2 weeks have flown since the day my mother told me about the Institute. The day after that, she looked at me, but coldly, as  if I was someone completely different, not related to her.

I honestly don't care. Not because she is not my 'real' first mother, who by the way had been a prostitute, but because I literally stopped giving a damn about both of them.

Acting around them had been tiring for the past almost 7 years, and I finally was about to escape them.

The only regret I do have is having to leave Shandra. When I told her my mother told me I was to go to the Institute, she froze and dropped the jar of herbal remedies she had in her hand. When she turned to look at me, I saw a look of horror and pity in her eyes. She told me to tell her what had happened exactly, and she put her head in her hands, as if depressed. As I left her house, I could faintly hear her from out of her window, saying, "Poor boy...The Institute will destroy him..."

After that, it was pretty uneventful.

Then came the day of the ceremonial blessings.

I stood at the church, with the other boys and girls from the village. We stood in lines and rows. I was amongst the smaller of the group of kids. The largest boy was about a head taller than me.

I brushed my mop of hair out of my eyes as the Priest who ran this small church came out.

He stood in front of an altar, and spoke to all of us,

"We are gathered here, in ordinance of the gods, to keep the oath we have sworn so long ago. As the gods bless these younglings, and we provide them their doings, we shall keep our pact true, and honour them for blessing us so."

As he spoke, I noticed that some of the adults had in their hands, small necklaces, with symbolic figures in their hands as they bowed their heads. Amused, I noted that some children copied their parents, yet looked around soon and had bemused expressions on their faces.

The Priest soon finished his chant, and he then spoke,

"Rodrick Tuam, Come forth to the altar!"

A rather confident looking boy walked forth, swinging his arms comically as he did so. Some parents smiled amongst themselves, and laughed, as the child strutted like a chicken.

"Put your hand on the altar, and repeat after me." The Priest put his own hand on top of the boys hand. He then spoke,

"I hereby solemnly pledge,"

"I hereby solemnly pledge,"

"That I will protect and honour"

"That I will protect and honour"

"The God or Goddess whom blesses me,"

"The God or Goddess whom blesses me,"

"So hear my praise, for I call out to you, Gods"

"So hear my praise, for I call out to you, Gods"

"To bless me, and to protect me, for I will do the same to you."

"To bless me, and to protect me, for I will do the same to you."

They finished chanting, and as they did so, a green aura enveloped the boy, but soon dissipated. Nonetheless, the Priest raised the boys hand and shouted, "PRAISE HIM! FOR H IS BLESSED BY ASTRUS! GODDESS OF AGRICULTURE AND STABILITY!"

"PRAISE HIM!! PRAISE HIM!!!" shouted the parents. My mother also joined in, adding her small voice to the call. I narrowed my eyes and thought, 'Just watch. I bet that she won't even open her mouth when I get blessed.'

The line decreased, as each child was enveloped in different coloured aura's. There were occasionally 1 or 2 who had multi coloured aura's. The Priest and the families of that child would look extremely pleased, as they had been blessed by multiple gods.

Finally, it was my turn.

Boldly, I stepped up. I had to pay attention to my feet, as I knew the other children would try to trip me.

The Priest looked at me, tired, as he had been shouting for the past hour and a half. He looked like he was saying, "for fucks sake, lets get this over with."

I put my hand on the altar, and spoke the chant loudly, repeating after the Priest. As I did so, I looked out at the crowd. I could see Eric, and my mother, coldly staring away. Strangely enough, Shandra was looking at me with a mixture of warmth and pity.

I looked at her carefully, as her emotions warmed me up. At least one person cares in this fucking world, I thought.

Then I notice that she wasn't blinking. No one was. Hell, no one was even breathing or moving, cause I could hear my own breathing.

"So, how are you"" I heard a familiar voice say.

"Rekces......."I snarled. I'm not happy at him.

"Why the hostility? I remember that I let you live again?" Rekces asked questioningly.

"You scumbag. You said this cycle would be different. For the love of flying fuck, why the hell is my mother such a bitch?" I spat.

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

"Well, A, you also acted like a bitch. You didn't even try to get close to her. And B, I haven't even broken you out of your cycle yet. So shut up, before I think otherwise." Rekces snarled coldly. "I'm having difficulty connecting to you as it is, don't waste time over useless things such as family. I know you don't care for them, so don't even act like it."

"Fuck off," I said, angry at him, "Anyways, you said I hadn't broken out yet. Why? I thought you promised."

Rekces sighed massively. "Fucking mortals..." he mumbled. "I didn't YET, emphasis on they yet, because last time we met, you were still a soul."

"What's wrong with that?" I asked.

He sneered, "Can you give a fucking soul DNA? No. It doesn't work that way, ass for brains. Anyways, here, take this and shove your arm up it. It'll give you what you want." He tossed me a black metallic pair of gauntlets as he said that. I caught them.

"The fuck are these supposed to do?" I asked. He replied with a heavy sigh, "Oh I don't fucking know, maybe give you the goddamn shit you want?"

I looked at them skeptically. They looked like a pair of black leather Kevlar gloves, reinforced with metallic scale mail, as well as having an ulak fused with it. The ulak, however, was lined up to fit the arm, so that it wasn't sticking out.

http%3a%2f%2f3.bp.blogspot.com%2f-DulyWhW1SdA%2fVN...GP0908.JPG [http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-DulyWhW1SdA/VNO996z6ZwI/AAAAAAAAB2Q/GcN9w-CvCOs/s1600/IMGP0908.JPG] Ulak

I nervously put them on, fitting my small fingers into the massive glove. As I did so, the whole thing suddenly clamped on my arm, shrinking as it did so. Then, a stabbing feeling filled my arm, as if a 100 needles had all stabbed straight into my nerves and released some poison. Screaming in pain, I fell to the ground, unable to even grip my hands to numb the pain.

Rekces looked outside, bored, as he sat in a floating coffee stool. He trimmed his hitman looking business suit as he waited for me to be able to speak.

I slowly stood up as the pain subsided. The heavy things weighed my arms down as I raised myself. Rekces looked down at me.

"The.....the fuck was that." I spoke. "It hurt like shit..."

"That," Rekces said, "was because your whole DNA structure changed. You see, the stuff I found, only works if it affects the vessel a soul is in. Strange right? Even I had to inject it in me, and it hurt like hell."

"Anyways, those gauntlets should keep you safe for a while. You can take'em off, it doesn't matter too much. These bunch, "He said indicating the crowd, "should probably think that you got em from me. It isn't too rare for it to happen."

I leaned my self on the altar. "Wait just a moment. You said that this stuff...changes the DNA. Am I even human anymore?"

Rekces took off the sunglasses he had on for a while and stared at me with those grim eyes. "What an interesting thing to talk about. Because, as you think, the answer is no. You are something.....different. Something...ancient. I think we'll see as we go along, because not even I know what will happen."

On that note, Rekces vanished, and abruptly, a red and black aura burst around me, surprising not only me, but the entirety of the people gathered as they moved yet again.

The Priest looked astonished as he beheld the aura as well as the gauntlets that I now had on. He stuttered as he said,

"Praise this child, Blessed by Rekces, the God of Carnage and Savagery, as well as Nemestra, Goddess of the Unknown."

The whole church was quiet as they beheld this small, dark child with black hair and eyes, who was wearing a pair of massive gauntlets that had blades. The Priest stood silent as well, before Aleron, Blessed of Carnage, Savagery, as well as the Unknown, stepped down from the raised platform, and left the church. No one stood in his way as he made his way out.

Even Shandra stood silent as she looked at this child with such ominous blessings. Aleron noticed it, and thought, 'Everyone is the same. All simple fish, frightened at the smallest ripple.'

He left the church, and was met by 4 armoured soldiers, with hardened expressions, as well as a familiar old women, whom he had met 6 years ago.

"Well child," she purred, "The Institute seems like it has another excellent......student.

Aleron Qwintun left the small village of Densworth that day.