2: CHOCOLATE EYES
//
6:38 A.M. // 8 - 28 - 2023 // Ato Residence
Starring ???
Featuring ???
//
The boy at the door beside me was frozen stiff. He looked like me, but definitely in guy form, around my height, maybe shorter or same.
Another prompt for a Guide appeared.
========================
Guides(2)//Options:
Answer
Memory
Overtake
Will you use a Guide?
Yes//No
========================
“Don’t say yes.”
I blinked for a second as the Guide in front of me closed and disappeared. Then the panic seeped in.
“I-I mean… no, never mind—”
“K. I won’t,” the boy—obviously, my ‘brother’, the Zen from the Memory, interrupted me, his eyes focused slightly at me, but completely not at the same time. Like he was looking at something in front of him that I couldn’t see… then he blinked as I advanced towards him.
“Hey, hey!” He backed up as I slammed the door behind me, and stopped warily in place when I did as I leaned against the door, an immense relief washing over my mind.
“So I’m not the only one,” I sighed, leaning my head sideways.
Oddly enough, his guard seemed to instantly disappear when I said that. The boy smiled with a vague expression of peace. “I’ve never had a collective dream before. This is a first. Is this really what it’s like?”
I pinched my eyes together. This guy was clueless. Kind of reminded me of someone.
But still, be nice. The person in front of me is a stranger.
“Sooo… what’s your name?” He started slowly. Definitely reminded me of someone. At least he was straight to the point.
“In real life?”
“Yeah.”
“It’s…” I paused. Saying my name shouldn’t take this much effort. I mused confusedly, “what the heck? Wait, wait, what’s my name again…?”
“It’s… Reyenal Ato.”
Then my brain almost did a double take. What was that? Reyenal who?
“No, no, no, I didn’t mean to say that, my name is… ughh! What is it?!”
“Just Reya.”
Was I being censored?
“Umm, okay. Reya it is. Cool, cool… actually, what is my name?” He frowned, and then suddenly stomped his feet in a fit of sudden anger. I was still in a daze about what had just happened.
“This is so weird! I mean, what…?” He made more angry movements.
I think I was understanding a bit now, and I stood up to the boy’s surprise.
“Hey, you, stop it,” I said, walking over to the bed, “you’re gonna ruin your pretty voice.”
“It’s not you,” he hissed, his eyes following me as I walked behind him and then sat on the edge of the bed, annoyed, “it’s… Zendolyn! Zendolyn Ato!”
Zendolyn put his hand to his forehead, now exacerbated and almost tiredly sad. “Are my neurons not firing properly? Who is… I might just drink from that cup if this keeps happening.” He sighed, and then taking a few steps towards me he sat and fell backwards onto the pillows. I noticed the cup he was talking about on the nightstand, but thought nothing much of it.
“I think you get it now.”
He stared at me, and then slackened, nodding his head in defeat. “Yep.”
Me too, buddy. Just now, me too. It’s just I won’t throw a tantrum like you.
“Hey. Be real. How old are you?” I asked, watching as he grabbed a pillow and hugged it while staring straight up at the ceiling. His hair was spread out in a black and white array, eyes were resting bits of coffee on his resting poker face. Someone could mistake him for a celebrity if they squint hard enough. A mask could do wonders on him.
He didn’t answer. How much of a stranger was he?
“If it helps, I’m a senior in high school. Skipped a year.” I looked left a bit, the huge window panels letting in the soft morning light, a majestic gradient of gold and orange and purple meshing together in a breathtaking city’s sight, the one I had just woken up to earlier.
“Sounds like someone I know.”
My interest rose a bit. “Actually, let’s entertain that idea. No names—”
“We can’t,” he said firmly.
“Well, no duh,” I scoffed, and Zendolyn sat up, still hugging onto the pillow with a slumped back. “Boy or girl?”
“Girl.”
I nodded. “Amount of siblings?”
“Three, including her.”
We were getting somewhere now. I could feel my excitement rising. “How many pets?”
“Two dogs.”
My heart was beating faster. “And any dead ones?”
He closed his eyes to think. “Uhh, it’s been a second. Mmm, some dead bunnies, fish, aaand I think that’s it?”
I smiled, ear to ear. This was looking to be a very, very good match. “And how did the bunnies die?”
“Fox,” he turned his head and answered instantly, looking at me in the eyes, noticing my mood getting better, “my older cousin got so angry after his bunny died.”
This guy knew what was up.
“Hey, are you a girl?” He stopped, realizing what he said.
…
“HAH!!” I burst into laughter, and clutched my stomach as I leaned over, oh my goodness, I definitely knew who he was. I definitely, definitely knew who he was.
“I have an older and younger brother, but besides that,” I grinned, and then clutched his shoulder. He didn’t flinch and only meekly sat there, as expected. “Do you remember when I burned the carpet?”
A smile, a real smile spread across his face too.
Suddenly his arms grabbed my shoulder, and he began shaking me in an absolute expression of joy, and I began shaking him too.
“I knew it, I knew it!” He yelled excitedly, his eyes lit with pure ecstasy, “Oh my gosh, it’s you!”
“Yeah, yeah!” I yelled back at him in the same fashion, “Holy ****, yeah!”
“How did you know? No way, you’re so smart!”
“Like, seriously, your way of talking—”
“—and yours too!”
“I swear—”
“—carpet? Who knew—”
It took us a solid moment to calm down, like we usually did every time we did that.
“This is kind of a wild thought, but if we just get the other three dunce heads together it might actually be a really amazing dream! God, I don’t want to wake up if I can look like this,” he tried twisting me around, and I allowed him and he pointed to the mirror behind me.
Oh.
My mood slightly dampened.
“Hey, cuz, this isn’t a dream.”
Against my expectations, he let out a long breath, like he had been holding it ever since I walked into the room.
“I was almost expecting you to say that.”
The watch around my wrist suddenly buzzed, and we both brought our attention to it.
“Heh, did you get to see what this thing does?” I smiled, trying to nudge the conversation elsewhere.
He nodded with an odd enthusiasm. “Mine was gigantic, like, that tall,” he said, raising his arms apart.
“Doesn’t this kind of remind you of anything?”
Zendolyn perked up. “No way…”
He was so inconsistent on what he could randomly understand tacitly. This one was fast.
“Yeah. Guess what else?”
“School?”
“Even better,” I nodded.
“Mmm-magic!”
I patted his shoulder twice. “Let’s confirm it.”
Upon tapping the watch, a small hologram appeared over it, pretty much just a phone, except way cooler. I pulled down the notification banner, and then a movement beside me.
[Arc - Portal, leave at 8:00 AM]
[Arc - Opening Ceremony, at 8:30 AM]
Frowning and turning my head, it was a funny sight to see my little cousin with that expression, even if it wasn’t his own face.
I teased him, “Scared?”
“Reya,” he responded, now sounding serious all of a sudden, “what if we were transported inside of a book, or a toon, or anime?”
I guffawed, and then answered as poignantly as possible to match him. “We’re screwed. But hey, don’t you think there would be more than just us two, then?”
“Well, yeah. Why in the world would you and I of all people be stuck in this random other world? There’s got to be more, and chances are, we know who they are, like what if—”
I followed his logic. “Then since it’s an academy story, that makes even more sense. No author in their right mind doesn’t just have some sort of convenient way to put characters in relationships with each other, or something along those lines.”
“And since it’s an academy story… wait…” then he groaned, and then pushed his head into his pillow, and I also fell backwards with a thump, completely speechless at the revelation.
By cliché standards for a power-fantasy progression, we were going to be here for a while.
I was already surprised at how well we were doing mentally, but this was really a hard hurdle.
“Just don’t think about it,” I said, and then again with more forced conviction. My eyes were still glazed into the ceiling.
“Yeah,” he nodded with the same dull voice, “I honestly don’t even know what we’re talking about anymore.”
“You know, I bet there are dungeons and monsters in this world.”
“And loot, too. That’d be cool—”
Suddenly, the door swung wide open and slammed into the wall, and a big older woman with a maid outfit barged in. Light and noise streamed in from the below the railings. All the signals in my brain began going haywire and bailing, there was someone completely unexpected in the room and I didn’t know what to do!
“Master Zen, wake up!” The woman screeched worriedly, “Today’s the day you’re leaving! Did you pack up yet? No boxes?! Pack up, dear, pack up!”
I and Zendolyn froze in place.
“Oh, and you too, sweety Master Reya, give your brother a bit of space. You know what he’s been going through.”
The siren in my head kept blaring. To my shock, Zendolyn spoke up first.
“Auntie Coco,” he began with a very warm and relaxed expression unlike earlier, “we were just talking about school. I’ve been trying to keep my mind off of everything, after all.”
Then she got a good look at the both of us, still frozen to our spots. “Well, well! Did you two make up, after all? I hope you babies are on good terms now,” the big woman rushed over to us, and I almost let out a yell of fear as she closed in her bear arms around us in a crushing hug, squeezing him and I and her together.
She let go and we both regained our breaths, and Zendolyn’s wholesome facade remained. “Yeah, I’ll get packing now. Can you get the boxes, Auntie?”
The woman sucked in a breath, with an almost motherly hand to her heart and an expression that looked like she was about to cry, she nodded furiously, “Yes, of course, darling. I’ll be back as soon as possible. Master Reya, you also need to get ready. Let me get one more hug from you two, my heart can’t handle this anymore,” and whoosh went all the air from our lungs.
“Now now, you two ready up. I’ll be back in a jiffy!”
“Auntie, I’ll get started with my clothes then,” he said as Auntie Coco left the room in a rush.
I turned to Zendolyn, “How did you know her name? Who is she?”
He shook his head, just as confused and if not more spazzed out than me. His energy from before was replaced with the familiar one that sat in front of me now. “I don’t know. It said Guide, and then I used an Answer. The thing you said not to press earlier. How did you know about the Guide?”
“Because I used it earlier!”
“How? With who?”
I shook my head. “No one.” I stood up. “I used a Memory. Gives you a short scene from the past.”
My brain began dancing again, and I felt a sudden urge to put some distance between myself and Zendolyn. That Memory, I had definitely forgotten about it. What was the keyword for it, again? Oh right. Burdened.
Walking towards the door, Zendolyn… Zen only silently watched me.
“I’ll begin packing up whatever I have for school. You do that too. I’ll see you in a bit,” I headed out the open door.
“See you, then,” he muttered as I closed the door.
//
6:38 A.M. // 6 - 1 - 2023 // Silverdawn Venue
Starring Reyenal Ato
//
“Ready for the party?” She asked. Zen nodded. For today he had chosen to wear a grey tee and a knitted faded orange vest under an unzipped large purple jacket with white-lined edges. He had grey long and baggy pants on too. He looked like he was about to go on an outing for a snowy festival at night. He had on a plain white mask. It was too casual.
He squeezed her hand as she pushed open the door.
The room was massive, filled with cush chairs and clothed tables and the masked people who sat in them. Waiters ran back and forth, delivering wine and food to the guests who sat expectantly. An enormously wide stage filled the whole back of the room.
It was the most high-end party taking place that night, reserved for only the Awakened.
Reyenal could feel the power radiating from some of the people she walked by.
“Look, that’s the Ato children.”
“That one’s the future of Silverdawn.” Eyes burned into the back of my head. “But the other one…”
Words and words flew her way. They stung like wasps. It wasn’t even surprising that those people knew their identities. Reyenal couldn’t tell what was going on behind Zen’s mask.
They were animals on display as they walked forward to the stage where she was to deliver Zen. Not everyone gave them attention, but the ones who did pointed and laughed.
“Your outfit is catching lots of attention,” She said to Zen matter-of-factly. She could hear the sound of whispers scraping even the chandelier above.
“Thanks.”
He let go of her hand and disappeared behind the curtains.
Reyenal walked over to the front tables reserved for the participants. Each kid at the table gave her a beady stare. Nameless kids, as countless as the grains of sand on a beach.
Stolen from its rightful author, this tale is not meant to be on Amazon; report any sightings.
Moments later a woman walked onto stage to the microphone. Her heels clacked loudly, silencing the whole room. She wore an elegantly simple dress, a shimmering silver and black like a starry night sky.
She looked around at all the masks and dresses and suits below, each a different color and shape and design. The woman spoke clearly.
“As you all know, each one of your children has been invited to attend today’s party. In short, all you who have gathered to this masquerade today have come to celebrate the talents of the new generation.”
That woman was Mother, Reyenal knew. And it wasn’t an invitation to some silly talent show. It was a debut into high society, into the world of power. What better way to show off than this? “I will be your host for tonight’s event. Please welcome our first talent to the stage, Brandon Yue.”
A polite applause clattered about the room as Brandon walked onto the stage. Reyenal had no clue who he was, nor Angela Hoover who came next. Each next one was as uninteresting as the last. A set of equipment and props would be brought out. The floor would be slightly dented. A few claps. The floor would be quickly repaired along with the props by the team on standby. Idiots would hurt themselves doing flashy moves and would be dragged backstage. Boring.
“Ben Roswell.”
Behind her a large person stood up. She frowned. Ben was a giant of 6 and a half feet, the son and heir of a large corporation. Not that she cared. He was an absolute dunce and a muscle head. No. She didn’t like him one bit. He was Aythe’s goon.
“He recently Awakened this year,” a kid whispered beside her to another boy. She gave Ben a good look. Thin hair, round face, smashed nose, big enough to stand his own against any other football quarterback or squash them completely. He didn’t even bother to wear a mask.
He was the dimgoon to end all goons.
The stage trembled as Ben stepped up the stairs.
There stood a dummy, waiting for him. It cowered under his looming shadow.
“I’ll make this quick.”
“You may start now—”
Ben slammed the dummy into the ground and suddenly the earth all in front of him ruptured. Shrapnel flew and the once-invisible protective barriers shined to reveal themselves. All the stray shards bounced off the clear wall that safely encased the stage. It hadn’t been activated once prior to that.
Mountain Rage
Cost: 120 MANA
Cooldown: 10 seconds
B+ // Ben slams targets in an area in front of him dealing high damage.
SLAM DAMAGE:
410
First it was the kids at her table. Clap. Clap. Clap.
Then the whole auditorium spontaneously erupted into the sound of cheers and applause. Ben stomped off stage and the cleanup and rebuild crew fussed about the stage as Ben’s name passed around the room and echoed off the walls.
Reyenal clicked her tongue.
Impressive for a kid who just Awakened, she had to give him that.
Again another person was called up. And another. And… another…
“Aythe Siena, please come up.”
Reyenal groggily blinked her eyes. How long had she been asleep for?
Judging by the obviously ashamed and tired faces at her table, she had been knocked out for a while. Maybe even long enough to skip her own turn. Oh, whose turn was it now?
She looked up to see Aythe looking down at her. He was handsome and he knew it. Curly brown hair speckled with gold and grey, and similar eye color. Tall, muscular, classically strong jawline and superior gaze.
The eyes behind his decadent black and white mask made him look ferocious, even with a 3 piece suit on. Why was he singling her out? He smirked, but Reyenal didn’t react. His two swords clicked at his sides in their ornate sheaths.
A gasp echoed from some of the audience and excited chatter bursted out.
Then on stage, Reyenal saw it. A D-Class Bladetongue Raptor let out a low growling sound like plucking muted violin strings. It slowly walked onto the light of the stage and fully revealed itself. It was a raptor with lean and muscular legs, but it had an odd serpentine neck and torso. The danger was not actually in the grasp of the jaws and the bladed tongue but in the agility and flexibility of the monster. It would wrap around its target’s back and strangle them to death. Of course, the bladed tongue did help in gutting its victims.
“You may begin.”
Someone from behind the curtains kicked the butt of the raptor. It screeched and charged straight for Aythe. The raptor bit at him and he sidestepped, and in a sudden whirl of steel the HP Bar of the raptor appeared on a screen overhead.
[ ‘BLADETONGUE RAPTOR’ || HP [ 1706 / 1706] ]
Aythe had stabbed it in the throat, and its HP dropped a sizable amount. It oozed a brilliant gold from its wound. Raptor blood was red.
[ ‘BLADETONGUE RAPTOR’ || HP - 520 (30.5%) [ 1186 (69.5%) / 1706] ]
Reaver’s Dualescense
T // Aythe applies Shimmer or Shade to everything he damages, which allows him to activate his abilities. Targets marked with Shimmer deal 20% less damage. Targets marked with Shade take 40% more damage.
SHIMMER WEAKENING:
20%
SHADE VULNERABILITY:
40%
It screamed again. The body turned and bit at Aythe’s back, but his body disappeared into a purple silhouette, repositioning behind it like a shadow.
Might and Eminence
Cost: 305 MANA
Cooldown: 16 seconds
S // Aythe rips out Shimmer or Shade from a target.
Ghost Shimmer briefly turns Aythe invulnerable and invisible, increasing his movement speed. After leaving this state, his next attack ignores all defense, is guaranteed to crit, and heals him for a portion of the damage dealt.
GHOSTED DURATION:
3 seconds
MOVEMENT SPEED:
430%
HEAL ON CRIT:
65%
The raptor missed. Aythe’s HP Bar still didn’t show.
Then his silhouette manifested back into him and he pulled out his other sword. In two quick motions the monster’s HP Bar fell down dramatically. The wounds constantly changed from gold to grey with each swipe of the blade.
[ ‘BLADETONGUE RAPTOR’ || HP - 730 (42.8%) [ 456 (26.7%) / 1706] ]
Still, the monster couldn’t even touch him. He was toying with it and making a scene.
With a dark ooze of grey bubbling in its throat, Aythe stopped moving a distance away. “Shade.” The monster charged, but suddenly its HP fell quickly like poison.
[ ‘BLADETONGUE RAPTOR’ || HP - 201 (11.8%) [ 255 (14.9%) / 1706] ]
[ ‘BLADETONGUE RAPTOR’ || HP - 153 (9%) [ 102 (6%) / 1706] ]
[ ‘BLADETONGUE RAPTOR’ || HP - 102 (6%) [ 0 (0%) / 1706] ]
The last bit of health disappeared.
In a violent explosion the raptor exploded into the grey oozing substance, which vanished as if it had never happened, leaving the corpse of a raptor blown to bits.
Might and Eminence
Cost: 305 MANA
Cooldown: 16 seconds
S // Aythe rips out Shimmer or Shade from a target.
Pulverise
Shade implodes in a target, slowing them and dealing high damage. If the attack deals greater than 25% of the target’s max health, an explosion is emitted from the target that deals medium damage.
SLOW AMOUNT:
55%
SLOW DURATION:
6 seconds
IMPLOSION DAMAGE:
450
EXPLOSION DAMAGE:
215
The audience also exploded in cheer and applause with similar, if not better, treatment than Ben. Ben laughed heartily as Aythe sat back down and slapped his back. Aythe was about 5 inches shorter but wasn’t dwarfed in any way. In fact he seemed bigger than all the other talents.
“Reyenal Ato, please come up.”
Mother’s face was completely blank. It was full of expectations.
“Reyenal Ato?”
“Yeah, the one from Silverdawn. Oriana’s kid. She can’t be anything but extraordinary.”
“Look at her clothes. She looks like a princess.”
“She looks unimpressive if not for them.”
“Poor kid.”
The hushed murmurs licked her ears. It was uncomfortable, to say the least. She could hear everything, the hate, the expectation, the pity. All eyes on her.
Reyenal stood up and walked to the right staircase. The audience didn’t clap. They kept whispering. All eyes on her.
She reached the center of the stage. All eyes on her.
She knew what came next. What she had to do.
Mother spoke again. “This will be a duet between Reyenal Ato and Zendolyn Ato, who is backstage.”
“Zendolyn? That trash.”
“Pitiful. Sorrowful, little thing.”
“A duet? First one yet.”
“Isn’t this supposed to be an individual show, what’s going on?”
Click click. The sound of an arrow primed behind her.
Reyenal nodded. Zendolyn stepped out from behind the curtains and shot. Ptschww.
In a sweeping movement faster than the blink of an eye Reyenal pulled. A bow manifested into her hand with an arrow pulled all the way back and she shot, a missile of fire flew from her bow Flambé.
Paragon Talent
S // Reyenal gains access to an arsenal of 2 spirit weapons, changing them as she wills. She has a main and off-hand weapon that is always active. The off-hand only grants its affinity to the main weapon.
Flambé
Reyenal equips a bow. Her affinity changes to Fire which occasionally causes her next attack to burn, dealing damage.
ARROW BASE DAMAGE:
400
BURN DAMAGE:
10% of target’s current health
In a collision the arrows met. Flambé disintegrated the other arrow and flew straight at Zen’s face. He stepped to the right, like in the script.
It had been practiced so many times. He couldn’t mess up now. She ignored all the gasps and voices. All eyes on her.
He stepped out into the light and made distance between her. His stance was a tiger about to pounce, an assassin planning his first move.
Reyenal’s bow disappeared and she pulled again. “Icicle.” A kama manifested in her hand. She pulled it back and above her head as Zen had advised her to. He had said it made her look fierce.
Paragon Talent
S // Reyenal gains access to an arsenal of 2 spirit weapons, changing them as she wills. She has a main and off-hand weapon that is always active. The off-hand only grants its affinity to the main weapon.
Icicle
Reyenal equips a kama. Her affinity changes to Ice which causes every attack to spawn an additional missile, striking the target for a portion of the damage dealt shortly after appearing. Her attacks Frosts the target. All instances of damage increase the amount of stacks. At 4 stacks, the target is shortly frozen and takes true damage.
KAMA BASE DAMAGE:
500
ICE MISSILE DAMAGE:
20%
FROST DAMAGE:
5% of target’s maximum health
FROZEN DURATION:
1.5
Smoke plumed from her feet and she dashed forward in the shroud and closed the distance. Zen stood still, priming his crossbow.
Battlesong
Cost: 500 MANA
Cooldown: 50 seconds
A+ // Reyenal activates an ability that changes based on the main weapon.
Icicle
Reyenal creates an expanding smokescreen on the ground, and becomes invisible when she is inside the smoke. She is revealed when she attacks or leaves the smokescreen, and she can also see clearly in the smokescreen. It disappears after 6 seconds.
SMOKESCREEN DURATION:
6 seconds
She leaped out of the smoke to his left. He pulled out the bow and shot, making Reyenal block and pushing her back, then perfectly sidestepped and pulled the daggers out of his pocket. He threw it at her and she ducked under it. The shroud disappeared as he threw his second dagger. Reyenal parried it and threw it back. With a third dagger he deflected it and sent it into the floor.
It was like a beautiful, violent dance, each step and turn practiced, yet graceful and elegant.
She dashed forward again with Icicle and swung at him. He ducked under it and stabbed forward at her stomach. She turned to the side and theatrically swung under his arm, making it look as if he was about to be uppercutted. He flipped backward and made another move at her.
They went back and forth, perfect partners in sync with each other, mesmerizing the audience. A cadence in each step, predetermined as the last. Another swing, like a martial waltz.
Finally came the last bit. He was supposed to fling himself over her with all the strength and mana he could muster. She would swing up at him with Icicle with the edge of it around his neck so perfectly that when he landed they would have made an arc of person, snow, and steel. She would have Flambé as her secondary so its incendiary sparks would light up the stage for that dramatic touch. He would land and bow to her at the same time as she swung Icicle behind her in a perfect bow to him.
The moment came. Reyenal swung at him and he dodged. Zen leaped in almost a slow-motion somersault over her head. She followed behind him with Icicle.
But she moved her arm too much, her arc was too fast.
In one quick second her kama swung into his neck and hit his shoulder. He slammed into the floor ungracefully. 2 furious pellets from Icicle’s passive followed behind him and hit him. The burn of Flambé began the moment Icicle hit him. Zen’s HP Bar appeared.
[ ‘ZEN’ || HP [ 752 / 752 ] MANA [ 326 / 590 ] ]
[ ‘ZEN’ || HP - 411 (54.7%) [ 341 (45.3%) / 752 ] MANA [ 326 / 590 ] ]
Icicle and Flambé tore through his health.
[ ‘ZEN’ || HP - 164 (21.8%) [ 177 (23.5%) / 752 ] MANA [ 326 / 590 ] ]
The numbers were moving so fast.
[ ‘ZEN’ || HP - 75 (10%) [ 102 (13.6%) / 752 ] MANA [ 326 / 590 ] ]
The burn finally stopped.
Zen lay there, unmoving. Smoking. Bleeding out on the floor.
With one stroke, Reyenal sent her brother’s health down. The standby paramedics immediately took action. They pulled Zen onto a stretcher, with a healer furiously working on him. This wasn’t something a healer could fix alone with just abilities and potions.
Screams and gasps erupted from the shocked audience. From their perspective, Zendolyn Ato had just messed up. He had failed their expectations. That’s why he was on the floor.
She heard Aythe burst into laughter.
No, it wasn’t her fault. It couldn’t be.
She was sweaty. She was horrified. She was scared. Reyenal bowed. All eyes on her.
=[End of core memory]=
=[Returning to consciousness]=