The now fully transformed demon stared them down. “Not good,” Memory said. “We’re not yet ready for demons, and especially not one with the abilities of a Thoughtstriker.”

“True. You will not win this battle. I will deign to ask one final time, since you’ve come this far, kid-or should I say Eternity?”

Eternity shrugged. “We are Eternity.”

“So, do you accept?,” the demon asked, holding out a hand. “If you do, you don’t die, and we will eventually take over the world.”

“Nah.”

The demon shrugged. “That was your last chance. You may die now.”

A revolver bullet pierced through the demon’s head, the instant strike buying a brief moment of time. Enough time for Drake to drive his daggers through the man’s grey feet into the ground, Crystal to zap the man to hold him just a moment longer, and Catherine to bring her hammer down in a crushing blow directly onto the demon’s head.

The Tyrant’s body exploded into a mass of blood and flesh, and they all stepped back. Then the lump of flesh moved, pulling itself back together once again. “That was slightly painful,” he commented. “Anyway, kid, you can’t keep that up for too much longer, can you? Having a heart made of a substance that isn’t your heart must be hard to maintain. You also have to concentrate on making it beat when it’s supposed to, closing and opening the ventricles and atriums.”

Jay winced. The demon was spot on. “As a reward for how far you’ve come, I’ll let you live if you surrender.”

“You’ve been so intent on having us giving up. There must be some reason for you to have us to so. Maybe you’re on a time limit as well, or if you use too much power, you’ll be pulled into the abyss?”

“Astute. For your information, it’s the second one.”

“Well, we’d better finish you now, then.”

The man shrugged. “You can try. I’ll regenerate through almost anything.”

Jay and Amon smiled in unison. “Unless we dump so much power on you that you can’t.”

“Try, if you will.”

The blade Jay was holding grew a slight golden sheen, as if a heavenly light was lighting it from inside. A heat haze appeared around it. The sheen turned from gold to blue, then white, intense bleached flames licking off the surface. Crystal saw what he was doing and conjured a massive fireball. “Darkness, pin him down. Depths, hit him. I and Memory will take care of the rest.”

Drake immediately disappeared. The handle on the quicksilver blade elongated, and Amon grabbed it, holding it still as its steam started wafting off the surface, the slight amount of snow that touched it instantly sublimating.

The demon frowned, then his face morphed into a scowl, and he launched at them, preparing himself to slice a claw directly through Jay’s side of his neck. He ignored it, the claw getting pierced through by a flying dagger thrown by Drake. A hammer smashed into the side of the demon’s head, water cascading down behind it, instantly freezing from how cold the peak was. The demon screamed, lifting off the ground with his wings, the first time he’d used them.

The black light shining from his chest deepened, and another black orb appeared in it, ready to fire at any moment. Then he threw it at Jay. Another hammer strike met the ball, launching it into the distance as if it wasn’t a magical ball of mass destruction. An explosion sounded, the black ball consuming half of an unsuspecting mountain. Then Jay nodded to Crystal, whose fireball was absolutely massive now. “Let’s go.”

Crystal’s fireball condensed into a single point, as if it was a marble. It landed in her palm and she tossed it up, casually catching it. “Make an opening and he’s dead.”

Jay jumped, Amon creating twin silver springs below his feet to launch him at the demon. They straightened becoming supports holding him in midair as he fought, swinging his sword at the demon. Amon kept him stable and helped him build up momentum by giving him stable footing at all times, while the demon stood on thin air, fighting back. Jay’s sword cut straight through the demon’s claws whenever he had to block, but the demon also healed near-instantly, once again cutting at him with new appendages.

It was a losing battle, for every time he cut the demon, his blade cooled slightly, and it was harder and harder to cut through the tough flesh. Jay kept heating the blade, but it didn’t gain heat nearly as fast as it lost heat. He had to do something risky.

When the demon struck again, Amon moved him back just enough for the demon to miss, and Jay struck as the demon stumbled forward, off-balance. His sword struck the invisible platform the demon was standing on, and it fell straight down.

The demon snorted, opening its wings and hovering for a moment. “Did you really think you could get me to fall and die? I can fly, fool.”

Jay, in response, pointed down. The demon followed his finger and saw a small red marble, flying straight at him. “Goodbye.” As it reached him, the demon raised a hand to knock it away-

Right into the inside of the silver bubble surrounding him.

“NOOOOOO!,” sounded from inside the bubble Jay and Amon were desperately holding together, withstanding both the Tyrant’s attacks and keeping the temperature contained within as much as possible.

Eventually, the cries stopped. Jay looked at the rest of his team and, receiving nods, dropped the orb. The Tyrant fell to the ground, now a burned corpse. It wasn’t healing, had no eyes, and was a husk of what it once was.

Then it took a breath, a short, shuddering breath that instantly put them all on guard. “So. You won,” the demon whispered, seemingly not having the strength to speak up. “Know that I am not a sore loser. You won, and will claim my life. However, I will not have my knowledge die with me.”

Jay nodded, Amon agreeing with him. The demon was dead, and now he was just a simple man trying to spread his knowledge to the next generation. “I’m listening.”

“There are five energies that drive the world. There are four proper schools, and one… more fragile school, built around these five energies. You know of the four. Thought. Aura. Spirit. Song. A different vital energy fuels each. Will. Dominion. Voice. Note.”

He took a breath. “But there’s a fifth school. Change. I sense it within you, kid. Change is driven off of Mana. It… exists to change the world around it. There are no rigid rules, it is simply change.”

“Then there’s my school. The School of Thought. It is based on the energy of Will, which is what causes minds to work the way they do. You can use the energy of your mind to affect the world around you.” His broken lips curled up into a facsimile of a smile. “You’re only limited by your willpower and imagination.”

“Next you have the School of Spirit. You talk to the spirits of the world through Voice, and are only limited by the spirits you can find and how well you can use your Voice.” The man continued in a disgusted tone. “Most Spiritspeakers stay holed up in their mountains and do nothing of use. They force their students to do the same as well. If you want to learn to Spiritspeak, you need to teach yourself.”

“The School of Song. I know little about the Songstresses, but they’re a roving group that’s never settled down in one place. They teach anyone willing to learn and do good in the world. This is probably the best group of all the five energies. They use Note to Sing, changing the world-everything has its own song-and their only restriction is the number of Songs they know.”

This story is posted elsewhere by the author. Help them out by reading the authentic version.

“Finally. The School of Aura. No one knows much about this school. No one admits they’ve been taught in accord with the school. Renders use Dominion for their auras. No one knows what limitations they have, or what they can do with them.”

A laugh escaped from the demon’s mouth. “You’re all part of that school though, aren’t you? They’ll teach you anything and everything, ignoring all the prejudices of the outside world.

Jay sat down. “I finally understand why you’re here.”

“And why do you think I am?”

“Because Diamond sent you.”

The demon laughed, its body returning to the mottled grey it was earlier. “What gave me away?”

“When you gave me so much information. Any real enemy would have simply held their tongue. And you take too long to die.”

“Correct, Kiddo.” The demon’s grey skin turned back into normal human skin. “I was just supposed to test you and tell Diamond to come in and save you if you weren’t doing to well. I shot through your heart because that’s a wound I would’ve had Diamond come and heal, but you pulled that out of your ass.”

“So, which Gem are you?”

The demon laughed. “I’m technically not a gem, because Diamond said I’m not, but I’m Onyx..”

Jay nodded. “Can you call Diamond over already? I kinda have a silver heart right now.”

Onyx nodded. “Sure.”

Half a second later, Diamond stood next to them. “Monster. What have you done to my students?”

“The kid without a heart figured it out.”

Diamond blinked. “Are you accusing one of them of being heartless?”

Onyx sighed. “You’d know if you looked around. The half-metal kid doesn’t have a heart. I shot it out of him a couple minutes ago.”

Diamond turned to face Jay. “Oh. Why didn’t you call me earlier?”

“That’s his secret to keep, Diamond. He made some kind of metal heart for himself and covered half his body in that liquid metal of his.”

We need to thank him for not telling Diamond about me.

Jay internally nodded. Even though it wouldn’t be a bad thing revealing Amon, it was something he wanted to keep to himself for now. Diamond nodded to Onyx, speaking. “That’s interesting. Just a moment, let me heal him.”

Diamond stepped to Jay. “Take the metal out of your chest.”

Amon made all of his quicksilver dissipate, both the liquid coating his body and in the hole in his chest. Diamond winced for a moment before waving his hand, the hole instantly disappearing as if it was never there. Diamond turned back to Onyx. “How’d they injure you so much?”

Onyx scratched his chin. “The kid you just healed made an opening for the girl back there-” he nodded towards Crystal “-to throw an incredibly concentrated marble of fire at me. Then the kid wrapped his quicksilver around me, containing the blast.”

Diamond nodded. “Any recommendations?”

“The fireball kid and the metal kid are the obvious leaders, but all four have their own strengths, and I would say they’re about equal. Except for the metal kid.” He frowned at Jay. “His control over that stuff makes him far too versatile to not view him as a larger threat.”

Diamond nodded, opening his mouth again, when Drake interjected. “Don’t talk about us like we’re not here!,” he snapped, his temper finally loose. “What about the village? The people in it?”

“We hired the headsman. The rest of the village knows nothing about this, but they were just asked to point you to the peak. The abyss wolves were… my creation,” Onyx replied.

Diamond waved his hand. “Onyx-”

“Diamond, you need to treat these kids like adults,” Onyx said. “That kid back there-you called yourself Darkness, right?,” he asked. When he got a nod from Drake, he continued. “Darkness said it perfectly. Don’t talk about them like they’re not there. By the gods, they have enough power to be considered adults in most of the world. And if you’re grooming them to become the next addition to the Faceted Stars, you’d better tell them what you’re doing.”

The peak stilled. Diamond’s eyes widened in rage and instantly appeared in front of Onyx, a dagger held to his neck. “Remember the last time we fought?,” Onyx softly asked. “It didn’t go too well for you. Want to try again?”

Diamond looked like he was going to, pressing the dagger forward, but then he stopped. “I’ll mentor these kids from now on,” Onyx said. “If you accept it?”

“Which of the Faceted Stars are we each being groomed for?,” Jay asked.

“I’d expect you to take my place as Onyx. Darkness back there would be a suitable candidate for Jade or Emerald. Memory could be a good Amethyst. Depths would be most fit for Sapphire.”

Jay nodded. “I’d accept. What about you guys?,” he asked, turning around to look at his companions.”

“He tells us things, so sure,” Catherine said.

“Agreed.”

“Alright,” Crystal said.

Diamond simply disappeared, leaving Onyx staring at them. “I’m your mentor. That changes nothing for your classes. Just every once in a while, I’ll come over and teach.”

“I’m in classes for all the schools and the School of Change.”

Diamond spoke up. “I was planning on teaching that one.”

Onyx glared at him. “I’m teaching it now.” As Diamond opened his mouth, Onyx reached into thin air, and through that air. Diamond instantly froze. Onyx nodded at him, and continued. “As I was saying, I’m teaching it now. And for the rest? Put them under Ruby, Sapphire, Emerald, and Amethyst.”

Diamond shook his head. “It’s my school. Why should I agree?”

Onyx smiled fiercely. “Maybe because the Gemstone Council is more loyal to me than you?”

Diamond sighed. “Fine. Any other requests?”

“Nope.”

Diamond nodded, disappearing immediately. Onyx sighed. “Idiot. Anyways, you four.”

Crystal stepped forward. “Why does Diamond obey you?”

“I was the previous leader of the Gemstone Council. In this, do not pry.”

Crystal nodded. Onyx had given them enough for them not to pry. Drake asked his question. “Diamond wants people loyal to him, doesn’t he?”

Onyx nodded. “Yes, and no. I dabble in matters of Fate and Time. You kids are special, but I cannot say more, for I do not want to upset the balance.”

Jay nodded. “Thank you for your help, Onyx.”

Onyx shrugged. “It’s a trivial matter, to help the next generation, but someone needs to do it.”

Catherine tossed her hair. “It’s better that you did than Diamond. He was nice, for a while, but now? I wouldn’t trust him with very much.”

Onyx nodded. “I try to be truthful in all matters, which I cannot say about Diamond. However, I must give him a slight defense. One’s powers affect them. Diamond is very powerful, and his powers make lying a not-so-simple matter for him.” He shook his head. “It is still no excuse, however. I have overcome my power. He can do so as well.” Onyx grimaced. “This annoying pattern of speech I just fell into? That’s the only effect of my powers that still gets me sometimes. It’s harmless, however, so I must tell you that me and my personality are perfectly unaffected by my power.” Onyx grimaced, seeming to catch himself at it once again before shaking himself and continuing. “Now, you must be going back. Learn well, and may you be uninjured in your next fight.”

A black, swirling portal appeared next to Onyx. They stepped through, one by one. Jay was last. He paused for a moment. “One’s gemstone affects them as well, doesn’t it?”

Onyx’s eyes went clouded. “Yes. Yes, it does. Don’t think that excuses Diamond, however. A diamond is clear by nature. It does not affect whoever takes up its mantle.”

Jay shook his head. “I was thinking about myself.”

With that, he stepped through the portal, disappearing into the swirling black.