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A/N
Thanks to James_Cueva for the power stone…Been too busy to even check…thanks a lot
I'll very much appreciate all the help I can get as a new writer
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Zander turned on his speaker and played a very famous yet annoying to his friends song-footloose - and every single one of those in the orphanage looked at him with a completely puzzled look. Eragon and another of the children by name Zain looked at him with a face that said…'not the right time dude!' Noticing the piercing looks directed towards him, he cleared his throat and turned down the volume.
"Now that I have everyone's attention let me ask you this."
"WHAT THE HELL ARE YOU ALL SITTING BEING PUZZLED ABOUT! EVEN YOU ERAGON. "
"Since we were brought to Asteria by the guardians we have all known a day like this would come. Every day we trained, we studied, we fought. We took on missions, and we went up against literal life-eating monsters. This is the time all our lives have been leading to, so why hesitate?!"
As if his eyes had just been opened….
"Hahahaha…" Eragon laughed in a chaotic manner. "Zander is right. This is the time I've waited for all my life. If oracle thinks he can talk me into abandoning the best chance I can get, he's sorely mistaken. We have all lived in anticipation of this very moment. Ordinary guardians have to wait for millennia to inherit the mantles of leadership or even more responsibility. Other have the power, the mantle but they need a read of 5.0 D.S and above to act. We have the opportunity to protect earth, asteria and Zoriah all at once, do you really want to throw away that chance?"
"And even if you feel like you don't want to have to protect trillions of beings, just think, think about the elementals. They nurtured us, they saved us, gave us a home, a family, they gave us a purpose. Do you really think letting them down is going to be alright? I may be just about the only one who still remembers my parents and what happened before we were separated, but although I know they loved me, Fiona, Maeve, Jerome and all the others were more family to me than even the word family itself is." Zander concluded.
One by one, all the children's faces took a 360-degree turn, from looks of uncertainty and doubt, to looks of determination, courage and the formerly tense atmosphere was now melting away giving way to an atmosphere of warmth. On Zander's signal, they all took the guardians' oath. This put the final nail in the coffin of doubt. One of the resident sorcerers of the group-Izora- muttered the spell and the group was teleported to a completely different location. This was the actual orphanage.
The floating island which was home to the group of 15 children. This was the base the scouted out for themselves. They used it for training, learning and every other non-recreational activity. Some of them even lived here full time and they only went back to Zoriah when they were summoned. Their base was somewhat of a semi-Zoriah in terms of security, more so in terms of invisibility. Asides from the elementals and the oracle who knew the position of all their personal students at all time. It was cloaked to detection from magic and even technology.
The 15 children each took their positions for another episode of 'just another day in the orphanage'. Zander stood on the gallery of the first flight of stairs and looked out at all his friends with a satisfied grin on his face. Zain approached him and nudged him on the arm in a friendly manner and spoke to him with amusement in his voice. "It baffles me how you always manage to make everyone's spirits go on a high. Even though you're always bickering with Eragon, he also knows how to help you do your thing when the time is right. You know you're the leader Oracle spoke about, right?"
"I don't think we can just assume that. I just did what I had to do. It pained me to see Mythica and Izora that way. Talk less of you buddy, not forgetting my 'dear' friend Eragon" The last line was clearly spoken with a tinge of sarcasm which was easily caught by Zain. They shared a good laugh and soon Zain left him to go carry out a routine check on the Zandroids.
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A/N
Zandroids were perfectly artificially intelligent robots created by Zander, Zain and Tornado. They were used for defense of their base and also training. They were named by Zain after Zander to which he blatantly refused before yielding as was a unanimous decision. They also eventually impressed even the elder 12 and thus were used as a standard defense system throughout Zoriah.
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Zander stood with a smile on his face watching as his best friend walked down the stairs. As soon as Zain was gone, Zander heaved a heavy sigh. He thought to himself
'I encourage others and raise their spirit but Zeus knows I have no idea what I'm doing.'
"Everyone expects me to always know what I'm doing, but I'm a kid too!"
He said the last part aloud and sighed. Suddenly, a pair of warm hands wrapped around his neck and some soft lips puckered his cheeks with a peck. Izora who had arrived while Zander was deep in thought said with a voice which was a mixture of soft, warm, caring, comforting and seductive spoke to his ears in a tune so low it was a whisper
"You mustn't always be strong Zander. You're allowed to be weak. You're allowed to doubt, you're allowed to be a kid. You're even allowed to break down into a million pieces, I'll put you back together no problem."
Zander, hearing that voice lowered all his defenses and let himself collapse into her arms as he thought
'I really don't know how she manages to always calm me down but she's right. I'm not alone and I never will be. Heck even if I wanted to Izora wouldn't let me do anything alone huh. I guess I'll just have to let go of my worries for now, a nap in her lap sounds nice hehe' he thought as he lay on her lap and discovered they were now in her room.
As soon as she was done speaking, a snap of her fingers had teleported them to her room where she sat on the bed put Zander's head and caressed it. She hummed his favorite song and coaxed him into a relaxing sleep. When she felt he was asleep, she spoke again in a low tune.
"You saved me, you helped me be a better person, you loved me so much it was toxic. You helped me and even gave me a name. I may not be as strong as you are, but I'm going to be your rock as many times as you need me to be. I'll pick you up as many times as you break down."
And as a momentary red glow lit her eyes, she said
"I know the burden you carry is heavy, I may not be able to help you, but no one is going to hurt you when you're weak and weary. I'm here for you Love. Always! And I'll help you however I can."
"CARMEN"
"Yes Izora", an AI type voice responded.
"Analyze all the 15 children in the orphanage and make a training and studying algorithm for the next 12 years. Have it ready for Zander soon as he is ready to lead us once again."
"I'm on it Izora"
Once again, in a cyber space, complete darkness was illuminated and a floating humanoid wisp of blue light was present.
"Analysis for black void protocol training sequence commenced" CARMEN's voice was once again heard and she continued…
"Subject name: Tornado…."
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A/N
OK guys, this next chapter is going to be dedicated to introducing us to the members of the 'orphanage' as well as answering some questions we might have.
Also I'm sorry if I made a mistake somewhere before calling Zanza instead of Zain.
Please like, share and support with power stones, comments, reviews and critiques
the link to my discord server is below. there you can talk, comment, indicate typo errors and have fun with the art for the novel. the server is still in development but you're welcome anytime
https://discord.gg/fDcXpQrVg6
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