Was he dead? Ember could not feel anything. His limbs were numb. He felt only a cold chill run along his spine, but he could not shiver. He could not move.
Maybe I'll see my parents again, Ember thought, but as quickly as the numbness began, it subsided, and Ember could see he was not at school anymore.
Instead, Ember was in a dimly lit room, the only light coming from the fireplace in the middle of the wall. The chill remained, but not as much as before.
"Hello?" Ember called out. "Is anyone there? Hello?" He stopped. His throat was dry and sore. If he kept trying to call, he would only damage it further.
A man stepped out of the shadows. He was tall, had jet black hair, and blood-red eyes. Around him was a cold presence. He was wearing a form-fitting black suit with dark gray accents, a black tie, and a black tophat. Resting on his arm was a black cloak.
"I apologize sincerely for the... incident I may have caused at your place of education, Ember," The man said, tipping his hat to Ember.
"I'm sorry, but who are you?" Ember questioned. "And how do you know my name?"
The man laughed. "My name is Akuma. And trust me, your name is known to many more people than you know, probably more than you are comfortable with." Akuma dissipated into shadows and then reappeared at Ember's side. "I can manipulate shadows and make myself into them. I can transport through them, and I can even make them into solid objects."
"Okay," Ember said, connecting the dots in his mind. "But why did you take me from the school? I kinda was in the middle of something until the teacher left."
"Ah," Akuma said, nodding. "That was me. The school has anti-infiltration devices planted around the school, and I just barely tripped one. If I had waited two more seconds to exit the shadow, I wouldn't have had such an easy way to snag you. It was because the teacher wasn't there, that I was able to get you so easily."
"But why did you take me in the first place? I'm not very important."
Akuma barked a laugh. "I beg to differ. You are Ember Firefox, the second coming of the Anarchist. Child of Earth and Fire, sworn enemies. So once again, I refuse to accept that you are not very important."
Ember looked at Akuma, confused for a moment, and then said, "You still didn't tell me why you took me."
"Yes, I did."
"No, you didn't. You just said my statement about not being important was false and then said a bunch of mystical mumbo-jumbo. You never actually answered my question."
Akuma sighed. "Alright, I guess he needs to know," he pulled a jet-black chair out of the darkness, seemingly rippling with energy. He sat down in the chair and rested his head in his hand, his elbow propped up on the armrest. "Your parents were Phoenix and Rose Firefox."
It wasn't a question, but Ember still nodded and said, "Yes."
"Your parents were the two strongest fire and earth elementals to ever exist. Our science has proven that when two elementals of different elements mate, their child is more powerful than both of them in both of their elements. It's called Symbiotic Contrast Powering. AKA, SCP. The SCP between your parents was extremely powerful. Do you know why?"
Ember thought for a moment. "Their scores?"
Akuma laughed. "Those insipid trials to determine your power level based on a score were biased. The more powerful and wealthy families would bribe the proctors to give their children higher scores. But you and your parents earned higher scores. No matter what they gave you."
Ember looked confused, so Akuma pulled out a small tablet and showed Ember the Elemental Government page showing his scores in the five categories of the Power Trials: Strength, Dexterity, Constitution, Intelligence, and Wisdom. The scores were out of 500 each.
The page read:
NAME: Firefox, Ember
AGE (current): 19
SEX: Male
ELEMENT (known): Fire/Earth
THE TRIAL SCORES ARE CONFIDENTIAL. DO NOT REPEAT THESE SCORES TO ANY NON-GOVERNMENT PERSONNEL.
STRENGTH: 386/500
DEXTERITY: 500/500
CONSTITUTION: 415/500
INTELLIGENCE: 366/500
WISDOM: 79/500
"Great," Ember grumbled. "You know how I flopped the Wisdom section of the trials."
Akuma shook his head. "You didn't fail. They changed your scores." He snapped, and the screen flickered. It went black and turned back on a few seconds later. The scores now showed:
STRENGTH: 500/500
DEXTERITY: 500/500
CONSTITUTION: 500/500
INTELLIGENCE: 500/500
WISDOM: 500/500
Ember's jaw dropped. He was one of the Prodigies, the lucky few who got perfect scores in everything. Prodigies are put in the highest respect of everyone in the country, and recently very few were found each year.
"Yes, yes," Akuma said, rolling his eyes, almost as though he wasn't enjoying Ember's surprise. "Anyway, those scores are total bullcrap. Your parents were extremely powerful, hence them being the Elemental Powers."
Ember sighed, looked disdainfully at Akuma and asked, "When does this story end? Because I'm still a little lightheaded from you taking me."
Akuma snickered and said, "Would this help?" He snapped his fingers and a black leather chair melted out of the shadows. He pushed it over to Ember, who gratefully flopped down into it.
"Very well," Akuma said, taking the tablet back from Ember. He tapped at it for a few minutes, and a news video showed up, with a female news anchor that he recognized quite well as Diorite, one of his mother's good friends.
"We interrupt all media broadcasts to give a special news bulletin," Diorite said on the recording, staring straight into the camera as though she were staring into Ember's soul. "The five children of the Elemental Powers have disappeared, witnesses saying they were taken by a man in a black hood, and by others a monster. We go to top reporter Humpback in the small town of Spark in the Fire Ring, where the child of Fire and Earth Elemental Powers, Ember Firefox, has disappeared from his school."
The news video flashed to a male reporter standing outside his school, with none other than Flicker standing beside him, crying.
"Thank you, Diorite," Humpback said, nodding to the camera. "We are at Kindle, the top school in this sector of the Fire Ring, with none other than the girlfriend of one of our missing children. Your name is Flicker Bonfire, correct?"
Flicker nodded slowly, and Humpback asked, "I'm sorry if you don't want to, but could you please describe what happened when your boyfriend disappeared?"
Flicker nodded again and said in a choked voice, "He was standing in the middle of the gym when a man in a black cloak appeared and just touched Ember on the shoulder before the lights started flickering, and then he was gone."
Humpback nodded thoughtfully before saying, "Could you give us a little more of a description of the man who took Ember?"
Flicker thought for a moment before saying, "His eyes. They flashed bright red before the lights flickered. And he seemed very frail and old when he reached out to touch Ember."
Humpback nodded and said, "Thank you, Flicker." He turned toward the camera. "Unfortunately, the abductor was not caught on camera, as today was a scheduled maintenance day for the software required to run the security system. However, through the careful art of eyewitness identification, the police have come up with a rough sketch of the perpetrator." An image flashed in the corner, showing a sketch of a person who looked more like a bear than a human, making Akuma laugh.
"They have no idea what I look like," Akuma said to Ember, breaking Ember's concentration on the video.
The video continued. "If you see anyone who seems to look like this or anyone acting suspicious, please report them to the ISS immediately."
Akuma chuckled. "The International Security Service won't be able to find you. They can't even find the most wanted criminal in all of the world. That being me, of course."
Ember looked wide-eyed at Akuma. "What exactly are you wanted for again?"
Akuma thought momentarily and said, "I'll just give you the highlights. For example, manslaughter, arson, kidnapping, torture using illegal methods, drug trafficking, breaking also obviously, human trafficking, breaking out of prison, and child trafficking although they should fit under human trafficking. I believe there is also terrorism, human experimentation, illegal use of powers, attacking government officials, attempted and successful murder, cannibalism, hunting both animals and humans without a license, robbery, grand theft auto, petty and grand theft in general, pickpocketing, underage drinking, singing happy birthday, streaming adult videos, and so, so, so much more."
Ember's jaw had dropped halfway through the list. If it dropped any lower, it would be scraping the vinyl wood floor.
Akuma continued. "Break-checking, assault both domestic and non, assassination, homicide, hit-and-run, speeding, running a red light, adultery, human sacrifice, summoning a demon in public, impersonation, pretending to be a magician just to make someone disappear and not bring them back in one piece, scamming, fraud, shoplifting, tax-evasion, making nuclear warheads, breaking the geneva convention back when it existed; yes, I am that old, having a donkey in a bathtub in what used to be called Arizona, smoking cannabis, distributing alcohol to minors, selling Limburger cheese on a Sunday in what used to be a Texas city, DWI, more commonly known as driving while intoxicated, or DWI, driving under influence, driving with headphones in, driving and texting, the previous three all at once, cutting a cactus on private land in what used to be Arizona, denying access to sunlight to a captive in what was California, catching a fish in past Indiana with dynamite, firearms, a crossbow, and all three at once, bringing a snake near the Mardi Gras parade in past Louisiana, greeting someone by putting my thumb on my nose and wiggling my fingers in what used to be California, wearing blue jeans and walking down Noble street in what was Alabama, operating and participating in drunk bingo when I lived in North Carolina, milking someone else's cow in Texas, exposing others to a contagious disease in Washington, wearing pants that sag below the waistline in Delaware, hunting in a cemetery in Oregon, base jumping in a national park of the US, drug-doing and vapes, and many more that even I can't remember."
Ember stuttered, unable to believe how a person could do 65 heinous crimes and still lose count. "How old are you?"
Akuma laughed for a second and then froze. He started counting, and he still hadn't stopped after five whole minutes. He finally broke the silence by saying, "How long has it been since 2020 AD?"
Ember thought momentarily and said, "Um, it's been 4523 years since the first Apocalypse that brought elementals, which happened in roughly 2153 AD, so about 4656 years I believe."
There was a moment of silence.
"YOU'RE THAT OLD?" Ember practically screamed.
Akuma winced, saying, "Yes, and my eardrums don't need to bleed anymore."
Ember frowned and said, "Sorry."
Akuma nodded, and silence grew. The two of them stood in silence for what seemed like an eternity.
"So..." Ember began before a large crash shook the room.
"Well that's not good," Akuma said with a laugh.
Ember glared at him.
"Calm down. Just get under the table. I'll handle this." Akuma commanded. "Somebody's grouchy today," he said under his breath.
Akuma shook his head and said, "Don't worry, no matter what you see, just think of it as special effects."
He immediately fell to his knees and the fire went out. Ember started looking around as two red glows appeared in the dark.
A voice like nothing from this already magical world spoke out in the darkness. "Greetings, Ember."
Ember looked at where he felt the voice came from. "Are you talking to me?" He started to feel a draw from where Akuma was. Almost like it was sucking away his energy.
The creature laughed. "Yes, I'm talking to you. You've done a great number of great things, y'know."
Ember laughed. "I've never done anything 'Great' at all. My parents have, but not me."
"Really?" The voice said. "That is... very interesting. I must contemplate this further. Goodbye, Ember."
And then the lights flicked back to life.
Akuma stood, a black fog-like material hovering at his feet, like a small lapdog. "I hate it when that happens."
"What exactly... what was tha-" Ember started.
"That was Remnant," Akuma interrupted. "It's the thing that's keeping me alive." He walked over to the wall next to the fireplace and reached toward the wall as it started to turn an inky black color. He reached in and pulled out a large needle with a glistening blue liquid in the chamber and injected it straight into his arm, a bright neon glow climbing his arm and flowing into the rest of his body. He shuddered as the glowing veins reached his head, and subsequently, his brain.
"Are you..."
"Okay?" Akuma said, pulling the needle out and turning back toward where Ember was cowering under the table. He laughed. "No. Nope. Nada, under no circumstances, negative, nae, however you want to hear it. Never been okay, never will be." The needle and syringe dissolved into flakes of a black material that continued to break down until it was nothing. "I'll bet you're wondering about the fluid, am I right?"
Ember nodded and Akuma barked a laugh. "I guess I'll start at the beginning."
He snapped his fingers and an identical black chair rose out of the floor and Akuma sat down and interlaced his fingers.
"Now, let's begin."