Later that night, Tessa found that she could not sleep. Everything that happened kept running through her head. There was so much that didn't make sense. There was the controversial "feeding" of the flame wolf, which was Odade's doing. Medo should have gotten in a lot of trouble but a second star magically appeared. Tessa knew Odade had somehow planted it, but it was impossible.
Every star that goes over the barrier is accounted for, down to the last drop of energy. Compressors have a runic form of magic infused into their flesh. These runes work in tandem with what they call the 'system'. The system does everything automatically, they are merely vessels that do what they are told. If a compressor tries to do anything contrary, the runes will activate and destroy them by deteriorating their cells on a molecular level. Yet somehow... Odade had bypassed this.
Odade was a mystery to her. How was he able to destroy an Oki in an instant? Not even those with a level 3 core could do that. Not to mention his speed. As she replayed the events in her head she realized that his speech was not slurred or slowed down which meant that he was moving as fast as she was. How was that possible?
Tessa had taken the credit for defeating the Oki, but she knew what really happened. She was grateful to be alive just couldn't help but feel...used.
Odade had been hiding his true strength, but why? What were the plans he was talking about? What was the connection....?
Tessa sat up suddenly. "It's all about Medo!" She thought. Jumping out of her bed she ran out of her dorm to check on her brother. She hoped that she was wrong but something in her gut told her otherwise.
As soon as she was outside she transformed into her elemental form. Lightning surged around her as she flew into the air towards her brothers dorm.
As Tessa drew near she witnessed something very unusual. A figure dressed in black was moving through the thick stone wall with something floating behind it.
"Stonewalk?! Air prison?!" She thought to herself in alarm.
This person was using abilities that were unique to people that she once knew. Stonewalk was a hunter named Chax's special ability, but he died a few years ago during a large starfall. Even more disconcerting was the air prison. This ability once belonged to Tessa's older sister Stella, who also died during the line of duty. Air prison created a compressed sphere of air that could keep a person or weak monster imprisoned.
The reminder of the loss of Stella made Tessa feel even more frustrated.
"Was this person somehow involved in her death?"
Lightning flickered around the figure before it shot in the air at an incredible speed with its captive in tow.
Tessa had no time to think, she could only react. She flew through the air as fast as she could, following the faint trail of lightning left behind.
"Lightning Flash?!?" She thought to herself.
Those born with a Lightning core were very rare. In fact she had only met one other hunter in Zone C that had one, Her mentor, Zathias. Zathias was the only person that she had ever met who was faster than her. He often used an ability he called, Lightning flash. He would send out a bolt of lightning, transfering through it to the other end . This allowed him to arrive faster than the light itself. It was essentially a teleportation ability within eyesight.
Zathias had died in the incident that Odade had mentioned earlier that night while talking to Irving. The freak occurrence where two small stars fell next to each other, which allowed the creation of a 'Chu'. This led to the formation of an 'Oki' that caused mass devastation to the farmland and even the fortified cities. Zathias had sacrificed himself to stop it.
Tessa was a young girl at the time who was just beginning to understand her power. The loss of her mentor stood out in her memory as the beginning of her solitude.
The trail of lightning was quickly dissipating, so she propelled herself forward faster than she had ever gone before. Zipping past the trees and farmland she could see that they were heading for the outside barrier wall.
Just before you got to the wall there was an old house on a hill. The lightning trail she was following disappeared inside the old house.
She knew this place. This was Odade's parents house. The word amongst other hunters was that this place was haunted with the spirits of those that Odade's parents had experimented on. This was why Tessa didn't want Medo being friends with Odade. His parents were into some seriously messed up stuff.
Now she knew that the shadowy figure was Odade. Which meant that most likely the person in the air prison was Medo. Odade had to have some way of taking other people's powers.
Wasting no time, she flew to the doorway and slipped inside the old house. Everything was covered in dust save for a set of footprints that led to the basement. Tessa didn't look around because the energy trail also led down to the basement instead she drove forward with wild abandon.
Surging down the stairs she didn't stop as she followed the quickly dispersing energy trail through a false wall into a secret underground passage. She barely had time to notice that she was in a stone tunnel when the passage split off forcing her to backtrack. She managed to catch up to the residual energy and continued following it as it made numerous twists and turns.
Tessa dug deep, pushing her abilities to the brink of their capabilities. Her worry for her brother spurned her on to move faster and faster. Miles were crossed in moments as the trail progressed further and further underground.
She had always had a strange connection with her twin brother. She could sense him, even without her elemental form. This connection had now become stronger than ever, which allowed her to sense when the energy trail would turn before it did.
Tessa was getting closer to Medo, she could feel it.
The tunnel straightened out allowing her to see that she had almost caught up with Odade. Gathering energy, she prepared for a lethal strike as soon as she was in range. Tessa knew that with all of those strange powers her only hope would be to land an all out sneak attack.
Crossing the distance in a moment, she reared back to attack but instead slammed into an energy barrier. The barrier stopped her dead in her tracks. Tessa quickly discovered that the barrier was surrounding her all sides.
"It's a trap!" She thought to herself.
Looking around Tessa saw that we was in a large stone covered room with a dome like ceiling. Runes were carved in the walls, ceiling, and virtually every available space. Seven statues made out of some strange material were perfectly spaced around the edges of the circular room. They appeared human, but were facing the wall so Tessa could not see their features. "That's odd. " She briefly thought before her eyes fell upon the center of the room. There was a stone table with Medo laying upon it like some kind of sacrifice. Odade stood beside him, his eyes fixated on Tessa. "MEDO!" She yelled, beating upon the barrier with frustration and rage. "WHAT ARE YOU DOING TO HIM! LET HIM GO!
" Lightning surged around her but her blows did nothing to the barrier.
Odade looked at her with an amused grin. "You have so much spirit! It's a shame I made a deal with your brother. You would have been a strong ally. "
Tessa continued battering the barrier. " DON'T YOU DARE HURT HIM OR I SWEAR ILL MAKE YOU PAY! "
She had a lot of bravado but Tessa had reached her limit. The transformation into elemental form could only be held for so long before being forcibly returned to human form. Among the hunters in her generation she could maintain this form for longer than anyone, but not more than ten minutes.
"Hurt him? Why would I do such a thing? He has agreed to work with me. " Odade said calmly as he pulled out a small black orb from a pocket of his cloak.
Tessa's transformation forcibly ended, returning her to her human form. "If your not going to hurt him, what do you want with him? What did you do to the others? Zathias, Chax, and my sister Stella.....did you kill them?"
Odade held the black orb over the chest of Medo, lowering it until it touched him. As soon as it did the orb became bright red, the inside swirling with fire. "No...I did not kill them. I saved them. I respect their choices, even if they were foolish. At the point of death, when the government would have harvested their core I swapped it for a dead core. "
Odade held the red orb in the air and looked at it as he continued , " You believe in a false history, but I have shown Medo the truth of this world and he has chosen to join me of his own accord. " Odade pulled out what looked like a small stick with holes carved into it. All of the holes were filled with marble sized orbs that glowed with different colors. He placed the red orb in the one missing slot.
It was at this moment that Tessa noticed the tiniest of cracks in the barrier. As her hope was rekindled she decided that she would have to keep Odade talking. Ten minutes was all she needed before she would be able to transform again.
"You won't get away with this! Someone will come and save me!" Tessa yelled at Odade in frustration.
Odade laughed. "You have no idea where we are do you? We are outside the wall. No one will come. You are completely alone. "