencil on his notebook, Edward contemplated on himself.
“ Maybe it wouldn’t hurt for Kiara to meet other children like her,” he mutters softly to himself. “ Kiara should be home by now, where is she?”
He puts his hand over his eyes and sees through his spirit companion following Kiara running through the busy streets away from her home.
Edward’s face is empty for a couple seconds before bursting out in playful anger, “ Kiara! You are making me look bad.” he rubs his forehead, “ Disobeying my orders… heh just like her father. ”
“I hope she doesn’t get hurt,” Edward says, muttering to himself.
After a couple minutes of running, Kiara stops to take a breather. Quickly wiping the sweat and breathing hard to catch her breath.
Taking out her pendent, it flowed brightly, signaling Kiara that the elusive was near in this area. She explored the alleyway, graffiti, and garbage were everywhere.
Kiara’s eyes darted everywhere to find the Elusive but instead, she saw a hand behind a set of boxes. She slowly walks forward to see a child slumped over next to a pile of garbage. Cowering under fear when he notices Kiara walking towards him.
“ Hey. It’s okay now,” she says gently, her voice slow and sincere. She thinks to herself, "He probably got lost somewhere, I should get him to safety before I can fight the elusive, “ I promise I won't bite.”
The scared child moves farther away from Kiara as she reaches her hand towards his. She immediately felt confused at his gesture. She didn’t know what to do after this moment.
What did I do wrong? Do I look suspicious? Kiara’s mind raced with thoughts, I thought kids loved me.
“ I’m not going to eat you. I promise,” Kiara’s heart dropped, her words hanging in her throat, Girl. Stop saying you are gonna eat him, good job for him not trust you any further. The uncomfortable silence did not make the situation any more awkward.
Edward’s spirit companion slowly perched itself on a nearby ledge, watching over Kiara’s action. Kiara swiftly slapped herself on the cheeks to calm herself down, but that feeling of the kid being scared affected her slightly.
“ What’s your name?” Kiara says gently, “ My name is Kiara and what’s yours.”
The boy looked at Kiara briefly, his breath heavy, hands trembling, “ My name is… Noah.”
“ That’s a cool name, Noah,” Kiara says with a big smile on her face, offering her hand again, “ I don’t think you are comfortable hiding behind those boxes. I’ll buy you some food before I return you back to your parents. Okay, I know a killer pizza place near here.”
Noah stayed quiet for a long time, unintentionally making Kiara think she said something wrong. She kneels down to Noah’s level, “ Look Noah, I know you are scared and don’t trust me, but I promise you, I won’t leave you alone.”
“ Come on,” she said again, trying to sound more sincere, “ I could show you something cool,” she swung her finger around, a black mist trail of spiritual energy following her finger. Noah’s eyes widened, his curiosity sparking.
Kiara's lips form slowly into a smile, “ Let’s get you out of here, this place is kind of scary, to be honest.”
“ I don’t want to go,” Noah quietly mutters to Kiara. Kiara tries to comfort Noah but he says something that made Kiara’s heart, “ The monster is near.”
Kiara's eyes widened, her eyes darting to find where the Elusive was. Thinking quickly, she placed her hands into a charm spell. In an instant, the alleyway is covered by a translucent barrier shimmering into existence.
Shifting her hands into a different hand sign, Kiara’s normal school uniform is engulfed into a misty black smoke, transforming them into formal attire with a purple kimono draped over her shoulders, with a katana sheathed next to her side.
“ Woah, “ Noah gasped, his eyes widening at what he just saw, “ How did you do that?”
Kiara started tapping her foot, not knowing how to explain what she just did to Noah, “ Uh. Magic.”
She looks around, unsheathing her katana but she doesn’t see the Elusive, the pendant still glows telling her that it was near her proximity.
“ Stay back Noah. Stay close to me at all times.” Kiara ordered Noah as he went back into hiding behind the pile of boxes.
Noah started breathing heavily, his eyes widening, sweating profusely. Kiara turned her head to see what was wrong, and she saw Noah pointing at something.
Kiara quickly turned back to see a two-headed Elusive appear in front of her, her eyes widened from being caught off guard. She quickly turned her body to the side, before the spirit could grab her. Kiara’s eyes darted towards Noah, who was watching the whole thing unfold.
Shit. Shit. Shit. Kiara’s mind raced, Calm down! If I die, Noah will die as well. Think of a plan Kiara, think rationally.
She quickly dashes herself towards the beast, This is not a rational plan! Quickly swinging her katana, she manages to get an indent into the creature’s shoulder.
“ I did it!” Kiara exclaims proudly, before being thrown like a ragdoll into the nearby wall, falling face first into the ground, a dust cloud forming around her, “Ow,” her eyes watering from the dirt in her eyes, coughing profusely from the smoke.
Her back hurt badly from the impact. The pain radiating across her body, The two-headed Elusive launched its multiple tail whips at Kiara, who thinks quickly dodging their attempts to pierce her again.
Quickly on her feet, she dashed towards the Elusive, narrowly missing many of their attacks. One of the tails managed to graze on her leg. Momentarily distracted, the cursed spirit pushed her back to where she started.
Edward, watching the battle through his hawk spirit’s eyes, thinks to himself, "I should help Kiara out, Zhang’s words ring in his head, don’t be surprised if your training is not enough for her, the world is changing and it is unforgiving to people like her.
Edward gives a long deep sigh to himself, “ Maybe he is right,” he quickly examines the elusive, “ It appears to be at least a low C rank spirit, Kiara might be able to defeat it if she plays her numbers right.”
Wiping her eyes quickly, Kiara quickly got into a stance against the Elusive. Her eyes still watered a bit, from the smoke in the air. She breathes deeply, trying to maintain her composure, raising her katana high. The taste of smoke rained heavily in the area, filling her mouth.
The two-headed Elusive quickly glances at Noah and then back at Kiara. She slowly walks forward towards Noah, each step heavy and deliberate. The Elusive charges itself towards Noah, and Kiara acts immediately by aiming and throwing her blade.
Edward’s heart dropped for a moment, Kiara’ action could either go well or go horribly wrong. The katana narrowly misses the Elusive, scratching it on its leg, causing it to collapse onto the ground.
Kiara quickly dashed towards Noah, putting him behind her, “ Release,” Kiara’s katana dissolves back into pure spiritual energy. She quickly outstretched her hands into a hand sign. The katana reappeared in her outstretched hands. Edward’s eyes widened from how quickly Kiara acted in a high-stakes scenario, impressed by her actions.
Kiara yhrew her katana into the Elusive’s body, thrusting it as deep as she physically could. The creature squirmed heavily, trying its best to escape, “ Just stay down already,” in a clean slice, she successfully eliminated the cursed spirit. Kiara collapses onto the ground.
She collapses onto the ground. The battle drained a lot of her strength and spiritual energy. She slowly laughs to herself.
“ Hahaha. That was so exhilarating and amazing.” Her laugh was radiant and bright. Much better than sitting at a desk all day thinking to herself.
Noah slowly walked over to Kiara, his eyes widened, and his face filled with curiosity. Edward’s spirit companion still watched over Kiara on the ledge. Edward looked at Noah’s face, it was the same face that Kiara made when she first saw him fight an Elusive. Before he could release his spirit, he noticed something in the distance, “ Oh no.”
“ Let’s get you to your parents now-” Kiara reassures Noah before being cut off by a group of people standing on top of the rooftop ledge. No one should be in the area since the charm spell was still in effect, which meant only one thing- they were wardens.
There was a rule that Kiara forgot. Since she was a D-rank Warden, she had to be accompanied by a person of B rank or above at all times. Kiara started sweating profusely, not knowing what to do.
“ Where is your mentor kid?” one of the wardens shouted loudly at her. Kiara had no answer to that, she didn’t expect to see another warden before. Unlike her grandfather, they were not gonna show her any mercy.
“ Is something wrong, Kiara?” Noah says, not understanding the situation Kiara is in. The leader of the group drops down to where Kiara is, “ Don’t make things hard, kid, come with us so the council can decide your punishment.” Kiara's blood felt cold, her heart rate dropping quickly. Their gaze and their authority- felt oppressive. Her throat felt like it was closing in on itself.
I can't lie my way out of this one, Kiara's mind raced, her hands trembled. She didn't know what to do.
Edward, acting quickly, ordered his companion to attack the leader.
“ What the” The hawk spirit quickly clawed itself on the leader, taking advantage of the situation, Kiara removed the barrier around the alleyway, grabbed Noah’s hand and her school stuff, and quickly dashed away from the group. Kiara quickly fights through the pain in her leg to get Noah and herself to safety.
“ Get back here!” one of the Wardens shouted.
“ Leave them!” the leader commanded his group, “ I hope her mentor gives her some discipline.”
After a couple miles downtown, Kiara and Noah quickly stopped their pace. Her throat stung from exhaustion, and her breaths felt non-existent, “ Oh my god… I need to work on my cardio.” she said, taking deep quick breaths. She quickly noticed a nearby ice cream shop nearby.
“ You like ice cream kid,”
Noah nodded his head quickly. Kiara quickly pulled out her wallet, she had a couple dollars to spare for him. After a couple minutes of waiting in line, they exited the shop with two chocolate ice cream cones.
“ Let’s get you home Noah, where do you live?” pulling out her phone’s map to help Noah find his home.
Noah licks his ice cream, pointing his finger at Kiara’s phone. Kiara’s eyes widened, as she realized that they had traveled 20 miles away from where Noah lives. She scratched her head, not wanting to walk 20 miles to the opposite side of the city.
“ I’m going to take you to the police station instead, it will hopefully help you reconnect with your parents,” grabbing Noah’s hands and they depart themselves to the police station.
After around 30 minutes, Kiara dropped Noah off at the police station. Noticing the time, Kiara got herself a taxi to get back home. Kiara thought to herself as many lies she could come up with and tell her grandfather as to why she arrived around 2 hours late from school.
Upon making it to her suburban house, Kiara quickly pats herself down, coming up with a lie that she just got lost and that was why she was late. Taking a deep breath, she knocks at the door.
Edward opens the door, pretending to not know what Kiara just did. Kiara quickly moved past her grandfather spouting out her half-baked lie to him.
“ Lost again? You should work on your stories, Kiara,” Edward says, raising his eyebrow.
“ What? What are you talking about?” Kiara’s voice is all high and she is sweating all over the place. A sign she is lying.
Edward’s tone softens as he notices the exhaustion in her eyes, “ It appears to me, you disobeyed my orders,” pointing at Kiara’s wounds. She gives off an awkward laugh as Edward’s lips thin and his eyes narrow.
“ You were seen by other wardens Kiara,” Edward’s voice was gentle but firm, “ You were lucky that I distracted them so that you could escape with that kid.”
“ That was you?” Kiara’s eyes widened in confusion, her mouth slightly open. She let out a breath, “ Thank you for having my back Grandpa. I’ll try to be more careful.”
“ You have to be careful, you can’t just act on your own,” Edward gestured to Kira, “ You may have gotten lucky with that C rank and those wardens but I promise you that it won't be that way.”
Kiara’s eyes looked down on the ground. Understanding the weight of her actions. Edward slowly walked to Kiara, and slowly embraced her in a hug, with her hugging him back.
“ Don’t think that I’m being overly harsh on you kid,” Edward says gently but his voice is firm, “ I’m just trying to protect you… the council isn’t overly nice to rule breakers like you,” he slowly pats her on the head, embarrassing Kiara, “ Get ready for dinner, we’ll continue this conversation during dinner.”
Kiara smiles as she slowly walks up the stairs to her room. She was glad she had her grandfather with her, the only one who truly understood her. Upon reaching her room, she threw her school stuff onto the bed and changed into your home clothes.
Kiara quickly walked down the stairs for dinner, but a feeling that she had during the whole day popped up in her head. Why did she feel spiritual energy similar to that of an Elusive when she bumped into that brother and sister duo? That dark presence radiating off both of them lingered on her head.
There was something off about them, that she couldn’t place her finger on,