Hope City: A small island city in between the Oriental Federation and the Oceanian Republic, it is the brain child of the Big Dipper, and is the only city officially endorsed by the Constellation. Its creation is shrouded in controversy as it was built on the ruins of an old country a few years after exodus. Its uniqueness lies in the fact that it is the only nation that the Constellation is obligated to defend, and is also home to CHIP. Despite its small population of 7 million inhabitants, Hope City is one of the most technologically advanced, both in terms of scientific and magical technologies, with a large portion of Constellation funds diverted into supporting the City. The island is split into 12 sectors, each with its own unique characteristics. At the centre of the island lies the Spire, a 101 storey building, home to CHIP and the government administrative offices. The first and current leader of Hope City is Director Mephisto Pheles of the Big Dipper, who also acts as the headmaster of CHIP.
Chapter 6: First day of school
“How do I look?” The man asks, straightening his clothes while staring at the mirror.
“Disgusting.”
“Absolutely Horrid”
“Like a pretentious 5-year-old”
Spades chooses to keep quiet.
Internally, he sighs. Really, there is no need to vent their anger at the man.
Said man turns to face them, displeasure clearly plastered over his face.
But really, he does look quite bad.
The bright blue jacket is nothing but an eyesore and his green flannel pants look as if someone puked on them. Worst of all, the big magician’s hat on top of his head is clearly asking people to deck him.
It may have looked cute on a 5 year old, but the person before him is clearly a grown man, his brown hair tied into a short pony tail, and a short stubble clearly evident on his chin. The man’s appearance can pass as a wannabe rockstar. Too bad people his age prefer classical.
He has to keep reminding himself that the man is over 5000 years old.
“And you, Spades?” the cane Director Pheles holds in his hand is pointed straight at him, and he is disturbingly reminded of the barrel of a gun. “Do you agree with your fellow… conspirers?” He almost spits out the last word.
His fellow conspirers look at him expectantly.
He looks between his 2 choices.
Director Pheles remains as he is, still scowling at him, but he has heard the stories of how the man singlehandedly stopped an invasion of Edenists.
Diamond is beaming at him, but he can’t help but gulp in fear as she raises a finger up and draws a line across her neck.
Talk about being caught between a rock and a hard place.
On one hand, Diamond is said to be one of nature’s hardest materials.
On the other, he remembers the he has a literal army-killer on the other side.
Then he recalls how said army-killer made them climb one hundred and one stories worth of staircases on the grounds that “Students are not permitted to use the elevator”. His legs are still aching.
That decides it then.
“Sir, you look positively ostentatious.”
He ignores the grins on the other three and continues, meeting the Director’s glare with his own.
“The jacket is nothing but an eyesore and the pants look as if someone puked on them. And worst of all, your hat is clearly asking people to deck you.”
The only response to his outburst is silence.
Did he go overboard?
“Excellent!” The man breaks out into a smirk.
What?
He continues “First impressions are important, boys and girls. That’s the last thing I want to tell you.”
He is now certain that there is something not quite right between the ears of Director Pheles.
“You’ve all memorized the guest and student list?”
They nod.
“Good, remember… anyone who isn’t a student or guest… I don’t care if even an Apostle shows up…” The Director’s eyes narrow and his demeanour changes completely. Spades’ entire body tenses – he still cannot get used to the power the man exudes when he is serious.
“You take care of them.”
Via any means necessary.
The last part went unsaid, but they’d undergone enough missions for the man to know what that tone implied.
“Good!” The man claps, and whatever demon possessing him disappears as fast as it came, and the tense atmosphere subsides like the tide.
“Off you go then! Enjoy your first day of school!” he shoos them out of his office, leading them to the staircase.
“Remember” he smiles as he waves goodbye, and a sudden sense of foreboding washes over him.
“Students aren’t permitted to use the lifts”
***
“It’s not fair!” Clubs whines. “We’re not ordinary students, we should get special privileges! Like being able to use the lift.”
“And stop leaning on me, Hearts,” he adds.
The girl using his shoulder as support retorts, “It’s not my fault you’re short enough to be my armrest. And besides, you’ve seen the files; some of the other students are monsters. We’d lose against them, no questions asked.”
Spades looks at the sign on the wall and moans.
Forty three more stories to go.
“Why don’t… you guys… save... your breath…for climbing down these stairs…instead of…bickering” At least Diamond is keeping quiet. He is willing to take the tired, panting, quieter version of her over her normal chatterbox self any day.
Hearts gives her a dismissive wave, “C’mon Diamond, you know how much energy I have to spare.”
And just to show how much, she starts bouncing on the spot, causing her long unkempt black hair to smack into Club’s face. Repeatedly.
“You’ve been slacking off physical training, haven’t you? I can literally see the fat growing on you.”
Then, she jabs her finger into Diamond’s stomach. He doesn’t say it, but he is certain the finger hadn’t gotten that deep the last she did it.
“Stop it!”
“Who’s a chubby, fat pig? You are!”
“Don’t make me electrocute you!”
“I’ll disintegrate you if you dare.”
“No you can’t. You can’t disintegrate living things and you know it.”
Next to him, Clubs rolls his eyes.
“Girls.”
Spades nods to agree, if they continue arguing for the next 40 floors, he will kill himself.
He looks behind and sees Diamond’s red hair starting to fly about dangerously, with literal sparks starting to take form around her.
He groans. The last thing he needs is a walking thunderstorm to next to him.
Some things are worse than death.
Wait… That was it!
“Hold on.”
They stop, and they watch and follow him as he makes his way out of the stairwell.
If he remembers correctly, there should be window right… There.
The 4 cylindrical stairwells are at the corners of the glass-adorned building, which means that there is sure to be a window next to every entrance and exit.
Looking through it, he can see the skyscape of Hope City. Tall, shining buildings of all kinds of designs loom over the place. Some are regular rectangles; some are bent, curvy modern designs. Then there are the crazy ones he isn’t even sure how they remain standing. Magic, probably.
He can see the Flutterbugs weaving through the buildings, and from afar, they really do look like insects buzzing around in a metal garden. Below, he can make out the shapes of cars zooming by, and the crowds surrounding the entrances of the Spire. They are like a horde of ants, a giant mass of figures jostling and trying to get a look at the people walking in. He can even make out the camera flashes of the press.
They want to get a look at the latest class of CHIP, and what is certain to be the most problematic one.
There are members of nobility, royalty, ambassadors, tournament champions, and a few children of Supernovas – the strongest within the Constellation (i.e. the man that’s making them climb these stairs) – walking on the red carpet into the building.
These are some of the most powerful youths in the world, many coming from privileged backgrounds. He is certain they aren’t going to like climbing the stairs every day.
“Diamond,” he calls, and she turns away from the window to look at him quizzically.
“Help me deactivate the magnetic lock”
“What for? That’s a pretty high…” Then she trails off as realization dawns on her.
“No. I’m not letting you take the easy way out. I refuse.” She shakes her head, her hands crossed to form an X.
“Just do it, I’ll help you guys too.”
Her eyes light up and he can see the fireworks going off inside her mind.
“Really? Promise you’ll help us?”
He nods, and with a wave of her hand he hears the click as the window unlocks.
“Wait Diamond! You can’t believe–” Hearts tries to stop her but it is too late.
He opens the window and climbs onto the ledge.
“I promise I’ll help you guys save a seat. Bye.”
Then he waves and jumps out.
“Wait what! Come back!” Diamond leans over only to see the his sprawling figure falling down the side of the building.
“YOU LIAR!”
Behind her, Clubs clucks in disapproval.
“Tch. show off.”
***
Desensitization’s a funny thing. The first time he fell from a building he had soiled himself. Now, as he is sailing down the Spire, he takes the time to enjoy the scenery. Hope City is small, and from this height, he can see a great deal of it. His eyes shift to the border of the island state, and he can’t help but marvel at the Fence.
He still doesn’t know why the Director called it that.
Fences don’t keep the sea from submerging an island. Fences don’t keep nations a hundred times your size from invading you.
Walls do. And that is what the Fence is.
A huge black wall surrounds the tiny island, its height almost matching that of the Spire, and just as, if not more thick. It was originally been built to repel the sea and invaders, but whole communities are being built on its side. They jut out, constructs of all shapes – cuboids, spheres, and other works of art – causing the once flat surface to look more like a giant rock climbing wall.
It reminds him of a beehive, the few Flutterbugs landing on and taking off from buildings whose owners can afford them. The trains that run along the circumference of the wall on 3 different levels, hanging on the rails above them, resembling Serpents encircling their prey.
At night, it looks like an extension of the sky, the pitch black wall blending in with the dark sky, what lights shining from the houses and offices on it trying their best to emulate their celestial counterparts light years away.
He remembers how completely different the Fence looks from the outside. There are structures built on the outside as well, but for a completely separate purpose. Like spears sticking out of a Roman phalanx they stick out from the wall. Cannons and guns the length of the ships that pass by the numerous gates that lead to the harbour of Hope City. They are magical and scientific in nature, rail-guns that shoot tungsten slugs at a fraction of the speed of light, magical cannons that can shoot lightning and fire that could rival that of a Serpent’s.
You could be reading stolen content. Head to Royal Road for the genuine story.
If the inside reminds him of a beehive, the outside strikes him as a hornet’s nest. Dozens of military airships – Flutterbugs,
Dragonbirds and Darkwings circle the wall on their patrols, hundreds more parked on landing pads and hangers built within the wall. Serpent-tails are parked in the water surrounding the island, their guns primed at anything that crosses into Hope City’s waters. It sends a very clear message to anything entering Hope City, by air or by sea. Don’t mess with us.
The Constellation had spared no expense in the defence of Hope City, hiring both Elves and the Fae – eternal rivals – to work together to build the Fence. The results speak for themselves. It can take nukes without a scratch, and the Director once told him it can probably survive a direct hit from an asteroid the size of the Spire itself.
For a moment, he feels safe, protected by the Fence as he enjoys the wind rushing past his face while he hurtles towards the ground at terminal velocity.
Then his face takes a resigned look as he remembers who they were defending themselves against.
To the north lies the Oriental Federation; it stretches from pre-war Malaysia to parts of China and Russia, its 2 billion citizens comprised solely of humans and the Terran descendants – metahumans, or metas for short. Like himself. It is probably the only country that can match Hope City in technological prowess.
To the south is the Oceanian Republic; a collection of states that consists of pre-war Indonesia to the entire Australian continent. Their population is as diverse as Hope City’s – everyone is allowed. Though slightly lacking in unity, their army’s reputation as the strongest magical one had kept internal and external threats at bay.
Both nations are a force to be reckoned with.
But it isn’t the armies that scare him, he is certain that Hope City can repel them long enough for reinforcements from the Constellation to arrive.
It is the monsters that lead those armies that give him nightmares.
The Apostles – Nature in the north and Magic in the south. They can wipe out the city in the blink of an eye whenever want to. Which is probably why they haven’t already done so.
He feels apprehensive just thinking about them, as if they will suddenly appear behind him when he thinks about them – Apostles are the bogeymen of the magical community. Their monstrous strength may have lain dormant for eons since Genesis until Exodus, but people still fear them. Goddamn, their fight had destroyed a whole damn world.
The Director once recounted in one of his drunken stupors a few years ago about their power in the final fight before the Horoscope entered the portal, and he still remembers every word.
“And we were just sitting there, driving full steam ahead you know? The alarms were blaring, our engine couldn't take the strain, and we could have blown up at any moment. But we said ‘fuck it, anything’s better than being eaten by Serpents.’”
He finishes pouring another drink into the cup in his hand and turns, his eyes glazed in his drunken state before they settle and focus on the 4 children sitting in front of him.
“Kids, you ever see a Serpent before?”
They are captivated by the story – the Director rarely swore and even more rarely shared about the past with them – and they eagerly shake their heads.
“Count your lucky stars… they’re fucking terrifying. Their strength… it’s monstrous… there’s no other way to put it. Their roars create shockwaves strong enough to uproot entire forests. The beats of their wings create tornadoes strong enough to level entire villages. And their magic?” He makes an explosion effect with his hands “BOOM, they shoot fucking nukes out of their mouths like machine guns” more explosions follow “BOOM BOOM BOOM, rapid fire, and they wiped out the entire Fae country. Good -”he hiccups, “good thing they were already evacuated or they would be no Fae here today.”
The four ten-year-olds sit up straight, their eyes twinkling in awe as their minds try to comprehend destruction and carnage on a scale like they’ve never even dreamed of.
“And we had 10 of those fucking monsters behind us. And you know who was leading them?”
Another fervent round of shaking their heads.
“Motherfucking Apophis. A fucking nightmare given a 50 metre long form.”
They look at each other, confused – they’d never heard of him outside of Egyptian folklore. And they are certain it had not done such a scandalous deed with Neith – its mother.
“His words were carved into my soul when he announced himself before us... I was fucking shivering in fear.”
He raises a hand to his mouth and makes an exaggerated harrumph, and next to Spades, Diamond can’t help but giggle at the display as the Director inhales deeply and closes his eyes.
Then all the blood leaves their faces as they feel the atmosphere in the room change, and what was a drunken old man suddenly changes into another entity that holds so much more presence around him that even they can feel it. His body has frozen, and he can feel Diamond’s hand reaching for his own, but it never registers in his mind to hold it back. He can almost see an aura forming behind the old man, a shadow of a long neck, with horns protruding on the spine of it. There is a head, but the image is quickly fading like smoke on a windy day.
Then red eyes snap open, focusing on him. They are like rubies, blood-red rubies that stare straight into his soul, relishing the fear that it finds within.
Then, the shadow lunges, and he finds himself staring at rows upon rows of teeth. He wants to scream, to run away, but his body remains frozen as he stares into the mouth of a dragon.
The next thing he knows, he is tumbling down a dark abyss, and words spoken by the shadows around him ring in his mind. He presses his hands against his ears, trying to block the raspy metallic words, but it only amplifies it.
I am the avatar of Darkness.
I lurk in the shadows of the World, devouring all who stand in my way.
I am the devourer of the Sun, spreading fear and despair to all who hear my roar.
For ages, I have waited for a worthy battle, a foe that can still stand after a single strike.
I am the Serpent of Chaos, Apophis.
He realises he is falling into a pit, and its are walls lined with snakes - cobras, their hissing and slithering forms make up the walls of the pit. And at the very bottom of the tunnel of darkness, he sees a coiled serpent on the floor, monstrous in size, its ruby-red eyes staring at him, radiating bloodlust at an unimaginable level. Its jaws unhinge and he once again finds himself staring at the rows of teeth, except this time, he can smell the breath of rotting corpses. And he can see the souls of the damned trapped inside its gullet, arms reaching out, trying to claw themselves out of its belly but to no avail.
And I have come forth to greet my next meal.
There is silence. He looks around, but instead of the abyss, he finds himself in a room with four others. There are three children next to him and they all look dazed, their eyes wide in fear. Next to him, a girl with red hair sits, her legs are shaking, and he instinctively puts a hand on her shoulder. The shaking stops.
Diamond.
He remembers her name now, and why they are in this room.
They are listening to a story.
He turns to look at the storyteller.
The man’s green eyes are cold and empty, staring right at him.
No, they are staring through him; the man is not in this room at all.
He is still trapped in the past, reliving the memories he has just assaulted the 4 of them with.
The man’s hands are shaking, and the wine in the cup he holds in one hand is sloshing back and forth, just like the water does when he plays in the bath. It frightens him that the traumatized man before him is one of Humanity's strongest.
By now, the other 3 have regained their senses, and they are staring at their mentor.
There is silence while they are waiting for him to return, and the sounds of their racing heartbeats and deep breaths are all they hear besides the background noise of the machinery in the room.
After what feels like forever, the man shakes his head, and returns to reality, and immediately he asks the question that has been plaguing their minds.
“What happened next? How did you beat the dragon?”
“Beat?” The man laughs, and then takes another sip of the brown-red liquid he holds in his hand. “We had no way to beat him. We were in space, our weapon systems offline, our engine ready to explode at any moment. The only things we could have thrown at him were disposal bags. And there was no way we were going to piss those things off more by launching our shit at them.”
The atmosphere lightens with the little joke, but it is still a far cry from what it was before the story.
“So… how did you escape?” The other girl, Hearts asks.
The man inhales, then exhales with only 1 word.
“Apostle.”
He is jerked back into reality by the screams, and he watches, baffled, as the figures in front of him grow bigger with every passing millisecond. Then he remembers that he is falling towards the ground at a speed of fifty six metres per second.
Below, the crowd parts like the Red Sea. They are pointing at him, he realizes, and the hole in the crowd continues to grow bigger as people avoid standing in what is certain to be the splash zone.
He smiles, no better way to make an entrance than with dramatic flair.
He feels the area with his senses, and the invisible strings that connect him to ground are visualized in his mind. They are like stretched rubber bands, pulling him towards it.
Gravity: one of four fundamental forces. That is his specialty, his power.
It is also his friend, and friends don’t hurt each other.
He reaches out with his mind, and the strings suddenly changed into coiled springs – instead of pulling him down, they push him upwards. The breath is knocked out of him from the sudden deceleration, and he grunts in pain at the invisible impact. But it beats colliding into the hard tarmac from a height of forty two stories.
His speed decreases, and he suddenly finds himself falling at a much more leisurely pace than before. Below him, the crowd is stunned into silence, they were certain the boy was going die and many had turned to avoid the gruesome sight, but then they turn and see him floating in the air, descending slowly from the sky like one of Vatican Haven’s angels. The silence only lasts a moment before applause and the sound of camera shutters snapping takes its place, filling his ears from every direction.
He raises his hands to cover his eyes, partly to block his face from being photographed, and also to prevent the bright flashes from the press from blinding him. As he walks towards the red carpet, the crowd makes way for him – all while reporters hold out microphones to ask for his name, power, background and other tidbits of information he doesn’t want to reveal. That doesn’t mean he despises the attention though; he revels in it. After doing black ops for years, a little public recognition and attention goes a long way in feeding his starving ego.
He slips under the barrier that keeps the press and onlookers out, only to find himself staring at the face of a pretty girl who is looking at him with disapproval.
He scans his memories – Blonde hair…white robes similar to what they wore in the Vatican Haven… The cross necklace hanging from the neck…
He is certain of it. She is a student, one of the more high profile ones – Zestia Fritz – the Nephilim World Rejector.
He offers her a smile and she returns it with a shake of her head, before turning and walking into the Spire.
Unlike the crowd, she is obviously unimpressed and not amused by his death defying feat.
This revelation causes him to frown as he walks behind her to enter the building, all while ignoring the questions directed at him by the onlookers. To quote a certain egoistic asshole… first impressions are important, after all.