~Chapter 1~
The sky turned red in the world of Tsemelp as an earthquake emerged. Worlds were becoming united for the short time that was possible. Two trees across from each other began melting into a silver liquid. The earthquake stopped. Tsemelp has performed its job and two worlds have been linked. However, this story begins in the room of a seventeen year old boy’s room, where his twin sister was trying to wake him…
“Chance, Chance! Wake up already!” She pleaded. She continued to shake him and yell at him. “Chance, this is last time I’m ever doing this for you! WAKE UP!!” She roared. Chance stirred and slowly woke.
“Ara, what are you doing in my room?” He sleepily asked.
“I was trying to wake you up for your 17th birthday, and your weird concert!” She answered, exasperated. Chance’s jaw dropped.
“What!? That’s today!? Ara, why didn’t you wake me earlier? It’s already nine-fifteen!” He whined. Ara couldn’t believe it.
“Did you take stupid pills last night or something!? That’s what I’ve been trying to do for the last twenty minutes!” She yelled in answer.
After Chance finally got out of bed, he made himself a quick breakfast and hurriedly got himself dressed and ready to go out. “Ara, I have a concert to get to so can you please tell mum I’ll be back after lunch?” He asked her, yawning in the process.
“Sure thing, Sleeping Beauty.” She sarcastically replied. Chance didn’t reply; he left the house.
As Chance was walking down the hill that his house rested on, he looked down at the water strait that ran through the town. “What a nice day to have a birthday…” He thought. It was indeed a nice day. It was warm and sunny, but not overly hot or humid. It was one of days that appear in dreams when everything is running perfectly… Chance continued to walk down the hill when suddenly a huge gust of wind blew past him, almost knocking him over. “Wow! That was strange…” He thought. Puzzled by it’s sudden appearance, he looked back at the water and noticed something about it that just seemed… unnatural, as if someone had dropped a huge needle to pierce the surface; ripples shot out from the center of the strait and crashed against the banks. “…Maybe the wind’s causing that.” He figured. He ignored it and kept on walking to the place where his band were supposed to meet up,
When he arrived there, he was greeted with a pleasant surprise… “Happy Birthday, Hero!” His band-mates greeted. They had a cake sitting up the back of the room for him. He’d been nicknamed Hero by the band and this name spread out to the rest of his peers, most of which also called him Hero.
“Thanks Guys!” Chance laughed. They had cake and sat around and talked for a while, until they realised it was starting to get close to show time, so they all began to sat up. Chance hauled a speaker into position and took a moment to look up at his friends. Ichiro, more commonly known as Rapster, the band’s drummer. Big B, the band’s electric pianist. Runt, the bassist. Ace, who accompanied Chance on electric guitar. These were friends he was always thankful for, and days like today reminded him of it.
“Oi Chance, what are you doing!?” Ace called.
“Oh! Sorry, I must’ve started daydreaming again.” Chance apologised.
“You’re always doing weird stuff like that…” Ace replied, shaking his head and lightly laughing.
As Chance and his band members were performing, his parents were setting up a surprise party, which caused Ara to be confined to the living room. “This bites, I have nothing to do. I can’t even go to the pantry and grab some grub.” She whinged to no-one in particular. Then she saw it. Outside. The same strangeness Chance had. “Wow, what is that!?” She wondered. She couldn’t take her eyes away from it…
When Chance returned, Ara confronted him about it. “Chance, did you see the Strait today?” She asked.
“Yeah, wasn’t it weird? I think it was because of the wind. Anyway, could you tell mum I’m going to go hang out with some friends?” Chance asked.
“Oh Chance, can I come?” Ara pleaded.
“Um… no.” He answered.
“Oh why wouldn’t you want your nice, loving, sweet sister to come along with you?” Ara asked.
“Ara, how many times have mum told you not to lie?” Chance teased. Ara didn’t fight back but just told him to go away. So he left for his friend’s house.
When Chance was returning, however, he noticed that it was unusually dark and cold. “Strange day, huh?” He thought to himself. He shook the thought off somewhat and continued walking home. When he got there, he opened the door to find many relatives and friends rushing into the main room at once.
“Happy Birthday, Chance and Ara!” They cheered. Ara came into the room, relieved that she was finally allowed to.
“Wow!! Thanks everyone!” Chance thanked.
“Yeah, thankyou!!” Ara agreed in thanks. They both began to mingle with guests and snacks and drinks were bought out. But it finally came time for what the both of them were waiting for – presents. Chance’s band mates handed him a large, somewhat heavy box… Chance tore it open to find that inside the box a new electric guitar. Speechless, he carefully picked it up and looked it over. The way it glistened when the light hit it, the smooth finish to the instrument… even its presence felt surreal, as if a higher being of some sort lived inside it. He noticed that on the back of the body it had a message engraved on it:
To Chance (Hero),
You’ve been an awesome friend. Keep on rocking!
From Ace, Ichiro (Rapster) and Big B
Chance finally brought himself to spoke. “I…cannot believe this! You guys are so awesome! Thankyou so, so much!” He thanked. He stood and very quickly hugged them all, and they all pat each other on the backs. In the commotion a family member took opportunity to give Ara a present she wasn’t too sure about… Ara gleefully grabbed it and tore it open in the same fashion, but her face fell in disappointment at what it was…
“Nailpolish!? I hate nailpolish! I thought everyone knew…” She whined. The gift-giver shot a dirty look at her husband; the gift had been his idea after all…
After the gifts had been opened and thankyous shared, the party games began. “Hey, Ara, remember our tradition?” Chance whispered over to her.
“Yeah. You wanna do it now?” She asked.
“Yep. It’s no or never.” Chance answered. They both snuck away into the attic. They climbed through it and onto the roof.
“This looks like a good place to hide.” Ara said.
“Yep! They’ll never find us up here.” Chance agreed.
“…Chance, I need to ask you about something that happened today-” Before she could finish her question, she was cut off by an earthquake. The power was out as far as they could see and the stars in the sky now resembled a giant spider web, covering the universe. “What on earth is happening!?” Ara yelled. Chance was too shocked to answer. An incredible loud hum began to sound, and it felt like it could he heard throughout the universe. Then what seemed to be giant beams of light shot down from the sky in various places; the closest one was only a mile away from the house. This didn’t last for too long, however, and once it did stop the humming faded, and the sky returned to normal.
“…A-Ara, what just happened?” Chance asked.
“I don’t know…” She answered. Getting a sudden grip on herself, she stood. “Come on Chance! Let’s go see what’s out there.” She decided.
“Have you lost your mind!? There could be aliens out there or something.” Chance protested. Ara rolled her eyes.
“Chance, are you seriously too chicken to check it out? Because if you are you know I’m going to tell all your friends that you were afraid of a little light.” She taunted.
“Fine, but if we get in trouble it’s your fault.” Chance submitted with a sigh.
“Whatever, you cry-baby.” Ara retorted. They both jumped off the roof and traveled to the wood, Ara mimicking his cry-baby brother when he wasn’t paying too much attention to her. As they traveled deeper, Ara noticed a strange blue light ahead of them. “That looks promising…” Ara stated. They followed its direction until they came to a small clearing. Amongst this clearing there was a strange mist, almost like a fog in the atmosphere, and a silvery tree stood in the center where there hadn’t been one before. “…Ok, this is so weird…” Ara stated.
“It’s a little too weird-” Chance agreed. Before he got a chance to say anything more, a strange man jumped out of the tree and hit the ground with a thud. Ara was so startled she nearly jumped out of her skin. “Ara, it’s just a man.” Chance hissed, as if he was expecting it to happen.
“Are you… natives to this world?” The man asked.
“Uh yeah, duh…” Ara answered.
“Then take this.” He instructed, handing Ara a dirty sack. Chance couldn’t believe that he wasn’t offended by her comment but he had a feeling that much greater things were happening right now; things that would make Ara’s sharp tongue insignificant… Ara snatched the bag form him.
“Eww!” She gasped, after grabbing it.
“Please! There isn’t much time! The Dark Clan is after it!” The man pleaded.
“What, the bag?” Chance asked.
“No you idiot, what’s inside it!” Ara snapped.
“…Wait a minute who are you, mister?” Chance asked.
“That’s not important! You must keep the Essences safe; the Dark Clan must never find them here! And whatever you do, don’t put them on!” The man warned.
“Why not?” Chance asked. The man was about to answer when he gasped for breath, as if a big pair of invisible hands were crushing his throat and lungs. With a final struggle to shake the hands off ending in vain, he collapsed and fell back onto the ground. Chance rushed over to inspect the body, his shaken sister following.
“…What happened!?” she gasped.
“Look! He had an arrow in his back the whole time he was talking to us. He must’ve been already dying when he came here.” Chance concluded.
“This has got to be a joke…” Ara thought out loud.
“Seriously Ara, if it was they wouldn’t kill a man to do it. Look at him! He’s wearing the weirdest clothes I’ve ever seen. He’s definitely a foreigner. He knew something we didn’t and he was trying to protect and warn us about whatever was in that bag of his.” Chance objected.
“Well let’s have a look at it then, shall we?” Ara suggested, tipping the bag’s contents onto the floor… Out came a small dagger, a small portion of bread, water, and two gloves, one of which was blue-white and the other had a yellow sheen.
“Oh ok, so these must’ve been what he was talking about.” Chance figured, referring to the gloves.
“Well I think that tomorrow we should just dig a deep hole and bury all of this stuff in it and we’ll never have to worry about it again.” Ara suggested.
“Yeah, tomorrow. For now, let’s just go home and get some sleep.” Chance suggested.
“Yeah. Let’s go.” Ara agreed.
The next morning Chance woke up late, as usual. He quickly got dressed and rushed down the stairs to grab some breakfast. He looked over at Ara and saw her doing something weird with her toast… “Ara, where’s mum and dad?” He asked. Ara shrugged.
“I dunno, I guess they wanted to see what all the commotion was about last night. Hey, check this out!” She asked. Before he could respond, she lifted her toast off her plate without even touching it. “Pretty cool, huh?” She asked.
“You put that glove on, didn’t you!?” Chance asked.
“Duh! I was just about to put the other one on when you walked down the stairs.” She answered. Chance looked over to see the other glove sitting nearby on the table. Being in the light, he could see the detail to it. The glove in itself seemed to be made up of ring mail. Near the wrist, two strands of chain hung loose. Near the knuckles there were three stars in a row. This glove’s stars were yellow. He glanced over at Ara’s glove for a moment – the stars on hers were blue-white. What type of material the stars were made from was unknown, but it seemed glassy-crystal like, definitely capable of holding magic inside for the very least. Just as Ara reached out for it, Chance swiped it from her.
“Ha, got it first!” Chance laughed victoriously. Just as Ara was going to reply a surge of energy ripped through his body; it was a shock so strong that it immediately caused him to drop to the ground. It took him a couple of minutes to recover from it. “…What …was that!?” He asked.
“I have no idea.” Ara answered, her face slightly pale. “Hey, what are the special powers for these things, anyway?” She asked.
“Dunno. Let’s see…” Chance thought out loud. He lifted his gloved hand and a ball of some type of yellow, light-like material. “…This is pretty lame.” Chance audibly thought, disappointment ringing clear through his voice. He threw the ball of material out the window. However, when it impacted on the ground outside, there was a loud crash. Ara and Chance ran outside to see what had happened… the ball of material had left a giant crater where it had made impact with the earth, as if the ground had melted on impact. Both Ara and Chance were stunned.
“W-what is this thing, anyway?” Chance asked.
“…I think I know how to find out! We have to go back to that clearing where we were last night.” Ara suggested.
“Might as well.” Chance shrugged.
~
Meanwhile, in a totally different land…
“Dark Lord Paldor, we have a location of the Essences of Light and Wind.” A voice reported.
“Very well. Send the Dark Scout, just in case it’s another wild goose chase.” The Dark Lord ordered.
“Yes sir!”
~
When Chance and Ara finally arrived at the location they investigated it. “This is definitely the spot. The mist is still here.” Chance pointed out.
“The man looked like he jumped out of that tree…” Ara thought out loud, pointing to the tree. It appeared to have water that looked like liquid silver all over it. When Chance walked over and looked at his, he saw himself fighting against a man and a mysterious looking girl. “Chance? Are you O.K?” Ara asked.
“Yeah, fine.” He answered. “Look, I have a felling we should go through this silver water here.” He suggested. Ara pushed Chance into the water before he could respond.
“Let’s test your theory!” Ara replied. Before Chance knew it he was lying in a patch of green grass.
“Huh? Where am I?” He asked.
“Your theory was correct.” Ara replied, as she came out from a thicket of trees. “Now how do we get back?” She asked. Ara and Chance both got up and started walking through the woods.
After some time Chance noticed that an odd looking bird had been watching them for quite a while. “Ara, have you noticed that bird in the sky has been watching us?” He asked.
“Yes, now that you mention it…” Ara replied.
“What should we do?” Chance asked. It was then that both of them noticed a thicker section of forest nearby. “On the count of three, we run into that part of the woods.” He decided. Ara nodded.
“One…Two…Three!!” Ara yelled.
“Hey, I was supposed to do the counting!” Chance protested, as they both dashed for the thicker forest, Chance following Ara. The bird-like creature noticed the attempted escape and flapped its wings as hard as it could. The power from it blew down most of the trees in the thicker forest where Chance and Ara were heading. “That’s just great! Now what do we do?” Chance asked.
“We fight, duh.” Ara answered. She used her strange glove to pull all of the wind the bird was creating to the far left. The bird lost its balance and hit the ground.
“…Ara! That’s got to be the biggest bird I’ve ever seen! It must be about 20 feet tall!” Chance gasped, not quite knowing how else to react to the situation. The bird staggered to its feet and loudly screeched. Then it charged at Ara with its wings outstretched. Just when it was about to clobber a dumb-struck Ara, Chance charged at it with inhuman speed and did a spiraling uppercut through the bird’s head. He staggered back, bewildered by what he had just done. “Wow… How did I do that!? I just thought about doing it… and then I was actually doing it… What is this thing?” He wondered, staring at the glove. After both recovering from the shock of what had happened, they moved on, continuing to travel through the woods.
“Hey Chance, did you hear something?” Ara asked.
“No…” He answered.
“Shh! I hear talking.” Ara stated. She stopped walking and looked around. “I think it’s coming from over there.” She decided.
“Only one way to find out…” He stated. He walked over in the direction that Ara was pointing to. He looked over there, then looked back at Ara and motioned for her to come to where he was. “You’re right. Come quietly!” He whispered. When Ara came to Chance they both looked back over to what Chance saw… There were two men dressed in a white uniform that was lined in black. “They might be the baddies that killed the strange man.” Chance whispered. The men definitely had that sort of vibe about them…
“Shutup! I’m trying to hear what they’re saying.” Ara hissed. Chance stopped talking and they both listened in…
“Are you sure you heard something over here?” The first man asked.
“Yeah, sounded like a screech or something.” The second man answered.
“Probably that scout the Dark Lord sent out to find those Essences of Light and Wind.
“Ara, that’s it! I have the Essence of Light and you of Wind!” Chance hissed.
“Shh! Let’s see what else we can find out.” Ara suggested.
“…Well I don’t see anything. Let’s head back to town.” The first man suggested.
“Fine by me. Let’s go.” The second man agreed. When they were a safe distance away, Chance and Ara emerged from their hiding spots.
“…Well, at least we know what they’re called now.” Chance stated.
“Did you notice that they have gloves similar to ours?” Ara asked.
“No.” Chance answered.
“Well, if you’d been paying attention you would’ve noticed. Their gloves only had two stars on them and they were a purplish colour. Otherwise they were pretty much the same.” Ara explained.
“We should go and find that town that those two guys were talking about.” Chance suggested. Ara nodded in agreement. They both followed the path that the two men had taken until they reached a small but well-populated town. They braced themselves and entered…
“This is quite the cracker box they have here.” Chance remarked. He didn’t expect to see this many people. They did have a problem though – they stuck out like a sore thumb.
“You two are new to these parts, aren’t you?” A man asked.
“Well…yeah.” Chance answered.
“Don’t you know the Dark Clan will interrogate you when they see what strange clothes you’re wearing?” An elderly lady asked.
“Ara, I think those guys we saw before are a part of this Dark Clan we keep on hearing about.” Chance figured.
“What makes you think that?” Ara asked.
“Because the people guarding this place are wearing the same clothing as them.” He answered. “The ordinary people here seem to fear them too.” He added. Ara briefly looked around.
“Chance… I think you’re right.” Ara answered.
“Hmm… we can fight these people if we use my Essence of Light!” Chance suggested.
“Chance! What are you talking about!” Ara gasped.
~Chapter 2~
Two dark waves fly at each other with a loud hum. After the waves clashed, two nineteen year old Dark Clan males charged at each other. One of them slid under the other, and slashed his back with a wave of Dark Energy he had summoned with the glove on his hand. The target of the attack fell forward to the ground in defeat. “The winner of the match is Drake!” The commentator announced.
“It wasn’t that tough.” Drake thought. He returned to his seat among the Dark Clan warriors and spectators. Sitting next to him was a girl two years younger. Her hair was typically long and black, and she wore a black and white checkered bandanna. She had a simple name of Siary. Her skills with using dark magic were quite low, thus she didn’t have too many friends.
“Nice job, Drake.” She congratulated.
“Yes; I hope I’ll be able to tell you that when you go up there, Siary.” He replied.
“The next battle will be between Keira of the Territory of Power and Elmeira of the Territory of Wisdom.” The commentator announced. Both of the contestants stood and headed over to the stage.
“This will be an interesting battle. I know Keira’s status for her level. And I’ve heard Elmeira hasn’t lost a battle yet. She’s one of the strongest rookies the Territory of Wisdom have this year.” Drake commented. Siary concentrated all of her attention onto the battle.
“You can begin when you’re ready.” Keira taunted.
“Let’s start then.” Elmeira responded, not biting to Keira’s comment as much as she would’ve liked. Both girls summoned a ball of darkness and fired it at each other. After both balls collided, Elmeira charged with a Dark Clan knife in hand. As she quickly approached Keira, she leapt into the air for an aerial attack. Keira suddenly snapped into action and created a dark collective ball of energy and hurled it at Elmeira. Elmeira noticed this sudden weak point and teleported back to the ground, which left Keira in her blind spot. Keira then charged at this point to gain the upper hand in the battle. She tripped Elmeira and while she was falling Keira intended to blast her back up and send her through the ceiling. But Elmeira recovered from her fall by twisting her leg and rebalancing herself for a sudden attack.
“What!?” Keira gasped, not expecting the recovery. Elmeira attacked her with a spinning heel kick which sent Keira toward the wall. While she was flying, Keira took her dagger and jammed it into the floor to stop her momentum.
“Not bad. But not good enough!” Elmeira roared.
While this was happening, a cloaked man entered the arena where all the battles an excitement was taking place. “Dark Lord Paldor, what a surprise!” The host greeted.
“Yes. I’m just here to see how the rookies are doing.” Paldor stated. He seated himself and watched the battle unfold…
Elmeira ran east, shooting dark balls at Keira. Keira ran west, returning the favour. Then Keira stopped and examined the situation. If she continued like this she’d be on a 30 degree slope… Keira took her dagger and focused dark matter into it. She then threw it to the far corner of the arena battleground. When it hit the ground a spiked ball of darkness was created. Since this ball was on a slope, it rolled, gaining momentum and heading towards Elmeira… Elmeira charged at Keira with dark energy in hand. Right before she had a chance to strike, Keira kicked Elmeira right into the path of the spiked ball. Elmeria was crushed. The battle is over. But Keira wanted to further prove her power. She picked up Elmeira’s body and formed a dark ball in her hand, preparing to finish her off. “Drake! Stop her!!” Siary pleaded.
“Why? If you want to stop her then you should do it yourself.” Drake replied. The whole crowd was in uproar; some wanted Keira to finish her off, some wanting Keira to spare her.
“I’ll just finish this.” Keira cruelly decided.
“Keira! Don’t!!” Siary pleaded, running towards her.
“What do you know!? You’re just a left over from class.” Keira scoffed.
“You can’t hurt her anymore! You know it’s our way of the warrior to not hurt kill own people!” Siary pleaded.
“Our!? Ha! Don’t make me laugh. I’d hardly call you a warrior. Unless you want to challenge me, get lost.” Keira challenged.
“Fine, I challenge you!” Siary accepted.
“This should be fun.” Keira laughed, throwing Elmeira’s body aside. “You can begin when you’re ready.” She taunted. Siary waited a moment then charged towards Keira as fast as she could. As she was almost in striking range, Keira stepped aside, evading her attack. Siary turned back toward Keira and slid straight under her, tripping her. As she hurtled to the ground Siary kicked her under the chin and sent her flying across the room. “Oh sure, you have great physical attacks. But you don’t have any dark blasts!” Keira pointed out. She stood up and spat on the ground. Aggravated, Siary also stood straight up and summoned a low-powered dark ball. She sent it flying towards Keira but it broke halfway on its journey. The whole entire crowd broke out into roaring laughter, Keira included. “You call that an attack!? Let me show you how it’s done!” Keira responded. She created a dark wave and shot it at Siary. It happened so fast that Siary didn’t even have time to blink before it hit her. Siary flew to the back of the arena and landed on a hay bale with a loud crash. Seeing that the fight was over, Keira walked away from the battleground to let the next warrior fight. A plump looking boy approached the grounds.
“Greetings my fellow kinsmen. Greetings Dark Lord Paldor.” He introduced with a bow of respect to Paldor’s way. “I am here today to avenge my brother’s life. The one I want vengeance against is Drake!” He declared, pointing him out in the crowd. Everyone turned to face Drake, who just smiled.
“Oh? What’s your name, fatso?” Drake taunted.
“I am Dorgandio.” He answered.
“Very well, Dorgandio. If it’s a fight to death you want, then that’s what I’ll give you.” He accepted. He stood and slowly walked to the battlegrounds.
“You may begin when you’re ready.” Dorgandio stated. But Drake just stood still, smirking. This provoked Dorgandio into action. “Fine! If you won’t attack, then I will!” He declared. He quickly shot out a bolt of dark lightning at Drake, but he blocked it with one hand and retaliated with the other. Dorgandio dodged Drake’s bolt and charged at him, aiming to kick him in the head. But Drake grabbed a hold of his leg and flipped him to the ground. “Stop messing around and fight!!” Dorgandio ordered.
“As you wish, fat boy!” Drake answered, feeling more motivated. He quickly fired two dark balls with knives concealed in them. Dorgandio blocked the attack with ease and charged. As he came closer he created two whips out of dark matter and started to viciously lash them out at Drake. But Drake was able to dodge every lash by moving to the side of them. Seeing this Dorgandio attacked harder. Drake side-stepped out of the way and spun his leg around and kicked Dorgandio in the gut. As Dorgandio was flying the air from the last attack, he shifted his weight and landed on his feet. He drew his twin Dark Clan long knives and waited. Drake predicted the next attack and pulled out three darts and charged. As they approached each other, Dorgandio took both of his blades and merged them into what appeared to be a giant pair of scissors. Seeing this, Drake stopped.
“Now, let’s see how well you can get past this!” Dorgandio challenged. Drake stood still for a moment. Everyone in the audience knew that with this attack it can cut you into two if you were close enough to it. If you back up then you leave yourself open to a counter attack. This attack was so advanced that hardly anyone knew how to perform it. And only the Dark Lord had been able to survive it. The Dark Lord’s interest in the battle greatly rose at seeing this.
“Hmm… I wonder what the kid will try?” The Dark Lord wondered. Drake then charged straight into the attack. The audience couldn’t believe it. What was he thinking? Was he that stupid!?
“Oh, giving up now, are we?” Dorgandio asked, as he started closing the blades together. Just as they were about to snap shut, Drake threw a dart and it pierced Dogandio’s hand. He yelped and dropped the blades, allowing Drake to escape the attack. Drake then slid straight under Dorgandio and tripped him. Dorgandio quickly recovered and charged at Drake, rage overflowing him. Drake threw another dart and hit landed in Dorgandio’s left shoulder. But it didn’t slow him. Drake threw his last dart and it landed in Drake’s right arm. It was so painful that Dorgandio dropped his sword. Drake kicked him into the air, and finished him off by ramming a very small ball of darkness into his gut. It sent Dorgandio crashing through a wall and outside, the force behind the attack was that great. The battle was over. The crowd cheered loudly for Drake’s victory. Just as Drake was leaving the Dark Lord approached him.
“Very good! You appear to have a lot of talent.” He congratulated.
“I’m glad you think so, Dark Lord Paldor.” Drake replied.
“I don’t have any students of my own to train right now. Would you like to become one?” The Dark Lord offered. Drake thought it sounded suspicious but he accepted the offer. “…You never know; you might become the next Dark Lord. I might even let you wear one of the Dark Essences.” He absently added, as he walked away. “The kid’s fighting style is a lot like Serane’s. I wonder if he’s… I’ll have to look into it.” The Dark Lord thought. Drake watched him leave. When he was gone, he thought to himself “that gives me an idea of how to get my hands on the Essences.” He looked over at Siary stepping out the hay bale. “And she may be of some use after all.” Siary approached Drake.
“Drake, I’m so sorry I shamed our family again.” She apologised. Drake looked over at her and smiled.
“There’s no need to apologise, my dear sister, no need at all.” He answered, walking away.
“There isn’t? Hey, where are you going!?” She asked.
“Nowhere that concerns you.” He answered.
The next day Drake went to the Dark Lord’s palace. “So, it seems you’ve accepted my offer.” The Dark Lord stated when Drake appeared before him.
“Let me look at the Essences before we train.” Drake rudely requested. The Dark Lord didn’t seem to react to his sharpness.
“…Very well, Drake.” The Dark Lord agreed. “But not for long.”
While this was happening, Siary was at training to try and advance her skills, along with the rest of her class. Orlayo, Siary’s only friend, made special effort to keep close by her. Today the class was to sharpen their skills by scrambling up and down trees. Orlayo and Siary escaped to the back of the line so they could talk. “Hey Siary, do you want to come with me to the Rotherous farm after class? They’re giving away Rotherouses for free.” Orlayo asked.
“Sounds good!” Siary answered.
“Orlayo, you’re next.” The teacher called. Orlayo approached the tree. “…Orlayo, you forgot to put on the correct climbing equipment.” The teacher pointed out. He then fixed him up; he tied Orlayo’s left arm to his back and gave him a spike grip for his right hand.
“Ok. I’ll do my best.” Orlayo promised. He grabbed the tree with his right hand and using his feet he pushed himself away from the tree to the one opposite. He continued to climb the trees this way (as the class had been instructed to) until he reached halfway and lost his grip. He fell to the ground with a thump.
“Good try, Orlayo.” The teacher encouraged. “Siary, you’re the last one. It’s your turn now.” The teacher instructed. Siary started quietly muttering to herself.
“I really don’t need this training whack.” Siary pointed out. She jumped from tree to tree and reached the top to prove her point.
“Yes Siary, I know you’re fast on your feet but this exercise helps you balance.” The teacher pointed out.
“Fine.” Siary scowled. She came back down and was properly equipped. When she tried to climb now she only made a few jumps before she fell.
“Better luck next time. Why don’t you ask your brother to help you with this? He did it within minutes on his first go!” The teacher suggested.
“Yes, my brother seems to be good at everything.” Siary muttered as she got to her feet.
After training was finished for the day, Orlayo approached Siary. “Do you still want to come with me to get a Rotherous?” He asked.
“Oh! I’d forgotten about it. Sure, I’d love to.” Siary accepted. They both walked to the farm. When they arrived they saw all the different species of Rotherous. Some looked vicious and mean, while others seemed calm and gentle. When they came to box that said “Free Rotherous” there was only one small runt left.
“Darn! Come on Siary, all the good ones are gone.” Orlayo suggested.
“Wait! What about that one?” Siary asked, pointing to the runt.
“Would you really want that one? It’s just a runt.” Orlayo dismissed. Siary picked the Rotherous up.
“I want this one.” Siary decided. “It reminds me of myself.”
“Ok then, suit yourself…” Orlayo shrugged. They both went to find the man in charge of the farm to let him know that they were taking a Rotherous, and then they went back home.
Later that night, Drake returned home a lot later than usual. “Hey Drake! What took you so long?” Siary asked.
“…Let’s just say I’ve found a solution to your failing grades.” Drake answered.
“Really? What is it!?” Siary asked excitedly.
“We’re going to steal the Essences.” Drake answered. Siary was shocked at the solution.
“What!? Are you out of your mind!?” Siary asked.
“I have a plan. I know where they are. I just need a distraction. I need your help. Are you in or out?” Drake asked.
“…I suppose I’m in.” Siary decided.
~Chapter 3: An unbeatable battle~
“What do you mean I can’t have this glove thingy- essence!?” Chance argued.
“You just stepped into this world and now you want to fight!? Who do you think you are!?” Ara argued back. As they argued a person approached them.
“Excuse me; did you just say you had the essence of light?” She asked.
“Yeah. Why?” Chance asked. Then he remembered her; she was the girl in her vision! She held an uncanny resemblance to her at least…
“Let me see it.” She requested.
“Why? Are you going to kill me for it?” Chance challenged, revealing his gloved hand to her. She studied it for a moment.
“…Very interesting.” She commented, before disappearing back into the crowd.
“…Ara, I think you’re right for once.” Chance admitted. “I just saw three Dark Clan people hide behind that house there while another two went into the crowd somewhere. I can’t spot them now.” He added in a whisper. Although the situation didn’t seem too safe, Ara couldn’t help but grin.
“I love it when I’m right!” She hissed in reply. Just as she had responded, they were both approached by a Dark Clan man.
“Hey boy! Come here.” He demanded.
“Chance, you should go! If they attack you, I’ll come to back you up.” Ara hissed.
“Thanks a lot.” Chance bitterly replied in the same tone, rolling his eyes. “What is it!?” He asked the guard.
“You’re coming with me.” He ordered.
“What if I say no?” Chance asked. Ara felt herself tense…
“Why don’t you find out for yourself?” The guard challenged, smirking.
“Alright then… No!” Chance decided. Two guards nearby immediately shot out two dark bolts in Chance’s direction. Just before they hit they were blocked by a wave of water which had come from behind Chance. “Huh?” Chance wondered aloud as he turned around to see who, or what had caused it… A male who Chance guessed was in his mid-twenties appeared. He wore blue-green cloth and yellow leather armour. He was also armed with several weapons.
“Water Clan, kill him now!” He ordered. Some Dark Clan men tried to retaliate but failed as two water darts hit them…
While Ara was watching this battle unfold, she was ambushed by three Dark Clan men. Reflexively using the Essence of Wind she blew two of them twenty feet away. But it missed the last man, who kicked her into the mud. He shot a dark bolt where she was but she created a shield using wind. The impact of this created a giant crater in the ground, but Ara was saved by the shield. Shocked, she quickly looked around at her surroundings. “Wow… I didn’t know I had it in me…” She thought in amazement. She was about to start climbing out of the hole when something caught her eye… “It’s another one of the three-starred gloves. This one’s dark yellow…” She realised. She put in her pocket now; she’d decide what to do with later. For now she had to get out of the hole…
When she finally arrived at the surface, she saw that all of the Dark Clan men were dead. “You, girl! Come with me quick!” The man who’d saved Chance ordered.
“Why!?” Ara asked.
“Just hurry! More guards will come soon!” He answered.
“Alright, alright! Don’t get too hasty there.” Ara retorted. Both Chance and Ara followed him through the ally and into a tunnel that was covered by stone. They traveled through this tunnel and after a short while they came to a cavern; this place’s light source came from glowing crystals. Inside this place were also many men who were dressed the same as the man Chance and Ara had followed.
“Ok, we’re safe here. Now we can talk. “ The man decided. Chance and Ara sighed with relief.
“Thanks for saving my butt back there. Did they want my glove thingy?” Chance asked.
“It’s true you have the Essence of Light?” The man asked.
“Yeah, and Ara has the Essence of Wind.” Chance answered.
“I also found this.” Ara added, pulling out the glove from her pocket.
“Oh! Where’d you get that!?” He asked.
“From the hole I ended up in during the fight.” Ara answered.
“Protect it with your life.” He grimly advised.
“Who are you, anyway?” Chance asked.
“I’m Joban, Commander of the Water Clan’s finest army.” He answered.
“Oh, so you’re the good guys, I see.” Chance figured. Joban nodded.
“We were here to find the Essence of Light. The Dark Clan probably were too. Now come get some rest, you’ll both need it.” He advised. Chance and Ara took his advice. Their beds were very poor however – just potato sacks.
“What a poor excuse for a bed.” Ara scoffed.
“It could get worse.” Chance sympthised.
“I think this can get any worse! This whole thing is just too weird, if you ask me.” Ara answered.
“In case you didn’t notice Ara, I didn’t ask.” Chance retorted. The two of them continued to argue until they were too tired to.
Five hours later, Joban came rushing into their tent. “Chance! Ara! Get up! Hurry!!” He urgently asked.
“Why?” A sleepy Ara asked.
“We’re under attack! The Dark Clan found out you have three Essences and our location!” Joban quickly explained.
“Alright… I need a minute.” Chance answered.
“Get up now, you lazy sack of potatoes!!” Ara roared. Chance immediately stood.
“Don’t call me that!” He yelled back.
“Not now! Save it for the Dark Clan! Hurry!” Joban advised. He drew his hook-sword and rushed out of the tent… a huge battle was sprawled before them. A Dark Clan man teleported behind the three of them, about to kill the three of them with his sword. Just as he was about to, Joban turned around and cut off his head.
“W-wow…” was all Chance could managed to say.
“Don’t you think you were a bit hard on him?” Ara asked.
“What do you think he would’ve done otherwise!?” Joban asked.
“Right; he would’ve cut our heads off.” Ara answered.
“You’ll get accustomed to it soon, but for now we have to escape. My army’s at a full retreat.” Joban ordered.
“…Soon we’ll be cutting off your head…” Ara thought to herself. They followed Joban further into the cave. But it didn’t take long for it to seem like the tunnel was endless. They just kept on going and going and going… Suddenly, Joban stopped running.
“Stop!” He ordered.
“What?” Chance asked. Joban summoned a huge wave using his Essence glove and blew open a hole in the wall. They saw light on the other side. “How’d you know where to do that?” Chance asked.
“Practice.” Joban answered. They climbed out of the cave and into the forest. But two Dark Clan men could be heard, riding a Rotherous each… their pace increased.
“They’ve spotted us. We’ll have to fight.” Ara answered.
“Ok, but keep on your toes.” Joban replied. Two dark blasts came at them. Ara summoned wind and blew their attacks away while Chance tried to make a light blast, which failed; it blew up in his face and sent him back. Ara couldn’t help but laugh out loud; she laughed so loud that the Dark Clan men wondered if they were being tricked… they hesitated, and in that moment Joban summoned a water whip and lashed them so hard that they died. The Rotherous they were riding panicked and fled. Ara was still laughing…
“Shutup Ara, it’s not funny!” Chance snapped. “Joban, why can’t I use attacks as good as everyone else?” He asked despairingly. Joban was about to answer when Ara cut in.
“It’s because you’re not as good as everyone else.” She answered. Chance felt like exploding.
“No! It’s because the power of light itself is the most mysterious of them all. It takes some time, but when you get the hang of using it, it’s the most powerful element of them all, besides darkness.” Joban corrected.
“Ha! Who’s laughing now, Ara?” Chance teased.
“Chance, I doubt you’ll be able to use even half of that power.” Ara retorted. They continued walking until Joban had a plan.
“Ok guys, I have a plan. I have some friends who can help us, but you can’t come along. I need you to return home to your world for a day then come back here. There’s a portal seven feet away from where you’re standing, Ara.” He directed, pointing it out the direction. It’s wasn’t an obvious portal, but once you knew it was there…
“How do you know that?” Ara asked.
“Practice.” Joban answered. “Now go.”
“See ya around!” Chance called, walking through the portal. The next thing they knew, Chance and Ara were lying in their own beds, inside their house. “…Was it a dream?” Chance wondered. He looked over at his hand and saw the glove still on his hand. “…I guess not.”
~Chapter 4: Takeover!~
Ara suddenly burst into Chance’s room. “Chance, it really happened! I have two of these gloves!” She exclaimed.
“Then what should we do?” Chance asked.
“We have to stay in this world for a day.” Ara answered. But both of them knew it’d be the hardest day of their lives and for several reasons – There were portals over the world linking this world to the other. And they had the most wanted weapons that the world both knew and wanted. Chance looked at his watch; 10:00.
“Ara, I have band practice in an hour. Don’t do anything stupid, ok?” He asked.
“Chance, the only one I know who would do anything stupid is…” She retorted. But Chance was gone before she finished. Walking to band practice now, Chance pulled the glove out of his pocket.
“No way am I leaving the Thunder Essence with her!” He said to himself. He looked at it for a moment, and then put it back into his pocket.
**********
Night was a calm but enjoyable time for the Dark Clan. Throughout the city there were candles and lanterns lit to brighten the place. There are also stories from deep within the cave of Paratin… Although night wasn’t their favourite time of day, the Dark Clan loved celebrating in it. This particular night, however, the Dark Lord had a headache so he had an early night, and put both of his Essences on the altar…
Suddenly both lanterns nearby the Dark Lord’s place went out. As soon as they did both Dark Guards fell to the ground, right under a cloaked figure. “Drake, wait for me! I’m right here.” A female voice called. But before she could say anything more, the dark figure was behind her and put it’s hand over her mouth and she fell backwards into him.
“Siary! Are you trying to get me caught! Shutup!” He ordered.
“Yes brother.” She whispered, watching him walk toward the entrance of the tower. “That was mean, though…” She muttered to herself, following. They entered the tower and climbed up the winding staircase inside. “Drake, are you sure this is such a good idea?” Siary whispered.
“Look, all I need you to do it keep the guards busy while I get the goods. And stop referring to me by name!” He hissed.
“How am I supposed to distract them!?” Siary asked.
“You just make them noise or tell them something interesting or ask them a question.” He snapped.
“But it’s the middle of the night! They’ll put me in jail as an intruder.” She protested. Drake chose to ignore her; she was really starting to get on his nerves. When they reached the top of the staircase they both stopped.
“Ok. Paldor’s room is to the far left. The target is in the central room; that’s why guards are there. The guest room is the room closest to the right. You’re going to act like a guest who can’t get to sleep.” He quietly instructed. Siary nodded. She snuck into the guest room and prepared to come out, playing her role. Drake teleported to a dark corner which wasn’t too far away from the room so he wouldn’t be spotted. A minute later, Siary came out of the room, playing her role. She approached the guards…
“Hey guards, I can’t get to sleep.” Siary whined.
“Hey, I didn’t know there were guests today…” The first guard thought out loud.
“Of course! The Dark Lord always has guests, silly.” Siary laughed, trying her hardest not to let her nerves show.
“She’s right! Don’t you know this month’s popular for guests?” The second guard reminded.
“Really? I thought that was next month…” The first guard replied.
“Nope! It’s this month and next month. In fact…” The second guard explained. While they were talking, Siary gave Drake the signal and he slipped into the room.
Meanwhile, the Dark Lord suddenly woke. “Something’s calling me…” He realised. He staggered out of bed… the feeling didn’t go away. It was making him sick. “Something’s terribly wrong!” He realised. The sluggishness of his sleep melted and he became alert. He ran out into the hallway to see the guards and Siary. “What’s going on? Why are you bickering? And why is this girl here!?” He asked.
“Uh, well I thought she was a guest…” The first guard answered.
“Um, gotta go!” Siary decided, her body already wanting to run to the direction of the staircase.
“Oh no you don’t! You’re in big trouble, little-” He retorted. He stopped talking when he heard glass breaking.
“Um, no sir. You’re in big trouble.” Siary retorted, with a smug grin on her face. The Dark Lord was now pale in fear; he knew it was Drake, he could sense it.
“The boy’s skill was good enough without the Essence, he’ll have immense power with it… and now he has both!” The Dark Lord realised. “Guards, attack!” Paldor ordered. But they didn’t last a minute against Drake; he threw them both straight out the window. The Dark Lord blew Siary against a wall and climber onto the closest Rotherous and fled as fast as he could.
He left Drake overflowing with power. Two guards came at Drake from both directions but Drake spun around and sent both of them flying. “Resistance is useless. I’m you new Dark Lord. Never again will anyone ever underestimate me!” He declared. Knowing he was right, the guards bowed.
“We salute you, Dark Lord Drake.” They replied.
After the place settled down, Drake walked up to Siary, who was now asleep in the corner she’d been thrown against. “Well, find a room you like. This place is our new home.” Drake told her once he woke her.
“Huh? What? Oh… cool… well I’m going to bed then.” She decided.
“Ok. Training starts tomorrow.” Drake reminded.
“What? Training?” Siary asked.
“I said you’d be rewarded. I’ll let you borrow one of the Essences to get your skill back to where it should be.” Drake explained.
“Really!? Thank you, thank you so much!!” Siary thanked, almost crying in happiness.
“Yes, yes. Now get to bed already.” Drake instructed. Siary nodded and walked back into the guest room, still overwhelmed by the offer he’d made her…
“It’s too bad you’ll never be able to get that far; your Trinity Seal won’t allow it…” Drake thought to himself. “Heh… you’ll just be my guinea pig. I’ll see what I can and cannot do using the Essence…”
~Chapter 5: Assignment~
The next morning, Siary woke up late. As she sat in best, last night’s memories came to her. “Wow, I must’ve dreamed yesterday. This is so weird…” She thought. She climbed out of bed, got dressed, and walked out the door. Outside, a guard was waiting for her.
“Miss Siary, I’ve been given a command to escort you to the Town Square.” He announced.
“Escort me? …I could get used to this.” She thought. She followed the guard to the square. “Wait ‘till Orlayo hears about this!” She excitedly thought, when she got close to the square.
When they finally arrived at the meeting place in the square, Siary saw so many people she couldn’t believe her eyes. “This way, milady.” The guard instructed, as he went through a side door. Siary followed. They both ended up above the main podium, where it looked like Drake was about to give a speech.
“…At least we’re not late.” Siary cheerily pointed out.
“You’re not wrong!” The guard agreed, as Drake began to speak.
“As you can all see, Paldor has left you when we need him most in this war.” He began. “The reason is simple; he is an unfaithful Dark Lord and I have replaced him. I plan on temporarily taking his place.” He announced.
“Why only temporarily?” A man from the crowd asked.
“I have to find answers.” Drake answered. The man frowned, unclear of what his answer meant. Then another man spoke up.
“Why does it have to be you!?” He asked.
“Good question!” The rest of the crowd agreed, along with other mutters of resentment.
“Do you want to know why!?” Drake asked, lifting the man who first challenged him with his Dark telekinetic power, and then starting to choke him. “This is why. I have supreme power!” He declared, choking him tighter, and then throwing him to the ground. “If anyone else wants the job then they can come here and kill me now.” Drake challenged. But no-one dared to move. “I thought as much.” Drake stated, with a smirk.
“He didn’t need to be so mean about it…” Siary thought in protest.
After the meeting, Siary approached Drake. “Drake, I’m going to go visit Orlayo, ok?” She informed.
“You can try but Orlayo and his family left the Dark clan last night.” Drake replied.
“Yeah, right. How could you know?” Siary asked.
“They weren’t at the gathering. After not seeing them I then checked using the power of the Essence and I didn’t sense him anywhere in the Dark clan, therefore he must’ve left last night after you had seen him.” Drake answered. Shocked, Siary ran in the direction of Orlayo’s house.
“I don’t believe you!!” She cried, trying to run as fast as she could, trying and failing to fight against the tears that wanted to fall. To lose her only friend… “Drake’s got to be wrong, he has to…” She thought. Her thoughts unfinished, she saw that Orlayo’s house was empty and abandoned. “No! Why!?… at least he could’ve said goodbye…” She whimpered, before falling to her knees and openly mourning the loss of her friend.
After a couple of hours Siary woke up to realise that she had fallen asleep while she was crying. “…I guess I should go back now.” She decided; there was nothing else she really could do. As she walked home, she thought of the future. She’d lost her last friend. The only person who could understand how she felt.
As she arrived at the central tower, her Rotherous (who she’d named Chompy) ran out to greet her. As he enthusiastically licked her all over, Siary realised that she still had Chompy, and although he wasn’t human he was still a friend also. Then Drake appeared at the door. “Siary. I’ve been waiting for you.” He pointed out.
“Oh! I’m so sorry…” She apologised. Drake forgave her; although part of him wanted to point out about how he was right about Orlayo, he didn’t say anything because he didn’t want to hurt her feelings any more.
…It’s time you finally became of some use.” He decided, after a while of thinking. He led Siary into the tower and upstairs to a training room. “Put this on.” He instructed, handing her the Essence of Darkness.
“Drake, I really don’t think I should… I haven’t even mastered one star, let alone two or three!” Siary protested.
“Just do it!” He snapped.
“Yes sir!” Siary answered, flinching at his anger. She put the glove on, and felt a surge of power course through her body followed by a dizzy feeling. Drake noticed this and felt a little worried.
“Are you ok?” Drake asked.
“Yeah, I’m…just a little-” Siary answered, before collapsing.
When she woke up and had recovered enough, Drake started showing her some basic moves using the Essence. When she was able to perform them fairly well, Drake told her to take a break. “Good. Now you’re ready for a little quest I have in mind.” He decided. Siary was completely shocked.
“Quest!?” Siary repeated.
“Yes. It’s not an overly hard task, so don’t worry.” He assured.
“Alright, so what is it?” She asked. Drake turned around to the window in thought.
“…A common boy from another dimension has got his hands on the Essence of Light. I want you to use the skills I have taught you and locate him. Report to me, but if you get the chance, I want you to… eliminate him.” Drake informed.
“No! I don’t want to kill anyone yet!” Siary protested. Drake turned around and coldly stared at her.
“While you do this, I will go to his dimension to investigate everything. I hope you understand what you have to do. You’ll leave tomorrow morning.” He decided. Siary was gobsmacked. Not being able to say anything else, she just nodded and left.
Later that day, Drake held another assembly. “Everyone, for this country’s sake, I’m withdrawing our armies from this war.” He informed. A huge uproar erupted throughout the crowd. Drake waited until they settled before he spoke again. “If the other two territories want to continue to fight, I’m not going to stop them. But from now on the territory of power will withdraw its mighty hand.” He declared. He left the podium, guards following behind them.
~Chapter 6: A Friend in Need~
After Chance had his breakfast he remembered that he ad to go to band practice even though it was Saturday; a day that band practice wasn’t usually held. “Ara, I have to go.” Chance said, walking into Ara’s room.
“Whatever.” Ara answered. Just as Chance called out to him, Ara turned to face him. “Just be careful. Seriously, this day is going to be incredibly dangerous. I’ll keep the Thunder Essence safe with me.” She added. Chance turned around to look at her; she pointed out a box under the bed. “Please come home as soon as you can.”
“Alright, I will.” Chance answered. Ara escorted Chance to the front door, and he left. When out of Ara’s sight, Chance pulled the Thunder Essence out of his pocket. “Heh, I love the Essence of Light! I was able to take this without her even noticing. There’s no way I’m leaving it with Ara.” Chance laughed to himself.
When Chance arrived, everyone else had been waiting for him. “Chance, you kept us waiting again. You know I feel about that.” Ichiro stated, coldly staring at him.
“Well, you know me…” Chance replied, trying to escape punishment. Even though he was nervously smiling, he was cringing on the inside… After moments of silence they all burst out laughing.
“It’s good to see you in one piece!” Ichiro greeted, laughing. After Chance and the band reunited with each other and briefly chatted about what had happened, they began to practice.
While the band practiced, a white portal formed on top of the Town Hall, and a being stepped out of it. It was wearing dark leather shoes, black pants with white stripes down the side, and a white shirt that had black edging. It brushed back its dark hair, and began to explore. It was Drake. He had opened the portal to Earth to examine the surroundings and find the Essence of Light. “So this is Earth. What a disappointment.” He sighed. He began to teleport from place to place so he wouldn’t be noticed while he was searching. One of the places he teleported near was a white and yellow five-storey building. “…There’s someone inside who as an Essence. I can feel it!” Drake realised.
Ara was bored. As she was trying to think of something to do, she saw a Dark Clan solider in front of her house. Panicking, she rushed to Chance and her hiding spot: the roof. Because of the verandas on the building, it wasn’t too easy to see people on top of the roof from the ground. As she sat huddled on the roof, she heard a door slam open downstairs. The soldier then began to inspect the house…
Drake continued to search, although he was having no luck. In his hand was a knife sharpened to the tip. He stopped at the couch; he thought he felt a faint presence of something coming from it so he slashed at it twice, and it fell apart, in half. Seeing he was wrong, he walked into the kitchen. Ara could see what was happening due to a reflection in a nearby window. She saw that he was destroying her house, and scared, she didn’t quite know what to do. “Maybe I’ll be safe here.” She tried to assure herself. Then she remembered the Thunder Essence was still under her bed! Any hope of assuring and calming herself was now gone. She instinctively leant forward, and as she did so a knife slashed up to right where she had been sitting. Ara didn’t have time to panic; she was now running on pure instinct and adrenaline. She quickly summoned a giant ball of wind and threw it at Drake as hard as she could. Drake didn’t notice this until it was too late; he took the hit and thrown back by the intensity of it, tumbling all the way to the basement. Taking advantage of Drake’s fall, Ara fled as fast as she could to the place where Chance’s band practice meeting was being held.
It didn’t take Drake long to recover. He quickly raced up to the roof where Ara had been sitting. “My senses are weaker in this world; it’s a girl who has the Essence.” Drake thought. He looked over to the city before him. “That’s where she must be headed.” He decided. He left the rooftop and made his way to the city.
“Alright guys, that’s enough for today. Let’s pack and go home.” Ichiro decided. The band nodded and started packing up. “Hey Hero, can I talk to you for a sec afterwards?” He asked.
“Yeah, sure.” Chance answered. They finished packing up and the rest of the band left for home, Chance and Ichiro staying behind. “Uh… you wanted to talk to me?” Chance asked.
“Yeah. I know this is going to sounds weird but I had a strange dream last night that I think you should know about. It was about another world, and these weird glove things. You went to another world, but you came back and took me with you to the other world.” He explained.
“Yeah… so why are you telling me this?” Chance asked.
“Because the glove on my dream looked like the one on your hand, though I’ve never seen it before.” Ichiro answered. Just as Chance opened his mouth to respond to what Ichiro had said, Ara burst into the room.
“C-Chance! A D-Dark Clan p-person-” She stuttered.
“Just spit it out already!” Chance yelled. Ara took a deep breath and nodded.
“Alright. A Dark Clan person broke into our house. He was looking for the Essence!” She repeated.
“Is that what the glove’s called?” Ichiro asked.
“Shutup! We’re all in big danger if we don’t do something!” Ara yelled. Chance winced at her bluntness.
“Ara’s right. You could be in as much danger as we are right now.” Chance added.
“…So in a sense my dream’s a reality.” Ichiro figured.
“Yes, yes your dream was right, now we need to get out of-” Chance hastily answered. Even so he didn’t finish his sentence; he was interrupted by the door blowing open and a dark figure standing in the doorway. It stood on all four limbs, the only part of it not black were its eyes, which glowed bright red. It looked around, roared loudly, and charged towards Ara. Ara, however, was prepared to fight and she threw two quick wind slashes through the air. Both missed and created a hole in the wall. The beast lunged at Ara who sidestepped at the last minute and dodged it. The beast hit the floor. It staggered to its feet and roared again. Before it could make its next move, a shard of light hit his back. Instead of attacking Ara, the beast changed his target to Ichiro, who it believed had shot the light at it.
“This can’t be good!” Ichiro exclaimed, running for the door. Before the beast could catch up, Ara landed a spinning kick to its face. Although the initial kick hurt the beast it was able to land safely from the impact. It whipped its tail and slashed at Chance who was trying to fight it. Chance hit the floor with a thud. The Essence of Thunder fell out of his pocket and landed on the ground near Ichiro. Ichiro, seeing the Essence, quickly grabbed it. “I’m sure he won’t mind me borrowing it…” He thought, putting it on his hand. An electric surge filled the room. This attracted that beasts’ attention and he charged at Ichiro like an angry bull.
“Ichiro! No!” Ara cried, diving in between him and the beast. The beast swatted Ara out of the way and continued to charge. Just as the beast was going to strike Ichiro, Ichiro shot out a 1020 bolt of electricity at the beast and it fried its brain. The beast roared in pain as it died. But as it fell limp to the floor, it vanished.
“Ichiro! Are you alright?” Chance and Ara asked.
“Yeah, I guess so.” Ichiro answered, as he stood up. “Here, I’ll give your glove thing back now.” But he couldn’t pull it off, no matter how hard he tried. “Uh, I think we have a problem…” Ichiro began.
“Don’t worry about it. Let’s get outta here.” Chance decided. The three of them ran through the hallway and out the door to Ichiro’s car. But when they got to the car they saw someone standing on it…
“It’s him!” Ara gasped. “That’s the person that’s been following us!” She added. Drake looked at the three of them.
“…How disappointing. I was expecting someone with a little more talent. Oh well…” He sighed. He teleported behind them in a flash. He drew his knife and slashed at them, attempting to kill them in one blow. Just before he made contact, an ice wall came up between the knife and its target. Amazed by what happened, they turned around to see Joban.
“It’s about time!” Ara gasped with relief.
“Come on! Let’s get outta here before he catches up!” Joban yelled.
“You don’t think you can run from me, can you!?” Drake asked. He left his knife in the ice. Drawing another knife, he teleported directly above Joban and was about to bring the knife to his head. Just as it was about to make contact, a light sparked in Chance’s eyes and he sped toward Joban and pushed him out of the way. The blade made contact with the pavement instead.
“That’s it! Everyone, grab hold of my hand!” Chance called. Everyone hastily grabed hold and Chance sped away at light speed. Seeing this, Drake stopped.
“I see… he knows more than I thought. He could well indeed a perfect fight for Siary.” He realised. He stood up and stretched. “This is going t
