Chapter 1 - The Journey to Shadow Academy
The fog over the river was beginning to dissipate as the sun's rays began to reach over the distant peak of Mt. Star. Waves slowly rolled onto the shore and then faded into the sand. Gabriel Simon thought this was the most peaceful place in the world. He had often come here just to get away from the world. This was also his favorite place to practice with his sword. He would miss this place, that's for sure. The wind streamed through his brown hair as he looked across the river to Shadow City. "Gabe? Are you here?"
"Yeah, Roy, right down here." Gabriel looked up the small cliff behind him. A blond haired boy stumbled down the cliff and then walked towards Gabriel. He carried a sword with him. "What's up, Gabe?"
"Nothing. I just wanted to practice a little before we left."
"Are you nervous, Gabe? About Shadow City?" The blond boy laughed and ran his fingers through his hair. "I wonder how many girls there'll be at Shadow Academy? No, seriously, think about it, I mean..."
"Shut up, Roy! Is that all you can think about?" Gabriel laughed and hit Roy on the arm. "Oh, so that's how it is." Roy smiled and raised his sword. "I'm so going to kill you now."
Gabriel picked up his own sword. "We'll see." Roy ran at Gabriel and swung his sword, but Gabriel caught the blow with his own weapon. Then Gabriel pushed Roy's sword away and Roy fell backwards. He quickly got back to his feet and continued his assault. They fought for a few minutes until Gabriel was able to knock Roy's sword to the ground. Roy went over and picked it up off the sandy ground. He looked at Gabriel and frowned. "Nice workout, Gabe. I'll see you later at the ferry."
"Yeah, I'll be there."
Roy climbed the cliff and stormed off. "Get over yourself, why don't you," Gabriel said quietly. Roy had always been a real sore loser. Oh well, Gabriel thought, I'll see him later and he won't even remember that I kicked his butt. Gabriel laughed to himself. He put his own sword into his belt and took one last look at his little refuge. He would miss it, that's for sure.
*
In a distant city where chaos ruled and it was forever night, a small group of people gathered in a dark, shady alley. They all wore black cloaks and talked quietly amongst themselves. They were silenced when a large new figure appeared from the darkness. The figures in cloaks apparently didn't know the newcomer, for some withdrew daggers from within their cloaks. The figure then spoke in a quiet voice. "It is time."
"Are you the messenger?" One of the cloaked figures stepped forward.
"I have been sent by the Master to tell you of coming events, so, yes, I am a messenger." The messenger wore a cloak as well, but it was red. "Steven Shadow." the messenger said. "He is the one you want, correct?"
"That is correct, now tell us of these events." The lead figure insisted.
"Young Steven will soon be attending his father's school. This will be your chance to strike."
The lead figure snickered. "Then what are we waiting for?" He and his fellows turned to leave.
"Oh, and one more thing..." The cloaked figures looked back at the messenger. The messenger raised his hand and a blast of light completely obliterated the people in the cloaks. "The Master wishes you his very best."
The messenger lowered his hood and revealed his hair, which was completely white. Then he looked up to a nearby building top. A person stood in darkness atop the building and he wore a cloak that billowed in the strong wind that had just brewed. "Curse you, Michael!" The cloaked person raised his hand and a blast of purple darkness shot towards Michael. It knocked him backwards and when he looked back up, the caped figure was gone, swallowed by the darkness.
*
"I'll miss you, too, mom." Gabriel hugged his mom. She straightened out his uniform jacket and then she smiled at him. "I hope you have a great time."
"I'm sure I will." Gabriel turned to his little brother, James. "I'll see you later, squirt." Gabriel hugged his brother. James looked at his big brother. "Who are you calling 'squirt'?" Gabriel laughed and then walked towards the enormous ferry. He stepped onto the ramp and then walked up to the ship's deck. He looked back and waved to his mom and brother. Then he looked around the ship's deck. There were about a hundred other students wearing the same black jacket that he was. He quickly found Roy in a small crowd of giggling girls. Gabriel sighed and walked towards the group. "So, ladies, who's got..." Roy pulled out his class schedule. "Who's got Advanced Math third period?"
"Oh, I do!" One of the girls spoke up, her face beaming.
"I'm sorry, then, I probably won't be seeing much of you." All the girls giggled.
Gabriel waved at Roy to get his attention. Roy noticed and addressed the girls again. "I'll see you around at school, ladies." Then Roy walked towards Gabriel.
"Better cool down, hot shot. You won't have anything left for the rest of the year."
"This will be the best year of my life, I just know it." Roy grinned and the two walked towards the ship's edge. The ship had just cast off, and Aurora City was becoming smaller by the second. Soon they would be arriving at Shadow City, and then the fun would really begin.
For much of the trip the sea was calm and allowed for a smooth trip. The ship seemed to have been working fine, so no one knew why it had stopped in the middle of the river. Gabriel looked out into the sea. "Why did we stop?"
"Look, Gabe!" Several figures in black cloaks had boarded the ship. They were carrying swords. "Wha... what's happening?"
"Roy, do you know where the baggage is kept?"
"Down there." Roy pointed to a nearby door. "Why...? Oh!"
Gabriel grinned and ran towards the door. "Hold them off, Roy. I'll be back in a second!" He threw open the door and ran down a flight of stairs to the baggage hold. After a quick search, he found his bag. He unzipped it quickly and pulled out his sword. He ran back up to the deck just in time to see one of the cloaked figures grab Roy. "Roy!" Gabriel ran towards the figure and then jumped into the air. He spun around in midair and slammed the sword into the cloaked figure; knocking him aside and making him drop Roy. Breathing heavily, Roy said, "Nice save... but you're gonna need to do it about a hundred more times." Gabriel turned and saw about about a dozen more cloaked figures attacking other students. "Go find something to use as a weapon. I'm gonna need help!"
"I'm on it!" Roy ran up a flight stairs to the upper deck.
Gabriel ran to the nearest assailant and quickly put him out of commission. He ran towards the next one, but the cloaked figure fell to the ground. Apparently, that was due to a boy with spiky white hair who now stood in his place. The boy wore a school jacket and he looked angry. "Are you with them?"
"No, no!" Gabriel lowered his sword.
"Then what are you waiting for? Let's get them!"
The white haired boy ran towards an assailant. Suddenly, his fist burst into white fire. He threw a punch and it did about ten times the damage any normal blow would do. The assailant flew backwards and crashed into several of his comrades. As Gabriel stood, eyes fixed to the scene taking place in front of him, he didn't notice a cloaked figure sneaking up behind him. "Gabriel! MOVE!!" Gabriel turned in time to see Roy slam the sneaky assailant with a crowbar. He quickly moved out of the way as the assailant fell to the ground. "Thanks, Roy!"
"No problem!" Roy ran across the deck towards his next target.
"Alright, no more distractions." Gabriel raised his sword. "Time to get back to business." He charged at another intruder. This one was ready, though, and swung around just in time to deflect Gabriel's blow with his sword. "You're dead." Gabriel dodged a blow, and then countered with his sword. The clang of metal on metal surprised Gabriel. The cloak fell off, revealing a large man wearing a massive suit of armor. "What the..."
"Die, fool!" The man in the armor threw his fist at Gabriel and hit him squarely in the chest. The blow knocked the air out of Gabriel and he fell to the ground. The man raised his sword above his head and prepared to strike the final blow. Gabriel looked away and the last thing he saw before he blacked out was the white haired boy. His eyes were glowing white and as he held out his hand, a blast of light completely disintegrated the man who was about to kill him.
To be continued...
In the darkness of the streets, a young man walked silently towards the center of the forsaken city. He was wearing a dark red cloak that covered all of his body except for his head. He was tall and he had dark brown hair and tanned skin except for the skin on the left side of his face from his left eye back - that skin was pale white. He was hardly visible in the nearly complete blackness. He seemed impervious to any fear of darkness as his eyes were constantly locked on the city's central square. His step was unfaltering as he approached his destination.
A man in a black cloak was waiting by the fountain in the center of the city. He stood there, unmoving, waiting as the young man in the red cloak approached. "Johnathan! It's been a long time." A deep and gravely voice spoke out from under the black hood of the cloak.
Johnathan walked straight up to the man and grabbed him by the neck. "Cut the small talk. Tell me what I came here to hear."
"Uggh...about - about the Guardian?"
"Yes, fool!"
"Never! hahahaha...."The man in the black cloak reached out his right hand and Johnathan went flying back in a blast of purple shadow. "Fight me now... Solario!"
Johnathan stood up and his left eye was shining white. "Yes. That is my new name. It was given to me by the Master. I hope that for your sake that same Master shows you mercy when I send you to him." Solario raised his left arm and his red sleeve fell, revealing a large, complex symbol that glowed white in the darkness. The ground under him cracked.
"I'm afraid that you're the one who will die this night!" The black cloaked man jumped into the air with a sword that seemingly appeared from nowhere. Solario pointed his arm at the man and a spike of earth impaled him in midair.
"Say 'hi' to my Master for me."
"ooohhh........" The cloaked man fell limp.
"I'm going to eliminate this town and all of the filth in it. It is what the Master wants." Solario began to walk out of the city down the same road that he entered on. But this time buildings cracked and crumbled as he passed. The symbol on his arm glowed through his sleeve. The destruction spread like a virus throughout the city. In several minutes, the entire town was reduced to rubble. There was complete silence as Solario walked out of the destroyed city.
*
Gabriel opened the door and stepped out of the building. "Ahh!" He took a deep breath of the cool, crisp air. There was no telling how long he had been in that bed. Besides the pain in his chest, he felt great. He looked around at the grounds of what seemed to be an enormous manor.
"Wait a sec...," Gabriel suddenly realized that he must be at Shadow Academy. As he walked around the huge building, he saw the rest of the kids that had been on the ferry. He checked that his own uniform was intact, then went to join the rest of the crowd. He quickly found Roy.
"Hey, Roy! What's up?"
"Gabriel? Hey! Are you okay?"
Gabriel quickly touched his chest then responded, "I'll be fine."
"Well you're just in time for some guy to read out the rules, you know, the usual."
"Yeah." Gabriel's thoughts suddenly changed to the white-haired boy on the ferry. "Roy, have you seen a kid with spiky white hair?"
"Uh, no. I think I would've remembered that." Roy laughed and then looked over at another group of girls.
Gabriel noticed Roy's sudden intrest. "Okay, then hot shot, I'll leave you to your buisness."
"Uh-huh..." Roy wasn't even paying attention anymore.
"Okay then." Gabriel walked further into the crowd. He really wanted to find that white-haired boy because try as he might, Gabriel could not come up with any logical explanation for what had happened that morning.
Gabriel searched for the white-haired boy all the rest of the day, but he didn't find him until he was about to go into his dorm room later that evening. He had taken one last look down the hall when he saw him standing on a balcony right outside the hall window. Gabriel walked down the hall and out onto the balcony. The white-haired boy turned for a moment then looked back out at the sunset. "What do you see when you look at the setting sun?"
Gabriel stepped closer. "I don't know. Orange?"
The white-haired boy laughed. "True, true." He turned around and extended his hand. "I'm Steven Shadow."
"Gabriel Simon," Gabriel reached out and shook Steven's hand.
"Gabriel. Your skill with the sword impressed me earlier. We must duel sometime."
After what Gabriel had seen, the last thing he wanted was to be on the other side of this guy's sword.
"I'm sure-" Steven paused as he looked back up at the sky, "I'm sure you want an explanation for what happened earlier."
Whoa! Gabriel thought, This guy must be able to read my mind!
"However, now really isn't the time or place." Steven started to leave. "But trust me, soon you will know the truth." Steven walked off into the boys' dorm hall.
Well, that didn't help much, Gabriel thought as he watched the sun finally vanish over the horizon. What a day.
Chapter 3 - Steven's Journey
Later that night, Steven woke up and got out of bed. He got dressed quickly and walked towards the window. After checking that his roommates were still asleep, he unlatched the window and slid it open. He climbed onto the windowsill and then leaped out into the cool night air and did a flip in midair, landing softly on the front lawn. After a quick look around the darkened landscape, he ran towards the east wall of the grounds. Steven ran up to the wall and quickly ran his hand over its rough surface. His hand stopped on a small carving in the wall.
"Ah..." Steven stood back and reached out his hand towards the wall. A small orb of light appeared in his palm and illuminated the lines of the carving, which was a small symbol. The wall around the symbol began to disappear until there was a space big enough for Steven to walk through. He quickly stepped through the space just before the wall reappeared behind him. Steven looked back at the wall, then turned and started to walk into the forest. He walked for a few seconds but then abruptly stopped when he heard movement in the trees. He reached out his right arm and in a flash of light a sword appeared. He spun around and slashed with the sword, cutting through a tree. Steven heard his stalker run to escape the falling tree, but it was falling too quickly. A loud cry told Steven that his stalker had been caught under the tree.
"Why are you here?" Steven called out as he walked towards the man.
"Don't play stupid. You know what our leader wants." The man was wearing a mask and black clothes.
Steven walked up to the man and pointed his sword at him. "And you know what my Master requires of me." Steven reached down and yanked a stone off of a string around the man's neck. The man's body shattered into a million purple shards of light, and then vanished. Steven looked at the stone, which glowed purple, and then slipped it into his pocket. He looked around the dark forest, and then continued walking. He stayed alert now, listening for even the smallest sound.
Moments later, Steven stepped out into a large clearing and looked up into the sky. He saw the clouds break and a winged figure descend swiftly to the ground. The figure was a large man in a red cloak who landed in front of Steven and closed his wings.
"Master, I have completed your assignment." The man lowered his hood. His long hair was as white as Steven's.
"Not well enough, Michael." Steven reached into his pocket and withdrew the purple stone. He looked at it for a moment, and then threw it to the ground. "We can't let them get to any of the students. Especially Gabriel. They must already know that he's one of the Chosen. I want you to get your best warriors and make sure that this area is secure."
"Yes, Master. I will ensure your safety." Michael crushed the purple stone under his foot.
"Thank you, Michael. I will rely on you until the destined day comes." Steven looked up into the sky, which was just starting to clear. The moonlight shone down on Steven, who then smiled. "Until the destined day comes.”
*
The next morning as Gabriel and Roy were walking to their second period classes, Gabriel brought up Steven.
"The white-haired kid? You found him?" Roy didn't seem that interested.
"Yeah, he seems pretty cool. But I still didn't get any answers about what happened on the ship."
"Well, I still think that you're just losing your mind. But hey, that's just my opinion." Just as he finished his sentence, a girl walked by and Roy lost all interest in the conversation he was having with Gabriel. "Hey, I'll catch you later Gabe."
"See ya." Gabriel shook his head and continued his walk to class. It's always the same with him.
As Gabriel stepped out into the main lobby, his eyes caught on the large TV screen on the wall. There was a lady on the screen standing in front of mountains of stone rubble. "We're live at Destiny City, the site of what is believed to be a major terrorist attack."
"What?" Gabriel ran up to the screen. "What happened?!"
Suddenly, Steven burst in through the front doors. He looked around and saw Gabriel. "Gabriel! Did you hear?"
"Yeah... what's happening?"
"Classes are cancelled today. Come on, I've got a helicopter waiting."
"What?"
"A helicopter! Your dad was in Destiny City, right? Let's go!"
Gabriel thought for a minute, and then decided to go. "Alright! Let's go." He ran outside and climbed into the helicopter. After sitting down, Gabriel clicked his safety belt closed and looked over at Steven.
"Why are you going to Destiny City?"
"I've got business to take care of." Steven didn't seem like he was in the mood for conversation. He gazed off towards the north, towards Destiny City. The helicopter slowly lifted into the sky and Shadow Academy became smaller by the second as they headed out over the ocean towards Destiny City. As they got out further over the ocean, Steven stopped gazing into space for a moment and said, "So, do you know where your dad was during the attack?"
"I've got a pretty good idea." Gabriel knew his dad's office building pretty well, so he was sure he could find it even if it was a pile of rubble.
"That's good, so when we land-" Steven was cut off by a violent tremor that shook the helicopter. Steven unlatched his safety belt and stood up. "Don't move, Gabriel." He turned to the pilot and said something inaudibly. Then he stepped over to the door and opened it. Gabriel looked down to the sea and saw an enormous black dragon break the surface and rise up from the ocean.
"What is that?"
"That is your worst nightmare," Steven reached down to his pocket and pulled out a single card about the size of a trading card. "And I'm about to teach it a lesson." Steven held the card out and it began to glow brightly. Then there was total silence. Gabriel looked out the window to his left and saw a white beam descend from the sky. The beam began to slowly transform into a huge, fiery phoenix.
"Whoa," Gabriel whispered in amazement.
The phoenix opened its mouth and cried out, shattering the silence.
"Kaelix!" Steven called out to the phoenix. "Destroy the leviathan!"
The phoenix circled the helicopter and then dove down towards the beast. A blast of fire from the phoenix encircled the beast, trapping him. Then the phoenix flew down and unleashed one final blast of light, destroying the beast. Steven lowered the card and the phoenix flew back up into the clouds and vanished. Then Steven closed the door and sat down. "I know you have questions, but I just need you to trust me now."
Gabriel still didn't have any idea about what had just happened, but he felt he could trust Steven. "Okay. I trust you."
"That's a very wise choice. Look out the window."
The helicopter was landing slowly in the wreckage that was once Destiny City. Gabriel opened his door and jumped down. He looked out across the bleak landscape towards the building where his father worked, or what was left of it. He braced himself for the worst and began walking towards the rubble.
To be continued...