July 12, 2065
Faalzar residence, Soneria
It was a typical day in the typical cold of the Sonerian summer. I sat in my room in a somewhat typical house, contemplating the sheer boredom of my life. I slowly got to my feet and looked into the mirror. There was nothing special. I was a typical person: around five and a half feet tall, short red hair, a lanky build, and slightly pointed ears from my mixed ancestry. I had just turned 15 and there was nothing at all even remotely special about me. I looked at the clock, 0845, I decided to get a move on and walked out of my room and down a long set of stairs to my family’s kitchen. Sitting at the table was my father, Ganashi Faalzar, doing maintenance on his prosthetic arm, something he got in a war long ago. He looked up at me, smiling as he reattached his arm.
“Happy birthday Patrick.” He said, patting me on the shoulder.
“Thanks. Where’s mom?” I asked, curious.
“I have no clue. Knowing Karen, she’s probably at work.” My father replied with an exasperated sigh. “How’re you feeling?”
“Uh, fine... I guess.” I reply, placing a slice of bread in the toaster. “Do you have anything planned today?”
“Beyond the party? Uh, nothing off the top of my head, why?”
“Just curious.” I grab a mug full of coffee and take a sip. The incredible bitterness makes me recoil a bit. “Mom brewed the coffee this morning didn’t she?”
“It’s a little strong, isn’t it?” My father replies, taking a massive sip of his own coffee.
“This stuff could peel paint.” I reply in a deadpan tone. With that the conversation falls silent, my father and I sipping our coffee in silence. The silence is interrupted by the toaster spitting out the toast much faster than normal, sending it flying into the air. I scramble to catch it, but it stops short about two inches off of the floor, hovering in midair.
“Hah. Safe.” My father said, his arm outstretched and glowing a radiant yellow. That’s right, in addition to being a war veteran, he is also a magus, a person who can harness the power of Affinity and bend it to his will.
“Thanks.” I grab the toast and quietly eat it. Finishing the toast, I begin to walk to my room when my father calls out to me.
“Hey, we’re going to have guests over soon, so don’t be up there for too long.”
“Oh? Is Alexia coming?” I reply
“Yeah, and her parents.” I groan internally as I climb the stairs and return to my room. An hour passes as I watch some old terran anime. Right around the time I got up to stretch, the doorbell rings. I look in the mirror and take a deep breath. Carefully closing my door, I tiptoe down the stairs and look into the living room. Standing in the Living room there were two people, both with blue-tinged skin, the dead ringer for a Sonerian. The one that stood at seven feet was definitely Krith, and the girl who was around my height was Alexia. She was wearing a stunning blue and green dress, something I would have never imagined that the tomboy incarnate woud ever wear. She turned around and saw me.
“Hey Patrick.”
“Hey Alexia. Hello Primarch Teran” I wave to them. Krith walks over to me and places a firm hand on my shoulder, pushing me down.
“Please. Just call me Krith. I’m not anybody special here.” He says, before walking off to the kitchen.
“Where’s Marzi? I thought she was coming.” My father says, following Krith.
“Ugh, she still isn’t getting along with Alexia. Arguments between them tend to destroy property now.” I hear Krith say as he walks with my father. I feel somebody tap on my shoulder.
“Hey. I’m right here, you know?” Alexia says, staring at me, her face uncomfortably close to mine.
“Y-yeah, sorry. Well, thanks for coming to my birthday, you look good.” I respond, gratefully.
“W-well, it was either this or deal with my mother.” She responds, blushing a bit. “You still doing swordplay?”
“Yeah, a bit. My mother refuses to let me drop it though. She is dead set on me joining the military.”
“You wanna have a bout?” She asks, straight to the point.
“Uh, sure. I’ll go get the shinais.”
“Eh. We can use the real thing, so long as we’re careful.” She says, patting the sword on her hip.
“I don’t think that’s such a good idea.”
“Come on you wimp, it’ll be fine.” She says, showing absolutely no signs of backing down.
“Ok fine. Let me ask my dad though.” I say walking towards the kitchen. In the kitchen, I see Krith and my father each having a glass of whisky in hand. They toast, and down their glasses. “Hey, Alexia wanted to have a bout with real blades. Is that alright?” My father and Krith grin at each other.
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“Sure. Just don’t get too hurt.” My father replied. “By the way, you can use my sword.” He says, motioning to the umbrella holder that had been converted to an impromptu sword rack. I see my father’s sword and pick it up. It has a moderate weight in my hands, a little heavier than my preference, but beyond that, nothing too bad. I unsheathed it, the blade was more like a big knife, at around eight inches long, and four inches wide. Re-sheathing the blade, I saw Alexia, walking outside and motioning to me. It seemed that my backyard would be the location of our bout. I walked outside, faced Alexia at a distance of roughly twenty paces, and readied my sword. I shivered in the bitter cold. I look at Alexia, standing directly across from me. She had her sword drawn, a magnificent gold and blue blade, and was still in her dress.
“Alright, so for rules, anything goes?” She asked.
“Sounds good. We go to first blood?” I reply.
“No. We stop just short of causing a major injury.”
“You going to be wearing that dress for this? That can’t be easy to move in.”
“Think of it as a handicap. You’ll probably need it.” She said, giving me the cockiest smile possible. I take a deep breath.
“You asked for this. On three.” I get into a stance. “One......Two......Three!” I dash at Alexia. She readies her sword. Ducking low, I swing at her torso, and she deflects my blow with her sword. I swing again and she dodges it, contorting her body to avoid my blade, and swings her blade at me. I drop to the ground, rolling to the side, and kick off of the ground, swinging at her blade with all of my might. I managed to disarm her, nicking her wrist by accident. I right myself, readying my blade when I feel something sharp at my throat. A long blood red blade was coming out of her wrist injury and its tip was resting on my throat.
“My victory.” Alexia said, her entire body giving off a blood red glow. The blade melted into blood and fell to the ground. She pulled a bandage out of her pocket and slapped it onto her wrist, stopping the bleeding.
“So you’re a magus too? That is very different from what I’ve seen my parents do.”
“Yeah, the eggheads said that I have an ‘Irregular Affinity’ or whatever the hell that means. Something got screwy with my genetics and my blood is used to power my magic.”
“Wow. That’s cool.” I shivered. “Let’s go back inside.” I started for the door and Alexia followed close behind me.
After a few hours of relaxing around my house I ended up playing video games with Alexia, when I heard my door open. I peeked towards the door and saw a young girl with long black hair and looked to be roughly a year younger than me. That is my older sister, Heather. Despite how she looks, she is thirty. Her young age is due to the fact that her Affinity awoke at the age of twelve.
“Happy birthday Patrick. It’s been a while.” She said, handing me a card, likely containing money. She looks at Alexia.
“Hey Alexia.”
“Hi Heather.” We reply simultaneously. I hear somebody else walking over. My father taps Heather on the shoulder.
“You hear anything from Karen?” Ganashi said.
“She isn’t going to be able to make it. Between the Sol Federation, the Seycron Empire, and the sightings of Meredith on Umbra, she has barely slept. To be honest, it won't be much longer before you get called back in too.” Heather replied, quietly. I continue to play with Alexia, pretending I can’t hear them. However, at the mention of Meredith, my father’s face becomes complicated.
“Alright everybody! How about some cake?” My father said, gathering up the dozen or so people I barely knew in the house. I walk over to the head of the table, and take a seat. After pleasantries and happy birthday greetings are dispensed with, the time came to cut the cake. I reached for the knife when an incredible burning pain shot up my arm. I winced in pain.
“Hey, you alright?” A few people asked me.
“Yeah, my arm is hurting though. I must have done something to it in that bout earlier.” I glance to my left at Alexia who is sitting next to me. At the mention of my arm hurting my father gets a concerned look on his face.
“Is it a burning pain?” He asked, obviously concerned.
“It’s fine.” I grab the knife and slowly begin to cut into the cake. Suddenly, my arm lit up, and my knife went flying through the table, resting on the ground. The cake, on the other hand, exploded. The sudden force from my arm sent my flying backwards from my chair. The last thing I remember before I passed out was the sight of my mother bursting in the door and carrying me out of the house.