ã€ŠHow to Not Waste Your Lifeã€‹


 Back in the days (Chapter 0)

    15 years ago...

    "It wasn''t his fault," the woman on the floor cried among the crowd''s screams "It wasn''t my baby''s fault" She sobbed and was met with silence. The man stood over her and raised his sword, his eyes showing no emotion as he swung it and then stopped, right on top of her forehead, she could feel the crowd become angry and agitated. The tears in her eyes made it hard for her to see but she could hear him sheathing his sword and kneeling before her. She started to plead again, her eyes blurry, hopeful that at least her son would be spared. "Please-"

    "I¡¯m honestly disappointed, Queen Lyra. I¡¯ve been told you tell a lot of stupid jokes," he said to her, solemnly.

    ¡°Would that make you feel better,¡± she forced out in labored breaths as the air got thicker and shifted around a black rune on his arm-the pinnacle of strength-

    She felt her arms become empty, followed by louder roars from the crowd, and realized that her hands were empty. She quickly cleaned her eyes and looked at the man, then his hands.

    No

    They were clenched around a small body.

    No

    They were clenched around her baby.

    "NO!" She screamed, feeling her body becoming hot and the chains on her melting, she rushed at the executioner and suddenly she heard the unsheathing of a sword.

    Nothing but a light red glow and the sheathing of a sword

    So that''s how being dead feels, what an absurd thought to be having right now. She felt herself fall to the ground, looking at what happened, she saw her.

    Korin Blacktail, the first female Royal Guard, stared at her lifeless body after killing her as the shouts around amplified tenfold, with a red rune on her hand. The woman turned her head around and saw her child on the ground. The executioner was about to stab her again-

    Then she woke up.

    Did you like that Lyra? A screen in the woman''s head said as she woke up.

    Then run.

    After a bit of running whilst holding her son, she was getting tired.

    Now hold out one hand, cross your heart with the other, and make a chopping motion with it onto your outstretched palm.

    As she did it, she instantly started to feel better, faster, stronger.

    What did you do? She asked.

    I severed all ties to your clan. Side note, your husband''s side piece is leading the hunt for you.

    Why.

    Originally, It was to be that you''re a witch, but now you''re a rouge so...yeah

    Ok, ok, now to the important question. Is it a guy?

    You can''t fight, you''re holding a baby, use void step. The voice said, ignoring her very important question.

    Because if he''s gay, then I would get it. I wouldn''t like it. But I would get it.

    Shut up.

    Starting to get irritated with the screen, she mentally blocked him.

    Taking a deep breath, she muttered an incantation

    ''... Void step''

    Instantly, a mist sounded her, making her invisible.

    First style

    When she opened her eyes, she was in a comfortable bedroom with a woman sleeping and her baby inside a large crib beside her,

    Walking up to the woman, Lyra shook her awake"Wake the fuck up darling" she whispered,

    "What do you want Lyra." the woman said groggily, immediately knowing it was her.

    "I''ll need you to watch my son for me for a few days."

    The woman sat up "Are you finally escaping?" She asked excitedly.

    Lyra nodded.

    "But can''t you just teleport away? You don''t need to go back"

    Lyra knew she was right "I want to fight my husband''s new partner-"

    "Is it a guy? I feel like it''s important to know this."

    "That''s exactly what I said," Lyra exclaimed

    The woman laughed "I''ll watch Thorne for you, you go do your thing." She held her hands out.

    Lyra hesitated, "Now I feel like shit. bad"

    "You are."

    She held the baby, who still managed to be asleep, close, "I''ll be back soon baby, ok. Don''t do dumb sh-stuff." Then handed him over, she needed to leave before she changed her mind.

    She teleported back to the forest. "Where would she be captain" the Delta ranked guards chorused as they rested in the clearing that Lyra disappeared in. Korin, their team leader, ignored them thinking about how Lyra of all people could outrun her.

    If this were to be any normal person, Korin would have sensed their energy long ago and killed them by now. As you may have noticed, this was no ordinary person, a person that, mind you, was staring at the group from the trees.

    If you come across this story on Amazon, be aware that it has been stolen from Royal Road. Please report it.

    You know, when you said partner, I thought you meant the king was gay.

    So you decide to unblock me when you want to make jokes. The screen said, fuming.

    I had postpartum depression.

    Didn''t you give birth like 6 months ago?

    I''m a victim here, you could have just told me that it was a girl that he was doing.

    She stayed and watched Korin give orders to most of her soldiers to scout the area as the voice started ranting.

    We love a girl boss.

    Mhm, The voice agreed.

    Deciding to be adventurous, she walked out, releasing her invisibility spell.

    "Nice day for a stroll isn''t it," Lyra said walking casually.

    All the remaining knights got in order and a brave one raised his sword and said, "Former queen Lyra Banestone, you are under arrest under charges of witchcraft, treason, and becoming a rog-"

    Move aside. A strong gust of wind blew them away, destroying the trees around. All except Korin.

    "I''m here for you," Lyra said, pointing at Korin with a short black sword that wasn''t there before. Korin rested her hand on her hilt, getting into position. She was one of the best fighters in the kingdom, and Lyra knew it, that''s what made her go crazy with excitement from finally being in a real fight. She smiled and then started as casually as she could. "Sooo," she asked curiously "how''s the king-" Korin rushed at her, attempting to stab her throat then almost immediately got cut on her cheek while blocking Lyra''s parry.

    "Keep his name out of your filthy mouth rouge," Korin said, stepping back to analyze the situation,

    Offensive much.

    Lyra Lunged at her, interrupting her concentration.

    Korin brought her sword down in a quick arc, with Lyra coming close and deflected it with her blade, cracking Korin''s rib with her hilt as Korin raised the tip of her blade to stab her. To the untrained eye, you would think they are evenly matched. But the Knights saw Korin quickly getting overwhelmed by Lyra''s attacks. They used their magic to create arrows out of fire and shot them at Lyra, which she narrowly dodged with a smile.

    I''ve never had a real fight before, only thought of them in my mind.

    Their swords met, causing sparks to form.

    I love this.

    Then again, harder this time.

    So much-

    Korin''s sword snapped in half.

    Aww. Lyra thought sadly as the smile she didn''t realize she had left her face. Why was I running again?

    Korin quickly stepped back, then exhaled whilst pointing her finger.

    Kael''s techniques: Phoenix Flame.

    A burst of flame came out towards Lyra and engulfed where she was and the sudden loss in energy caused Korin''s eyes to blur as she struggled to stay Upright. When they cleared up there was nobody around.

    "You call that Flame control," Lyra whispered behind her. A shocked Korin engulfed her fist In flame with her remaining energy and tried to punch her only to be blocked by a wall of fire and stumbled back to avoid the heat. Lyra was walking out of the fire with a small flame on her pinky finger so white it looked like bright smoke, as it became even hotter with her purple eyes glowing malevolently.

    "This is flame control." She said then flicked the small white flame toward the ground in front of her...

    Korin woke up at the palace with a confused expression, when she came to she jumped up immediately alert. A loud throat clearing snapped her attention to the young doctor beside her.

    "Hello Madam, My name is-"

    "Screw your name, we need to find Lyra, I somehow fell unconscious during our fight-"

    "Yes If you''d allow me to explain-"

    "Where''s the rest of my squad, we need to launch a search immediately-"

    "About your squad-"

    "Oh. My. God, why do you keep interrupting me, do you know who I am, I could-"

    The Doctor, having lost his patience said "Yes, I know who you are,", standing up he said.

    "Queen Consort Korin, I believe you were killed by the rogue known as the former Queen, Lyra Banestone."

    "That is humanly inconceivable. Lyra killed me!" She said, pacing her new royal quarters, where her second-in-command, Justin, relaxed on one of her armchairs.

    "I mean, you''re kind of an asshole." he drawled.

    "Fuck off, we need to launch a search, and I thought the king banned her from leaving and anyone from entering but himself," she said as he got up and lay on her bed.

    "Later, but real gentleman, that king of yours," he said, his muscular frame taking up the bed. "Besides, she evaporated you, they had to solidify you to help, you should be thankful, you''re in almost perfect condition. What incredible precision with technique. I should learn from her-"

    "What do you mean almost " She stopped pacing.

    He suddenly realized what he was there for.

    Sitting up, he smiled. "Let''s play a game."

    "Sure," she said, confused.

    Holding up one hand. "I''ll hold up a certain number of fingers, you close your right eye and tell me how many fingers you see out of your left eye."

    Groaning and closing her right eye, she realized.

    She saw absolutely nothing.

    "They had to condense me r-right," she said, her voice shaky "Did they find every bit of my vaporized self."

    "As you can see- or not in this case,-no they didn''t"

    She ran to the nearest mirror, this had to be a joke, it had to be, she raised her hand to touch her left eye. No socket, No eyelid, No eye.

    In, the throne room, the king was sitting there, looking composed, but he was shaking inside, tapping his finger nervously.

    Did she not notice, I hope Justin broke it slowly. I shouldn''t have tried to kill Lyra, she was pretty, at least. Fuck. He dumped his head in his hands It was clear she hated me, but still... she could have cheated on me, Korin is by no means ugly- or was -it was less of a headache to keep a less attractive wife.

    "Do you think that he told her," he asked his assistant, Daniel, who was standing beside him.

    "No sir-"

    "OH MY GOOOOOD I''LL KILL THAT BITCH." they heard a shout from upstairs, making him squirm and the birds outside fly away.

    "Yes sir," Daniel said, composed as ever

    The door flung open, Korin wearing her armor, with her helmet on, Justin, trailing behind her, not an attempt to be formal.

    "Oh god." the king put his head in one arm, exasperated.

    "KNIGHTS, FROM TODAY, THERE IS AN EXECUTIVE ORDER. LYRA THE BITCH IS NOW ON THE NAMUS PROTOCOL."

    "No, she''s not," the king said, not raising his head.

    "FOR THE NEW RECRUITS, THIS MEANS WHEN YOU FIND HER, TORTURE HER-"

    "Don''t do that." the king said.

    "Ethan," she said calmly to the king.

    "Yeah"

    "I have a couple of questions."

    "Mhm," he said, looking up now.

    "How did she use 2 magic techniques when she fought me."

    "What techniques."

    "I know she used A flame technique, she might have used a transportation technique too-"

    "See, you don''t know for sure, you must be delusional."

    "Look at what she DID TO ME." taking off her helmet and throwing it on the ground, causing a crater.

    In the space where her left eye was supposed to be, there was nothing but a patch of skin, as if it was never there. The king averted his eyes.

    "SHE TOOK MY FUCKING EYE." She boomed, using her hair to cover it as the knights outside became alert, thinking there was an attack.

 In the begining

    "Luna, hurry up and support!"

    "Shut up kid" The woman called Luna said, holding her phone and looking up into the multicolored sky.

    "Ooh, he''s here! " she shouted in excitement, hearing the faint sound of a steampunk-esque engine.

    I''m fighting a fucking death knight. I mean If I were any weaker, I''d be dead.

    "Luna!"

    "Ugh" She swiped up on her phone, creating a gag on his face, the distraction caused the  large, dark armored knight to kick him in the stomach then, right as its sword was about to swing-

    CRACK! A pile of boulders that was once a small floating island came crashing down and, on the ledge where Luna was standing there was another 20-year-old with a stoic expression, he had brown hair and overalls, with a blue shirt. A direct opposite, Luna, who was more cyberpunk, had purple long hair with dark makeup and a leather jacket and tights. He stared for a bit.

    "Ash," he said in greeting

    "Jake" Ash said in return, ripping off the gag as he got up from the rubble "My hair is bloody now"

    "Sleep it off, there''s no one your age to impress," he said, pointing up.

    A redundant boulder was coming at him

    Fuck you, Jake. Then everything went black

    When he woke up, he was underneath it, twisted in every witch way without feeling the slightest bit of pain.

    I feel like these guys just keep me around to test my healing limit.

    Taking as deep a breath as his collapsed lungs could handle, he chanted,

    Ivory dawn.

    The boulder cut into smaller pieces and floated away, due to the nature of his power, after a bit, they remained suspended in the air as the terrain shifted,

    How annoying He sighed, we''re on a mountain now, where are those two- he thought, looking around.

    Then he saw them-no, he saw it. A scene had never been so inhumanly cruel to the universe ever. The formation of a creature so vile, so disgusting that Lucifer himself would fill his eye sockets with molten lead ¡­

    Jake and Luna were kissing. Willingly. Deep inside, he felt that Jake was threatened at gunpoint by Luna, but he knew that it was willing.

    They''re doing this while I''m out with them, wow. How do I get those two back-

    Then he noticed something.

    I don''t think I need to get back at them myself... He thought with a grin.

    Nah they''ll find out. I''m walking back to base though. Ugh And walked away.

    Meanwhile With the two lovebirds, a shadow cast across them and Luna swore, looking up at it.

    "Hydra."

    Breaking apart from Jake, she pointed her phone at the creature. Then it was gone from her hand as the green eleven-headed hydra crushed it with its tail, Jake quickly used his chains to subdue the hydra but one of its heads sprayed poison on the chains setting it free. They used that distraction to retreat and run away.

    "It has 11 heads, this isn''t good," Jake said.

    "What would be able to make a hydra of all things need to grow two more heads," Luna said as they were running. They hid behind some rubble to prevent it from seeing them as Jake made a plan.

    "Something that forced it to grow stronger. Fast." Jake said, looking at it from their spot, thinking.

    "If you were to create a barrier around that, how long would it take before that thing breaks through?" He asked Luna, who had materialized a new phone.

    "A normal 9-headed hydra is about an hour, but with its increase in strength, I would say 8 minutes if I''m not interrupted"

    "Alright," Jake said, "let''s do this..."

    As Ash was walking down the valley smiling, he began to think.

    I''m going to kill both of them-

    Sure  A screen said sarcastically, appearing in his head.

    He groaned  Why are you here again?

    Just go back and fight it, I''m gonna need to force you again, aren''t I?

    No, I''m tired.

    But what about Spiral,  The screen whined  I want to see you test it out.

    Fuck off.  Ash replied

    I know you''re not talking to me.

    Oh yes, I-

    As he started to reply, he felt something control him as he pulled his all-silver sword from the sheath in his back.

    If you won''t do it, I''ll do it for you.  the screen said.

    Fuck you. So much  He thought as he resisted his hands grabbing the hilt and clenched his teeth together to prevent his mouth from chanting.

    It''s experimental, you saw what happened when I first found out about it.

    Oh, Ok.  The screen replied.

    Unclenching his jaw, he sighed in releif at the screen''s understanding.

    I think you mistook what I meant, that''s my bad.  The screen said as Ash lost control of his mouth too  I meant "Oh, Ok I don''t give a shit."

    His mouth moved by itself, saying the word he set to activate the technique.

    Spiral.

    The tale has been stolen; if detected on Amazon, report the violation.

    He felt like he jumped into the water, as the world turned black and white, with everything as far as his eyes could see made out of a combination of white and black threads, losely woven together, but he didn''t regain control of his body, with every involuntary step he took, he heard ripples as if he was in the ocean. His body felt unstable, probably because he was made up of those threads as well, threads that were unraveling by the second. He reached the clearing where he left the pair and they looked to be frozen, creating a plan whilst hiding from the hydra.

    Since you''re here, you might as well do it yourself.  The screen, the only thing unaffected said, returning control of his body.

    ... You''re right.  He agreed, stunning the screen for a whopping millisecond.

    Of course, I am, but seriously, an impressive technique you''ve made here.  The screen, in awe said.  Even Lyra couldn''t come up with this shit.

    Who?

    Hurry up, you''re unraveling.  The screen said, dodging the question. It was the time limit before the spell cut and he felt excruciating pain, as what happened the first time.

    Grabbing his sword, he walked up to the still frame of the Eleven-headed hydra now made of entirely black thread, saving the white sockets where its eyes were. Curiously, he brought his blade up to the point where all its necks met and lightly slashed toward the right, an action that would have barely scratched it in real life. The threads cut and the ones that didn''t, moved so voilently to the right that you would have thought that he used more force than necessary.

    That''s actually really cool.  He said, impressed with himself.  Right?

    I know right  The screen said, managing to sound giddy with excitement as Ash smilled.  You''re ready-

    Wait  Ash said  I know that we may seem to have our differences, but you''ve always been there...

    ...Kid-  The screen started

    I''m not done. You helped me when I came, told me what fruits to eat when I was a dumb 5-year old, found my sword, and thought me how to defend myself-

    What are you getting at.

    Ash smilled  You''re the first family I''ve ever had, without you, I wouldint have traied for weeks to get this. So thank you.

    ... The screen said.

    Are you alright?  Ash said, feeling shy now  I know it was suden but-

    Why did you have to do this now kid, I feel bad now.

    Feel bad about what.

    ...

    I''m sorry.

    Then everything went cold. For the first time. Its presence left that corner of his mind he never knew it occupied. And he didn''t know how he felt about that.

    Worry about that later.  He thought though he started to panic when he realized how much the screen''s presence took of him. It was like he had so much more space in his mind, but it was just...empty.

    Fuck  He thought, leaning on a tree, with tears falling in the form of black thread, but forgetting that everything was made out of sensitive threads, They split apart, leaving him without support. Falling over, the last of the treads surrounding him unraveled, and he landed back in the real world, which suffered the consequences of what he had done.

    It all happened at once. The body of the hydra slashed do the right, most of its blood moving to the right, leaving a gaping cut across its combined necks, and a lot of blood on a tree that split into half. Ash looked up from the ground at what he caused.

    I''m pathetic.  he thought sadly, feeling like the kid that woke up one day in this disorienting world.

    A small flicker of pain went through his mind.

    Huh, at least the pain got better-

    Then it came. The blood.

    It escaped from his mouth as he stood up, looking around to find where Luna and Jake had gone too. He wiped it from his face, looking at his arm in confusion.

    What?

    "Hey Ash," Luna shouted waving her phone, walking out of hiding. "that new technique paid off, didn''t it-" Her smirk faltered as she quickened her pace and started running to him. "What happened." she asked, worried "I''ve never seen blood from your mouth, are you...crying." She wiped his face "Whats wrong"

    "I''m fine, probably overworked myself," he said, sitting down.

    Then, his body locked into place, his muscles seized, as if they were metal rusting. Ash started to panic.

    "Luna, I need help." he said, struggling to keep his breath steady, as the extra turmoil stressed his mind "I-I can''t move."

    "Ugh, you''re so lazy," Luna said, grabbing his hands to help him up.

    Then, as if a switch went off, Ash screamed, causing all the birds in the area to fly away. Fire Licked up his bones and it felt like molten sodium was being poured down his throat, not just hurting, but exploding any organ that hadn''t already vaporized. He clawed at anything he could grab in his blind pain, like Jake, who had somehow appeared in the midst of his torture, His screams echoed again and again, finding new varieties of wildlife to scare away. In the middle of all of this, he heard his friends discuss how to help him.

    "Call Anita, Quick. I''ll hold him down." He faintly heard Jake say as he restrained his ankles, which only made him scream more.

    "Okay, I wont do that." he said, leting him go

    "She''s on her way." Luna came back. "Give it a minute or two."

    "So what are we supposed to do then," Jake said.

    "You''re supposed to know that!"

    "We are not doing this shit today," he said, as they devolved into a silent argument, something about being bad in bed and shit.

    What''s happening to me?  He called out to the screen, a desperate attempt to call it back, to get a reply, any reply.

    Still Nothing. That''s probably what hurt most of all, the one who had been with him since he found himself in this world as a kid, who told him where to find food, taught him how to fight, found him his sword...

    "Oh dear, that''s not good." A new voice came in close, Anita most likley "Well, let''s shut you up."

    He didn''t know what happened after that, After he felt a bit of pressure on his neck, he fell into darkness, his first day being truly alone.

    He hated it, the physical pain had stopped, but he stood there. Wlaking through diferent places, states of mind. All the memories he could remember flashed in front of his eyes, he had this dream countles times before, but it had alwasy ended the same way. They stopped and he was in a comfortable room, only him and this thing from earth.  Burgers.

    Then the screen would rudley interrupt, they would argue about how that type of food was bad for his training. He would wake up and they do everything together. Eat while talking about the training he didnt want to do, the fighting he was forced to do. He wanted to go through it again, and again, and again. He wanted to have hope that at the same time, he would interupt the dream and they would start fighting.

    But that wasnt happening, he knew it deep down.

    Suddenly the memories stopped. His heart skipped a beat as he smilled.

    Don¡¯t scare me like that again.  He said, trying not to cry.

    No response.

    He was transported to nothing, no couch no room. Just Nothing. Tons of new space in his mind...

    And he hated it. Everything in him knew it. One by one, the tears came as he crouched and started sobbing.

    He felt pressure on his hand and he woke up in his room back in their hide out, his eyes red and a few tears escaping from the nightmare and streaking down his face.

    "You okay?" A calm voice asked him, "You were in a lot of pain yesterday."

    I was out for a day? That would make sense.

    "Thanks, Anita" he tried saying, but his throat was dry.

    "Here, drink up." he took the glass of water and took a large swing.

    Wiping his mouth, he said again "Thanks Anita,"

    Then silence, there wasn''t that much to say.

    She held his hand with a small smile "It gets better over time, trust me."

    Looking at her, Ash said "I hope you''re not trying to move on me. I''m a minor."

    Smiling and letting go, she said "See, you don''t need the screen to still be Ash, trust me I know." and left the room.

    Sighing, Ash lay back, wiping his remaining tears.

    Anita went to the main room, her smile gone "You''re right, we''ll do it tomorrow." she said to the rest of their group sitting in the main room.

    "Let''s start planning."

 In the End

    The next morning, Ash woke up¡ªfor the thousandth time. The emptiness still lingered in his mind. Finally having an excuse to get out of bed, he stepped outside and headed to the main hall, where only Neil was present, wearing an army green t-shirt, camo pants, and boots.

    Neil turned to look at Ash. "Hey, cub, I was just about to get some training in," he said, hauling his massive frame up after tying his shoes. "Gotta keep in shape." Noting Ash¡¯s expression, he added, "Want to join me? Might help you forget about it."

    Ash nodded. "Let me get my sneakers," he said, turning back to his room.

    "Thanks. No one else is from remotely the same era as me, so it¡¯d be hard to feel comfortable training with them," Neil said as Ash walked away, pausing.

    "Yeah," Ash said, turning around after a bit of hesitation.

    Neil stood there, watching him leave. She was right. This kid really needs our help.

    When Ash returned, Neil held up a piece of paper. "Terrain forecast says it¡¯s gonna stay snowy for at least another two hours. Just enough time to start. I already did mine... It¡¯s your turn."

    "Start what?" Ash asked, confused.

    "A simple bath before everything starts," Neil said casually. "Nothing as hard as my days in the Bastion."

    The Bastion. The mercenary camp where Neil trained. A place of absolute hell. If Neil was basing this training on that¡­ Ash suddenly had the urge to walk away.

    "It¡¯s not that bad," Neil reassured.

    It was that bad.

    "T-this water is fucking fr-freezing!" Ash managed through chattering teeth.

    Holding a massive block of ice and dumping it into the lake, Neil grinned. "Oh, come on. It¡¯s only two degrees."

    "Two deg-degrees!?"

    "Yes, two degrees." Neil repeated "Ash keep up." He reprimanded, oblivious.

    "Neil, w-would you mind talking to me before I d-die?"

    Letting out a bellowing laugh, Neil stripped off his shirt and waded into the lake. "Let¡¯s talk about you," he said, eyes softening. "Are you alright?"

    After a long silence, Ash muttered, "Never b-been b-better."

    "That¡¯s not what I saw that day," Neil said, his voice quieter. "Even when Anita shut off your body, it was still writhing. Then you were about to cry. What does that to you?"

    Ash sat there, teeth chattering violently. The moment would have been deep¡­ if he weren¡¯t on the verge of hypothermia.

    "Alright," Neil said, hauling Ash¡¯s comparatively small body out. "Let¡¯s get on our run." He tossed Ash a towel, then grabbed a bag from behind the trees in the snow-covered woodland. "You¡¯re new to this, so I started you off easy. A hundred kilograms."

    Ash froze mid-towel, turning to face Neil with a look of absolute madness. "You¡¯re insane."

    "Oh, come on. It¡¯s just a short run," Neil said with a grin, tossing the bag at Ash¡ªwho promptly collapsed under its weight. "Hurry the fuck up," Neil loomed over him.

    "We¡¯re gonna play an old Bastion game I loved. Don¡¯t Stop."

    An hour later, Ash really understood what he meant.

    Running with that weight for a mile was already hell. He nearly stopped for the fourth time¡ª

    BANG!

    A blank fired at his feet, making him lurch forward. But he couldn¡¯t. It was like wading through molasses. His breath was dry. He tried to cough, but there was nothing in him to cough up.

    BANG! BANG! BANG!

    The signal to stop. His legs gave out instantly. The cold tore into him, as if mocking him for being so weak. And he didn¡¯t even have the energy to care.

    "For your first time, that was¡­ alright."

    "ALRIGHT!?" Ash spun around, indignant.

    "You¡¯re right. Abysmal performance," Neil said, shaking his head.

    "ABYSMAL!?"

    "Ash, if you¡¯re just gonna repeat everything I say, you might as well have repeated my record from my first time playing this game¡ª"

    Ash nodded solemnly, as if realizing something. "I see it now¡­"

    Neil smiled. "Wonderful! Now let¡¯s move on to¡ª"

    "No."

    Neil blinked. "Why?" he asked, genuinely disappointed.

    I always thought demons were a myth. But standing here, crushed under this ungodly weight, I realized the truth¡ªNeil wasn¡¯t human. He was a force of nature. An eldritch horror in camo pants.  He dumped the bag onto Neil, who barely budged.

    "See¡ªA DEMON, I SAY!" Ash managed to take a few steps before dramatically collapsing.

    Neil chuckled.  Glad to see you''re feeling better, my friend.

    A beat of silence.

    "NEIL!" Ash shouted. "COME CARRY ME!"

    Neil¡¯s grin widened. "Coming," he said, shaking his head as he strolled over. "Let¡¯s go." He picked up the limp Ash and carried him back to base.

    When they got back, everyone was siting at their own place, doing something by themselves and eating breakfast, without Ash noticing, Neil gave a nod to Anita, who was sitting on the living room floor. Drinking coffee and calibrating something on a technological screen in front of her, she stealthily nodded back then stood up.

    "You guys, I think we should go to the trade center to get some extra assecories. I''m getting tired of my old clothes."

    "Which one." Ash asked

    "Urban area, there are stuff from all of our eras to buy over there."

    Everyone nodded in agreement.

    "Alright, when the late entries," she glanced at Neil and Ash jokingly, "are done, we can go. But for now, I''m going to share the budget."

    Everyone earns a certain amount of tokens by doing stuff, It can be fighting monsters, saving someone or farming food. It''s up to the conduits to recive the funds and share them. And Anita is their conduit, she was the only one quallified to do so without needing to alter a body part.

    She oppened her screen and gave a generall over view. "Alright so, this week we made 1.57 million tokens collectivley. Majority of it was from the  16-hour expidition Ash, Luna and Jake went on the other day."

    "Thats right." Luna said, leaning back "Ya''ll are useless."

    "And even though that may be the case, our farms brought in  way  more than we need so, Thomas will go to Vulcan tomorow to sell them. The expected cash yeild is..." he tapped the screen, looking for it. "5.84 million, so we''ll be set for quite a bit."

    Thomas sat up a bit straighter in his reading nook, his nose rising hautilly.  at the prospect of making more money than  Luna .

    "So we''ll be going out to celebrate. Each of us would get a number hard for me to share so..." she got a notiffication, "I borowed a bit more so we have 2.1 million now. We each get 350,000 tokens."

    Everyone clapped. None of them really cared about the  planing  aspect of money, so they just thought whatever Anita says, goes.

    Ash finished the last bit of pancakes he had bought, so he was happy to get some more.

    "Alright, come for your bits." Anita said. "you know the drill."

    Everyone had their own unique way of receiving tokens, Like luna with her phone, Neil with the identity card he got from his world, Jake used the screen on his glove, Thomas used an E-wallet and Ash would have used his screen...

    He started to feel off, then Anita squeezed his shoulder and handed him a classic wallet. "The places you shop at still accept cash."

    Ash smilled and took the All-black leather wallet, opening it, he saw a picture the group had taken with Luna''s phone inside.

    "The first day we became a group."

    "Also the day we decided to never buy alcohol."

    "You guys actually gave me that shit when I was 12. Never again."

    Anita smilled "More importantly, it''s the day you became  our  family. And dont you forget it" she said, ruffling his hair.

    Patting it down, Ash walked to the door and said, "Let''s go"

    Behind him, they all shared a smille and walked out with him.

    The terain was that of a forest, which made the bunker they had hidden under a sheet of rock look in place, hiding it frim any one who did''nt know what to look for.

    Anita took two steps and groaned, "No, just no. We''re teleporting." she opened up her holographic screen, buying a transport token.

    "Isnt that a bit wastefull, it''s only a 30 minute walk at our slowest." Tomas interjected.

    Stolen content alert: this content belongs on Royal Road. Report any occurrences.

    "So what, we''re rich baby." She smilled and tapped her screen as everyone else cheered.

    The urban area is the beggining''s most popular trade center. It''s one of the few places that never shifts terrains, known as a constant, and dosent have an extreme climate, allowing for a lot of people to live there. It''s a post apocalyptic metropolis with nature reclaiming the space, every so often a building falls, but people are stronger than that. It''s extremley popular, so the foot traffic made it into a stable trade district way before other constants-like vulcan, a heat stricken place-were found.

    Ash and his friends appeared at the urban area, glitching into view.

    "Been a good week, huh" a gruff voice said. Jake, turning around smilled and walked up to Voss, the founder of  Broiler.  a very localised version of a beer drink that was popular in the steampunk dimension they came from. He was in is thirtes, a but of stuble and an eye patch, he wore a grey shirt with baggy brown trousers, partly showing off his fit physique.

    "Wait, we all meet up later to get some colective stuff for the base, so dont spend everything." Anita said, putting her deep grey puffer jacket over her blue blouse. "Remember to bring important shit."

    Everyone exept ash nodded, understanding the code.

    "The fuck-"Ash said, as they all went their seperate ways.

    Turning to Ash, she said "Mind comming with me to buy stuff? You dont look like any thing would pique your interest right now."

    "Alright." he said after a bit of hesitation, putting up his hoodie.

    After walking for a bit, they reached the edge of the city, Ash starting to feel uneasy.

    Is this where she goes everytime we come to the urban area-

    "Youre probably thinking I''m crazy. But its...comforting. To me at least." She said, as if reading his mind. She pushed asside some vines blocking the entry to a tunnel leading into what used to be an underground parking garage

    "Come in." She tilted her head to the entrance. Walking in, Ash saw that different dim multi colored lights were lined across the walls, there was fog and a faint smell of... Something . It was supposed to be welcoming, but he just thought it smelt weird.

    "ANITA!" A voice sounded from inside "I CAN SMELL YOU FROM OVER HERE!"

    offensive much.  Ash thought, but Anita semmed unfazed.

    "HEYYYYYYYYY!" she shouted in response, rushing into the main area.

    It was absolutley  random . Random trinkets with random shelves with random arrangments.

    He kinda liked it. No one thing was in control. from an acient genie lamp to a phone from 2077, anything could appear.

    "ROLAND!" she shouted to the woman standing behind the counter.

    "ANITA!" Roland shouted back, she looked African, with braided hair and beads in each braid. A tall, muscular guy  with golden hair , stood up in exitment after hearing Anita.

    "Oh-yeah Anita," he pretended to look casual, leaning against a shelf. Casually of course. "What''s up"

    She smilled normally."Hello Zion."

    As she was talking to the both of them, Ash wandered around playing with some stuff, he looked at a crystal ball, his reflection becoming distorted. That made him smille a bit.

    "Pretty cool, huh." Anita siad behind him.

    He turned around. "Yeah, I feel like i shouldnt touch it though,"

    "Yeah, you''re probably right." They moved around, watching the items on the shelves.

    She crouched to look at a holographic wilted plant.

    "You really cant find stuff like this anywhere else" Ash said.

    "Yeah, like family." she said.

    "Really," Ash groaned "were doing this right now."

    She got up and kiked his shin, making him wince in pain.

    Taking a deep breath and smoothing out her hair, she said calmly, "Yes, were doing this right now"

    Going back to look at the plant, she said. "I mean that all of this," she gestured around, "are strange and belong with their own place right."

    He nodded.

    "Yet they''re here, and I''m loving them as they are." She stood up "Everything here is good together, even thought they dont ''belong'' together. Like us.  We''re  good together. We''re a family. No mater what happens to you," she rested one hand on his shoulder and used the other to takr of his hoodie. "we''ll always be here. Got it?"

    Ash smiled, "You guys are good at cheering me up."

    "Yeah we are. ROLAND!" she shouted, killing the mood

    "YEAH" Roland responded.

    "PACK THIS PLANT UP. I''M RICH BABY."

    He shook his head As Anita said good bye to Roland and Zion.

    "Alright, so we''re going to get some stuff to make you feel beter, the group are already waiting, lets go."

    They made the trek back and, true to her word, the rest of the group were waiting at the place where they came from.

    Waving, Anita said."Neil," she noticed his frame first "Are the others with you."

    He gave a thumbs up.

    "Good, now let''s begin" they met up with the group and Anita comenced their plan. "Operation C.A.T.F.U."

    Ash was confused "Wha-"

    "''Operation Cheer Ash The Fuck Up''," Thomas pretended to clean his new glasses whilst pretentiously waving it in Ash''s face. Ash sighed.

    "Did you get new glasses?"

    "Oh, these old things," he said dramaticaly "I just picked them up."

    Jake appeared behind them, making them jump. They hadnt noticed him.

    "Here." he handed Ash a thin cylinjer. Ash gasped.

    "I cant accept it. It''s to precious to you."

    In the cylinder was a grape tea so pure, that you could get drunk of it if you  left it long enough.

    Jake had been shearching for it for years.

    "Thank you for handing me your prized possesion." he raised it, there were very few leaves left, shuffling inside. Ash looked at him.

    Jake shruged "I got peckish."

    Ash tried not to feel hurt"I guess youre serious about your teas."

    He gave a rare smile, "See," he patted his back, you get it.

    The group went to each of their favorite spots and gave Ash something they treasured very much.

    Luna gave him an mIphone 15 "It''s pretty primitive oin my world, but for you, it should be alright."

    "Are you sure, I know how you love to collect vintage phones."

    She tried not to cry "I know."

    Thomas gave him a box, it had a silver frame but was made out of wood, it wasnt too thick and, felt...cold.

    "Silver sems to fit you." he ssid after Anita had to pry it from his hands. Thomas was a marksman and loved guns. In that box was the most legendary gun ever made. It was almost sentient, and never mised. Thomas couldnt hold it directly, he wasnt chosen, And Ash wasnt either. But it was the meaning.

    "You guys, are giving too much." He said, knowing that they all had thier own way of showing their love as he smilled for the thousandth time today. Sudenly, he didnt miss his companion as much anymore.

    He managed to fit everything in his jaket pockets, and was about to walk away, keepint the tears in his eyes-

    When Neil rested his hand on ash''s shoulder. "Wait a bit cub. Let me show you something." he pulled out a katana, with a silver hilt, but black sheath. He handed it over to Ash "I made this myself. I dabble with forging a bit. I call this  Tsukishiro - The moon''s white shadow. I had to call in a favor with some really powerful drinking budies to get the divine power to finish this. So dont waste it."

    Ash took it, feeling the sheath, It was soft like silk but as hard as steel. It also managed to render the sword invisible.

    "Soo, can anyone tell me what theyre looking at." Luna interjected.

    That''s pretty cool

    "I want you to know that, even when we''re not here. You can protect yourself."

    Ash held it tighter. "Alright, thank-"

    Then, they heard it. All the little calming sounds that no one really noticed, birds chirping, grass russtling and the like, they all came at one.

    They all groaned  He was here.  Aegis, the one who claimed to save them from their lives before giving them a new life here.

    Bullshit. Total bulshit.

    "That guy" Thomas said, his face scrunching up.

    "The only thing I like about him is his hair."

    Every one else agreed, They didnt like him, but they werent blind.

    They caught a glimse of him, Long light blue hair and wearing a blue komono, he strolled through the crowds, casually. Everyone admiring him.

    "Hello you all." He managed to be heard by everyone without raising his voice. "It''s been a while, hassnt it. I wanted to check on you all, clearly enjoying life as you prepare to fight the scoundrell, The villanous-"

    The usual background noise¡ªfootsteps, distant shouting, the hum of a broken city, even Aegis'' sounds¡ªhad vanished. All that remained was the steady, obnoxious slurp of ramen broth.

    Slurp

    Aegis'' eye twitched. He knew that sound.

    Slurp

    On the rubble of a fallen building, a man sat casually, chopsticks in one hand, ramen cup in the other. He didn''t even glance their way, too busy tipping the container back to drain the last drops of broth.

    Aegis exhaled sharply. "-Malakar." he finished.

    The instant the name left his lips, he flicked a knife with impossible speed¡ª

    Clink

    Malakar caught it. With his chopsticks.

    "Ooooooh," the group said in admiration.

    "I wish I could do that." Neil said.

    "Impressive accuracy."Thomas noted.

    "What''s  His  number" Anita said, using her screen to zoom in.

    Luna simply took a picture of the scene.

    He held up a single finger with his free hand. "Shh. Give me a second."

    He lifted the cup again, making sure to get every last drop. A satisfied sigh followed. Then, finally, he wiped his mouth on his sleeve and looked up.

    "You know, I''ve realized something." He stretched his arms, cracking his neck. "The way you say my name? Sounds like you''re cursing." He made a vague, dismissive gesture. "Call me something nice. Like¡­ I dunno. Denis."

    "Denis?" Aegis spat.

    "Denis." Malakar repeated, nodding as if pleased with himself.

    Aegis¡¯ knife was still between his chopsticks. With a lazy flick, Malakar sent it flying back¡ª

    Shnk.

    A thin red line appeared on Aegis'' cheek. He stiffened. None of them had even seen the throw.

    Malakar¡ªor rather, Denis¡ªgrinned and grabbed another ramen cup.

    "You got a little something here." he pointed to the cut.

    Aegis covered it, and when he removed it, the blood was gold.

    Why cant he just heal it instead.  Ash thought.

    He pulled a kettle from somewhere beside him, pouring hot water inside without a care in the world.

    "Alright, boys," he said, swirling the noodles. "Let¡¯s chat."

 In the Beyond

    "Why are you here, feind."

    "Why does he talk like that, it''s so weird." Luna asked, the rest of the group breaking into discussion on the possible reasons for his abominable speech.

    "Maybe he''s just old." Neil sigested. "We definetly know he has  some  divine power. Maybe he lived long enought to prefer it."

    "But Mala- Denis  looks about the same age and looks stronger, but he''s clearly cooler."

    Every one else agreed.

    "He could be trying to look older to seem wiser, it probably helps his credibility." Thomas sugested.

    "Oh yeah, thats actually a really cool thought." Ash said "And you saw what he did with the cut-he didnt heal it, just made his blood look more divine."

    "I knew it, that guy was full of shit." Anita said, shaking her head.

    "The only thing we can rely on it times like these is his hair." Jake said objectivley.

    "Truthfully, such beauty can never lie." Neil said.

    Everyone else nodded, "Beauty."

    Malakar started slurping again, "Aegis, come here. Lets chat."

    Aegis stood firm "Leave this place, swine."

    Ash and his friends tried to hold their laughter.

    " Swine " Luna mocked, whispering.

    They covered thier mouths.

    "I bet a hundred tokens that he''ll say scallywag or some shit-"

    "This place is not for you, scallywag"

    His group started whisper laughing, Neil was on all fours, hiting theground to signal his expanding lungs. Even jake was hunched over, tears dropping.

    " Scallywag " Thomas mocked this time. They started up again.

    "what would I even do. We both swore an oath to not atempt to kill each other or our followers." Malakar said, thouroughly ejoying his ramen.

    "Still-"

    He got up from the rubble, "So, let me teach you a lesson on souls-"

    "I never alowed you to speak." Aegis said, interjecting.

    The group groaned again

    "I dont care." He moved through everyone, walking up to him with a smug smile. "I guarantee that you''ll be interested in what I''m going to say."

    After a pause, he sighed. "Carry on."

    "Wonderfull now, some of you might not know this, but you could leave back to your old ''usless lives'', as my brother here put it." he pointed his chopstics at Aegis, who was watching with a blank expression.

    He sat on a peice of rubble closer to them and pulled out a basket of dumplings. "He kidnaped you, or killed you when you were to vulerable to remember. Think about it, do you remember anything about your past life."

    The people shifted uncomfortably when they realised he was right. He blew on a dumpling and ate it "Mhm, pork. So, this place" he gestured around "is impossible for you to leave by your self if your soul isnt strong enough."

    " Soul , dont tell me he''ll shart talking about chackras and shit." Anita said, feeling disapointed.

    Malakar smiled "I''m not talking about that."

    Anita felt even lighter.

    "Each soul iteracts with the universes energy to perform various functions. The mechanism that conducts your level of interacion is called..."

    Sudenlly, white runes in a language they did not understand were swilling every where, on their bodies, on the groud, dotting the night sky as if they were stars. Yet they all semed to turn around a central point. A single rune on Malakar''s hand. Everyone loked around in awe.

    "...a sigil. These alow you to create a world based on your experinces, called veils, Veiwpoints or realms. To make this simple, they are segregted by colour. Grey, to blue, to Gold, to red, to black. A white sigil is reserved for deities that have surpased mortality. right now, exactly 3/4 ths of you have Gold sigls. and half of the remainig have blue. The rest have red sigls. Strong, but nowhere strong enough." The lightshow stoped. "This place is devoid of time and space. Only white sigils can leave freely."

    "And so why are you telling us this." someone shouted from the crowd.

    "I can give you a way out." he clapped. everything became greyscalen and the only source of light was a large beam that all of them could see.

    "Who wants to go first-" he started explaining.

    Shit  Aegis thought,  I need to fix this.

    "Pause." He said, taking the stand. Ash and his group wilted.

    He stood upright, brandishing the now golden blood as a sign of honor.  Let''s begin.

    "So this is your savior? A man who slurps broth and laughs as he condemns you to the unknown?" his starting sentence scilenced everyone, even Malakar stopped mid chew.

    "Well I''m just offended." Malakar said, turning back to his food.

    His voice was piercing, someone who has never doubted his own greatness.

    "Fine. Leave. Run into the abyss. Trust in the mercy of a world that has never shown you any."

    He steped forward, meeting their uncertain gazes.

    "Do you think Malakar knows what¡¯s waiting for you out there? Does he truly understand what it means to leave this place? Or is he just playing a game? I mean look at my scar."

    Aegis getured at Malakar with an almost pitying look.

    "He calls me a liar, but what has he given you? A door? A possibility? Tell me, what use is freedom when you have nowhere to go?"

    let that sink in.  Then, he spoke softly.

    "I saved you."

    He scans their faces.

    "You were lost before me. Scattered. Hopeless. Some of you had no homes. No families. No purpose."

    He pauses. His golden blood has dried now, glistening like a relic from a forgotten past.

    "Yet here, you have something. A reason to wake up. A cause to fight for. A future that you understand."

    His voice drops to a whisper, but it cuts through them like a blade.

    "What waits for you beyond that exit? You don¡¯t know. Neither does he."

    Malakar nods in agreement. He couldnt deny  that

    "But I know what¡¯s here. And I know what we can be."

    Aegis takes one final step forward, letting his presence overwhelm them.

    "So go ahead. Run. Chase the illusion of freedom."

    He pauses. Then, his voice hardend.

    "But when you realize that no world out there will ever give you what I have given you¡­"

    He turned away, his final words laced with sorrow he wispered sadly

    "Don¡¯t bother coming back." then he walked away.

    The people shifted nervously, some turning to malakar who was nodding whilst eating his dumpligs. He set his chopstics on his basket and set it aside. He started to clap.

    "Congrats, now most of you wont want to go. That''s alright. You wouldnt be able to anyway."

    Confusion rippled through everyone.

    A case of literary theft: this tale is not rightfully on Amazon; if you see it, report the violation.

    "Before he interupted me. I was going to say that most gates like this only alow those with gold sigls to pass. And that so happens to be most of you." He looked at them and smilled "I never said that  This  gate does."

    Aegis looked on, his confusion uprooting the pride he felt from his performance.

    "He conviced 3/4 ths of you to stay. But Most of that group wouldnt have been able to leave. Because most of you have gold sigils. The rest can leve after I finish. Actually, just go." He waved everyone away.

    Aegis was thrown.  so what is his intention then.

    Malakar sat back down and finished the rest of his dumplings. "Youre probably wondering my intentions." just then, they heard a scream. Coming in from all directions, the monsters of this world crawled, walked or slithered to the gate. One was about 20 stories tall and was stick thin, made of wood.

    "The verdant is alive?" Aegis said in awe as it turned its dim grre eye to Aeigis, paused and walked into the gate.

    "You can make new monsters right?" He said, procuring another ramen cup.

    "I cant remake  him " he said sadly. "he was a good challenge, even for me."

    Malakar snickered "Of course he was."

    "So, that was my first objective. The second was to kill you future army."

    "You cant kill anyone of mine untill our final battle. We swore on Aleora."

    "I know. And you quick mouth would prevent me from getting almost anyone out. Soo..." he waited....

    "Oh shit!!" a voice shouted as the sounds of stabing were heard, it increased and increased, untill the whole battlefeild was filled with blood.

    Aegis watched... as if waiting for something. Then he got increasingly more angry.

    "She''s not coming to enforce our oath...what did you do." he turned around slowly.

    Malakar shruged "Maybe she''s asleep." he smiled "i may not be the god of chaos you  despratley  want me to be but..." he turned to Aegis, whose feeling of dread intensified.

    "...I''m far from good."

    Ash and his group were waliking back, oggling their spoils whist laughing at today''s events.

    "If he had kept on, he would have said something like ''whippersnapper''," Jake said, making them all laugh.

    "This was honestly one of the beter market days. But we should realy find out what colours our sigils are." Ash said, calming down.

    Luna was uncharisticaly scilent.

    "Luna, Is everything alright." Neil said.

    She sighed "Well, if you  insist  i tell you...I was honestly considering leaving."

    Everyone stopped. They were about to pounce on her, but Anita got there first. "Could you tell us why?" she asked calmly.

    "My baby brother. He''s the only person I remember from my world, but I miss him. Every day."

    Everyone calmed down, after all, how would it feel if they lost everyone from  their  family. And memories from before this place were way too valuable to just discard.

    Anita threw them a glare "But if he''s anything like me, he would just get angry," Luna smilled biterly. "that wouldnt help anyone-"

    They halted as they reached the end of the greyscale veil, there was some sort of barrier preventing them from leaving.

    "Well, we''ll have this convo later." Thomas said, going closer, "Something''s off."

    Behind them, a man was walking towards them, he was middle aged, with salt-and-pepper hair, wearing a dark brown tench coat and using a walking stick.

    "Elder, the way foward is blocked, it might be best to-"

    "Oh young man, the way back isn''t safe either. People are being killed by malakar''s group." The man iterupted.

    Thomas froze "I thought there was an oath in place."

    The man rubed his perfectly combed hair. "He had to go through a  lot  of loopholes to get this done. You have no idea-" he stopped as he saw the glint of a rifle in front of his face.

    "You know too much about the specifics to be some ordinary guy. I''ve never seen you around. Where do you live-" He was stopped mid scentence as a knife went throughthe right side of his chest. Everyone was stunned. For a millisecond. Neil got into a fighting stance.

    "We need to survive if we want Thomas to live. Anita-"

    "On it," she used her screen to analyse the barier as everyone else prepared to fight.

    "Luna, give Thomas first aid." Ash said.

    "Sure." She materialised a kit and started.

    Neil and Ash lunged at The man, with Jake preparing his long range devices.

    The man used his stick to slash at the both of them with his stick. An action almost as deadly as using a sword. Ash jumped over the strike whilst Neil went below it. Neil reached him first, and let the man know it.

    CRACK! His exendable staff met the man''s side. He blocked it with his walking stick, which was clearly a rouge and struck Ash, who was crouched below him and about to strike him with his unseathed sword. Blocking it, he shifted his weight back, managing to get into an akward back handspring and rushing back at him, with Neil pairing his attacks. He tutted and pulled out a concealed sword from his walking stick, and used both those patts to fend them off. He would block Neil with the sword and Ash with the stick, then they would switch cleanly. As if it was a pattern. Then they wouldnt follow it and start attacking individualy. He got fustrated and leaped back to rethink...

    But thomas wouldnt let him. He felt an imense shock to his arm and got on his knees, writhing but trying to stay upright. The three infront of him would kill him if they had the chance.

    He couldnt let that happen. Forcing his free hand to his arm, he tried to rip the taser off, shoking his arm in the process. Screaming louder, he got the taser off, barley taking a breath before being thrown backwards when Neil''s staff conected with his face. Midair he used his hands to vault himself upright whilst Ash stabed the ground where he was with his unseathed sword. In the split second where they hadnt reached him, he lunged through them, his blade about to kill Anita as sahe was distracted.

    Then he felt a force feild that glitched as it resisted the blade.

    "Your fight is with them." Luna pointed at Ash, who used the oppening to slice the man with his sheathe. As he was about to fall, Neil struck him away from them.

    "You guys, I''ve managed to open it for a bit." Anita was standing outside after helping Luna carry Thomas out. "It''s not that strong, come out."

    They fell back with Ash being the last. The man couldnt let that happen, he threw his stick with deadly precision at the back of his head, making him stumble. Then, almost in the blink of an eye, he was there, clutching his wound that would most definetly kill him by the end of the day.

    Malakar was watching the killing spree that he had caused and sighed. "This shouldnt have been neccesarry-" he felt a tear in his force feild.

    "People are strong enough to leave, yet they chose to stay? I''ll never understand people." he pointed his chopsticks in that direction and a part of the beam of light branched out and went to where Ash was.

    Ash had lost his balance and the man was about to stab him, everythin started moving in slow motion...

    So this is it.  he thought sadly, he looked up At Anita, who was about to run in...

    Thank you for being my second family...  he closed his eyes.

    Then nothing, darkness, sleep.

    So this is what being dead feels like.  He thought simply  What an absurd thought to be having right now

    He wasnt dead, the branched out gate had reached Ash and the man right as the man stabed him. Transporting them right as the force feild forcefully closed. Anita fell to her knees. Scilence. Her body started shacking, and her eyes became blury.

    "He''s not dead." she said, trying not to cry,  Anita  dosent cry.

    But everyone else can do it for her.

    "WHAT THE FUCK!!" Luna shouted, pulling out her phone and prepared to summon a tactical missle. "I''M OPPENING THIS SHIT AND GOING IN TO FING HIM MYSELF."

    "That won''t work," Jake said, his voice barley above a whisper. "the gate probably sends you to the timeline you were  born  in-"

    "SO WE SHOULD JUST STAND HERE AND DO NOTHING!!" She snapped at him.

    Neil and Anita shared a look.  They  couldnt be sad right now. That would make them vulnerable.

    "We need to get back to base to think. It''s dangerous for us to be here, he could lower the forcefeild. Whe have no idea how many people he sent."

    Anita got up and wiped her tears. "Neil is right. We need to leave. Look." She pointed at the forcefeild. Malakar had gotten there really quickly and he was eating his ramen, smilling at them.

    Luna jumped back, not noticing him.

    "The token shop is working now, lets go home." She bought a transport token and they teleported home.

    The mood at home was solemn, with every one calming down a bit. Neil stood up, his body tense, preparing to lay out all they know.

    "So, we know that As is gone to his own timeline through the gate. We also know that he didnt have any difficulties, and he''s strong, so a red sigil..."

    Everyone nodded, agreeing.

    "So most of us have red sigils, maybe one has gold." He said.

    "And only white sigils can leave and enter freely..."

    "Yeah..." Jake pressed.

    "So then we all get white sigils. Simple."

    Everyone looked at him. Stupified.

    "I never said It was easy. I said it was  simple ."

    Anita thought "Ok, but we would need someone that  does  have a white sigl to teach us. Any ideas."

    Thomas raised his hand. "You said you had a drinking buddy that had divine power. Wouldnt  he  have a white sigil."

    A lightbulb went off in his head. "Youre right. The sword saint  would  have a white sigil."

    Anita stood up "Stop." everyone went scilent. "We have some game plan, but lets talk about this tommorow. It''ll be business as usual, but Neil will go to the sword saint and Thomas still goes to vulcan. Actually, Thomas and Luna. Now that people have died, there might be some disruption. Luna will protect him." Right after she said that, she rushed to her room.

    Luna was about to follow her, bur Neil stopped her.

    "She needs to be alone right now." he said, "and I do too." He walked to his rooom as well.

    Jake sighed and stood up "It''s late anyways. Let''s all just sleep on it."

    The rest Nodded and went to sleep, the extra weight of Ash''s empty room burdened them.

    Anita stayed by her door and waited for everyone to leave. She pulled out an old folded picture.

    Our first day as a team.  she looked at it. Neil had puored whiskey on it, so Luna demanded another. This was the original pictue.

    The lonley drop of whiskey felt a drop of water beside it, then another, then another. Anita continued to cry silently, until she covered her eyes with the paper and started sobbing, she tried to stop, she really did. After all, anita dosent cry. Never. But she decided to indulge herself for today, a girl can spoil herself after making good money, cant she?

    She fell onto her bed, feeling hatefull. Hateful to Ash for being caught off guard, hatefull to Neil for not protecting him, Hateful to malakar for causing this to happen, Hateful to Aegis for being so spinless...

    Hateful to herself, for not runing to catch that stupid boy faster.

    Everyhing she had been holding back since she saw him vanish was let out, she screamed, she cried, she broke everything she could.

    She grabed the picture, preparing to tear it, then she looked at his stupid kid face, threw it asside and wept, curled up on her bed.

    A man with long black hair and red eyes, leaned on a tree outside a cleverly hidden base, slurped some ramen broth, smilled, then walked away.

 Wake up

    Ash woke up but refused to open his eyes. He felt too comfortable. The past few days had to be a dream, he felt darkness around him, weightlessness, and especially the breeze blowing on his face. Speaking of which¡­.

    How did that breeze get there?

    He opened his eyes, realizing that that could be a problem.

    He was right.

    He looked below him, and saw a bustling metropolis, unscathed, at night, with lights that looked like fallen stars. He took a second to admire the sight, some light was moving, some were coming from buildings¡­ He had to take a good look when he reached the ground-

    ¡°How am I going to reach the ground¡± he continued falling, way calmer than he should have been-

    ¡°OH SHIT! HOW AM I GOING TO REACH THE GROUND!¡±

    There it is.

    Alright, He started to think if I used spiral to hit the ground, the real-world effects would lessen. But it¡¯ll hurt. Fuck.

    He looked around, as if that would help him, then awkwardly twisted himself to fall into an alleyway instead of the middle of the street.

    Anita, He didn''t realize his current inability to reach her She shut off my body by applying pressure to my neck. That will prevent me from feeling the effects. He saw his sword about to fly away, and he grabbed it, holding on to it. Here goes nothing. He took a deep breath and chanted.

    ¡­Spiral.

    He slowed as if he fell into a pool, the world turned white, with black threads forming up buildings, their density more than anything he had seen the other times he used the move. He slowly got closer to the ground and raised his threaded hands to his neck, his rapidly beating heart now silent, or maybe it was beating so fast it was in a flat line now.

    When he got about half an inch, he took a massive gulp of air and undid the spell.

    The emperor leaned back, staring at his plush office, a place he commanded to not be touched, yet had clearly been used whilst he was away. He stared at the man standing in front of him, his nervousness visible. The man was middle-aged, pale, and had a bit of a beer belly, he had chosen to shave his hair bald due to the fact bald patches started appearing earlier. The emperor, on the other hand, looked no older than 27, with slightly long platinum blond hair, piercing bright amber eyes, and a lean frame. He opened his mouth to say something when he heard a bit of a disturbance outside.

    ¡°Ignore that boss-¡± the middle-aged man, Leonardo said nervously.

    ¡°No,¡± he got up, his tall frame overshadowing him as he picked his suit jacket. ¡°It¡¯s a nice distraction to prevent me from killing you.¡±

    The middle-aged man looked down in fear.

    ¡°Let¡¯s go,¡± he said, opening the door, everyone outside snapped into attention when they heard his Low, deliberate voice.

    ¡°Get whatever that was.¡±

    Every personnel in the building was out in the alley searching as the Emperor stood at its entrance, looking calm but trying to relax internally.

    ¡°Was this really needed?¡± Laura, his assistant, started one of the only few people able to notice his anger.

    ¡°That pig touched my office.¡± he said calmly ¡°I would have killed him right then and there if that ¡®Queen¡¯ bitch wasn''t already on my tail-¡±

    ¡°But pulling close to 100 people into an alley would calm you down.¡± She tilted her head ¡°Really¡±

    He was about to say something when the middle-aged man walked towards him, two lower-level employees dragging an unconscious boy with silver hair, one of his arms seemingly holding something, but there was nothing there, at least to normal people. The Emperor saw a silver and blue hilt and a black scabbard, he then looked at the kid, remembered the tip-off he had received about The Queen, and looked at the man as he rubbed his hair and watched his face to see if it was authentic.

    ¡°Put him in my office, tie him up.¡± The Emperor walked onto the street as the man he had so eloquently called a pig, made a disgusted face at his back.

    ¡°Leo¡± The Emperor stopped to turn to him, his face blank as usual ¡°Your performance today has bought you and your family another day alive. I expect you to use it wisely and leave the country before¡± He checked his watch.

    ¡°10:27 pm tomorrow.¡± he thought ¡°10:26, because i don''t like the face you gave me, I know it¡¯s a bit unfair-¡±

    ¡°What kind of monster are you!¡± Edward shouted, face red. ¡°I¡¯ve been with you since your grandfather started this¡­¡±

    10:25 for shouting about us in public.

    ¡°You think because you''re some big shot, you can just fire a legacy like me!¡± he continued ¡°And your elder at that!¡±

    10:24 for playing the elder card.

    ¡°All your shady practices go against the structure they have built from the ground up The structure I built from the ground up!¡±

    The onlookers around started to slow down, listening to the exchange. One in particular, The Emperor looked at her and smiled a killer smile.

    10:00 for letting her hear this.

    ¡°You better leave her out of this else I¡¯ll-¡± he faltered, turning around.

    She was wearing female armor from the neck down and had part of her black hair covering one of her eyes, she looked to be in her mid-thirties. No one had heard her, despite the armor.

    ¡°Oh don''t mind me, Edward, feel free to continue,¡± she said to the Emperor, her voice light

    His smile became warmer, a practiced move ¡°Yes Edward, Let¡¯s continue inside.¡±

    Unauthorized reproduction: this story has been taken without approval. Report sightings.

    They were back on the 50th floor of his building, Royale Arcana, in his office. He removed his jacket and sat down in the meeting area of his office. He gestured for her to sit down on the couch opposite.

    ¡°Silly me, I forgot refreshments!¡± Edward clapped his hands, his voice now chipper ¡°Is there anything you''d like.¡±

    She stared, ¡°What would you recommend?¡±

    A man in his early 50s opened the door on a cue, pushing a trolley with a blank face. He removed a pitcher and two glasses.

    ¡°Pineapple and mint, it was the only recognizable thing I saw when I was checking in on our mining operation in Congo. I got hooked after that-¡±

    ¡°Enough with the act Edward, I¡¯m just letting you know that I''ll be arresting you after this,¡± she interjected as he poured himself a drink.

    ¡°For what,¡± Edward asked, his cipher voice gone as he took a sip. ¡°I recommend this drink though, we were having a game night in honor of my visit and one of my middle-tier men got erratic. But who knows, maybe I cheated a little bit.¡± He took another sip, a much more greedy one.

    ¡°I¡¯m thankful to have caught you before you left the country-¡± She pulled out her warrant, and he took it and examined it as he interrupted.

    ¡°Are you sure, because I had something for you.¡± The door opened, and she saw a swivel chair being dragged in, a boy was tied to it.

    And her heart stopped.

    He had grey hair and a bit of dirt on him.

    Her hand shook as she reached out to him, ¡°H-How.¡± Her voice shook as well, as she stared at The Emperor.

    ¡°He fell from the sky.¡± he poured himself another glass.

    The Queen placed her hand back at her side and ripped up the warrant he returned to her.

    ¡°I apologize for my rude intrusion,¡± she got up, grabbed the boy¡¯s chair, and walked to the door. ¡°Do try to cheat less- in your games and otherwise.¡±

    ¡°Oh, don''t forget this.¡± he threw a black, black box.

    ¡°His sword, can''t have you losing that.¡±

    She walked out and he smiled and called over a cleaning service to scrub the room clean.

    Ash woke up but refused to open his eyes, he felt too comfortable, the first few days had to have been a dream. Though he should probably get up and look for Anita and his friends, after all, there was no way that he was actually on earth. Probably just some unidentified area, he would find his way back, they had gotten lost before. But for now, he was going to enjoy the darkness surrounding him, the soft plush feeling, and the cool air.

    Though he should probably check on that, he knew from experience that the only comfortable cool places are the most dangerous.

    He opened his eyes and saw a female knight sitting beside him.

    In a split second, he grabbed the knife that was with the sliced fruit on his nightstand and was about to stab her in the eye¡­

    Then he felt his hand stop completely. A force even greater than when the screen controlled him.

    The knight looked up, about to fall asleep.

    ¡°How annoying, put that hand away before I take it.¡±

    Ash withdrew his hand, nearly paralyzed with fear.

    ¡°Now, let¡¯s talk.¡±

    "So, what do you want to talk about?" Ash said, leaning back in the nearest recliner in the living room, regaining his composure quite quickly.

    "Your rank hasn''t been calculated yet," Queen Korin said, leaning forward on the couch across from him.

    "What even is that?"

    Her eyes narrowed in intrigue. "That''s not important, I just said that to test you." staring at him "Where were you for the past 15 years"

    "You''re not in a place to ask questions, especially if you need my help." Ash said, wondering for some food "Why did you call me"

    Korin looked amused He''s an interesting kid "I need you to do one thing for me"

    Ash cocked his head "What do I get in return"

    "This hotel," she said, gesturing around "Will be yours. Oh as well as a suitable monthly allowance"

    He sat up slowly after some thinking. Nothing wrong with that "So what do you need?"

    She smiled, leaning back "You see... you look a lot like someone I know..."

    In a place both far and close to the earth, where all things began, Anita had woken up after crying herself to exhaustion-who was she kidding, she wasn''t able to sleep at all. Now that the day had broken, she had an excuse to get out of bed. She sat up slowly, groggily about to get off, but stopped as she looked at all the broken items strewn across her floor. She sighed and pulled some slippers out of her screen¡¯s inventory and walked through.

    Looking around the living room, she noticed its emptiness. She got to the table and saw various notes, from those going to Vulcan to Neil going out for a few days. She went to make some hot chocolate to relax when she saw him.

    He had pure white hair, wearing a pristine white suit with a pure white sword taller than she was beside him, and was pouring some of Neil''s whiskey into a glass. Anita didn''t want to bother-She knew who he was.

    ¡°Sword saint, I¡¯m assuming Neil called you.¡±

    He turned around and took a sip, showing that he was older than he looked. ¡°No¡± his voice was hoarse, ¡°I wanted to check on you all, but got¡­ interrupted¡± he gestured to the whiskey.

    She started breaking chocolate bars ¡°We¡¯ll they''re not here. Bye¡±

    He passed her a bowl. ¡°I know, I¡¯m here to explain a few things about what Malakar did before you move on with your little endeavor with the sigils.¡±

    She paused ¡°Go on¡­¡±

    ¡°Your current level is gold.¡±

    She turned ¡±But-¡±

    ¡°Yeah, the gate doesn''t allow golds to enter, but Malakar can manipulate that specific gate in real time. He wanted you to believe that you were stronger than you are, making you reckless later down the line.¡±

    ¡°How do you know.¡± She lit a match to light the stove.

    He got up and walked up to her, putting his finger on her chest.

    ¡°What are you-¡± she felt her heartbeat stronger than it had before, knocking her off balance, the sword saint grabbed her to prevent her from falling and moved her away from the stove.

    ¡°Now look,¡± he said.

    She raised her arm to her face, and she saw it.

    Golden runes floated above her hand in different layers, as if they were part of a clock. Surrounding a single rune just above her arm.

    ¡°Malakar doesn''t intend on fighting you, that would be like a dragon stomping on a sunflower,¡±

    Offensive. She thought

    ¡°But you being complacent could be useful later down the line. I don''t know his plan. And quite frankly, I don''t care.¡± he shrugged, going to his stolen whiskey. ¡°And side note, what¡¯s up with Neil. He¡¯s recently downed most of the alcohol here.¡±

    She felt her heart twinge as she looked down, then clenched her fist

    ¡°So you can''t help us get a gold sigil until we get stronger.¡±

    ¡°I¡¯m not going to help you guys get a gold sigil until you get stronger¡± he corrected, moving back to pour another glass. ¡°Getting a gold sigil without being strong enough opens you to a side of divine politics you won''t like. And I won''t open a gate for you myself, that¡¯s beneath me,¡± he said, moving to the living room. ¡°Right now, the only person I have faith in reaching a black Sigil is Neil, who is training as we speak. Though, his drinking habits will probably force him a couple of steps back¡­¡± he got lost in thought when Anita decided to finish her hot chocolate and go to the living room.

    ¡°Well I¡¯ll start the training tomorrow-¡± she sat down, feeling heavy

    ¡°I wonder what¡¯s happening to the Ash kid right now-¡± he thought out loud

    ¡°Honestly, I¡¯m not that busy today.¡±

    He smiled, an icy smile ¡°Then let''s begin¡±

 First Day

    The next day...

    Thorne Black quickly got up from his bed, hearing his mom''s steps towards his room, his heart rate spiking.

    Shit

    He rushed to brush his teeth, quickly making his bed and falling over

    Shit

    She got to his room when he was halfway up his shirt and opened the door. His heart evaporated from his body.

    ...Shit

    "Are you serious right now?" Lyra, his mom, said, deceptively calm.

    He quickly wore his shirt and backed away slowly, his shaky hands held out. "Mom I can explain-"

    "We were supposed to be there by 7:30," she said, now behind him, her overwhelming aura leaking out. "Do you know what time it is"

    "11:47, you could round it up to 11:50-"

    "It''s noon," she said, suddenly appearing on the bed, letting out a breath, and lying down.

    Still backing away into the bathroom "T-that''s a bit of a stretch, don''t you think"

    "You think so," she said, sitting up.

    "Yeah," he said, quickly shutting the door.

    Only to be stopped by a perfectly manicured hand behind him.

    "Now what do you think you''re doing?" a voice, adored by many, whispered in his ear. He turned around, shaking with sweat forming. The woman behind him looked back with purple eyes glowing malevolently and showed her wicked smile that men would start wars for.

    "Go pack."

    In the car to his boarding school, he sat, sulking. His mother however was blissfully unaware.

    "This is your second year! Aren''t you excited" She said, practically radiating.

    "Yup"

    "I should have bought a dress that matches your uniform, with the same black hair and purple eyes, we could be twins."

    "Yay"

    "Oh, you look sooo cute."

    "I sure do."

    They pulled up at the gates of the country¡¯s most prestigious veil academies, the courtyard filled with families backed by unimaginable wealth

    And they all stopped everything once those two arrived.

    Immediately, they changed attitudes, Lyra stopped talking and walked, with one man taking an involuntary step back at her presence.

    ...Oh and Thorne too I guess.

    He never really liked the fame that came with being his mother''s son. But he sure knew how to play the part.

    Everyone was in awe at them.- Almost everyone.

    At the foot of the stairs to enter the building, A silver-haired boy stopped and turned around to look at her, and grinned...

    Then left.

    She forgot everything and ran to him.

    He looked exactly like Thorne. Am I being crazy?

    He was gone, It was like he couldn''t sense his presence anymore.

    What?

    She looked back at everyone, then left for the dorms with a confused Thorne. He didn''t have time to react though, as she seemingly returned to her normal happy self.

    "In only your second year, my little boy has become a prefect," she said with a delirious smile. "Am I so perfect that I gave birth to a prodigy?? " she gushed over herself. Thorne almost forgot her reaction when the gray-haired kid appeared...

    Almost.

    There have been people claiming to be the fabled ''second son'' of Lyra Black, but none have been able to look directly at them with that mocking face.

    Insolence, that''s what it was-Pure insolence.

    His mother simply wanted to teach him a lesson and dropped her facade out of anger. Yes, that''s it.

    This tale has been pilfered from Royal Road. If found on Amazon, kindly file a report.

    Don''t worry Mom, I''ll get him for you... he thought as she hit his head to snap him back to reality.

    "Hurry up, I need to leave the district," she said in front of the principal''s office. He smiled and looked up at her. "Alright," he said walking in.

    "If it isn''t our star student," Luke, the administrator, smiled "Go right on in."

    Smiling back, he said "Thank you" He opened the doors and instantly an overwhelming aura engulfed him, nearly choking him. But he smiled anyway.

    "Hello, principal... I''m guessing you saw him too." He looked at the man behind the desk, his massive frame dwarfing him.

    "Ash...sit." His deep voice, despite hearing it so many times, always made his heart drop to his stomach. Closing the door, he sat in front of the desk, with a badge saying:

    PARADOX HIGH SCHOOL

    HEAD BOY THORNE BLACK

    "You remember what happened last time someone pretended to be the second son right?"

    How could I forget?

    "Good, I give you full authority to ensure this is nipped in the bud."

    Thorne smiled as he held up the platinum badge to examine it. "Full Authority?"

    The aura calmed down a bit "Full authority." he repeated

    He smiled even wider, "I hope to aid the school with my service," he said as he bowed then left.

    As he saw his mother''s proud face, his heart burned even more.

    "...Bye kid, see you in a month and a half," Lyra said as she walked away.

    Thorne''s resolve grew and then he turned the other way to head to the dorms.

    Lyra on the other hand, was running to the school garden,

    I saw him, she thought, I saw him.

    She moved her fastest and got there in record time, looking around frantically.

    I know for sure I wasn''t seeing things this time. He''s somehow better at hiding than I thought.

    As she wandered around, thoughts raced through her mind.

    What do I even say when I see him...What do I do from here...How would Thorne feel...

    As she turned around the corner, on a bench, a woman in a silver female knight costume was sitting there, waiting.

    "Hello," Lyra started, in a hurry "Have you seen a silver-haired kid around-"

    "Why do you care?"

    Halting, Lyra smiled "Korin, is that you," she said in a mocking tone.

    "Queen Korin to you"

    "Pft, sure. So that kid was just a fake huh-" The moment she said that, the air felt colder and it felt like it was evening. All her hair stood on end and she was frozen to the spot, wide-eyed in shock. This wasn''t something that was impossible for her to deal with, she just hadn''t felt such a feeling in years-

    "Do I look fake?" Ash''s voice said behind her, holding a silver sword to her throat from behind.

    Korin smiled "Yeah Lyra, does he look fake"

    When she got the strength to turn around, the presence was immediately gone. Everything was normal as if he was never there.

    She fell to her knees, her chest tightening. Then she felt Korin''s armored hand on her shoulder.

    "Don''t worry, he won''t hurt you-"she started.  Lyra looked at her, her purple eyes shining malevolently again. For real this time. "Don''t make me take your other eye."

    Korin put her hand on the part of her helmet that had her eyepatch in mock fear.

    Gasps"You wouldn''t"

    Luna stared at her with the same hatred, then got up and started to walk away.

    Korin smiled "He''ll say hi to your son for you-" She felt a jab to her chest and fell on the ground coughing blood.

    "You really want to test me don''t you" Lyra said, towering over her.

    Despite the pain, she smiled "Wouldn''t dream of it."

    Lyra smiled back then disappeared.

    "That was out of line," Ash said, appearing out of nowhere and walking up to her kneeling self, squatting beside her "Don''t you think."

    "Help me up." Ash got her up and put her back on the bench

    "Is that it" Ash asked, skeptical

    "I''ll contact you if I need anything else." She said, clutching her chest. Then she took out her phone from a chink in her armor designed as a pocket. Her eyes widened.

    "Ash, would you happen to know something about this?" She said, handing him the phone.

    Shit. Yeah, I know them. On the screen, there was a recording of an emergency news broadcast.

    "All those in the salt district have been ordered directly by the executives to leave immediately, the cause of this is due to a possible contamination in all water-" The reporter was cut off as a skinny, 40-ish-year-old man intervened, looking horrified.

    "I-It''s a lie," He said, his eyes looking crazed and his voice quivering "Monsters. L-lots of them. RUUUUUN!"

    A dark cloud fell then the broadcast cut. But not before a silhouette of a monster was shown.

    Oh...that''s pretty easy to deal with. He started. Wait...How did that get here?

    "Wait for a bit, It will eventually sleep...Kill it then."

    "What about the smoke?"

    "I''ve never personally been affected by it, so I wouldn''t know."

    Korin looked at him, lost in thought.

    "Earth is different from wherever you came from, the normal response squad might not be enough. If by tomorrow they aren''t able to kill it, your school will be called in for minor assistance"

    Ash looked at her, annoyed "Why can''t you kill it." he said, pointing at her "I have school soon"

    She put on an innocent face "Who, me?" then ran into her car and sped off.

    Shit, well I guess it''s fair... He sat on the bench and looked up. Is that why I was told to get stronger? To stop this madness. Even if it''s not. He got up. I didn''t waste my life fighting just to not use it. It''s high time I put that training to use.

    Yawning, he made his way to the dorms. I feel like someone''s talking about me...

    In the only empty dorm, Thorne and his fellow prefects had finished leading everyone to their dorms.

    Now, the only room left... Thorne smiled, looking at the door at the end of the third-floor corridor.

    Alan''s gonna have fun with him. He left to the fourth floor, the prefect''s floor as, in the room, a tall, muscular, dark skinned boy was sharpening a dagger, waiting...

 First day (2)

    As evening approached, Ash walked over to the boy''s wing of the dorms and then stopped.

    Who''s watching me... He said, looking around and then up.

    Out a window on the fourth floor, a set of purple eyes were watching him. But he didn''t care, he was busy examining the building.

    Oh my... this is historic compared to the rest of the city.

    It was the cookie-cutter definition of the old school. It looked a lot like a museum: Georgian Era architecture, extremely large compound. There were two buildings in the corner of the school''s compound where the dorms were.

    The one on the left was for the boys and the one on the right was for the girls. It was pretty simple, both were mainly brown with the windows painted white. When he went in, there was a sitting area with couches that also seemed historic.

    In the sitting area, a boy was sitting there, and he did not seem happy. He had dark hair and blue eyes with a stoic expression. That said, the aura around him showed that he was annoyed.

    "You''re late."

    "I was talking to a friend-" The guy held up a hand to stop him

    "I don''t care, you''re going to die anyway."

    What? He thought with a dazed expression.

    "Let''s go." He said, leading him up the stairs. "You''re on the third floor, right below the prefect''s floor. Normally, there would be 4 people in the dorm but, your roommate is...Special"

    "Oh. Thanks then." The guy stopped. And turned around.

    "I''m Charlie, the library prefect, who are you?"

    "My name''s Ash"

    "Ash what."

    "Huh"

    "Your last name."

    "Oh," he looked around "Stairwell"

    "Are you related to Miss Lyra"

    "Hmm," he said, trying to remember who that was. "Oh, her. No"

    Charlie narrowed his eyes. "No?"

    Ash nodded his head.

    Charlie looked like he wanted to say something but decided against it. "The door at the end of the corridor. Have fun."

    Ash walked over to the door, stopped, and turned to see Charlie watching him, the same stoic look on his face.

    "Good night Charlie."

    As Ash entered the dorm, Charlie walked up the stairs to the prefects'' floor.

    Then ducked as a dagger came flying to his face.

    "Why am I not surprised?" He said to the muscular boy on the only other free bed in the room.

    "Now I think you''re on my bed"

    "Who are you?" A gruff voice replied.

    "Your roommate. I see they brought my stuff" he said, looking over at the new suitcases in the corner.

    The boy grunted and got up "There''s no room for rich kids here, leave."

    "Or else?" Ash said, now sitting on the bed.

    The boy turned around and then walked to a desk that was filled with Weapons.

    "Or else this." He grabbed a dagger and threw it quickly. When Ash caught it, the boy was already in front of him, about to throw a punch.

    "Wow, that''s pretty fast," Ash said, now beside him.

    "What-" the boy started as Ash struck his side and he flew into a wall.

    "That must be embarrassing, you seemed so strong-" he started as he dodged a sword coming his way.

    "I''m not done yet." He said, bloody from his impact on the wall.

    "If you say so." He said, dodging every swing as if he was walking.

    "You know." He said, grabbing his sword box from nowhere and blocking the strike with it. "You don''t look like a sword''s guy"

    "And why''s that." He said, trying to kick him.

    Ash jumped and landed after doing a back handspring. "Ask yourself that. If other people see that you are uncomfortable with your weapon, then it¡¯s probably not the weapon for you," he took another step back to doge a short sword this time.

    He looked taken aback. "What are you-"

    "Goodnight," Ash said, appearing in front of him and knocking him out with a smile.

    He woke up at dawn, lying on his bed on the other side of the room. Ash was dressing his bed and stretching. After he was finished, he turned around, looking innocent, and smiled at him.

    "Hi, I''m Ash, your new roommate. What''s your name?" he said, walking up to him and holding out his hand, clearly ignoring the fight.

    "Alan. My name''s Alan." He shook his hand after a moment.

    "Let''s get along." He smiled even wider.

    After a moment of deliberation, Alan shook his hand "Sure."

    "Now what do you say about showing me around."

    Alan thought momentarily, looking at a dagger perched on his desk.

    "Ok"

    Everyone was in the cafeteria for breakfast, the normal noise you would hear in a cafeteria. The prefects arrived a bit late and, while the noise was reduced, it was still normal.

    Thorne was looking around, scanning the faces of the students.

    "Looking for something?" Charlie asked him, watching him blankly.

    Not noticing Ash''s face among the students, he smiled.

    "No," he said, turning around to look at him with a small smile. "Nothing important." then walked away, ignoring Charlie''s eyes following him.

    Hmm... Charlie thought, using his hand to cover his mouth, his eyes turning to the entrance.

    ...Interesting

    He stopped thinking and moved to the perfect table.

    After a bit, the cafeteria went silent. That had never happened before.

    6 out of the 7 prefects looked up from their table at the back of the room. Charlie already knew why they were silent and was far more interested in his chocolate.

    But at the entrance to the cafeteria, there was a boy with silver hair and eyes walking beside a bulky dark-skinned person, both walking in comfortable silence. Ignoring the stares, the bulky guy went to get food for the both of them whilst the gray-haired kid scouted for a place to sit.

    Then his eyes rested on someone and broke into a smile.

    Those who were fixated on him turned to look.

    He was watching Thorne. Thorne was watching him. They looked exactly the same, save for Thorne¡¯s black hair and violet eyes.

    The story has been taken without consent; if you see it on Amazon, report the incident.

    One was smiling. One was not.

    The tension continued to rise until Ash said,

    "Hey, you look just like m-"

    The next thing he knew, the world shifted and he was in an old castle and a sword was about to strike his face. Dodging it, he looked around to see who had thrown it.

    "You''re fast," Thorne said, appearing behind him and then dislodging the sword from the floor.

    "What is this place-" Ash asked as he was hit by a slice made out of wind. Struggling to dodge the remaining strikes, Thorne laughed.

    "This is the wind fortress. My temporary viewpoint."

    "Viewpoint? You mean veils." Ash asked.

    That question threw him off. The wind stopped and Ash collapsed.

    "What?" he asked.

    "Forget it." Ash coughed out blood and forced himself up. "I didn''t want to do this."

    "Don''t worry, you won''t be able to." Thorne got in position. "I''ll continue until you give up," he said as he pointed at him.

    Ash grabbed his side. The pain was gone but he instinctively knew how bad things could get if he stayed here.

    I need to end it fast.

    He materialized his sword and rushed at him. Thorne stepped back and the wind started to rush at him. Taking this fight a bit more seriously, he parried the strikes where he needed to and dodged most of them. He needed to leave.

    "Where are you going?" He heard as the wind pulled him back and threw him across the room.

    "You don''t strike me as a wind user."

    "I''m not." He said, snapping his fingers at him.

    A massive onslaught of slices appeared and attacked him and, while he was deflecting the strikes, he saw it.

    A small spark of lightning.

    Shit.

    In the beginning, he had faced monsters who had their own ''Domain'' of sorts, and he always had the fortunate misfortune of being around when they reached their full potential when using powers In that space.

    Like right now.

    When he had reached the castle door, he heard a storm outside. That was probably the potential of this place. Storms and Lightning, not just wind.

    And it was starting to get bad. Almost immediately after he noticed this, the door started to creak, and the storm outside was probably getting stronger.

    Shit. He rushed to Thorne''s right as he snapped his fingers again, moving way too fast for Thorne to stop him, but slow enough for Thorne to notice him.

    And Thorne noticed. Right before Ash struck him, he noticed that Ash¡¯s his hair and eyes were a slightly lighter shade, asif they wanted to be white.

    I was right. It was a disguise. He thought to himself At least i know for sure he¡¯s a fake-

    Then everything was normal. Thorne found himself back in reality, jarred among other things.

    I didn''t end that myself. I automatically left. I had died. He looked across the room at Ash, who had found himself a table at the front.

    He grabbed his glass, trying with everything in him not to break it.

    "Is something the problem?" Seraphina, the head girl asked with a smile.

    She Knows I lost.

    "I think I hate him."  He said calmly

    "You do, don''t you." she played with her purple hair "Charlie likes him though"

    All of them turned to him, sitting at the far end of the table, enjoying his 8th chocolate.

    He Knows. Everybody Knows.

    "Must be something in the air," he said, flashing a rare smile at Thorne, then going back to his chocolate.

    Shit.

    "Anyways, we have stuff to do to get shit for class tomorrow." Elane, the logistics prefect said,

    "So let''s do this..."

    Ash was sitting with Alan, none of them talking, when he got a text from Korin.

    "Well Alan, enjoy your day, I need to leave."

    "Sit Down. I have an announcement to make" a deep voice said from the coriddor

    Ash''s heart stopped, there was a force pushing him down, stopping him from even thinking about moving, and his breaths became heavier.

    Then he felt a hand on his shoulder, which didnt help at all.

    "Relax," Alan said bringing him back into his seat "It''s always bad the first time"

    "I can see that." he coughed, gasping for air.

    The principal walked out, a massive twering figure wearing a dress shirt and trousers, his deep red eyes focusing on ash as he felt a flicker of hatred run through them the moment he saw him, but the pressure quickly reduced.  "There has been a major issue in one of the districts and they need all hands on deck. We''ll be working alongside special forces to evacuate the outer parts of the district. Understood. "

    "YES SIR." the cafeteria responded immediately, ignoring his pain

    "Elaine will give you the details when we are leaving later in the day." he turned around.

    As the principal was leaving, he stopped.

    "Vida."

    A short, pale girl shot up "Yes Sir."

    "Try and make contact with Alice, we''ll need her"

    "Sir...I''ll try." she clenched her fist as the cafeteria exploded with confusion.

    Alice is alive?

    Vida knows that terrorist?

    Are we that weak that we need someone like her?

    She is the best veil user in recent history, It¡¯s so sad that she went down that path.

    ¡°Who¡¯s Alice.¡± Ash asked slowly, feeling it leave.

    ¡°Tragic case, some genius veil user turned eco terrorist. Had a cult and everything.¡±

    Vida unclenched her fists slowly, and pulled out a tissue and cleaned the raspberry jam that had managed to get on her palms whilst her fists were clenched, she was a messy eater after all.

    Ash noticed it and ashed ¡°And I¡¯m assuming that she has a connection to the Vida girl.¡±

    ¡°Adoptive guardian.¡± Alan said, stuffing a forkful of bacon into his mouth.

    ¡°How true is this.¡± Ash asked.

    Alan simply shrugged, ¡°Doesn''t matter whether it¡¯s fake or not,¡± he tore off the head of a bagel, ¡°everyone believes it, and there''s nothing she can do to change that. Especially after the raid that they did to get to her. They called in a special force and everything.¡±

    Ash was stunned, all of this for one woman. His body started buzzing.

    ¡°I want to fight her.¡± he said without thinking, then held his tongue. Alan stopped stuffing his face and smiled.

    ¡°I said it first.¡± then went back to his eggs. ¡°Don''t say it to vida¡¯s face though, her Veil is one of the strongest around. She would kill you.¡±

    His body buzzed even more as he looked at the girl eating her toast and talking to her friends.

    Elaine got up and moved to the front, commanding all the attention

    "Liste, everybody, all of you are going to be in the outer areas of the district, only the prefects and the people they chose can come personally into the district will assist." she pulls out a list "Vida, Luca, Chris, Alice, Alan and...Ash have been chosen by some-not all-of the prefects as assistance."

    That''s convenient.

    "I''m not going," Alan said.

    "Why, "Ash asked, turning around to look at him.

    "I don''t like working with the prefects." he said, and that was it.

    "Oh...Ok." Ash wondered what the issue was.

    Getting up to leave, Ash said "Well, I''m going early. My benefactor is looking for me-"

    "Think about it"

    "About what"

    "The only prefects who know you exist don''t like you-"

    "Charlie likes me."

    "He chose Alice. I lust know it" he responded

    "So, you''re saying it''s a setup." Ash questioned

    "Yes." he grabbed another plate of eggs from a nearby table,

    Seeing Ash''s silence after that he started, "If you stay behind, I''m willing to offer a rematch-"

    "I''m so excited to see what they''ll do. I can''t help but want to go now," he said, shaking with excitement.

    "Wha-"

    "The prefects will be moving first, all those chosen by some of them should wait outside"

    "If you''re not going, I am. Bye." He said, already leaving.

    As he reached the entrance, he finally sat down to think about what to do with his time.

    I lost my life being told by some random screen to fight. This is probably why. I haven''t heard from him in a bit though. He paused for a moment, remembering what happened honestly, I wonder what¡¯s happening to Anita right now, the people here must be crazy, calling this place Earth-. He sat up, realizing what happened, Malakar didn''t look trustworthy, that¡¯s why I didn''t believe him. But the terrain hasn''t shifted, there are no monsters from where I come from, and when there is¡­ He remembered the news report, no one knew how to deal with them. His breath quickened as the news sunk in.

    The terrain doesn''t shift. He got up, people don''t know these monsters, He pulled out the wallet, calming him down a bit as he opened it. It didn''t have the glowing blue light of a token. It didn''t have any light at all. His heart evaporated

    Tokens are invalid-

    "Hi there, my name''s Seraphina. Head girl. Nice to meet you." A voice said, walking up to him, pushing him back to reality, and halting the memories flashing through his mind. His mind went silent as he turned to see what made the noise

    She was a bit taller than the average girl, with purple hair and dark pink eyes, she would have been famous as a pop star or something.

    "Ash. It''s an honor to be working with you." He said dejectedly.

    "As a warm-up, we''ll be running there. Keep Up," She said, ignoring his sadness, and disappeared in a burst of wind.

    Ash stared after her. Resolving to silence the thoughts for now, he disappeared as well.

 HAVEN 1

    6 months earlier

    "HURRY UP ETHAN, YOU''RE MAKING ALICE LOOK BAD!" a voice silenced everyone in the press conference as it entered the room-

    "DON''T TELL ME I''M SHOUTING, IM-oh my God they heard me didn''t they." the voice continued, realising it¡¯s mistake

    "P-Please just get inside." A male voice stuttered.

    As the door opened, two people came in, a short, pale girl with red hair and an equally red face and a skinny boy with wavy black hair and nervous green eyes.

    "Please forgive them." A warm voice recaptured all the attention back to her. "Let''s get back to our discussion."

    A few hours later, the woman speaking got up to give her closing remarks. She was blonde and had deep blue eyes with a warm smile, the cameras loved it.

    "You know how committed I am to helping humanity appreciate nature without giving up the comfort we have become so used to"

    "Just hurry up. God" someone said in the crowd.

    Getting nervous, she said "U-um...I have made a small space, just outside of the salt district, called The Haven, where I and some of my people can be and live in peace. Any and everyone is invited. Thank you to Apex Industries for collaborating with me to grow more trees on a large scale using their invention, The silver seed. Powered by my veil energy, it will bring some green to our city. Thank you."

    As she stepped off the stage, she let out a breath and met the two backstage. "Hi Vida, Hi Ethan." bringing them into a hug, ¡°I need to meet with their head of research, have fun.¡±

    "Bye, I''m going to buy food. Coming Ethan?" Vida asked after she left.

    Spacing out, he said "I''ll be with you in a bit." then walked to the back.

    What''s up with him? She thought, I hope he¡¯s not planning to move on Alice, that¡¯s exactly what happened in my web novel. Speaking of which¡­ she walked away, opening her phone to check for new chapters.

    He walked nervously to the backdoor and looked around, taking a deep breath didn''t calm him down. He reached out to open it-

    "I thought you wouldn''t come," a gender-neutral voice said behind him covering his mouth to stop his shout from escaping. "I would have been sad." letting him go, the hooded figure took a step back "Calm down a bit, you''re shaking."

    "No I''m not."

    Yes, he was.

    "Just take it," he said, pushing a paper into the figure''s gloved hand. "I-im leaving."

    "Where."

    "To E-eat."

    "Look, I know this feels wrong," the figure''s neutral voice felt softer as they reached out to reassuringly hold his shoulder. "but it''s the best for her. You saw what I saw. This is to help"

    "Just-"

    The figure disappeared.

    "-Go."

    He snuck back to the main area and met up with Vida.

    "Eat." she handed him a Pizza slice and dragged him outside. "Alice is going to start her demonstration¡±

    If you discover this tale on Amazon, be aware that it has been unlawfully taken from Royal Road. Please report it.

    They went outside food in hand, and watched as She walked to a patch of dirt specially dug up for this, pulled out a seed, and whispered something to it. Dropping it in the dirt, she spread out her arms and waited.

    The seed expanded faster than the blink of an eye and they were all in a garden, the seed had grown into a full-blown Ginko tree, its branches spread out extremely far, green and mesmerizing, that garden was full of the most vibrant versions of every flower and even the food tasted better.

    "Woah." Ethan said, looking around happily "I''ve never seen her full veil before."

    "It''s pretty great Isn''t it," Vida said, smiling as if she was the one doing it. "Oh and, Ethan"

    "Yeah?"

    "Before you get any funny ideas..." she started "We''re 16."

    "mhm"

    "She''s 25."

    Realizing what she meant, his face turned red "Wha-noo I-I would never. Who would even think that- Leave" he shouted

    Without even realizing it, they were back in real life, in front of a block of jade.

    "This symbolizes my dedication to helping us connect back with our roots together with Apex Industries, who has been a great help with this undertaking. Good day."

    After the speech, she rested on a park bench, exhausted but smiling broadly at her discovery.

    My theory was right. Veil Manifestation is possible.

    A few buildings away, two of the executives stood on the roof, In shock.

    "Oh my...did you see that Kara." the male in a black overcoat said.

    "Yes-" The woman in a gray hoodie started.

    "She Made a block of JADE by entering her veil. Do you know what jade I''m talking about!" He said, pacing frantically.

    "Yes-"

    "The. Precious. Material. Kind. Of. Jade." he said squatting with his hands on his head.

    "You can''t do that, can you?"She said in mock sadness.

    `"No-Fuck you Kara." he said, getting up. ¡°You''re not a veil user so you dont get it.¡±

    "There''s a reason she''s the best veil user in recent history." She said, inwardly thankful for being able to finish her sentence.

    "You don''t get it, she could be dangerous-"

    "Well that''s why we¡¯re doing this." she pulled out a piece of paper. "That kid is so stupid," she said matter-of-factly.

    "Oh well, she''s not good at it, so it shouldn''t be that bad."

    The two figures disappeared swiftly. Leaving Alice alone to freshen up and continue preparing for her Haven.

    Alice called over her driver and got in her car after Vida and Ethan and talked them through the drive, they reached their house and she called Vida over whilst Ethan went to his room.

    "I thought we spoke in the car," Vida asked.

    "I know, I just want to tell you something."

    "Alright."

    "You''re a veil user, Ethan Isnt." she took Vida¡¯s hand in hers.

    "Yeah."

    "And people can be bad sometimes when others are¡­ different from them," she struggled to find the words

    "Mhm"

    "Ethan doesn''t like others protecting him too..." she looked over at a corner leading to another corridor sadly

    "So what''s your point." Vida stressed

    "I want to send him somewhere different to learn things relevant to him... "she said sadly.

    Vida looked at her "So, he''s not going to my academy."

    Alice shook her head.

    "Breakfast tomorrow. That''s when I want to tell him."

    "Alright," she said calmly.

    Alice exhaled with a simile "Thank you for understanding Alice. I love you both."

    She smiled sadly "Me too. Good night."

    "Goodnight" Alice went up the stairs.

    After a bit of sitting there, Vida said "You better not fuck up wherever you''re going.

    Silence.

    "Alright," Ethan said walking out from the corner.

    "She sensed you-"

    "Shut up."

    "Pack your stuff, maybe we can convince her to let us stay until after we move to Haven."

    "Alright." He said going up the stairs stiffly.

    "Bye," she said to his retreating figue. He didn¡¯t respond.

 HAVEN 2

    One month later.

    In a new community just outside of the salt district, a small collection of houses, surrounded by gardens and trees, a small group of 5 girls were sitting on the grass talking happily.

    "Did you hear, Ethan is leaving for training soon." One of them said excitedly.

    "Training? Where?" Another one responded, eager to move to the next topic.

    "No one knows, some say that he''s a retired serial killer who was never caught because he''s so good."

    "But Miss Alice wouldn''t know anyone like that-" one girl started.

    "Why wouldn''t she- If the rest of the rumors are true then this probably is." Another spoke, attracting all the attention.

    "What rumors?" One of the girls said, worried.

    "She blows up buildings to make space for ¡®green areas¡¯, threatens people into ''making better choices'' then takes the money from her sponsorships and pays for her mansions."

    The girls gasped in disbelief. "T-that can''t be true, she would never do that." a girl said timidly, holding a teddy bear.

    The other girls ignored her, talking about all the bad things she did, as she got up and rushed away, moving to a clearing of trees, where Vida was resting, out of breath from the grueling training that she went through to prepare for school.

    "V-vida," she said, about to cry.

    Vida noticed this and rushed up to hug her "What happened, sweetie?" She asked.

    "People are saying bad things about m-miss A-alice," she said, tears falling.

    "Oh no, dear. You don''t need to cry," Alice said, sitting on top of a collapsed Ethan."Ignore the boy and come here and Ethan, Hurry up and continue, only 20 more sets left."

    He groaned as he lifted himself into a push-up, then collapsed as the little girl joined Alice on top of him.

    "People will always say bad things about you, what you need to do is to prove them wrong ok." Alice put her on her lap

    The girl nodded her head. "I want to train too"

    Alice laughed "Of course, I can even try to get you your veil right now."

    "WHAT," Vida shouted from where she was. "Is that even possible?"

    "Yes," looking at Ethan with suspicion "but for some people."

    Luckily, Ethan didn''t see, but Vida gave her a questioning look.

    She shook her head. "Should I do it right now Nina?"

    She nodded excitedly.

    "Go home and change into some comfortable clothes-" she started as the girl had already run off excitedly.

    "Is it possible to give someone a veil," Ethan asked, finally escaping her grasp

    "I can only quicken the process," Alice said, ignoring his escape.

    His silence told her everything she needed to know. But she knew not giving him a veil was the right choice. She just didn''t know why. Yet.

    "Let me get everything ready." She said leaving as Vida scrolled through her phone, turning it off as Alice came closer. "Is everything alright," she asked worriedly.

    Forcing a smile at her, Vida replied "Yeah, why wouldn''t it be."

    Smiling back, she decided to leave her to figure out what was angering her and left to prepare herself as Vida called Ethan closer and showed him the article about Alice.

    ALICE THE MUTT: SUSPECTED ECO-TERORISM EXPLOSION FROM THE "SILVER SEED" WITH 80 CONFIRMED DEATHS FOUND TO BE LINKED TO THE ''PRODIGY''S'' VEIL ENERGY.

    "This is bad," Vida said, trying not to crush her phone.

    "Yeah, that''s hardly an appealing article title," he said, avoiding her death glare.

    "How could they do this to her," she said, her voice dropping sadly.

    "That''s bad."

    After a silent look of disgust, she said "You look unconcerned about this,"

    "Should I be concerned-" he was cut off by the feeling of drowning, it lasted for a short time, but it was long enough that he fell, gasping for air.

    "What are you doing," Alice asked, returning to the clearing.

    Looking at him with disgust, she said "Veil defense training."

    Sighing, she said, "Vida, you should learn to be forgiving to others, especially your brother-"

    "This guy can barely be considered human, much less my brother-"

    "Enough, Vida." she said, turning to him "Ethan, are you ok," she asked softly.

    Ignoring her, he got up and left.

    "Vida, " she said, getting into a stance "combat training."

    Unauthorized duplication: this tale has been taken without consent. Report sightings.

    Oh no. "Alice, I can explain-"

    "Now"

    After the ruthless beating she handed to Vida, she sat in a meditative pose and waited for Nina to arrive.

    "Alice!!" Nina said, rushing to sit beside her in some comfort clothes.

    "Alright, so let''s begin, sit how I''m sitting in front of me then," she put headphones on Nina, "relax."

    As the music played, Alice rested her hand on Nida''s back and suddenly, they were standing in darkness. Alice was holding a lantern and its light illuminated the grass beneath them. Butterflies were glowing, their wings¡¯ a vivid, electric blue, frozen in space, Nina looked at them, mesmerized.

    "Touch them and see what happens," Alice said.

    "What will happen?" Nina asked, turning to her whilst reaching for one.

    "I don''t know."

    "WHAAAT!!" She shouted, retracting her hand.

    Alice laughed, "It''s your veil, it can''t hurt you, but I don''t know what will happen, " she said, grinning after taking a breath "Go on, do it."

    Nina glared at her, then turned to the butterfly, just watching it, then from different angles, as the blue seemed to change depending on where the light hit.

    She reached out with her finger and tapped it, quickly pulling her hand back.

    Then she waited.

    After about a minute, it moved, flapping its wings and leaving behind a trail of what semed to be sapphire stardust. Nina smiled, walking towards it and reaching her hand out to touch it. Then she saw another that captured her attention, then another. Then another. Soon all of the butterflies were flying around her and, with the joy of a child, she was giggling and chasing them. Alice was so engrossed in watching Nina that she hadn''t realized that, they weren''t in darkness anymore. They were in an area full of trees. Japanese maples with red leaves surrounded them and Nina looked around.

    "So what now?" Nina looked up at Alice. She pointed at a boulder.

    "Let''s go higher and see what you can do here."

    They finally reached the top after a bit of struggle.

    "I''m never listening to you again," Nina said, panting and sitting on top of the boulder. "What are we even looking for."

    Alice pointed, not close to tired "Them."

    Animals came out of the clearing, Lions and Tigers and Panthers. creatures from every corner of the earth, they looked almost ethereal. Not like any animals she had seen.

    Then they all parted, and she saw a small rustle in the grass, a white snake-like creature slithered through and climbed the boulder where they were.

    "Hello," it walked up to them. Not a snake, but a dragon.

    "I am Takimono, the one who waits. We have awaited the day you find us with great excitement."

    Nina sat up and looked at it in curiosity. "What are you?"

    It went closer. "I am a dragon, Madam Nina."

    It had white scales with gold accents. Its whiskers were threads of gold that moved even without the wind blowing, It had striking eyes that pierced through her with such intensity, her heart skipped every other beat. She reached out to rub his head.

    "I''m one of the three dragons here. But we all felt like you should meet those two when you''re older." He said, trying not to show his enjoyment at the head rub.

    She smiled."It''s alright, I''m fine with just you, Taki."

    Alice tried not to faint Taki?!.

    A dragon, Why, How. The things she could do. I want a dragon. she thought, shocked and a little bit jealous.

    Takimono looked at Alice. "I assume you are her caretaker."

    She tried to compose herself. "I am."

    "Let''s talk a bit." He Moved Nina to meet the other animals and led Alice a bit away.

    "As you thought, the potential for what she could do with her power is immense. And that could be dangerous."

    "You''re right." she said, "as a kid, things might become problematic."

    "And so, you¡¯re clearly more proficient with veil energy than anyone in the last 1000 years,¡± he looked her up and down.

    ¡°Oh,¡± she said, flustured and faning herself ¡°What can I say-¡±

    ¡°I need you to inhibit what she can do right now, as a kid her emotions are volatile, we can''t risk that." shooting her down quickly, making her deflate.

    They discussed it for a bit and decided on the final course of action

    She nodded, calling Nina over. "NINA, It''s time to leave."

    She stopped sadly. "I want to stay a bit longer." she pouted.

    "You can come anytime, just say the word, and you''ll be right here," Taki said.

    She brightened up."Alright, let''s go, Alice, I want to tell Vida about this." she held Alice''s hand and pulled them out of the vision without Alice realizing.

    Alice jumped in shock "H-how did you."

    Nina had already run off to Vida, who was still nursing her injuries.

    "Vida, Vida!" she started happily "We saw butterflies then, we went to a forest..."

    From across the clearing Ethan looked on, starting to feel less guilty. He walked deeper into the forest and the same hooded figure was leaning on a tree, playing with a foldable knife. "Oh, you''re here." They said, noting his presence. "Anything new."

    "You can start in the next few days. No kid will be here since school starts by then and Alice will just be sleeping."

    The person looked at his lack of hesitation. "What happened."

    He stayed silent "Nothing." he walked away. The figure would be gone before he said goodbye anyway.

    He went back to his room, looking calm. he climbed up the stairs with no expression. He opened the door and closed it as softly as he normally did. The moment it closed, he lunged at his laptop on his desk and threw it to the ground, stepping on it repeatedly. Any breakable item he could carry with his feeble body got broken, and he went on a rampage, silently destroying all he could.

    "FUCK THAT BITCH." He took the group picture in a frame they had taken a year ago and threw it at the door.

    It never reached there. Vida had snuck into his room and was watching his outburst, when he threw the picture, she grabbed it mid-air and smashed it across his face, making him stumble into his seat.

    She walked up to him, "Give me one good reason to not kill you right now." She leaned down and looked at him "Just one."

    Not caring he shouted "I WAS THE ONE THAT BITCH WAS SUPPOSED TO-"

    She socked him in the face. Hard.

    "After everything she has done for you, and you''re mad because mommy didn''t give you superpowers" she mocked.

    He pushed her. She didn''t budge, but she moved back to protect his pride.

    "DO YOU THINK THIS IS A JOKE-"

    She punched him again, making him fall "You will speak like you have sense. Understood"

    He got up and wiped his face "In a few days. That''s all I need. A few days."

    She looked at him in disgust. "What happened to you." then left the room.

    Outside, Nina was standing there, looking like she wanted to cry.

    "What''s wrong kid," Vida knelt to hold her.

    She pointed a shaky finger to the door "H-he did something bad. I saw it. Alice isnt safe"

    Vida turned to look at the room- "Come, let''s tell Alice." Then carried her and moved her to Alice''s room.

 HAVEN 3

    A few days later.

    ¡°We¡¯ve had enough!¡± a man in his late thirties pounded his fist on the table. ¡°We can''t say we have a good leader when all she does is bring more controversy.¡±

    The rest of the adults in the room muttered in agreement

    ¡°No less than one month and we¡¯re being branded as a cult for just existing in your vicinity.¡± a slightly older woman said to the blonde girl on the other side of her desk, groggy from just waking up at three o¡¯clock in the morning.

    For some reason, they planned this intervention when I wouldn''t be able to think straight. She exhaled, but best to deal with this sooner than later¡­

    She got up, saying, ¡°You¡¯re right. Regarding the alleged attacks, I have a meeting with the Executives to deal with the rumors with the highest authority.¡±

    This reduced their agitation, albeit slightly.

    ¡°But silencing them will only make us look worse.¡± the man said

    She yawned and leaned on her deck ¡°Then we cover it with better news,¡± she paused as she inwardly cringed at her morning breath ¡°Us doing what Haven was built to do. Help the world.¡±

    They looked at each other. Well, they knew that the cult allegation wasn''t leaving anytime soon, not if she spoke like that.

    ¡°Tell you what, free day for everyone to rest and actually mull over this. Then tomorrow,¡± she stressed ¡°at a reasonable time. We continue, refreshed and well rested.¡± she stressed again, staring at all of them. They seemed on board with it and started to walk out. The moment the last adult left, she sighed and lay on her carpet.

    I¡¯m so tired. She forced herself up, excited to leave her bed. Staring out of her window at her town, she felt pride, despite her problems. Her resolve to help the world strengthened as she rushed to her sweet, soft bedroom-

    ¡°Good morning Alice,¡± Vida said, seated on the island and drinking tea. She heard the door open as Nina ran in, dressed and ready for the day. Ethan walked out, dressed and ready to wait for the car to go wherever.

    Am I the only one who sleeps around here?

    ¡°Hey Ethan, we¡¯re having a sort of holiday today-¡±

    He froze. ¡°What?¡±

    ¡°Yeah, It was pretty last minute but-¡±

    ¡°No-No, No.¡± he pulled out his phone and went outside to call the hooded figure frantically, his hands shaking. They answered on the 5th ring.

    ¡°Why the fuck are you awake at this time,¡± they said groggily.

    ¡°You need to call the thing off.¡±

    ¡°Why?¡± They asked, alert now.

    ¡°They chose to have a holiday. Everyone will be here.¡±

    ¡°Oh,¡± they said, chipper now ¡°Ok.¡±

    Then the line went dead.

    Back inside, Alice looked down sadly, Maybe I was wrong-

    ¡°Trust me, you weren''t¡± Vida patted her back, as if she read her mind ¡°Let¡¯s get your lazy ass to bed.¡±

    ¡°It¡¯s 3:00!¡± she stressed ¡°who is even alive at this time.¡±

    Vida laughed, ¡°Maybe I¡¯m nervous because It¡¯s the first day of school.¡±

    She sighed ¡°Maybe.¡±

    Walking back to her room and closing the door just as Ethan walked in, looking satisfied. He walked past Vida into the kitchen to take an energy drink

    ¡°Ethan,¡± she called out. He ignored her. ¡°Who¡¯s your hooded friend¡±

    That stopped him. ¡°What?¡± He turned around slowly, shock visible on his face.

    She smiled and stood up ¡°Let¡¯s talk in the kitchen.¡±

    They leaned on separate counters, Vida Started, ¡°Nina heard your little beatdown and went to tell her dragon, who decided to look at your acions over the past month, and can I just say¡­¡± she got up and clapped slowly ¡°...wow. You are really stupid- In fact¡­¡± she pulled out the notes app on her phone, ¡°...let me read it out to you.¡±

    ¡°They made first contact with the hooded figure and showed you a ¡®vision ¡¯ one of the Executives had about Alice''s veil energy eating her alive-¡± she read.

    ¡°Exactly, the thing that told you what I did had to have shown you what they showed me¡­¡±

    This tale has been unlawfully lifted from Royal Road; report any instances of this story if found elsewhere.

    ¡°You are surrounded by veil users in every corner, Ethan, something told you that it was an illusion.¡± She said, getting annoyed ¡°You wanted an excuse!¡± she inched closer, her voice rising.

    ¡°An excuse for what.¡± he asked, unfazed.

    ¡°To help them do whatever they plan on doing today¡±

    ¡°It¡¯s actually tomorrow¡± he said, shamelessly admitting it.

    ¡°YOU DUMB-¡± She raised her fist.

    ¡°Vida, Let¡¯s go and play with Taki-¡± Nina rushed in, excited. Then paused as she saw Ethan standing there, and started shivering.

    ¡°Nina,¡± Vida reached out ¡°Are you alright-¡±

    She froze. Not because she wanted to, but because she had to, as if a force greater than nature was staring her in the eye. And she knew she couldn''t stare back, her fight-or-flight had evaporated, leaving her powerless-

    ¡°Why¡± a word was heard from Nina, but not by Nina. There were multiple voices, each one fighting for attention, and hearing them speak would have made her fall back a bit, if she wasn''t frozen.

    She was standing on the cabinet behind Ethan now. Her small hands grabbed his face that was frozen, just like hers, and turned him to look her in the eye. Her dragon-like, golden eyes. He managed to become even more terrified than she was, with one drop of sweat being brave enough to escape.

    ¡°Why?¡± Nina said it again, looking at him eye to eye, all the heat around them started to dissipate, making him start to freeze.

    ¡°You won''t answer-¡± she started, but never got to finish. She had disappeared in a flash of light.

    ¡°Are you guys alright?¡± Alice walked in, and almost immediately they regained control of their bodies, Ethan fell over, clutching the countertop for support as he coughed. Alice rushed to him, Taking one of his palms in her hands.

    ¡°You¡¯re freezing-¡±

    ¡°I know¡± He moved his hands away from hers.

    She sighed in annoyance, ¡°I woke up to stop you from getting skewered, so let me do what I have to, then go back to bed.¡± she decided to try something, stepping back, she moved two fingers to him. A light green fog followed her finger¡¯s path and engulfed Ethan, which made him feel better, though dont tell him I told you that, he¡¯s too cool for that.

    Before he could say he didn''t ask for her help, she left,

    ¡°Tell me you didn''t ask when I have the energy to actually care,¡± she walked out. ¡°I¡¯ll need to visit Nana after she cools down in my veil. I¡¯m going back to bed.¡±

    Ethan stayed with the countertops, his eyes more violent than ever.

    Alice is the greatest veil user ever¡­Vida is classified as a city level threat¡­

    The last few months ran through his mind.

    That Ninja kid¡­Even she could wipe me off the face of the earth if I so much as looked at Alice with hatred.

    His breaths became labored, his eyes focused on nothing in particular.

    Why? He thought, gripping the countertop.

    Why? Why? Why? Why¡­ He rushed past Vida, who was watching him with worry

    Why? Today of all days. He locked himself in his room and sat on the bed, resting his hands on his head as he felt himself go mad.

    Why Why Why Why Why Why Why Why Why Why Why Why Why Why Why Why Why Why Why Why Why Why Why Why Why Why Why Why Why Why Why Why Why Why Why Why

    Why Why Why Why Why Why Why Why Why Why Why Why Why Why Why Why Why Why Why Why Why Why Why Why Why Why Why Why Why Why Why Why Why Why Why Why

    Why Why Why Why Why Why Why Why Why Why Why Why Why Why Why Why Why Why Why Why Why Why Why Why Why Why Why Why Why Why Why Why Why Why Why Why

    Why Why Why Why Why Why Why Why Why Why Why Why Why Why Why Why Why Why-

    No, One thought had managed to fight its way to the front of his mind, I can''t sit uselessly. They can be the best. I¡¯ll simply become better. They¡¯ll never understand why, but I do, and that¡¯s enough.

    He got up and stared out of his window, there were families sitting outside with their children, his downward spiral had lasted longer than it seemed. It was about 7 o¡¯clock now.

    ¡°Master Ethan,¡± Orelans, one of Alice¡¯s drivers walked in, an old man with a black suit and a particularly beautiful mustache. ¡°The car is ready to send you to your new trainer.¡±

    Ethan smiled, a cold smile ¡°Thanks Orelans,¡± he walked out ¡°You¡¯re on time as always.¡±

    Vida sat in the car with a sigh something¡¯s going to happen today, I don''t know what though.

    ¡°We''re going, Vida.¡± Aidan, Vida¡¯s driver said to her.

    ¡°Let''s go, I¡¯ll try to stay behind if we wait any longer.¡±

    As they pulled out, they saw Ethan getting into his car with cold eyes and her bad feeling got worse.

    What happened to him¡­  She thought as the car sped up and left.

    Ethan was staring out of the window, thinking about the strength he would get, as he linked with the main road, He was honestly just relaxing before he got there. Then he saw it.

    A black armored jeep, then another, then another. There were about 12 of them, and once the last one crossed him, he felt a shift in the air. Looking out of the rear window, he saw a force field, that would have been invisible if not for the small occasional glitch.

    The only place of interest to the government there is Haven. They must be setting up for tomorrow.

    He got a message from the Hooded figure.

    That ¡®calling it off¡¯ thing¡­ I lied :)

    His heart sprung out of control, but he got it under control. He looked back, then forward, then went back to rest. He made his choice.

    It will be easier to be stronger than them when they¡¯re dead.

    Vida on the other hand, had started sending messages to Alice the moment she saw the first Jeep. Nothing went through.

    That barrier, Is blocking communication. Turning to Aidan, she said frantically.

    ¡°We need to turn around-¡±

    ¡°No can do Vida. I¡¯m under instruction to prevent you from going back upon the event of you attempting to.¡± He smiled coldly and looked at her through the rearview mirror. ¡°But feel free to try, I¡¯ve honestly wanted to fight Alice, but you¡¯re a good warmup.¡±

    Her heart stopped as she watched him ¡°Wh-Why?¡± she asked.

    He stayed silent, as he reached for the blade in the door compartment. ¡°What are you going to do about it.¡±

    She put her head in her hands sadly ¡°I¡¯m going to have to kill you now. I have people to save.¡±

    His smile widened ¡°I¡¯m counting on it.¡±

 HAVEN 4

    ¡°Even though I work for the Veil Defence team, I¡¯m technically still a driver on paper, so I¡¯d like to keep it professional and not stop the car. I hope you understand that I can''t soil my reputation, Vida.¡± he said coolly.

    She started muttering ¡°There still be hope for us¡± she thought to herself ¡°A forbidden romance-¡±

    ¡°I thought that you¡¯d try fighting. Since Haven is in danger and everything.¡± He said, looking bumed and loosening his grip on the blade, not hearing her plans.

    Don¡¯t worry she resolved after watching his just as gorgeously sad face we¡¯ll fight a majestic battle, I will knock you out so you forget your memory, then we have an elaborate and tricky romance spanning 8 seasons, an Anime movie, and 2 manga adaptations. Don''t worry Aidan, we¡¯ll be together.

    ¡°Alright then,¡± she clapped her hands in excitement. ¡°Let¡¯s begin.¡±

    As the car drove, it suddenly fell into a whirlpool that had appeared on the road in front of it. By the time Aidan braked, they were on a small tropical island surrounded by deep blue water that stretches farther than the eye could see. Aidan immediately jumped out from the right, Vida from the left.

    ¡°Sorry-¡± she ducked as he jumped over and sliced where her face would have been.

    He¡¯s definitely a better combatant than me, and he''s just 2 years older. If not for the boost I get from being in my veil, that would have hurt. I¡¯ll heal him later, I need to get to Alice.

    She reached back, and the water rose into her hand and solidified into an ice spear. Rising back up, she stabbed at where he was, but he dodged, shattering the glass of the car. Rushing behind her, he reached to stab her, when she turned around and halted it with her arm. She punched him, but it was poorly timed, so it only grazed his arm, but he recovered fast, switching arms and slicing upwards, which she parried with her spear. Turning it upside down, she used the staff with the intention to strike his face. But it never met. The staff had dissolved back to water mid swing, and refroze back into a staff after it crossed his face. This distracted Aidan, causing him to drop his hands in confusion as she used the flat of her spear tip to strike his face, knocking him back, leaving a small cut along the edges. He wiped the blood and smiled.

    ¡°I regret calling you a warm-up.¡± He rushed in before she could drag herself down with his acknowledgments. They traded blows, with Aidan getting low to stab her leg, but she opened the car door to hit him, then sliced through it cleanly. He side stepped it, then used the severed door to block her strike with the but of her spear.

    I¡¯m fighting Aidan, a brief blip in our relationship-shiti¡¯mloosingtime. She realised frantically.

    ¡°I¡¯m so sorry.¡± She rushed beside him, struck his impromptu shield hard enough to force him into the car and stepped back as water rose from the ocean and engulfed the car frame, freezing into solid ice and trapping him.

    ¡°I¡¯m really sorry.¡± she rushed to the ocean and jumped into a whirlpool.

    Over in Haven, Alice was sitting under the Ginkgo tree in her veil, looking at the field where Nina was asleep in, exhausted from her use of a dragon.

    A dragon¡­ She opened her phone and messaged a friend.

    I¡¯m going to need someone to take care of Nina, someone in similar circumstances¡­

    She stood up and walked over to her, shaking her awake.

    ¡°Hey Nina, do you think we need to talk to Taki-¡±

    ¡°Mhm.¡± she rubbed her eyes, apparently forgetting her outburst. Taking Alice¡¯s hand, she muttered ¡°Let¡¯s go.¡±

    Suddenly, they were in the Japanese maple wood forest. Just as Nina had done many times before. This time though, she groggily made her way to a tree to lie down as Taki slithered his way to Alice.

    ¡°That girl¡­¡±

    ¡°Did you¡­Allow her to use your power!¡± She shouted at Takimono ¡°Because my guardianship of Ethan was almost revoked. I don''t want to lose him. Especially not to some dragon with control issues-¡±

    ¡°That¡¯s the issue. I never consented to it.¡± He interrupted coldly ¡°I wasn''t even able to fight it-That girl¡­who created her. Because She¡¯s definitely not from any normal bloodline, I was rendered comatose and was only able to awaken after she was interfered with from another veil-you no doubt. Thank you.¡±

    Alice thought,¡°She was adopted after I found her. Two people asked to be guardians of her, since I had recently gotten guardianship of Ethan and Vida. My hand¡¯s were full.¡±

    ¡°Who were her real parents?¡±

    ¡°That I don''t know. You see, she was found after a veil user had taken control of-¡± she paused. ¡°-a rogue veil user. That''s it. She was the only one unscathed, so she might have had a connection to the veil user-¡±

    ¡°You¡¯ll need to dig deep. We need to know who her parents were, and what they might have taught her to know where to stop training her-at least for now.¡±

    ¡°Don''t you think it would be best to set up the barriers to her growth now.¡±

    ¡°That¡¯s quite reactive.¡±

    ¡°And so what. She¡¯s dangerous having a child¡¯s emotions and such power¡±

    He sighed, ¡°This will be quick.¡± He closed his eyes and started producing a buzzing sound, then the sky split, one side was a storm, with black clouds and red lightning. And one side was a tranquil Azure. Then they disappeared.

    ¡°Alright, she won''t be able to pull such a stunt for a long time.¡±

    He looked at Alice questioningly.

    ¡°As the previous decision makers of this place, we decreed a certain limit until she finds another dragon, something both of them have agreed to make as difficult as possible.¡±

    Alice sighed ¡°Thank¡¯s Taki. Now I need to deal with a problem I¡¯ve noticed since morning." She stood up. ¡°You should teach her how to use the powers she can use with more finesse.¡±

    Then she disappeared with a flash of light.

    Alright, I feel like this wasn''t needed. The executive could have just waited for me to come to-

    She walked out into the field where the families were playing with their kids.

    -them The air around her crackled with her anger and she started heaving.

    ¡°Why?¡± she forced out as she looked at the scene before her.

    Everyone was on their knees, in groups of 5. There were 2 people In black body armor standing around each group. The people were silent and stared down, as if drugged.

    Stolen story; please report.

    Directly in front of her, a large muscular guy in a skin tight shirt and white oversized joggers was taking pictures of the scene.

    ¡°Alright.¡± he turned around with a blank face ¡°The first half of the quota has been met. Hello Alice, my name is Lucian from-¡±

    ¡°-ECLIPSE, I know. What¡¯s someone only reserved for Apocalypse causing threats here.¡± She calmed down a bit, thinking that she could explain and everything would be alright.

    He turned around calmly and said, ¡°Executive order.¡± He pulled out a paper ¡°Due to the deaths associated with Alice Saunders. She will be detained for questioning indefinitely. Just kill everyone else.¡± He blankly read out. ¡°So, yeah. Except for you, everyone here will die.¡±

    She put her left foot back and raised her hand ¡°I won''t let you-¡±

    ¡°Ohyesyouwill¡± he managed to keep his blank face whilst acting like a child. He snapped his fingers¡­

    Then the fireworks went off, loud and red. Everywhere was stained as entire families fell. She stood there shaking at the sight. Her mind went to the morning-

    I shouldn''t have convinced them to stay. I shouldn''t have. She slid to her knees as everything started swirling, with the world turning to black-

    ¡°Look for any stragglers.¡± Lucian said, now behind her, opening a letter with a dirty white glow, pouring its content¡¯s out onto her arms, they slid around then materialised into chains.

    She lay there in silence, tears forming.

    ¡°You can''t actually tell me that this is your first time seeing a killing. Aren''t all you veil users like that.¡±

    She just curled into a ball with her hands behind her back as she prevented the sobs from taking control-

    ¡°Not talkative,¡± he sat down, ¡°that¡¯s quite alright. I wouldn''t want to talk either.¡±

    Over at the entrance of Haven, Vida walked out of the whirlpool and stood directly in front of the barrier that had now fallen, ¡°Fuck,¡± she placed her hands on it, and it glitched, making her pull her hands back, ¡°how am I going to get inside, it¡¯s blocking veil transportation to some extent. I¡¯m definitely not going to get inside at my current level¡­¡± she muttered to herself.

    Then, a flower petal dropped from the sky. It was pink, and became yellow as it went down, a frangipani. Another fell gracefully, then another, accompanied by its sweet, hearty scent.

    Not right now. Please. She prayed.

    ¡°The moon is able to shift the tides. Yet it¡¯s far from the ocean.¡± a dreamy, alluring voice, washed over her ears, making her stumble a bit.

    ¡°Not now Kent. There¡¯s no time for your riddles-¡±

    ¡°Weak, insecure and stupid,¡± he said it as if impressed. ¡°I mean, use your veil from outside you numbskull.¡± he finally left from behind her, blowing a petal off her shoulder. He was African, with braided hair that started out black, then became yellow as it reached the tips. He was attractive, a nod to his father. A beacon of charisma. ¡°Every Veil controlling device Allows veil energy to flow through, but causes friction, preventing Veil energy in that area from being used for ¡­anything, really.¡± He tapped it ¡°This is their most advanced version, preventing anything from Civilian-Level threat to A Regional-Level threat Veil user from working, you are officially recognised as city block threat, the second after civilian threat. Quite strong.¡±

    ¡°Thanks-¡°

    ¡°If I was a Veil-less defect.¡± He interrupted, giving another reminder why she stopped liking him ¡°So, since I¡¯m a National-Level threat, this will be easy for me. But you¡¯ll be more useless Inside, so your best hope is remotely interacting with the veil energy Inside.¡±

    ¡°That is several skips in logic-¡± she started. a man was taking pictures on a professional camera with a bored face.

    He turned around ¡°Hello Alice, I¡¯m Lucian from-¡±

    She steadied her breathing, slightly ¡°ECLIPSE, what is an elite task force member doing here, my meeting with the Executives themselves.¡±

    ¡°Huh, that¡¯s weird.¡± he pulled out a paper and read from it ¡°Due to the magnitude of the alleged crime associated with Alice Saunders, she is to be detained indefinitely for questioning.¡±

    ¡°-I know,¡± he said, chipper, ¡°but you need to try something more than stand here and look pretty.¡±

    She ignored his repeated insults ¡°How do I do that?¡± she asked.

    He pulled out a brown journal with Vida on it. ¡°It says here¡­use Leviathan.¡±

    Her heart went on Hiatus, no one who knew what that was would ever recommend it comfortably. ¡° What¡¯s that book?¡± She reached for it in a panic, but he pulled it from her range.¡±If that¡¯s your reaction, I''m guessing leviathan isn''t something to toy with.¡± dodging the possibility of explaining the book more, he put it back in his coat pocket, ¡°though that¡¯s to be expected, since this was to be given to you when you were ¡®ready¡¯ but that¡¯s the only thing written in most of the book. So get cracking.¡± the world distorted, and then, there was a pink katana in its pink scabbard. Walking into the Barrier without any problem, he turned around ¡°If you want to save Alice, I suggest you hurry, I¡¯ve been told by her to grab Nina. And from past instructions, It¡¯s a Nothing more, Nothing less situation. So I will not be stepping in to save anyone but Nina.¡± he walked away before she could respond.

    She sighed, took a deep breath, and stepped back, as she fell into a whirlpool that was a deeper blue than she had ever done before.

    Hidden under the trees tucked away in the corner of Haven, Nina sat in a tree. Forcefully removed from her Veil, albeit late, due to its potency. She had hidden after she felt Taki instruct her to, forcefully.

    ¡°Well well well, look at this pretty thing.¡± a voice appeared as the branch rustled with the extra weight. A male figure In body armor peered at her. ¡°Come here little one. I wont hurt you.¡±

    No. No. Whatever you do, do not follow that man. This will become a completely different Web Novel. Taki said in her mind, but she was too scared to respond. But that didn''t sound like bad advice to her.

    ¡°She¡¯s no older than five Arnold. Don''t start your scummy practices here too.¡± A younger voice sounded from the base of the tree. He had removed his helmet and had blue hair with a damaged left eye.

    ¡°Shut up Daniel-this is an investment for the future.¡± he reached across to reach Nina, who had scuttled farther to the end of the branch.

    ¡°Kill. All. Stranglers.¡± he stressed ¡°so we-¡±

    ¡°Don''t make me ¡®accidentally¡¯ stab you in the eye again.¡±

    Daniel flinched and shut up. A sweet and hearty scent started to bloom from somewhere. A frangipani petal landed on his shoulder

    ¡°Now, stop struggling. You little bitch.¡± He faltered, as the petals increased.

    ¡°You are quite nasty.¡± A voice washed over them as a pink trail flowed as it sliced up Daniel¡¯s neck, severing the front part of his face and up the tree to behead Arnold, as the body it was connected to swifty covered Nina¡¯s face with his hand to prevent her from witnessing the scene.

    ¡°Hey kid,¡± Kent said, crouched on the branch, but providing no extra strain on it as he held his sword¡¯s scabbard as if it was the hilt and said, ¡°are you alright.¡±

    Nina shook her head sadly as he picked her up and carried her in one arm ¡°I¡¯ll be taking care of you for a bit, Alice is on a business trip.¡±

    ¡°What about my parents?¡± she asked, sad and confused.

    ¡°They are¡­wow, that¡¯s actually a really good question-They¡¯re on an even longer business trip, Yes, that¡¯s it.¡± he nodded as if pleased with himself. ¡°Anyway,¡± he smiled down at her, standing up fully, perfectly balanced and said ¡°Hold on¡­¡± then he rushed through the trees, knocking the wind out of her tiny self, she laughed in exhilaration.

    Elsewhere, on a hill. Lucian took a picture of the dead families. ¡°Alright, that¡¯s the second half of the quota. All done. Alice come on, you''re a veil user, you guys kill for fun.¡±

    She sat there, managing to curl into an even tighter ball.

    ¡°I pity you for having that flexibility, the Judge is one sick freak with the female his chains are used on. I would not want to be flexible in that aspect¡± He delivered, with that same bored face, as he lay down.

    She went rigid. Thought flashing through her mind as the tears that hat dried on her face were slowly rehydrated. Thoughts of the people she loved, the people she wanted to protect¡­

    And the people she wasn''t able to.

    Ethan, her sobs strengthened, I¡¯m so sorry for failing you as a role model¡­I¡¯m sorry for failing everyone.

    Then she blacked out.

    Waking up, she was in a garden. Not her garden, this one had darker coloured grass, with a sorrowful overcast. On top of a small hill, there was a tree, a weeping willow, and under it, there was a stick thin wooden humanoid monster, with green glowing eyes, it looked into the distance. Then turned to her.

    ¡°Hello. I¡¯m the Verdant, I''ve noticed your struggle.¡± It¡¯s voice sounded like a welcoming old man, ¡°Would you like to sit with me for a bit, I¡¯ve been told it feels better.¡±

 Haven 5

    Vida sunk deeper into the abyss that was the ocean in her veil, waiting for that stupid-whatever it was- to show up. She was the owner of the veil, so she wasn''t affected by the ocean, but she could see why people didn''t appreciate being put in this spot. The water dragged her down like a bad secret-one that could crush her if she didn''t let it out, that would drown her from its weight.

    She really didn''t appreciate it. She suddenly felt for Ethan, who had taken it like a champ. The ocean was sentient, almost, if she waited long enough, it wouldn''t care and let it out-

    She felt a ripple, faint, coming from something far away. She felt her heart rate speed up and freeze at the same time. The ocean had stopped caring.

    Looking to her side, she saw nothing but black, which she almost attributed to the deepness of the ocean.

    But she knew better than that. She knew that she was staring at a gaping hole, the size of a moon, where there was usually the place for an eye.

    She knew she was staring at Leviathan, the placeholder Divine being. Thinking about it, she probably rationalised that she was so calm because her adrenal glands had probably dried up.

    ¡°Hello Levi,¡± she said to the blackness.¡±Fine weather isn''t it.¡±

    They stared at each other for a few seconds, then a few more. Then, just as fast as the hole came, it left.

    Sooo¡­Is that a ¡®we¡¯re cool¡¯ or something-

    ¡°That name,¡± a male voice whispered in her ear, ¡°call me that again.¡±

    ¡°SHIT MAN, THE FUCK ARE YOU?¡± she jumped, landing on dry ground, which made her realise that she had been transported to a cave, deep inside, yet well lighted. The voice came from a 16 year old guy with black hair, black shirt, and black sweatpants. Cool attire. Shush.

    Oh, he had abs too. Which impressionable Vida noticed.

    ¡°Levi apparently.¡± he ruffled his hair, his muscles were muscle-ing ¡°That¡¯s a really nice name-¡±

    ¡°THERE''S NO WAY YOU¡¯RE LEVIATHAN.¡± she stared at¡­ his face, yes his face.

    ¡°No, I¡¯m Levi.¡± he reiterated ¡°I had assumed that you would be more comfortable if I were humanoid.¡±

    ¡°WHY.¡± She couldn''t comprehend it, Leviathan was caring about her comfort.

    ¡°Because I like the name,¡± he looked away nervously, ¡°no one has never really cared enough to give me a name before.¡±

    I was improvising but okay.

    ¡°Levi I need your help, Alice-¡±

    ¡°Yeah I know. But no, I¡¯m not helping you, even if it¡¯s Alice of all people.¡±

    She felt her heart sink ¡°Please, I really need this¡­¡± she tried the cute route.

    ¡°Actually I have an idea, we do a favor system. I lend you 1 hour of my power, and you give me two, unrestrictive favors.¡± he smiled a charming smile.

    ¡°What could you possibly want from me?¡±

    His smile didn''t leave his face, but it started feeling like her veins were turning to brine ¡°It¡¯s an investment. Alice is waiting¡­¡±

    She grunted, realising how much time she probably wasted. ¡°Fine.¡± she reached out her hand.

    He looked at her, her pupils now reminding him of the sockets she was used to meeting. ¡°I¡¯m assuming we have a deal, any counter offers.¡±

    She thought, are adrenal glands now functioning ¡°wh-when you take a favor, It must not harm me in any way or put irreversible strain on my soul.¡±

    He smiled again, his teeth sharp and sharp like The cave became darker, and water started flowing in from somewhere, soaking her jeans. ¡°Deal.¡± He took her outstretched arm firmly and shook it. She felt a rush on her face and saw a new layer of reality, lights of different colors flowing everywhere.

    ¡°Veil energy. I¡¯ll teach you the science later, but right now you need to go and save Alice.¡±

    She turned around and a whirlpool was created in the wall. ¡°I owe you one-¡±

    ¡°Two, actually.¡± he corrected.

    She smirked, ¡°Yeah, two.¡± Then she walked through.

    Over in Haven, the soldiers sent out to tie loose ends would later report a blur and a gust of wind blowing by. Kent was dashing through, unable to move at his comfortable speed due to the parasite child on his back and couldn''t kill the people for obvious reasons (see: the parasite)

    ¡°So, why did you save me?¡± Nina asked on his back.

    ¡°Because I was told to-¡±

    ¡°Who?¡±

    ¡°Who what?¡±

    ¡°Told you to save me?¡±

    ¡°Alice.¡±

    ¡°So you would have kept walking,¡± she managed to sound judgmental ¡°really¡±

    ¡°I wouldn''t have come her if not orders from Alice, nothing more, nothing less-¡±

    ¡°So¡­If she threw a stick, would you chase it?¡± She interrupted, smirking so much that he could hear it.

    ¡°I wont answer that-¡±

    ¡°So yes.¡± she smirked even louder.

    ¡°We need to pick up some stuff she told me to collect for her.¡± he sidestepped her partially true jabs

    ¡°Do you have a key?¡±

    ¡°Obviously.¡± he grunted.

    She stared at him with horror radiating from her face ¡°How is that an obviously creep.¡±

    ¡°We¡¯re not doing this right now-¡± he started, exasperated.

    ¡°Forgive me for knowing why some pretty boy has the key to my second home.¡±

    ¡°Prettyboy,¡± he nearly stopped, never has such a true observation offended him ever ¡°Aren''t you like 4-¡±

    ¡°Five-put some respect on the age.¡±

    ¡°I¡¯m already really tired of you¡± he passed the furthest side from the center to reach Alice''s house to prevent encounters with lesser beings.

    The tale has been illicitly lifted; should you spot it on Amazon, report the violation.

    ¡°Why are you passing the long way-just go straight.¡±

    ¡°Safety reasons.¡±

    ¡°When was that explanation ever helpful¡±

    ¡°When you don''t want to interact with the other person.¡±

    After much more banter, they reached the house in way more time than they should have spent. Because they had passed around they had reached the front side of the house, climbing up the driveway to the front door, he sighed and started to set her down halfway-

    Then stiffened.

    ¡°You''re going to need to stay on my back for a bit.¡± he heaved her back up, but she had stopped crying and just wanted to sleep.

    ¡°Your scent is too much.¡±

    ¡°In a couple of years, you¡¯ll swoon when you smell me.¡±

    ¡°Creep.¡± she muttered and yawned.

    Alright then. He looked around, collect Alice¡¯s notebooks and deliver them. On the occasion she¡¯s MIA. Simple. The only problem is why I just felt an Existential level threat in the courtyard. He paused and asked if I could help her.

    No. You I shouldn''t. He heard someone himself respond firmly.

    Opening the door, he looked around the living room to see if any one was in there. Nothing. he hadn''t felt anyone¡¯s presence, but knowing Alice, there are probably a couple of world-ending monsters in a corner or two.

    Walking into her office and to the bookshelves, he immediately picked a hardcover book with  the title engraved in gold ¡°Grade 1 Veil Theorems¡± and grabbed it. He was about to turn around and leave when he stopped, turned to look at it, and placed Nina on the couch to rest.

    He opened it. Any normal person would gloss over the book and assume that Alice, the greatest veil user ever, just kept it around to be humble or something. That was far from the truth.

    Veil sight

    For a split second, he saw different lights and mists flowing everywhere, then the world entered into a colour inversion mode of sorts.

    Now looking at the book, he saw a different text, now in white. Instead the table of contents had 10 names written on it, with space for more. He pulled out the journal with Vida written on it and put it on the page, it melted into it, with Vida now joining the table of contents. Scanning the list, he paused on his name. He started to reach for it-

    Alice said you we I shouldnt touch it until she gives it to us me. The voice he said to himself.

    So I can use everyone else¡¯s book exept myself-

    Put $5¡ê)*it^¡ê)¡ê?¡ê4back  It he became so frantic his mind couldn''t keep up

    He flinched Nothing more, nothing less than what she said to me you us herself

    Closing the book, he silently looked out of the window into the garden for the first time since he entered the office. There was a lot of red. That''s it. On top of the small hill overlooking it, he saw Alice, her eyes unfocused, with a man with blond hair and a blank face talking.

    He paused and looked up at the window.

    Nothing more, nothing less.

    Y¡êS

    Focusing back on him, he saw that the blonde man had walked halfway to the mansion.

    Do not fight, she has a plan for us-me. He told himself and turned away to pick up Nina, when he felt a surge in veil power, but he had lost all energy to care. Then, he felt a wave. A wave of something that wasn''t veil energ-

    Leviathan. She did it. He felt a sense of dread as he grabbed Nina, not caring if she was asleep-

    He hadn''t noticed, but there was a low hum, a mournful below that he felt before he heard it. Then he heard it, the most wrong noise ever, a wave of white noise with so much weight that it should have had at least a hum, that flattened trees, and blew the soldiers on the grass every which way. Lucian stopped, choosing to deal with the crisis first.

    The barrier glitched in the distance, and the glitch started to spread, as if a whale was laying down against it¡­

    Then it broke, not tore open, not melted like water, but broke, and with that massive space in the barrier, rain started to pour through in torrents. This started to destroy the rest of the barrier, and Lucian braced himself for a downpour that would rip him to shreds.

    But that wasn''t the atack.

    He was plunged into a tree by the force of a wave that moved through the trees, as if sentient. The pressure forced him back, as he gritted his teeth and reached for the hilt of his blade-only to remember he left it in the van.

    Fuck. Well, my hands will have to do it. How annoying.

    He took a deep breath and raised his arm. The water pressure started to increase, with a calm mind, he used his arm to smack the weather, causing a break for a split second. He escaped from its grasp and ran as focused beams of water shot at him, cutting through everything it touched. Wiping the blood on his face, he turned to face the beams as he remembered his objective: Collect Alice, who was still unfocused, oblivious to what was happening.

    Based on intel, the only person that has an ocean veil is Vida. But she¡¯s a city block level threat. Nothing she can throw would even lay a scratch on this barrier. Paired with the deep energy concentration increase earlier, which had made me slower, It''s safe to assume that-

    They merged into one large water beam and fired at him, jumping out of the way, he weaved through the trees, dodging the beams with precision.

    -she has made contact with the veil god, Leviathan. I¡¯ll need to file so much paperwork later. Ugh.

    Straining to take a deep breath, he rushed through them, jumping over, weaving through, or barely dodging the beams, grabbing Alice without her having any indication that she felt it, and threw her into the back of a barely standing jeep. Refusing to let it die peacefully, he drove with such force that, even if the water did not reach the car, it would destroy itself.  But it was in vain as the waves had stopped the moment he held Alice, he smiled as he realised it. Heaving and sweaty, he wiped more blood from his mouth.

    Vida is most likely closest to the break in the barrier-around north west-.So south-east it is. As he turned, with the beams still frozen.

    Objective complete. I¡¯ll need to have some people look into the details of her and Leviathan''s deal. He looked into the rear view mirror, where Alice was lying down, eyes still unfocused. And this one too.

    In front of the break outside the barrier, Vida knelt down, her heart pounding. She stared at her shaking hand as she felt¡­something building up in her, threatening to shoot out. It turned her vision deep blue, as if she was drowning.

    ¡°Carry on.¡± the feeling stopped, as she looked at the source of the sound

    ¡°You have got to be fucking kidding me.¡±

    There was a conch shell. With legs. It¡¯s as simple as it sounds. I have no idea how it talks. It just does.

    ¡°This is my comfort form-¡± It started.

    ¡°Alice just got taken and you''re here talking about comfort.¡±

    ¡°This is the most emotion I¡¯ve shown for anyone-This is Alice after all.¡±

    She nearly fell from whiplash ¡°Leviathan?!¡±

    Then she stopped as she smelt a hearty, sweet scent and saw the pink and yellow flower petal.

    ¡°You don''t look as sad as I thought.¡± He looked down at her, carrying Nina on an arm. ¡°Alice told me to tell you to continue as normal. That means going to school and Laying Low.¡± He stressed that last bit. ¡°I wasn''t told to protect you, so protect yourself. Do not chase Lucian. Understood? Good.¡± He dashed away as it started to rain. Leaving her there. She felt the tears form, finally having a chance to be sad-

    Then she heard it, a footstep walking through the rain.

    ¡°The forecast never said anything about rain.¡± A man wearing a suit walked through. Slowly, as if someone had hurt him. He looked up at her, ¡°I¡¯m assuming that that''s your fault.¡±

    She stood up and turned around. ¡°Oh Aidan, you got out.¡± then she realised ¡°how did you do that-¡±

    He raised his blade to his face ¡°You would have killed me if I had stayed. I needed to leave.¡±  He relaxed his arm and walked towards her ¡°I will forever wish to put you in the same state.¡± He walked up to her, ¡°I¡¯m the reason why you couldn''t save Alice in time, so I can''t be angry. But have you ever been frozen.¡± his voice was steady ¡°Even that wouldn''t be bad, but you kept me alive, cold. Really cold. You chose to torture me.¡±

    ¡°It¡¯s not that bad.¡± She said casually, ¡°I wanted to try something, that''s why I did that. But I can see why a normal human would be annoyed. So sorry.¡±

    His striking red eyes started to glow ¡°I see¡­Vida, I swear on Areola-¡±

    The rain stopped, as if it were never there, as if  the world had stopped operating to Listen.

    ¡°-I will do to you what you did to me. To make you wish you were dead, to-¡±

    ¡°There''s no need to be dramatic, It was just a little cold.¡±

    He appeared in front of her, something he was never strong enough to do before. ¡°See you later Vida.¡±

    Then he disappeared. The rain started again as a flash of pure white lightning cut across the sky. The deal had been made. Vida stared up at it, sighed, then walked away.

    After hours of driving, Ethan woke up as he felt the car stop. Opening the door, he checked his surroundings. He was on a mountain, in a clearing of trees. He looked around and saw the outline of a small house. As he turned and faced his original direction, his heart stopped.

    He saw a salt and pepper haired man in a bathing robe. He was a bit short, and his hair was wet. The man smiled, a genuine smile, and held out his hand.

    ¡°My name is Xavier. You should listen to me from now on. Understood?¡±

    Ethans resolve hardened the final time, his resolve to surpass Everyone.

    ¡°Alright.¡± he shook Xavier''s hand.

    His smile became cold. ¡°Wonderful.¡±