Chapter 1: The Awakening
The sky over Greystone was a pale blue, but it seemed to be slightly blurred by the energy shield covering the city. To Jerry Blade, it looked like a cage. A necessary one, perhaps, but still a cage. Outside the glass shell of the building, there was the barren land where spike demons moved, their massive shapes discernible only when they crossed the perimeter.
Jerry frowned, recalling what his mother made him memorize when he was a child – "stay invisible." Residents of B-class city jogged around the streets with a lot of business like, hunched over, eyes on the ground. People lived their lives, but they all understood that everything could be lost because of a breach. The dome, after all, wasn't foolproof.
The same situation was at Greystone High School, the tension was no less. Teachers and learners spoke in hushed tones, with their voices shaking in equal measure in a kind of buzz. Pictures of 'Awakened League' asserted in the main corridors, celebrating members who drew the line between civilization and obliteration. To Jerry, the images were like propaganda: the cheerful slogans painted on a crumbling civilization.
Jerry entered the class with his hands buried in his jacket's pocket. The whispering of other students did not even penetrate his ears as he moved to his preferred seat at the back of the class. He looked at the clock—two hours before the Awakening Ceremony. His stomach churned.
"Jerry!" A voice broke through his thoughts.
Tim, his best friend, joined him abruptly, the delight oozing from his face. "Can you believe it? Today's the day! Man, I've been dreaming about this since forever."
Jerry raised an eyebrow. "Dreaming about what? The five percent chance you don't end up weaker than before?"
Tim waved him off, grinning. "C'mon, don't be like that. This is our shot, Jerry. Imagine… powers! We could join the League, kick demon butt and save the world. You've seen the stats—those guys are untouchable!"
"Alright," Jerry said in what could only be described as subdued. "Right until they aren't. You just cannot believe the casualty rates for recruits."
Tim only scowled, but his determination was not in any way diminished. "Even better than this, waiting for those gangs and barely surviving here. You've got to think bigger."
Looking out of the window, Jerry's focus was interrupted. Outside, the dome was dim and the light occasionally sputtered—a constant signal that death is just around the corner. 'I do believe that sheer survival can sound plenty big,' I told him.
As early as in mid afternoons, the school's gymnasium was filled with people. Loud was the buzz when students were seated side by side on the bleachers. It was anxious; you felt an excitement, but it came with the fear of the unknown.
The lights went out, and the doors opened, revealing a line of people walking in, and for the first time the party saw the familiar colors of the Awakened League – silver and black. Their leader was Captain Rex, a giant of a man who appeared to dominate the very atmosphere in which he moved. His dark-rimmed glasses were fixed on the room, and everyone became quiet.
Rex took one step, his shoes making a sound on the shiny wooden floor. "Today," he started, effectively commanding attention, "some of you will wake up." Some of you will not. For the chosen, your life will never be the same again. For the rest you will go back home to your families, schools, and normal life, and live and know that it was us, a group of unheralded young Lebanese, Middle Eastern and Arab students who made it happen. But please keep in mind this – every awakened person is protection for humanity. 'Your duty starts right from the time you are brand'.
Jerry put his arms across and leaned on the bleacher lightly. What Rex said for the crowd he wanted them to be set and as soon as he got finished speaking the murmurs of anticipation ran like wildfire. But Jerry felt nothing. No excitement, no fear. Just a quiet resignation.
Tim nudged him. "This is it, Jerry. Imagine the possibilities!"
Jerry shot him a look. "Imagine being ordinary again, only weaker. Or dead. Those are possibilities too."
The students were then corralled into lines, and each line waited for their turn to take the Awakening Pill after the assembly. People stood in a line through the hallway, and everyone could feel the tension in the air. Jerry leaned against the wall with his arms folded across his chest.
His pale-faced, younger sister Jenny stood unexpectedly beside him; her large, precious-like eyes showed that she was not at ease. "You're going to do it, right?" she whispered.
Jerry shrugged. "Not like we have a choice."
Jenny twirled the end of the sleeve nervously. "I hope… I hope it works for you. For both of us."
Jerry looked at her, and the hardness in his face disappeared. "Hey, don't get your hopes up. You know how this goes."
"I know," she replied immediately, though her eyes looked wet. "But… what if?"
Jerry did not get a chance to reply to Tim's question when Tim shouted from the front of the line. "Jerry! Get up here, man! It's almost my turn!"
Jenny forced a smile on her face and looked at her brother. "Good luck."
He just nods at this and swallows hard to relieve the lump in his throat as he proceeds forward towards the challenge.
Each student moved on, and the line went forward slowly; student by student. Each one went to the raised platform, on which there was a silver case with rows of small, crystalline pills inside. Members of the Uniformed League were on both sides of the room, their faces impassive but alert.
Taking the lead, Jerry had the heartbeats pounding against his ribs as he moved closer. He could actually see that the students in front of him were tense, some of them shook, and the rest tried hard not to. She makes it hard for peoples minds to wander, and when it was Tim's turn, Jerry saw the hint of nerves in his friend's usually cheerful look.
Tim gave Jerry a thumbs-up. "See you on the other side!"
Jerry looked on as Tim swallowed the pill. For a moment, there was no movement. Then Tim's body convulsed, and his hands went to his chest. A dim light showed in his palm and combined to make the symbol of lightning.
"I… I did it!" Tim's voice was trembling with relief and disbelief. The light went out, and the mark was burned into his skin as if he had been branded.
The man sitting next to him in the League agreed. "You're awakened. Step aside."
Tim fell off the platform, laughing his head off. He looked at Jerry and pointed at the marked hand, which he had triumphantly raised.
"Your turn, Blade."
Jerry's legs became like logs of lumber as he stepped up to the stage. The pill lay on the palm of his hand, gleaming as if it had been cut from crystal; so harmlessly small that it could give him a second chance—or kill him.
He paused, and somewhere in his heart he felt the full burden of the occasion.
"Take it," one of the League members encouraged.
Jerry gulped and followed it up by putting the pill in his mouth. The polished exterior receded at once, and I tasted bitterness at the back of my throat. At first, nothing happened. Then came the pain.
It began as a tingling sensation in his chest and had enlarged in to a burning sensation that was now racing through his body. He blinked, and his legs felt weak.
"Get him down!" one of the League members shouted and caught Jerry before he fell on the floor.
The earth started to rotate, and he struggled to open his eyes. In the midst of the pain he realized that, on his arm, there was some sort of symbol branded into him — a black claw. The periphery of his vision faded, and then there was nothing.
The first thing Jerry became aware of was the mark when he woke up from his unconsciousness. It throbbed feebly at his bicep, the arrow's emblem almost lifelike. The second thing he noticed was Tim crouched beside him, shaking his shoulder.
"Jerry! Are you okay?"
Jerry sighed and slowly got up from the bed. His muscles felt as if he had just done a marathon running, and the muscles acted as if a signal had been sent to slow down on the pain. "What… happened?"
"You awakened!" Tim said, grinning. "Look at your arm."
Jerry looked at the mark; it was claw like and appeared to shimmer in the LED lights of the gym. He curled his fingers and tried to recall some sort of energy, some sort of force that would come out of nowhere. Nothing happened.
"Five," a League member said, looking at a sheet of paper. "That makes five awakened."
Jerry glanced around and saw the other ones who woke up. Markus, the school bully, of course; he smirked with a distinctly swirling circular symbol on his neck. A dark skinned, quiet girl from his math class, named Elaine, studied the flame mark on her wrists. A good looking young boy with glasses, Jason's tiny ears, together with other words of the speech he was being asked to listen to, he stood beside the other students, bearing the gear-shaped mark, or at least a near-mark, on his shoulder, on his face was the star athlete's incredulous look befitting his title.
When it was Jenny's turn, the boy called Jerry nervously watched as she stepped onto the platform. She took the pill, her face screwed up in concentration. For a moment, there seemed a glimmer of expectation in her eyes. But when nothing happened, that hope was broken.
Jenny quickly averted her gaze, but Jerry had been able to see the tears rolling down her face.
Captain Rex came back to the platform and the sound of the people in the room hushed immediately. He looked around at the five awakened students and gave them a nod of approval.
"Congratulations," he said. "You are no longer residents of this country just like any other citizen, you are no longer ordinary people with a mundane job. From now on, you are awakened. Held at arm's length to fend off evil from the human beings."
The words weighed and for Jerry they meant even more than what was said. He was not quite sure that he wanted to be a shield.
Rex continued, his tone firm. 'You will be taken to training center right away." Say your goodbyes. This is the last time you will be able to meet your friends and families for a long time."
The gym erupted in chaos. People rushed to the Awakened, some shouting, some crying. Tim's parents struggled free from the crowd and hugged him tight in front of the fans, as evident that they were proud of him. Markus gobbled the attention like he hadn't been given any for days while Elaine and Jason appeared rather embarrassed by it.
Jerry was left standing in front of Jenny. Her eyes were red, but she forced a smile on her lips. "You did it," she whispered.
"Uh huh," agreed Jerry faintly.
Jenny touched his arm and grasped it tightly. "Just… just tell me that you are going to be alright."
Jerry nodded, though he wasn't sure he believed it himself. "I'll try."
The League members led the Awakened towards transport vehicles that were waiting for them. When Jerry got into one, he looked back at Jenny. She was just at the front watching the crowd, her delicate figure being lost in the confusion going on around her.
Closing the door, the glimpse was lost out of sight.
Within the transport, the pain came back. He first felt a kind of twinge in his upper arm: the beginning of a headache that soon enveloped him.
[Lunar System activated]
a robotic voice spoke inside his head.
[User: Jerry Blade. Status: Moon Whelp. System startup in progres]
Jerry gripped his arm tightly as the mark started to shine brighter heating Jerry's skin in through the mark. A translucent blue screen materialized before his eyes, displaying information he barely understood:
[STATUS]
Name: Jerry Blade
Race: Moon Whelp
Level: 1
XP: 0/100
HP: 100/100
Energy: 50/50
Heart Rate: 72 bpm
Strength: 2
Dexterity: 3
Endurance: 1
Awakened Ability: Beast Master
The words became indistinct as another spasm of pain gripped him. He sucked in a breath when he realized he was still alive and his heart pounded.
"Transforming to Moon Whelp. Countdown to Full Moon: 17 days remaining."
Jerry's vision went black, the claw mark on his arm glowing faintly as he faded out of consciousness again.
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