《VALERIA'S GAURDIAN》 prolouge - the beginning Death is the one thing every single creature on this earth is afraid of, every creature strives to survive and yet here I am with a sword in my chest. Well you are probably worrying what happened right? So let¡¯s start from the beginning. My name is Alex. I am 16 years old and an orphan. I live in a small rented single room apartment (the kind college students usually use); I used to live in an orphanage until I was 12, after which I was thrown out because the orphanage stopped receiving funds from the government. Now I work a lot of different part time jobs like delivering newspapers, milk in the morning, waiting tables at a restaurant, construction and the list goes on. Since I am illegally employed being a minor, the employers make use of this fact to wring me for all I am worth. The pay is half of what others receive and they make me work more. By the way I forgot to mention that the only solace that I found from my loneliness was books. They were my only past time and my way of escaping reality. Of course I never bought them; I only borrowed them from a local library. At first I only read novels but soon I started reading books about everything from history to physics. Every day was the same routine, I would get up go to work, come home and read on my PC. All this changed tonight, I was walking home (if you can call it that) from work at around eight. The street was busy with a lot of cars whirring past me. All of a sudden, a car which was passing me disappeared into thin air. I was startled at what was going on, when I heard a deafening explosion from somewhere. I heard a lot more explosions all around me but I couldn¡¯t find the source. Then one happened right in front of me. Only then did I realize that was not an explosion but a sonic boom. My legs started trembling at just the thought of what was causing a sonic boom. After a second I realized that there was not one but two of them happening at almost the same time. I had never seen or heard anything like this in my entire life; I thought something like this happens only in manga or light novels. Then the sounds stopped to reveal two females. In an instant they were I front of me before I could even react. What I saw literally took my breath away. Both of them were wearing similar clothes, a full body suit that looked like it was from some science fiction movie. Both of them resembled each other as if they were sisters, they were the most beautiful women I had ever seen. One had black hair (will refer to as first), extending all the way down to her back holding two daggers in here hand, while the other had dark blue hair (will refer to as second), till her shoulders was holding a long sword. What stood out were their deep blue eyes which currently were staring at me. If you spot this story on Amazon, know that it has been stolen. Report the violation. ¡°Who are you?¡± asked the second woman while I was still in a daze from before. ¡°I am Alex.¡± I just said my name not knowing what to say. ¡°How did you get inside this dimension?¡± asked the first. ¡°Huh!! What dimension? I don¡¯t know what you are saying. Who are you guys?¡± ¡°That does not matter to you. Now tell me why you are here or else you are dead. Simple right¡± said the first woman with a devilish smile sending a chill down my spine. Trembling, I could only nod. I explained what had happened still contemplating what would happen to me after. The second woman asked the other ¡°now what?¡± ¡°Well he is telling the truth, just erase his memory and let¡¯s get on with our spar.¡± ¡°What do you mean erase my memory?¡± I retorted. Without giving an answer the second woman reached out with her hand. It had greenish blue hue around it. I didn¡¯t resist as there was nothing I could do or say that could have changed their minds. It stayed like that for a few minutes and then nothing happened. Their faces were starting to show frustration. ¡°How is this possible? You can enter anybody¡¯s mind, so why can¡¯t you enter his?¡± asked the other. ¡°I don¡¯t know. There has only been ¡­¡± The blue haired woman¡¯s face showed a bewildered expression as if something she had never dreamed about was going on. I think I saw a tear forming in her eyes. ¡°Well in that case there¡¯s only one way to solve this.¡± The next instant I felt a sudden pain in my chest and I saw her sword in my chest, it had cleanly pierced my heart. I felt blood coming up my throat and I collapsed certain that I would die. The last thing I saw was a brilliant white light floating around me before drifting off to an eternal sleep or so I thought. ¡°What the ¡­!¡± exclaimed the black haired woman. ¡°Just as I feared¡± said the blue haired woman in a low whisper. chapter 1: revelations Note: I will be using the following convention: " " -- for words spoken out loud. '' '' -- for a line of thought <> -- for another person''s thoughts
Chapter 1 : revelations I opened my eyes to find myself in a closed room with white walls, not ones made of brick or wood but of metal like in a ship. There was almost no furniture in the room except for the bed and a small table beside the bed. I looked around to see that there was no door or windows. There wasn¡¯t even a light bulb but the entire ceiling was dimly glowing giving the room an eerie atmosphere. ¡®I still couldn¡¯t understand what happened after I was stabbed. Why did that blue haired woman say ¡°as I feared¡± and what was that white light? Where was I? What will happen to me?¡¯ While I was sitting there recollecting the events that had happened, the door opened and the blue haired woman walked in. Now that I got a closer look at her, she looked no more than 20 years and she looked even more dazzling than before in the dress she was wearing emitting a really dignified aura but her face betrayed her. She looked as if she hadn¡¯t slept in days, her eyes were watery and tears started to roll down her cheeks as soon as she saw me. I was still sitting on the bed, she didn¡¯t say a word, and she just kept on staring at me. ¡®Why is she crying? Who is she?¡¯ questions like these were running amok in my head but I dared not to say anything fearing for my own safety. Even after a few minutes she was just standing there crying, so I decided to break the silence. ¡°Who are you? And where am I?¡± At the sudden question she locked shocked and took a whole minute before finally answering in a low tone ¡°My name is Helena Alvea Drakin. You are in the dungeons of Valeria awaiting judgement.¡± ¡°Judgement for what?¡± I asked in a surprised tone. ¡°¡­.¡± She didn¡¯t answer that question. < He asked me judgement for what? How can I tell him about all of it? How can I tell him that he will be the one paying for mine and Paul¡¯s crimes? > Just then the black haired woman entered the room. She looked at me who had a confused look on my face and Helena who staring at the ground lost in here own world, a wild grin appeared on her face. ¡°Hello Alex, perhaps I should call you by your real name Aragorn Alvea Drakin.¡± I looked her surprised. Helena looked even more bewildered at her comment. ¡°Oh! You haven¡¯t told him yet, have you sis? ¡± Seeing my questioning glance, she started laughing out loud. Helena just shuddered at her sisters words. If you discover this narrative on Amazon, be aware that it has been stolen. Please report the violation.¡°In that case, I will put it straight. She is your mother.¡± ¡°Huh¡± was all I managed to say. After that I was lost in my own thoughts or a few seconds. ¡®What does she mean by that? For as long as I can remember I have always been in the orphanage. How can someone who is around 20 years be my mother?¡¯ ¡°Wait a second; she looks like she is 20¡­¡± Before I could finish the sentence, ¡°Wow, you don¡¯t know anything about who you are?¡± < I just can¡¯t get enough of this, seeing my sister cowering and that kid who doesn¡¯t know anything, looks like things will be interesting around here> ¡°Sis, you better let me explain everything¡± said Helena looking at me while forcing a smile. ¡°Aragorn, my sister here is telling the truth. You are a pureblood alvean born to me and Paul Alvea Drakin. As to why I look 20 years old, for now let¡¯s just say we Alveans have a very long life. You, my son are no exception.¡± I just stared at her, with a pale face. ¡°We Alveans have been on Gaia or earth as you call it for over 80 million years. You have never been a human Aragorn. It might come as a surprise but I hope you can understand why I left you in that orphanage.¡± ¡°Eighteen years ago, Paul and I were sent on a long mission. I have always loved him, and we had to live together for almost six years. One night I proposed and he accepted, after that, things soon escalated. You see, we were really carefree since the fertility rate for an alvean is pretty low. A year later I found out that I was pregnant. It came as a shock to the both of us, who knew what that entitled you with?¡± ¡°Our rules are clear, Aragorn unregistered birth/pregnancy is a crime. As for why it is, I will leave that for another time. The child is usually killed before it even leaves the womb. I wanted to do the same rather than giving you the life that I did, but when I saw you in the scans I just couldn¡¯t bring myself to do that. When you were born, that was the happiest moment in my whole life. If anybody found out you would be killed. Knowing that I had to part with you, I took the utmost care of you.¡± ¡°Three years later when our mission ended, we left you at the orphanage. Both Paul and I consoled each other for years that it was the best way to keep it a secret. I never did wish any of this for you, but know that I have always loved you and always will. ¡± Her tone was apologetic throughout the explanation. Just as she was finishing, five distinct screens popped up all around us. ¡°So shall we get started with your sentence?¡± came a voice from the one right in front of me. chapter2-Judgement ¡°So shall we get started with your sentence?¡± On hearing that voice, I snapped out of my confusion knowing that this would decide my life. On the screens, nobodies face could be seen, only their silhouette was seen. Alex was always a practical person; this was carved into him by the circumstances of his own life. ¡°Aragorn you were unregistered at the time of your birth and although this crime is nowhere your own fault, it still calls for your punishment. We all have unanimously agreed to put you down.¡± ¡°Is death the only way to solve this problem; come on, I am being punished here for just existing. How is that in any way justice?¡± Alex retorted at the same time as Helena. ¡°Life isn¡¯t fair kid; it is regrettable that you have to be killed, but rules are rules¡± responded a calm voice from the other side. ¡°Don¡¯t talk to me about life not being fair, I know that better than all of you ever will. You guys have existed for at least 80 million years and an unregistered birth is a big problem to you guys.¡± ¡°Hey kid, did you think that it wouldn¡¯t be just because we have been around for a long time, the world you have lived in until now is completely different from the world we live in. The very reason, we even introduced this rule was because of the chaos that was once caused by an unregistered birth. That alone would not have caused you many problems, but the very reason you are being sentenced to death is also because your mother wasn¡¯t even a legal adult when she had you.¡± ¡°But how is all this my fault, shouldn¡¯t they be the ones suffering punishment¡± call me heartless, but having lived alone for so long and learning the truth that I was abandoned, I just couldn¡¯t hold it in. A new voice said ¡°That would be the case, but your mother as it turns out is the princess of our entire race, if this matter ever gets out, it would put the entire royal family to shame. This is also the reason your trial is being conducted here in secrecy.¡± Just at that moment a new screen appeared above the old ones and this person¡¯s face was not covered and it looked identical to Helena¡¯s. ¡°Well Helena, you really had to go and make things complicated huh.¡± If you stumble upon this narrative on Amazon, it''s taken without the author''s consent. Report it. ¡°mother, I ¡­¡±before she could continue ¡° Helena, this was your fault that your son is facing this sentence. Even though he is an illegitimate child, I do not want you going through what I did. So I will give him a chance to fight for his own life.¡± Helena. Pointing at me ¡°Get this straight even though you are technically my grandson, I neither care about you nor do I pity you. The only reason I showed any lenience was because I didn¡¯t want my own daughter suffering like I did.¡± The other five people assembled grew silent at her words meaning she was the ultimate authority. She continued saying ¡°A year from now, there¡¯s a tournament in which every single alvean of your generation will participate. Your goal is simple; you have to prove to me that you are worth something and that you can be useful to our race. If you win the tourney, I will let you live but you will not be part of royal family. If you don¡¯t¡± she trailed off, but I got the meaning. ¡°In this one year, you will be given a temporary citizenship and will be entitled to do anything you want, except trying to escape.¡± ¡°Wait a second, mother he¡¯s only a white, how is he supposed to win the tourney.¡± There was no response and every screen shut off almost at the same time. ¡°That turned out differently than I thought it would¡± said Helena¡¯s sister. From the time I woke up till now, everything happened almost as if it was a video playback. Now as it turns out I have to stay in this place wherever this is for a whole year. ¡®I didn¡¯t even have a say in the matter at all, so the only way to get my life back would be to win that tournament; although that was the condition I doubt she will let me go or that she will stand by her word.¡¯ chapter3 - home Right now there was a lot of confusion in my mind and a lot of questions that needed answering. ¡°Shall we get going?¡± asked Helena¡¯s sister just as I was about to raise my voice to pose my own question. ¡°Yep, I think I have a lot of explaining to do as well¡± said Helena clearly understanding my worries. ¡°Before that can I ask your name?¡± I asked pointing at Helena¡¯s sister. ¡°Ah! Right I never introduced myself. The name¡¯s akuha and I am also your mother.¡± ¡°What the hell are you saying?¡± Helena exclaimed. She started laughing out loud, ¡°just kidding, not that I wouldn¡¯t have liked it.¡± The door opened and I stepped out of my prison along with Helena and akuha and they led me down a few corridors before we came outside to a courtyard. The closer I got to the edge of the courtyard, the more astonishing the sight became. There was almost nothing about the courtyard that actually warranted any attention, but what caught my attention was what was beyond the courtyard, an island. It was already evening and the sun was setting. The orange glow gave the entire scene a perfect setting. When I say island, I don¡¯t mean a regular island floating in the sea. This one was in the floating in the air defying the laws of gravity. Ever heard of the Hallelujah Mountains, what I am seeing would blow that away. The island was not by any means small, it would be at least a few hundred kilometres wide by my estimate. In fact I couldn¡¯t even see the end from where I was standing. I looked down to check if my eyes were playing tricks on me, but when I did, I clearly saw the island floating a few thousand feet above the sea. I was too engrossed to notice that the ground I was standing on was also a floating island. A really small one compared to the island in front of me. I just stood there taking in the view, completely forgetting about all my worries. Even now I was still in a state of confusion, but as I looked at the scene in front of me, It cleared my mind enough to start thinking clearly. ¡®I have never heard of anything like this on earth. Does that mean I am not on earth? If not, where am I?¡¯ Helena tugged on my arm, bringing me back to reality. ¡°What do you want to know?¡± she said as she led me towards the other corner of the courtyard. ¡°Where are we? Please don¡¯t tell me we are on a different planet.¡± ¡°Of course we aren¡¯t on a different planet. We are still on Earth. Ah! You mean the floating island; well the technology the humans possess right now is nowhere good enough to find this place.¡± ¡°Aragorn, we Alveans have lived in this universe for nearly half a billion years. You need to understand that, we are not only one of the oldest races in this universe, but also one of the strongest. Before we came to Earth, we were feared by every race who knows of our existence.¡± ¡°Half a billion years!!¡± I said dumbfounded. ¡®That¡¯s a really long time. The human race has only existed for a few thousand years and we are already close putting an end to our civilization with the global warming and pollution. If humans could advance so much in just a few thousand years, then given half a billion years, no wonder they can keep an entire island afloat.¡¯ Once we reached the end of the courtyard, two platforms hexagonal in shape appeared in front of us. Helena got on one and gestured me to get on the other. I did so and it rose up in the air and carried us towards the bigger island. The platforms were just big enough to accommodate one person. It felt like I was standing in mid-air, the closest I have ever been to flying. Stolen content alert: this content belongs on Royal Road. Report any occurrences. ¡°Where are we going?¡± I asked her. ¡°For now, we are going to my place. Tomorrow we can get started with your registration; and you have got a long way to go before you are ready to fight in the tourney.¡± ¡®So it¡¯s a fighting tournament. Wait a sec, if their technology is at that level, what type of a fight will there be?¡¯ All kinds of things came to my mind, like specialized weapons and tools. I also kind of freaked out thinking I might have to wear that suit which Helena and her sister were wearing. ¡®It was probably a body enhancing suit or something which lets you move faster, otherwise how can someone move faster than sound.¡¯ That thought took me back and another question came to my mind. But I hesitated in asking it, as it was about her being a minor when she had me. a small laughter escaped her. The rest of the way was pretty quiet. I was lost in my own thoughts, enjoying the scenery at the same time. Helena was staring at me the whole time, and laughing to herself probably making fun of me. Around ten minutes after we got on the moving platform, we arrived at a small cliff just off the edge of the island; on top of it was a small dome structure. We stopped near the edge of the cliff and got down. the dome was equivalent to a two story building.The doors opened and a girl about twelve years old came out. ¡°Greetings Mother¡± she said in a dignified voice and almost with a no care attitude asked ¡°who is this?¡± ¡°Aragorn meet your sister Elizabeth and ellie meet your older brother Aragorn.¡± ¡°What!!¡± exclaimed Elizabeth. ¡°which is he?¡± Her face which was bright until now, paled a little at the question. ¡°He¡¯s a white¡± Helena said in a low voice. ¡°A white will never be my brother.¡± Elizabeth said as she went back. ¡°Ok, what was that all about? You said that back in the prison and she said it now. So what did you mean by me being a white?¡± ¡°Get some food and go to sleep Aragorn. There¡¯s only so much a person can handle on a single day¡± she said dodging my question completely. Sighing I did as I was told. I followed her inside and the place was really cool, no extravagant decorations, to be more precise, it was picture perfect. she led me to a dining table and brought some food. Seeing me sit at the table, Elizabeth frowned and she didn''t even look at me after. Helena also sat down and ate with me and ellie. I didn''t even taste the food properly, I just gulped it down. After dinner, Helena asked me to go to the second floor. Elizabeth''s face twisted and she shouted " why is he allowed there when I am not?" Helena answered calmly " It was always set aside for him ellie. Aragorn, I will come by later and let you talk to your father." Elizabeth just stormed out of there, I went up to the second floor. When I reached there I was greeted by a female voice "welcome home, sir Aragorn". I looked around to realize that it was a preprogramed response by a computer. The entire floor was just a single room. I soon found the bed and just fell asleep after a tired day. chapter 4 - split Helena¡¯s POV: An hour after Aragorn went up to his room; I went to check on him only to find him sleeping soundly. I started to wonder if that would happen again since he was sleeping right now, but there were no signs of that. Just then my sister had entered the house and I received a notification and went downstairs. I had asked her to find details about Aragorn¡¯s life hoping to find a solution to his problem. ¡°It¡¯s not pretty, sis¡± ¡°Tell me, I need to know everything before trying anything.¡± ¡°Well first off, let¡¯s go somewhere else where he can¡¯t hear us.¡± ¡°Don¡¯t worry, he sleeping right now¡± ¡°And what about Ellie¡± ¡°She¡¯s probably in her room, let¡¯s go to my room and then we can get started.¡± We went up to my room and I shut the door and turned on the privacy settings so that nobody would hear us talking. ¡°Well first off, explain about why he was like that after he became unconscious¡± ¡°I don¡¯t think I need to, he¡¯s suffering from the same thing brother did.¡± ¡°I know that but I want to know why he became like that¡± ¡°Why do you think, sis. The main reason for that was probably loneliness; the other is associated with him bottling up all his unsaid feelings and all the resentment.¡± ¡°It started out when he was still at the orphanage, he was bullied a lot. Whenever he tried to fight back, it only got worse. So instead he passively took it and soon the bullies lost interest in him and left him alone. This played a real role in shaping him. Ever since then he has never taken control over his life and he only let it unfold like it did, almost never getting. That¡¯s also the same reason he didn¡¯t get angry at anybody today. If it was you or me, we would have at least cursed everyone and at least tried to fight back. He didn¡¯t even try to do that.¡± ¡°Once more during middle school, when he was passive the bullying stopped and it further reinforced his passive personality. The anger, resentment he might have felt, he started suppressing it. On the outside he had a cheerful personality, but deep down his subconscious was absorbing all the negative emotions.¡± ¡°Once he reached high school, he got involved with an event which triggered his other personality. He involuntarily got involved with a gang robbing someone. He was completely beaten up. Do you know what happened to those guys later that week?¡± ¡°Our little Aragorn put them in the hospital with broken bones and with internal bleeding. After getting beat up so badly, he wanted to take revenge but his conscious was telling to let it go, thanks to his stupid passivity. He suppressed that urge but his subconscious did not. After his injuries had healed somewhat his aggressive personality took over while he was asleep. He went to the gangs hideout and he beat up over a dozen of them.¡± ¡°That is just one side of the coin. The other side is the important one, this happened when his energy core got activated that day when I stabbed him, his consciousness faded. The subconscious took over and you know just how well he fought.¡± Love this novel? Read it on Royal Road to ensure the author gets credit. ¡°When his core became active all his internal emotions also got heightened, his outer self-became even more passive while his inner self became a raging storm. The same type of storm that affected brother. The only question is how to make sure that he doesn¡¯t go out of control and how to cure his split personality.¡± Hearing the explanation, I could only stand there completely bewildered, shocked and hurt. Bewildered and shocked at learning the truth; hurt because the only reason, why he had to go through all that was because of me. A tear had escaped from my eyes without even me noticing. ¡°I think that this is his greatest weakness as well as his greatest strength. This situation he is in may also turn out to be his boon. ¡± At that I was startled, ¡°What do you mean?¡± ¡°His weakness because his outer personality is too passive and weak while his inner one is too aggressive. If he ever manages to combine the two, he will have the best of both. That combined with his ground breaking instinct that he has, will become his strength. The tournament may be the best way to bring forth all of that. The only person who can cure this is himself. We will have to break the news soon and then take him to that place after ample training.¡± ¡°The tournament may not be a boon sis, he¡¯s only has a white core. How will he fight someone with a blue or red one? They have a hundred times more astral that he does.¡± ¡°Helena, are you even listening to yourself. I am nearly a thousand years old and you are four hundred. Do you even remember how hard it was for me to capture him alive even with your help, after he lost consciousness? He¡¯s just like Paul in that area, his instincts are that good. How else do you think he beat up that gang with an untrained body? ¡± "The only reason we had trouble was that he kept attacking without a regard for his own life, but I do agree that he''s got his father''s instincts." ¡°Helena, on top of that he perfectly copied my ability like it was something everyone could do with ease. Sis he is much stronger than you think at the same time he is also weak because he can¡¯t control that power or his rage. If he manages that while keeping his heart clean, then he will probably overcome the limitation of having a white core. Don¡¯t worry; I will train him starting tomorrow.¡± "Make sure he wins the tourney and we will have more time to deal with his real problem. do you think mother will keep her word?" "Come on Helena, mother might be cruel at times but she isn''t a bitch. She knows the pain you would go through, if something happened to Aragorn." "If you say so, but I really need to look out for him continuously from now on." "Yeah, you do that. He will need all the help he can get."