"How did Gifts come to be?"
"Why is it slowly taking over the world?"
"Is there an invisible force with a plan for these powers?"
Questions continued to swell in this woman's mind as she read important documents. Documents that were long and forgotten. All she could think about was her friend's safety. The Second Round of the Dragon Hunt already started so it was too late to save him. If she tried she would be fighting against the entirety of The Golden Circle.
"Fei, please be safe"
She called Fei's father's cell phone praying that he would pick up.
Ring! Ring! Ring!
Harriot answered the call and said, "Hi Aoi, what do you want? I hope you called me for something important".
"Who are you talking to? Better calm down dear friend. I can call you whenever I like and you better answer it. Besides this time it's extremely important. It's about your son Fei" said Aoi strongly.
"I'm listening" Harriot sighed impatiently.
"The Black Eyes, I'm sure you have never heard of this organization before. I have done many deals with them in the past so I am surprised by what I found. On the surface, The Black Eyes is just a large company that deals with body parts. Organ Harvesting, replacing a hand or a leg, that's what they are known for. King Almon seems to be funding them a great deal in the past decade" Aoi said in a low tone.
"Hmmm, I'll have to do some research on them later. What is so important about them?" asked Harriot annoyed.
"According to Stephano's documents The Black Eyes are hunting for people known as X. I am not sure what the X means but I do know that they have a list of names, eight names in total. Stephano and Cj are one of them" said Aoi.
"Oh, so behind the scenes, they are searching for people. A company that manages body parts is hunting down certain individuals. What do you think of it?" asked Harriot starting to get curious.
"Yeah, apparently this list of names is important somehow. Maybe something is inside of them that they need. That is what I'm thinking" said Aoi worriedly.
"And, what does this have to do with me?" asked Harriot.
"Your son Fei of course. His name was on the list but for some reason, a line is drawn through his name. He would have made nine but they decided to exclude him. The fact that I saw Fei Fong on the list in the first place is scary enough for me to call you. I recently read about the real purpose for the Dragon Hunt too. For some, it is not for the potion but to gather individuals with gifts and determine if they are one of the X" said Aoi.
"Ok, you said those were Stephano's documents. Where is the professor now?" asked Harriot.
"I don't know. Right now I am starting to assume that he is dead. The Black Eyes must have captured him. He is most likely dead by now" said Aoi.
"Another thing that catches my eye is Cj's name. The young man, Cj Coley is also on the chopping block for The Black Eyes. Cj secretly lived with the Professor so he is in danger too" said Aoi.
"Any other name that's intriguing?" Harriot asked taking a pen.
"There's Victor Cruez, Lethal Sniper Lady, Doro, and surprisingly Alisa Matar, you know her. I wasn't aware that she even existed until now" Aoi stated.
"Me neither, I just found out this summer" Harriot replied.
"Thanks, Aoi, I did not know you worried for my son like this. It means a great deal. Is that all you want to talk about?" Harriot asked.
"Hehehehe, currently I'm in Stephano's private estate in Guenive. It was the last place he was spotted before his disappearance. I found a lot of mind-blowing things here. I never expected to find so many answers to my questions. It's as if we were both thinking the same thing" Aoi said happily.
Before Harriot asked a question Aoi hung up the call. "Rather talk to you in person than through the phone," she thought to herself. There is something else that Aoi wanted to tell Harriot, three words that were taunting her since the day he saved her life. She had yet to tell Harriot those words and now is the time.
Aoi learned the forgotten truth of the world that was discovered centuries ago. How were Gifts originated? That question puzzled her mind for the longest time. Why would supernatural powers be granted to humans? Why would some attain it while others don't? She was relieved to find these answers. The Almon had all the answers but they never seemed interested to announce them. "I could have guessed it but damn. Dante is our power's origin"
In Aoi's hand was a dusty old storybook with few pages in it. She opened the book and suddenly she found herself in a dream. She was brought back to the events that took place in the book with an intangible body.
Four centuries ago there were twins. A brother and a sister who hated each other to the bone. More than anything they wished that the other would just disappear. The siblings lived in a royal household Almon, where they were expected to be perfect in every way. The brother Kyte was a prodigy. At the age of five, he had the thinking of a wise adult. Whatever he tried, may it be sports or academics he was always at the top. The sister Bianca on the other hand was considered to be a freak. She was always gloomy and hard to talk to. Most of her time is her staring at an object for hours on end. She was impossible to understand to her parents so they ignored her. All the attention from the Royal Family goes towards Kyte, the older brother.
Kyte hated Bianca for her weakness while Bianca hated Kyte for having all the attention. Those two could not see eye to eye even if they were paid to do so. One day Bianca saw a big figure up in the sky. A creature with wings. She was only 8 years old when she saw the huge creature in the sky. It was so big that it blocked the sun. The area was crowded so she looked around to see if anyone was looking at the dark figure flying in the air but no one noticed it. Bianca told her parents about the huge creature she saw in the sky later on that day.
"We should get Bianca tested somewhere. I'm afraid she's being delusional now" her father said worriedly. Her mother agreed and ignored what Bianca had to say. Bianca is a girl who goes for days without saying a word. Some people even think that she can't talk to how rare she does. It disappointed her that she went out of her way to tell her parents something amazing for them to think she was lying. For the rest of her life up to 30 years old Bianca would dream of the day she saw the big creature that nobody else witnessed. On Kyte's wedding day Bianca was banned from attending so she used her free time to stroll around the kingdom. During her walk, she heard a loud roar.
ROOOOOOOOOOOAAAAAAARRRRRR!
She quickly looked in all directions to see what was making that sound. There was nothing but people and houses.
ROOOOOOOOOOOAAAAAARRRRRRR!
Even so, she still heard the roar echoing in her mind. She tried her best to follow where the sound was coming from. She kept heading north since that direction was where she heard the roar the loudest. Even after leaving the kingdom's borders, she continued moving forward. She remembered the day she spotted the big creature in the sky. "Might be the same thing" Bianca thought to herself.
ROOOOOOOOOAAAAAAAAARRRRR!
Once again Bianca heard a roar so loud she thought the creature was next to her. While searching Bianca found a cave that she never knew was there. She has been out of the kingdom a handful of times but has never seen the huge cave before. A huge creature could easily hide inside without anyone's knowledge. Bianca took a deep breath then entered the cave. In multiple instances, Bianca thought about retreating. The cave was dark, the only thing Bianca could have seen clearly was her white shoes and yellow skirt. Everything else was pitch black. She used the walls as a guide to journey deep inside the cave. After walking for half an hour she finally found it. A large purple lizard with wings the size of houses. The huge creature that soar the skies ten years ago. The creature's skin was glowing so brightly it became a source of light for the cave. Many bats surrounded the large creature while it was glaring at the ceiling.
ROOOOOOOAAAAAR!
Now that Bianca got a closer look at the creature her suspicions were confirmed. In fantasy books, there are mythical creatures. Creatures that do not exist in the real world. Dragons are one of those said Mythical creatures. "They said Dragons don't exist. Then what am I seeing before me?" Bianca said shockingly. She was terrified but also happy too. The fear of seeing something dangerous for the first time almost distracted her mind from the truth. The truth was that she wanted to meet someone special and she succeeded. The dragon saw the silver-haired girl in front of him and glared. He moved his face towards Bianca at a slow pace. Bianca had enough time to run away if she needed but she decided to stand still. "What is he going to do?" Bianca wondered to herself. When the dragon's head got close enough for Bianca to feel its breath it roared.
ROOOOOOOAAAAAAARR!
"I don't get it. Why am I the only one that found you? Have you been living inside this cave all along?" Bianca asked. She bypass the fact that a dragon roared at her and asked the question she desperately wanted an answer for. Bianca passed the test, if she were to run away after being roared at then she could not have handled being around a beast who roars constantly. The Dragon lift Bianca from off the ground then rested her on its back. Soon after it flew out of the cave at an alarming speed with some bats following behind. "WAAAAAAAH" Bianca screamed. The dragon soared the skies with no fear of being spotted. While being in the air she saw many people on land and tried waving to them but none of them responded. At that moment Bianca realized what was happening. The purple dragon had a special power to reduce his presence to zero. No one noticed it flying across the kingdom of Arcland. When the day was over the dragon gave Alisa one of its scales. When a dragon gives you something it is polite to give it something in return.
"I don't have anything with me today. I will give you a name. From now on I will call you Dante. I hope you like it"
ROOOOOOOOOOOAAAR!
Ever since that day, Bianca made frequent visits outside the kingdom's borders to play with her new friend. Her parents did not care less about what Bianca did in her free time so she had no issue with leaving anytime she wants. The night before Kyte was to be Arcland's new king a fight broke out. Even after all the years that have passed the royal siblings still hated each other. Kyte always loved how Bianca desperately tries to get their parent's attention and fails. Those moments boosted Kyte's ego to the point he honestly believed that he is better than Bianca in every way imaginable. Suddenly Bianca stopped begging for her parent's attention. Every evening she started leaving the palace to go somewhere and it angered Kyte. He confronted Bianca about what she was hiding. Bianca replied "None of your business. Just know that I am happy". Hearing those words lit a fire under Kyte. More than anything he wants to see his sister cry in agony so he fought her and won. Thanks to the injuries of the fight Bianca could not have visited Dante until the following week.
The evening when Bianca was about to leave the Kingdom she was unexpectedly followed by the newly crowned King Kyte. He followed her to the cave where he was shocked to see his sister communicating with a dragon. "WHAT! WHAT IS THAT BEAST?! HOW LONG HAS IT BEEN HERE!? I HAVE TO KILL IT!" King Kyte shouted to himself. That same evening Kyte summoned the best fighters and soldiers he could find. With such short notice, only eight skilled warriors could carry out the king's orders. Those eight warriors were defenders for Arcland that are willing to lay down their lives. It was a full moon when Bianca finally left the cave with Dante. King Kyte welcomed them with torches, spears, guns, and swords in hands of his soldiers.
"GOODBYE, YOU DISGUSTING CREATURE!" King Kyte shouted.
That night changed the world as we know it. The eight men that Kyte sent to fight the dragon were engulfed in flames and died within seconds. Before too long those men were nothing but ashes on the ground. Bianca asked politely to Dante. "Burn my brother too. That would be a big favor" she said softly. Dante declined and restored the ashes back to human forms. The dragon revived the eight men he slaughtered by spitting out weird liquid on the ashes. All the men came back naked and confused. Bianca knew Dante had special powers unique to only him but he never thought it was so extreme.
"Dante, are you a god?"
King Kyte was frightened by the dragon's immense power and knew he would be sending his entire army on a suicide mission if he picked a fight with it. "Dante, please work with me" the king begged. That night changed something within the eight men who were burnt to ash. The next day those same men started experiencing something new in their bodies. One man could control time, another could heal wounds and see ghosts, another had the ability to control elements. Dante gifted these eight with abilities when reviving them from the dead. Those eight men called their powers gifts. The first gift users to walk the earth. King Kyte has later bestowed an unknown gift. The Eight Gift Users were given the name X because of their supernatural prowess.
Aoi was satisfied with the image shown before her. "Dante the Dragon, the being that has been producing healing potions all these years is the reason why gifts exist. All the power we humans possess now originated from that creature. How disappointing. Wonder how many people know this truth. Those who received the healing potion in the previous Dragon Hunts. Whoever drank the potion won't only be healed. They will be granted a gift as well. Why didn't King Almon tell us this" she wondered to herself. That story made it clear to Aoi what the Eight X was. The Eight X means the first Gift Users to have walked the earth. "There is something special about those eight who got burnt alive then revived. Black Eyes want them for something dark I can feel it. Otherwise, they wouldn't be so sneaky" Aoi thought to herself. After closing the book, she left Stephano's estate with all the documents she found lying around in his bedroom. "Once that round is over I have some kids to speak to".
"Especially that brat Cj. I bet he is responsible for BEA's disappearance"