Year 2313 In the beautiful night sky where the stars shine bright, comes a massive airship flying over the grassy fields [https://img.wattpad.com/9c05958141d93c0f040a7ca59ba9c3e1b50245a0/68747470733a2f2f73332e616d617a6f6e6177732e636f6d2f776174747061642d6d656469612d736572766963652f53746f7279496d6167652f325679797249454864796b6871513d3d2d313337383833353538302e313764393138383333343462326434343832343236353837313438372e706e67?s=fit&w=1280&h=1280]
Year 2313
In the beautiful night sky where the stars shine bright, comes a massive airship flying over the grassy fields. However, this was not just any airship, but an imperial warship belonging to that of the Machina Empire. The most technologically advanced government in Esos. And what occurred on this warship, was a break in.
The sounds of security alarms ringing through the speakers, staff members panicking trying to assess the situation and robotic soldiers armed with their rifles running through the halls of the ship. Who or what caused all this commotion you ask?
This person is a thin, attractive young woman. Short mid-length green hair, mid-length bangs and has emerald green eyes. She was cloaking herself with invisibility, hiding from the enemy.
Ziera is a young light skinned girl with light green hair and emerald green eyes [https://img.wattpad.com/f4c8b605f019298ff090b867c29f708225cd57e5/68747470733a2f2f73332e616d617a6f6e6177732e636f6d2f776174747061642d6d656469612d736572766963652f53746f7279496d6167652f48504e514a77486949764f7977673d3d2d313434353630333034322e313764303231646163313732623332653434383032313736313936332e6a7067?s=fit&w=1280&h=1280]
However, she was severely injured. She had severe burns on both her arms and some scratch markings on her face. She couldn't sustain the invisibility for long. It started to flicker between on and off periodically. Soon she would lose it and she would be found so when she was sure that the soldiers were gone she made a dash for the exit.
As she ran through the halls she had something in between her arms. It appeared to be a weapon of some sorts and she kept a firm tight grip on it despite her injuries. She was about to make a right turn towards the bridge of the ship but there were guards at the entrance.
She tried to sneak up on them since she was invisible but her cloaking ability finally gave out giving away her position and alerted the guards of her presence.
"Damn it". The young woman whispered to herself. She held onto the item in her left arm tightly getting ready for a fight.
"Freeze or we'll open fire!"
"Oh screw it."
She made a dash towards the guards. They shot at her but she swiftly dodged their shots. Then she got a grip on one of the guard's guns and slammed it hard against his helmet throwing him off balance.
The second guard tried to shoot her but she kicked his gun up into the air before he could and followed it by a swift kick to his helmet breaking pieces of it off and sending him to the ground.
The first guard grabbed her from behind and put her in a chokehold but she elbowed his sides with both her arms multiple times until he let go. She followed up her assault by kneeing him in the stomach, ripping off his helmet to headbutt him, kicked him in the gut and into the wall, and then ran towards him at full speed to jump and knee him in the jaw against the wall knocking him out.
The force was so hard it dented the steel wall. If he wasn't an android he would have been much worse. The second guard was getting back up but the infiltrator jumped up onto his shoulders wrapping her thighs around his neck and then flipped his body forward perfmoning a flying headscissor attack. His whole body went flying hard onto the ground.
The young woman sighed as she put her hand on the soldier's rifle. She was really low on mana, but she only needed enough to do what she's about to do. So she gripped hard.
"Okay. You're injured, really low on mana and hundreds of imperial soldiers are on your ass ready to kill you. But none of that matters. All that matters is that you get out of here before Zenal gets his hands on this. So please. PLEASE WORK!"
As she focused all her remaining mana on the rifle its form began to change. The rifle was now shaped like a circular object. An E.M.P Grenade. She picked up the grenade and took a deep breath.
"I've only got 15 seconds. But that's enough." She said to herself.
With her nerves gone she sprinted towards the door of the bridge and immediately threw the grenade into the air once the door opened. She sprinted back from the door as the grenade went off and every electronic device including the androids in the room were all but shut down.
She ran up to the front windows of the bridge, but more guards arrived at the entrance aiming their guns at her.
"Stop! There's nowhere to run!" The girl turned her head around and smirked.
"Heh. That's what you think."
She sprinted at full speed through the windows and dived straight down off the warship and downwards from the sky. She may have escaped but now was literally falling to her death. With her remaining mana she transformed her feet into jet boots. She couldn't fly in her state but she could at least try to slow herself down.
"Come on! Come on!" She tried to slow herself down as best she could but she barely had power left and she was coming down fast. As she fell, she finally noticed a town below her. It was Lockwood, which was currently being occupied by the Machina Empire. She had even more reason to slow down now but easier said than done. She thankfully was close enough to the town where falling from that height wouldn't kill her, but then her jet boots finally gave out.
"Oh you gotta be kiddi-" she didn't get to finish as she fell and bounced off the roof of a building. As she continued to fall she got a split second saw someone and was heading towards their direction. "WATCH OUT!" But it was too late and then...BAM!
Jayden Pov
Lockwood
3 Hours Earlier
"Jayden! Jayden!" JAYDEN CORTEZ!"
"Gah! I'm awake! I'm awake!". I exclaimed as I finally woke up from my nap and got my bearings.
My name is Jayden Cortez and I am currently sleeping on the job like a champ! I'm 18 years old, at average height, brown eyes and I have dreadlocks with a high fade.
Stolen from Royal Road, this story should be reported if encountered on Amazon.
Description: [https://img.wattpad.com/222f36142e8494ed1de0d4b64b0ac6be554a9a6b/68747470733a2f2f73332e616d617a6f6e6177732e636f6d2f776174747061642d6d656469612d736572766963652f53746f7279496d6167652f495f75687a78397a4435343869773d3d2d313434353630323033372e313764376235643462363534396333323335323332373035353537352e6a7067?s=fit&w=1280&h=1280]
I work at the homeless shelter so I'm currently wearing my red uniform. My only tasks there are basically just check up on the people living there and do some cleanup. Nothing crazy. I usually only work from 8:00 am to 5:00 pm on the weekdays to help out and earn some cash. But today I had to also take the night shift because one of our staff members couldn't make it. I didn't mind. Extra cash and all.
Unfortunately, I didn't get much sleep last night so I ended up sleeping on the job. And who better to wake me than my beloved boss. AKA my mom. That's right. My mom, Maria Cortez runs this whole shelter in Lockwood. It was a remarkable innovation within the community and my mom has become a pillar of hope for those who don't have homes or even families to live with.
The shelter was home to many people for different reasons. One being that some lost their homes outside of town due to dragon attacks. Or heavy taxes from the Machina Empire. That's right, our beloved and merciful empire who "saved" our town decades ago.
They occupied this town before I was even born so I never knew what it was like before they arrived. Though from what I heard it was more reliant on magic than technology and much more cleaner and happier sk I bet it something to see. Now the empire rules it and everything is different.
They advanced the technology within our town. Made better working conditions, tightened security by leaving troops and drones behind and thanks to their Magi-tech powering everything things were looking better for this town right? Well while that's all nice there's the other side of being under the empire's thumb.
There's a curfew, taxes are higher than ever and given our near full house at the shelter people of lower status can't afford to pay them. Some can't even make it to the shelter and are forced to live in the slums and the empire didn't care enough to help those people.
In their eyes all they needed was what was necessary. And the guards are more than just strict they're ruthless. If you argue or standup against them you'll be arrested. Or worse executed.
Even with all of that you'll get different opinions on this like how "it's good for the town. If it weren't for the empire, we'd all be food to the dragons." Which was true. It was thanks to the Machina Empire that dragons haven't laid waste to this town yet. But is just surviving all that matters? What about actually living? No I shouldn't think about that stuff right now I got enough on my plate.
As for my mom, she is a middle aged hispanic woman with long black hair and brown eyes like mine. She was wearing her own red shirt uniform, blue jeans and large earrings. One thing you should know about my mom is that she's the gentlest and kindest person I've ever known. But you should never cross her which is the mistake I just made.
"Jayden Alejandro Cortez! You better not be sleeping when you're supposed to be working!"
For context, I was too busy playing video games and reading comics about the Guardians of Esos all night and didn't fall asleep till 6:00 AM. And I had to be at work at 8:00 AM. Now it's 7:00 PM and I haven't had much of a chance to get some proper sleep. But still it was entirely my fault so I can't exactly blame her.
"Sorry mom. I guess I didn't get enough sleep last night. But don't worry! Won't happen again! Promise!" I tried giving my best convincing smile but my mom wasn't buying it and gave me the look. You know the look. Especially if it's from your very angry mother.
"Oh really? Prove it then. You still have to finish cleaning the kitchen like you said you would".
"Yeah don't remind me" I mumbled and side eyed.
"What was that?"
"Nothing! Getting on it right now!" I dashed towards the kitchen not wanting anymore of her wrath.
"Jayden!" My mom called out. I stopped in my tracks.
"Yeah!?"
"Don't stop until you finish your task okay? Remember what we always say?"
"Never give up. Never surrender". We said in unison. Yeah it was cheesy but I liked it. My dad would always tell me this whenever I faced a hard challenge. And ya know what? It helped me every time.
"You got it mom! Love you!" I finally ran off to complete my remaining duties for the night.
"Love you too mijo!" When I left my mother sighed but smiled. "Honestly. What am I gonna do with that boy?"
3 hours later
I was currently mopping the floors of the kitchen. I was almost done with my task just in time for my lunch break. While I worked I overheard a couple of the staff members near buy.
"Sheesh that kid is a real handful isn't he?"
"Oh stop it, you know Jayden is trying his best".
They were talking about me? Oh great what did I do now?
"Yeah the kid means well it's just...maybe he's trying too hard ya know? I mean, you saw how that worked out the last time."
I suddenly came to a halt. I knew exactly what he was referring to. Seriously? Again? Why? Why now? Can't they just let it go?
"Stop that! He might hear you!"
"So what? We're all thinking the same thing aren't we? This isn't anything new. The kid is a screw up.
That's not true. I'm trying to keep it together and just ignore him, but this guy was really starting to get to me.
"He acts before he thinks and doesn't think about how it'll affect others. He just wants attention."
Stop it! That's not true!
"Unless he shapes up he'll keep making the same mistakes and get somebody hurt. Just like he did with his fathe-"
"SHUT UP!!!" I roared as I accidentally broke the mop stick in half with my hands.
"Jayden?"
I turned around and saw my mom looking at me with worry. How long had she been standing there? Wait hold on. What did I just do? I looked back down and saw the broken mop on the ground realizing what I had just done. Then I looked at my surroundings and some of the staff members came when they heard me shout. Including the ones who were talking about me earlier. I just made a complete idiot of myself.
"Jayden? Are you okay?" My mom asked me with a soft voice.
I was flustered and couldn't take it. So I ran out of the kitchen. My mom called for me but I kept running. I ran out of the shelter and out into the night on the deserted streets through town. Not even caring that I left my bag. Why did I do that? Why did that guy have to bring up the past out of the blue? Why can't they just move on!? Why can't I....
I stopped running and stood in the middle of the street under a lamppost. I looked down at the ground balling my hands. I just couldn't take it. Was he right? Am I just gonna keep making the same mistakes as before? Suddenly an image of my father appeared in my head.
"Dad". I whispered to myself. "If only you were here. If only I didn't.....". I stopped and closed my eyes with just a sigh. What's the point of thinking about this now? It won't change anything. It won't change how people see me. Maybe mom doesn't but..idk. Isn't there anyone out there who won't judge me because of my past?
While I contemplated this. I realized I left my bag. "Crap. Guess I should go back. Besides I gotta apologize to mom for running out anyways. She's definitely worried about me". I turned around and started making my way back to the shelter when suddenly I heard what sounded like a scream.
"Huh?" I looked up and saw something coming down from the sku. It looked like a person but they had jet boots? An android? They hit the roof of a building and came flying down towards me. Fast! Wait. Is that a girl?
"WATCH OUT!" She shouted at me. I was so stunned I couldn't react in time to move and then...BAM! She crashed right into me and we both went flying down onto the street with her on top of me.
My eyes flickered between consciousness and unconsciousness. My head was spinning. Must have banged my head.
"Ugh what the hell?" I tried raising my head, only to remember the girl was still on top of me. And on closer inspection she was badly injured. I immediately sat back up and rested her body in my arms. "HEY! Are you okay!? Say something!"
She didn't answer. She just grunted in pain. Probably still out of it. This is bad. She's got third degree burns on her arms, scrapes on her face, her clothes are all dirty and she's bleeding from the head. I gotta get help! I looked for my phone but I forgot it was at the shelter too!
"Goddamnit!" What should I do? Call out for help? I gotta do something! This girl is gonna die! I scooped her up bridal style keeping her safely secure in my arms. "Don't worry! I'll carry you to the hospital! Just hang on!" I was about to make my way but she grabbed onto my shirt.
“N-no hospitals!" She said in a weak voice.
"What are you serious!? Look at you! We need to get you to a hospital quickly before..."
"NO! No hospitals! They'll f-find m-me." She repeated.
"They? Who's they!? What are you talking about!?" Is this girl some kind of escaped convict or something? If she is, maybe I shouldn't get involved after all. I mean I don't even know her right? This isn't my problem. I'll just make things harder for mom.
["He acts before he thinks and doesn't think about how it'll affect others. He just wants attention."]
Goddamnit not again! I can't do this again! That guy's words were starting to echo in my head until I felt something gently touch my face. It was that girl's hand. She looked directly at me with her bright green eyes, and I couldn't look away.
"Please. Please no hospitals. I c-can't explain but please. Please help me." She said this as a tear ran down her eye. Suddenly my doubts started to waver. What was doing? I didn't know this girl. She could be a criminal. She could bring me a lot of trouble. I can't get involved! I can't keep getting myself involved in other people's business! I'm not a hero!
But ... .but even so that doesn't matter. Right now this girl needs my help. I can't leave her like this. Maybe I'm making a mistake but no! This isn't a mistake. I need to save this girl. I'd never forgive myself if I didn't. I don't know what consequences could await me if I do but it's like my dad always told me.
"Never give up! And never surrender!" I looked at the girl with a look of determination in my eyes and made a vow. "Don't worry, I know just the place to take you. I'm going to save you! I promise!" She didn't say anything but she looked relieved. Seems she trusted me so that was good.
I was about to leave but then I kicked something. What was it? It looked like a gauntlet. Is it hers? She must have dropped it when she fell. Well whatever I'll just take it with me she probably needs it or something? So I took the gauntlet in my arm while carrying her off. I made a dash for my place but not too fast where she wouldn't be hurt. I couldn't take her to a hospital or risk using the shelter if she was dangerous or if someone was after her so my house was the best bet.
"Don't worry! I won't let you die! I promise!" I shouted again. Little did I know at the time that by saving her, this girl and this gauntlet would change my life forever.
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