Fate constantly tests the limits of a person's power. If you crumble you aren't worthy.
"Damnit move Skye!" I shout in my head as the bear's eyes pierce through me. It's ice cold gaze reverberates through my bones, rattling my entire body while forcing my common sense to crack into icy dust. The sound the beast made is worse than nails on a chalkboard and iron cutting steel combined. And seems to have an unnatural quality to freeze death itself.
"I can't die! I haven't kept my promise yet!" My heart shrieks in my chest. My mind shouts back with a sputtering sound that I'm very embarrassed of.
But just then Luna cracks a stick over the bear. My eyes widen as the bear turns its attention towards Luna as she slowly takes a step backwards.
"Why would she do that?!" My brain and heart jump onto the same track, allowing my body to snap back into focus. Luna takes another step backwards and the bear gets ready to lash out. Luna trips almost too perfectly as the monster's paw swipe misses her. She almost just died yet I can't do anything but watch.
"Damnit at this rate I'll lose Luna too!" My heart shouts at my brain. My mind, distracted by its memories, races through my past. My stepfather, a stern looking man with a body builder type figure looms, smirking over me. My house had just burnt down and he found me in a nearby alleyway.
I couldn't even get the courage to call someone for help. I just ran. I've had nightmares about that day over and over. My second birthday was just a couple weeks ahead yet everything was ruined by a single fire. I couldn't even gather the courage to call for help, let alone ravage through the fire looking for my parents. I hoped they would live. But my stepfather adopted me, forcing my reality check.
I blink and I'm suddenly reliving the memories of the day that ruined my life. The air in the alleyway was thick with smoke and I was covering my mouth as I coughed. My home got hit by something and I was scared. My stepfather leaned over me and smiled before reaching his hand out to touch my shoulder. Then my memories shifted to just before I entered high school. I had an argument with him and he kicked me out. All I had was a small bag I had packed in case of emergencies.
I was furious with him but deep down I was scared. I kept thinking what would have happened if I dived into the fire. Would I have saved my parents? Would I have died in that fire with them?
If only I had called for help. Nothing would have been like this. I wouldn't have been homeless. I wouldn't have had to fight for my life to get a place to sleep. Nothing bad would have happened and I would be laughing with my mom and dad right this very moment.
"I hate this feeling…" I mutter subconsciously as my heart burns in my chest.
"But if that didn't happen you would have never met Luna!" My heart squeals as if sensing my body shutting down. Its last resort is to pump some positive memories to keep me alive.
"I wouldn't be forced to take shelter in an ice cave while on summer vacation! I wouldn't be fighting for my life against a bear cloaked in snow!" My body groans as I begin to close my eyes.
"But you wouldn't have met Luna." My heart and mind shout at my body simultaneously.
My body didn't even react. They all clearly both agreed that Luna was great. She helped people, she didn't mind getting hurt, and she never forced anyone to do anything they didn't want to do.
She was the only one that tried to treat me like a person and not some monster. She didn't use me. She's such a kind soul, and yet her parents were the first to get hospitalized by the epidemic.
They have been getting worse and worse every year. The doctors say they don't know what they have, but I know they don't tell the public everything.
The conspiracies are right. The meteor that struck my house had brought something unearthly. Whatever that thing was, was terrifying. It burnt down my house, killed my father, wounded my mother, and left me on the streets to die.
Anger surged throughout my body and my senses kicked into overdrive.
The bear's ear shattering scream forced my body to jolt upward again. This thing isn't normal. My mind's gears whirred and shifted. The bear had the same aura of the entity before.
They are tied together! I just know it! Just as the bear started to swing at Luna, she scrambled backwards. Her foot gets caught on a stone and my entire being shouts, "NOT AGAIN!"
I grit my teeth and just as the bear is about to crack down on Luna, I jump straight in between them.
"I will keep my promise to protect her, even if I die in the process!" My heart, mind, and soul all shout as one. I twist my neck backwards and the bear strikes.
My back goes numb with pain and my vision is covered in a yellow flash of pure light. The area me and Luna seem to swirl with snow. Like the blizzard outside has made its way inside the cave.
"You're not the second destined one." A grumbling female voice sounds from above me.
I shift my weight and find I'm in a completely different area than before, the environment is almost the same, covered in ice just like the cave. Except the bear is gone and there's a tall scary looking woman looking down from her nose at me.
"What… who are you?" I muster up through the pain in my chest. My back is burning with the urge to give out, my shirt is stained orange from blood, and my head is swirling around swiftly.
"I'm Erianna, the ice princess that resides in Ramus Glacies." The female figure says with a soft yet ice laced tone. She sits upon a snow covered throne. Silver and gold line it's armrests and her feet are splayed upon a leather coated footrest.
She wears an elegant blue dress that seems to shimmer with pure energy, snow seems to fall but only around her and the throne.
It's a scene I would have called beautiful if I didn't just have a bear puncture a hole in my back. This whole situation is crazy but my mind is set on something way more important than this woman.
"Where's Luna?" I manage to croak as blood trickles down my chin. My chest heaves and I wheeze out a strained sound. I try to look up at her but it hurts so bad that I have to stop.
"Ahhh. This would make sense." Erianna snickers as if the game she's playing just got way more interesting with my appearance.
"So you mean this girl?" Erianna sneers and I look up to notice her face flicker. She takes on Luna's appearance. Her eyes are no longer a deep icy blue, but a bright vibrant purple. Her hair shifts from an elsa type style to a long and wavy style with bangs.
The most unsettling part is her facial features begin to match that of Luna's. Shifting and turning to mimic my friend's appearance flawlessly.
"What the hell!" I shout before a spat of blood soaks into the ground beneath me. I want to shout at her, tell her to take off her mask. To yell at her to leave my friend alone but I wheeze and blink.
Then I find myself somewhere else. This room is covered in an edgy anime style. Lightning arcs painted from a throne in the middle of the room. And the most commanding presence this time is a man wearing a cloak of lightning. His hair is styled in a long and messy dirty blonde.
He wears a classic suit with biker gloves and has dark and cloudy eyes that seem to rumble with electricity. He adjusts his suit and glances over at me with a raised eyebrow. He barks a hearty laugh before practically teleporting towards me.
He eyes me with hungry eyes and leans down to a kneeling position next to me. His storm cloud eyes flicker with a flash of orange and then they turn red. Then they flicker to a dark galaxy purple before returning to their normal grey storm color.
"Damn it's not everyday someone enters Thane's domain with this much potential." The voice chuckles a laugh that resembles a lightning bolt striking a tree. It sounds extremely desperate and forced. So much so that if I wasn't just placed in the third location within minutes I would have cringed.
"Who's this edgy guy?" My brain asks as the figure shifts around sitting with his hands over the back of a red, orange, and yellow throne. This throne is made of pure lightning and storm clouds.
It gives off the same vibe as Erianna's throne except it's chair is styled in less of a royalty vibe and more of an interrogation chair type of thing.
The figure shifts and moves as if he was lightning itself. The cloak he wears can't seem to choose between a color, while also switching between a cloud form, rain form, and lightning form.
"I guess you're the odd boy I heard of from Erianna!" He shouts loudly.
"Prepare to sell your soul to Thane, the ancient deity of lightning!" The shape barks a laugh and before I can respond my body shifts again. This time I ended up standing in a library. This room seems to emanate pure power and knowledge.
I can't help but marvel at the collection of scrolls and books. Maps are stapled to the walls so perfectly that it looks like they were never folded, shiny stones are gathered in a pile on one side, each separated by color. A fountain of sparkling water is carved into the floor a couple feet away from me.
But the most noticeable part of the room is its inhabitant. A tall man with big soft eyes looks at me. He wears robes of pure white light and candles made of leather. He smiles warmly and without opening his mouth welcomes me.
"Welcome to the Arcane Library. Skye Storme I presume?" He asks through telepathy. His voice is warm and emanates knowing as it slides smoothly through my ears and into my brain.
"Who are you?" I ask in my head assuming that if he can talk to me through my brain, he can hear my thoughts as well.
"Some call me the god of The Tower, others call me The Creator. But you can call me Shiva." The voice says as he floats a small book towards me.
The book has only twelve pages yet all but the first two are blank. The first page has a complete description of a strong looking man named Raine. He wears green military attire and has almost the same aura as Shiva does.
The page has a list of information including height, weight, and accomplishments. The list of accomplishments trails off of the page and I can feel my eyes turn to the top of the page.
It says:
Name: Raine
Title: First Manaless / The Catalyst
Power: Mind control
Sense: sixth sense based / touch based
Level: Power level 4
Potential level: level 4
Then I noticed the second page is a description of Luna.
Name: Luna
Title: Second Manaless / Ice Princess
Power: Ice control
Sense: hearing based
Level: power level 1
Potential: level 4 +2
"What is that?" I try to ask out loud but my mouth doesn't open. Shiva responds through telepathy.
"It's the Book of Destiny. Everyone who is chosen to fulfill a prophecy is placed in this book. And you, my boy, are about to be the Third Manaless." Shiva says smiling as my picture forms over the third page.
Name: Skye
Title: Third Manaless
Power: unknown
Sense: likely sight based
Level: power level unknown
Potential: unknown
"I know you don't want this. But it is necessary for the survival of the two worlds." Shiva says in an almost pained tone. He knows I don't want a prophecy yet he's forcing it upon me.
"Soon you will have to make a choice. Just know that the weight of the world you live in, and the one I used to live in now rests upon your shoulders.
I wish you luck Skye Storme son of-" His voice cuts off and I find myself looking up at the First Manaless. Raines' puzzled figure gazes upon me and I instantly know who it is.
I want to shout at him to let me leave but I can't hold my body up any longer.
"Damnit. I didn't want this, screw destiny." I mutter in a barely audible tone. Then my mind blanks out and I lose consciousness.
——The Tower, 51st Floor——
The sun is setting, layering the sky with stains of purple and pink. The fog around Beast-Man academy is usually so thick, but today it's parted for the brilliant view. Today is the day Mayor Han-Dan comes back from his trip to Floor 50.
He said something about some random guy named Raine walking out of the great forest. Apparently this weirdo was celebrating about finally unlocking the doors to Floor 51. Of course we all thought that was pure insanity, but I guess he was right. The Mayor sent a letter to his disciples and confirmed his previous statement to be true.
"Cooo-Cooo… Leon if you grimace like a jackal. Your mane will turn from gold to the color of an apple." A small voice pipes up from outside the window. It comes from a tree about twelve feet away just barely visible from a desk.
"Theora…" Leon snarls. "If you're gonna make fun of me then I won't hesitate to eat the prisoner you told me to keep alive." The owl flutters inside the building and shifts into her human form.
Before Leon stands a small girl with grey hair and eyes like an owl. She wears a dress made of owl feathers, and has her head cocked over to the side.
"Cacaca… Banter is the catalyst to anger, and anger leads to suffering. So I suggest you quit that muttering." Theora giggles a noise that anyone else would have frozen in place just from hearing.
"Master has sent for you. But he won't mind me having to carry you… Caaa-Cooo!" Leon rolls his eyes in response. He knows nothing good will come of them fighting. After all the last time he and Tammy had a lovers quarrel they leveled the garden.
"I'll be there to greet Mayor Han-Dan and his escort. Now get lost, you insufferable little girl." Leon growls as he lets his golden yellow tail flicker wildly.
"The destined one has arrived. But will she suffer or overcome her strife?" Theora murmurs as she chants owl beast shift to fly out of the open window.