The first thing I saw was Red.
The only feeling I knew was Pain.
The pure darkness around me is seemingly suffocating me. The floor I lay upon is covered in a fresh velvet, and all can I hear are the Screams. Neverending Screams... "H-Hel- Cough!" I choke out, before realising that my tongue was missing, seemingly cut off... Only then did I noticed the small glowing white figure in front of me, untouched by the Red. It had eight beautiful large angelic wings, and the body of an innocent child... But why does it seem so familiar?
Its eyes though... Those barely conscious blue eyes just seem to glint with twisted glee at my agony, as it suddenly clenches and squeezes my throat, quickly squeezing harder... I can feel my neck slowly being crushed by its insane power, can feel my throat clog with my blood, can feel exactly when the snap in my spine-
Beep! Beep! Beep! Beep!
...
Beep! Beep! Beep! Beep!
Calmly opening my eyes, I press the snooze button on my alarm clock. Another nightmare... Sighing deeply with a shudder, I close my eyes again, before realising that I should probably get up before if I dont want to get pranked horribly. Again. My little sister may be twelve... But the things she can come up with sometimes scare me...
Groaning at the thought, I get up from bed, starting my daily routine of getting dressed, brushing my teeth, etc. Finishing up in only a few minutes, I go wash my face in the bathroom, and examine my face. My dull grey eyes staring back at me, revealing nothing on my emotions. My messy black hair, barely contained and combed back with the Gel I used. My light tan skin, with my naturally straight lined mouth.. If it wasnt for the bags under my eyes, there would be nothing to give away how I felt.
I gaze at the mirror for a full minute before sighing. "Damn Nightmares.." I rub my eyes and brush back my messy black hair, a bit worried about the nightmares. I've been having similar nightmares for the last week, always with my death at the end by the hands of a childlike figure.. I should bring this up with my Therapist tomorrow, this cant possibly be healthy.
Finishing up, I start heading downstairs, and find my little sister Jennifer already in the living room. She was.. attempting a 'Sunset blast' in a mock fight with our dog,"Chunky". Wasnt my idea, but considering how... chunky our Husky has gotten lately, I suppose it fits.
"This isnt even my final form! Prepare yourself fool!!" Jen says to the dog, before she started screaming, "RaaaaaAaaAAaAaAAAAAGGHGHHHHHHHH!!!!". Wincing at how loud she was getting, I idly noticed Chunky laying down to cover his ears. She then suddenly throw up some golden glitter, Where did she get that by the way? We dont have glitter last I checked, and swiftly put on a blue wig and red blanket as a cape.
She playfully glares at Chunky and gives smug smirk, which looks silly on her by the way. "This, is my Space Whale form! Witness my true power! Yahh!" She says, giggling before tackling our fat dog. "Die Fenrir! Take that! And that!" I roll my eyes and chuckle. Jennifer has always been my weak spot, being the only one to have me genuinely feel. Considering my unique.. affliction, that makes her all the more precious in my eyes.
"I see you've been binge watching 'Fae Balls'. Must be in the Jupiter Arc, if you already know about the Space Whale form." I state casually, smiling at my little sister. She then looks up at me, with her own pair of bright grey eyes, and blushes. Scrambling to stand up, she quickly takes off her wig, revealing her own raven hair.. with some golden glitter on it, I might add.
"Er, yeah! I didnt know you watched that anime too Jacky!" She exclaimed in surprise, as Chunky hopped onto my leg for some attention. Petting Chunky, the poor dog was already out of breath, I nod towards the TV. "What do you think I do when I'm not working and your at school? Wasting my time trying to feed Chunky heathy food?" Chuckling as I sit down, I take a glance at the mess of glitter, and give Jen a raised eyebrow.
Jennifer flushes, already knowing what I'm implying, and rushes off to get the broom. Shaking my head, I relax my posture back to its normal expressionless self, just the way I liked it. Grabbing the remote, before changing the channel to the news channels, just in case any natural disasters are going to ruin this day. "Hero Academy is the best school for Chosen in the-" "-by Helen Rosewood, a Seraphim has escaped-" "The Moon has been having strange movements and lightings recently-"
Same old news. Ah well, at least nothing to really worry about for today, which is a relief since itd be a waste of a clear warm day to stick indoors. Jennifer comes back and starts sweeping the floor, so I turn off the TV before getting up to get the car ready. Walking out the door, I take the keys out my pocket and unlock the old Mustang. Old, but still reliable... I think. Im more of a game or anime guy, than a car guy, so I dont really know much beyond the necessities to driving. Turning it on, I sit inside and wait for the car to warm up.
Now, you may be asking why this day seems to be a special occasion for me and my sister? Well, turns out this is the day my parents died five years back, when I was still only around Jens age. Our mother was a Magician and our father was a Slayer, both not especially talented in their respective powers since its a pretty peaceful era, but were definitely much stronger than any average could ever hope to be.
They died when, one day, a Greek Titan decided to appear from the Ocean and attack New York city. Turns out it was sleeping under the oceans for a millennium before waking up, and attacking the closest civilization to it. We were just "lucky" enough to be that civilization to witness one of the last Titans. My parents were the "lucky" ones who were sent to fight it... They just didnt live to tell the tale.
How am I so sure? Well, my fathers Artefact was found amongst the many dead, handed to me due to me being the eldest one left in his side of the family. My mother.. Well, Magicians typically dont survive long due to the nature of their power. To even make a difference in a fight against an ancient 80 foot titan, she'd have to go all out...
Its not all bad I suppose. We get some money and help from the government due to them "Dying in Service to the country", and I did get my father Artefact, which Ive been training to use as often as I could afford, despite not being born a Slayer.. The magic books of my mother are still in the house too, though I leave those in the attic so my sister doesnt get any bright ideas of trying out Magic.
Ah, Speak of the little sqeaker and she shall appear. I look in the rear view mirror and make sure to soften up my features, have a small passive smile on my face, and make my eyes seem to glint with interest. It's a trick you learn over time when you have trouble with empathy and sometimes even feeling emotions altogether. You learn how to fake your emotions and expressions in a way for people to believe.. Though, like I said, she does make me feel good, but I would rather she not see me sad.
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Jumping into the front seat of the car, Jen beams at me and puts on her seatbelt. "So where are we going this time Jack? Can we go to the movies and watch 'Rise of the Templars'? I hear its a good Action Comedy! Oh! Or maybe we can go to-" Ah.. Yeah, I forgot to mention that my sister can be a bit of a chatterbox when she gets going... Should probably stop her before she gets onto the weird suggestions. "- and we can jump off the jets with hot air balloons before-"
I clear my throat to interrupt and she flushes, realising that shes ranting. "I think a movie sounds like a nice start. Lets not do anything too crazy this year alright? Im still finding splinters from my skin from the last time I indulged in one of those ideas." I let my smile widen a bit, and shake my head. She pouts and mumbles, "Its not my fault.. I didnt know we were shooting fireworks at Treants! I thought they were just regular trees..."
TimeSkip
After the movie, we started driving around the city, heading to get some food at a buffet. After that? We went to the beach to chill, checked out any new games coming up, raced each other a few times, made some sand castles while playing some 'Sand Wars', and generally had a pretty good time.
I did see a few weird things on the way, like the way people seemed more nervous than usual, and the way police seemed to drive around with their sirens on all day. I suspected there was a really good story behind this, the reporter in me wanting to uncover it... But this was a day for me and Jen, to help cheer her up anyway I can. No work today.
We decided to end our little adventure playing hide and seek in the national park, though the sun was getting low pretty fast. By the time I actually found the little rogue, the moon, full as it can be, was already up we were both pretty tired. She smiled and yawned, arms around my collar bone. She was small enough for a piggy back ride, so why not? "Thank you Jacky.. Love you~" I smile as a warm feeling spreads inside me, and I opened my mouth to say I loved her as well... before we heard quite a loud sob. It.. sounded very young, like a little girl crying.
I dont know how the sobbing got so close to us without ether of us noticing it until now, but my sis being the little wannabe hero she is, hopped off my back and searched for the noise. "Wait, Jen! Damnit.." Running off after her, I found her staring at a little blond haired girl, crying with her back on a large tree... and with eight wings sprouted out her back.
My breath hitches, my heart stops, and for a moment, I just feel a primal sense of fear. Suddenly, a memory flashes in through my mind- "-by Helen Rosewood, a Seraphim has escaped". A Seraphim, practically a natural disaster given a childs form, able to slaughter millions back in the days full of God Slayers and Magic... But niether of us were armed, and-
"Hello? Are you okay? Are you hurt?" My sister says with a worried tone, getting closer to the being... And suddenly, I feel a deep sense of dread, and realise that my sister doesnt know what a Seraphim is, or at least that one has escaped... She probably assuming that this is just a Half-bred angel or something..
What do I do?? I cant run and get her, it may startle the thing to attack. I cant shout, same problem. Cant fight, itd kill me easily, especially without any weapon. "Jennfier.. come here. Now!" I whisper loudly, and she turns to me confused. "What-" And only then did I realise my beloved little sister turned her back on an apex predator to look at me.
A moment, an instant passed before I felt warm blood on my face. Before I saw my sisters confused expression falling with her head hitting the floor, her body still standing. Before I felt the agonizing pain of a wing, no.. of a giant sword gutting my Solar plexus while her- no, it's hands wrap around my neck. That horrible nightmare becoming a reality, as I feel my neck start to creak under the power of the Seraphim, my brain getting damaged from the pressure. And that glint in its eyes, as if finally finding prey to play with...
Suddenly a large white foam covers the Seraphim, before it tries to fly away. Faster than my eyes can follow, loud noises popped and exploded around me.. I couldnt stay up for long, my breath feels shallow, my eyes are getting heavy. I hear voices, see light and shapes, but I can understand what their saying or what I'm seeing. Is.. this how I'm going to die...? I-I'm sorry.. Jennifer...
***
CODEX;
▪Godslayers: Originally beings made by the Fates and Norns around 0 BC, when the Fates found that the Gods were planning to go to war with each other. This would cause the Earth/Midgard to be destroyed in the process, and humanity with it. The Fates/Norns, not wishing to lose their favorite play-things, created God-Slayers as a way to have humanity survive the war.
Godslayers have amazing capabilities in combat, and seem to only get stronger the more they overcome. This has been noted, that every God-Slayer has a strange yet powerful magical Artefacts, created by the Fey to help them in the midst of the war. A Godslayer usually has a 25% chance to have a child that becomes a Godslayer, while the children with the Godslayer gene having a 5% chance.
Godslayers of today are almost all descendants of the Originals, and their titles are shortened to Slayers. Due to the war ending with all the known Gods in the war not being allowed to access or influence Earth/Midgard, Slayers ended up being used in wars. Technology is still struggling to keep up with the power a Slayer can use, not quite succeeding.
▪Magic/Magicians: Magic is a power anyone can use if they find a way to harness it. However, no matter how you use it, almost all magic consists of you absorbing ambient mana in order to harness it, due to mana not naturally found in humans. This process is excruciating, made worse the bigger the change to reality you create.
For example, to attempt to freeze a large cup of water would give a major migraine and spread a feeling of numbness in the Magicians body. Freezing a lake would end with the Magician finding trouble breathing, and if old enough, may cause cardiac arrest. To attempt to create ice out of the water particles or the magicians blood, causes magicians to typically faint.
Magic causes pain to Magicians, yet they arent being physically damaged by Magic. Their souls are pulled and twisted to accommodate the unnatural energy, causing the brain to think there is extreme pain in the body, and the body reacts as if in such pain. Many attempting large scale Magics have been known to easily die or go comatose, causing the study into magic to be a dangerous thing, so now many do not use Magic due to the risks.
Magical Artefacts are an exception, allowing access to a magical effect via the object. However, if the being who creates it doesnt have some divinity, like the Gods, Demigods, Slayers, Titans, or Fae, then the object is weakened to only be single use before breaking. Divinity-created Artefacts are very hard to make, harder to come by, and extremely powerful.
▪Seraphims: Created by the Christian God, Yehwah, and only ever numbering in one hundred, are extremely dangerous. They look like human female children, purposely designed to catch others off guard long enough to kill. They all have eight wings, blue eyes, blond hair, and olive skin. They were made in the beginning of the God-King wars, being the only soldiers ever sent in the name of the Christian God.
They all seem to hold a unique powerful ability, comparable to the Chosen of today, all able to transform their wings to have indestructible weapons instead of Feathers, or sometimes even using the wings to transform long arms or tendrils to wield these weapons better. They all have a very powerful healing factor and are extremely durable. In the Godking war, they all killed enough to have estimated each one, at the very least, killed over 50 million humans. They are a Class-S threat, therefore should be avoided if at all possible.
The only ones known to ever contain these Army Killers were the Hero Corps, Illuminati, and "Peoples-Republic-Over-Greater-Realms and Effective-Scientists-Society", labeled PROGRESS.