《Unstable: The Dark Flame》 Chapter 1 Chapter 1 ¡°Today is the worst day of my life¡± -32nd Iuni, 15th month, year 151- Even though it was still nightlight, the whole city was illuminated by the ray of the climate regulator. It was a way to manage the working time when the sun was nowhere to be seen. Like every year, the Instruction center was holding the aptitude test. A really important day for the teenagers of the 6 colonies. It was the day that will allow them to learn about their potential as magic users and to finally be able to receive the teachings. This test was one of the most important that the children would ever take. It will impact their social status as future members of this society. The curtains were closed, preventing the light from coming in. Yeetlhy¡¯s connector illuminated her eyes, she heard a voice. A voice that was familiar, as if it was her own. ¡°Hello. It is 8am, the time to wake up. The date is 32nd Iuni, 15th month, 151 year. The weather is warm, around 36¡ã, it is still nightlight. Your schedule today is¡­¡± Yeetlhy raised her hand and swiped left, the voice stopped talking. She opened her eyes, the screen was on, showing the data scripts, she looked at the top right to see the main event of the day, the aptitude test. She quickly shook her hands to hide it from her sight. ¡°shut up¡±, grumbled Yeetlhy while trying to stand up. She sat on her bed for a while, breathing heavily, gathering her strength before standing up. The young girl walked toward her bathroom and looked at her reflection in the mirror. Bruises everywhere. She touched some, it was still hurting. Yeetlhy didn¡¯t feel anything while looking at them. It was just something that she was used to deal with. She generated some ice and placed it on her body. As she was waiting for the pain to calm down, she heard her parents talking in the kitchen. Unusual, she thought. They almost never had a conversation except when it was about having some privacy, what could they be talking about? She then put on some clothes and looked again at the mirror. The bruises on her body couldn¡¯t be completely hidden, but it will do the work. Something popped up on her screen. It was a reminder of the main event of the day. She looked at it for a few seconds, sighed, and swiped it away. Her anxiety was rising up. Today was the last day for her to get some acknowledgement from her parents. To be at least considered a part of their family. She had made all these efforts to become the perfect citizen, the perfect student, the young girl wouldn¡¯t allow any failure today. Her existence would be recognized. Yeetlhy went down to find the kitchen empty, her parents were nowhere to be seen. She was hoping that they would pay some attention to her on this peculiar day, but they obviously didn¡¯t care enough to leave at least a note. She took a few seconds to overcome the emotions inside of her that wanted to come out. The pain, the loneliness, the anger, she needed to hold back the tears, to not let this impact her. The teenager took a slice of bread that was left on the table and went out. This text was taken from Royal Road. Help the author by reading the original version there. She looked back at the door. ¡°House, lock the door¡±, she said, before hurriedly walking towards the Instruction center. She didn¡¯t pay attention to the response of the house, being too preoccupied by the people around her. Trying her hardest not to attract attention. In the middle of all the joy and the excitation, Yeetlhy couldn¡¯t help but feel even more anxious. They all knew of her situation and never cared about it. They even laughed at her. The child of the two greatest heroes of Yellen being treated like a pariah, there might be a reason for that. The girl didn¡¯t want to let them hinder her path to success. But the hatred she was getting was too strong for her to handle. Avoiding them was the best option. She walked even more rapidly towards the center. When she finally got inside the Instruction center, her connector led her to the waiting hall. She was met with five long queues. A lot of faces that she had never seen before. Teenagers of other colonies that could pass the aptitude test there because of the capacities of their Instruction centers. One of the queues was illuminated, her connector spoke. ¡°Take the highlighted line and wait for your turn.¡± Yeetlhy followed the command of the connector. It took more time than what she expected for the examiner to see her. While she was waiting, the connector started to explain to her how the aptitude test will proceed. ¡°The aptitude test was created in order to understand someone¡¯s capacity to use magic. As the waving gland attains its majority at the age of 16 years old, it is considered the safest age to start using magic and as such, to test it. The aptitude test will ascertain two things : the element and the handling ability. There are only 2 elements that can be used by our race : water and fire, you can use either one of them or both and this test is designed to determine it. The handling ability corresponds to the frequency, your magical signature; the regularity, how regular the waves are; the scale, how grand the scales can be; and the changement, your capacity to go from one spell to another. Each of these sections will greatly impact your capacity to use magic. The last part of the test will determine the impact of using magic on your health, this part is important and will be determinant for your future. Now, please wait for your turn.¡± After a few hours, Yeetlhy, who was tired of waiting and was sitting on the floor, heard a pin. She looked up and saw the examiner. They were making a sign for her to come in. Without sharing a glance, she entered the room. The examiner went towards the terminal without informing the girl of what she needed to do. Yeetlhy, not really disturbed by this, sat down on the only chair of the room and waited for the examiner to explain themselves. The examiner approached the girl with what looked like a patch, linked to the terminal and placed it at the back of her neck, where her waving gland was. The teenager understood that this was the object that would be used to analyze her muscle. ¡°Relax." said the examiner nonchalantly. He went back to the terminal with no care for her. Yeetlhy took a deep breath, closed her eyes, and as the examiner told her, she relaxed. ¡°Today is the worst day of our lives. Today is the beginning of the end of the world.¡± Chapter 2 Chapter 2 ¡°Took some time for all of this to end¡± -31rst Nuni, 15th month, year 151- ¡°The annual exam is over. Leave the Instruction center. You will be granted access to your results in 5 days. It is 5pm, you have one hour left of free time until going home.¡± Yeetlhy walked towards a fountain and sat down. Her eyes were fixated on her calendar. Date, weather, the main event of the next day: the aptitude test. She sighed. The teenager was tired. She rubbed her hand against her eyes. She sighed again. ¡°There¡¯s really nothing to do around here. Nowhere to go either.¡± The girl stared at the sky. It was nightlight. She tried to look at the stars, but the golden threads of the climate regulator were emanating too much light. It was still a beautiful sight that amazed Yeetlhy every time she looked at it. The sky was the same since she was born, but she couldn¡¯t stop herself from admiring it. She found comfort, peace in it, a fleeting feeling that she liked to let herself dive in from time to time. She would sometimes close her eyes, appreciate the wind. It was making her feel like this world didn¡¯t exist, like she was the only one there. After what she thought was a few minutes, she got interrupted by a voice. ¡°It is 6pm¡± said her connector, ¡°Time to go back home¡± ¡°Why is it that the only time I hear someone talking to me, it¡¯s you ?¡± whispered Yeetlhy, ¡°Well at least you''re not mean. You¡¯re probably my only friend. If I can call you that.¡± The connector didn¡¯t answer, as expected. Yeetlhy stood up and went towards her house. The closer she got to her house, the more her anxiety was rising. Her parents were probably not home, which reassured her, but the house itself was making her uncomfortable. The teenager had a hard time breathing. She felt her consciousness slowly losing control over her body. She had to go back, quickly. Yeetlhy didn¡¯t want anyone to see her in that state. Once she arrived, Yeetlhy went into the kitchen to grab a glass of water. She found herself face to face with her mother. A really unexpected sight that took the girl by surprise. She gasped, looked down, and went hiding in a corner so that her mother wouldn''t notice her. When she saw her mother finally leaving the kitchen, she raced towards the drawer and pulled out a glass. Yeetlhy¡¯s father arrived behind her back and pushed her without giving it much thoughts, spilling all the water on her. ¡°I can''t be that invisible '''' thought Yeetlhy. The red-headed girl looked at her parents. She was angry, really angry, but sensing their indifference, she didn¡¯t have the guts to stand up for herself. She wanted to though and squeezed her hands really hard. The girl was ashamed of herself. How could she let them treat her like that? It was a pointless argument anyway. She only had to wait one day. One day and they would finally acknowledge her. She climbed the stairs and went into her room to lay down a bit. An hour passed, maybe two, when the connector released Yeetlhy from her drowsiness. If you discover this narrative on Amazon, be aware that it has been stolen. Please report the violation. ¡°Dinner¡± The girl went down, back to the kitchen, and started to cook for herself. She thought about asking her parents if she could make something for them and immediately threw out the idea. They never ate together. It was always like that in this house, no one was allowed to step into someone else¡¯s business. No one was even interested. This always made Yeetlhy wonder why her parents were together to begin with. They never talked, except about work, they never slept in the same room, they never worried about each other, they never cooked or did the laundry for each other. ¡°Appearances are really all that matters, huh.¡± said Yeetlhy out loud. After she finished her dinner, Yeetlhy walked into the living room, to inform her parents of tomorrow¡¯s event. She stopped and looked at the couch where absolutely no one was seated. They were both at the opposite corner of the room. Sitting so that neither of them could see the other one. ¡°Hum¡­ hu¡± Yeetlhy sighed, knowing that she was probably putting herself in a bad position, she thought that it was the time to make herself be heard. They were her parents, and she was their child. ¡°Excuse me ?¡± Yeetlhy waited a bit, not sure if she was allowed to continue. Unsure of what she truly wanted to say and seeing the lack of attention from them, she went back upstairs. Before entering her room, the young girl heard a voice calling her out. ¡°Come down now.¡± She went back to the living room, and noticed that the curtains were closed. She immediately understood what was going to happen. Yeetlhy cursed herself, she should¡¯ve stayed quiet. The father closed the door and the mother started talking. ¡°So what is it ?¡± asked her mother. This surprised Yeetlhy. They really never took the time to talk to her before beating her up. What was going on ? ¡°It¡¯s about the aptitude test, since it¡¯s tomorrow, I thought¡­¡± The teenager couldn¡¯t end her sentences, she was too anxious for that. ¡°What about it ?¡± whispered her father, already bored by this conversation. ¡°You thought what ?¡± asked her mother, who looked really annoyed. It was a sign that the conversation would end soon. ¡°I¡­I just¡­ I just thought¡­ I just thought that maybe, you could, we could, I don¡¯t know, do something special.¡± said Yeetlhy with a trembling voice. ¡°Because you think you¡¯re special ? For passing a test that every 16 years old child pass every fucking year ?¡± Yelled her mother. Her father rolled his eyes. ¡°Of course it¡¯s something stupid¡± he said, before looking back at his work. Yeetlhy was anxious, sad, lonely, and crying, but she was also extremely angry. It was taking over the rest. She started screaming*. ¡°I did everything you ever wanted me to do. I¡¯m the top student. I have perfect grades. I work really hard to make you proud. I¡¯ve been as invisible as you wanted me to be. I never complained that you treated me like this. I never talked to anyone about it. It¡¯s the only favor that I ever asked of you. The only one. Just do it !¡± The girl was out of breath. Tears all over her face. But strangely enough, she felt relieved. She said all she ever wanted to say. But she regretted it soon enough. No one was allowed to talk to her mother or her father like that. No one. She felt a slap on her cheek, a burning one. She fell down. Half of her face was burnt. She looked up and saw the flaming hand of her mother. Yeetlhy suddenly had a hard time breathing. All that was coming out from her mouth and nose was water. She knew it was her father¡¯s doing. She lost consciousness. She woke up later in the night, her whole body was hurting. She hardly stood up and looked at the bruises covering her. The red-headed girl took a generator to create some ice. She then used it to create a warm light and hardly went back to her room. She hid herself in her closet with all of her cushions. The damaged girl didn¡¯t want to be heard. She finally allowed the tears to come out. ¡°And now it is my time.¡± Chapter 3 Chapter 3 ¡° - Record - Archive connection compromised - closing local connection -¡± -3rd Uni, 1rst month, year 145- Yeetlhy had not been able to get any sleep. She was too excited about today¡¯s event. An annual event. The day that allows every 10 year old of the colonies to enter the Instruction center. It was not that big of an event in general. Most citizens didn¡¯t care about it. But in the eyes of our 10 years old child, it was an important part of her life that was about to happen. She has never been allowed to go outside before. Her world was revolving around her house and the people that she could see through the windows. Her parents never really cared much about her knowledge of the society. Since they were almost never at home because of their work, she was able to move around freely. But going outside was strictly forbidden. And Yeetlhy didn¡¯t want to disappoint her parents. She learned how to read thanks to her connector. It was the ¡°person¡± that would have a conversation with her. But that wasn¡¯t the case anymore, at least not for long. She was now allowed to take a step outside of the house. She let many fantasies go through her mind. About the friends that she would make, the classes, the future adventures. As soon as she heard the connector¡¯s voice telling her to wake up, she swiped left and ran towards the bathroom. Yeetlhy had dark rings under her eyes, her face was pale and skinny. A sign of abuse that she mistook for one of sleeplessness. Someone threw clothes and other tools at her. She turned around to see her father at the door, looking at her with disdain. ¡°Don¡¯t mistake that for an act of love¡± he said, ¡°Do this everyday and don¡¯t shame us.¡± He forcibly grabbed her arm with one hand and her head with another. Yeetlhy could feel her body being completely immersed in water. As she couldn¡¯t breathe, she tried to escape from the grasp of her father. A waste of energy. After releasing her, letting her body fall on the floor, he took the brush tool and did her hair. The young girl was in pain and crying. He then held her face and applied a skin spray. The man said with a cold voice ¡°Put those clothes on and don¡¯t be late¡± Yeetlhy cried even more after her father left. It was supposed to be a joyful day, and instead of congratulating her, he treated her like trash. She held the clothes against her chest and stood up. She saw her reflection in the mirror and couldn¡¯t recognize herself. Her hair was straight, neat, it felt soft and fluffy at the touch of her fingers. Her face looked more lively, no more dark holes, her cheeks looked tender, it certainly didn¡¯t look like she hadn¡¯t been fed anything for the past 4 days. ¡°Is this me ?¡± said the young girl in disbelief. While putting her clothes on, Yeetlhy thought about the complete change of her appearance. She finally looked normal, like the other kids that she saw through the windows. Her eyes were filled with excitement again. She went down to the kitchen with a smile on her face. She was so happy that she had forgotten what her father did to her a few minutes ago. She entered the kitchen and happily ate some bread. She was so excited that the bread that she has been eating for 10 years seemed to be tasting better than usual. ¡°Mom, dad, I¡¯m going to the Instruction center today.¡±, screamed Yeetlhy before slamming the door. She started running. She arrived on time but was out of breath. The room was full of other kids her age, all chattering. She never heard that much noise before and quickly felt overwhelmed. Too many people in the same place, different scents, making her feel dizzy. She needed to sit down, and some fresh air. The girl almost fell against a wall. It became harder for her to breathe as her temperature was rising. She heard a ping. ¡° - The director of the Instruction center in now entering -¡± The room went quiet. The kids weren¡¯t excited anymore but were now disciplined and focused. Yeetlhy felt a cold breeze on her body, allowing her to regain some kind of composure. A tall woman appeared on the stage as well as a notice on the screen. Olya Cunnlan, 42 years old, Director of the Instruction center. She didn¡¯t look at the kids and moved her hands a bit. She then introduced herself. ¡°Hello everyone. I am the director of the Instruction center, Olya Cunnlan. I am here to supervise the well-being of the apprentices and communicate your results to the decision center to ensure that you find your place in this community. Today is the day your life as part of this society starts. Now that you are all 10 years old, you have to learn what this society can teach you to serve it better. It will probably be difficult for some of you, but rest assured that your futures and happiness are in my best interest. You will not be left alone. ¡± The kids were focused on the woman. Yeetlhy was using her connector to read the script. Strangely, the atmosphere made her feel more at ease. ¡°You will spend your days here for the next 10 years, even more for some of you. At least 5 years learning about history, math and Yellenite. And another 5 years learning magic, literature, and science. These classes are obligatory and evaluated. Each class will last 45 minutes per day. The story has been illicitly taken; should you find it on Amazon, report the infringement. For the rest of the free time, given by the decision center, you will have to join at least one option. The options are not evaluated, and you can change the option as many times as you want. Those options will help you learn different competences that could be useful for the results that will be communicated to the Decision center. And at the end of each year, you will have to take an exam that will evaluate your learnings and abilities which will help us personalize our teaching programs and find the right path for you. When you reach 16 years old, you will have to pass the aptitude test which will allow you to use magic. When you reach 20 years old, you can either submit your results to the decision center or keep studying until you are 30 years old. Now please choose your options on your connectors, it will automatically save your choices and prepare your schedule for the year.¡± All the kids who were barely conscious were pulled out of their sleepiness by their connectors. Yeetlhy, whose mind was so full of information she didn¡¯t know how to deal with, looked at her screen. There was a list of 6 options available. The girl thought really hard about which options would make her parents proud. She chose sports and technology. She wanted to try science, but she thought maybe she wouldn¡¯t have enough time to rest and study. Once it was over, the connector displayed her schedule for the next day. She didn¡¯t really care about it and left it aside, assuming that, when the time comes, her connector would just show her the way. The kids just started to slack off when the director claimed that it was the end of the ceremony. All the kids walked towards the main plaza. Forming small groups, chattering, playing together. Yeetlhy looked at them with envy. She was all alone in front of the Instruction center¡¯s hall when a group of kids called her out. ¡°Hey, I¡¯ve never seen you around before, are you from another colony ?¡± ¡°No¡± answered Yeetlhy, ¡°I live here, in the military area.¡± ¡°I live there too, and I¡¯ve never seen you before.¡± said the child in a very accusatory tone. Yeetlhy was a little anxious as she couldn¡¯t understand why the kid was talking to her like that. ¡°My parents didn¡¯t want me to go around the neighborhood, they said it was too dangerous for a little girl like me and that I had to stay at home and wait for them to come back.¡± The girl really wanted to integrate the group. She pointed her house on the map and shared it with the other kids. It took a while for the children to realize who Yeetlhy was. ¡°You¡¯re the child of Syenha and Behnart !¡± screamed a kid. All the kids ran at Yeetlhy, laughing and yelling, asking her all kinds of questions. ¡°Is your mother really a dragon ?¡± ¡°Have you seen the military center ?¡± ¡°Have you seen them kicking bad guys ?¡± ¡°Can we come to your place ?¡± ¡°Can you ask your parents to teach us ?¡± Yeetlhy was flustered, she never had that much interaction with people before. She tried her best to answer questions honestly but when she saw the disappointed face of the kids in front of her, she thought it was okay to change the truth a bit. She created stories about her mother turning into a dragon and Yeetlhy flying on her back, rebels invading her house and her parents fighting them to protect their child. All the kids were bewitched by Yeetlhy¡¯s tales. When one of them asked: ¡°So can you use magic ?¡± The red-headed girl didn¡¯t know how to answer that. She could either lie, and gain the friendship of all the kids but would need to pretend for the rest of her life; or tell the truth, and be met with the dissatisfied faces of the kids in front of her. The girl took a few minutes to think about it, and decided to tell the truth, thinking that the tales of her parents would be enough. The kid who asked the question was a little saddened by the answer but was quickly set aside. The other kids were much more interested in her parents. The connectors interrupted Yeetlhy¡¯s stories. ¡°You¡¯ve reached the limits of your free outside time, please go back to your house.¡± All the children followed the orders of their connectors. Yeetlhy did the same and went back to her house. Feeling as if today was the happiest day of her life. But once she arrived in front of the door, she had this weird sensation that her joy was going to break down once she passed the doorstep. She decided it was nothing important and entered the house. It was empty, her parents were probably still at work. She ran to her room and excitedly prepared her bag for the classes. Yeetlhy also decided to clean her room, then the entire house and once she was done, she fell asleep on her bed. After a few hours, the young child was woken up by the noise of her father coming back. She went down to welcome him. ¡°Hi, where is mommy ?¡± ¡°At work.¡± ¡°When will she come back ?¡± ¡°She won¡¯t.¡± ¡°Why ?¡± ¡°Why should I care, go back to your room.¡± The tone was strict, firm, an indication that Yeetlhy shouldn¡¯t bother him any longer. But the day felt too wonderful for her to notice those signs. ¡°I had my entrance ceremony at the Instruction center today, and it was¡­¡± Yeetlhy couldn¡¯t end her sentence. Her father had grabbed her by her throat. Unable to breath, she remembered what happened in the morning. Fearing that this time he would really kill her, she tried her hardest to escape from his grasp. The man threw her tiny body through the room. The girl started breathing loudly, then screaming. She was afraid. She was used to this kind of treatment and yet this time felt different. All this time she thought it was normal, and she never felt anything about it. But today, it was worse. Not in the violence of the act. It was painful. Too much hatred, and she couldn¡¯t handle it. So she screamed. Sick of this much noise and afraid that it will taint his reputation, her father finally spoke. ¡°Go back to your fucking room and don¡¯t come out. I don¡¯t wanna see you again today.¡± Yeetlhy screamed for a few seconds before understanding what her father told her. She ran to her room and hid in the closet with her cushion. ¡°-Initialization - system reboot - connection ¡­¡± Chapter 4 Chapter 4 ¡° - Record - Emergency procedure - Transferring authority to the next colony - ¡° -9th Yuni, 9th month, year 150- She always thought that the atmosphere would be even more dense than in her house. But once she had arrived at the military center with the other members of her specialization, the air felt like a fresh breath. Yeetlhy was more relaxed. People there looked nothing like her parents, they were more at ease. There was still some structure, a little bit of tension. But it wasn¡¯t palpable, or at least not enough to calm the teens down. A ping appeared on the screen. ¡°Stand up and get in line¡± ordered a man in front of the small group of students. Yeetlhy immediately recognized him. He was one of her mother¡¯s subordinates. She would see him talking to her mother in front of her house. The teenagers straightened their posture and stood one behind the other, forming a queue. ¡°My name is Eldrian. I am an Accomplished, rank soldier, part of the 1rst division of Yellen¡¯s army. I will be your Instructor for today. Since this is your first time here, I will be showing you around the center. This course is mostly meant to strengthen your sense of duty. I hope that today will give you enough inspiration for our work that you would want to keep coming to this course and maybe, one day, join us. Now follow me, and don¡¯t break that line. If you have a question, ping and wait until I allow you to speak.¡± The Instructor took the group to the cafeteria. It looked a lot like the cafeteria of the Instruction center. There were sachets machines in the walls with hydration guns. Yeetlhy looked at the multiple flavors available. ¡°It really is the same as ours.¡± she thought, a little disappointed, but quickly focused back on what Eldrian was saying. ¡°Those machines work the same as in the Instruction center. You order a sachet with the flavor you want. Use the hydration gun on the food powder, and then you get the bread with all the nutrients necessary. You sit down and eat with your comrades. Now there is a hierarchy here, Neophytes and Accomplished can¡¯t sit at the same table. Mostly because Accomplished can have information that Neophytes aren¡¯t supposed to have and vice-versa.¡± The Instructor showed the dormitories, they weren¡¯t allowed to go inside. Those were private rooms and had nothing to do with their class. The group stayed outside, listening to the explanation of the Instructor. There were 2 main dormitories, one for the Neophytes and one for the Accomplished. Each dormitory was divided into 4 and 3 sections. 4 sections for the 4 different ranks among the Neophytes. 3 sections for the 3 different ranks among the Accomplished. The teenagers quietly passed near the meeting rooms where the directors and heroes were working. They were not able to take a look at what was happening inside. This made a few students excited, and the Instructor had to whisper a few times in quite an authoritarian tone to be silent. They finally arrived at a populated place. The Neophytes workplace. It was full of people barely older than them. Eldrian took the kids to a corner. ¡°Earlier, I told you about ranks without any further explanation. There are three status in the army. Neophytes, the rookies, need to be trained in the military center for 5 years. They work inside the colony. Accomplished, we finished the training and work outside the colony. This novel''s true home is a different platform. Support the author by finding it there. Heroes, they achieved glorious deeds and manage the army. Now the ranks correspond to the affiliation where you¡¯re supposed to work. There are 4 ranks for the Neophytes: The Armory, taking care of the weapons, upgrading them, protecting the inventory, repairing the tools, those are their duties. The Messaging service, they relay all the information. The Patrollers, they protect the colony and the population from the inside. The Towers, they protect our borders. And the 3 ranks for the Accomplished: The Soldiers, we go fight on the front line. The Hunters track all living beings, animals or humans, detect incoming dangers and go on expeditions for the Research center. And the Patrollers, they protect the colony and the population from the outside. We are standing in the Messaging service, all the people here are relaying important information to the entirety of the army of all the colonies. You obviously don¡¯t have access to those information and that is why you can¡¯t hear anything. Try and scan the area, you will notice that your connector will not give you any information.¡± Yeetlhy did as the Instructor said. She tried to scan the area, but except for her comrades, she wasn¡¯t able to identify any person there, and she wasn¡¯t able to get the scripts of what was being said in the room. They were led to a training field. ¡°I¡¯ve been showing you around the center for about 2 hours now. How about we work those tiny muscles of yours? Do me 20 laps. That should be enough.¡± The teenagers started running. It took them a while to run those 20 laps, about an hour. They were all tired and sweating. Once it was over, and the kids were laying on the ground, completely worn out. Eldrian decided to cool them down. He splashed water on them using magic. ¡°You all must be really hungry now, let¡¯s go grab some bread at the cafeteria.¡± They went back to the cafeteria. It was full. No seats available for the kids. They had to stand in line to get their sachets and were then told to sit against a wall in the back of the room, to eat quietly and to not interact with anyone. And the teenagers obviously did not listen to those advices. They stood in line for their sachets, but instead of quietly sitting down against the wall, they all sat at a corner chatting loudly. The kids were all excited about their visit and their prospective ranks. Yeetlhy sat down near them but didn¡¯t take part in the conversation. She was scanning the area. Making sure that if something happened, she wouldn¡¯t get scolded. The Instructor was telling the group to be quiet but wasn¡¯t heard by them. They were too loud and enthusiastic. A girl laughed a bit too loud. Someone finally yelled at the group to shut up. The entire cafeteria went dead silent. No one was making a sound, eating nor moving. They were all focused on the person that stood up. ¡°Where do you think you are ? This is the military center and whether you like it or not, you¡¯re still in class. Those kids nowadays¡­ Do you think this kind of attitude will take you anywhere ? Not here I can tell you that. Who is your Instructor ?¡± Eldrian immediately stood up. ¡°It¡¯s me sir.¡± ¡°You will discipline them, and you will be punished afterward.¡± ¡°Yes sir.¡± said Eldrian, ¡°Stand up kids, lunch is over, back to the training fields.¡± Once they left the cafeteria, their Instructor started mumbling about how kids never listen to his advices, how he always ends up being punished because of the mistakes of uncivilized people. He then started scolding the kids, about how easy their task was and how much they fucked it up by angering the director of the military center. Upon hearing that, the teenagers felt the anxiety rising. The punishment will definitely be harsh. ¡°Run 40 laps.¡± said Eldrian. When Yeetlhy arrived at her house, she grabbed a slice of bread and went straight to her room. She fell asleep on her bed while eating. ¡°-Record- Containment necessary - Deployment ordered-¡± Chapter 5 chapter 5 Ensuring the perennity of our kin, that is my goal ¡°Hello fellow students, sit down please.¡± said the Instructor, leaning on his desk. ¡°For the record, can someone state the date, place and class?¡± ¡°It is the 12th Duni of the 1rst month of the year 146, Instruction center, Technology club.¡± ¡°Good.¡±, The Instructor looked away from the hologram board and stared at his chattering students. He waited a bit for their attention. ¡°Today is our first class together. This club was created to help the students understand the basis of our society. Technological engineering had a huge impact on the expansion of our society. Understanding it, enhancing it, that is our goal. We are going to start with the most basic object. The one we¡¯re all using: the connectors. So first question, what is a connector ?¡± The students were hesitant. One of them stood up and answered. ¡°A connector is the link between a person and Archive.¡± ¡°Wrong¡±, said the Instructor, ¡°A connector is a neuronal patch, placed close to the brain at someone¡¯s birth, which connects all of your sensory parts together, allowing you limited access to Archive. Archive is the common database of Aglion, where all the data is saved and used by the Decision and the Research center. What we call the screen is the representation of your personal archive through your eyes. What you see has no material form, it only exists through your senses. As you know since all of you have lived with it since birth, the connector possesses multiple functions. Who can enumerate those functions ?¡± ¡°That¡¯s basically what I said¡±, interrupted the student, probably frustrated. The Instructor sighed. ¡°If you¡¯re here to learn what can be basically said, then I suggest you go and find a more interesting club. I¡¯m here to teach you, if you¡¯re not satisfied with my class, leave. Otherwise, sit down and listen.¡± The student sat down. ¡°Who can enumerate those functions ?¡± asked the Instruction again. Another student stood up. ¡°The connector is directly linked to Archive, it can help us communicate between us without the need to speak; it gives us our schedule; it helps us navigate through the city; and if we focus really hard on an object, it can tell us what it is.¡± ¡°That is correct, these are the general functions of the connector. But there are more. For example, if you focus on someone, focus on me. You will see here,¡± The Instructor waved his hand near his head ¡°my name, my status, and my age. If you¡¯re working at one of the four centers, you might have to take care of confidential documents. Your connector might blur your sight so you won¡¯t be able to see the content of those documents. Or if you¡¯re a farmer, your connector will tell you if a crop is sick, or if it is ready to be harvested. Your connector will help you in your daily life. Another question, how is your connector able to process all those information ?¡± Unauthorized tale usage: if you spot this story on Amazon, report the violation. This time, no student dared to answer the question. They were so eager to listen to their Instructor. ¡°We talked about Archive earlier. As I said, Archive is the common database of Aglion. It is an Artificial Intelligence whose job is to process all the information possibly usable. It is a gigantic database which retains every data produced by anyone at any time. Archive decides what you have access to. Your connector is simply the interface.¡± ¡°Now, do you know when and why the connector was created ?¡± Yeetlhy pinged the Instructor and stood up. ¡°When the expansion project on Triptoen was created, they needed a relay of information, to understand if Aglion was a safe place to live. So they created the connectors to understand Aglion and monitor the group of people who were sent on the planet.¡± ¡°And when was that ?¡± ¡°That was 50 years before the arrival of the group on Aglion.¡± ¡°Can you tell me the year ?¡± asked the Instructor. ¡°I think it was around 300 years ago ?¡± ¡°That doesn¡¯t sound very convincing, 146 years ago was the independence of the colonies, 100 years before that was the arrival of the first men on Aglion. Do the math, it was 296 years ago.¡± Yeetlhy sat down, embarrassed. She felt humiliated. It was a four-year gap. The young girl thought the Instructor was rude to her for no reason. ¡°Your answer was incomplete but still better than some other students. The connector was first and foremost created to keep track and control of what was being done on Aglion. The resources found on the planet were so rare on Triptoen that the government, which our ancestors were working for, needed its exclusivity. If and only if Aglion was found to be a safe place to live, then the creation of a facility would be considered. So the connector''s primary function is surveillance. After we lost contact with Triptoen, the connector was modified to serve the survival of society on Aglion. Now the connector¡¯s principal function is to help every citizen of the colonies and help the Decision center. We already know how the connector helps us. Since we talked about Archive, we already know how they monitored us.¡± The Instructor paused, giving everyone the time to grab some water and focus again on the class. He took out of a box a small object and placed it in full view of everyone. ¡°This is a connector, you used it all your lives but never saw one before. This is the first and probably the only time you will be able to touch one so be careful and enjoy this moment.¡± All the kids approached the table and touched it, Yeetlhy was amazed by how such a small thing could be this amazing. It was flabby and transparent, she couldn¡¯t completely understand how such a floppy thing works. She asked the Instructor who took back the connector. ¡°Everyone focus. Yeetlhy here asked an important question. How does it work? Well you see the small rectangle at the center, this is the processor, which executes the programs and tasks given by Archive. You see the four round thing connected at every corner of the processor ? Those are the electropulsor, they analyze your vital signs. As for the filaments covering the whole connector, they are called neuronal filaments, they are directly linked to your brains and transmit all the information you need.¡± Yeetlhy wanted to ask more but was interrupted by her connector. It was time to go to her sports class. The students said their goodbyes to their Instructor. ¡°Next time we will talk about the climate regulator and our energy sources. I¡¯m gonna send you some homework. It is facultative, though.¡± Yeetlhy bowed to her Instructor and left. She didn¡¯t want to be late to class. And I¡¯m going to do whatever it takes to stand above them. Chapter 6 Chapter 6 When will we be free ? ¡°We are the 11th Uni, first month of the year 147. During our history classes, we studied the arrival of the first men, the two wars for the Independence of the colonies. Last time, we talked about the emergence of magic and its impact on our society. Who can briefly resume our lesson ?¡± asked the Instructor. ¡°You.¡± pointing at a student. ¡°The newborns capable of magic were first treated like an abnormality caused by a possible side effect of inhabiting the planet for a certain period of time. The same phenomenon has been noticed in the animal kingdom. This drastically changed Aglion¡¯s landscape. The outside was much more dangerous.¡± The Instructor interrupted the student and designated another one. ¡°Follow up.¡± ¡°The number of non-magic users decreased with time. New technology, combined with magic, was created. For example there is the climate regulator, the ray ways, or the new weapons induced with magic. There was also a change of social status. The non-magic users, who were at the top of the society, became lower. They created a conservative party, the rebels. This party is mostly composed of non-magic users who fight against magic-users. They believe that they should be ruling the government. They started committing acts of terrorism.¡± ¡°That is correct. This party still exists and is still actively fighting against us.¡± said the Instructor. ¡°Now we are going to focus on the most important battle against the rebels. The battle on the mountain of Milesra¡± A world map appeared as a hologram in front of the students. ¡°The 12th Duni of the thirteenth month of the year 135, the colony of Arnier, which is located on the west side of the main continent, was attacked by the conservative party, the rebels. The terrorist took advantage of the triptoidite. The triptoidite is a phenomenon that happens every nine years and lasts ninety-three days. It is the period of time in which Triptoen is the closest to Aglion. During the triptoidite, the air is unstable. The animals are much more aggressive and dangerous. Storms and floods are more likely to happen. That day, the Arnier colony was caught in a flood. The damages were severe. They were having a hard time saving people and could barely send help as a woulcean nest is located nearby. The rebels infiltrated a storage building and stole mostly weapons and batteries. The attack was immediately notified to the principality of Yellen. The army was sent, led by the hero Syenah. They were able to track down the rebels to the mountain of Milesra.¡± The hologram zoomed on the place mentioned by the Instructor. It was the biggest mountain among the mountain range. Located near the sea and surrounded by a dense forest. ¡° From the fourteenth to the eighteenth of the thirteenth month, it is the breeding period of the thunder cougars. It is a dangerous time to be around the mountain of Milesra. Gigantic waves collide with the mountains. The cougars attract thunder. A single wrong step on those mountains could kill a man. But the army couldn¡¯t miss this chance. They were finally able to pinpoint the exact location of the terrorists. One team of soldiers was sent to the mountains to evaluate the hazardous nature of the site. Another team was to stay put, hidden in the forest, to forbid every possibility of fleeing. And once the first team was able to find a somewhat safe passage to the rebel¡¯s hideout, a third team went down on them.¡± Stolen content warning: this tale belongs on Royal Road. Report any occurrences elsewhere. The hologram switched to a picture of a desolated campsite. ¡°This battle is called one of the deadliest battles that ever happened on Aglion. The racket caused by the fight startled the thunder cougars, who descended into battle. The rebels tried to escape through the forest but were cut off by the soldiers stationed there. They ran off towards the seaside of the mountains. Followed by the remainder of the army. Violent waves were shaking the grounds. But something even more unexpected and dangerous than the waves was standing in front of the soldiers. A young woulcean who was one or two months old at least. At this age, woulceans eat a lot. Most of the soldiers were sucked into the young woulcean. The rebels were able to safely escape. We lost more than half of our soldiers that day, and the rebel¡¯s whereabouts are still unknown.¡± ¡°I have a question !¡± said Yeetlhy. ¡°Sure, go ahead.¡± ¡°How were the rebels able to enter the Arnier colony ? What was the patrol doing ? They are non-magic users, shouldn''t it be easy for the patrollers to fight them ?¡± ¡°Not all the colonies possess a defense as good as Yellen. Even though Yellen¡¯s decision center tries to fairly divide the number of soldiers between the colonies, some of them are still understaffed. First there is the Independence law. Each colony gets to decide where their soldiers are going, and Yellen sends reinforcement if there is a need to. The main problem with the colony of Arnier is its location. As I said earlier, a Woulcean¡¯s nest is located nearby, which makes life harder there. The population is low and tends to migrate to other colonies. The number of soldiers available there is proportional to the number of inhabitants.¡± Another student asked a question. ¡°What is a woulcean ?¡± The whole class started laughing before getting reprimanded by the Instructor. ¡°It is okay not to know stuff like this. I¡¯m here to answer questions like that anyway. Woulceans are huge stonelike worms living in the sea. They live for 35 years and are about 30 meters above sea level. They have multiple orifices that they use for eating and breathing. Those orifices are very dangerous. They suck up whatever is around them: water, air, dirt, and animals. Woulceans tend to live alone but, for an unknown reason, there is a little group living near Arnier. Since this situation is a literal hole in the military resources, Yellen decided to send less soldiers, patrollers, and hunters. Their skin is thick and solid. It has been impossible to hurt, even less kill one, since we¡¯ve discovered their existence.¡± ¡°How were the rebels able to survive the sea waves and woulcean on that mountain ?¡± ¡°There is a theory, it says that woulceans feed on the magical energy of each being it eats. We think that since the rebels aren¡¯t able to use magic, they might have been able to escape from the woulcean. As for the waves, we think they knew enough about the mountains to safely escape.¡± Yeetlhy raised her eyebrows. ¡°But if the woulceans suck up anything around them, even dirt. Why wouldn¡¯t it suck the rebels too ?¡± ¡°We actually don¡¯t know. It is but a theory, nothing more. There is no certainty. Now this battle ¡­¡± As the Instructor carried on the lesson, Yeetlhy got lost in thoughts. The mountain of Milesra was the place where she was born. She was a child of the battlefield. There was something attractive about this. A mystery that she thought she would be the one to unveil. It made her feel even more special. Fighting for our survival, that¡¯s what awaits us. Who will follow me ? Chapter 7 Chapter 7 Record- New program detected - analysis¡­ Yeetlhy had completely relaxed her mind and body. She was humming a lullaby she heard when she was young. The teenager was imagining the sky during nightlight. Her mind was diving deeper and deeper into one of the sweetest memories she ever had. A time when she was just a little baby, and her mother was holding her, lulling her to calm down. The girl tried to focus on her mother¡¯s blurry face when she suddenly had a headache.It was instant and painful. Her anxiety rose up. Something was wrong. But she didn¡¯t want to open her eyes. She thought that by interrupting the examiner, the process of analyzing her magical abilities would be slowed down. Yeetlhy couldn¡¯t bother him with her useless fears. Until she couldn¡¯t take it anymore. The teenager finally opened her eyes. ¡°Excuse me, I¡¯m having a headache right now, is it normal ?¡± No answer. The examiner wasn¡¯t paying attention to her, focusing on the terminal. The screen was showing her results. Reading on Amazon or a pirate site? This novel is from Royal Road. Support the author by reading it there. ¡°Is something wrong ?¡± The room was silent. Something clearly happened. The more she looked at the examiner, the more distressed she was. That¡¯s when she realized what was wrong. The examiner wasn¡¯t moving at all, he wasn¡¯t even breathing, he was simply standing still, like a statue. Yeetlhy walked up to him. She touched him a bit, there was no reaction. The screen was displaying her affinity with water and fire magic, which was non-existent. Upon seeing that, she collapsed. It took Yeetlhy some time to accept her fate. It was truly all over now. She was a failure. No matter all the efforts she would put in her hard work, she will always be seen as a garbage daughter with no magical abilities. She stood up and walked towards the door, unaware that time had stopped. And obviously, when she tried to open the door, it wouldn¡¯t budge. Tears were flowing down on her face. Fear took over her trembling body, and she collapsed a second time. People were screaming and crying. She could smell smoke and blood in the air. Yeetlhy opened her eyes. This time the room was dark. The examiner wasn¡¯t there. It was a huge isolated dark place. The only source of light came from multiple small windows far away. While walking towards those windows, she saw fire and chaos. People were either running away or attacking each other. She was petrified, through the windows, she could see Yellen in shambles. Blood and dead bodies everywhere. People mechanically walking. She could hear screams and tears. Even more than that, she could feel it. All those emotions were suffocating her. A window attracted her attention. For a moment she saw a familiar silhouette. She saw it again on another window, and again and again. Yeetlhy was falling into despair as she recognized her own body walking in the middle of this bloodshed. It was moving on his own accord. Unable to control it, the girl looked with terror at the spectacle that became her life. Record- no danger detected - new program does not interfere with Archive Chapter 8 Chapter 8 Let me out ! Instruction center The students had been waiting for a long time now. All the other queues were cleared out except theirs. It was almost 6pm. They were all chattering, wondering what was taking so long. A red-haired girl finally came out from the examination room. Her eyes were unfocused. There was something disturbing about her movements. As if she was intoxicated. Her back suddenly straightened. The girl stared intensely at the building. Someone, among the students, recognized her. ¡°What are you doing big head ? You¡¯re lost or something ?¡± The red-haired girl looked back at the student. She walked slowly towards them. Her gait was faltering, like a toddler. This sight made the student laugh. ¡°You¡¯ve forgotten how to walk ? Call daddy for that, he might help you¡­ oh¡­ oh wait¡­ Your dad doesn¡¯t like you!¡± and they laughed even harder. The student next to them decided to interfere. ¡°Come on, leave her alone. Can¡¯t you see that she isn¡¯t feeling good ?¡± ¡°It¡¯s just a joke. Gosh chill ! And it¡¯s not like I¡¯m wrong, no one in her family likes her anyway !¡± replied the student offended. The student turned his head, ¡°What do you want ?¡± they asked the red-haired girl who was standing now in front of them. But she wouldn¡¯t answer. This started a staring contest between the student and the girl. After a minute, the examiner got out of the room. His movements were erratic, his eyes unfocused, his veins were black. The student who tried to appease the situation earlier approached the examiner. He murmured. ¡°Are you okay ?¡± Without notice, the examiner jumped at the student and started to strangle him. At the same time, the red-haired girl grabbed the head of the aggressive student. The remaining students got scared. Some tried to stop the examiner while others were looking at what was happening, in disbelief. The examiner eventually let go of the now dead student to attack the others. Some students, afraid for their lives, threw water and fire balls at the examiner. And yet the examiner was still able to move. The aggressive student who was now acting exactly like the examiner was stopping those who wanted to run away. Soon the calm came back inside the Instruction center. After thirty minutes, the students, the examiner and the red-haired girl were seen leaving the building. Then, the explosion. Military center People were rushing out to the front desk. ¡°What was this detonation ?¡± In all this confusion, a well-known voice was calling for calm and order. ¡°Record- Instruction center under attack - carbon dioxide level dangerously rising- no intrusion detected- warning to all inhabitants : stay away from the fire, the local authorities have been called, I repeat, stay away from the fire.¡± The director of the military center shouted out for attention. ¡°Why is no one working here ? Where are the patrollers ? What are they doing ?¡± ¡°They¡¯ve been notified of what happened, they¡¯re currently going towards the Instruction center to investigate it.¡± ¡°Have the outside patrollers reported any incidents ?¡± ¡°No sir, everything is good on their end.¡± ¡°Tell them to keep their positions, it could be a terrorist attack.¡± ¡°Yes sir.¡± ¡°You¡± said the director pointing at a secretary ¡°contact the decision center, communicate with them what we know about this.¡± ¡°Yes sir.¡± ¡°Good, everyone back to work now !¡± Decision center The administrators were all glued at the window. Nothing much could be seen from there. The Instruction center was on fire, the plaza was covered in smoke, a few people were running away while patrollers were going towards the explosion site. The administrators were more alarmed after Archive¡¯s warning. ¡°Record- Instruction center under attack - carbon dioxide level dangerously rising- no intrusion detected- warning to all inhabitants : stay away from the fire, the local authorities have been called, I repeat, stay away from the fire.¡± A manager rushed down from the stairs. ¡°Is everyone okay ? What happened ?¡± ¡°I don¡¯t know," answered one of the administrators, ¡°We simply heard the explosion, we can¡¯t see anything from here.¡± ¡°Fuck, this is insane. Has anyone from the Instruction center called ?¡± They shook their heads. The manager didn¡¯t seem to know what to do. Luckily, the president contacted all the employees of the Decision center. ¡°Hello. The Instruction center is as of right now, ablaze. Yellen is considered under attack. We don¡¯t know anything about the assailant. I¡¯m demanding everyone to stay calm and go back to their work. A lockdown is instituted until we know any better. The social wing will take all the calls from the citizens. Make sure they stay away from the fire. The climate wing will work with the Research center to reduce the carbon dioxide level. The legal wing will stop all of their current activities and contact the military center. The other wings will dispatch all of their staff to help the social, climate and legal wings. I understand that you¡¯re all scared. That is why I am begging you to please help us overcome this crisis. Thank you.¡± The administrators immediately went back to work. They were quickly flooded with messages from the citizens, which were all redirected towards the social wing. The legal wing was having a hard time filtering the calls but was able to establish contact with the Military center. ¡°What are they saying ?¡± asked the president of Yellen¡¯s Decision center. ¡°Patrollers are on site right now. It is hard to distinguish much because of the smoke. So far there¡¯s been no casualties. They detected no life form inside the building, unfortunately, that information cannot be confirmed as the captors could be wrong considering the fire.¡± ¡°I understand. What about the plaza ?¡± ¡°Archive has communicated the presence of approximately twenty people, mostly students who were there to take their aptitude tests, and an examiner. According to Archive, the students are injured and deeply traumatized. The Research center sent a medic already.¡± Stolen story; please report. ¡°Do we have a video of what happened ?¡± inquired the president. ¡°Yes, give me a second.¡± A hologram appeared and played a video of what happened at the Instruction an hour before the explosion. ¡°Record- system malfunctioning.- connectors reports - difference between reality and what the subject is seeing - new program detected - virus- subject movements unpredictable - subject more violent - communication cut between Archive and the subject consciousness - Warning- impossibility of fighting the virus - New program deemed safe - Recommendation - staying away from the subjects - do not engage-¡± The president was in deep thoughts. ¡°Call the research center and ask them about the message we just received from Archive. And ask someone to call the Military center. We are under a terrorist attack. The targets are the students on the plaza. We must capture and imprison them.¡± ¡°But sir¡± replied the secretary, ¡°is it wise to go against Archive¡¯s recommendation ?¡± ¡°We don¡¯t have much choice, hiding won¡¯t do us any good. We have to take the risk. Tell the research center to prepare a team, I want them to monitor the soon-to-be prisoners.¡± ¡°You¡¯ve just received a message from the Pillin colony. They¡¯re inquiring about the situation.¡± The president had to assess the situation. Yellen is the colony governing all. Each colony possesses some freedom but in the end, Yellen leads the way. They cannot afford to show the slightest weakness. Especially when the isolationnism movement was gaining strength, and all the colonies were fighting for their independence. ¡°What a headache.¡± muttered the president. ¡°Should I send them that ?¡± asked the secretary, partly serious. This made the president laugh. The plaza Chaos was arising. The patrollers were fighting the students as best as they could, but their attacks weren¡¯t doing anything. Fire and water lasso weren¡¯t immobilizing them, no matter how many times they were cut by water swords or shot by fire guns, they would still rise and fight. There had been no precedent for this type of battle. The patrollers, who were still neophytes and inexperienced, were losing ground. The whole scene was broadcasted on holograms. The Military center had no idea what they were dealing with, the Research center was fascinated by this new type of magic, and the Decision center was waiting for their president to have a miraculous idea to save them all. It was clear that they had no choice but to capture and stop the girl. A group of soldiers led by the Hero named Lo appeared. They weren¡¯t afraid and smoothly turned the situation upside down. They successfully immobilized the clearly possessed students. In no time, the young red-haired girl was surrounded. It didn¡¯t seem to bother her though. She had this confident look on her face that destabilized the soldiers. Lo approached her. ¡°It¡¯s over ! Surrender yourself.¡± The girl smiled so much that it was warping her face. Her giggle was distorted. ¡°You can¡¯t stop me.¡± she said with a voice that came from another world. Lo blinked. It was enough for the girl to get close to him. She grabbed his throat and lifted him up. A soldier ran towards her in the intent to stop her. The soldier blinked, and found themself on the ground, unconscious. The others wouldn¡¯t move, fearing for their captain¡¯s life. They were all waiting for her moment of weakness. The girl finally let go of Lo. The Hero¡¯s back bent in half and unbent in an instant. He looked at his soldier for a few seconds before jumping at them. Decision center Upon seeing this terrific view, it became clear the girl couldn¡¯t be captured. This ordeal was putting the president in a difficult position. It had to be contained for the truth to be sealed. A message from the Research center appeared with information so confidential that even the secretary couldn¡¯t read it. The president sighed. ¡°Tell them they can do it.¡± ¡°Do what sir ?¡± The president ignored his question. ¡°Tell the Military center to capture and imprison the heroes Syenah and Benhart. Have them questioned about their involvement in this terrorist attack. It is obvious that they used their daughter to spread their vicious terrorist propaganda and turn our own students against us. They even corrupted Lo and his team.¡± The secretary was confused. It didn¡¯t look like the students and soldiers were acting according to their own free will, but rather more like they were forced to. The president stood up. ¡°Archive, this is a command from the president of the Decision center of Yellen, forbid the access from the videos of the Instruction center, the Plaza, the Military center, the Research center and the Decision center of today. It is now confidential and only me and the person I authorized can have access to it. Do you confirm ?¡± ¡°Command confirm - access to the video of the 32nd Iuni, 15th month, year 151 of the Decision center restricted - access to the video of the 32nd Iuni, 15th month, year 151 of the Military center restricted - access to the video of the 32nd Iuni, 15th month, year 151 of the Research center restricted - access to the video of the 32nd Iuni, 15th month, year 151 of the Instruction center restricted - access to the video of the 32nd Iuni, 15th month, year 151 of the plaza restricted¡± Military center They entered the interrogation room. ¡°Sit please¡± said the direction with a sign of his hand. Syenah was looking intensively at him, piercing his eyes with her fierce look. She sat down in front of him and was the one who broke the silence. ¡°I understand, given the circumstances why some would suspect me, but let¡¯s be honest, wouldn¡¯t I be more useful on the battlefield than in this tiny room answering probably dumb questions ?¡± ¡°You¡¯re accused of treason, Syenah. Those allegations cannot be taken lightly.¡± ¡°Who would accuse me of that ?¡± ¡°The state. Your own daughter is leading a terrorist attack against the city.¡± ¡°This is ridiculous. Who would believe that ? Do you ? Do you actually believe that ?¡± ¡°It doesn¡¯t matter what I believe, Syenah. I know you, you¡¯re an ambitious woman who would do anything for power. And I know how you raised your daughter, she is basically an empty puppet who is ready to please you for a bit of recognition.¡± ¡°So what, I planned a coup d¡¯etat now ? You know me better than that. I wouldn¡¯t use a bunch of dumb students for that. Use a bit of force against them and they will falter.¡± ¡°And yet we¡¯re the ones losing.¡± Syenah didn¡¯t know what to say. Her first thought was to just kill her daughter. But she quickly realized the gravity of her situation. Her own daughter was a terrorist. Both her parents were Heroes, and detained precious information that could cause the destruction of Yellen. They¡¯ve already lost the trust of their team and superior. She had to really think about what to say in order to save her status. That was the only issue that mattered. But her daughter being a terrorist ? Convincing her comrades of committing treason and going against society? That didn¡¯t sound like Yeetlhy at all. She made sure that the child would be nothing more than just a doll. The director looked somewhere else, then stood up. ¡°I have to go. This situation is getting out of hand. Stay here and take some time to reflect on your actions. We will come back to deal with you and your husband once we¡¯ve stopped your daughter.¡± They left the room and locked the door. Something was off. Yes the situation wasn¡¯t in her favor, but accusing her entire family of treason when she worked so hard to obtain the status of Hero. It was obvious, they wanted to hide something and put the blame on her. ¡°Like I¡¯m gonna let you ruin my life.¡± she thought. Syenah looked at the door, she could easily open something like that, she just needed to override it. Took her a few minutes to unlock the door and run outside. Benhart was standing in front of the main hall, assessing the situation. She passed by him without giving in much thought. She had to feel the air. The Instruction center was completely destroyed. The Decision center was burning down. Corpses were covering the plaza. And the possessed were aimlessly wandering around. In the middle of that chaos stood Yeetlhy. She didn¡¯t look like the scared little girl that she raised. There was something divine about her. She was standing among them, and yet her look and aura was surpassing them. This sight was hurting Syenah¡¯s pride. ¡°How dare she act so high and mighty when she is nothing but an eyesore¡­¡± She grinds her teeth. Yeetlhy didn¡¯t give the hero a single glimpse and walked towards the Research center. Syenah was even more angered by this. The Heroe didn¡¯t hesitate to attack her. Benhart walked out to stop her. ¡°Don¡¯t get too close to her.¡± He yelled. But Syenah wouldn¡¯t listen. Her ego was her fatal flaw. She pulled out her two swords and aimed for her daughter¡¯s head. Syenah was fast, but Yeetlhy was faster. The girl crouched, put one hand on the ground and spinned her leg to give it more strength before kicking her mother¡¯s left leg. Syenah lost balance but compensated by using her water sword. She jumped above her daughter to get back on her two feet. She flipped her water sword, turned around and tried to cut Yeetlhy in half with her fire sword. Then again, Yeetlhy was faster, she avoided it and used that opportunity to grab her mother¡¯s hands. A water dagger appeared from the back of Syenah¡¯s feet and she raised it toward the girl¡¯s throat. It was a sharp and precise blow. The hero was sure of her success. But she couldn¡¯t attain her target. Something was stopping her. When she looked at her child¡¯s face, she saw a distorted smile that gave her shivers. Her leg started to tremble before breaking into pieces. The pain was unbearable. Syenah couldn¡¯t control her screams. Her whole body started breaking. Her bones would shatter into parts and go back together again and again. Yeetlhy eventually let go. Benhart was looking at the whole fight with terror in his eyes. He saw his wife getting back on her feet and knew that it was over. He pulled out his gun and ran towards Yeetlhy. He wanted to die as a hero. Chapter 9 chapter 9 Yeetlhy didn¡¯t feel like she was part of this world anymore. She could only watch from afar, her few attempts to get back control of her body meaningless. Why were they all trying to kill her ? Why wasn¡¯t anyone out there ready to save her ? She was hurt on so many levels. The moment her body grabbed her mother, she could feel all the hatred Syenah had for her. What did the poor teenager do to deserve this harsh treatment ? Yeetlhy was spiraling between confusion, chaos and despair. She screamed and cried, begging to get her body back. Anger took over and she started throwing punches at the windows. Each punch felt like a knife was stabbing her heart. She was feeling the fear and sorrow of all these people she was connected to. The girl soon calmed down. What was happening to her ? Why her ? How was she able to see so many different views at the same time ? It felt like she had eyes everywhere¡­ eyes ? What if she does have eyes everywhere ? She could feel the pain of those people and hear their thoughts, and also see what they see. She got closer to the windows, trying to find clues, little details that would help her comprehend her situation. Yeetlhy soon noticed that when her body grabbed someone, a window would appear. Is this what happened to her ? Has someone grabbed her and pushed her consciousness out of her body ? The girl always felt like someone somewhere was watching her. She could feel eyes staring deep into her heart, waiting for a moment of weakness. She always attributed that feeling to her parents'' abusive behavior, but what if she was wrong ? What if someone was actually watching her ? But why and how ? There is no kind of magic in this world that could control someone¡¯s mind, or so she thought. And if that was true, how to stop them ? Yeetlhy was stuck in some kind of mind space, unable to do anything, while the others out there were trying to kill her and were failing at that. ¡°It¡¯s not me !¡± she screamed at the windows ¡°Please save me, please !¡±, while looking at the soldiers'' desperate attempt to execute her. ¡°Why ? Why me ? I¡¯m no one ! I don¡¯t have any powers, any friends, any family. I¡¯m just a stupid clueless girl hated by everyone ! What do you want ? What do you want from me ?!¡± Asked the young girl knowing that no one would answer her. Yeetlhy was partially looking at the windows, her mind was wandering, dozing off. Her eyes set on a view of the inside of the Decision center. The fire was almost extinguished. The whole building was now in ruins. But it isn¡¯t what attracted her. There was something special. As she focused, a flood of information came to her. She knew the name, age, address, the job, and details of the person whose window belonged to. The flow of information naturally came to her. Yeetlhy tried the same on other windows and the same phenomenon happened. This rekindled the flame of hope in her heart. The girl lost focus again when she stumbled upon her mother¡¯s and father¡¯s windows. That is when she realized that her parents were dead, that all of this was really happening. It was probably a dumb thought, to realize only now that it wasn¡¯t all a dream. Her hand reached the window, and like drawn to it, she crossed the window and fell. After a few minutes, Yeetlhy finally landed on the ground. The room was completely different from the window space. She could see the surrounding area, a desert, completely surrounding her. The fog prevented her from seeing the sky. She walked around a bit before hearing voices. Once Yeetlhy arrived at the source of the voices, the room changed. The ground moved, and the fog made way for the sky. Yeetlhy was now in the middle of a destroyed house. She could hear explosions and people screaming far away. She looked more in the room and saw a small group of people in the corner. They were taking care of a pregnant woman. Yeetlhy never saw clothes like that before. But she recognized the person who was about to give birth. It was her mother. And she recognized the place as she studied it so much in history class and during her personal time. It was the mountain of Milesra. Meaning that the group of people around her were rebels. Soldiers would never wear those kinds of uniforms. They were all around Syenah. Helping her the best they could. Yeetlhy finally heard it. The screams of a baby. She became the witness of her own birth. ¡°Get rid of that thing.¡± Yelled Syenah while pointing her sword at the rebels. The group was taken aback. The person holding the baby strengthened her grip. ¡°We can¡¯t leave the baby with her !¡± said one of the rebels. ¡°How do you want us to survive in the wild with a baby ? Should we invite the soldiers to play Mommy&Daddy with us ?¡± The group remained silent for a bit. Syenah silently took her sword and changed it into a gun. She then infused her magic forming a water arrow. She aimed at the baby but lost consciousness almost immediately. The arrow disappeared. ¡°We have to take her. We can¡¯t let this baby with a person like that. It¡¯s like killing her ourselves.¡± ¡°It¡¯s not our responsibility. Can you say with confidence right now that this baby will survive without endangering our lives ? If not, then leave the baby here.¡± The group heard soldiers coming their way. They put down the baby near Syenah and ran away. Soldiers invaded the room and carried the hero and her baby back to their camp. The room changed back to the desert. Yeetlhy was confused. ¡°What was that ?¡± she thought, ¡°was it a hallucination or was it really a memory ?¡± The room changed again. ¡°For the record, I¡¯m Limo. I work for the research center. More exactly in the cristal department. The heroes Syenah and Behnart requested an appointment. I usually don¡¯t accept any appointments, but an exception was made. Now how can I help you ?¡± said a middle-aged bald man. ¡°You might want to turn that record off.¡± said Syenah. ¡°That is not how it works, and you know that. Archive records everything whether you like it or not.¡± replied Limo. ¡°Indeed,¡± replied Benhart, ¡°but we thought you might want to keep this conversation private.¡± The bald man in a white blouse looked at them suspiciously. ¡°Fine, Archive, I command you, as the head director of the cristal department, to deny access to this record to those who have an accreditation lower than mine. Confirm command.¡± ¡°Record - Command confirmed - Those with a status lower than HEAD DIRECTOR OF THE CRISTAL DEPARTMENT will be denied the access to this record.¡± answered Archive. ¡°Good. Now, what can I do for you ?¡± Asked Limo. ¡°Due to our status, we have a lot of privileges, which also comes with a lot of responsibilities, of course.¡± replied Benhart, smiling, ¡°And as you¡¯re aware, my position in the Military center allows me access to pretty much every area, including daily responsibilities like simple police work.¡± Stolen from its rightful place, this narrative is not meant to be on Amazon; report any sightings. Limo was listening to this long monologue, waiting for the Hero to drop the ball. ¡°I keep a close eye on what is going on inside this colony. And I couldn¡¯t help but notice that every year, on the aptitude test, one or two students disappear.¡± The bald man flinched but quickly regained his composure. ¡°Well that is terrible, is there anything I can do to help ?¡± ¡°Yes, there is. From what I¡¯ve seen, every file concerning those cases disappears as soon as they are created. And I¡¯ve noticed that you and your team also disappear for a few days when it happens. Which makes me think that first, you have something to do with those disappearances.¡± ¡°That is outrageous,¡± interrupted Limo, ¡°you¡¯re accusing me of something this serious on circumstantial grounds.¡± ¡°And second, your work is clearly an unofficial but very approved secret project.¡± Limo went silent. ¡°It¡¯s not a threat.¡± proclaimed Syenah. ¡°That¡¯s right,¡± added Benhart, ¡°if this was approved by the government, we don¡¯t have any reason to attack you. You have nothing to fear from us. We are here to strike a deal with you.¡± ¡°What deal ?¡± ¡°We don¡¯t know what you¡¯re doing with those children, and we don¡¯t care. But during this year¡¯s aptitude test, we want you to pick our daughter as one of your lab experiments, I think.¡± answered Syenah with a calm that gave Limo shivers. ¡°If I may ask, why do you want to get rid of her ? She is your child.¡± ¡°She is nothing but a nuisance.¡± coldly responded Syenah, ¡°A stupid girl who doesn¡¯t know her place. A failure to my bloodline.¡± ¡°She was a mistake.¡± proclaimed Benhart with a much calmer tone and face, ¡°She wasn¡¯t wanted, but once Syenah got pregnant, we couldn¡¯t really go backwards. We tried to raise her, but she causes trouble everywhere she goes. She doesn¡¯t have any magic in her. I¡¯m sure she will be more useful to you than to our society.¡± ¡°No magic, huh¡­¡± whispered Limo, a smirk on his face. ¡°Deal. I will do it. Remember to keep this a secret.¡± Benhart and Syenah both nodded their heads as a sign of approval. Limo escorted the heroes outside. The room changed again. Yeetlhy had a hard time breathing. She couldn¡¯t accept what she saw. ¡°I need to leave. Let me out. LET ME OUT.¡± Yeetlhy screamed more and more. Until she was too tired to stand. She closed her eyes and let her mind go blank. When she opened her eyes. She was back in the window space. She stared at the windows for a while. The young girl couldn¡¯t stop thinking about what she just learned. ¡°They kidnapped children during the aptitude test. And no one questioned it. The decision center even approved it. They knew about it and decided to sell me to them. Why ? Was I that bad of a daughter ? What did I do so wrong ? Why me ? Mom, please. No¡­ Why¡­What were they going to do to me ?¡± The young girl sat there in disbelief. Deep down she always knew that her parents never loved her, but not to the extent of ending her life. What would her parents have done with her if Limo hadn¡¯t taken the deal ? Then it clicked. Limo, he was the one. He did something to her. The Head director of the cristal department was the one controlling her body. She was sure of it. Yeetlhy looked at a window. This one belonged to the president of the decision center. He knew about everything. Archive always reports everything to the president and obeys each and every of his commands. He approved of Limo¡¯s wrongdoing. She dived in. After the fall was over. Yeetlhy heard voices that felt familiar. It became clearer once the room changed. She was now inside what seems to be Limo¡¯s office. The President of the Decision center was there too. It was unusual for him to go out of the Decision Center since there¡¯s an entire wing that deals with reports from the different centers of Yellen. The young girl already had a bad feeling about Limo. Now the whole meeting that she was witnessing felt even more suspicious. She already knew that the Decision center was involved in Limo¡¯s work. And she had a hunch that soon, she will learn how deep they¡¯re implicated in. ¡°Sir.¡± ¡°Limo ! I¡¯m glad that you agreed to meet me. We have a lot to talk about you and me.¡± ¡°It¡¯s always an honor to welcome the President of the Decision center. This is actually not the first time that a President of the Decision Center requested a meeting with me. I think the first encounter I had with your predecessors goes back to 25 years ago.¡± ¡°27 years ago to be accurate. This is actually the main order of this meeting. From what I know, you were at that time in charge of a special project for our society.¡± Limo was distraught. ¡°Yes Sir, that is true.¡± he said with a trembling voice. ¡°I also know that the reason you met my predecessor 27 years ago was to shut down this project.¡± ¡°That is also correct.¡± The president sat on Limo¡¯s desk, nodding and lost in thoughts. The head director was troubled by the president¡¯s strange behavior. ¡°I¡¯m gonna tell you a little story, Limo. When I was a child, I dreamed of big things. I thought I would conquer the outside world, rule it and bring peace on Aglion. I dreamed of united colonies following a single lead. And I thought I would be the one leading them. But I grew up among people who didn¡¯t believe in me. They would tell me that I didn¡¯t fit in this society. That I didn¡¯t have the capabilities to guide Yellen into a brighter future. As I grew up, I met people who I deeply respected, ordering me around. They said they were helping me. They said they would find my place in this society. One day, I decided to go against them. I would be the one choosing my path. Not others. Through a lot of sweat and hard work, I raised my status and value. And now look at me. I am the President of the Decision Center of Yellen. The highest status someone can have after god.¡± The president paused his monologue and looked at Limo in the eyes. ¡°Do you know why I¡¯m telling you this Limo ?¡± ¡°No sir¡± responded Limo, feverish. ¡°Because those people may have been wrong about my value, but they had much more knowledge about me than I had about myself. They knew exactly what to do, when to do it and why. I want to be that kind of person. I want to give the opportunity to people like me to be that kind of person.¡± ¡°I understand sir. But how am I of use here ?¡± ¡°It¡¯s quite simple actually. I want the restoration of the dark flame project. And I want you to lead it. We will reinstated the facilities as well as the procedures. The goal will be the same. Except this time you will have to learn from your mistakes.¡± ¡°But Sir, this project has been shut down for a reason. If we¡¯ve met with another rebellion like last time, we might not be able to hide it from the population.¡± ¡°Then you just need to do better than last time. Pick better scientists. Create better procedures. Make better tests. The Decision center will help you with whatever you need. This project was created for a reason. It was closed for a reason. Now we have reasons to open it again.¡± ¡°But Sir, if we¡­¡± Limo stopped talking. His eyes went blank. ¡°That¡¯s why I hate it when people don¡¯t do as they¡¯re told. I wouldn¡¯t have to use such manipulation if they knew their places. Don¡¯t worry Limo, everything will go as planned. Just accept my offer.¡± When Limo regained consciousness, the President had already left. He didn''t know how the meeting ended. The only thing Limo was convinced of is that the dark flame project was now reinstated and that he somehow agreed with it. He got up. ¡°I have to go to work now.¡± Yeetlhy didn¡¯t wait for the room to change and immediately went back to the window space. She had now the certainty that the President wasn¡¯t normal. They have the power to manipulate people. The President was the one manipulating her. They must definitely be involved in the chaos that was happening outside right now. But this scenario confused Yeetlhy even more. Why would a person who already has control over everything try to destroy it all ? Maybe the president wasn¡¯t the only person like that. If this was the case, it probably meant that a lot of those persons with special abilities were living incognito. She suddenly felt her body rushing towards the research center. But the feeling was overpowering her. It wasn¡¯t just her body. All the possessed people were running in the direction of the research center. An image was stuck in her mind. One of a cristal. Chapter 10 Chapter 10 The primary resources of Aglion and the source of magic: the cristal. Originally protected by the sturdiest metal in the universe with electromagnetic properties capable of disrupting the functioning of any electronic tools. It took years for the miners to pierce the wall of metal surrounding the cristal. The Research center of Yellen was quickly able to monopolize it. They believed the cristal was a sentient being, and that Aglion was its body. This is what gave Yellen the power to govern over the colonies. Seizing control of the cristal would be the fatal blow that would end Yellen¡¯s supremacy. Not just Yellen, but the entire planet. The crystal has an impact on all the inhabitants of Aglion, including the animal kingdom and the flora. Support the creativity of authors by visiting Royal Road for this novel and more. Yeetlhy had to stop the president before his endeavor for power killed any more people. The girl looked for her own window. Each window matched a possessed one, so there must be one for her. Flashes and urges struck her multiple times, which slowed down her research. She had to fight against the strong will of the president. Yeetlhy raised her hand, one of her fingers grazed upon a window, like a drop of water in the ocean. The girl felt a connection. She screamed at her body to stop moving, and it did. She barely had time to realize what had happened. A black vine winded up around her wrist and pulled her down. She fell on her back, rapidly stood up, grabbed the vine with her other hand and released her wrist. But another vine appeared and wrapped itself around her ankle. She fell down again, three other vines appeared to immobilize the remaining members of her body. They pulled her away from the windows. Yeetlhy was wiggling around as hard as she could. Another vine winded around her neck causing the girl to stop moving. She was scared. Was she going to die ? More vines were penetrating her body through her mouth. The girl closed her eyes, she felt an opening, a dive. A way to temporarily escape this suffering. Yeetlhy took that opportunity. She fell. It was long and dark. Chapter 11 Chapter 11 Yeetlhy was floating in an empty space, which looked more like a void when she thought about it. It wasn¡¯t peaceful, nor chaotic. The space in itself was draining Yeetlhy of everything. Her feelings, her memories, her personality. It was turning her into a hollow shell. The girl was conscious of what was happening to her. She tried to fight it at first, but soon forgot what she was fighting and why. Everything was blurry to her. Yeetlhy knew it wasn¡¯t normal and questioned it, but stopped after deeming it irrelevant. Time passed. The girl couldn¡¯t tell how long. She had forgotten her face and her name. She was no one and she was nothing. It was as if the space and her had merged together. She finally heard something calling her out of her torpor. Pain, fear slowly started to rise inside of her. It became despair. Turned into rage. A rage that Yeetlhy had never felt before. An intense and burning rage that couldn¡¯t be repressed. She opened her eyes and saw blood. Someone was lying on the ground. That person seemed badly hurt, no chance of survival. Yeetlhy oddly felt nothing while watching this dying person in front of her. She couldn¡¯t see that person¡¯s face, but she heard them uttering something. ¡°I wish for their deaths, I wish for ¡­.¡± Yeetlhy couldn¡¯t comprehend what was said, and didn¡¯t need to. The fury she was feeling was enough. Those who had hurt that person had to pay with their lives. They had to suffer, cry and scream, they had to feel a pain so unbearable that killing themselves would be the only way to be relieved from the suffering. Yeetlhy closed her eyes. When she opened them, the planet didn¡¯t exist anymore. It was nothing but a pile of meteors. Every trace of life turned into ashes and dust. A horrifying sight that Yeetlhy enjoyed. She took pleasure in committing this evil deed. The feeling didn¡¯t last long and soon enough the girl found herself needing more. It was time to visit another world. Yeetlhy saw a very prosperous and beautiful land. Where all beings seemed to live in harmony. What picked her curiosity was this family of three persons. Living in caves, incredibly kind and generous to others despite the fact that they were extremely poor and malnourished. She wondered why they were living like this when they had the possibility to go out and eat to their heart¡¯s content. She stayed with them for a while. One day the child collapsed. They needed food. The parents decided to go out. That is the moment Yeetlhy understood why they lived in caves, scared for their lives. The moment the parents stepped foot outside, giant birds appeared out of nowhere, grabbed them with their talons and ripped them apart before leaving their corpses on the ground. The birds didn¡¯t kill for food, they did it for fun. This sight deeply angered Yeetlhy. She felt the same fury she felt the first time. It was intense. She closed her eyes and opened them. The world was covered in lava. The birds were all flying as much as they could to escape it, but all fell from exhaustion and died. Yeetlhy left this world, satisfied with the outcome. This tale has been unlawfully obtained from Royal Road. If you discover it on Amazon, kindly report it. The same pattern happened over and over again. She would close her eyes. She would open them. She would witness the consequences of her action. Chaos, screams, blood, death and destruction. Yeetlhy became the origin of multiple world''s end, and it made her stronger. And she loved it. It became her life¡¯s purpose. More than 75 years had passed, and Yeetlhy had destroyed countless worlds, devoured a considerable amount of cristals. As she was traveling from one world to another, she was met with an irregularity in her schedule. Colorful lights were flying around her. And before she could understand what happened, Yeetlhy found herself locked up. The more time she spent in that prison, the weaker she got. It took hundreds and hundreds of years for her to finally escape. She was too weak to fulfill her goal and had to wait. After 300 years of gathering her forces, Yeetlhy was finally strong enough to perform her duty. During those years of captivity and waiting, she found herself a new hobby. Using her mind instead of pure force. She seemed to enjoy playing with people¡¯s lives instead of instantly destroying everything, it was entertaining to slowly crush the inhabitant¡¯s hopes. Yeetlhy absolutely loved creating conflict between them. It was a slower process compared to the immediate destruction of a world, but it was a safer and a much more productive way to gain strength. For her first experiment, she decided to influence the development of a technology that she was sure would one day be the keystone of this world¡¯s destruction. After succeeding in her plan, she went to another world. For her second experiment, Yeetlhy didn¡¯t want to just influence the person, she wanted to live the experience to its fullest. That¡¯s when she saw it, a powerful host who was destined to suffer. Even better, the host was a baby, if Yeetlhy managed it well, she would be able to take over the world easily. Instead of destroying the world, she could use it for an even greater plan. She hid her existence inside the baby¡¯s mind and lived for 16 years inside of it. The day came when she was powerful enough to pull out her plan. Yeetlhy looked at herself in the mirror. She had a strange feeling of deja vu. She brushed it off. She had seen so many faces throughout the years. She possessed more and more people and took great delight in absorbing their memories and emotions. She could feel their pain and crush it with her own hands. But each face was familiar to her and made her feel uneasy. Something was off with this world and this body. She couldn¡¯t tell what exactly. Yeetlhy¡¯s uneasiness grew more when she saw a peculiar woman attacking her. She didn¡¯t know why, but she was excited to make her suffer. As if she was waiting for this moment her entire life. The excitement was at its paroxysm when she broke every bone in that woman¡¯s body over and over again. Yeetlhy simply couldn¡¯t get enough of that woman¡¯s pain. She remembered then. There was someone else. She let go of the woman to face the man. She smiled. Once it was done, the girl walked towards this building they called the Research Center. The body stopped moving. It was the original owner taking back control. Yeetlhy pushed back the mind deep down and kept going. Chapter 12 - end of season 1 Chapter 12 The being finally entered the research center, followed by its army of possessed. Ordering them to attack and kill every scientist inside. When it advanced towards the elevator, the being noticed multiple airships harboring the flags of the colonies they were serving. It stopped walking and focused on the soldiers that were flying down from the airships. That would delay its plan, but they needed to be taken care of. The being and its army may be robust, but not enough to overpower an army five times stronger. How could it buy enough time ? It looked up at the airships. Yellen and its inhabitants had no value for the being now that it knew where the cristal was. The best plan that comes to mind was to use the airships and destroy the soldiers on the ground. The problem was now to initiate their fall. It could pierce them using their own magic, but it needed its strength to overthrow the cristal. Was there someone else among the possessed who was a dark flame user ? The former president of Yellen, he wasn¡¯t as powerful as the host, but his magic should do the work. By injecting some of his magic into one of the weapons, the president should be able to create a spear that would pierce the airships. Unexpectedly, the possessed ones were not as invincible as the being thought. They couldn¡¯t die, but could be immobilized. The soldiers materialized a giant water bubble in which the possessed couldn¡¯t escape. But they were too late and were unable to prevent the president from carrying out the being¡¯s plan. When the soldiers looked up, the five airships were falling. The impact caused an explosion that annihilated all living beings. The plaza and the centers were now erased from the landscape. As for the being, it wasn¡¯t there to witness the scene. It was standing alone in the elevator, going deep down towards the cristal. The detonation obviously shook the earth. Enough to stop the elevator. ¡°Archive, restart the elevator.¡± said the being with the president¡¯s voice. ¡°Record- command confirmed¡± answered Archive. Help support creative writers by finding and reading their stories on the original site. The lift opened in a hallway. There were a multitude of locked doors. The being approached and overrode each one of them. There were a multitude of people imprisoned in those rooms. Unaware of what was happening outside. The being smiled. They were all dark flame users, all good living batteries. It grabbed them by the arms and absorbed them. The kids all tried to fight back, but it was useless. The host¡¯s magic was stronger than anything else and their souls were all crushed like ants. The being went back to the lift. There were no traces of life left on this floor. The bodies completely vanished, absorbed by the being. As it was going deeper and deeper, the being could feel the power of the cristal repulsing it. Like a heart beating. The being would receive offensive pulsation, making it feel uncomfortable, but not enough to stop it. Maybe the cristal wasn¡¯t as strong as the being thought it would be, not like it mattered. Just the thought of such an important organism being at its mercy made it thrill. Every step it took was a step closer to accomplishing its destiny. What it was born for. After hundreds and hundreds of years, It was finally able to fulfill the wish of its creator. A door opened, and what Yeetlhy saw through the window was probably the most beautiful thing she had ever seen in her entire life. So beautiful that it gave her enough light to shed a few tears, but not enough to give her hope. The closer she got from the cristal, the more she felt her soul being torn up. It was rejecting her, it was afraid of her, afraid of dying. The pain was strong, and the girl was simply accepting it, she was in a state of peaceful agony. Yeetlhy wasn¡¯t the master of her life anymore. She was just a puppet. The being approached and grabbed the cristal. It was so small and looked so fragile that if it wanted to, it could break it. But the being had other plans. It poured its magic inside, converted the cristal, claiming it, claiming nature, claiming life over the planet, becoming the planet. It could feel everything. The footsteps on the ground, the wind blowing, the plants growing, like someone was touching its skin. It was satisfying to have control, this much power into the palm of its hand. Having a human body was really inconvenient. But since the being was all powerful now, it was easy for it to merge its body with the planet. It still wasn¡¯t enough, though. the wish wasn¡¯t fulfilled yet, it needed more planets, more destruction, more deaths. Yeetlhy was lost. Season 2 - chapter 1 Chapter 13 The shadow was standing in front of the girl, ready to attack her. ¡°You !¡± screamed someone behind her, ¡°Project the magic now !¡± The girl turned around. When Blair saw that man running towards her and screaming nonsense, she felt a sudden connection to the world and the reality. A sensation she only felt when she was with her twin brother, Jo. Fixed in reality, fused with her emotions. ¡°Blair ! Are you okay ?¡± screamed Jo, who was running alongside the other guy. In all the chaos, the girl felt relieved upon seeing the most precious person she had in the world. The sudden flow of emotions inside of her made her cry. She opened her mouth but no sound could come out. She wanted to tell Jo about how much she missed him, how sad she was that she never saw him again after he went to prison, about how scared she was right now, and how she was worried about him. Blair never had to deal with those emotions before. And the situation she was in wouldn¡¯t really allow her to take the time to express herself. The shadow extended its long arms towards the girl. ¡°Move you idiot !¡± yelled the stranger. He grabbed her arm and pulled her back. ¡°I don¡¯t know which one of you is my partner, but you should project your magic soon otherwise we¡¯re done.¡± he shouted. Jo dragged his sister behind his back to protect her. ¡°You don¡¯t get to talk to her like that.¡± He said, clearly pissed. The stranger was about to retort when the shadow jumped towards the three adults. One of its arms was distorted. Tiny hands grew from it and tried to grab them. Luckily for them, a wind shield stopped the attack and pushed the hands back. Two other voices came out from behind. ¡°Now, now, children. There is no need to fight each other.¡± said the elderly woman who was advancing towards them very slowly. ¡°She is right,¡± said an elderly man walking near her, ¡°we are here to protect you. Let¡¯s take a deep breath, youngsters. Jo, bring your sister to the dragonline. You will be safer there. And Sasha, accompany them.¡± ¡°But what about this demon ?¡± asked the man whose name was Sasha. ¡°We will deal with it.¡± said the old woman ¡°do not worry about it young boy, we will follow you.¡± After a few glances were exchanged, Jo grabbed Blair¡¯s hand and they both started running towards a dark alley. Blair, who was still caught up in all her emotions, looked at her brother and couldn¡¯t help but remember the past. Blair didn¡¯t have many fond memories of her childhood. The world always seemed dull in her eyes. Nothing ever picked her interest. Her parents would enroll her and her brother in multiple activities: piano, sports, painting and acting. She never outright refused to participate, it was simply better than doing nothing. As a child, Blair felt comfortable around her twin brother, who was experiencing the same disconnection to reality as her. Their lack of care and empathy for others were blamed on their age. ? Kids are immature and don¡¯t know any better. ? It never really bothered Blair at that time, mostly because she never gave much thought to those remarks. She was simply discovering the world with Jo. Maybe by observing more of those around her, she could understand them. Blair always remembered her first day at elementary school. There were a lot more kids and noises than what she was used to. ¡°Why are they all running around and chatting ?¡± she thought. At the sound of the bell, the teachers called their students one by one. Jo and Blair were in the same class, but not seated at the same table. This deeply annoyed Blair. ¡°Can I be next to Jo please ?¡± asked Blair to her teacher. ¡°No¡± answered the teacher ¡°I took a long time to think about the seating. To avoid any disturbance, you won¡¯t be seated next to him. It is the same rule for everyone.¡± ¡°But I wanna be next to Jo!¡± screamed Blair. Her brother joined the conversation. ¡°Me too.¡± said the little boy ¡°I want to be near Blair.¡± ¡°I said no¡± affirmed the teacher with a decisive tone ¡°go back to your seats.¡± The other students began to intervene, asking to change their seats. Some even started crying. ¡°Silence!¡± shouted the teacher. The situation angered Blair even more. Jo threw his table and chair over. He then took his backpack and threw it at the teacher. As for Blair, she started screaming as loud as she could. The director of the school arrived. ¡°What is happening here ?¡± asked the director. Before the teacher could answer, Blair cried and screamed. ¡°I wanna be next to my twin brother.¡± ¡°So be it. Why didn¡¯t you allow it?¡± The teacher was caught off guard. ¡°I designed a specific seating for the students so that there won¡¯t be any disturbance in my class.¡± ¡°They are five, let them sit wherever they want.¡± retorted the director in a condescending tone before leaving. ¡°Fine,¡± said the teacher, who seemed less confident than before the intervention of the director. ¡°Blair, you can sit next to Jo.¡± The twins both happily screamed. Contrary to the teacher¡¯s belief, the students were calm and attentive once they were able to sit where they wanted. The world was boring, and the people around were useless. Those thoughts spawned in Blair¡¯s mind soon after she arrived in middle school. She knew her brother was feeling the same. Maybe it was because the teachers there wouldn¡¯t allow them to sit next to each other. No matter how many times she screamed, it didn¡¯t change anything. The school would call her parents. Her parents would scold her for her childish behavior. With time, she accepted her fate. Blair grew naturally distant from her brother. They stopped hanging out, even at home. There was no explanation for that, except that¡¯s what it was now. Sometimes she could see Jo getting in trouble and fighting with the other kids. It didn¡¯t really annoy her. ¡° One of us is having fun I guess¡± she thought, ¡°he found something to do. At least he isn¡¯t bored all day.¡± The classes were long and boring, the other kids were talking too much about tedious things like love, romance, tv shows and sex. Blair couldn¡¯t understand what was so fascinating about all this. After hearing her comrades talk about certain tv shows and music, she tried to look into it. Nothing was good enough for her. She labeled every activity that was proposed to her as a waste of time. Blair even attempted to befriend them. But she was unable to truly hold a conversation with someone and she failed. Her parents were called to the school countless times for Jo¡¯s violent habits, each time they blamed Blair for being unable to control her brother. And yet she didn¡¯t care. When Blair looked at them, she wasn¡¯t pleased to see them, reassured by their presence, scared to disappoint them or angry that they talked to her like that. She felt nothing. At some point it made her curious. Why do other people seem to have emotions she doesn''t ? What was wrong with those people ? Or maybe something was wrong with her ? Is that why her parents brought her and Jo to a therapist ? At first, she was simply curious about this therapist, who was he and why was he talking to her ? Blair was finally able to converse freely with someone, other than her brother, about her understanding of the world. She thought those conversations were stimulating. It didn¡¯t change her perspective, nor did she develop empathy , but she thought it would help her gain some guidance. ¡°What happened this week Blair ? Anything you want to talk about ?¡± asked the therapist. Blair was sitting on the ground, folding papers. ¡°There was an exam at school about geography.¡± ¡°Was it easy ?¡± ¡°Yeah, it¡¯s not that complicated to remember the names of the different countries and seas, and to place them on a map.¡± ¡°For some people it can be complicated.¡± ¡°I guess.¡± ¡°Anything else happened ? Has your brother gotten into another fight ?¡± ¡°Yeah. Against Timothy. Timothy went at him first. But Jo is stronger so he kicked his butt. I think it¡¯s the second time since he was suspended.¡± ¡°And what did your parents say ?¡± ¡°They¡¯re looking for another school for him. They also punished him. He can¡¯t go out of his room except when he needs to do chores and eat.¡± ¡°That doesn¡¯t sound easy for you. He must be monopolizing all of their attention.¡± ¡°I¡¯m fine. Like I said last week, I don¡¯t really need their attention.¡± ¡°I see. You also said last time that you wanted to befriend that boy, Elli ?¡± ¡°Yeah, because the other kids were bullying him, so I thought maybe we were the same.¡± ¡°How did it go ?¡± ¡°I don¡¯t know. He hates everyone, it¡¯s kinda boring.¡± ¡°Is it because he is being bullied that he hates everyone ?¡± ¡°Yes, and also because he has bad grades, and his parents don¡¯t listen to him.¡± ¡°Seems to me like you''re in a similar situation to him.¡± ¡°I guess, yeah. It probably looks like that.¡± ¡°What makes you think that you¡¯re so different from him?¡± ¡°Because¡­ He cares so much. He cares about his parents, and the other students. I don¡¯t get why.¡± ¡°Probably because his parents and the students, those people who neglect him and hurt him, their actions have a direct influence over his life.¡± The therapist paused a bit, ¡°And I think that¡¯s why you¡¯re drawn to him. I believe it¡¯s a good thing to hang out with him. This friendship might help you understand the world, but also yourself.¡± ¡°I know myself.¡± ¡°But you can¡¯t affirm that you will always stay the same.¡± ¡°I don¡¯t see myself being different though.¡± ¡°You can¡¯t know something before experiencing it. That is a rule which can be applied to everyone. When you were born, do you think your parents would have seen all the problems that came with parenthood and childcare ? Of course not ! No one is ever prepared for that because life is unpredictable. You don¡¯t know what will happen to you, and that¡¯s okay.¡± Blair looked at her therapist for a while. She had folded all the papers on the table. ¡°I guess you¡¯re right.¡± she said, satisfied with the conversation. Once she entered highschool, Blair gained much more freedom, probably due to her perfect behavior compared to her twin brother. Her parents seemed to trust her more than Jo, and allowed her to wander wherever she wanted. She soon completely stopped thinking about her twin brother. She understood that him being in prison was the consequences of his own actions. Blair simply needed to find something or someone else to make her feel alive and complete. It was around that time that she got in contact with drugs. She was going to the park near her school. At the entrance were sitting and laying down some of her classmates. Blair looked at them with curiosity while they were taking their drugs. ¡°Why are they doing this?¡± she thought. ¡°Hey!¡± One of them was looking at her, probably because she was staring too much. ¡°Want some ?¡± This narrative has been purloined without the author''s approval. Report any appearances on Amazon. Blair hesitated. She was definitely interested, but didn¡¯t want her parents to punish her. ¡°Maybe next time.¡± she replied. When she got back home, Blair headed straight to her room. ¡°Life is garbage. What¡¯s wrong with wanting to have fun ? Jo has all the fun he wants, why can¡¯t I?¡± It¡¯s with that thought in mind that she woke up the next day. After school, instead of going to the park like she used to, she decided to join her classmate. ¡°So you do want to try.¡± said the girl who called Blair out the day before. ¡°Yeah, if that¡¯s not a problem ?¡± ¡°Of course not. Come on, you¡¯re gonna love it.¡± affirmed the girl while giving Blair some pills. Blair swallowed them all at once. The girl screamed at her. ¡°Oh my gosh ! Not all of them !¡± Blair looked at the girl confused. ¡°Are you crazy ?¡± Asked the girl. ¡°You¡¯re supposed to take only one.¡± ¡°Why did you give me the others then ?¡± ¡°You¡¯re not gonna come to me every time you wanna take one !¡± ¡°Is anything gonna happen to me ?¡± ¡°Nothing bad I hope. What¡¯s your name ?¡± ¡°Blair.¡± ¡°I¡¯m Louana. You¡¯re gonna stay with me for a while. I don¡¯t want anything to happen to you. Lay down here.¡± Blair nodded and obeyed Louana. The effects of the drugs were showing up. The colors were brighter, and she could feel her body getting lighter. ¡°I can see you talking.¡± said Blair. ¡°That¡¯s because I¡¯m talking to you.¡± replied Louana, amused. ¡°You know, I¡¯ve always thought you had a stick up your ass, but turns out you¡¯re nicer than I thought.¡± Blair wanted to reply but couldn¡¯t. Her thoughts were a mess. She passed out. Blair woke up a few hours later. ¡°Hey sunshine!¡± ¡°Louana ?¡± ¡°Yup it¡¯s me.¡± ¡°What happened ?¡± ¡°Nothing much. You passed out due to taking too much of these little pills.¡± she replied while shaking a plastic bag in front of her eyes.¡°What time is it ?¡± Asked Blair. ¡°Around 5pm. Here take this.¡± She threw the bag at Blair. ¡°Are you sure ?¡± ¡°Yeah, take that as a token of our new friendship. Just remember, don¡¯t take them all at once.¡± ¡°Oh. Okay. Thank you.¡± ¡°You¡¯re welcome. See you around.¡± Louana left. Blair hid the plastic bag in her coat and ran back home. When she arrived, her parents saw her pale skin and sweat. ¡°Are you okay ? What happened to you ?¡± Asked the mother, concerned. ¡°Did you get in trouble ?¡± followed the father in an accusatory tone. ¡°Arman! That¡¯s enough!¡± replied the mother. ¡°What ?! Jo is always beating the shit out of someone or in jail. Maybe something¡¯s wrong with her. Her therapist said¡­¡± ¡°Her therapist doesn¡¯t know her like we do.¡± claimed the mother, cutting the father off. ¡°Are you sick ?¡± ¡°I think I am.¡± answered Blair. ¡°I feel dizzy.¡± ¡°Okay. Go lay down in your room, I will call you when it¡¯s time to eat.¡± Blair left for her room. On her way, she was able to hear her parents arguing. ¡°You can¡¯t treat your sick child like that, Arman!¡± ¡°I know, I¡¯m sorry. It¡¯s just¡­ It¡¯s already so hard to deal with our son. I don¡¯t want our family to be any more broken. I¡¯m gonna apologize to her later, okay ?¡± ¡°Okay, I understand. But, don¡¯t treat her too harshly. I¡¯m sure she has a lot of pressure on her shoulders already. I don¡¯t want our little baby girl to fall too.¡± Blair closed the door of her room. She took out the plastic bag of pills and hid it in her room. She then took one of her calendars and decided to highlight the days she was planning on taking the drugs. Not too many times and at a low dosage so that she could control it. Time passed and without noticing, she soon became addicted to it. She was able to hide it from her parents for a while. Until her grades started to fail. Her parents, worried, decided to send her back to her therapist. ¡°Hello Blair. It¡¯s been a while. 2 or 3 years maybe ? Why are you back here ? Your parents told me you had difficulties with your grades.¡± ¡°Yeah, I don¡¯t know. It¡¯s becoming harder to focus on class nowadays. And I¡¯m having a hard time memorizing the lessons.¡± ¡°Is something on your mind ?¡± ¡°I don¡¯t know.¡± ¡°Does Jo still have troubles at school ?¡± ¡°He is in prison now.¡± ¡°Oh wow.¡± ¡°Yeah. He has been in and out a lot. As soon as he gets out, he beats someone and goes back to jail.¡± ¡°That must be tough. Does that impact you ?¡± ¡°Not really. We¡¯re not that close.¡± ¡°Yeah. Do you have any friends ? Someone close to you who you can talk to about your troubles ?¡± ¡°I¡¯ve made friends.¡± ¡°That¡¯s great.¡± ¡°I¡¯m really close to them. Especially this girl Louana.¡± ¡°When did you two start to hang out together ?¡± ¡°A few months ago.¡± ¡°And what do you do with her ?¡± ¡°We hang out.¡± ¡°Is that all ?¡± ¡°We¡­ Louana, she¡­ We took some stuff. She ¡­ she gave me some stuff.¡± ¡°What stuff ?¡± ¡°Some drugs.¡± ¡°Okay.¡± ¡°And¡­ I¡¯ve been taking those pills for a while now. Since we started hanging out.¡± ¡°Why did you take them ?¡± ¡°Because¡­ I was tired of not feeling anything, and when I take those pills, I feel like I¡¯m in a completely different world.¡± ¡°I see.¡± ¡°The first time I took too many of them. But after that, I¡¯ve been taking them at a much lower dosage.¡± ¡°How many times a week did you take them ?¡± ¡°Once a week, at the beginning. But now I¡¯m more at one every two days.¡± ¡°And I assume your parents don¡¯t know about this.¡± ¡°No, I haven¡¯t told them.¡± ¡°Okay, I get it. I understand that it must be difficult to feel so different from others. The only person who feels the same way as you is in prison. You¡¯re a teenager who is having a hard time adjusting to the world.¡± Blair nodded. ¡°I can¡¯t help you right now. I don¡¯t have the means to help you. So I¡¯m gonna talk to your parents about your addiction problem, because you do have an addiction problem which is ruining your grades of course, but more importantly, is ruining your physical and mental health. So I¡¯m gonna talk to your parents, and we¡¯re gonna try to see if you can go to rehab. Are you okay with that ?¡± Blair nodded again. The therapist called her parents. When they got inside, the therapist sat them down and explained everything. ¡°I knew something was wrong with this one¡­¡± ¡°Arman !¡± screamed the mother. ¡°Oh come on Kylee. Jo is in jail all the time, why would she be different ?¡± ¡°I can¡¯t believe you would say something like that.¡± The therapist interjected. ¡°Listen, I think it is best to focus on what can be done from now on. Blair needs you. She needs your love and support.¡± ¡°Of course.¡± said the mother, crying, ¡°Anything for our baby.¡± ¡°We won¡¯t give up on you Blair.¡± declared the father, ¡°We love you. But please, don¡¯t be like Jo, don¡¯t ruin our efforts, okay ?¡± ¡°Okay, I won¡¯t.¡± replied the teenager. Two weeks later, Blair was sent to rehab. Life was different there. No school, no social obligations, no drugs available at all. It was harsh at first. The teenager was suffering from drug cessation. She was always pale, in cold sweat, her heart was hurting her. She became sensitive to sounds and lights. The group therapy was difficult for her at first, she couldn¡¯t focus on anything. The doctors made her follow a specific schedule, whether she liked it or not didn¡¯t matter. The schedule became the most important part of Blair¡¯s rehabilitation. She clung to it, as the only way to keep her sanity. A year passed before she even noticed. She was coming back from a group therapy session when she found a nurse packing her luggages. It was time for her to go home. At the main entrance stood her father. Blair approached him. The man suddenly hugged her. ¡°I missed you.¡± uttered Arman. Blair was surprised. She never saw him acting this way before. ¡°Where is mother ?¡± ¡°She is at home with Jo. He got out of prison a few days ago.¡± The man finally let go of her. ¡°Let¡¯s go home¡± he said while taking Blair¡¯s luggages. The following months were peaceful. The twins were happy to finally be reunited, and the parents were relieved to see their family whole again. The children obviously had to follow some strict rules: They were not allowed to leave the house without one of the parents; the access to the meds drawer was forbidden; and they couldn¡¯t say no to the parents¡¯ orders. Blair and Jo were spending most of their time doing chores. They were both used to following a schedule. If all the chores were completed, the two of them would go to their room to study. Their parents were impressed by their children. As long as Blair and Jo were side by side, there was no violent interaction nor drugs. One night, Blair was sitting in her bedroom, waiting for her brother and father to bring back some pizzas. She was laying in her bed, numb. Time passed without realizing that they never came back. Someone knocked on the door. She heard her mother opening it. Hungry, Blair got up. It was a police officer. Jo had gotten into a fight. Someone tried to rob them, injuring the father while doing so. Jo, in an act of rage, slammed the robber¡¯s head against the ground with his tail. The police arrived quickly and were able to put Jo in detention. Due to Jo¡¯s antecedent, he was most likely to go back to prison. As for the father, he was already at the hospital. Blair looked at them. ¡°Where are the pizzas ?¡± she asked. A trial was held, due to the circumstances of the fight, Jo had to stay in prison for only 6 months. When he got out of prison, Arman told his son that he was no longer welcome inside his house. It was the last time that Blair ever saw her twin brother. Arman and Kylee sat Blair down and warned her of the consequences of a relapse. If they saw her near a drug dealer, or found drugs in the house, they would kick her out immediately. Once Blair turned twenty, she applied to multiple jobs and found one as a secretary. Everything looked fine on the outside. Blair had a schedule and was following it. Until she met an old friend. Blair was walking back home, when she noticed a familiar face. That person noticed her too and approached her. ¡°Blair ? Blair from Aryial highschool ?¡± ¡°Louana.¡± ¡°Hey !¡± Louana taped Blair¡¯s shoulder, ¡°what happened to you, girl ? Heard you went to rehab or something ?¡± ¡°Yeah, for a year.¡± ¡°Damn, that¡¯s cool. I wish I could do the same.¡± ¡°I see.¡± ¡°You didn¡¯t change at all, you¡¯re exactly the same. That¡¯s crazy. Wanna hang out ?¡± ¡°No, thank you.¡± ¡°Come on, have some fun.¡± ¡°I¡¯m fine.¡± ¡°I know you, you¡¯re not fine. You told me multiple times how dull your life was before taking drugs.¡± ¡°I don¡¯t take drugs anymore.¡± ¡°I know, I know. I¡¯m not gonna give you any. I¡¯m simply asking you to spend some time with me. For old times sake ?¡± Blair was hesitating. ¡°Come on girl ! I swear I won¡¯t force you to take drugs or anything like that. I simply wanna spend some time with you. We missed you, you know ? Some other dudes from highschool are here too. I¡¯m sure they will be pleased to see you.¡± ¡°Fine, but I can¡¯t stay for too long, I have to go back home.¡± ¡°Why ? You¡¯ve got a kid to go back to ?¡± Blair didn¡¯t answer. The women headed towards a small dark alley. A group of young adults were sitting near the back door of a bar. ¡°Hey guys ! Look who I brought !¡± ¡°Who¡¯s that ?¡± asked a man. ¡°A friend from highschool.¡± ¡°Oh my gosh, Blair is that you ?¡± asked another man. ¡°Yeah it¡¯s her !¡± Screamed Louana, ¡°Come here girl." She said to Blair, holding her hands for her to sit down. The group started chatting and laughing. They were telling Blair about what they¡¯ve been through during the years they didn¡¯t see her. The atmosphere seemed light and playful. Until one of them got a needle out of its pocket and started to share it with the others. Blair looked at them getting high. She knew it was bad. That she had to go home. But deep down she was longing for more than a colorless life full of restrictions and schedule. She wanted more than simply being alive. Louana looked at her with a smirk on her face. ¡°I know you want it.¡± she claimed while holding the needle in her face. Blair thought about it, and the consequences that it would have on her life. She grabbed the needle. She was able to fool her parents for a while. Blair was able to keep working like she used to, and she followed her schedule. She simply added a ¡°friends night¡± on it. It was the excuse she gave to her parents so that they let her stay outside later than usual. When it really was her getting high and wasted. It all went down when she overdosed. She ended up at the hospital. Her parents were informed and came to check on her. Once they learned what happened, they left, without telling her anything. Blair was discharged from the hospital. She waited for her parents to pick her up, but they never came. So she walked home. The door was closed, so she knocked. Her father opened the door and gave her a bag and a luggage full of clothes. He didn¡¯t talk to her, nor looked at her. He simply handed her over her stuff and closed the door. Blair had nowhere to go, she contacted Louana who agreed to let her sleep on her couch. She went back to work the next morning, and was called by HR. Her parents told them about her drug addiction. They decided to fire her. She had now lost her house and her job. With the help of a social worker, Blair was able to find a new job at a supermarket. It wasn¡¯t great and she was underpaid. But that¡¯s all she had, that job and Louana. From this point Blair had completely abandoned the schedule. She would go to work and once it was done she would spend all of her time and money doing drugs with Louana. This lasted for five to six years. Until Louana passed away. She was wasted and decided to go take a nap in the ocean. She never woke up from that nap. Blair became a mess. She lost her job, couldn¡¯t pay rent so she lost a home again. It was late at night, she was walking in the city, searching for a place to sleep. A shadow appeared in front of her. It didn¡¯t look like a person. It was long and skinny, no eyes, no mouth, no tail. It tried to attack her. She dodged but fell on the ground. That¡¯s when she heard the voice of the man. Season 2 - Chapter 2 Chapter 14 Jo loved to think about his childhood when he was having a hard time. Those were the best years of his life. He always felt really close to his twin sister Blair. He felt connected to his true self when they were together. They were complementary. No activities really interested him, except when Blair was involved. They would spend the day playing and the night chatting. Their parents would bring them to the amusement park almost every day. Jo and Blair would jump all the time there. Maybe because they were taller and stronger than the average kid, they had so much energy to spend. Their parents were confused at first as to why they were more vivacious than other kids their age. Which is why they brought the twins to see a doctor. ¡°Hello big guy ! I¡¯m dr. Ruine. What¡¯s your name ?¡± ¡°My name is Jo.¡± ¡°And how old are you ?¡± ¡°I¡¯m four years old.¡± ¡°Okay. Don¡¯t move, I¡¯m going to check out your breathing and heartbeat.¡± The doctor examined the boy. ¡°What¡¯s on your hand ?¡± Asked the doctor. ¡°It¡¯s my birthmark.¡± ¡°Wow. It¡¯s quite unique.¡± ¡°Yeah. My sister has the same one on her hand. When we put our hands together, it makes a symbol.¡± ¡°I see. Everything seems to be fine. Let¡¯s check your height and weight now.¡± Jo got up and stood beside the wall. ¡°Okay¡­ You¡¯re quite tall for your age.¡± The doctor led Jo towards the scale. ¡°Good. Do you feel tired ? Do you feel like your head is spinning ?¡± Jo shook his head. The doctor looked at Arman. ¡°I don¡¯t see any problem. He is a bit taller and larger than average, but I¡¯m not concerned. He is healthy.¡± ¡°Thank you doctor.¡± ¡°You can tell your wife and daughter to come in.¡± The doctor looked back at Jo. ¡°Alright big boy ! You¡¯re all good. See you next time.¡± ¡°Goodbye.¡± said Jo. Elementary school was interesting. Jo and Blair could speak all night about what they thought was weird about their classmates and teachers. How stupid they thought their teacher was to believe they could separate them. How dumb some kids were for blocking the access to the toilets. How idiotic they were for throwing paper on the ceiling. How simple-minded they were to fight for stupid reasons like who''s the strongest. How empty-headed they were to bully other kids. And how slow they were to believe that Jo and Blair cared about their opinions. But as close as they were in elementary school, things took a different turn in middle school. Even though they were in the same class, the teachers wouldn¡¯t allow him to be seated next to Blair. Jo decided to have a talk with the director about this situation. The secretary informed the director, who let him come in. ¡°Hello, you can sit here,¡± said the director. ¡°Hello. I would like you to talk to the teachers about letting me sit near my sister.¡± ¡°What did they say when you asked them ?¡± ¡°They said that they couldn¡¯t do me a favor, because after that, they would have to do it to everyone.¡± ¡°That seems fair to me.¡± ¡°But it¡¯s not. She is my twin, we¡¯re always together.¡± ¡°I understand that you might feel lost here. But you won¡¯t be able to stay together forever.¡± ¡°But we want to be seated next to each other.¡± ¡°I get it, trust me I do, but there¡¯s nothing I can do. I won¡¯t undermine the teacher¡¯s authority for you. Is that all ?¡± ¡°But¡­ That¡¯s unfair.¡± ¡°Well life is unfair. If you have nothing else to say, you can leave.¡± Jo left, bitter. He thought at first that the distance wouldn¡¯t impact their relationship. And yet he was wrong. It lasted only 2 hours for them to forget the other. During the break Jo stayed seated in his chair, looking at the window. Blair didn¡¯t come to talk to him. Some classmates did come to chat with him. But he wasn¡¯t really interested. This lack of care deeply hurt his classmates, and they left promising to get back at him. Once the twins came back home, it was as if nothing had happened. They were back to their usual self. They talked about their day and how annoying their classmates were. But Jo could sense himself gradually losing interest in his sister. The more time they spent away from each other, the less they cared. Some boys started to pick on him. And Jo would retaliate. It didn¡¯t really bother him to be bullied, he simply couldn¡¯t come up with a reason to not beat them up. The first fight was against the classmates who promised to get back at him. They came to see him at his table. ¡°Hey Jo! Get up ! We need to talk.¡± Jo didn¡¯t budge. ¡°Hey are you listening to me ?! Just move !¡± said one of the classmates. ¡°Yeah ! Are you dumb or something ? He said we wanted to talk to you!¡± affirmed another one, throwing a punch at Jo¡¯s shoulder. ¡°Fine.¡± mumbled Jo. ¡°I¡¯ll follow you.¡± The two boys shoved Jo against the corner of a corridor. ¡°Who the fuck do you think you are ?¡± screamed one of the bullies. ¡°You think you can ignore us like that ? You think you¡¯re better than us ?!¡± Yelled the other. ¡°Huh ? Why aren¡¯t you saying anything ? Answer us !¡± said the boy while pushing Jo. The two bullies were hurting him, Jo took it as permission to fight back. ¡°So you wanna battle against me ? You think you can fight me ?!¡± shouted one of the bullies, unimpressed by Jo¡¯s stature. ¡°Come on Timmy. That¡¯s enough.¡± said the other bully, trying to pull his classmate back. ¡°Shut up ! You wanna fight, huh ?! Come on, let''s fight !¡± screamed Timmy. Timmy threw a punch at Jo¡¯s face. But Jo was faster than him, he crouched, spun and hit Timmy¡¯s legs with his tail. He then jumped on Timmy and threw multiple punches at his face. The bully was too weak compared to Jo and couldn¡¯t retaliate. The fight was completely one-sided. The other bully ran towards a teacher, screaming for help. Many adults had to intervene and hold back Jo. His parents were called, and he had to go back home. ¡°Why did you do that ?¡± asked his mother. ¡°They started it.¡± ¡°What do you mean they started it ? Did you see his face ? You could¡¯ve killed him !¡± ¡°He is the one who hit me first.¡± ¡°Is that a reason to destroy his face ?!¡± The father intervened. ¡°Calm down Kylee. Those kids attacked him first, and he simply had to defend himself.¡± ¡°So what ? You¡¯re defending him right now ?!¡± ¡°What would you have him do ? Should he have let those kids beat him up ?¡± ¡°That¡¯s not what I said.¡± ¡°Then what are you saying ?¡± ¡°Hu¡­ I don¡¯t¡­ Fine ! Do whatever you want.¡± Arman looked at Jo. ¡°It¡¯s okay son. I¡¯m gonna call your director and sort this out. Now go to your room.¡± Jo nodded and left. Later Blair entered his bedroom, and they talked, as if nothing special had happened that day. And like his father promised, Jo was able to go back to school the next day with a simple warning. The bullies apologized to him, and that was the end of it. Until another kid decided to pick on Jo. After too many fights he got called at the director¡¯s office. His parents were also waiting for him there. The atmosphere was tense. Arman and Kylee refused to look at their son. ¡°Jo. Here you are. Sit down please.¡± said the director with a calm and cold voice. Jo knew that something was wrong. The room stayed silent for a few seconds. ¡°Do you know why I called you here today Jo ?¡± Asked the director. ¡°Is it because I fought with Timmy and his older brother again ?¡± ¡°Indeed. You had around fifteen fights for the past month. Do you realize how bad this is ?¡± ¡°Not really, no.¡± ¡°Oh my gosh !¡± Whispered Kylee. ¡°Can you even hear yourself right now ?¡± expressed Arman while slapping the head of his son. ¡°No violence here please. Sir calm down.¡± said the director. ¡°Jo, I¡¯ve already talked to Timmy and Gyl, and they told me that you were the one who provoked them. Now I¡¯ve also talked to the monitors and teachers, so I know the truth. I know that they pick on you, and I understand that you were trying to defend yourself. But don¡¯t you think you¡¯re overreacting ?¡± ¡°No. You should tell them to leave me alone.¡± answered the boy. ¡°I know, and that¡¯s why I expelled them. They won¡¯t come to bother you anymore. Now what I¡¯m asking you is to tone down your response to this bullying. Kids will try to fight you, but the next time it happens, I would very much like if you could simply ask a teacher or a monitor for help. Do you think you can do that ?¡± ¡°Honestly, no. I don¡¯t really understand why I shouldn¡¯t fight back.¡± ¡°That¡¯s what I thought. I called your parents here so that they can take you home. As of right now, you¡¯re suspended. For a month. We will see if that¡¯s enough time for you to understand my point of view.¡± ¡°Thank you ma''am, and I¡¯m so sorry for his behavior.¡± said Kylee. ¡°Come on Jo, we¡¯re going home.¡± stated Arman. The entire ride home was silent. For a month he stayed at home doing chores. His father would make him write every night: ¡°I am a kind and respectful person, I shall not use violence because violence is not the answer.¡± He came back to school, and got into another fight soon enough. The month he spent at home was of no use as he felt absolutely no regret. And Timmy¡¯s friends who were mad at him for getting Timmy expelled could see that. During break time, dozens of Jo¡¯s classmates decided they were done with him. They took him aside and thought they would give him the beating of his life. One teacher saw what was happening and called the other teachers and monitors to handle the situation. When they all arrived, the fight was over. Most of the kids saw their faces getting smashed against the walls, the grounds of the windows. Some of them had broken arms, legs, and ribs. Jo was the only one left unharmed. The kids were all taken to the hospitals. Jo received a simple warning, the angry parents asked for him to be expelled. The director told them that it wasn¡¯t possible since Jo wasn¡¯t the one who started the fight. The warning he got was of no use though. Jo kept fighting and fighting, every day until the director couldn¡¯t protect him anymore. His parents found him another middle school to go to. They were feeling conflicted and didn¡¯t know how to deal with this situation. They decided it was time to consult a therapist. ¡°Hello Ms and Mr ?¡± ¡°My name is Kylee and here is my husband, Arman.¡± ¡°Well nice to meet you. And your name is Jo. Is that correct ?¡± ¡°Yes.¡± answerer Kylee enthusiastically. ¡°Okay, you can sit down wherever you want.¡± Arman and Kylee both sat down on the couch while Jo sat on the ground. ¡°Are you sure you¡¯re okay here ?¡± Inquired Arman. ¡°Yeah, I¡¯m fine.¡± replied Jo. ¡°Good. From what I heard, your son here is having trouble at school ?¡± ¡°Yes, he is being bullied, and he is always fighting with the other kids.¡± responded Kylee. ¡°How violent ? The fights ?¡± ¡°The kids always end up with broken bones, black eyes, one of them is almost blind I think.¡± ¡°What about Jo ?¡± ¡°Nothing, he always ends up unharmed.¡± ¡°Okay. Any legal problems ?¡± ¡°Some parents tried to press charges, but the policemen told them that since Jo acted in self-defense, they were most likely to lose. But they are trying to get us to pay for the hospital bills. We¡¯re not really worried, our lawyers told us we won¡¯t have to pay for anything.¡± ¡°This whole situation seems quite nerve-wracking. How can you explain your son¡¯s behavior ?¡± ¡°He is simply trying to defend himself. He doesn¡¯t know or understand what he is doing to those boys. I don¡¯t think he can control his strength.¡± ¡°And you sir. You¡¯ve been quiet this entire time. Anything you want to add ?¡± ¡°I think he is a teenager who is growing faster than the other kids. With all the hormones and I mean look at him. He doesn¡¯t look like a twelve year old.¡± ¡°You believe it¡¯s because he is different that he is acting this way ?¡± ¡°Isn¡¯t it obvious ?¡± replied Arman. ¡°This kid is out of control, and don¡¯t get me wrong, it¡¯s not his fault. Those kids should¡¯ve left him alone. But I¡¯m¡­ I mean, we¡¯re lost right now. We¡¯re changing schools, but I don¡¯t know what else to do.¡± ¡°I completely understand. I¡¯m gonna ask you to leave Jo with me for about thirty minutes, we will talk a bit. After that I will call you in and we will talk about the next sessions. Is that okay with you ?¡± Both parents agreed and left the room. ¡°Now that there are only the two of us, you can speak more freely.¡± ¡°Their presence wasn¡¯t bothering me though.¡± retorted the kid. ¡°Do you want me to call them back ?¡± Jo shrugged his shoulders. ¡°Okay¡­ I asked them to leave because I thought it would give us more space to speak our mind without being interrupted.¡± Jo wasn¡¯t paying attention to what the therapist was saying and focused on the birds flying outside. ¡°So Jo ? Are you listening ?¡± Jo looked back at them. ¡°Can you tell me why you are being violent towards your classmates ?¡± ¡°They attacked me first. Since they thought it was okay to hurt me, I thought it was okay to hurt them.¡± ¡°Why didn¡¯t you ask an adult to help you, instead of handling them yourself ?¡± ¡°Because it would be useless.¡± ¡°What do you mean ?¡± ¡°No matter how many times the teachers, directors and their own parents told them to leave me alone, they wouldn¡¯t do it.¡± ¡°Did you feel betrayed and abandoned by those adults ?¡± ¡°No, I don¡¯t really care about them.¡± ¡°So, what¡¯s driving you to that violence ? Why fight to the point of breaking bones ?¡± ¡°To teach them a lesson. The more they try to fight me, the more they will get broken.¡± ¡°Do you want to hurt them ?¡± ¡°I don¡¯t actively want to hurt them. In fact, I¡¯m not even mad at them.¡± ¡°You¡¯re not mad ? Why ?¡± ¡°I don¡¯t know. I don¡¯t care about them. They hurt me, I hurt them, that¡¯s all.¡± ¡°And that doesn¡¯t bother you ?¡± ¡°No, why would it bother me ? I¡¯m not the one who ends up at the hospital.¡±Love this novel? Read it on Royal Road to ensure the author gets credit. The therapist looked stunned at Jo. They were caught off guard by his nonchalance. ¡°Do you feel like changing school could help your mind be more at ease ?¡± ¡°My mind is at ease. But I do believe that changing schools will reduce the number of fights.¡± ¡°I see. Okay. Your father told us earlier that he believes you being different is the problem. Do you agree with that ?¡± ¡°No because, I don¡¯t believe there¡¯s a problem at all.¡± ¡°You don¡¯t believe that fighting almost every day with your classmates is a problem ?¡± ¡°No. At this point, if they fight me, it¡¯s because they want to get hurt. It¡¯s not a real problem. Or at least, it doesn¡¯t concern me.¡± ¡°So, if in your new school, the kids try to bully you, what will you do ?¡± ¡°Depends.¡± ¡°Of what ?¡± ¡°Well, I don¡¯t talk to my classmates, so they can insult me all they want. I don''t mind, I won¡¯t answer.¡± ¡°You don¡¯t mind getting insulted ?¡± ¡°No.¡± ¡°But what if they insult your mother, your father, or your sister ?¡± ¡°I don¡¯t know. I think I would probably beat them up.¡± The therapist looked at their watch. It was time to call the parents back in. ¡°Okay, so I¡¯m gonna talk to your parents. And, we¡¯re gonna continue this conversation another time, okay ?¡± ¡°Sure.¡± The therapist opened the door and asked the parents to enter. ¡°I¡¯m not going to lie. I believe there is a much deeper problem here. Your son seems to lack remorse and empathy, it doesn¡¯t seem to me like he even cares about himself. This could explain his behavior so¡­¡± ¡°So what, our son is a psychopath ?¡± interrupted Kylee. ¡°You diagnosed him like that in thirty minutes ?¡± ¡°No, absolutely not. But I believe he should be closely monitored. This tendency to rely on violence will not disappear any time soon.¡± ¡°What should we do ?¡± Asked Arman. ¡°For now, we¡¯re gonna do therapy sessions.¡± ¡°For how long ?¡± Inquired the father. ¡°As long as it takes I¡¯m afraid.¡± The room went silent again. ¡°That would be seventy dons.¡± The therapist¡¯s suspicions were right. At his other school the fights happened again. The boys there were taunting him at first, which did not bother him. But soon people began to physically assault him, and Jo couldn¡¯t let that happen. Highschool wasn¡¯t any better. He was known as a beast who would fight anyone for no reason. So people would come and tease him to see his reaction. And he would always give them what they wanted. Except that one time when he took it too far and almost killed someone. Jo had no particular reason to inflict that much damage to the other person. He simply did. The police had to intervene because no one around would. They immediately arrested him. A week later he was judged. Jo pleaded guilty. He wasn¡¯t keen on denying what had happened. He knew what he did and felt no remorse. When the judge saw his antecedent, they decided to send him to a prison where it wasn¡¯t even possible to interact with the other prisoners. No one would pick on Jo. He had access to a library and daily lessons, mostly about how to respect people and society. Everything was made for the purpose of rehabilitation into society. He never really cared about the lessons, but he was always calmed and disciplined, which was working in his favor for his release. He did three months in prison, or at least was supposed to, because as soon as he got out he went right back in. His mother was waiting at the entrance. A prison guard was closing the door behind her. Jo saw her. ¡°Give me your hands, I¡¯m gonna remove those shackles.¡± ordered the prison guard that was accompanying him. ¡°Those are your personal effects. Go get changed in that room.¡± continued the guard while pointing at a door. Jo followed the instructions. Once he was changed, he went back to the prison guard. ¡°Sign this paper down here, and you¡¯re good.¡± Once it was done Jo approached his mother. He didn¡¯t see the prison guard who was at the door earlier moving closer to him. ¡°You¡¯re finally getting out, huh ?! You bad egg!¡± shouted the prison guard before violently pushing Jo on the ground. ¡°Are you insane ?¡± screamed Kylee. ¡°What ? I¡¯m just teaching him a lesson. People like don¡¯t belong outside.¡± Jo took that as permission to fight back. He used his tail to jump on the guard. Upon witnessing the altercation, all the guards present successfully stopped him. But that meant Jo had to spend another six months in prison. Of course the guard who assaulted him first was suspended. Which felt like a small victory for the teenager. At his second release, it was his father who was waiting for him. This time there was no quarrel. Arman grabbed his son¡¯s arm. ¡°How are you doing ?¡± he asked. ¡°Good.¡± answered Jo. ¡°Did you learn anything ?¡± ¡°Yup.¡± ¡°What is it ?¡± ¡°Restraint.¡± ¡°That¡¯s good.¡± They both went home. Jo was able to go back to highschool a week after his release. The students were avoiding him at first and the teachers always kept a close eye on him. He didn¡¯t mind though. He thought it was better than being taunted. This peace didn¡¯t last long. His math teacher was known for bullying troubled kids. No actions were ever taken against them, mostly because the kids were causing problems anyway. And this teacher decided to set his sight on Jo. The students were being very loud. No one was listening to the teacher. ¡°Everyone, quiet please. I¡¯m sure none of you want additional homework.¡± calmly claimed the teacher. ¡°Is it because you don¡¯t like the noise that your wife is so quiet ?!¡± screamed a student. The whole class started laughing. ¡°Keep going, and you¡¯re gonna end up like Jo over there.¡± retorted the teacher. ¡°What¡¯s that supposed to mean ?¡± screamed the student. ¡°Yeah, that''s not fair !¡± shouted another one. ¡°You can¡¯t say stuff like that!¡± shouted one more student. And in no time the entire class started shouting at their teacher. ¡°Calm down now! You all seem quite keen on protecting this criminal over there.¡± the teacher turned to Jo. ¡°Why aren¡¯t you saying anything ? They¡¯re all jumping to rescue you even though you don¡¯t deserve it. Why aren¡¯t you defending yourself ?¡± Jo sighed and stood up. He approached the teacher, and the closer he got, the more uncomfortable the adult was. ¡°Is it showtime now ?¡± asked the math teacher with a smirk on his face. ¡°And you¡¯re the clown here.¡± responded Jo. ¡°So keep going. Make me laugh.¡± he said with an assertive tone. The room went silent. ¡°I think that¡¯s enough. You can go back to your seat, you made your point.¡± mumbled the teacher. ¡°Sorry what ?¡± ¡°Do not test me young man.¡± ¡°You¡¯re the one trying to play smart with me, and now you wanna back off ?¡± ¡°Hasn¡¯t prison taught you any common sense ?¡± replied the teacher. ¡°I don¡¯t know. How about you go there to find out.¡± ¡°I know what you¡¯re trying to do. It¡¯s not working. Now go back to your seat.¡± ordered the math professor. Jo headed towards his seat. ¡°That¡¯s what I thought.¡± muttered the teacher. Jo decided that it was enough. It was time to put that teacher back in his place. He turned around. ¡°What do you think you¡¯re doing ?¡± Inquired the math professor. The teenager didn¡¯t answer. He grabbed a chair and threw it towards the teacher, who avoided it. Jo slapped him with his tail. He then grabbed his right hand and pulled the teacher towards him, punching him in the stomach. The other students were either calling the police; searching an adult for help; or looking at the scene, dumbstruck. Jo was strangling the teacher using his tail and punching him over and over again. He once again went back to prison, for a year this time. When he got out, his father was yet again waiting for him at the entrance. ¡°Here I thought you learned something the last time you got out.¡± he said sarcastically. ¡°At least I didn¡¯t cause any trouble for a year.¡± retorted Jo. ¡°Guess I can thank you for that.¡± They both headed to the car. ¡° You gotta know, this year hasn¡¯t been really peaceful for us while you were gone.¡± Jo looked at his father, not really interested, but he knew his father was about to say something important. ¡°Your sister has been in rehab this year. She has been taking drugs for quite some time now. We were too focused on you to realize it. She will be released in a few days. After that we will have a family reunion and talk, okay ?¡± Jo nodded. ¡°kay.¡± whispered Arman. A week later Blair came back. Jo and Kylee were sitting in the living room when Arman and his daughter entered the house. Upon seeing her, Kylee stood up and hugged her daughter. Then, everyone sat down on the couch. ¡°Now that the family is finally reunited, we can talk,¡± said Kylee. ¡°Your father and I are so happy to see you. We really missed you.¡± she grabbed her husband¡¯s hand. ¡° I want you to know that.¡± Arman was the next to speak. ¡°You also should know that you both broke our trust. Blair more than Jo because we knew Jo was always troubled but still¡­ We thought that once you entered highschool, you would be more mature. This is why, your mother and I, decided to implement some rules. And you will have to follow those rules until you gain our trust.¡± ¡°First, you won¡¯t be able to go out unless one of us is accompanying you. Even if it¡¯s to play in the garden, you will have to ask us first and either your father or I will have to supervise you. This also means you won¡¯t be able to go back to highschool for your last year.¡± ¡°Second, none of you will have access to the meds¡¯ drawer. If you¡¯re sick, you ask us, and that¡¯s all. No snooping around.¡± said Arman with authority. ¡°And third, you will have to do everything we tell you to do. You can¡¯t refuse. We give you an order, you obey and that¡¯s all. Understand ?¡± ask Kylee. Both Blair and Jo nodded. ¡°Do you have any complaints ?¡± ¡°Nope.¡± replied Jo and Blair at the same time. For a while, they were a happy family. The twins were relaxed, they were able to grow closer again. They would talk each and every night about this past year and what happened to them. Their parents were slowly starting to trust them again. Not enough to let them wander around outside but enough to give them fewer chores. Everything was fine. Until Jo and his father went out to bring back some pizzas. It was around 9pm. Arman and Jo were waiting in line when Arman felt something sharp on his back. ¡°Give me all your money,¡± said the stranger. Seeing Jo slowly looking back, he screamed ¡°Don¡¯t fucking turn around !¡± ¡°Stay calm Jo.¡± whispered Arman to his son. ¡°That¡¯s right JO, stay calm and everything will be fine.¡± added the robber. ¡°Now old man, take your money off your wallet and give it to me.¡± Arman executed himself. The people around became agitated upon noticing what was happening. This made the robber anxious. ¡°Do it faster.¡± he mumbled to Arman. Arman had the money in his hand, he was about to give it away. Jo¡¯urge to fight back was kicking in. The young man glanced at the robber. He had the money in his hand and was ready to run away. Jo grabbed his shoulder and made him turn around. The robber¡¯s first reflex was to stab Jo, but Arman stepped in and got stabbed instead. Jo saw red and slammed the robber on the ground. The police and an ambulance arrived ten minutes after the incident. Arman was taken to the hospital while Jo and the robber were taken into custody. Jo went back to prison, for only six months due to the circumstances. When he got out, no one was waiting for him. He walked home. When he knocked on the door, his mother opened it. She cried. ¡°I¡¯m so sorry baby. Your father doesn¡¯t want you inside.¡± Jo was confused. ¡°What ? Why ?¡± ¡°It¡¯s just¡­ You bring too much trouble¡­¡± ¡°What do you mean I bring too much trouble ?¡± ¡°There are consequences for your actions, and this is one of the consequences. You¡¯re not allowed inside.¡± Jo was about to argue when he heard his father screaming in the house. ¡°Quit the chit-chat Kylee ! Give him his bag and close the door !¡± And she did. Jo was homeless from now on. Not knowing where to go, he decided to look for shelters. There he met someone who clearly wasn¡¯t homeless. That person told him he was looking for people who were searching for jobs. When that person looked at Jo, they saw an impressive appearance. The young man got immediately hired as a bodyguard. Everything went great at first. His clients were overly nice to him, he was handsomely well paid, and the people were too scared of him to try anything fishy. He worked like that for a few years, it was comfortable. Then he decided to quit. One of his last clients was an athlete. When he looked at Jo, he saw an amazing potential in him, he convinced him to change his career path. And Jo did. He became a boxer. Jo won every fight he participated in. But it soon became boring. His opponents were no match for him. With all the money he accumulated, Jo decided to try new challenges. He went on to live on the mountain chains alone, without any food or water, with no clothes except the small tunique he had. He was in the wild. Jo was wandering around, dirty and famished when he saw a small town. He hoped to find a nice and decent person to help him. He stumbled upon a small and old shop which was selling primary necessities. An old woman was sitting behind the counter. ¡°Excuse me ma¡¯am.¡± Said Jo in a hoarse voice. ¡°Oh my, hello young man.¡± the elderly woman readjusted her glasses. ¡°What happened to you ? Do you need help ?¡± ¡°I need some water, please ?¡± ¡°Not just that, you need a good bath, a nice shave, and clean clothes. Follow me dear.¡± The nice woman led him towards an old but comfy bathroom. ¡°Take a shower.¡± she said, ¡°I¡¯m gonna bring you a set of clothes. Then I will ask Ramo to do your hair and beards.¡± It was the first shower Jo took in months. Jo never realized until now how much he missed smelling good. When he got out, he saw a crop top with a long skirt. They were light and smooth. The elderly woman was waiting for him in front of the bathroom door. ¡°Look at you young man, this fits you perfectly.¡± They both headed to the woman¡¯s kitchen. An old man was waiting there. ¡°Hello youngster, I¡¯m Ramo, what¡¯s your name ?¡± ¡°My name is Jo. Thank you for helping me out.¡± ¡°Do not worry young man, we¡¯re happy to do that.¡± replied the nice woman. ¡°My name is Sicile by the way.¡± ¡°Now come and sit down here,¡± said Ramo. Jo obeyed. The elderly man decided to completely shave Jo¡¯s beard, which felt quite refreshing. He then cut at least half of Jo¡¯s hair. They were still long enough to reach his waist. While the men were busy playing the hairdresser, Sicile was determined to feed her guest. When Ramo was done, Jo was served a fancy dish. While eating, the elderly woman noticed something on his hand. ¡°That¡¯s a weird birthmark on your hand.¡± ¡°Oh yeah, my sister has the other half,¡± said Jo. ¡°That is interesting,¡± added Ramo, ¡°especially since I have the same on my hand. Except in my case, I have the entire mark, not half of it.¡± This caught Jo¡¯s attention. ¡°That¡¯s right. I¡¯ve never seen anyone with the same mark as mine. Do you also have it ?¡± Inquired Jo. ¡°No, my mark is different, I have a lozenge, not a semicircle.¡± answered Sicile. ¡°That is impressive. I¡¯ve never seen someone with a birthmark like yours either.¡± remarked Jo. ¡°That is because those aren¡¯t normal birthmarks.¡± said Ramo. ¡°What do you mean ?¡± ¡°Have you heard of the guardians, the partner or the dragonlines ?¡± Asked Sicile. ¡°No ? What about schield and aura ?¡± Jo didn¡¯t know what they were talking about. ¡°I¡¯ve never heard of a case like yours,¡± said Ramo. ¡°Me neither. A mark shared by two bodies. That¡¯s not normal.¡± added Sicile. ¡°You¡¯re losing me here.¡± commented Jo. ¡°The guardians are beings who were born to protect the world from evil energy and demons. We work by a team of two, one schield and one aura, together. There¡¯s supposed to be 24 of us, all working in the different parts of the world that were attributed to us by the cristal. This mark, that you have on your hand, is the aura mark. This is the proof that you were chosen to be a guardian.¡± ¡°What the hell ?!¡± ¡°Ramo here is an aura, and I¡¯m a schield. We¡¯ve been working together for the past sixty years to protect the world.¡± ¡°From demons ?¡± ¡°Exactly.¡± Jo looked them in the eyes. He sighed before laughing. ¡°You must be insane, you two.¡± he said while pointing at them. ¡°We can prove it to you,¡± said Ramo. ¡°Go on then. Show me !¡± Ramo and Sicile both stood up and headed outside. Jo was waiting on his chair, only standing up when he realized he had to follow them. The three adults headed to a cave inside the mountains. There was a symbol there that Jo had never seen before. A circle with what looked like a dragon in it. He tried to touch it, but the symbol was made of light. ¡°This is what we call a dragonline.¡± said Sicile ¡°It can only be seen and used by guardians. We use it to teleport from one country to another.¡± added Ramo. ¡°So you can teleport wherever you want ?¡± ¡°Not exactly. You¡¯re gonna find a few symbols like that across the world. They¡¯re all connected to each other. You can travel from one symbol to another. That is how a dragonline works.¡± answered the elderly man. ¡°How does it work ?¡± Sicile took Jo¡¯s hand. ¡°Enter the circle. Do you feel this energy flooding your mind and soul ?¡± Jo nodded. ¡°Good, dive in.¡± Jo was feeling more relaxed. He focused on the energy surrounding him. His body became lighter and lighter. He could visualize multiple roads. Sicile and Ramo joined him. ¡°You did great. You see these roads, those are the dragonlines. Pick one.¡± ¡°Which one ?¡± ¡°Where do you wanna go ?¡± Asked Ramo. ¡°I wanna see my hometown. Gamoul.¡± ¡°This way.¡± Said Sicile. Jo¡¯s body was floating around. It was way easier to move than what Jo initially thought. The dive lasted a few minutes. When they arrived at the end, Jo could see the same symbol as the one inside the cave earlier. Sicile and Ramo didn¡¯t hesitate, they plowed into it. Jo followed them. The three of them appeared in an old mansion in ruins. Jo could see the symbol on the ground. ¡°I remember this house.¡± He said. ¡°It¡¯s near the supermarket.¡± Jo ran outside. They truly were in his hometown. The young man couldn¡¯t believe it. ¡°This is real !¡± he screamed. ¡°Of course it¡¯s real,¡± said an unknown man beside him. Jo didn¡¯t realize there was someone next to him and jumped out of surprise. ¡°I¡¯m Sasha, a guardian, like you. What¡¯s your name ?¡± Jo didn¡¯t really want to answer him. He looked back at Ramo and Sicile. ¡°Nice to see you again Sasha.¡± commented Sicile. ¡°We found your partner. His name is Jo.¡± Sasha looked at Jo, doubtful. ¡°Are you sure it¡¯s him? He does have the appearance of a guardian, but he clearly is ignorant. Look at his mark, it¡¯s cut in half.¡± ¡°His sister has the other half.¡± added Ramo. ¡°So which one of them is my partner ?¡± Inquired Sasha. ¡°Probably both.¡± replied the elderly man. ¡°It¡¯s the first time something like that ever happened. But as you know, the crystal never does something without giving it a second thought. It was probably meant to be like that.¡± Continued Sicile. ¡°So, instead of one burden of a partner, I¡¯ve got two of them ?¡± ¡°Maybe.¡± ¡°Fine. You !¡± Said Sasha to Jo. ¡°Project your magic. We¡¯re gonna see if you¡¯re truly my partner.¡± Jo looked at the man confused. Ramo approached him and grabbed his hands. ¡°You¡¯re an aura, or at least half an aura, which means there must be some magic inside of you. Remember the feeling you had while diving ? Try to remember it.¡± Jo tried to recall what happened a few minutes ago. The feeling that he was free from his material shackles. He tried to feel the energy entering his body. But nothing happened. ¡°Are you sure there is any magic in him ?¡± Asked Sasha. ¡°Give him some time.¡± Said Sicile. ¡°It¡¯s his first try.¡± After a while Ramo looked at Sicile and shook his head. ¡°Maybe his sister is the one who has all the magic¡­¡± ¡°Then what am I supposed to do with him ?¡± shouted Sasha, growing impatient. ¡°I don¡¯t know, I have never heard of something like that before.¡± said Ramo. Sasha turned around and kicked a rock. The projectile hit a shadow in front of him. ¡°Demon!¡± screamed Sasha. Ramo and Sicile turned around almost instantly. A spear appeared in Sicile¡¯s hand. She threw it towards the shadow and destroyed it. ¡°I can sense more.¡± claimed Sicile. The four of them ran towards a plaza. Jo saw Blair there on the ground. A shadow in front of her ready to attack. ¡°That¡¯s her.¡± He said to his companions. ¡°You!¡± Screamed Sasha at Blair. ¡°Project your magic now !¡± Season 2 - Chapter 3 Chapter 15 The group ran back towards the abandoned mansion. Blair saw for the first time this bright light coming out of the ground. She slid her fingers through it. ¡°What is this ?¡± she asked. Jo grabbed her hand and pulled her over, in the middle of the circle. He then gently placed his hand on her cheeks. ¡°What are you doing ?¡± rudely asked Sasha. ¡°Listen lil sister¡­¡± ¡°I was born first.¡± said Blair, cutting him off. ¡°I need you to focus ! Close your eyes.¡± Blair saw in Jo¡¯s eyes that she had to remain calm. She did as he asked and closed her eyes. ¡°Relax and clear your mind. Don¡¯t think about anything. Focus on what you¡¯re feeling.¡± Blair could feel a peaceful energy entering her body, absorbing it. She soon felt free from the limits of her own physical entity. Multiple roads materialized themselves. Jo and Sasha were floating next to her. ¡°Follow me.¡± Said Jo to Blair. ¡°Where do you think you¡¯re going ?¡± interrupted Sasha. Jo looked at him confused. ¡°We¡¯re going to Sicile¡¯s and Ramo¡¯s house.¡± ¡°No we¡¯re not.¡± ¡°What do you mean ?¡± ¡°I mean, we stay here and wait for the old mates.¡± ¡°We can wait there at their house, it¡¯s gonna be the same thing.¡± ¡°And what are we gonna do when other demons appear up there huh ? None of you can control your power nor project your magic. Which means, we¡¯re all useless. It¡¯s better to stay here and wait for the others. I¡¯m sure you wouldn¡¯t want your little princess to get hurt.¡± The siblings both looked disgusted by him. ¡°Fine.¡± said Blair, ¡°We¡¯re staying.¡± The small group waited fifteen minutes before the elderly man and woman arrived. ¡°You stayed here ? Wise choice.¡± remarked Sicile. ¡°It¡¯s teeming with shadows up there. It¡¯s good that you stayed here. Otherwise, you would¡¯ve been swallowed up by them.¡± ¡°They¡¯re killing people ?¡± Asked Blair. ¡°No, they¡¯re possessing them. At least that¡¯s what we think.¡± replied Sicile. ¡°That easily and in plain sight ?¡± questioned Sasha. ¡°With that many of them ? What is it ? A mass attack ?¡± ¡°Demons don¡¯t usually work together.¡± ¡°And they all looked the same. It¡¯s not different kinds of demons teaming up. It¡¯s one demon.¡± added Ramo. ¡°So killing one won¡¯t change anything. We need to find the source.¡± said Sasha. ¡°I¡¯ve got a place in Hyolkan, we could go there, get these two in a safe place¡± he added while looking at the twins, ¡°and think about a plan, maybe contact the others.¡±If you stumble upon this narrative on Amazon, it''s taken without the author''s consent. Report it. Sicile and Ramo both looked at each other and nodded. ¡°Let¡¯s do that then.¡± acquiesced Ramo. ¡°Wait a minute !¡± Shouted Blair. The whole group turned towards her. ¡°I don¡¯t understand what the actual fuck is going on ! Where the fuck are we ? And how do you want us to travel to Hyolkan when there are those ¡­ What the fuck are they, by the way ? Demons ? Shadows ? I don¡¯t get it and I don¡¯t wanna be part of it.¡± No one knew what to say. They were all quite confused by this situation and didn¡¯t know how to deal with it. Sasha was the first one to break the silence. ¡°Well if you wanna die, sure go out, not my problem.¡± ¡°Sasha !¡± Shouted Sicile and Ramo. Jo looked at Sasha. He was very calm, but his tone indicated how hostile he was towards the rude young man. ¡°You don¡¯t get to talk to my sister like that.¡± ¡°Oh ! Oh I¡¯m so sorry ! We should definitely go to her apartment, maybe we could have a snack there ! Are you hungry for some cookies ?¡± Responded Sasha sarcastically. Ramo stopped Jo. ¡°Listen, we understand that you and your sister are confused. But Sasha is right. If you go there, you will both die. Your best choice is to follow us.¡± Jo and Blair looked at each other. ¡°Fine.¡± said Blair, ¡°I¡¯m sure there¡¯s everything I need in Hyolkan anyway.¡± ¡°Of course !¡± exclaimed Sicile, smiling, ¡°what do you need, darling ?¡± ¡°Money¡­ Drugs¡­ Money to buy drugs.¡± answered the young woman. Sasha shrugged and raised his eyebrows. ¡°Yeah that sounds useful¡­¡± whispered Sasha. The young man was growing impatient. His tail slammed the air. Jo noticed it. He had enough with Sasha''s attitude and was about to start a fight when Ramo stopped him. ¡°We really should get going. We can¡¯t allow ourselves to hide here when people up there need us. We are the Guardians of this planet. It is our duty to protect it and its inhabitants.¡± The old man looked at the twins. ¡°I understand your confusion. It is scary. But look at this.¡± He showed the mark on his hand. ¡°Your mark may be incomplete, but you can¡¯t deny the fact that you both have been chosen as Guardians. It is your duty to kill those demons. That is what you were born to do.¡± Jo and Blair didn¡¯t know what to say. They were trying to refute Ramo¡¯s arguments, but couldn¡¯t. It¡¯s like they knew he was right. ¡°You¡¯re not alone. You have your partner with you. The three of you will stay together until you die.¡± Everyone looked at Sasha. It seemed like the elderly duo were waiting for a remark from him. The young man knew that it was the time to say something positive, but he didn¡¯t feel like it. He decided to not speak as he didn¡¯t want to make the relationship with his partners even more difficult. Sicile gave him a disappointed look. Ramo sighed. He took Blair¡¯s hand. ¡°Follow me, young lady.¡± And the group was off to Hyolkan. They arrived in a burning city, there were shadows attacking people everywhere. Ramo and Sicile immediately jump into combat, trying to save as many people as they could. ¡°Go to that building.¡± yelled Sasha at the twins, pointing to the small building behind them. The twins obeyed while Sasha was on his phone, frantically typing. Jo was shaking the door, but it wouldn¡¯t move. ¡°We don¡¯t have the key !¡± shouted Jo. Sasha looked at them annoyed, then glimpsed at Ramo and Sicile fighting. They were outnumbered. The people who were down started convulsing. Sasha approached them slowly. ¡°What are you doing ?!¡± Screamed Blair. The young man was too focused on the people at his feet to hear Blair. Their veins were turning black and their mouths were foaming. Sasha placed his hands on their shoulders. The smoke was stinging his eyes. He tried to look upfront. He noticed someone convulsing near a burning car. He took a step forward when the person stopped convulsing. He looked back at the people at his feet, who stopped convulsing too. Sasha had a bad feeling about it. He slowly walked back to the building. Jo was still shaking the door to open it. Blair put her hands in Sasha¡¯s pockets and took out the keys. She gave them to her brother, who opened the door. The twins ran inside. Sasha was too disturbed by the situation to complain about Blair¡¯s gesture. His eyes were kept on the body near the fire. There was something off about them. Ramo ran to Sasha. ¡°There¡¯s too many of them, get inside, we will lock the door.¡± But Sasha still wasn¡¯t listening. He could sense it. Something was wrong. Sicile arrived, the elderly woman was exhausted by the fights. ¡°Look !¡± said Sasha, pointing at the body near the burning car. The three of them all focused on it. The body that was laying dead was now standing. Soon all the bodies which were laying on the ground stood up. Ramo grabbed Sasha¡¯s shoulder. ¡°Let¡¯s go inside.¡± And they closed the door. Season 2 - Chapter 4 Chapitre 16 Silence was reigning in the room. The whole group was mentally and physically exhausted. The elderly couple was laying on the couch, one of them holding their chest. Sasha was staring at his phone, as if he was waiting for something. The twins were sitting on the ground next to each other. The group could hear the shadows and possessed banging on the door, which made them more anxious. Blair looked at Sicile who clearly was having a hard time to breathe. ¡°Are you okay ?¡± she whispered. ¡°I¡¯m fine, do not worry about me, I¡¯ve seen worse.¡± replied the old woman. ¡°Sicile¡¯s heart isn¡¯t in the best of shape.¡± added Ramo. ¡°So what are we doing now ?¡± Asked Jo. ¡°We wait for the other guardians to get here. I¡¯ve already contacted them. Might take some time though.¡± Replied Sasha. ¡°Then what ?¡± Insisted the young man. ¡°Then we assess the situation and decide on the best course of action.¡± ¡°Which is ?¡± ¡°How would I know that ? Shut up already and rest until the others get here.¡± Said Sasha in a tone that indicated the end of the conversation. ¡°Well there must be something that we can do !¡± Complained Jo. ¡°No ! There¡¯s nothing that can be done for now !¡± Shouted Sasha, "Look at her!¡± he said while pointing at Sicile, ¡°She is in no state to fight. Ramo can¡¯t do anything on his own because, like every other guardian, he needs his partner to channel the magic inside of him ! And you and your sister are both useless ! Then again, there is nothing that I can do on my own because I need you two pieces of shit to fight, and you can¡¯t fight ! So we wait here and do nothing !¡± The twins both stood up, Jo, pissed about the comments Sasha just made, was approaching him, ready to fight. Blair, on the other hand, was having a headache because of the noise and decided to hide in the toilet, where no one could bother her. She could hear more yelling and Ramo stepping in to calm them down. The young girl locked the door and sat on the ground. She put her head down on the toilet seat. It was cold and refreshing. She felt like she could finally think. The fight stopped and Blair waited a few minutes before she decided that she could stand up and go back to the living room. She opened the door. She got face to face with a shadow. It grabbed her face before she could even blink. Blair fell into darkness. Startled by a noise that was coming down from the hallway, Jo and Sasha both walked towards the toilet to check on Blair. They were unable to see anything as the lights were off. While Sasha was turning the switch on and off to see if it was working, Jo kept walking into the darkness. He crashed into a door. ¡°Must be the toilet¡± he whispered. He searched for the latch. ¡°Something¡¯s off.¡± Said Sasha, ¡°Why are the lights off here but not in the living room ?¡± Jo found it and opened the door. His twin sister was convulsing on the ground. Her eyes were unfocused, her veins turned black and foam was coming out of her mouth. He screamed her name over and over while holding her body down. Ramo came running. Sasha stayed back, not knowing what to do. ¡°What happened ?¡± Asked Sicile. ¡°It¡¯s the junkie, she is done.¡± answered Sasha. ¡°A shadow got her.¡± ¡°Poor girl¡­¡± Ramo patted Jo¡¯s head, telling him that it was over, that she was gone. But the young man couldn¡¯t accept that and kept holding on to her even after she stopped convulsing. Ramo knew that he should stop him, but he couldn¡¯t bring himself to do that. Instead, he just watched the young man cry over the dead body of his twin sister like there was no one else in the world. The situation seemed more urgent for Sasha, though. He knew that the body would rise again and try to attack them. He approached Sasha and firmly grabbed his arm. ¡°Let go of her. She is dead.¡± Jo didn¡¯t respond. Sasha used more strength and was able to get him out of the toilet. ¡°You asshole !¡± screamed Jo. He stood up but couldn¡¯t move as Ramo was blocking him while Sasha closed the door. ¡°Move.¡± he said. ¡°I can¡¯t do that.¡± replied Ramo. ¡°Move.¡± repeated Jo. ¡°She is gone.¡± ¡°I don¡¯t care, move.¡± ¡°Listen dude,¡± interrupted Sasha, ¡°It¡¯s over, she is one of them now. If you open that door, she will kill us all.¡± ¡°I¡­¡± ¡°What ?¡± cut off Sasha, ¡°You don¡¯t care ? Well guess what ? I do, we all do care. You see, I very much like to stay alive. So leave that door alone and go grieve in the living room, okay ? Trust me, it¡¯s better that way.¡± ¡°What did you say ?¡± Ramo was about to stop the men from fighting, again, when they all heard someone screaming and banging on the door. ¡°Sasha, are you here ? It¡¯s Neil !¡± Sasha went past Jo and Ramo to open the door. A man in his mid-forties was standing there, alone. ¡°Where is Danyel ?¡± Asked Sasha. ¡°He is chatting with the girls over there.¡± answered the man pointing towards the dragonline. Ramo joined the men at the entrance. Jo stayed behind, unable to move. He couldn¡¯t register what was happening. He could hear the body of his now deceased sister moving in the toilet. Sicile, who was still sitting on the couch until now, walked into the hallway. She gave a pitiful look at Jo, before joining the men¡¯s conversation. ¡°You did a great job at repelling the shadows.¡± claimed Sicile. ¡°That¡¯s right !¡± added Ramo, ¡° We were having such a hard time to defeat them. Well, we are old.¡± ¡°Don¡¯t say that !¡± said another man, ¡°There were four of us, you managed fine with just the two of you!¡± ¡°We still couldn¡¯t protect everyone.¡± added Sicile in a sad tone. She turned towards Jo. ¡°His sister, she was a guardian. She¡­ She didn¡¯t make it.¡± ¡°My condolences.¡± said the man. Jo simply nodded and looked back at the toilets¡¯ door. ¡°Let¡¯s get inside, youngsters !¡± exclaimed Ramo, ¡°So you can rest a bit.¡± Two men and two women entered the building. The whole group sat in the living room. Jo followed them shortly after. The story has been stolen; if detected on Amazon, report the violation. ¡°How are things going on the ring ?¡± Asked Sasha. ¡°Not many casualties.¡± answered a woman. ¡°Not many people live there anyway. It was quite easy to defeat those demons before coming here. The worst we¡¯ve seen so far is here. They¡¯re really proliferating.¡± ¡°That¡¯s right.¡± added another woman sitting next to her. ¡°And the possessed outside aren¡¯t making it easier.¡± ¡°There¡¯s so many of them.¡± ¡°How did you get rid of them ?¡± Asked Ramo. ¡°We didn¡¯t.¡± replied Neil. ¡°We simply lured them away, but they will come back.¡± ¡°How are we going to cleanse them all ?¡± asked the first woman. ¡°We won¡¯t.¡± said Ramo. ¡°None of us possess enough power to cleanse that many.¡± ¡°What¡¯s cleansing ?¡± Asked Jo. The whole group went silent and turned around. They all looked at each other. ¡°Hi uuuh ? What¡¯s your name ?¡± asked one of the men. ¡°Jo.¡± ¡°Well, Jo, I¡¯m Danyel. The girl over there is Nella, and the one next to her is Luciole.¡± The women both raised their hands at the mention of their names. ¡°A cleansing is simply the eradication of all demonic energy in someone¡¯s body.¡± ¡°So, you could do that¡­ the cleansing¡­ to my sister ?¡± ¡°Well¡­ No.¡± Jo didn¡¯t like his answer and looked at him as if he was about to kill him. ¡°Don¡¯t get mad. We don¡¯t know what type of demon we¡¯re dealing with. One wrong move could get back at us.¡± stated Luciole. ¡°So you¡¯re not going to help her ?!¡± ¡°We will,¡± ¡°No you won¡¯t!¡± cut off Jo, ¡°Ramo just said that you guys don¡¯t have enough powers to save those people out there, you clearly won¡¯t lay a finger for my sister, who by the way, is also a guardian like you guys !¡± ¡°Half a guardian.¡± muttered Sasha. ¡°What ? What did you say ?¡± ¡°What do you mean half a guardian ?¡± Asked Neil. ¡°Him and his poor sister share a mark. He has half of it while she has the other half.¡± responded Sicile. ¡°That¡¯s right !¡± proclaimed Sasha, ¡°She has half the mark, which means she is half a guardian. Not a full guardian. She is as useful as those nobodies outside.¡± Jo saw red and without thinking, he swung his tail to Sasha¡¯s face. Sasha fell down but quickly stood up to strike back. Ramo swiftly grabbed his arm and pulled him on the couch while Neil and Nella were both restraining Jo. ¡°We¡¯ve been doing this all day, boys !¡± Said Ramo. ¡°I¡¯m tired of dealing with this. Get your shit together. Sasha ! You¡¯re a guardian, act like one, will you ?!¡± ¡°I¡¯m just saying¡± ¡°You¡¯re not saying anything from now on!¡± Peace came back in the room. Nella felt Jo¡¯s tension fade away and signalled at Neil to let go. They sat back next to their respective partners. Jo slowly stood up and sat down in a corner of the room. Everyone was staring at him, more precisely at the mark on his hand. Half an hour later, two guardians arrived, quickly followed by six others. Two hours later, all the guardians were reunited in the room. The twenty-three guardians, going from little kids to elderly people. Jo didn¡¯t bother to greet them and stayed curled up where he was sitting. The topic of his mark quickly arose. ¡°Never heard of something like that before.¡± said a guardian. ¡°There¡¯s no precedent.¡± affirmed one of the old ones. One of the kids, a five years old little girl, approached Jo. ¡°Can I see it ?¡± she asked. Jo looked at her, looked back at the wall and gave her his hand. The three other kids ran to him to see the mark. ¡°The Crystal says that it wasn¡¯t supposed to happen.¡± said one of the kids. ¡°It says that you were supposed to be the guardian.¡± added another kid. ¡°Something or someone stronger than the Crystal must¡¯ve intervened.¡± stated Ramo. ¡°We would¡¯ve detected a demon that strong, even the Crystal would¡¯ve.¡± claimed one of the guardians. ¡°Well, clearly not.¡± whispered Danyel. ¡°Do you have to say well at every beginning of your sentences ?!¡± complained another guardian. ¡°Well I¡¯m sorry, I just can¡¯t help it.¡± answered Danyel. ¡°You get used to it at some point.¡± commented Neil. ¡°Should we really talk about that right now ?¡± Asked Luciole. ¡°Doesn¡¯t that piss you off ?¡± inquired the guardian. ¡°Calm down Tik, it¡¯s just a verbal tic.¡± said Neil. ¡°Hey it rhymes !¡± pointed out one of the kids. ¡°Shut up Nalan.¡± retorted Tik. All the guardians started to shout at Tik. ¡°Don¡¯t talk like that to the kids!¡± ¡°That¡¯s right, she didn¡¯t do anything.¡± ¡°Leave her alone, damn.¡± ¡°Who taught you to talk like that ?!¡± ¡°Everyone calm down.¡± muttered an elderly woman. ¡°Everyone, silence !¡± Screamed Ramo at the top of his lungs. ¡°Hyacinthe wants to speak.¡± The old woman took some time to breath and prepare herself for what she was about to say. ¡°Everyone, calm down please. This is not the time for childish things. We¡¯re reunited for a reason. So¡­¡± she started coughing. Seeing that it wasn¡¯t cooling down, her partner took over. ¡°What Hyacinthe is trying to say is, there are people outside who are dying and can¡¯t protect themselves, and we should focus on that. Yes, Jo¡¯s situation is concerning, but right now, that is not our priority.¡± ¡°How will Sasha fight without his partner ?¡± Asked Nalan. ¡°He won¡¯t.¡± affirmed Hyacinthe¡¯s partner. ¡°Will we have to fight ?¡± enquired another kid. ¡°Unfortunately yes.¡± responded Sicile. ¡°Okay, what¡¯s the plan ?¡± Asked Neil. ¡°We won¡¯t be able to save the entirety of the population.¡± stated one of the guardians. ¡°No, but we should be enough to save the city.¡± said Hyacinthe. ¡°Driving the possessed away while fighting the shadows is gonna be difficult.¡± commented Sicile. ¡°I guess we can say we¡¯re lucky that the shadows are scattered all over the world and not just here.¡± said Sasha. ¡°That¡¯s dark.¡± replied Nella. ¡°Since you and Jo won¡¯t fight, your job will be to gather as many citizens here as you can. The kids are coming with you too. It will be less dangerous for them and safer for you.¡± added Ramo. ¡°I wanna fight too!¡± said one of the kids. ¡°Another time Tongno, right now your job is to protect those big guys.¡± replied Nella. ¡°That¡¯s unfair.¡± said Tongno, pouting. ¡°It makes eighteen of us cleaning this entire city, should be easy.¡± declared Tik¡¯s partner. ¡°We¡¯re gonna lose so much time on those skyscrapers.¡± complained Luciole. All the guardians left the building at the exception of the four kids and Sasha. They were waiting for Jo, who didn¡¯t seem to care about their plan. Sasha approached him. ¡°Stand up, dumbass, we have people to save while the others are kicking the butts of those demons who killed your sister.¡± ¡°Your sister is dead ?¡± Asked Nalan. ¡°Shush!¡± Said Tongno. ¡°I don¡¯t care about those people.¡± replied Jo. ¡°And I don¡¯t care that you don¡¯t care ! You¡¯re a guardian, you have a duty towards the inhabitants of this planet. Now stand up before I make you!¡± ¡°Because you truly think you can make me do anything ?¡± ¡°We will see about that.¡± Sasha grabbed Jo¡¯s hair and pulled them up. Jo immediately pushed him. Seeing that they were fighting, all the kids decided to protect Sasha and jumped over Jo. This annoyed him. He stood up and while the kids were holding him so that they wouldn¡¯t fall. The kids started screaming out of fear, which annoyed Jo even more. ¡°Fine, fine.¡± he said while putting the kids down. ¡°I¡¯m coming.¡± ¡°Yay.¡± they screamed. ¡°My name is Wineti, I¡¯m Tongno¡¯s partner.¡± ¡°I¡¯m Tongno.¡± he said while raising his hand. ¡°I¡¯m Nalan.¡± said a small girl, ¡°and this is Seneru, my partner.¡± ¡°Nice to meet you, I¡¯m Jo.¡± ¡°Now that the presentations are over, we can finally go.¡± stated Sasha. While the kids ran outside, Jo got closer to Sasha. ¡°You didn¡¯t make me.¡± Sasha shrugged. ¡°Sure, if you want.¡± Season 2 - Chapter 5 Chapter 17 ¡°Hello ?¡± No response. ¡°Anybody here ?¡± Silence. ¡°Jo¡­? Old man ¡­? Grandma ¡­? The arrogant piece of shit ?¡± The young woman sneered. ¡°Funny that he wouldn¡¯t respond to that.¡± She sat down. ¡°It¡¯s so dark here. Can¡¯t see shit.¡± The woman stood up and wandered around. Time passed, she looked at her watch. ¡°Is it broken ?¡± She tapped on it as if it would make it work. The woman clicked her tongue, sighed then growled. ¡°What the fuck is going on¡­ Better walk straight ahead until I find something.¡± Enjoying this book? Seek out the original to ensure the author gets credit. She couldn¡¯t tell if it was minutes or hours that passed when she finally saw lights. She ran towards it. ¡°Finally !¡± The woman was very surprised by what she was seeing. Thousands and thousands of rectangles suspended in the air, each with very different sceneries. She tried to touch some of them, but her hand passed through it. ¡°This is disturbing.¡± She looked at them more closely. ¡°Is it moving ? It¡¯s like TV.¡± She walked along the rectangles. ¡°There¡¯s no end to it.¡± The woman sighed. ¡°I¡¯m tired.¡± She said while yawning. The young woman took enough step backs to have a good view of the rectangles. She sneered again. ¡°I¡¯m a security man now.¡± She laid down and closed her eyes. The woman woke up, freezing. She couldn¡¯t tell how much time passed. She took off her scarf, the one that belonged to her late friend Louana, and wrapped it around her arms. She could see steam coming out of her mouth. She tried to look around but nothing had really changed. The whole area was still completely dark, and the rectangles were still standing in suspension in the air. The young woman decided to go look for a warmer place. She was walking a few meters away from the rectangles when she stumbled upon something. ¡°What is that ?¡± She got down on her hands and knees and fumbled her way along. She touched something squishy. ¡°Disgusting.¡± She kept progressing in the dark until her head hurt something. The woman grumbled. She palpated the object, it seemed like it had two armrests and a backrest. The young woman cautiously stood up. She could feel something else. ¡°Is that¡­ hair ?¡± She palpated more what appeared to be someone¡¯s face. ¡°This is crazy¡­ And interesting.¡± The woman sat back on the ground, her head against the person¡¯s legs, and closed her eyes.