“I told you before, you sure do sleep a lot for a boy your age.”

A familiar voice pulled my consciousness back to the surface. I opened my eyes and saw Emily looking down at me. We were back in my room at the palace. She was currently seated on the bed with my head resting in her lap. I quickly sat up but fell right back down where I was after a huge rush of nausea. My head still pounded and my muscles felt weak.

“Rest for awhile. Can you speak? What happened in the city? You were a mess when the guards brought you back here. Gave me quite a scare.”

“It’s… fuzzy. I remember… a gem. W-Where’s the gem?”

Emily gave a confused look.

“What gem?”

“I think he’s talking about the same thing that man was that was brought in with him. He was yelling something about a gem before the guards took him away.”

I looked towards the source of the other voice and saw Lara sitting at my desk on the other side of the room. She looked rather irritated as usual but maybe a little worried as well? No, I was still having a tough time seeing clearly because of my headache.

“Don’t hurt Dionte, he did nothing wrong. It was the gem. We have to get the gem immediately. It’s a piece of the prison…”

I remembered the presence of Chaos after my thoughts settled. My body seized up remembering how suffocating it had been just speaking with it.

“Kieran!? Have someone fetch the doctor quickly Lara! And bring that Dionte man here as well! He may know something about what is happening to him!”

Lara quickly jumped from her chair and yelled into the hall. I broke out into a sweat. My muscles were locked in place, I couldn’t move my body. I’d been in many life threatening situations in the past few weeks but nothing compared to what I had went through earlier today and what was happening now. I wasn’t even in its physical presence but the remnants of the memory of it was still nearly too much for me. My head pounded. I could faintly here what was happening around me. Emily was attempted to cool me off by cooling the temperature around me with her Blessing. I heard the doctor come in and I felt my shirt being taken off.

“What is this? His veins are turning black…”

I heard another commotion from behind. The guards had brought Dionte.

“Oh my Gods. I didn’t know this would happen. Queen Emily you must know, all I did was show him this gem.”

I heard him rustle through his bag again and pull something from it. Then everything went dark again. But this wasn’t in my mind, the room itself was thrust into darkness. Only the gem in Dionte’s hand shone faintly.

My muscles relaxed and the aching in my head faded away. I rose from the bed. The aching and seizing that I’d been suffering from earlier was completely gone. No one around me moved. I don’t think they could. I don’t think I was in control of my own body. I took the gem into my own hands and faded back into it’s darkness.

This time, I stood on a beach, the sea spread out before me. But not the sea I saw before that surrounded Atlantea. This sea was black. Rolling with waves of shadow. The sand I stood on was black as well. But I could see everything clearly. The black waves, the black sky, the black beach. It was surreal. A figure stood next to me, but I was unable to turn my head to see who it was. I felt them move behind me and a familiar pair of arms embraced me from behind.

Darkness surrounds all of creation, much like the ocean surrounds all of land on Earth. It rolls in waves similar to the ocean, and it too will one day swallow everything. But that day will not be soon. We will see to that. I am meant to lord over all of these shadows but there is too much for even I to see to it all. That’s where you shall help me. And we shall protect this world together. Take a piece. Learn to control a river of shadow and one day command an ocean, son of darkness.

Her sweet voice filled my head once again, whispering her promises of power in my ear. The sand around me began to sink and the shadows ran into it like water. It stopped after leaving me knee deep in darkness. Then the shadows began to sink… no, not sink. They were being absorbed. The shadows started crawling up my legs, my waist, my chest. They covered every inch of me, until only my eyes remained.

I wasn’t scared. In fact, I was the opposite. The shadows crept along my skin almost lovingly, like the embrace of the Lady of Darkness. It made it clear it wasn’t there to hurt me, but to help me. And so I let it take me. The shadows rushed into my body, through every pore in my skin. I felt it come together in a place right next to my heart in the center of my chest. A new soul now resided within me.

A piece of me now resides inside of you. One day, when you’re stronger, all of this shall be yours. I must go now, Kieran. The prison grows weaker and I can’t afford to spare anymore power elsewhere. For now, learn to control the little power I’ve given you. When the time comes, I will appear before you once again and we shall change the fate of everything together and I will help you find out who you are.

With that, her embrace disappeared and I was alone on the black beach. I looked back upon the ocean before me. I wanted the rest of it. My mind was filled with nothing but the thought of wading into the depths of the darkness. I wanted all of it. I wanted to drown in it’s endlessness. I’d been given a taste of it, but I wanted more. But I knew it was too early. My body was barely holding in the little I’d been given. I gave the ocean before me one last glance.

I’ll be back for you.

Then everything disappeared and I stood in my room once again. Light flooded back and time resumed. I stood in the middle of the room, the gem floating in my outstretched hands. The only place that light didn’t shine in the room was around me. Shadows danced around me, up my body, around where I stood. Until I told them to stop and they returned to my soul. Everyone around me remained silent. They were fearful, it showed on their faces. The soldiers gripped their weapons tighter, waiting for me to make any sort of move. They stepped closer to me but Emily stuck out her arm, forcing them to stop. She was the only one who didn’t look at me full of fear. I couldn’t tell exactly, but it looked like she was worried for me. Dionte, in some sort of shock had stepped back a few paces himself, and was the first to speak.

Stolen from Royal Road, this story should be reported if encountered on Amazon.

“Kieran, my boy. What just happened?”

“This gem is a piece of Chaos’ prison. As the Emissary of Darkness the gem attached itself to me. It will need to be locked away in the palace. If someone with ill intentions were to get ahold of this it could spell the beginning of a new war. Dionte, how did you get this? Who sold this to you?”

“The man never gave me his name. He had been recommended to me through another trusted merchant. All he said was the gem was of extremely high value to the right people. He said someone would eventually know it’s worth. I get items like that all the time, different gems and such that resonate with different Blessings. I hadn’t realized this one was something that important, I swear.”

“It’s no matter now. We will keep the gem safely guarded until my King returns and we will decide what to do with it then. More importantly, Kieran are you ok? You were just bedridden with a fever. Did the gem fix you?”

Emily rose from the bed and pressed her hand against my forehead. I wasn’t warm before but I felt my cheeks flush a bit and my ears grow warm.

“I-I’m fine. I feel much better now.”

I brushed her hand away. I really did feel fine. This was the best I’d felt since the day I woke up with my Blessing. I could still feel the shadows rolling around in my chest. I was surprised at how natural they felt, like another heart beating in my chest. If I concentrated I was sure I could pull them out and manifest them again but now wasn’t the time for that. I was going to keep my abilities to myself until I could learn to control them. If word spread that there was a boy wielding darkness, a primary attribute of Chaos and the Primordials, living in the palace would put Emily and King Kailo in a tough position. I would train myself in secret, until I was ready to inherit the rest of the power promised to me.

“Alright. Everyone else leave us. Let the merchant go, I will be reaching out to learn more about the origins of the gem and this mysterious individual that supplied it. And I trust that you all know the events of today don’t leave this room, or there will be dire consequences.”

The doctor and few guards that had come with Dionte gave an almost audible gulp before scurrying out of the room. Emily always acted rather motherly around Lara and I but she was definitely still a Queen and had no issue giving orders.

“Geoffrey, I believe it’s time for Lara to head to bed as well.”

Geoffrey appeared like a phantom, quick and silent. I had to figure out how he did that one day. He ushered her out of the room despite her obvious protests. Just Emily and I were left.

“People are going to think I’m some sort of monster, aren’t they?”

“Many fear what they don’t understand. Your power is unlike any that has been seen in hundreds of years. Naturally, some will be wary of it. That doesn’t make you a monster. The only person that can turn you into a monster is yourself. I haven’t known you for long, Kieran, but I have a feeling that you have a strong sense of what’s right. Some people may judge you for what’s on the surface but you will prove all of them wrong with your actions. You have so much potential and you will make the most of it.”

She pulled me into a warm embrace. That was all it took for me.

“I-I just want to know who I am, where I’m from, why I’m here. I took this power because I thought it’d help but I don’t want people to think I’m a monster. I don’t want you to hate me. I don’t want anyone to hate me. I just want to know who I am.”

All of the feelings I’d bottled up since I woke up without any memories came roaring out of me. I’d been dropped into this world with no idea who I was, being told I was important for the preservation of the world, almost died twice. I hadn’t even been able to slow down and process everything I’d been through. The kind words from Emily finally pulled down the last wall between myself and the world around me.

“You still have your whole life ahead of you, my dear. As of right now, you’re Kieran and you belong here. You’re part of my family now.”

My eyes burned and tears began to fall. Her words made me realize that I’d been pushing away the loneliness I’d felt since I woke up. I’ve only been here a few weeks but having somewhere to belong… it was a feeling that was unfamiliar to me. It was nice. Staying here, learning with Lara, practicing my control over my new power. That sounds like a good way to live for awhile. At least until the next crazy thing happens in my life.

——————————————————————————————————————————

Five Years Later

“Kieran! Breakfast is ready! You better not still be asleep!”

The door to my room was thrust open and in stomped a girl with long blue-silver hair tied up in a ponytail.

“It’s always so dark in here, how do you live like this?”

“You know I see better in the dark.”

My voice from came from over her shoulder causing her to jump back and trip over a chair in the middle of the room that wasn’t visible due to the heavy darkness.

“Kieran! That hurt! Gods, how do you even do that?”

The morning sun filled the room once again after the darkness retreated back to me. Lara sat on the floor, rubbing the back of her leg. I gave her a hand and helped pull her back up.

“A good magician never reveals the secrets to his tricks. It’s getting better though right? You couldn’t see anything when you came in? And you didn’t feel me move behind you?”

“Yes, it was pitch black and you scared the hell out of me. Lets go to breakfast before Mother gets angry.”

“You used to be so quiet. What happened to that?”

That earned me a slug on the arm.

“Shove it, lets go eat so we can get to class on time.”

“I don’t think I’m going to go today.”

Lara stopped just outside the door to the dining room.

“If Mom learns that you didn’t go to class again you’re gonna be in big trouble. You already skipped twice this week.”

I shrugged.

“… Don’t let the others get to you. You’re stronger than them. One day they will all know.”

“Easy for you to say, everyone sucks up to you, Princess.”

She looked obviously hurt by what I said and I immediately wished I could’ve taken it back. But it was the truth. Ever since Lara and I began taking classes with the rest of the Blessed I’ve had a huge target on my back. I wasn’t allowed to use my Blessing in front of others so they assumed I was just some poor charity case taken in by the benevolent Queen. I was less than them. And they wouldn’t let me forget it.

“I’m sorry, it’s not your fault. I just get angry sometimes. Let’s go eat.”

Lara silently pushed open the door. Geoffrey told us that Mother had some urgent matter to take care of. Breakfast was eaten in silence.