What the fuck did I do?! What do I do now??
As Emul Porter stood there, terrified, crimson blood poured down his fingers, dripping on the floor, breaking the silence in the dark alleys of Neo Athena. A calming buzz of neon lights can be heard along police sirens in the distance.
I can't move!
I regret every decision that has led me to this moment! If only I could go back in time to ten minutes ago.
"Emul!"
Is someone calling my name?
"Emul!"
"Huh" Emul finally turned his gaze towards his right side. Standing there, a beauty, brown hair, green eyes, a tall, skinny figure.
"Anna?" He spoke.
Emul took a deep breath, only to get it knocked out by a sudden force on his back. He fell forwards, as if it was slow motion. His face slamming against the blood-stained floor, his thoughts ran rampant as he slowly lost consciousness.
What happened? Why was Anna calling for me? Why am I on the floor? Am I about to die? I don't want to die young; I still have loads of things to experience!
Finally waking up, Emul opens his eyes, only to meet with the dark metallic roof.
Where am I? I'm not dead?
He reaches his foot out towards the left side of the bed.
Thud! "Arghh" Emul groaned as he looks up to his left, he finds Anna sleeping on the bottom bunk.
Emul helps himself off the floor using Anna's bed. As he gets up, he takes a glance around the dark room. Cold, hard, cement floor and walls made from a strange, really strong dark tempered glass pane, there was a sink and toilet attached to the wall across the bunk bed, there was a cyan/pink hologram of a calendar above the sink, reading "May 13th 3070" alongside a clock, 8:32am, purple neon lights running through every corner of the room.
Emul turns behind, facing a strong metal cage door. The thought finally clicks in.
Right, I'm in prison. I was bound to get arrested at some point.
But why is she here?
Emul looks back down at Anna, who was still fast asleep. He leans in close to her face.
She's so beautiful when she sleeps.
At that moment the only thought running through his mind was how much he loves Anna.
Bzzzt! Came a loud sound from the speaker located in the middle of the roof, waking up Anna.
Emul still face to face with Anna, jumps back to the corner of the room covering his tomato red face with his hands.
"Oh- you're awake!" Emul shouts, still hiding his face.
"Morning" Anna replies in her soft voice.
They notice a faint sound of footsteps approaching their cell, long slow strides, a man, dressed in a red suit, approaches the cell door.
The man stands there for a second, glancing around the room with an angry look on his face, before finally opening his mouth. "As much as I don't want to do this, I have to. Follow me."
The cell door buzzes open, Emul and Anna exchange puzzled looks.
"Come on, I don't bite." He says after standing there for a second waiting for Emul and Anna to take a step forward. Anna and Emul still not budging, staring at the man.
"Will you just come on!" The man angrily shouts at them. They jolt up straight away and shout "Yes sir!" before finally starting to walk.
Following behind the man Emul and Anna start looking around the huge prison they were placed in. Riddled with cells, loaded with people, Emul asks in a worried manner.
"Where are we going?"
"You will see when we get there." His question instantly getting shot down.
"Hey, Emul. Look over there." Anna whispers, pointing out a strange cell, it is much bigger than the others and there are no lights inside of it, just a big empty room, a rotting smell coming from inside it, if you looked close enough you could vaguely make out shapes of lifeless human bodies, just thrown on top of each other.
"The smell coming from it is horrible." Emul replies still looking inside the cell.
"You will be thrown inside it if you don't stay quiet." The man says now facing Emul and Anna, overhearing their conversation.
"We're here." He says, tapping the back of his hand at a sensor of some kind.
A massive door opens up at what was previously disguised as a wall.
What is this door? It has to be at least fifteen meters tall.
Emul thought to himself as they are ordered to step inside a massive room, the door closing behind them.
Now standing at the entrance of a massive room, Emul and Anna look around in awe. The room has a circular shape to it, circuit lines running down the floor, all seeming to point at a specific spot across the room.
"Step in here." The man walks over to a spot in the middle of the room, the circuit lines form a circle around that specific spot.
"Will you at least explain what is about to happen to us?" Emul asks as he is stopping Anna, who had already started walking towards the circle.
"Tsk" The man clicks his tongue, looking annoyed.
"I don't like talking with murderers but fine, I'll explain to you what's about to happen. As much as I want to let you rot in your cell, I have to do this. You are about to undergo an exam. Everyone has to do it, if you fail, you are sent back to your cell, if you die, you get thrown into the big cell which you saw earlier, and, if you pass, I guess you will have to find out. Now, step in here. Please." The man once again, points to the spot in the middle and walks to the other side of the room.
"What do you mean we will have to find out? Why can't you tell us no-
"Step in here! Now!" Emul gets interrupted by a shout that would burst the eardrums of anyone within a five-meter radius.
Emul, humbled, walks towards the circle, which looks a lot bigger than it did from the entrance.
"You too." The man orders Anna.
They both enter the circle and as soon as Anna steps inside, a massive barrier erupts around the circle. It has an almost beautiful blue hue to it.
"There will be ten creatures spawning, each varying in difficulty. If you beat all ten, you pass. You may begin." An announcement came from a speaker at the top of the dome shaped barrier.
"Wait that's not enough information!" Emul shouts as a loud dooming sound spawns the first creature.
Anna screams as the dog like creature had spawned right behind her.
"Scripture" Emul incantates as words of magic begin writing on thin air. A bright arrow launches from the diamond shape Emul created with his hands, piercing through the dog shaped creature's head.
Emul hurries over towards Anna, who is now sitting on the floor after being knocked down by the immense force the bright arrow had created.
"Are you okay?" Emul worriedly asks Anna.
"Yeah, I'm fine." Anna replies, wiping the tears from her eyes.
"Hey, hey, don't cry. I couldn't do any of this without you by my side." Emul ensures Anna by giving her a kiss on her forehead.
"Now, let's do what we practiced all the time." Emul asks Anna as he helps her stand up.
"Okay." Anna stands up sniffling and taking position.
The second beast spawns on Emul's side, this time, an eagle.
"Scripture" Anna incantates as words of magic begin writing on thin air. Chains emerge from underneath the eagle shaped creature, chaining it down and pinning it against the floor.
"Scri-
"Stop!" As Emul begins saying the incantation to activate his Talent, he is stopped by the man as the creature shatters and the barrier disappears.
The man begins running down to the circle from the control table.
"How are both of you able to use the same Talent? I need you to come with me." The man hurries over to a door, this time it's a normal sized door.
"Wait, what about the exam?" Emul asks before moving anywhere.
"You both pass, now follow me." The man hurriedly replies to Emul's question.
Emul and Anna look at each other with a smile and begin following the man.
They enter a room that looks like a hospital, white walls, bright lights, and a massive coin shaped machine in the middle.
"What is this machine?" Anna asks the man.
"It's called Davi's Coin, it is used to read your ability and tell me what it is. Both of you know no person can have the same Talent as another. I need to test your abilities, because, things aren't adding up." The man replies while turning on the machine, his eyes shining with excitement.
"Put your hands on this scanner here." The man points to a black glass square on the machine.
Anna goes first and the machine reads "Talent: Scripture; Whatever the user imagines, becomes written on thin air and comes to reality, if the imagined item is too large, it will kill the user."
Emul steps up next and the machine reads "Aura: Borrowed Words; The user can borrow people's Talent and use it as his own, as long as that person trusts the user."
"Amazing, you two will fit in perfectly." The man murmurs to himself after reading the abilities.
As Emul steps down from the machine, Anna questions "Why does the man look so happy?"
Emul looks towards the man but something else catches his attention. Behind the man hung a large paper stained yellow from age, reading "Talent, activated by a phrase related to the power, I've come to realise that a Talent is specific to one person and no other person possesses the same one as you. Then, there is Aura as well, similar to a Talent, its unique to one person, but instead of requiring an incantation, it is always passively active. – Davi"