Part I

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Prophecy. That’s the name I think I shall give it. Something that reveals what one will be and what one should be. Nothing fits better for this miraculous Bullet that I uncovered.

-From Professor Shokolov’s Journal, 1st entry

In the halls of Barksight academy, the constant ringing of the bells was bliss. It signaled to the listless and lethargic students of the school that their torture had come to an end. Some sang silent prayers upon the arrival of the end while others were content to rush out and enjoy the time they’d been granted away from their habitual prison.

Before their teachers had gotten but a word in, the students had started packing their belongings. Pens, erasers, books and more got tossed without care into their packs as they rose up to leave. The teacher, a man middle aged and worn out, sighed and set the piece of chalk he was using back down onto the table.

“Be sure to have your presentations prepared for next week, kids,” he lectured on, though few listened. Finn Aktor was one of those who did. He shuffled between the desks and raised a hand to catch his professor’s attention. A nervousness seeped through his body, making it harder for him to speak.

“S-sir, do you think we could reschedule them? Or at least mine?” he asked. The professor looked up and eyed him up and down. Finn felt the man see through him instantly. “Nervous, Finn?” he inquired. And in one shot, too, he thought.

“W-well not exactly. It’s just I have scheduling problems, an-“ Finn lied, but was cut off. The professor put a hand on his shoulder and smiled at him.

“Don’t fret over it. A small seed of doubt can bloom if you let it. Just try to give the best effort you can put forth. If you can’t manage it, I’ll pull you out, alright?” He offered. Finn let his hands drop to his sides and nodded. He felt a bit of his own fear dissipate, but some small was still left deep in his mind.

He thanked his professor and left the classroom quickly. Finn was usually early to leave, as it put him out of the attention of others. He hunched over and kept his eyes only focused downwards. The halls were filled with other students, chatting and making plans. Some of those he considered his friends and he waved at them when they passed by.

But for now, he’d be shortsighted not to go home and began working on his piled up homework. Finn pressed open the double doors and was greeted by the harsh sun shining overhead. Living so close to the mountain range, their town was susceptible to harsh sunlight.

He didn’t mind it, however. Foreigners, particularly pale ones, always left with sunburns. But the people who made Barksight their home had no trouble adjusting to the sun.

Finn rounded a corner and moved forward, only stopping once he heard the sound of whispers coming from the alley. He looked down it towards the small group that was gathered in the shade. They seemed to be huddling around someone in a cheap hoodie.

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

The man looked to be well built and his dreadlocked hair was visible even though he tried hiding it. Finn thought he recognized something familiar about the man, so he put his curiousity to the test and approached him.

The group turned towards him and he winced, wishing he hadn’t attracted such attention. “What are you guys doing?” Finn asked, trying to ease the tension. One of the girls in front perked up, someone Finn knew. HinEn was one of the top students in his class, but her habits were far from those of a smart and disciplined student.

“Nothing you’d like, Finn. Go away,” she answered. A few snickers followed, though the man in the hoodie kept his face turned away.

“I was just asking,” Finn replied. He felt himself shrinking further. “Are you sure you won’t just run away if you see it?” HinEn asked him. She was testing him of course, and although Finn wished he could, walking away now would make him look weak. He’d had his share of that for a long time.

“No, I won’t,” Finn stated directly. He walked up to the group and placed himself squarely in the middle. What he saw under the man’s hood was what surprised him.

“AxEl?” He asked incredulously. AxEl tried hiding his face but Finn had seen him enough to recognize it. No wonder those dreadlocks looked so familiar.

“What are you doing here with these guys?” Finn asked further. Hinen butted in and answered, “Seedy alley, huddled together. Try using your brain and figure it out, Finn.”

Finn was growing annoyed at her, but ignored it in favour of the bigger issue at hand. He tried to extend a hand towards AxEl, but he moved back to avoid it.

“Just some business, Finn. You seriously wouldn’t like it, so just leave, man,” AxEl answered.

“Oh, but Finn’s such a big man. Surely he wouldn’t care much?” Hinen said sarcastically. She flashed him a smile and AxEl just accepted that Finn would be staying.

“Now get on with it, AxEl. I’ve got to get back home fast,” one of the boys told him, though Finn didn’t know which one. AxEl zipped down his hoodie to reveal pockets full of rolled up paper.

“I don’t understand?” Finn said.

“Firewire, Finn. It’s Firewire,” AxEl replied with a tired voice. Finn took a few steps backwards when he said it.

“You’re kidding me. Where would you ever get that stuff?” Finn asked.

“None of your business,” AxEl replied.

“Since Finn’s such a good friend of yours, and he’s a good friend of ours, why not give us a small discount, eh, AxEl?” Hinen asked.

“Price is the same, Hinen. Nothing less,” AxEl replied.

“So, what, do you go into the mountain range and just pluck these off the trees now, AxEl? Is being a dealer where you want to take your life?” Finn asked. His hands were shaking from the attention directed at him, but he didn’t stop.

“Finn, it’s nothing like that. I’m not selling these to criminals, just some people I know,” AxEl argued.

“They don’t make a distinction for that in the law,” Finn replied.

“Sell it to us or to someone from the other side of the country, I think the police won’t care. They’ll arrest you and the people you sold it to all the same.”

The others there seemed to pause when they realized that Finn had made a point, so he decided to expand upon it.

“Won’t be hard for them to find a couple of teenagers. We’re not hardened criminals, you and I,” Finn said.

“He’s right, AxEl. I don’t think we should be doing this,” another one of the boys said. He began to leave and AxEl tried calling him back.

“No, wait! Come on. No one’s going to search us. They don’t know we have it, so they won’t try to look for it!” AxEl argued but the crowd had already dispersed. Even Hinen left along with them, hesitant to go along with something without her posse to back her up.

So it was then that the alley was left with just AxEl and Finn inhabiting it. “I-I didn’t want to do that, AxEl. I just couldn’t let you sell those drugs to them,” Finn reasoned. He had gone back to his old self, which AxEl wished had been the way he stayed.

“Oh sure, I understand,” he said and turned to stare at Finn, “Don’t try that again next time. Don’t tell anyone I have this. Do you understand?”

Finn nodded hastily and AxEl left him there in the dark backstreet.