Jayden Pov

"Alright and that should do it. How are you feeling now Anna?" I just finished patching up one of our guests at the shelter. A little girl named Anna who had a burn scar over her left eye and a robotic left arm implant. She had some bruises and cuts she got from playing outside but with some ointment and bandages it was an easy fix.

"I feel all better now! Thanks a lot Jay!" She said with a big smile.

"Ah don't worry about it. Just be careful next time okay?"

"I will! Thanks again! You're a good guy Jay!"

A good guy huh? Well I try to be. Still, it felt nice that Anna appreciated my help.

"By the way what's that thing on your arm?" Oh right. I forgot I wasn't concealing Ragnarok because I needed my other hand to apply the bandages in Anna. Well it's fine as long as she doesn't go around blabbing this off to an imperial right?

"Oh this? It's uh...a part of my cosplay!"

"Cosplay?" Anna asked with a confused expression.

Yeah you know us guardians nerds always play dress up haha!"I just kept laughing it off to take off any suspicion. I wasn't a very good liar but surely I could fool a kid right? But Anna just giggled at me.

"Wow you're such a dork Jay!" A dork? Come on Anna I'm a freakin superhero now! Well sort off.

"Alright I'm going to go back outside now. Thanks again Jay!" Anna waved goodbye as she ran back outside to play outside with her friends. This place didn't have a playground but the kids can make do.

While I'm glad Anna is feeling better, is this all I can do for her? I looked at Ragnarok on my arm. Is this all I can do for anyone? I know I should somehow give this back to Ziera but if Ragnarok chose me, doesn't that mean I'm meant to do good with it?

Just like the guardians of esos who fought against the gods, can't I use this power to fight against the empire? Help people for real this time? I know mom wouldn't want me to put myself in danger but...

"Wow you're really good with kids too?" I snapped out of my thoughts and turned around to see who was talking to me. It was Ziera. "You just keep on surprising me, Cortez. Is there nothing you can't do?"

"Ziera, hey! Oh and nah it's nothing special. I just took lessons from the best boss in the world." I responded by rubbing the back of my head.

"Damn straight you did!" Suddenly mom was right behind me patting me on the back. I felt a bit embarrassed but just chuckled. Ziera smiled at us. Her eyes looked a bit red though. Was she crying after I left?

"By the way, is everything okay between you two?" My mom giggled at my question and went over to Ziera wrapping her arm around her.

"Of course Jay. What did you think I was going to tear her head off? We had a nice chat and came to an understanding. You don't have to worry, Ziera can stay with us as long as she likes." I sighed in relief. I'm glad that all worked out, and I'm glad Ziera looks much better.

"As long as you two don't get any funny ideas. Seperate rooms for both of you." My mom lectured pointing her finger at me. Ziera blushed and I was just flabbergasted.

"Oh what the hell!? It's not even like that I just met her!" I exclaimed.

"Watch the language! And don't give me that excuse. I know you've been just jumping at the opportunity to score some. Honestly, you get all of this from your father and don't even get me started on what you are doing in your bedroom with those magazines. Why honestly! I had to clean off all the-."

"MOM!" I shouted flushed red. Ziera caught wind of that.

"Clean off all the what?" Ziera was curious but hell no.

"Nothing! Don't worry about it!" I exclaimed.

Me and mom continued to bicker while Ziera turned her attention towards the kids of the shelter. "Still, I didn't think this place would be so packed. If you don't mind me asking, are things really that bad here?" Ziera inquiered. Mom and I stopped our bickering. Mom had a solemn look in her face as she too faced the children and other residents of the shelter.

"I'm afraid so. Lockwood is a peaceful town. Thanks to the empire there's virtually no crime of any kind. You can walk the streets at night without getting mugged. Advanced technology that never goes out which makes for better living and working conditions. Not to mention the food rations they provide and the massive security surrounding the town to keep it from being attacked by dragons. In all honesty the empire made our little town a safe place. But ya know what? Being safe isn't the same as living."

Ziera looked all around her. The children, the adults, the elderly and even some of the staff members within the shelter. Then just like that, the realization hit her like a ton of bricks. Besides Anna, there were other children with robotic limbs. Some of their implants looked so rusted and outdated that one of them struggled to even walk with their mechanical legs.

A few of the elderly were no better. More had burned scars on their bodies, some even lost their eyes from the flames of dragons. Even some staff members had implants. My mom continued on with her speech.

"Many kids like Anna you saw are originally from other towns that were burned down by dragons from the Kingdom of Ifrit. Since you were the princess you must already know of the ongoing war between them and the Machina Empire. It's because of that war, that all these kids lost their homes and families. Some of these kids are half-breeds, but if the empire found them they'd be taken away so me and Jayden have been hiding them out here and keeping them from outside."

That's right. Half-breeds are half demon and human. It's said that long ago the empire had some kind of feud with demons thousands of years ago and have discriminated against them ever since. They would kill any demon in sight and capture any half breed child. I don't know what they do to those kids but they're never seen again. Those bastards.

"I..I am so sorry. What the empire, what my family has done. I..". Ziera spoke but my mom interjected.

"Stop. What did we just talk about earlier chica? It's fine, you've done nothing wrong here." My mom lectured.

"She's right Ziera. Like I told mom earlier, it's the empire's fault not you. You didn't do anything wrong." Ziera however didn't look convinced and looked down at her feet.

"I'm not so sure." She whispered under her breath. I was going to say something but mom interjected.

"That being said, we need to talk about what happens next. About both your situations." She was right. We had to do this now because the empire will eventually find us. But Ragnarok won't come off and after thinking about it, maybe I should..

"Right. Listen, the gauntlet can't come off Jayden no matter what you do. Even if you try to cut his arm off the gauntlet has a self defense mechanism that will prevent that from happening." Well that's a relief. Like I need anyone to go out of their way to cut my whole left arm off. Ziera continued on.

"The empire probably doesn't have a way of tracking it otherwise they would have found us by now. I also scanned for any trackers and luckily neither us nor the gauntlet has any. Still that won't stop them. They will find us eventually and everyone at this shelter will be put in danger." My mom sighed. She had a feeling that would be the case.

"Okay. So what do you suggest?"

"Let me take Jayden outside of the continent. My allies should be arriving soon. When they do, we can get him out of here before the empire catches him."

"Outside of the continent? To where? And to who? You still haven't told us who your allies are." My mom said.

"I'm sorry Mrs. Cortez but for your safety I can't tell you. But I promise you that where I'm taking Jayden won't be dangerous. My allies, you can trust them."

"With all due respect Ziera I have never met your allies so how can I trust them with my son's life?" My mom asked.

Stolen from its original source, this story is not meant to be on Amazon; report any sightings.

"You're right. That's not fair of me. Then I'm asking you to trust me. I know we just met but I swear on my life that I won't let anything happen Jayden." This couldn't go on. I had to say something.

"Uh hey guys? I'm still here. Don't I get a say?"

"No." they said in unison. Great. Mom not only almost embarrassed me in front of Ziera but now they've joined forces. With all her quick thinking maybe mom should have gotten Ragnarok instead of me I don't know.

"Look I appreciate you both for wanting to keep me safe but I should get a say in my future. I don't know why but this gauntlet chose me so I'm a part of this fight against the empire now."

"The hell you are! Don't even think about it Jayden! This isn't a game."

"I know it's not! But I'm serious about this mom." Ziera then jumped in trying to take away the tension.

"Jayden. What your mom is trying to say is this isn't like the comic books you read, this is real. This is war. Life and death. Once you join this battle, there's no turning back. Are you sure you're prepared to take that risk?"

Ziera was right. Saying I'll just fight the empire without a plan sounds stupid as hell. I was lucky to even use Ragnarok. Can I really fight an entire empire?

["He acts before he thinks and doesn't think about how it'll affect others. He just wants attention."]

No, I can't think about that shit right now. I have the chance to help people so I can't waver now! Come on Jay! You finally have the power to do something and now you're freezing!

Then suddenly, images of my dad, my mom, Anna, the people of the shelter and Ziera lying on the ground injured asking me for help flashed through my mind.

["Please help me"].

Then it hit me. That's right. That's why I'm doing this. I had my answer. So I stood tall and faced both mom and Ziera with a fierce look.

"I am. I don't want to run or be protected. I want to become stronger. Strong enough to fight the empire." I declared.

"Jayden!" My mom shouted.

"Mom, just please listen to me! I know what you're thinking but...this isn't like before! I'm not trying to make the same mistake I made with dad!" My mom froze in place and Ziera looked at me with a shocked expression. I hated bringing up the past and I didn't want Ziera to hear this but I had to tell mom how I really felt.

"Look, I know I'm a screw up okay!? I know what this whole town thinks of me and maybe I deserve it. I mean sure I can't blame them. What I'm saying is very reckless and very very stupid but, I'm not doing this for me. I'm doing this for you, for dad, for Ziera, for Anna and this entire town. Didn't you tell me that I'm a Cortez?"

"Helping people is what we do. It's in our blood. We don't give up and we don't surrender. Well that's what I'm doing. I'm not gonna give up. Not until I've made those bastards pay for hurting our family and this town! I may have been a screw up but now I want to be better. To become a hero just like the Guardians and free this town and other towns from the empire. I want to become your hero, mom."

Mom was left speechless. So was Ziera though she looked at me with more curiosity and admiration. While Mom looked like she was tearing up. "Oh Jayden I...I didn't know you felt that wa-."

"AAAAHHHH!"

"What the hell!?" I shouted.

"That scream, it came from outside!" Ziera exclaimed.

Me, Ziera and mom ran outside the front entrance and we couldn't believe our eyes. Tons of imperial troops were waiting for us outside. They were standing a few feet from the entrance of the shelter and not only that but that Cozar guy was back. He looked injured from earlier and still had that hole in his stomach from where I punched him. He was holding Anna up by her collar shirt.

"Anna!" I called out.

"Jay! Help me!" Anna screamed.

"Quiet brat!" Cozar snapped.

"Bastard! Let her go!" I shouted. I thought I took care of this asshole. I know he's a robot and all but I didn't think he'd be this persistent. God Dammit.

"Well we meet again Jayden Cortez. That is your name right? We did some research on you after that little confrontation between us." He then turned his attention towards my mom. "Ah and this must be the lovely Maria Cortez. The one in charge of this backwater shelter. You know harboring criminals is a criminal act punishable by death don't you?" My mom didn't have a response, she just looked at him with disgust.

"Leave her out of this asshole, this is between you and me!"

"Oh I'm afraid not. Ziera will be executed for her crimes of desertion and treachery. Your mother will be executed for harboring fugitives. Finally you, my dear boy, will be executed simply for being born!"

"The hell? What's wrong with you!?"

"What's wrong with me? WHAT THE HELL IS WRONG WITH YOU!? You're just some nobody bottom feeding piece of filth who stains the very beauty of our glorious empire with your existence. I get nauseous just looking at you! Die! Did! Die! DIEEEEEEE!"

What the hell? This guy is crazy! I really set him off.

"Jayden!" Anna cried out.

"Anna! I said let her go! I'm warning you!" I shouted as I slowly reached for Ragnarok on my left hand bed. Cozar caught me.

"Not so fast!" Cozar then pointed a gun at Anna's head. "Don't get any funny ideas now boy! If you want to save this little girl like a good little hero you'll trade your life for hers. Refuse and you all die with her!"

"Like we'd believe that. You'll just kill her anyway."

"Hehehe. Shall we test that theory you traitorous wench!" Cozar took off the safety of his gun and pointed it closer at Anna's head.

"Ahhh! Jay! Mrs. Cortez!" Anna wailed.

Dammit! What can I do! I can transform but he'll kill Anna. I'm not fast enough to stop him! Dammit! Not again! This can't happen again! Then out of nowhere I heard a beeping noise.

"Oh hold on everyone! Time out!" Ziera called out. What the hell is she doing!?

"Hey Emilia. I'm fine, don't worry. Though we're kinda in a pinch right now so how can you get here? Wait, you're already what?"

"I said I'm already here silly".

In a flash, someone appeared right next to me. It looked like a girl with a green hood on and she had Anna in her arms.

"What!? What the hell!?" Cozar exclaimed.

"Heh. As fast as ever huh Emilia?" Ziera asked with a smirk.

"Yep! If you need a quick win then I'm your gal!" Emilia said winking. I took a better look at the girl. She was pretty. She had long braided blonde hair, bright blue eyes, 2 small blue face triangle face markings on her cheeks, wore a brown chest guard exposing her stomach, a long green hood, brown pants, and had a bow over her shoulder. Not even mentioning her small green

"Anna, are you okay!? Maria asked as she ran over. Anna nodded. She didn't have any injuries so that's good.

"What the hell? Who is that!?" One of the soldiers asked.

"Admiral, your orders!?" Cozar was so angry he was turning blue in the face.

"Gah! Who cares!? Just shoot her you idiots!" Cozar demanded.

"Uh right! Men, open fire!"

"Oh I wouldn't do that if I were you." Emilia warned. The soldiers didn't listen and tried to shoot but without warning their guns crumbled into tiny pieces and fell to the ground. Every soldier that was behind Cozar had lost their weapon. Emilia gave them a big smile. "Because you see, I already cut them." Emilia announced.

The soldiers were just baffled by what happened and couldn't process it. Neither could it.

"Holy shit!" I shouted.

"Yep. That's Emilia for ya. She may look innocent and cute but she's easily the fastest warrior on our little team." Ziera said.

"Amazing."

"Okay! Introductions will have to wait so Ziera you take the new Ragnarok wielder and the civilians out of here. I'll handle these guys by myself!" Emilia said unsheathing her blades again.

"Got it! But where's Henro?" Ziera asked.

"Here, I guess." What the!? Suddenly some other guy was standing right behind us. He was taller than me, had black wavy hair, purple eyes, pale skin, had some ear piercings and was wearing a black fur coat. He had a tired expression on his face.

"Wait who are you!?" I asked but he ignored me.

"About time you showed up you lazy bum." Ziera said.

"Chill out princess, I was just catching some sleep. Can't a guy do that anymore?"

"Not while we're on a mission." Ziera lectured.

"Tch. Can't have anything in this economy anymore." Henro complained.

"Wait Ziera! Who is this guy?" I asked.

"Sorry Jayden but there's no time but you can trust him. Both of them. First we gotta get your mom and Anna out of here! Maria, let's go back to the shelter." Ziera said. Maria nodded. She didn't know what was going on but she didn't care as long as she got her family to safety.

"You heard the lady. We gotta get a move on, newbie." Henro said as he grabbed onto me, dragging me off.

"Wait! What about her!?" I asked, pointing at Emilia.

"Are you deaf or something? She said she'll handle it. Don't underestimate the Garuda tribe so just shut up and watch while you can." Henro said. Garuda!? That girl is a part of the Garuda tribe!? I looked back and saw Emilia doing her stance. The soldiers were still in a state of shock but still geared up for a fight. Emilia was facing at least 50 or so of them, and she was just smiling. We made it back inside the shelter but I kept watching from the window.

"Take a good luck newbie. Whenever the Garuda tribe faces an enemy, they do a dance for them in their honor. The last dance they'll ever see." I kept looking at Emilia but blinked for just a sec and she was gone. Then without a moment's notice, Cozar and all of the soldiers were being flung back into the air.

"Dance of Zephyrus, god of the skies". Henro said.

***

"D-Don't just stand there! Kill her!" Cozar demanded.

"Sorry too slow!" Emilia said cheerfully. Before the soldiers could recover she dashed towards and knocked them down one by one in an instant. One tried to lunge at Emilia with a knife but age dodged and he was met with a swift kick to the face and flew at Cozar knocking him back on the ground. The next soldier pulled out a small glock and tried to shoot her but Emilia sliced the gun into pieces and kicked him back high into the air and into the window of a building.

"Oops! Sorry about your window! I'm sure Henro will pay for it later!"

"LIKE HELL I WILL!" Henro shouted from across the street out of the window from the shelter. Jayden was just watching in awe. He'd never seen someone so fast and fight so gracefully as much as her. To him, it was like she was actually dancing in the wind.

Emilia kept dashing across the street kicking and knocking down all the soldiers in the area within the blink of an eye. She kneed one on the fast, sliced the legs off another and kicked the back of his upper body through a brick building and blew the rest away with what appeared to be wind magic.

"What are you idiots doing!? Get some drones in here and shoot her down!" Cozar screamed. A couple of drones appeared flying down and targeted Emilia.

"Watch out!" Jayden shouted.

"Shut up. The dance isn't over yet. You'll ruin her concentration." Henro said sternly. Jayden was unsure but Henro wasn't worried in the slightest. He just had his arms folded smirking as he watched the show.

"Ohhhh drones!? That's so exciting! Look at them flying, that's so cute. I'd be scared if I couldn't do the same." Emilia said she suddenly grew her wings and flew up avoiding their shots. As she flew up into the air the drones kept trying to shoot at her but missed every shot. She flew and zoomed around the air, passed buildings all with her eyes closed.

"What the hell!? These drones are state of the art technology from the empire! She can't possibly just dodged them so effortlessly!" Cozar exclaimed.

"Okay I think that's enough warming up. Time to get serious!" Emilia shouted. She pulled out her bow and pulled the string.

"What's she doing!? She doesn't have any arrows to use!" Jayden shouted.

"Keep watching." Henro responded. Mama then generated from Emilia's body and into her finger tips. Then wind and electricity began to form into the shape of a wind arrow with lighting covered around it and her bow.

"Garuda Style: Piercing Storm!"

Emilia shot her arrow but it split into multiple arrows made of wind and lighting and destroyed all the drones in the area instantly. But Emilia's attack wasn't done, the remaining arrows circled down and shot the remains of cozar's men, sending them flying and electrocuting them. Knocking them out. Cozar just stood there in awe.

"Huh?" Cozar asked.

"Huh?" Jayden asked.

"That's right. If you did your homework, you'd remember that Garuda are half human so that means they can use the human elemental magic of lightning. Emilia can use both elements to create a storm of arrows showering down on her enemies. Since they are made of wind and lightning can also control where the arrows land, never missing her target. If you ever need a markswoman, Emilia is your gal. But I'm speaking too soon. The dance is almost over." Henro said

"What...just happened?" Cozar asked.

"Hey! Uh sorry I don't know your name but I'm Emilia it's nice to meet you. Anyways, are you sure those drones were state of the art? No offense but they seemed cheaply made to me." Emilia shouted down from the air. Cozar started popping veins.

"What!? Of course they are you stupid wench! Only a complete idiot would not understand that!"

"Huh. Well if that's the case then why did they hand them over to you?" Emilia asked, scratching her head. More veins started showing up ok cozar's face.

"Oh boy here we go." Henro said facepalming.

"I mean no offense but you don't seem really good at this whole leading thing. Are you lost sir? Did you think you were a soldier today? Or are you just playing dress up? No offense but, you should probably find a new profession because this military life clearly isn't for you I'm afraid." Emilia said while smiling. Cozar kept getting more blue in the face until he was purple.

"Oh I know! Maybe you can find a new job as a busboy? That would be perfect! Here I'll even look up job openings for you right now! Aren't you lucky!? Emilia said gleefully as she pulled out her phone and started typing.

"GODDAMN YOU! DIE!!!!!" Cozar roared as he pulled out a gun and started shootings at Emilia. However....she was already gone.

"Garuda Style: "Tempest Slash!"

While cozar, had already been cut. His gun, both his arms and legs were cut to pieces by her green daggers and he'd had the aftereffect of being electrocuted on top of that.

"GAAAAAAHH!" Cozar screamed till his lungs gave out and he had fallen onto the ground and passed out.

Jayden just looked in awe. "HOLY SHIT! That was badass! Who is that girl!?" Henro just grinned.

"Hmph. That's Emilia. Self proclaimed Queen of the Skies, and that was the end of her dance."

"Whoa." Said Jayden.

"Yikes! Why did he try to shoot me? I was just trying to give him advice." Emilia said sadly.

"Though she can be a bit too innocent for her own good." Henro said.

Emilia indeed did not know she was insulting Cozar on purpose.

HYBRID