Part 1

How long had it been? Minutes? Hours?.... Immediately as she was sent out, Maria began to shake uncontrollably as she realized that danger was yet again upon them. Yet, she was safe. She didn't know where she was, didn't know where to go….she just…. sat there.

She was in a dark room and barely anything could be seen. How strange.. she thought. Though, if she recalled, Casey did say that she would end up in her room, which meant that Maria must've returned to Sonic City.

(I'm scared….. I don't even wanna move….) She thought as her anxiety began to kick in. She wondered if anyone was home and if they were she definitely did not want to run into them. The cold steel floor of the teleporter caressed her delicate skin as she tried to adjust herself. More and more she thought that she should get up and look for a way out but it was like trying to walk down a dark hallway on a stormy night.

Of course, her original plan was to go straight back to Savant Island but the small screen on the teleporter informed her that teleporting was temporarily unavailable.

And so, there was no other way but to sit there and wait. What's worse, she forgot her phone back on Savant Island. She couldn't even look up cute dog videos to comfort her….. or any pictures of Axel…. What was left?.........but to cry…..

After a couple of hours of silent sobbing, she began to notice the sun setting from the small cracks in the curtains. Raising her head from her hands, she wiped her tears and watched the small beaming rays of sunlight make their way inside. It somehow gave her some strength.

She sniffed and finally comforted herself. Axel would be okay, everything was going to be okay….

Or…..would it? Just what exactly was going on anyway? What if the enemy was too strong?? What if…

(No!! It doesn't matter. He can do it, he'll be okay…) She thought in a desperate attempt to rid herself of black and white thoughts.

Getting up from her spot on the ground, She felt her muscles ease up and stretch. She opened the door of the teleporter and walked into the room. Since she couldn't see much, she made her way to the curtains, only she stepped on something soft and slipped. She fell backwards and threw her hands back letting out a small “oh!”.

Luckily, however, she was caught by something even bigger and softer. She couldn't see it, but she was sure she knew what it was considering that the feeling felt familiar.

Getting back up, she carefully navigated her way toward the light and brushed open the curtains. Finally, light immediately washed in and she was suddenly able to see well.

The room was definitely a girl's room. It was covered in pink and filled with stuffed animals. One would think that it belonged to that of a toddler. If she hadn't been told it was Casey's then she would've definitely thought it belonged to a four year old.

Despite that, Maria quite liked it. It gave off a feeling of “home” and “comfort”. Looking over at where she had fallen, she saw a small stuffed bunny and a large bean bag sized bear. Walking up to the big brown bear, Maria eyed it down with blank eyes. A deadly staring contest ensued up until Maria finally decided to drop right down on it and give it a massive……”Bear” Hug.

“Thank you Mr.Bear, you caught me when I fell.” She suddenly said hugging the bear even tighter. Oddly enough, this reminded her of the big bear she had in her old room. Though, hers was a lot more snuggly. Perhaps it was due to the fact that she groomed and washed it every weekend if she had the chance.

(Haha, guess I really was still a little girl despite being 17…) she thought. Then, after a few more seconds in silence, she stood up and stretched her back. Since it had come to this, it was about time that she head home. The real problem was getting there. She had never been to Casey’s house so she hadn’t a clue where exactly she was. She hadn’t even known Casey for that long. In fact, she had rarely spoken to her up until then.

“Guess that doesn’t matter, one way or another I gotta figure out how to get back home.”

Putting on a tough face and squaring up her shoulders, Maria was about ready to leave and venture out into the world……...except, it had been quite a while since she had gone out alone… She didn’t know how she felt about suddenly going out and walking….

She was suddenly lost on what to do and gave the massive bear on the ground a look. It almost seemed to call her back with it’s large soft arms and big black eyes. Of course, like a troubled and scared little girl, she fell for it and returned to it’s heavenly embrace.

For quite some time she lay there wondering what to do. However, her frustration soon tired her out, and just like that, her eyes closed the curtains for q moment and took her out for the count.

………………………

“Maria?.....”

“.....h-huh?....five more minutes…..” She said responding to the voice…..

“Maria….Hey! Get up already!” The familiar voice said. When she finally realized who it was, she quickly sat up.

“What? Axel? You’re back already?!” She exclaimed.

“Hm? I sure am! We got it all taken care of!” The dark haired boy said as he smiled and sat on Casey’s bed.

“Axel?.....I’m so glad you’re back!!!” She said jumping into his arms. He sat there unmoving as his warm chest filled the hole in her aching heart. She wanted to stay there forever…..but, she was suddenly pushed away and fell onto the ground. Confused, she raised her eyebrows and looked up at Axel who had been staring back at her.

“Did you-? Did you just-?”

“Listen, I just got done going through something extremely gruesome, and it really opened my eyes. So, I’ve been thinking this for a while now, but I want you to leave my side and for once look out for yourself, okay? You’re about to be an adult. Not to mention that you have a bun in the oven, I can’t invest my time on a girl with kids, I’m sorry, but you have to look after yourself for once. I can’t always have you bugging me like this as if I belong to you.”

As the sharp needles that had taken the form of words entered her ears, the entire world around her seemed to collapse. As if hell itself had finally crawled up from the depths of the earth to claim her lost soul. As fear stopped her heart in one devastating blow, she began to uncontrollably shake.

“W-why?......Why this out of nowhere? Why…...are you doing this to me? If it’s because I’ve been clinging to you a lot lately, I’m sorry!! I’ll stop! Just please don’t let me leave! I don’t have anyone else…..if I leave now….there’ll be no hope for me! I’ll die!!!” She said as she lay on the ground with tears falling out of her sorrow filled eyes.

“You see, that’s the thing there. You seem to think like I’m the key to life. Well, I’m not. Suck it up man, it’s time for you to grow up, okay? Look, from here on, just stay strong, you’ll be okay. I’m going to be going now, okay? I have to get home or Lucy will be upset…..” He said in the softest tone possible as he got up and walked out the door.

And yet, there she lay with no power left in her body to stop him. Try as she might, she could not get her body to respond. The feeling was akin to sleep paralysis. There was nothing she could do. Her world was about to come tumbling down.

As the world around her actually physically crumbled, she began to weep. As time flowed, the room had completely disappeared and a massive thunderstorm suddenly rolled in. Water quickly took over the land and Maria found herself slowly getting below the surface. Yet, she could see Axel clearly leaving and walking on solid ground toward a doorway filled with a pure and dazzling light.

Just as the cold and dark embrace of the sea reached her neck, she suddenly found that she could move. When she did, the floor below her crumbled and nothing below remained. She could only kick in a desperate attempt to stay above sea level.

“Wait! Please! I don't care who you choose! I don’t care what you do! Just please! Please let me continue to see you everyday! Let me continue learning from you! Let me continue to heal with you! Let me be there so that I can see you succeed! I don’t care if you throw me outside like a dog or keep me chained up like some animal! As long as I can still continue to be with the only one who managed to show me that there is still some hope in the world! If that one small beam of light somehow turns out to be a lie that what of my faith? My hope? My smallest of dreams of living happy? Were they all for naught? Were they all just a lie? Please Axel Ison! I don’t wanna drown!!! I don’t wanna die! I don’t wanna lose you!!!” She pleaded at the top of her lungs as water entered her mouth against her will. As she began to sink deeper and deeper, Axel Ison at last turned around. But, it was not what she was expecting. He did not turn around and save her, he did not say that it was all just a joke, no….He simply gave her one distant and cold look, and then turned right back around and walked through the bright doorway. As Maria was thrown underwater, she flailed her arms and watched as the door Axel had gone through shut, forever sealing her fate…..

Deeper and deeper Maria went, and before long, she had at last begun to accept her fate as she closed her eyes one last time…….

But then,

An explosion of a piercing blue light suddenly attacked her eyelids. She quickly opened them in fear and watched as the heavens suddenly poured a bright and flashing light down upon her. There, from the dark and grey clouds emerged an angel. An angel dressed in black and white. Her hair was both silver and black, her sin was as smooth and gentle as a newborns. Extending out her heavenly arm, she grabbed onto Maria. With one soft tug, she was out. Maria was suddenly above water safe and sound. Shocked, she began to ask how this was happening. However, the angel placed one finger over her lips and told her to stay silent. Due to the blinding blue light, Maria was unable to get a clear look at her face. But, before she could get a better look, the scenery had magically changed. Just like that, she was in a meadow filled with beautiful roses all around. The sun was bright and warm and her clothes were suddenly dry.

“What?....What is this?” She asked, but yet again the angel did not respond. Instead, she grabbed Maria’s hand with her own and raised it up to her cheek. It was soft and warm, Maria quite enjoyed the feeling. As she thought this, the angel suddenly spoke. Her voice was beautiful and heavenly, she just could not explain it.

“Believe” She said.

And just like that, a sense of justice and power filled her. Not only that, she felt a clear and powerful connection between her and someone. Right before her eyes and right over the sun itself she saw a dazzling and colorful rainbow. Awestruck, she stared at it for what seemed like hours. Then, she noticed something. There were two balls of light on either end of the rainbows. It was strange. One was a radiant blue and the other was a bright white. Despite not being told what they meant, in the fiber of her being she knew exactly who those colors represented. White was herself, and blue was none other than Axel Ison himself….. Could it be? Was the rainbow the power of their current relationship and bond? Was it that strong?....then, what had just transpired? Why had she seen Axel himself abandon her?

“You’re too much of a silly girl. Believe in both you, and him...After all, there is always a rainbow after a storm, right?”

And just like that, a sudden stream of emotions that did not belong to her filled her heart. Fear,Anguish, sorrow, regret, bravery, and justice. Many emotions like that were suddenly made clear to her and all was somehow making sense to her. Before long, Maria was whole again. As she watched the dazzling sun practically shake in joy, she watched as the angel suddenly stepped out from her cloak of blue energy. With a large smile on her beautiful face, she leaned forward and hugged Maria.

“Don’t you worry girl! We won’t let you fall into that hole of despair ever again!” She said.

“We??” Maria suddenly asked. But before she could get a response, a sensation that made her feel like she was falling suddenly made her jump in her seat. Profusely sweating and breathing heavily, she looked around. It was dark outside and she could see nothing. Looking up on the clock on the wall, she noticed that it was about three in the morning. When she realized that she had dozed off on the large bear, she felt relief fill her being. Sighing deeply, she began to relax.

“It was just a bad dream….” She said. However, that last bit seemed every bit real. She wondered, just what did it mean? Whatever it was, she just couldn’t feel sad. No really, even if she wanted to she couldn’t. For some reason, her heart and soul were very relaxed...Almost as if it were touched by some mysterious power….

---------------

As Axel Ison walked under a destroyed building followed by a certain blue haired gal, he felt something inside him giggle in delight.

(Hm? Did you just giggle?) He asked the being in his mind.

{Huh? Ah! Yes I did! Why do you ask?} The being now known as Sophia responded.

(Obviously cause I’m curious, what’s so funny?)

{Oh, nothing’s funny. I’m just happy that I helped out a very important friend of yours. She seemed like she was on the verge of losing it there. Those pesky nightmares, I’ll get rid of those for her!} Sophia said releasing vibrations into his body. It was almost as if she were attempting to move his body.

(a friend of mine? Nightmares? What are you on about??) Axel said completely confused.

{Don’t you worry about that now! When all is said and done, I’m sure she’ll tell you about it!}

(??? Okay whatever……..I’m still getting used to this whole girl in my mind thing….I wished it had an off switch……)

{uhhhh hello? I’m in your mind, I can hear you even if you think I won’t simply because you don’t want me to}

(Okay quit that!! Jeez, can’t a man walk here??)

{I see no men here, just a boy and a strange rat}

(He’s a gerbil!!)

{hahaha}

As the two continued to talk, Sophia thought to herself and felt the calm life force many many miles away. Distance was not a problem to her, she could feel it. The soothing sound of relief in the young girl’s mind. Sophia felt happy. For once, she could now help.

---------------

*Bong*

The sudden sound of a door closing startled Maria enough to where she was on her feet once more. At first, she had the thought that bad guys were here to do her in, but then she immediately threw the idea way since there was no possible way that that could be true. She was far from the chaos and she had no actual value as a hostage. Then there could only be one possible explanation….

“Her…….Parents!!...”

Casey’s, that is. It made sense, not everyone lived by themselves. Were they just going out? Had they just come back? What was going on down stairs? Was it truly even them or somebody else? There was only one way to find out…

With her small feet, she rapidly tiptoed out of the room and down the hallway where she was met with a flight of stairs leading down below. At the bottom she could see what appeared to be a door. From the door, the stairs were positioned to the right. So, whoever came in would have to look to the right in order to see her. But even then it would be difficult as the hall of stairs were practically pitch black. Just in case, however, Maria hid behind the wall and peeked her head around the corner.

Just as she feared, she could see the silhouettes of two people that were in the middle of hanging their coats on the wall. They belonged to that of a woman and a man. Now, she couldn’t tell much more than that since it was dark but she didn’t really care and instead paid attention to what they were saying.

“Oh darn, I spilled coffee on my good sweater today…” The man said.

“Haha! I somehow knew you would do something like that. Ain’t that funny?” The woman replied laughing.

“What is? The fact that I ruined my sweater?”

“No, not that. Just the fact that when someone tries hard not to ruin something they end up ruining it anyway!”

“Ohhhhh, haha, yeah I guess you’re right. Ah it’s alright, I’ll just get Case to wash it for me…..Speaking of, ain’t she usually up by now? She usually greets us here with some coffee…”

“You’re right, maybe she slept in? Then it’s okay, poor thing is still growing so her beauty sleep is important. I know you miss her but just let her sleep, okay?” The woman, presumably the mother, said to the man.

The man, presumably the father, looked up the dark flight of stairs and for a moment she was afraid that he had completely caught sight of her since it looked like he was staring directly at her. But, after a couple of seconds followed by a small grumble, he turned away and nodded his head.

The moment he did, Maria was able to momentarily keep her cool. Now then, she had to get back up stairs and find a way to get out without alerting Casey’s parents of her presence. She turned and lifted her leg to step onto the next stair but instead jammed her foot right on to the side of it causing an audible thud to ring out. One that wasn’t going to slip away unnoticed.

“Huh? Casey? That you sweety??”

Flip!

“!????”

The lights in the staircase immediately turned on and Maria was completely visible. However, since she was around the corner, she was still hidden by the wall. But, that wouldn’t last long… No, not at all.

Not too long after the lights went on, she heard clear and heavy footsteps slowly making their way toward her. Without a second thought, she made a beeline for the hallway as quietly as she could. It was lucky that she currently had slip on shoes, those hardly made any noise! Plus she was pretty light.

There was just one problem, the first place they’d think to look in would be her room, so she had to go in some other room to throw them off. Yes, that would be the best course of action!

“Honey? You don’t have to be embarrassed if you’re not ready or something! You’re my little girl!” She heard the man say in an extremely familiar tone. As Maria turned her head and ran into the first room she saw other than Casey’s, she felt an extremely familiar feeling. This rush of adrenaline, this sense of not wanting to be found by someone. The person calling after their daughter…. With every step she took, she was transported into another reality. The room was not dark rather brightly lit. She was young and innocent and her father had just returned home from work. In an attempt to tease her dad, little Maria would run and hide as he went out looking for her through their home…

“Maria! Baby girl where’d ya go? Just give daddy a big hug! I wanna see ya!!”

When that voice…..when that damned voice rang in her mind like a church bell, she stopped in her tracks and stared completely stupefied into the dark room. How dare he…..How dare that man enter her memories now? In a situation like this?...........Why would someone like that just abandon her so suddenly?....wasn’t she…….daddy’s little girl?.....

As cold unwanted tears flowed down her warm cheeks,she heard the footsteps of the man walk by the room she was in and into Casey’s. She heard muffled voices as Maria wiped away her irritating tears and ran back out the door. She turned and went directly for the staircase leading into the living room. Her plan was to go straight out the door and run home. It didn’t matter how late it was. She just…….she just...wanted to go home!

But then why…...why were her hands glued to the doorknob? Completely unmoving….just what was going on here…..

“Hello? And who might you be?” She heard a woman say to her from behind.

It had to be the mother. A chill ran up her spine as Maria realized this. Nonetheless, she tried to keep her cool and turned around. She was a young woman, maybe about mid 30s at best and was wearing a lab coat over office type attire. Much like her daughter, she had curly brown hair, only hers was about shoulder length.

“ah,h-hello….I’m…..I’m sorry for the intrusion, I’m an acquaintance of Casey’s…”

“Oh? You are? I don’t suppose you’re from…..that place are you?” she asked.

“That place?” Maria said without thinking. But then, it hit her, she must’ve been talking about savant island. Yes, of course. If she had heard correctly, Casey’s father was the one who invented that machine that brought her here.

(that goofball?) She thought remembering how he was acting earlier. Though, any father would act like that toward their daughters. She should know….

“Oh I see, then you must’ve met her when she went to school out here! Wonderful! I’m Margaret, Casey’s mom, it’s a pleasure to meet you!” she said grabbing her hand and shaking it. Uncomfortable, Maria simply returned the gesture.

“Harold, honey, come down here and meet our guest!” She called up stairs to the man. After a couple of seconds, the man came rushing down. Unlike his wife, this man looked much older possibly due to the bags under his eyes. The beard covering the front of his face was not too long but it wasn’t short either. The hairs on it were also thin and noticeably turning from black to silver. His eyes were pure brown and his skin was bright red, presumably because of the chilly air outside. He was also wearing a lab coat.

“Huh? Why hello! You must be our surprise guest! I’m Harold! Nice to meet you!” He said. Though, Maria just gave him a cold look and turned back to the woman named Margaret.

“Hm? Okay then…..Ah, I don’t see Casey anywhere dear, did she come down stairs?”

“No, only this young girl was here..”

After that small exchange, they both turned to look at her questioningly. Maria wasn’t sure what to do, but it was unfair to leave them both in the dark like this….

“I need you both to listen….” she said fully turning around.

“I am not a really big friend of Casey’s, but I am a close friend of Axel Ison. I’m sure you guys know him, right?”

“Of course we know Axel! He might as well be our boy to!” Margaret said cheerily.

“Well, I am also sure that you guys are aware of Savant Island. That was the place you were speaking of, yes?” She asked.

“Hold on, you’re saying you’re from there??” Harold exclaimed suddenly tensed up and reaching for his back.

“No, I’m not. I have no powers, but I was there briefly. I can’t say much because I still don’t know much myself, but there was a huge battle commencing over there. Casey knew trouble was about to fall on us, so she did what she thought was best and sent me back here…”

………

The set of parents stared at Maria for what seemed like forever, she was unsure of what was going through their minds but she was sure of one thing, they believed her. She didn’t know why, but that much was certain. Then, out of the blue, both adults turned heel and ran off up stairs.

“W-what?..” Maria said as she watched them go off. However, the dad turned to her and signaled for her to follow them. She didn’t really want to but, she was curious as to what they were going to do…

She followed them until they went into the room that Maria had ran in before to hide from them. She just wasn’t expecting it to be something like this… Once the mom, Margaret, sat down, she pressed a button and she heard multiple machines turn on. And just like that, dozens of monitors flickered on all displaying different things that she didn’t understand.

“Honey, check the status of the teleporter over at Casey’s” Harold said as he to sat down at one of the monitors.

“I just did, it looks like it’s okay but the waypoint to it has been manually locked, probably by her to prevent this girl from going back. Damn smart move on her part. Check the surrounding area and savant island itself, any physical changes?” Margaret responded.

“Major, it seems like the land is being torn apart by some catastrophic battle, though most of our equipment has been destroyed so I can’t exactly tell from what.” Harold said.

“Damn, what on earth is going on over there?” Margaret pondered.

“Oh boy…..one of our drones seem to be operational…..mmmmmm, yes! The one near that underground safety place Casey told us about. The one where the kids are supposed to hide in case of any danger? It still safely tucked outside. Oh look look! I’m getting a signal!” Harold exclaimed as he pointed at one of the many monitors.

As they both turned to look at it, Maria also decided to tune in.

The screen flickered and flickered and suddenly a scene was made visible. The clear shiny sun was barely painting the land orange as it rose and brought light onto an extremely damaged land. Buildings were destroyed and rubble remained. However, among that disastrous plane, two girls remained. One was completely unfamiliar, but the other was all too familiar. The brown haired girl remained seated with her back to the camera. There were tears and rips on her clothes and bruises on her arms and legs. Clearly, a battle had ensued.

“Baby….” Margaret said as she looked at her daughter’s damaged body. Harold remained silent. Next to her, the odd ringlet curled girl with cream colored hair stared up at Casey with questioning eyes, almost as if waiting for a response. Then, the unthinkable happened. The small girl turned and looked directly at the camera. She seemed to say something which in turn caused Casey to ever so slightly turn her head. Just enough to where they were able to see her strong chocolate colored eyes, filled with determination. Then, with one swipe of a hand, the ringlet haired girl destroyed the camera. The screen went black.

“.........Well, she seems to be okay at least…..all we can do is wait and see what she tells us whenever she gets a chance…” Margaret said not looking at Harold.

“Yeah, it seemed like the battle had ended…..” He said softly.

Maria couldn’t see their facial expressions, but she was sure they were worried. Yet, Maria didn’t feel any sympathy. In fact, seeing them like that angered her…..Was it resent? She didn’t know, but one thing was certain, she had seen enough for today. And so, she quietly exited the room…….

Part 2

The wind softly caressed the battle field and cooled Casey’s aching body. She currently sat on top of a rock with her legs crossed deep in thought. Next to her was the small girl that had approached her just a couple moments after the battle had finished.

“Well, that takes care of those peepers. You say you know them, yes? Then why have me destroy the camera?” She asked Casey.

“Easy, all my folks need to know is that I’m okay, nothing more.”

“Hm, okay then. Well, I’m about ready to continue, what say you? Have you processed what I’ve told you up until now?” the ringlet curled girl asked.

“........” From there, Casey remained silent.

It all began immediately after her fight with Pixelator, this girl had approached her seemingly out of nowhere……

“Magic? What do you mean Magic? I thought Ella said that stuff was extinct or something like that.”

The time was night and her gruesome…..Slaughter had at last come to an end. However, just as she was beginning to relax, she was met with this strange child. Maria kept her from coming any closer by activating her cloak of fire.

“Well, that’s where things get a bit complicated. Listen closely because I’m about to give you a lot to chow down on…. What your friend has told you is indeed correct, Magic has long been forgotten and cursed to anyone who dare try to learn it. I, however, am not affected by that curse” She confidently said.

“Are you saying you can use magic? Do you expect me to believe you? I only just barely learned about magic myself, but I still know that nobody could possibly learn to use it without dying due to the curse placed on it!” Casey fired back.

“So do you want proof? Well, listen to this. You should know that there are three types of energy’s. Spiritual energy, which your peacekeeper friends know how to use, Kinetic energy, which the savants use to power their skills, and finally Magical energy. The difference in each of these energy’s is the thick power behind it. Spiritual stands at the top while Kinetic lays at the bottom. So, it’s only natural that Kinetic cannot match Magic,which lays at the center of both, on a 1 on 1.”

“What are you getting at?” Casey asked as her flames danced around her.

“Those large gates you destroyed, they were protected by a cloak of kinetic energy that negated whatever other kinetic energy came in contact with it, right? And yet, your power was somehow able to go straight through, Do you think that was just some mere glitch in the matrix?”

When Casey heard her ask that final question, it started to dawn on her. With what she was saying, Casey widened her eyes and looked down at the palm of her left hand.

“Are you saying…”

“Yes, your power is not kinetic energy, it is fueled by the long forgotten Magical energy”

“No way…...then the name of attacks that have come to me unconsciously whenever I use them aren’t random! They’re-!”

“Incantations, precisely. You catch on quick!” The ringlet girl said practically on her toes out of joy.

Casey mulled over what she had just learned and placed a hand on her head as if hoping to straighten her thoughts out. There was no reason to believe her, but there was also no reason not to. In fact, it made complete sense. Why her power was able to pierce the gates, why she’s had such an upper hand in battle….

But that wasn’t the only factor that made her believe the small strange girl, it was also because of a certain object that lay dormant within her…

“I’m pretty sure somewhere deep inside you you knew too, right? That you were never one of them?”

Casey took some time to respond before she softly nodded her head. She was never a savant. She knew that right from the get go but she never told anyone anything because she herself didn’t know what she was.

“Your speaking of the stone, right? The one I currently have?” Casey finally admitted.

“That is correct. You are what the peacekeepers call, a ramoji. Now tell me, how do you think that came about?”

Casey brought the hand on her head down and dropped her shoulders. Finally putting the flames around her out, she found a large piece of rubble and sat on it. Now then, where to begin?

“Well, when I was smaller, maybe about 4, I remember my dad coming home from work one day completely exasperated. I had no idea what was going on but, he immediately showed me and my mom what he was currently fawning over. It was a stone. A bright red and beautiful jewel. I remember it being so sparkly I could hardly look at it. It was amazing. My dad said that when he was out mining a canyon with his coworkers, he stumbled upon that jewel. He being the selfish researcher that he is, brought it home. He was in his office studying the rock for days on end but couldn’t figure out what value it had since it had no characteristics of any jewels known to man. He was sure he was on the brink of a new discovery. Until, I came along.” As she said this, Casey placed one of her legs over the other and rested her arms there. Her tone dropped just a tad as if regretting something.

“He had fallen asleep in his office and I being as curious as I was to see what he was doing walked in there. I found him knocked out on his chair and I decided to leave him be. Then, the stone caught my eye. I remember seeing these strange waves of light all around it and they seemed to almost…….draw me to it. So I walked closer to it and wrapped my tiny paws around the stone. I didn’t even have it for two seconds before it released a bright and powerful light, one that woke my father up just in time to see his little girl absorbing the stone. Well, he says that I put the damn thing in my mouth and was drooling all over it because it resembled a ring pop.” Casey said as she chuckled.

“He tried to snatch it from me and actually succeeded, but it dissolved in his hands and the remains were apparently absorbed by me. And so, I became a “ramoji””

When she was finished recalling her story, Casey looked up at the ringlet haired girl to see if she had anything to say.

“I see. Well, I suppose that explains that. Then, you too are a magic user like I am”

“Hold on a moment, then how am I able to use and learn magic? Isn’t it cursed?” Casey asked.

“The stones were around before that curse was placed. Magic users who knew magic after it was placed were allowed to use it but could not pass it down. The stones are technically a loophole to that. They are artifacts that make one a magic user by letting the wielder borrow its power. It’s a little hard to explain but since the stones were made before the curse was placed anyone who uses them are technically able to bypass it.”

“Ohhh I think I get it…...Okay so, your turn, tell me who you are” Casey said with her usual tone gradually returning.

“Well, I suppose there’s no real harm in telling you. I am Bella and from now on I am supposed to be helping out your friend by showing him how to master his power. I didn’t know what island he was on so me and my sister Bellatrix split up. She found him though and well, I was intrigued by your fight here and noticed that you were a close friend of his so I decided to help you.” She said looking up at the sky seemingly without a care in the world.

“My friend? Omni? You mean Axel? Axel Ison?”

“Yes, that’s the one.”

“Omni, huh? Is that what his power is called? I thought it was power magnet or something like that.”

“There’s a lot of things you think are one thing but are truly the other.”

Being responded to like that, Casey was forced to think about what was really true and what was false. There was so much she still did not understand. So much that she wanted to know….Speaking of which…

“Wait, how did you know I was a close friend of Axel’s?”

“Oh that! Clairvoyance! I can use magic, you know? It's like a list of stats floating right above you. Casey Rodrick Smith, 16. Birthday is on March 21st, Likes big dogs and prefers the summer time. Long time friends with Axel Ison, Kyle, and Cindy and has recently developed intense feelings toward-”

“Okay! I get it! If you could tell everything about me then why did you ask about my past?”

“I’m not about to sit here and read through your entire life when you can just tell me.” Bella said to her twirling the ends of her hair with her fingers.

“Well, okay, so what now? What happens from here?” Casey asked still not understanding what the point of this conversation was.

“.....” For a moment there, the small girl Bella remained silent, almost as if lost in her own little world. Then, her eyes focused in on her as she slowly let her shoulders drift lower.

“Before we get to that, don’t you want to see how your friend is doing after your little stunt?”

“Ah, so you saw that” Casey said while adverting her eyes away.

In the same moments that she carried Katie to safety, she had performed a rather brute form of surgery. Using her ability, well magic actually, she burned Katie’s flesh together both inside and out. It was successful but she wasn’t sure just how much blood she had lost or if Katie suffered any other injuries. She didn’t even know if it’d hold together long enough for it to heal on its own. Who knew…..but she just couldn’t think of anything else…

“No, I’m sure she’ll be okay. All she needs is to let her wounds heal. I’m not sure how I did it, but the process was similar to branding skin. Her own body will take care of the rest, hopefully at least.”

Bella heard her say this, but she was sure that the look on her face meant that she was merely saying that to convince herself more than anything. Regardless, it did seem like the girl would be okay more than likely.

“Very well, change of subject. How well informed are you on current circumstances?” Bella said clapping her hands together.

“Which, do you mean right now? Or in general? I suppose it doesn’t really matter though since I’m lost in both situations.” Casey responded while cleaning some dirt off her skin.

“Why? Has no one told you anything?”

“Well, here’s the thing, up until a couple weeks ago, I was totally clueless about everything. I knew that Axel had somehow attained an ability after that battle in sonic city.Though, I couldn’t believe what was happening was real. I mean, was something right out of an Avengers movie really happening? I kept thinking that and eventually it just settled in as truth. I still don’t know the circumstances behind how he got that power but he did and got involved with the peacekeepers. A couple weeks after that happened I resumed my trips here to savant island and was eventually approached by that girl Lucy.” Casey paused and made a weird face as if having a foul taste in her mouth.

“You refer to her as if she weren’t a friend of yours already.” Bella remarked.

“Any friend of Axel’s is a friend of mine, but I don’t personally know or like her all that much.” Casey said while slightly scrunching her brow together.

“Why’s that?” Bella asked.

“Well I don’t wanna single her out or anything, so I don’t really like the whole lot of Axel’s classmates. Tony, Michael, Lucy, or Jeniffer. Natsumi’s okay, but those guys are the real definition of fake! They preach about wanting to protect him and yet they lied to him almost their entire life. Ugh, when I heard they were secretly working for the peacekeepers I was so livid but decided to let it go so as to avoid any unwanted drama. Sure, I went to school with them but aside from a couple hi and bye’s I didn’t really associate with them though Axel would sometimes want me to hang out with Tony but ew that guy was just the spitting image of an asshole. At least to me. I always knew something was…...strange about them. Especially, that Lucy girl.” Casey once again paused and bit her nails for a couple seconds before continuing.

“There was just something about the look in her eyes that seemed wayyyy to fake. It was almost as if she were constantly lying about something. One time, I could’ve sworn I saw her eye color change for an entire day. She’s definitely odd that one.”

Bella listened to her speak about the small group of people she disliked and thought to herself about the nature of her instincts. She was completely right about them. They were in fact hiding something and they were lying to their friend Axel, but it’s what brought Casey to that conclusion that truly intrigued Bella. It was none other than her keen insight that helped her see through their lies. This alone meant that Casey here was much brighter than the others.

“Anyway, I was on my way home from the grocery store right down the street from my house over at Sonic City when she came and asked for my help. I asked what she meant and she went on to tell me about her situation and the need for my teleporter. How she was involved in the attack on Sonic City, how the peacekeepers were good, shadow hunters were the actual bad guys, and that they were trying to recover incredibly dangerous artifacts that could destroy the world, something cliche like that. Whatever, the only reason I believed her was because she said that she knew about my trips to savant island. Since she knew about savants in the first place that had to mean that she knew something about the dark side of earth. That and she took me to meet Ella, the one who was there that night when Jessica attacked. That’s also where I saw the other three of Axel’s classmates. It pissed me off seeing them there…..but I let it go and agreed to help if it’d benefit Axel. After that is history.”

Casey finished her story by turning away and spitting something on the ground. She then turned back and analyzed her nails probably wondering if they were all okay.

“That makes sense, I guess they don’t want too many people knowing about what they do even if those people are their allies.” Bella said resting her chin on the palm of her hand.

“Maybe so, but I definitely know now. Whatever crystal or stone I have is also inside Jessica and that girl Elizabeth. They are collecting those to supposedly avoid armageddon or something like that.” Casey said still inspecting her nails.

“Armageddon,huh? Funny you mention that. You’re right about the stones. They are indeed after that and currently have three in their possession. Counting you of course.”

“Did you say three? But there’s just me and Jessica, who could possibly be the third??” Casey blurted out clearly confused.

“Not who but which. The 1st stone they ever acquired did not have a host, a ramoji as they call it. It was the easiest find of their career I’m sure. Though they are not yet aware of you having the Elemental stone.” Bella said slightly lowering her eyelids.

“Elemental? Man, and they refer to the stones by their color…. You’re giving them much cooler names.” Casey admired.

“No, those are their original names I’m just telling you them. But forget that for a moment, let’s get back to the point here. The stones, you should know that they alone are not that much of a threat, it’s what they form when they are all together that is truly the problem. When all stones are gathered, they form what is called God’s Scepter.”

The name alone gave Casey a really bad feeling that sent a chill down her spine. She was sure she had heard Ella mention that name once before but she didn’t really pay attention to it as she didn’t know what it was.

“What’s that?”

“It’s a very powerful scepter that should’ve never been created. An old fool sought to create a staff so powerful he would be crowned the king of all magicians. Instead, he underestimated his own power and created an object that could rip time and space itself. It did anything you could think of at the cost of almost all of his own magic power. At first he went mad with power but did not dare mess with the fabric of time. Even he was not that much of an idiot. But the more he tried to keep it safe the more magicians from all over would try and steal his staff. And so, he made the decision to destroy the staff. Only, no matter what he did it would just repair itself. Eventually, he separated its power into small crystal like stones but found that if put back together the staff would simply appear again, so he distributed the stones to far away places that even he did not know of. They remained hidden for centuries on end successfully up until one child somehow managed to get his hands on one. At around this time, the peacekeepers began to be hunted down by the world and removed from world history. After an internal scuffle, an independent group within the peacekeepers made their different ideals clear and abducted the stone from the poor boy by force. From then on they were known as the shadow hunters. After that more and more of the stones began appearing. All leading up to where you are now. If we’re keeping count, it’s 3 to 1 as far as I can tell with you lot in the lead.” Bella paused and waited to see if Casey had any questions before continuing, but it seemed like she had none. She was simply listening while staring off into the distance.

“Now, where does that put you in right now? Well, let me tell you about it. It is said that Armageddon is the place where the final battle between good and evil will be fought, but in order to reach that place this world must be put through hell.” Bella said to Casey. Casey lifted her head and questioningly twiddled her thumbs.

“Armageddon? You mean like in the bible?”

“Yes, however I believe this is a much different take on it. You see, the shadow hunters seek not only the battlefield of Mount Megiddo, they seek to destroy the seven seals that protect the scroll of god. Or so the legend goes. If even four are broken, grave things will occur and we will all surely die. The gateway to Armageddon will be opened and all will be set into motion. If we are forced into battle now, we will stand no chance and evil will prevail….”

As Bella relayed the dire news to Casey, she couldn’t help but get a sick feeling at the very bottom of her stomach. It was indeed fear. She grew up with her parents often mentioning the word of God and even read the bible herself a couple times. She remember reading about the Apocalypse and being afraid but was always reassured by her mother that she would surely go to heaven. That thought was comforting, but this was entirely different. These fancy names stolen from the bible were cover ups. It was the same thing but different. How terrifying….

“But wait, if this is following the bible, then that would mean that only the “Lamb” could open the seals right? You can’t just chose a Lamb out of nowhere, they have to be worthy of knowing what the contents of the scroll of god contains. I know we’re not talking about the bible here and the circumstances are fundamentally different, but if that’s true then all we have to do is keep the Lamb away from them!” Casey excitedly reported.

“Yes that is true, but just who would that be? Billions of people on earth and only one could be the Lamb. We don’t know, but who knows if they do or even already have the Lamb in their possession?” Bella replied grimly.

“Then….doesn’t that mean we’re too late?...” Casey said suddenly feeling scared.

“No, certain catastrophic events have to occur before the four horsemen can trample this world. Or at least that’s how the story I know goes.”

“Really? And what would those be” Casey asked more or less knowing the response.

“Take a good look around kid, this is only the beginning.”

And with that her worst fears were confirmed. If this was only the beginning, who knew just what was to come next…. When she was waiting to be informed on the situation, she wasn’t expecting grave news like this…

“Then we can only fight back now, I can’t just be sitting here.” Casey said getting ready to stand up. However, Bella raised her hand and reassured her to continue resting.

“There’s no need to do that right now, the battle is over for the time being. In fact, nothing grand will occur for a total of four long weeks. However, that also means that we cannot leave the battlefield, you lot are forced to stay here.”

And that was that, that was pretty much everything that the ringlet curled girl named Bella had told her thus far. Such a simple conversation nearly lasted hours. Before she knew it the sun had risen and it did truly seem like the battles had ended. For now, at least.

“Well, I guess there’s nothing else to go off of, but I want to ask, what makes you Axel’s mentor? Why appear now all of a sudden?”

To this, Bella remained silent. After a couple of moments of pondering, her pink cheeks turned a soft tinge of red as she turned to Casey smiling.

“Well Okay I’ll tell you since you’re such a good girl! It’s because-.......”

Though the wind muffled out the rest, Casey alone heard exactly what she had said and widened her eyes.

‘There’s no way!! You! You are?....Oh my gosh, out of all the things I’ve heard today this definitely takes the cake by far…” Casey exclaimed holding her cheeks. Bella however covered her face and brightened up.

“Oh don’t make me blush you!! Just go get some rest, check in on your friend and relax, even if something does happen I will inform you”

“Seriously? Well, yeah I do wanna check in on everyone. Got it, I’ll be leaving you then. I’m sure you can take care of yourself” Casey said relinquishing her duty as watch person to her surprisingly quickly. After a quick wave bye, she turned heel and ran over to the large broken down steel gates. Bella uncovered her face and watched as that girl ran excitedly to see her friend.

“Oh, hold on just a sec” she suddenly said to stop the girl from running. Casey stopped the second she heard something and turned to face Bella with a pure expression.

“Yeah, what’s up?” She said.

“I said I had clairvoyance didn’t I? Well, I can also tell what emotion most accurately describes your entire life. Not just up until now, I mean your life as a whole.”

Hearing Bella say that left Casey momentarily shocked. Her life as a whole meant all of her years living even the ones she hadn’t yet. If she could tell her that, then she’d have an idea of how her life would go. If it were to be happy, she can rest at ease knowing that everything would eventually be fine. But….what if it wasn’t? What then?...

“How about it? Would you like me to tell you what it is?” Bella inevitably asked. Casey sat in thought for quite some time before eventually clenching her fists and coming to a conclusion.

“If you were to do that, and I didn’t like the answer, I would lose the benefit of feeling hope for things to ever change. So, I’d prefer not to know…..”

Casey let loose a simple smile almost as if telling her “I hope you understand”. Bella closed her eyes and chuckled, she should’ve known that that would be her response.

“Yeah, I knew you wouldn’t want to. Very well, you can go now.” Bella said crossing her arms. Casey nodded and waved goodbye again before running off once more. Bella watched her off, only this time she felt a sense of sympathy enter the depths of her being.

“Smart girl. Now I can’t help but wonder what your reaction would’ve been if I told you that your life was the very definition of a tragedy. Perhaps that was the reason I decided to help you, in the hopes that maybe I could help turn things around. But well, I don’t have control over destiny, good luck kid …” she said to herself in an empathetic tone. She then raised the palm of her hand and created a small ball of light which she began talking to.

“So how’s he doing on your end?” She said. Moments later, she received a response.

“He’s got a better look in his eyes, looks like I can finally step in.”

Part 3

Going back to just after Axel had broken free from captivation, our current setting takes us to exactly the point in time in which Axel first recognized one of his childhood friends, Cindy.

Still completely bewildered, he tried his best to keep a calm and level head as he walked up to her. Cindy, who was also in shock, reached out for a hug as her eyes filled with tears. However, mere seconds after, Axel had completely ignored her gesture and grabbed on to her shoulders.

“My eyes aren’t just playing games with me? Why do you look so strong? Why in the world is your hair blue? Why are you out here all by yourself? Was it you that saved us from that bad guy just now???” He frantically began asking as he inspected her body like a doll. At first, Cindy was at a loss for words and softly put her hands down. Watching Axel like that made her feel really nostalgic, so she took it upon herself to grab him in a tight embrace against his current will. Though, he didn’t fight back.

“It’s been so long, you’ve grown so much…” She said speaking into his shoulder.

“Y-yeah...I’m finally taller than you!” He said into her hair.

When they finally separated, Axel took a couple steps back and admired Cindy a little more. It was just incredible, he couldn’t believe that he’d find her here of all places! It was too much to take in and it made him really happy.

{Axel! Watch out!}

As soon as the voice in his head spoke, Axel felt his body react in an odd way. It moved completely on its own high up into the air using the wind around him.

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

“What the-” he let out.

A moment later, the ground beneath him sunk and was folded in half like a book. Somehow, the earth had distorted and attempted to kill them! What's more, he could not see Cindy!! Had she gotten swallowed up?

When Axel landed on the top of a building safely he quickly began searching for her body down below. However, Cindy herself magically appeared right next to him as soon as he began fearing the worst.

“There’s an enemy nearby” She said with her brow furrowed.

“Huh? How’d you get up here?” Axel began to ask confused.

“Shh! Look! He’s right there!” Cindy yelled and pointed.

Sure enough, when Axel turned to look, he saw a man dressed in black suddenly appear on the ground which was just turned inside out. He was large and bald and had many scars on his hands. From the looks of it, he was not pleased.

“Damn it, looks like you got away.” He said to himself.

“That guy talking to himself?” Axel asked.

“That’s an earth type Shadow Hunter. Seen him around at the main joint a couple times. Rowdy guy, completely useless when it comes to basic math or english but a total genius when it comes to combat. I’d be careful kid.” Ricardo the gerbil said from inside his sweater.

“You don’t say. Well then, It’s time I put my powers to the test!” Axel said bending low. He gathered the wind at his feet and threw himself up.

“This is the first time I use it now that I know what I’m doing and I can’t wait to see what dragon powers I’ve got! Get ready you, cause it’s go-!!!!”

Shiiiiiiiink!!!!

A large and powerful blast of cold Ice suddenly cut Axel off and completely covered the poor sap down below. The sheet of Ice was so large it completely changed the terrain. It almost looked like an ice age.

“H-huh?” He said at a loss for words. He hadn’t done that, so then who did? He looked down over to where Cindy was and felt his jaw drop even lower. She was standing there with her hands outstretched and frost covering her cheeks. As she let out a breath of air, Axel could see the pure white smoke exit her mouth.

He landed back down next to her and waited for her to notice him. When she did, she extended her thumb out and winked.

“I got him!”

“I-I see that but how on earth did you do that?” He asked without a change in expression.

“I think I can ask you the same thing, how’d you even get up here?” She said.

But, before either of them could respond to each other, the thick land of ice suddenly began to crack, More and more it did until finally the ground burst into millions of tiny ice shards. At the center of it all, the earth type shadow hunter from before.

“Phew, almost got me there. Now then, it’s my-” He began to say but wasn’t able to finish due to Cindy waving her hands and trapping him again with her ice powers.

“Damn this guy, that’s not going to hold him for long. Looks like I gotta get up close and personal” She said tying up her hair and preparing to jump off the building. However, Axel grabbed her arm and did not let her go.

“What are you doing?” She asked.

“Hold on just a sec. It looks like we both somehow have powers, but it looks like you’re a lot more experienced than me. Please, let my try something first.” He said to her.

Down below, the ice once again cracked until it suddenly exploded due to the ground beneath it rising like needles and freeing the shadow hunter. He cracked his knuckles and sighed due to the sheer ignorance that blue haired girl had. He wiped the dust off his cloak and walked up toward level ground. The first thing he’d do is find her and kill her.

However, for some reason, the only one he could find was that boy from before.

“Ah? Just you kid? You’ve got to be kidding me. Where’s the girl?” He said to him.

“She won’t be joining us just yet, but in the meantime I’ll be the one who takes you out” Axel said clenching his fists and raising his guard.

“You? Take me out?..haha…..now that was funny!” The hunter yelled as he threw his fist forward. At its command, the ground rumbled and exploded outward like a huge wave toward Axel.

(Here it comes!!) He thought.

The shadow hunter believed that defeat was imminent for that boy. There was no way he could take that on. He’d have to be-

BOOM!!!!

The wind exploded and the large wave of ground was suddenly turned to rubble which flew back in the direction that it came from. The wind pressure was so powerful the shadow hunter had to kneel and bury his arms in the ground so as to keep himself from flying away. When the wind died down, he stared up in shock toward the boy who was now holding his right wrist. From the looks of it, his middle finger and thumb were broken somehow.

“I…..I knew it” Axel said to himself as he bit his lip in an effort to keep himself from crying. When another wave of earth came right for him, Axel felt a wave of ice lift him off his feet and into the air. While suspended there, he continued his train of thought.

(Regardless of how much I now accept this power, I’m still human! Using a power like super strength will still cause me damage if it exceeds the amount of strength my body can handle.)

This is what he wanted to see. He wanted to see if super strength was now easier to use but as it turned out it wasn’t. It was smart of him to go for a finger flick, if he had used his arm he would’ve been in a lot more pain on top of losing it. It was lucky he destroyed that initial wave.

As he landed back on top of the building where Cindy stood waiting for him, he began to ponder his next move while trying to ignore the throbbing pain in his finger. She looked at him with a concerned expression.

“You’re hurt.” She whispered somewhat angrily.

“Forget about that, let’s take care of this guy first.” He said gritting his teeth and shakily standing up. His legs were a bit wobbly since he landed pretty roughly. The shadow hunter down below was still staring up in awe and seemed to be a bit taken back by Axel’s display of power.

“Oh I see! A couple of savants out here, eh? Now we’re talking! Let’s get this party started!”

The earth shifted and the ground ruptured. Waves of ground and rubble completely destroyed the building below them and forced them to take to the skies.

“No!! My office and paperwork were in that building! That’s important research in there!!” Ricardo squealed from Axel’s sweater.

“Cindy” Axel called out to her but she was already on it.

“I’m on it.” She said as she crossed her arms together and released a giant wave of ice. The sudden cold air was too much for even Axel as he was forced back by the wind. He carefully navigated his way down to safety and began monitoring Cindy.

The Ice countered the earth and managed to cover it over entirely. As the Ice finally made its way toward the shadow hunter, the thick and dangerous black snow was forced to part ways with the ground. Up until now, the black snow had ever so lightly been falling from the heavens.

The shadow hunter noticed that he was about to get cornered and began using the earth to push himself back. He successfully managed to evade every attack up until now and was ready to launch a counter attack.

“Alright girl, it looks like you’re no pushover, time to get serio-” He said raising his sleeve before he was suddenly tackled by a large projectile. Rather, a small human being.

Completely undiscovered by the shadow hunter, Axel was brought closer to the shadow hunter by Cindy and once his guard was lowered she launched Axel toward him. Axel braced himself and full on shouldered him directly in the stomach. The man didn’t even make a sound. The second Axel made contact with him he was out. Axel flipped in the air and shut his eyes in pain.

{Even I felt that} Sophia said in his head.

(God damn it that was awful) He thought.

Regardless of how painful it was to him, what mattered was taking out the enemy as quickly as they could. Axel opened one eye and watched as the shadow hunter went limp in the air and fell down. Axel followed suit but not as roughly. He slid on the ice with his feet and eventually landed on his bottom.

“Sorry man but I can’t have you going all out here. We aren’t here to mess around” Axel said to the unconscious shadow hunter.

“Great job Axel. I wasn’t really sure what you were doing at first but I’m glad I followed along.” Cindy said trying to help him up. Axel obliged and took her hand to get himself up.

“Yeah, I figured you’d know what I was trying to do. It’s good that you used your ice to get me to him quicker. I wouldn’t have been able to catch up to him if I just kept running. If I used my powers he would’ve been able to sense me” he croaked as he stretched.

As Axel dusted off his clothes and stretched his arms, Cindy got to wondering.

“Any savant with any power at all can be sensed even if you aren’t using any energy. It takes a lot of training to hide one’s Aura, why are you an exception to that?” She said. It was true that she was able to sense some power from him earlier, but after that she sensed absolutely nothing. In fact, if she hadn’t seen him running she probably would’ve swallowed him up with her ice on accident. There was no way that he had mastered such a skill to hide his presence, even she struggled with that. So then, what was going on?

“Well, It’s probably as you guess, I’m still just a human with no Aura, but a lot has happened in the past…...what? 2 months? And I was granted an ability. And with it, an Aura of my own which disappears if I stop using my ability. I’m just glad the nieve black or whatever stopped falling or my skin would be on fire…”

“Granted an ability you say? What does that mean? I never heard of anyone just getting an ability out of nowhere.” Cindy said as she encased the shadow hunter in a thick sheet of ice. She made sure that he was sealed shut and prepared to haul him around. She was presumably taking him as a prisoner.

“Well, just prepare for Lucy to give you death threats and make you swear not to tell anyone anything….Okay, get ready cause I’ve got a lot to explain”

“No you don’t, I do” They heard an uninvited voice say. Axel’s hair stood on end as he thought he was about to engage in another fight. However, quite the opposite happened. A pair of legs suddenly appeared on Axel’s shoulder and a weight was placed on his head. Someone’s body warmth pressed up against his neck and made him shiver.

{Ohhhh! So she’s finally here!} Sophia excitedly said in his mind but Axel didn’t listen.

“Who the heck are you?” Cindy asked him. No wait, she wasn’t asking him, she was asking whoever was on his shoulders.

“You’re pretty smart girl. You seem to already know that I mean no harm” The girl on his head said.

“I can’t sense any Aura from you, but I do sense something else but it’s not anything negative, so I wasn’t afraid.” Cindy said with a slightly furrowed brow.

“Ah, good girl.”

“Wait, Cindy, who the heck is on me?” Axel frantically asked afraid to move. However, Cindy raised her shoulders and shook her head. Then, tapping on the ground with her foot, she made a wall of ice build up. Through that he was able to see his reflection and finally saw who was on him.

She was a small girl with cream colored ringlet curled hair. It was let loose and had pink ends. Her eyes were crystal blue and her skin was pale and white. Her blue jeans went well with her black button up sweater. She rested both hands on his head as if he were a desk and laid her head there. She adjusted the black beanie she had on her head and waved to him through the reflection.

“Hi there” She said looking sleepy. However, Axel was not having it. He reached up and grabbed her sides. He pulled her over and brought her to his eye level. This resulted in him holding her upside down in front of his face so that their eyes could meet.

“Who in the world are you?” He asked.

“I’m not someone you want to mess with that’s for sure. Now put me down.” She said looking him dead in the eye. He wasn’t about to back down from a staring contest, but the being inside him was non verbally warning him of her. And so, he literally let her go to fall head first. However, The girl kicked off his chest and landed on her feet next to Cindy. Axel coughed and held his chest as he angrily stared the girl down.

“My name is Bellatrix but you can just call me Bell. The one who’s going to tell you what’s really going down.”

“Bellatrix? What in the world are you talking about?Tell us what?” Axel barked.

“I was going to come here sooner, but I saw you were being pushed back by that shadow hunter so I decided to wait for a little bit and see what you could do. Now that you’re done, I’m here. I really don’t want to waste too much time so I’ll be blunt, I’m going to be helping you master Omni and guide you in its ways.”

As shocking as it was to hear for both Cindy and Ricardo, Axel and Sophia knew exactly what she was talking about.

(Is this her? The one the angel was talking about?) Axel asked in his head.

{Yes, It has to be. I can sense a strong pressure from the depths of her being, she is extremely wise)

(You can sense that? Wow, but didn’t the angel mention two beings that were supposed to be my mentor?)

[An angel mentioned me? You wouldn’t happen to be talking about the original Omni now would you? In any case, she was correct but my sister is somewhere else right now] Axel heard someone else in his head respond. Both Sophia and Axel remained silent in pure shock to the new voice inside his mind. However, they both knew exactly who it belonged to.

“That ought to be enough proof that I’m the real deal here” The small girl said.

“Alright, you’ve caught our attention. I believe you. I just have a couple questions” Axel said holding his arm behind his back. When he made a wrong movement, he felt a jolt of pain travel up his arm which made him flinch.

“Axel? Oh right! You’re finger! Let me see it..” Cindy said running up to him. She grabbed his arm and inspected his completely damaged hand. After taking a few deep breaths, she pulled out some bandages from her blouse and began wrapping his hand. Meanwhile, Axel continued to keep his attention on Bellatrix and sat down.

“Well, we’ve got some time to kill, ask away kid”

“What ties do you have with Omni? You’re so young, how can you be a master of anything yet?”

“Looks can be deceiving, despite how I look I’m actually really old. I’ve lived long enough to see the fall of so many empires. Lived long enough to make many many mistakes, one of them being the very power that has cursed you and many others.” She said solemnly.

“Hold on a second….Are you saying that you…..created Omni?”

“That’s right, I created Omni many many years ago with my sister. You see, I come from a time that was on the brink of destruction.” She said sitting down on the remains of the building from before. Suddenly intrigued, everyone quieted down and listened to what Bellatrix was about to say.

“I was a little girl too once upon a time. I dreamed, I played, I had a family, but the circumstances in which we found ourselves in were some that I will never forget. A war raged on between creatures other than humans. Their battlefield? Earth. Us poor and useless humans were slaughtered in the fray simply for being unfortunate enough to be caught in their rampage. I and my sister lived in hiding for so long. We barely ate, we barely bathed, it was awful. Yet, we held hope. There was one thing mankind still had in those days. That was the ability to wield magic. I remember being told that if one were to master magic, they could stand up and help put an end to the war. My sister and I heard that and worked our assess off almost everyday. We wanted to be strong, we wanted to fight, we wanted the power to fight anything and everything. From there came the inspiration for Omni, and just like an accident after one too many drinks, She was born.” She ended staring in to his eyes but not at him, at something deeper within him.

“This war, the angel spoke of humans not being able to go up against dragons and angels and so they created humanoid magic, is that related to this?” Axel asked.

“Yes it is. In fact, I was the one that created that too. I did everything I could to fight. Unfortunately, things didn’t go as planned. Our fight, although extremely close, was lost. In the middle of that fight, on top of losing countless comrades, me and my sister were cursed to a state where we would cease to age. All that and we still failed. Well, I should say we temporarily won. However, like most things in life this peace won’t last forever, as you’ve already discovered.” She paused and sighed as she reminiscently looked up into the heavens. As she saw one dark cloud pass after the other, she continued her story.

“Omni passes on from one person to another. It wasn’t until the first owner died that I found that out. Not only that, each time it passess on a new persona is created. It’s really quite mesmerizing. If that wasn’t enough, the damn thing chooses who it wants to wield its full power by association with “Origin”. A safety precaution my sister created so that not just anybody could wield Omni. And well, here we are.” She said finally looking back down at him. Axel was able to follow what she was saying up until now, this time it was rather easy to understand.

Then it hit him, where in all of that did the stones play a roll?

“Wait a minute, you mean Omni wasn’t created to fight the shadow hunters and retrieve the stones? It was created for something else entirely??!” Axel blurted out as his heart rate increased.

“You got it kiddo. Glad you caught that. The peacekeepers that you know are also well outside of the loop. They still think that Omni goes by the name of Power Magnet. They still think that Omni was a miracle given to them to help fight the shadow hunters. They’re wrong in that case. Omni can help, but that’s not what it’s meant for. It’s meant for a much larger battle.”

The words that Bellatrix now spoke were raw and heavy, simply too much for Axel to take in all at once. As Cindy carefully bandaged his hand, she watched his current reactions by eyeing him intently. It took him a couple seconds to calm down before looking up at the sky. Just what awaited him in the future?...

“I wouldn’t worry about that kid. That battle is unlikely to happen in your lifetime. In the meantime, we know that the stones and god’s scepter take precedence, so we will still train you to fight properly.” Bellatrix reassured him and crossed her small arms.

“Really?....I see. Then, let’s just focus on what’s going on right now. Would you happen to know anything about project Armageddon?” Axel asked.

“What? You heard about it already?”

“I only overheard the name and that four people are set to arrive who can completely destroy all of us.”

“Ah, so you don’t know much. Well, let me explain.” Bellatrix said crossing her legs. It took probably about seven minutes for her to fill Axel in. When she did, Axel mixed her words in his head and came to an understanding.

“So the key to all of this is the Lamb... We don’t know what’ll happen next, but if we do have some time before the next event occurs then I better get to work.”

“Hold on just a second there” Cindy suddenly said finishing up one last knot in his bandages. Making sure she tightened it up neatly, she looked up at Axel with somewhat angry eyes.

“Cindy? What’s up?”

“I just so happened to be informed of things now but I’m still not understanding one thing, how in earth are you responsible for some mystical power like Omni?” Cindy demanded to know.

“This girl is important to you, right? Should she of have overheard our conversation just now or should I erase her memories?” Bellatrix offered raising her hand.

“I trust Cindy, and I like her a lot. She’s an ally.” Axel said causing Cindy to slightly redden. Bellatrix nodded her head “Okay”, and backed down.

“Well Cindy, I didn’t exactly sign up for this. It just so happens that I was chosen by something called Origin to hold Omni. It happened maybe about 2 months ago? I forgot my keychain that grandpa gave me which he said would protect me and that one instance without it brought me Omni.” From there, Axel went on to recount the events that happened in Sonic City and what he learned. For her, since she was also close with his grandpa, hearing that he was associated with the peacekeepers was also a shocker to her. In fact, the whole forgotten friends ordeal paled in comparison. When Axel was done, she too mulled over his explanation for a bit before nodding her head and standing up.

“So that’s what’s going on, huh? Okay! I’ll help you!”

“Wait just a moment! I don’t want you getting involved in this! I know you’re strong but I don’t want you getting hurt!” Axel argued. However, Cindy raised her hand in front of his face to stop him.

“You’re gonna have to stop right there. It’s my turn to reveal something. I’m not weak at all. In fact, I stand as the 2nd strongest savant on a global scale. I’m known as the Queen of Ice, “Frostbite!”. The strongest being that jerk Kyle as you know” Cindy said while proudly puffing out her chest.

“What???!!?? You’re Frostbite?? The one Katie was talking about??? So that’s why Casey made her keep quiet about her identity, I knew who you were all along just didn’t realize it...wow…” Axel ruffled his hair for a moment and all of a sudden felt embarrassed. After all, she was stronger than him.

“So, now you’ll let me fight, right?”

“Well yeah, we need your strength..”

“Alright! Let’s get this show on the road then!” Cindy excitedly said as she walked past him dragging the shadow hunter behind her. Axel watched her go and followed her at a much slower pace.

{What’s on your mind now?} Sophia asked after not talking for some time.

(It’s just crazy how almost everyone I know is now involved in this supernatural mess. Who would’ve thought, you know?}

Although he couldn’t see her, he was sure the girl in his mind was agreeing with him.

{I get where you’re coming from, but it’s better to think that they’re on your side, right?}

(You’re definitely right about that)

“Axel boy, what are you planning on doing right now?” Bellatrix said from behind him.

“Well, Ella wanted me to meet up with Andrew but he can take care of himself right now. What I want to do is find my little sister. She last called me extremely scared and wanted me to come find her. That was yesterday, I’ve delayed myself long enough but I know that both she and my grandma are alive. I would’ve known it if something major had happened to them. I just gotta find them.” Axel said suddenly seeming more confident.

“That so? Very well then, I’m going to reunite with my sister for a bit then and bring her back here. You take care of that and we’ll see each other soon.” Bellatrix said slowly rising into the air.

“Huh? Hey wait, how can you still use magic? I thought that was extinct and forbidden.”

“Hm? I would think that Ella of yours told you that much right? The elders that knew magic during the time of it’s erasure could still use it but could not pass any of their knowledge down. Since me and my sister were alive before that curse was even placed, we can still freely use magic. Well, to a certain extent at least. Mana isn’t as rich in the air as it used to be. In any case, that’s why.” Bellatrix said resting in the air.

“Really? Okay cool, then I’ll see you later.”

“Oh wait, just a moment. About super strength. I have two things I would like you to know. One, it’s not called super strength, It’s called “All Out” so keep that in mind.”

“All out? Dude that sounds awesome.” Ricardo squealed in his ear.

“Shut up” Axel said swiping him away.

“And the other is that you should try and not use it anymore. At least not until I get you to work up your body strength more. You already saw what it can do. Although it is extremely useful it is still extremely dangerous for you in the long run. Keep breaking your body like that and eventually you won’t be able to use your arms or legs no matter how much you heal them.”Bellatrix warned.

“Seriously? It’s that bad? Okay I got it, I’ll try not to use it anymore” He said to her.

“I somehow get the feeling you don’t understand how serious I am. Let’s put it this way, back in Sonic City you had two instances in which you used All Out with everything you had, right?”

“Yeah, once when I first used Omni to blow away a falling building and another when I tried to save my friend Maria from some flying droids.” Axel recalled.

“Okay so, if I had to guess, I’d say you used up to 75% of All Out’s true potential” Bellatrix informed him.

“WHAT DID YOU SAY? Only 75? And it caused that much damage?? What about the time I threw a ball up in the air while training with Andrew? You must’ve been monitoring me then right?” Axel exclaimed.

“Actually my sister was, but she guessed that must’ve been about 50%. In any case, the point I’m getting to is that you could risk blowing your limbs off if you try to use 100% so don’t. Though, I’m pretty sure you can’t even if you tried since All Out and the human body in general has a limit depending on how much your body can handle.”

“Why is this power so freakishly strong? Just who made this??” Axed frantically asked now afraid of All Out.

“Well, Let’s just say that millions sacrificed their life for it.” Bellatrix responded.

Soon after, she stretched out her legs and began to fade away.

“Any other questions kid before I leave?”

“Well, uh, would you happen to be going to Savant Island?”

“Yep”

“Well then, can you make sure my friend Casey and the others are okay?” Axel earnestly asked.

“Coincidentally, that’s who my sister is with. She’s fine but I will tell her that you are okay as well.” Bellatrix said as the last of her body faded away.

“Really? Great! Thanks!” He said to her before she left. Turning around and looking for Cindy, he began to feel really motivated somehow.

“Okay, next stop, Stacey!”

Part 4

“How much longer?” Asked a very impatient person who just could not stop cracking his knuckles. He was tall, about 6 feet, and had very large shoulders. His body was muscularly rounded out and in tip top shape. His pure black hair danced in the wind as he looked over at the man who was standing next to him.

“Relax you oath, the sun has to go down before you can go out to play. But you know what you’re supposed to do, right?” The man dressed in a black robe said.

“Ryan, do you think I’m some idiot? I secure the area surrounding this junkyard and kill whoever is trying to escape, right? I know exactly what the fuck to do. Only problem is I have to kill a bunch of ants. There’s no real fun in killing a bunch of insects.” The aggressive man said.

Ryan the 6th adjusted his one and only arm in his robe and shook his head in disgust.

“You’re an awful piece of shit you know that? Even worse than I am. I know you’re strong but don’t forget that there are peacekeepers around here too. Those guys are tough”

“Does it look like I care? In fact, I hope that they come for me so I can get a real thrill out of this mission! Regardless, they won’t stand a chance against me and my mutation.” The man said as he flexed his arm. The sound of his fingers rubbing against his palm intensified as many veins began popping out of his arm. Then, grabbing onto a steel light post, he watched as it squished under his intense grip and eventually broke apart. The remains of the light post fell around them and clattered loudly. However, the fall itself wasn’t loud since the ground was cushioned by the black snow.

Ryan took a look at the large psycho behind him and scowled. Vlad, the “Dark Bones”. A special project who is the first ever to successfully incorporate a super human ability to his body without being a superhuman prior. It allows him to enhance his body’s strength many times over. The ace in the hole in this operation one could say. The reason he wasn’t being sent to the front lines right now was because the probability that people may try to escape during the night was high, and in order for their plan to succeed the humans still alive had to stay here.

(I don’t know why they’d intrust that job with this fool. He’s not supposed to kill them all just scare them away. This idiots going to go on a slaughter fest, I know that.)

As Ryan grit his teeth and clenched his fist, he began thinking about the intel he currently had. The magnet boy was indeed said to be in the city and was captured at one point. However, just as was predicted, he managed to escape and hasn’t been spotted since. An entire team of peacekeepers were also around and holding back the shadow hunters but following the short cease fire they have also presumably gone into hiding for the time being. Also, their leader Ella seems to be on Savant Island. On Savant Island, the initial slaughter was slightly successful but the students there are indeed strong. The casualties among his own were greater than theirs. Which wasn’t all too surprising since they sent a bunch of grunts there. The only one capable of doing anything was Kevin the 3rd. The first night was a tough battle and the appearance of a “Flame Queen” greatly tipped the scales in their favor. However, the outcome of the battle didn’t truly matter. What mattered was getting enough forces in the island so that phase 2 could commence, and so it has. Both battlefields are now mostly silent but the battle still rages on.

In a sense, it was like a game of hide and seek. If two warriors from opposing sides were to run into each other they’d have to fight to the death in order to survive. A cruel game of survival practically. That was phase 2. In that time, two things had to happen. Those were to keep as much humans within city grounds as possible and locate the “Lamb”. That is why Vlad was stationed outside city grounds. Most would definitely try to run but with him there that would be impossible.

(Come to think of it…)

If the peacekeepers were here and were still trying to rescue people, it was definitely possible that they’d try to guide people outside of the town. Perhaps that was why they put Vlad in charge of those areas. Of course, the area was rather large so they also put someone else in charge of border patrol. An earth type shadow hunter who was supposed to be making his way to the north side of the battlefield. To his knowledge, that was around Delray beach. Everything beyond that could be considered a “Safe zone” to the opposite party. Luckily, Miami was mostly surrounded by a large plain of wildlife so not many people were needed to scout that large area. In fact, Vlad was perfect for that job. Among his superhuman capabilities were his heightened senses. On a scale of 1-10 his senses were perhaps a 20. And, if completely still and focused, his senses would double. A true killing machine.

(I suppose thinking calmly does help one see things better. Now I have confidence in Vlad’s skill) Ryan thought to himself as he crossed his arms and began walking. Once he saw movement from Ryan, Vlad shifted his eyes toward him and followed.

“Hey, what the hell are we doing in the meantime?” Vlad grunted sounding bored.

“Well, I’m basically in charge of escorting you to some place called Trail Glades but in the meantime we aren’t supposed to do anything but hang around town and wait.” Ryan replied.

“What the hell? Are you serious? That sounds fucking boring. How about we just search for some stragglers?” Vlad maliciously said cupping his fist.

“You can do that if you can handle the boss’s punishment.” Ryan said shifting his shoulder that had no arm. Vlad saw that and merely clicked his tongue and looked away. Ryan smirked and took pride in the fact that he had managed to quiet down Vlad.

(Now then, the dark sun has risen behind the clouds. It’s time to just watch the battle unfold from the sidelines until nightfall…)

Part 5

“Soooo, Cindy? What’s with the blue hair?”

“That’s a little complicated. It has to do with my ability though.” Cindy replied to Axel’s sudden question. Currently, they were walking among the disaster torn city hoping to come across any sign of Stacey, Axel’s sister. However, they had come across nothing just yet. As far as the shadow hunter from before went, Cindy buried him in a case of ice where he wouldn’t be able to move. She kept him prisoner somewhere underground.

“Your ability, huh?”

“Well, yeah. You see, most young high category savants have trouble keeping their skills in check. This is especially true for those who have a category 7 type of skill, like myself. So, when I was young I had a bit of a rough encounter with my powers and they went haywire. Apparently the sudden burst of energy was so great that it completely changed the pigments in my hair to a dark blue. It’s been a while since then and the color has softened. That’s why I have a cute baby blue top while the bottom of my hair is dark blue. I think one day I’ll have brown hair again so long as I don’t mess up again.”

“Really? How’d you find out about your powers?” Axel asked.

“Well, Skills don’t manifest until you’re about two years old. For some late bloomers, 6 years old. I was one of those late bloomers and was pretty afraid at first. My parents weren’t savants nor did they know they existed but one was just born into to them so they were also pretty spooked. Until we knew more about it they told me to keep it quiet and not tell a soul. I was close to telling you sometimes but I managed to keep it hidden up until the government finally came and informed my parents of my status. From there on I was place under the care of the Miami savant island where my skill would be “properly looked after and cultivated” according to them.” Cindy recalled as she looked up at the dark sky.

“Seriously? That’s crazy. What about Casey and Kyle? How’d you find out about them?”

“Well, Kyle was already here when I came. That was the reason he had suddenly moved away during the time when we took those defense classes. Casey wasn’t a huge shocker to me. We knew she had some weird heat type of power remember? She got here pretty late into the game with a skill that ranked pretty low but I was happy to see her here nonetheless. I used to think that it was so crazy that us friends were there! Well, except you but here you are now!” Cindy said letting loose a big smile.

“Yeah, though the circumstances around it aren’t exactly good.”

“You’re right, but well what can we do about it now? What about your group of friends? Lucy and them, how do you feel about that? I for one don’t recall them being around much when we were kids.” Cindy told Axel as she brushed her hair with her hand.

“That’s still a mystery, and I don’t know what to believe at the moment so I just put it on the side for now. Besides, it isn’t relevant in this situation.”

“I see…”

As both of them continued to walk side by side with each other, a sudden silence fell between them which caused a sense of awkwardness to rise in the depths of Axel’s stomach. There was just so much to catch up on…

“Your sister, she’s a savant too right?”

“Apparently, I only recently found about it too…”

“Oh man, our lives are so out of whack. Haha” She laughed teasingly.

“Hey wait! Do you hear that?’ She suddenly whispered frantically. Axel immediately stopped walking and listened to his surroundings closely. It was then that he was able to hear it, it was the echoes of voices bouncing off the walls some ways away. They couldn’t tell what was going on but it sounded frantic. Scratching his head and turning to Cindy, he raised his hand and pointed toward where the noise was coming from.

“You wanna go check it out?” He asked.

“Sure do!” She responded.

The trip itself wasn’t very long. It probably took them about 10 minutes before they managed to spot a huge herd of people seemingly trying to get to somewhere. Most were frantically talking to one another while others shot looks toward every corner afraid of coming across any unwanted visitors. Then, he spotted them. At the front of the pack were two figures that he happened to know very well. One was a small teenage girl with night colored hair and the other was an old woman with silver colored hair.

“Stacey?! Grandma!” He yelled bursting forward. Stacey turned around and spotted Axel running toward them.

“Oh my gosh!” She yelled as tears began to flow out of her eyes. As both met and collided in a hug, Cindy and the herd watched as the two had an emotional reunion. Axel’s grandmother also slowly made her way to him.

“Axel mijo! I’m so glad you’re okay!” She said somewhat weakly. Just from the sound of her he could tell that her voice was hoarse. It made his heart quiver.

“Grandma! What’s going on here? Where are you all going?” He asked.

“Far away from here. When the battle first started I used a special app that I created to call you. Even if you had no service that call managed to go through and I knew you were on your way. In the meantime, I fought as hard as I could and managed to hold back a couple guys from getting to us. That’s when grandma and I decided to leave the city and picked up lost people along the way, and now that you’re here you can help, right?” Stacey asked cheerfully.

“Hold on, does…..does grandma know about savants and our powers?” Axel whispered to Stacey.

“Yes she’s known for a while now. You don’t have to worry about that she doesn’t have any questions. All she knows is that savants exist and that we are one of them.” Stacey replied earnestly.

“Perfect, that saves us some time.” Axel replied. Just then, a thought popped in his mind. Rather, a thought of the being within him.

{If your grandfather was apart of the peacekeepers at one point, don’t you think your grandmother would know about that too?} She said raising a good point.

(You took the words right out of my mouth. I’m pretty sure she does. It doesn’t matter, saves me from having to explain anything to her.) Axel thought back.

“Hiya” Cindy said to Stacey appearing from behind Axel.

“Huh? Hey…...don’t I know you from somewhere?” Stacey asked as she raised one eyebrow and held her chin. Cindy smiled and let a fresh tinge of pink fill her cheeks.

“Why of course! It’s me! Cindy!” she happily said to her.

“What??! No way! Oh my gosh how are you!?” Stacey began saying as she warmly embraced Cindy.

“I’ve been good thanks! You’ve grown so much!”

The two began to talk quite much as Axel watched from the sidelines. Eventually, his grandma also joined in on the reunion which caused the chatter to skyrocket. Regardless, it was really heartwarming to see considering that Cindy was a major part of his life when he was young and was very close to most of his family. He was happy to see them together again.

When Axel felt multiple eyes press against his back, he straightened his spine as a chill ran down it. The people from before, the herd that Stacey was currently guiding, did they suspect him? No, it had to be something else. Rather, Stacey did mention fighting and holding back some men. Did that mean…..were these people present for that? If so, the existence of people with superpowers resisting the “peacekeepers” (shadow hunters) must’ve came as a shock to most of them. It made sense that they would be wary of them.

Axel didn’t turn back and kept his back to the crowd, he was too afraid to look any of them in the eye for some reason..

They knew about Stacey’s powers. Just how would that work out later on? Would they actually be able to keep it hidden? Man, who was to say really…

“Ricardo” Axel called out in a tone that only he could hear. His collar from his sweater began to move and shift as a small animal poked its head out to meet Axel.

“You call? I was taking a nap.”

“If you were in the shoes of the people here, what would you think of Stacey who showed up with a super power not to kill you but to save you. What would you do?” Axel asked.

“That’s a stupid question. I’d thank my lucky stars of course! This brat just saved my ass! No way am I ratting her out just so she could get killed.” Ricardo immediately replied confidently.

“It already happened once kid, and here I am on your side thanking the Lord I finally escaped that hell hole. These guys here are scared is all, just show em’ that you’re on their side and all will be okay.”

“Right, I think you’re right, thanks Ricardo.” Axel gratefully said to the small animal.

“No problem kid. Now if you don’t mind, I’ve got some sleeping to do” Ricardo said diving head first into Axel’s sweater. Axel felt his warmth shimmy down his collar and settle near his waist.

Axel tried to calm down, but that didn’t stop his mind from racing. The way things were now, it was wrong. It was all wrong, something had to be done. The existence and difference between shadow hunters and peacekeepers had to be made public. But that was the thing, just how would one go about that?

(Well, I guess that’s something I’ll have to think about later. For now, we’ve got to focus on leading these people out of here…)

As Axel thought this, he shook his head and joined Stacey where she was in the middle of talking with Cindy.

__________

“Do you think Ken will be alright, Jasmine?” A small child asked her big sister who walked next to her.

“He’ll be fine Melina, he’s just being stupid is all. Right now, we have to worry about getting back to our home” The older sister, Jasmine said.

Currently, they were hiding underneath a torn down building taking cover from the black snow that was falling from the sky. Incidentally, it had stopped falling long ago but they were both afraid of getting burned by it anyways. Jasmine was scared to death, but she didn’t want her younger sister Melina to know that.

Their circumstances were complicated. See, the only reason they were in Miami in the first place was to host the annual anti-superhuman conference. Jasmine, her sister and brother belonged to a somewhat prestigious family who founded the anti superhuman society. It was they that firmly believed that superhumans such as the peacekeepers did not belong in this world. It was because of their hard work that most of them were wiped out. And now, in their parent’s absence, that job was passed onto Jasmine, the oldest in the family.

All was going smoothly until the peacekeepers suddenly launched their attack. The siblings managed to escape the initial slaughter and went into hiding until things calmed down. Unfortunately, their ride disappeared and most of their followers were gone. She suspected that they either fled or were killed. Whatever the case, she and her siblings were still stuck in this mess. It didn’t get any better by her getting into an argument with her brother either. Her brother, Ken, began wanting to retreat to an airport where they could catch a plane, but Jasmine knew that wasn’t going to happen as things stood. So, she argued that they retreat to the small lodge that their parents had bought out here sometime ago. It was outside of the city and well into the woods. It was completely safe and seemed extremely logical to go there. However, her brother was far too stubborn and refused to go with them. And so, he took off on his own without them.

She was of course worried about him, but she was sure that Ken would return once he saw that leaving by plane wouldn’t be possible. She’d love to wait for him but getting Melina out of there was extremely important. Melina was very young. She was only thirteen years old and possessed an extremely kind heart. She had shoulder length brown hair and pure chocolate brown eyes. She was rather short and had a sweet voice. Her brown hair matched Jasmine’s own and even Ken’s. It was something that ran in the family. Jasmine herself was pretty old. Twenty one to be exact. Her hair was long and her eyes were just as brown. She had no hourglass figure but she still rocked whatever outfit she tried on. At least that was what she had been told by her maids back home….

“Jasmine, the sun is finally starting to go down, are we going to go home yet?” Melina asked nervously.

“Yeah, We sure will. We just need to get to Trail Glades. Once we get past there we’re home free! You can sleep in your room again!” She joyfully told Melina in an attempt to keep her calm. An effort which worked out great as Melina seemed to visibly relax.

It was crazy, one wouldn’t notice how incredibly slow the day went by until you sat around and did nothing at all. The wait was extremely agonizing for them, but at least it came later rather than never.

Jasmine stood up and watched as the sun began to set in the distance. It wasn’t long now, once they got to their lodge in the woods they’d finally be able to call for help which for some reason was currently absent. No matter the cost, she’d get away from these awful and poor excuses for human beings.

Nightfall had come, the time to move was now.

___________

“Delray beach? You plan to go all the way over there?” Axel exclaimed.

“That’s right, it’s either that or we cross the mountains but that’s even more dangerous.” Stacey replied.

For the most part of the day, Axel and the herd had done their best to avoid the dark snow and help out anyone who was in need of it. Once the sun had gone down, they found an empty building and basically set up camp there. Most places were vacant so grabbing supplies wasn’t all too hard. Axel still left some money in the register just in case though…

Food, water, light, they had all of that for the most part. Now people were just resting. It was only Cindy, Stacey, and himself who were talking in a different room. Everyone else had gone to get some long needed rest. It was during this rest time in which Stacey had revealed her wishes to travel toward Delray beach where they would more than likely be able to find some help or safety.

“I guess crossing the mountains is dangerous, especially with all these people here. But Delray is pretty far, do you plan to get there by walking??”

“Actually no, someone in our little group here happens to own two Tesla Model X’s. We plan to go in that.” Stacey excitedly said.

“Tesla’s? I see! The cars that make little to no noise, right? That’s a great Idea!” Axel agreed.

“Yup! Everyone here just so happens to fit too. Well, not if we seat normally. We’ll have to be a little uncomfortable and fit as many people as possible but it’s a small price to pay really.”

As Axel and Stacey both agreed on the plan, Cindy shut her eyes and began to doze off. Leaning on the wall behind her, she did just that. Axel and Stacey quieted down and watched as she fell asleep for a moment lost in their thoughts.

“Okay so, where are the cars?” Axel whispered.

“Some place called Trail Glades, it’s pretty close so you don’t have to worry about it being far or anything.” Stacey replied quietly.

“Trail Glades, huh? Sounds easy enough.”

Axel wasn’t really looking forward to the trip. His anxiety would be through the roof most of the way there he was sure. Regardless, the safety of the people took precedence. Just a little over an hour later, Axel and Stacey decided to get a move on and move forward with their plans. They woke up the people in their group and told them to get ready to go. In the meantime, Axel, Ricardo,Stacey and the man who owned the two escape vehicles made their way to where they were located. Axel’s grandma and Cindy stayed behind. Cindy was still sleeping as she was still tired but his grandma was awake. He was confident that if anything happened Cindy would be able to defend everyone. She was really strong after all.

“You know, I haven't slept at all.” Axel said to Stacey.

“Seriously? How come?” She asked back as she walked down the dark sidewalk making sure to avoid the dark snow.

“Well, I was knocked out at one point but rather than my body resting I was nearly killed You can imagine how much stress I was in. Then we spent all day here just scouting for a place to hide. It’s probably the adrenaline that’s kept me going this long. To be honest, as soon as I start calming down I’m pretty sure I’m going to pass out.”

“I can agree with you there pal. I haven’t slept either trying to get my wife and kids to sleep. I’m just glad they’re okay” The man with them said.

“You don’t say? Well, let’s just hope this all works out so we can both get some rest, eh?” Axel said as he droopily smiled. His face visibly seemed to fall out of exhaustion. Stacey took note and felt bad for worrying him. He must’ve gone through a lot trying to find her. Physically and emotionally…

“Oh hey, look! That’s the place right there!” The man suddenly loudly whispered to them. Axel and Stacey raised their heads and looked up ahead. They were able to see a parking lot of sorts belonging to a shooting range. Within there, they spotted two black vans with the Tesla symbol on the front of each car.

“Ah! You’re right! They’re the only cars in the lot!” Stacey exclaimed.

“Well, I work here. I actually have a regular old car and took that one to get to my family once the chaos started happenin’. Glad I left these two here after all cause the other one was trashed! Please wait here! The keys are inside, be back in a Jiffy!” The man excitedly said running for the front door of the building.

“Sure thing” Axel told him as he left.

“He’s a good guy. Most people probably would’ve just used these bad boys for their own family but this man’s willing to bring a whole group to safety with these.” Stacey voiced to Axel. Axel shook his head and agreed. It was indeed a noble act. With that silent nod, silence washed over them both.

It was rather dark outside. Ominously dark. The clouds were still heavy with the black snow but the moonlight still seeped through in some parts. It was windy as well, a rather odd wind. As he looked around the deserted lot, he noticed the field behind the building. It was wide and open and he even saw a huge line of mountains. The outline of the clouds from the sky on the ground slowly passing by was visible for him to see even from there. In the parts where there were no clouds were rays of powerful moonlight. As random rays of light sometimes shone down on some areas of the mountain, he was able to momentarily see what was up there. From boulders to shrubs, it was your typical mountain range. Yet, something seemed off. He couldn’t place his finger on it but something told him that he absolutely had to avoid that place at all costs.

“Hey? This is Trail Glades, right?” He quietly addressed his sister not taking his eyes off the mountain..

“Yeah, why?” she confirmed not long after

“No….reason..” He slowly uttered.

Again and again the light of the moon lit up different places but he hadn’t spotted anything just yet. Then, like a thief in the night, it came without warning. A figure drenched in black stood all the way at the top of the mountain only visible for a split second while the light shone past him. It wasn’t long, but in that split second Axel was able to see the figure release a wicked smile as it itself seemed to spot him. Axels innards somersaulted as the icy grip of fear tugged at his heart. Then, when the mountain was dark once more, he lost sight of it.

As if given permission, Axel finally inhaled deeply and grabbed his chest. His heart was pounding against his ribcage practically begging to be released.

{You saw that didn’t you?} Sophia anxiously told him.

(Who could miss it?!) Axel replied.

“Axel? Are you okay? Why are you sweating like that?” Stacey ran up to him sounding worried. She patted his back and tried to soothe him, which worked for the most part.

“We- we gotta leave now” He said through rapid breaths. It wasn’t like danger was imminent but he felt like he was near the jaws of death standing there.

“Yo! I got the keys. Everything alright?” The man said returning from the store. Axel hadn’t even heard him coming.

“Everything’s fine, this place just gives me the heebie jeebies is all. Let’s go now” Axel said catching his breath.

“Right, well, you drive that one then” He said tossing him a pair of keys. Well, it was actually a strange looking miniature version of the model X car.

“Okay but, how do I turn it on or open it?” He asked confused.

“Just walk up to it. It’ll open right up. Then just sit in the driver side and press the brake, it’ll be good to go.” The man confidently said walking up to his own. Axel watched him do it and followed his movements. It took awhile but he managed to do it. Stacey rode with him and guided him as well. Driving wasn’t a problem as his mother had taught him how to before she left for san diego. Before leaving he made sure to tell the man to drive slow and be cautious of their surroundings, if anything happened Stacey and Axel would take care of it. Though, he was fairly certain nothing would go wrong if they took the same path they took to come here. Confirming with him once more, he let him go first. He watched him make a turn out of the lot and slowly drive off. The lights were rather bright but the street lights would give them some cover. As for the burning snow, it seemed to not react to the wheels and material of the car strangely enough.

“This car really makes no noise! It’s so high tech!” Stacey cheerfully exclaimed looking around the vehicle. Though she was right, Axel just couldn’t concentrate on that right now. The bad feeling just wasn’t leaving his stomach. For right now, he just wanted to get out of there.

“Axel! Look! There’s people walking there!” Stacey informed him. Axel quickly reacted and looked outside her window. Sure enough, two girls could be seen walking away from them some ways away. Unfortunately, they were on the other side of a very large building. They seemed normal but in a hurry.

“Shouldn’t we call them back?” Stacey asked as Axel drove on.

“Mmmmm, yeah let’s ask if they wanna come with us” He said slowing down to a stop. “Okay so, go see if you can catch up to them and ask. If anything happens fire off a shot and I’ll come running. Got it?” He instructed Stacey to do who nodded and hopped out of the car. He watched as she ran in the direction of the women. She turned a corner and suddenly he was unable to see her. Axel anxiously waited for her and grew impatient every second that passed by. He would’ve gone himself but the way things were it wouldn’t surprise him if somebody tried to steal the car while he was out. Stacey was strong though, so there wasn't much to worry about. Back when one of the shadow hunters came for him, she blasted him away from Axel with a pretty strong attack. It was pretty amazing.

After a couple moments of being lost in thought, he spotted Stacey running back to him singlehanded.

“What happened?” He asked as she got back in the car.

“They said they were heading to a cabin of theirs in the woods. From there help would come for them. So I just wished them luck and came back”

“The woods? Going through the mountains?.... Well, I guess there’s nothing we can do then.” Axel figured. But, he just couldn’t shake the feeling of dread he had. The image of the figure on the mountain flashed in his mind once more and caused him to sweat uncomfortably.

“Axel? Are you okay?” Stacey asked again.

“You feel like turning back, don’t ya kid? That’s what the look on your face is saying.” Ricardo suddenly said from the inside of his sweater. Axel bit his lip and gripped the steering wheel tighter.

“I’m going to ignore the fact that a gerbil just talked and speak to you directly. Do you want to go back for those women?” Stacey firmly asked Axel. Axel furrowed his brow nervously as he struggled to keep his shaking feet at bay. Something... something was definitely drawing him back the more he got away. Yet at the same time, he wanted to run...What was right? Were those women really okay?He took a look at Stacey and tried to search for an answer. Then, closing his eyes and breathing calmly, he shook his head.

“No, let’s keep going.” He said beginning to drive once more. Stacey and Ricardo didn’t say a word and let him do his thing.

Meanwhile, Axel fought back the feeling of fear mixed with regret he was having. All the while the being inside him watched on without a word. This had to be the right thing, Axel was sure of it. No matter what happened, everything would turn out alright eventually..

Taking one last look back, Axel made amends with his feelings and pressed onward. The goal now was the journey to Delray beach..

Part 6

“It’s a lot farther than I thought..” Melina said gloomly.

“Just hang in there, okay? We’re gonna have to walk for a while but it’ll all be worth it once we get there” Jasmine assured her little sister who was walking close behind her. After the sun had gone down, Jasmine and Melina began their journey to their vacation home located outside of Miami in a very thick set of woods. It took most of the evening but eventually they made it to the edge of the mountain range they had to cross. Trail Glades the place was called. For the most part, everything was going pretty smoothly. They had encountered next to no one on their way there so that was good. However, they had been approached by a small young girl who wanted to know if they wished to go with them toward Delray beach. Apparently help would be there. To Melina, the choice seemed safe and obvious especially since they were going by car rather than feet. Unfortunately, Jasmine didn’t really trust strangers all that much and thanked her for the offer anyway.

On a side note, the girl happened to have rather beautiful hair. It was a strange shade which lit up in the night. A dark purplish color which almost appeared to be black. She was rather envious, her own brown hair was simply too common.

Nonetheless, now was no time to be jealous. The mountain towered high above them from up close. Jasmine sighed as she grumpily began her hike up.

“Jasmine, do you know where we’re going?” Melina skeptically asked.

“I sure do. From this shooting range here it’s exactly straight ahead. I made sure to double and even triple check. We just have a lot of climbing and walking to do” Jasmine confidently replied.

“Okay….” Melina said as she watched her steps climbing up. Jasmine could tell that her sister was exhausted both physically and emotionally and began to feel bad. So, she attempted to lighten up her mood.

“Hey? Do you remember when Ken accidentally lit his hair on fire?” She asked Melina chuckling. Melina immediately lit up and widened her eyes.

“Oh my gosh yeah! It was so funny how he ran around the house begging for help!haha” Melina laughed.

(That’s right kiddo, Laugh it off and relax) Jasmine thought.

Melina and Jasmine were very close. No matter what went wrong or what went right, they were together for it. They weren’t entirely normal, they were always surrounded by very important people doing very important things. The anti-superhuman movement, also code named PhanT.A.S.M. (phantasm). A society that help turned the world against the peacekeepers and favored for their eradication. It didn’t happen immediately but after a lot of hard work, phantasm succeeded and their plans were set in motion. Soon, most peacekeepers were laid to rest. All thanks to the Phan family. Her family to be more specific. Hence the name “phan”tasm.

The business was passed down from family to family all finally leading up to her’s. Her parents were great people, they envisioned a world with peace without any superhumans ruining it. Naturally, their ideals passed down onto her and she grew up with that drilled into her skull. The same went for her younger brother. Unfortunately, her parents were killed by some maniac with superhuman abilities. A “peacekeeper”.

The details were given to her siblings in near gruesome details. Despite them being so young, it was to fuel their hatred for superhumans, and it succeeded. From what they were told, her parents were captured by a superhuman while they walked to their car from the grocery store. They were then taken to an abandoned hut in an unmarked location where they were brutally tortured. Their limbs were ripped off one by one and bandaged to prevent bleeding. Their fingers were torn apart and their corpses seemed to have been treated like ragdolls. What came first wasn’t clear, and the perpetrators were never found.

It wasn’t like it had mattered at the time, she was just filled with grief beyond compare. She sobbed for days on end not knowing what to do. Naturally, she recovered one day but she never forgot her hatred and anger. She worked hard and eventually took over for Phantasm as its leader. All the while taking responsibility for her siblings. It was a tough journey, but the trip had to be made.

Superhumans are like cancer, they are unwanted. That is certain. This problem going on now was a testament to that. If superhumans didn’t exist, this never would’ve happened, it was as simple as that. It didn’t matter what anyone had to say, her stand on this was firm. As long as her sister and brother were okay, all was good.

As she kept walking and talking with Melina, Jasmine noticed that they had made it pretty far out. They were now on the other side of the mountain getting ready to hike down.

“Phew, we’ve come a long way, right? But at least after this the walk is straightforward! Not much ups and downs!” She said to Melina not turning around. However, she didn’t hear her respond. She thought she was admiring the view but something about the sudden silence threw her off. She quickly turned around to see what was wrong and found Melina frozen in her tracks.

“Melina?” Jasmine called out to her confused. Melina appeared not able to respond. Her eyes were wide and her pupils dilated. Her skin went white with fear and her lips trembled as she slowly raised her hand to point in the direction of a thick set of trees. It was dark, extremely dark and she could not make anything out. It wasn’t until she focused closely that she saw it, and when she did she completely froze.

“Well Well Well” It said.

A very large shadow in the darkness suddenly took a step forward into the light. The clouds parted in the sky and allowed the moon to shine brightly. The man who was wearing a black robe over his entire body smiled as he walked ever so slowly toward them. Raising his arms on either side of him and pulling down his hood to reveal his black hair, he suddenly stopped to bow.

“Oh, how rude of me. Please, allow me to introduce myself. I’m..” The air thickened and suddenly filled her lungs to the point where she felt like she was drowning. A sense of fear the likes of which she had never felt before swallowed her whole and left her completely immobile. Was this…..bloodthirst?

“Your ticket off this world”

The moment she heard those words, her legs suddenly pounced onto Melina and threw her out of the way. A moment later, the earth beneath her erupted. Smoke and dirt flew up and caused them to cough. She wasn’t sure what had happened, but she knew that she narrowly avoided something deadly.

“W-w-w-what’s a superhuman doing here??!!” Melina cried out from under her.

“I don’t know but we have to run right now!!” Jasmine said pulling her up. She immediately took off in a sprint pulling her sister behind her and did not look back.

It was funny, in those moments all she could think about was how she should’ve said yes to the girl that had offered her a ride.

“Damn, didn’t think I’d miss. Oh well, wouldn’t be fun if you died so easily.” The man said as he cracked his knuckles.

Jasmine continued running down the hill as fast as she could but ended up tripping and brought down Melina as well as a result. They painfully tumbled down the hill at an alarming rate. Jasmine tried to flip up but ended up foolishly rolling her ankle. A sharp pain jolted up her leg and she just knew that it was goner. Thankfully though, she came to a stop not long after. Melina also came to a stop by colliding with her. She caught her in her arms and held her tight. She was torn up and bleeding in some parts but otherwise okay.

“Melina? Are you okay? Can you stand?” She asked her. Melina slowly opened her eyes and nodded. Jasmine smiled and sighed in relief.

“Good, I need you to get up and run as fast as you can back to where that girl from earlier was, can you do that?” Jasmine asked her softly.

“What? What about you? Let’s both run!!” She began to argue.

“No can do. I busted up my ankle and I can’t move it. I’d only hold you back. Don’t worry, I’ll be okay and I’ll hold him back.” She said lying on the last part. She knew full well if she stayed she’d die but there was no way she could tell her that.

“No! No! I won’t leave you!” Melina said to Jasmine holding her tighter. Jasmine felt bad, but she knew this wasn't going to be easy.

“Aww, how chivalrous of you” The man said appearing from the shrubs. He was getting closer to them with every step. Jasmine gave Melina one last kiss on the head and hugged her before throwing her way from herself. Melina got up on her legs and stopped herself from falling. With tears in her eyes, she gawked at Jasmine with horror.

“I’ll be okay! Just run!!” Jasmine ordered as she suddenly began to feel the helplessness fill her. Melina nearly broke down crying but mustered the courage to turn heel and run. Seeing her do so at last put Jasmine at ease. She sighed and closed her tearfilled eyes. It was odd, despite knowing she was going to die, she felt glad that maybe Melina would get to live.

“I’ll let that runt run for now as a show of respect, but only think of it as a head start. I’ll catch up to her later.” The man grunted sounding bored watching the girl run past him.

As the man neared her, Jasmine thought of her brother and how lucky he had been not to be there.

(Ken, you’re a massive idiot, but I hope you know I love you. Please take care of Melina while I’m gone. Please, do what I failed to do and rid this world of its cancer. Please, live on and take care of yourselves..) She silently thought as she looked up at the glistening stars. How odd, the clouds had parted after a full day of no clear skies just in time so she could see the milky way one last time. She was envious of the stars, they could look down on them all they wanted and never be involved with their affairs…. They would continue existing while she would cease to…

How…

Unfair…

Closing her eyes one last time, she said her prayers and called out for her parents. Oh how she missed them, and soon she would see them….

“Get down!!!!” A voice suddenly yelled. Jasmine asnapped her eyes open and watched as a boy jumped out from the trees and got in between her and the man. Spinning once in the air, he extended his arm and slapped the space in front of the man.

SWISH

The air all focused into one spot and completely blew the man away. Or so it seemed as the dirt covered most of their view. Regardless, the blast was powerful. It was like an air cannon had shot directly at him.

The boy landed on the ground and quickly spun on the spot. He ran over to her and picked her up by her waist.

“We gotta go!” He said as he began lifting off from the ground. Somehow, he was able to carry her high up into the air and away from the man. No regular human could do that. That meant…

(A superhuman??!) she thought,

“So you finally came” the man said.

The wind which was once holding the man back was shot back toward the boy and Jasmine causing them to tumble in the air.

“He blew that blast back?!” The boy yelled as he started to fall. Jasmine watched the ground get nearer and nearer and braced for the pain of the fall but instead was met with a slide made of ice that broke her fall. She peacefully slid down to a stop on the ground and looked around. She saw the boy splash directly into a river below and gasped.

Axel struggled to keep his thoughts at bay as he got on his knees and surfaced from the water. His clothes were now drenched and his hair hung heavily on his head.

(Damn it, this guy’s tough. He blew back my wind attack with a simple swipe of his hand. That was basically Ella’s attack at full power..Regular attacks clearly aren’t going to work, I’ve got to use it!!) He said clenching his fist.

“Now we’ve got a real challenger!” He heard the shadow hunter cry out from above. Just as he thought, he was quickly coming to attack, but Axel was ready for that. He watched as the shadow hunter brought down his fist and dove at him. Axel backflipped at the last second and felt the fist fly past him and right into the ground.

(Bingo!) He thought as he saw the man stuck there. He landed on his left leg and bent low.

(That took a lot of strength and resistance! He clearly has a power up type skill like mine, which means I gotta fight fire with fire!) He thought as he felt his right leg heat up with power. It began to spark and glow as he desperately concentrated to control it. He kicked the man directly in the face with his powered up leg and felt the right amount of power connect. He had done it but the man didn’t even flinch!

“That all you got? Come on! That can’t be it!!” He said freeing his arm from the ground. He swiped at Axel but Axel jumped back toward the woman he had saved earlier.

“Wow you’re pretty light on your feet kid” The man laughed.

(If full power is 100 then that was at least 10 percent...that should’ve been strong enough to knock out even the toughest of opponents. Yet this guy didn’t even budge…) Axel thought as he wiped the water away from his face. No matter what, he couldn’t go all out. If he did he’d permanently damage his arms. But that wasn’t the only thing, he was afraid this guy would be able to tank or dodge even his most powerful attack… What if he shot and failed? No, the risk was too high..

He was definitely scared, there was no doubt about that, but he wasn’t shaking like usual. What was different this time around? Was it because of Sophia at his side? Or because he had successfully held back this shadow hunter on his own?

No, it had to be something more than that,. Perhaps it was because he couldn’t afford to be scared. If he were, how would the people he was protecting feel? This was his first real fight. It was time to get serious. Feeling seriously tired, he began to speak without taking his eyes off the threat.

“Are you okay? Can you move?” He asked the woman behind him. She gawked at him extremely confused and didn’t utter a word. Understandable given the situation.

“Jasmine!” She heard someone yell to her. It was Melina who slid down a part of the mountain to get to her.

“Melina?? I thought I told you to run?!” She yelled at her.

“I did! But I found this man who helped me! He’s going to stop that bad guy!” Melina declared running to her side while holding a gerbil who punched out its tiny paws.

“He sure is! Teach him a lesson kid!” It yelled.

“Stop him?” Jasmine softly uttered completely taken back. As Melina reunited with Jasmine and helped her on her feet, she saw the boy look back at them and smile a reassuring smile. He then turned back to the man and clenched both his fists. Getting into a fighting position, his body began to glow and emit sparks of lightning. Then, he confidently declared,

“It’s okay, I’m going to save you!”