"We paired you with him since first grade. Said the Agent. "If his powers had surfaced earlier, you wouldn't have gotten so attached to him."

"But, he saved those people at the stadium; he can’t be all bad." Johnny replied.

"Have you forgotten what happened down in the locker room?" Agent Reynolds asked. "You saw firsthand what he’s capable of doing."

Johnny froze in place as he remembered that was the first time seeing Kevin’s seirei jin powers revealed and the damage he caused.

“He may have saved those people now, but what if he turns on you? Half breeds are unpredictable and need our help to control their abilities.” Said Reynolds.

“Honey, please, do this for us. Asked the mother. He is promising us a chance to leave this place and actually live normal lives. Don’t you want that?”

Johnny remained silent, thinking about what he should do. Kevin has been his friend; they’ve looked out for each other. The thought of betraying him made him feel sick to his stomach. He then thought about his parents, and he remembered when he was little how they encouraged him to make friends with Kevin and asked if he saw anything strange or odd about him whenever they would hang out and play. Johnny didn’t understand why then, and as they grew older, he realized they would still ask him but never explained why. He looked at his parents, who looked back, concerned, and anxious, waiting to hear his answer. This was an opportunity to leave this place and live among humans, never worrying about a half-breed seirei jin’s powers awakening and causing panic. Wanting to see his parents happy, Johnny sadly made the decision.

"What do you want me to do?" Johnny sadly asked.

Put this address on your GPS. Agent Reynolds ordered as he wrote the address on a piece of paper and gave it to Johnny, who started typing it in. Once he was done, Reynolds took out a device that looked like a portable cylinder battery charger, only it had a red button on top, and gave it to Johnny.

"If he starts to question or resist, press this button, and we’ll come save you, is that understood?" Reynolds asks.

"Yea, I got it." Johnny snapped back at Reynolds.

He carefully puts the device in his jacket pocket and heads to the garage to get ready to leave.

Reynolds stood up, and the three adults all looked at Johnny.

"You’re doing your country proud, son." Reynolds announced. "We thank you."

Johnny didn’t react; he opened the garage door, got on his bike, and rode off to Kevin’s house. Meanwhile Kevin was dressed and ready to leave. Knowing his mother and Brother were asleep upstairs, he quietly went downstairs to avoid waking them. Unfortunately for him, Kevin had to walk past his father’s office, which he knew he would be up at this time. He had hoped that his door would be closed, but it happened to be cracked open. The lights were on, and he could see his father’s shadow walking back and forth as he was documenting what had happened today, but this time through a digital tape recorder. Kevin thought about leaving but was curious about what his father was talking about. He quietly stood behind the door and listened. “Journal Entry: 1:30 am. I can’t sleep, I almost lost my son to the Advant Guard today. His seirei jin powers appeared to manifest despite the protection seal placed on him years ago because of that fateful night. Lexi mentioned he’s starting to remember these events; I’ve been monitoring him since that day, I don’t understand what brought this strange event. I wish I still had that gemstone so that I could strengthen the seal. It was in my office, but I’m afraid I must’ve misplaced it somewhere. If I’m unable to find it, I may have to consider Peter’s offer and let him look after my son. It may be the only way.”

Kevin couldn’t believe what he had just heard. Stewart warned him not to trust anyone, but he honestly couldn’t imagine his parents. Hearing him mention Peter, he connected the dots that he was referring to Agent Reynolds. The thought of what his father said started to make his blood, he had to get out of this town and fast. He then remembered his father mentioning the stone. He thought back to when he was little...

***

"Come on, hurry. I think I hear your Dad coming." A young Johnny whispered harshly as he stood guard beside the office door keeping an eye out for Mr. Riley.

Kevin was looking all around the office for what would be the perfect treasure since his Dad liked to collect stuff.

"Hang on; I think I know where it is." He softly said to Johnny.

Kevin looked at his father’s bookshelf and saw a black leather box in the middle of some books on the second row of a very tall shelf, at least for his ten-year-old self. He smiled as he knew there might be something in there that would be perfect for their game. He goes for his Father’s stepping stool, placing it up against the bookshelf. With its help, he was able to reach the black box and bring it down to his level. He opened it to find a shimmering white gemstone, that looked as though it was softly glowing in a pattern that looked a lot like breathing.

“I got it!” Kevin exclaimed as he held it in his hands.

“Then come on, let’s go,” Johnny says, rushing him.

Kevin carefully puts the gemstone in his pocket, puts the box back into the middle of the books on the shelf, and puts the stepping stool back where it belonged, so it looks like no one was in the office. The two darted out of the room and out the door where their bicycles were waiting for them. They hooted and hollered all the way to their favorite place in the woods, where they like to play.

The woods were peaceful, filled with the sounds of birds and animals communicating with each other in song and chatter. They arrived at their favorite spot in the woods. They had a pitched tent with their book bags and toys inside. They parked next to their tent and ran inside to check out the treasure they had obtained.

“Lemme see, Kev. I wanna see what it looks like.” Johnny said with excitement.

Kevin responded by taking the gemstone out of his pocket, and the two marveled at the beautiful stone as it was softly glowing in a pattern that was almost like it was breathing.

“Whoa!” They both softly exclaimed in awe of the gemstone.

“Lemme hold it!” Johnny cried out as he grabbed the stone.

Once Johnny grabbed the gemstone, it stopped glowing, looking dull. Johnny was confused as to why it stopped glowing.

This content has been misappropriated from Royal Road; report any instances of this story if found elsewhere.

“Hey, what happened to it?” Johnny asked. “It’s not working.”

Give it here. Kevin Snapped back, snatching the gemstone back from Johnny. Once it was back in Kevin’s hands, the gemstone came to life as it once again softly glowed like before.

“That’s not fair; it likes you better.” Johnny pouts as he can’t make the stone glow. So where did your Dad find it?”

“I don’t know,” Kevin replied. “He always had it.”

“Well, let’s play with it,” Johnny said.

Kevin looked around his tent and found an old blue tin box that contained his favorite things. He opened the box, dumped out his toys and rocks, and put the gemstone inside.

“Ok, close your eyes,” Kevin ordered. “I’ll hide the treasure, then we’ll make a map, and you get to find where I buried the treasure, got it?”

Johnny agreed as he closed his eyes and covered his face with his hands so as not to peek.

Kevin went out of the tent with the gemstone stone sealed inside. He ran further into the woods trying to find the perfect place to hide their treasure. He thought of burying it in the ground but figured it might be too obvious cause all hidden treasure is buried in the ground. Just before he was going to give up, he saw an old tree with a hollowed-out hole in the center.

“That’s it.” he thought to himself. “Johnny would never think to look in there.”

He ran up to the tree; on his tiptoes, he peeked into the hole to see how deep it was. Seeing that it looked like the perfect fit, he placed the tin case deep inside the hollow tree. The case fit perfectly inside, as he could barely see it. Pleased with his hiding spot, Kevin ran back to their tent, where Johnny was still covering his eyes.

“Ok, Johnny, you can open your eyes now,” Kevin said gleefully.

Johnny put down his hands and opened his eyes. He stepped out of the tent and started looking around for the tin case.

“Where did you hide it?” Johnny asked as he continued to look around the area for it.

“We gotta make a treasure map first, remember?” Kevin chuckled.

“Oh yea, I forgot,” Johnny said as he stopped and scratched his head in embarrassment.

Kevin went back inside the tent to look for some paper and coloring pencils, but the tips of the pencils were either broken or whittled down to where you could barely write or color, and there was no paper in sight.

“Ah, we’re out of paper.” Whined Kevin.

“Wait, we can go back to my place.” Said Johnny. “We can make the map there.”

“That’s a great idea.” Kevin chimed in. “Maybe we can have some snacks too.”

They both cheered. They got back on their bikes and rode to Johnny’s house. As they got there, they made their map and had their snack, but they ended up playing in Johnny’s backyard and later played video games inside. As the day faded, they completely forgot about their buried treasure, which was still inside the hollow tree. Kevin realized the gemstone he took from his old man years ago was the one that sealed his Seirei Jin powers.

“That Gemstone I hid all those years ago, is that what I’ve been hearing at the stadium?” He thought to himself. “I gotta find it.”

With a new plan in mind, Kevin decided to leave but accidentally bumps into the door that he was standing against, causing the door to move a little, which created a creaking noise; Kevin knew his cover would be blown. His father heard the door creak and stopped recording as he looked up to see if someone was there; he didn’t see anyone but felt someone was present.

“Who’s there?” He asked sternly.

There was no answer. The Father carefully began to approach the door, and Kevin heard him coming. Knowing that it wouldn’t matter if he were to run, his father would spot him. He then decides to confront his Father with everything. He stepped out of his hiding spot and stood at the office entrance. Ben stopped in place as he saw his son standing at the doorway, upset.

“K-Kevin?! You should be resting, son.” His Father replied nervously.

“I heard it all,” Kevin replied sternly. “So when were you gonna tell me I was a halfbreed?

“Kevin, listen.” His father pleaded.

"No, you listen!" Kevin snaps. "I almost believed that those dreams about that night wasn’t real, but you lied, you all lied to me!"

“Son, I’m trying to save you.” Answered the father.

“Save me?! You were going to give me over to your “so-called friend” who happens to be working for the Advant guard!” Kevin yelled back.

His father remained silent, unsure of how to explain that plan. His Father’s silence convinced Kevin that his Father was going to give him away.

“Stewart was right; this place isn’t real,” Kevin said as he slammed his fist against the door post in anger. “It’s a freaking farm, and we’re the harvest!”

Kevin’s ears perked up as he heard a motorcycle arriving. He knew it was his friend Johnny and decided to head to the front door. His Father followed.

“Kevin, where are you going?” He asked.

“Like you care,” Kevin replied coldly as he reached for the door.

"Kevin stop!" His Father said as he grabbed Kevin by the arm to try and stop him.

Kevin quickly turned around and punched his Father in the face causing him to fall back from the impact. His Father sat up, surprised that his son had punched him. Kevin looked down at him with disgust and left the house.

He quickly got on board the back of Johnny’s bike; his father stood back up and came out of the house to see his son ride off with Johnny to who knows where. Still holding his injury, Ben’s mind is racing with thoughts about what he needs to do as his son could be in danger. He thought about calling Peter for help. He went back into the house to grab his cell phone in the office. He speed dials for his friend but it went straight to voice mail. Despite his several attempts, he couldn’t get through; he then began to wonder if this was a setup for Peter to knab his son.

“Damn it!!!” Ben yells in frustration as he throws his cell phone on the ground.

Johnny comes to a stop at a red traffic light. As they were waiting, Kevin tapped on Johnny’s shoulder to get his attention. Johnny lifts the vizor of his helmet and looks back at Kevin.

“Remember those woods we used to go to when we were kids?” Kevin asked, yelling over the sound of the engine.

Johnny nodded to signal to Kevin that he understood what he was saying.

“I need you to take me there; I’ll explain later.” Kevin continued.

Again, Johnny nodded and looked back at the road as he put his vizor back on. The traffic signal turned green, and Johnny continued onward as they were heading to the woods where they used to play. Not too far from them, Mike and his crew were hanging out at a small convenience store; next to their bikes were empty cans of beer as they knew a guy who worked at the store who would sneak some out for them despite knowing that they were underage. His friends only had a couple, but Mike had about four cans, and he was starting to feel the effects of the alcohol as he started to stagger in posture, and his eyes were looking bloodshot.

“Can you believe that Kevin managed to survive that bike accident?” Asked one of Mike’s friends.

Surprised to hear that; Mike spat out the beer he had in his mouth.

“What?!” Mike yelled.

“Yeah, you didn’t watch the news?” Asked another of his friends. “They announced it on the six o’clock news.”

“No, I don’t watch the news.” A slurred Mike exclaimed. “My phone was off, beside the news is fake, anyway. What they should’ve done was capture him for what he is”

Mike then continued to finish the rest of his beer, but the others looked at each other, wondering what Mike was talking about. They waited for Mike to finish up his beer as he guzzled it down till there was nothing left; he then belched as he crushed the can with his head before he tossed it aside with the other empty cans. One of his friends decided to speak up.

“Capture him?” He asked.

Mike looked at his friends, who looked back at him, puzzled and confused. At first, he thought his friends were joking, but their blank stares made him realize they weren’t.

“Dude, I told you guys what I saw after we left the stadium.” Mike declared. “I told you he’s a seirei jin before ya'll went home.”

Again, his friends looked at each other, puzzled as they didn’t remember him telling them anything. Unknown to them, since Mike had his phone off during the rewind protocol, he never had his memories reprogrammed like his friends were. Mike couldn’t understand why his friends couldn’t remember. Before he could tell them to help jog their memories, he heard a nearby motorcycle coming.