The Five
Created | Updated Apr 26, 2008
- a work of complete fiction by Taull42
Step 1
The news story was about some rebellion in the capital, small groups of armed criminals firing at city guards armed only with shields of steel and wood. They were obviously part of a much larger revolutionary group, the leader of which was unknown, but the group was renowned for being fierce in combat even when they had no firearms handy. A few were captured to be questioned but all committed suicide by stopping the beating of their hearts.
Sarah was folding laundry. The news was uninteresting to her, more of the same. She wondered why she still folded laundry, it was a foolish thing to do, for only to wear each article and wash it and fold it again. The same thing with dishes, which are washed, dried and put away by hand only to be eaten from by flatware the following meal. It was all cyclic and meaningless as more progress would be made by leaving what was out of flatware's reach upon the plate for microscopic life to dine upon and grow into something green, for that would be a new culture in the world, however lilliputian it may be.
The story changed. Newborns were being kidnapped. The mothers were what some tyrant-coward many years ago referred to as "aryan" - pale skin, blond hair, blue eyes. The reporter noted that these 'aryan' people were supposed to be vastly superior to all others, and that this person might be trying to make some kind of superhuman army.
Sarah found this much more interesting than the prior story, but surmised that it was a dream, that she was with her boyfriend that night, and that her hair was "dirty blond". She also assumed that being heterochromic would exempt any 'aryan-ness' that one blue eye gave her. Regardless of her conscious thoughts against what may have happened, the news report had the same effect as that of a gun, the latter kind had actually not been heard by Sarah in her lifetime, but suffice to say she was afraid.
The time came only a few months later, as in a blizzard of commotion Julian was born. He was of average weight and length and expressed his opinion about being removed from the sanctuary where he had been so content. His brother by several minutes was Marion, and upon sight of him the professionals were worried. Marion was significantly smaller than his brother, he could be called scrawny even. He expressed his discomfort in the new surroundings in more the manner of one sixteen years older being aroused too early for his liking. His calm attitude should have worn off on the doctors caring for him, who rushed around trying to make sure he was going to make it. He was in less danger of dying than most people, announced the doctor, but they were going to keep an eye on him just to make sure.
The moments flew by as trees or fence posts on a long car ride through Kansas, only with less pain in the buttocks and more interesting things to watch. A tall man in dark clothes appeared in the ward silently. Nobody noticed him save the child he was examining. He raised the boy up to eye level, The boy expressed disinterest in being disturbed as he just got through a terrible ordeal. The man disappeared with the boy and any records of his existence, and as silently as (if not more so than) he had arrived.
Step 2
Marion's jet black hair was tied back so as not to interfere with his concentration. His teacher was using an ancient trick of the arcane, and could not be seen, he could however be heard, smelled, felt, and have effects on objects.
The easy ones Marion got. His teacher rifled through his bag and put a pen on the table, he moved a cup about three inches, and (Marion assumed on purpose, regardless of it seeming otherwise) bumped into the sword rack. Marion knew that his teacher was somewhere behind him, which was to his advantage as a human, being that the generally thicker skin was on the back and that the ears are formed in such a way that means sounds from behind sound slightly louder than sounds in front. There was a foot tap. Marion lunged backward fifteen feet and grabbed the invisible wrist of his teacher.
Shocked by his pupil, the teacher lost his concentration and was visible again. Marion caught him after only an hour... ridiculously soon for a first-try student. Marion recited to the teacher every move he noticed the teacher make in the hour of concentration. Tea and headache medicine were served to both master and student, for an hour of concentration gave especially the younger one a pain.
Eventually the teacher would lead Marion to detect stealth through arcane means, fighting mystery with mystery. Marion longed for more than just this. This class was to keep Marion alive, not save the world. There was evil out there, Marion knew, and it was going to destroy humanity.
Marion's mother picked him up after class that day. Someday his teacher would permit him to fly home, but today the teacher did not realize Marion's affinity for flight. It got him in trouble a few times in school, notably for sports, in which he was no longer allowed to take part, along with his friend James who could teleport. The people involved in sports now had to have identified their power and learned to restrain it.
The "intellectuals" as they called themselves, watched the sports from the air, telekenetics holding themselves up by the pants, Marion levitating, and James repeatedly teleporting to the same spot until such time that Marion, on his left side, decided that they should retire to the bleachers. Marion's sister, named Julia after his still missing brother, was on fire, notably distant from the others as she cared for their lives (too much in Marion's opinion) flew off to put on more stylish clothes than the vented Kevlar she was forced to wear by her mother when she did such things.
Julian woke up. He woke up early because he hated the place he called home. Father came out and each child was at his room, bed made, dressed and ready for the day. Julian was first outside. Today was an odd day, possibly Tuesday or Thursday, as they feel particularly odd considering the scheduled events on given days and lack thereof. There had been an announcement of a special squad being formed the day before. Names were not given.
Julian was chosen in the middle of the five. He didn't take note of the other members, he deemed it unimportant at the time. The Five, as it was called so forth, would become infamous, notorious for their efficiency in slaughter.
Julian did not know he had a brother. Marion did not know what his missing brother looked like, but he didn't think of such often as he was in school most of the day and such activities as reading, writing and arithmetic took his mind away from any fantasies he might have of a more interesting sibling that he never met, possibly fighting off a gang of tigers in some jungled area of the world.
Father gave the order. The two-hundred ninety-five children not charged with further training loaded up in cars and vans and the like to overthrow the government. The government represented the highest achievement humans have made, which is somewhat pitiful if one ponders such ideas, but government allows, if not forces, humanity to be organized, and such was vastly preventing Father's job of extinguishing the horrid flame that humanity had become.
Father called it his job. In truth it was his goal in life. Nobody was paying him in respect or money for such a deed, in fact his prior 'employer' told him not to. Needless to say he resigned from that position.
When Marion got home, he remembered for the first time all day that it was his birthday. He didn't expect anything from his parents, as they were not together, if that's what it could have been called when his father married his mother after the 'guess what? surprise!' incident, they disagreed on almost everything, then they separated later that month.
His mother, in a typical mother-like fashion got him something that he could use, something that he didn't want, and something that he hoped with all his heart and soul he would get. Naturally, as it was difficult to imagine anything more he needed, he was surprised to be getting anything, especially from his mother. The first thing he unwrapped was a white traveling cloak. It was an indeed handy thing to have, and it was warm when he put it on. Cloaks were goofy to wear and went out of style approximately five-hundred years earlier. The second thing was a simple knife of his grandfather's, it was very plain and had one blade, the blade was very dull from use and worn down by the sharpening stone, likely the very same he saw in his grandfather's workshop when he would be dissatisfied with the edge of a draw-knife or plane. The third gift purred when he touched the large, newspaper wrappings. It couldn't have been in there five minutes and still be happy, so Marion hurriedly opened the box. The cat was huge. His mother announced that it was born just a few months prior. Cats had a long life expectancy now that scientists had started messing with genes and whatnot, so this cat could grow up to be of ridable size.
His father, being rather detached from the child's wants and needs and knowing only that the boy was a boy and remembered his own feelings as a boy, his own unsatisfied, wanton wishes. Surprisingly, such a gift given in humility can be more meaningful than a warm, white traveling cloak or family heirloom, or best friend. In a way his father's gift was both an heirloom and would become his best friend. Marion's great-grandfather presented his father with it as many years before, but being that his dependence upon a weapon for survival was very low in the security of society, a sword was almost shunned by the generation. The sword was a fine sword, the steel had a hint of gold and red throughout the dull blade and as he brandished it for the first time, almost playfully, it shone in the sun as though the source of light had misplaced itself and was suddenly in the blade emanating from it rather than the west where it was supposed to be setting. Marion did not initially notice the red and gold in the blade's color due to the time of day at which he held out his sword. Marion liked thinking that, his sword...
Today was Julian's birthday. Nobody knew except Father. Father made no motion of the fact until late that evening. He presented himself unexpectedly to Julian, which, as all things unexpected tend to do, surprised him. Father told Julian to be calm and that he was only here on the eighteenth anniversary of Julian's birth. Father presented Julian a sword. The sword was freshly made, Julian did note that it was indeed hot, from being worked or from being stored, he could not determine. The blade glimmered lightly reflecting the yellow bulb lighting the room, it was a silver blade, flat, sharp, plain. Julian imagined nothing but death coming from such a gift, herein being some irony in his own life, whether he could call his life his own or not was a different question altogether, however one he didn't dare entertain in the presence of Father. Julian thanked Father for the gift, however half-heartedly. Father left his child to his doings, for soon he would be tasked with breaking-in the sword so to speak.
Julian's mother remembered him on this day. Sarah cried. She wondered how it might be possible that Julian was still alive, a small part of her, taken so far away from the whole, for so long... it didn't seem fair.
Step 3
The news spread rather slowly that there was no more government. The children killed the heads of state, the next in line down as far as the government would define such things. Father did not dare declare himself ruler of the free world, first of all because there would be folly in declaring himself ruler due to the assassination attempts which would inevitably follow directly, but also that he did not think the world in itself was free. They were slaves to fear, Slaves to the now useless monetary currency which stood for more goods than were available, Slaves to other people, Slaves to drugs, and especially Slaves to War.
When news of the massacre reached larger cities, it started spreading more quickly. Smiths started making more swords, axes, shields, plate armor. Those formerly labeled "renaissance nerds" were most prepared. Electricity kept flowing, people knew not why. Radios eventually allowed the further inland to know of the resident anarchy. Marion's job was to defend his mother and sister. Marion thought he looked rather skinny to be defending anyone really, but he promised that he would do his best, argued that his sister didn't need protecting, and that it was silly to think that anyone would think ill of any of them.
Marion's lessons were teaching him how to stay alive himself, not how to work a sword or defend others. He decided that the blade did not cut his hand when he tested it so it was probably very dull. He started working on the edge. He got a stick of similar size and distribution and practiced with it in the large, unused part of his mother's house.
One day, soon after the coup, he was practicing swinging, jabbing, etc. and he sensed something. He reached behind him and found that he was holding the throat of his best friend, James. Shortly after releasing said hold, he found out that the telekenetics were on their way, and that they seemed to think that things were much worse outside the small realm of Marion's house. Julia, of course, was pleased to see James. The telekenetics arrived at two different doors at once. James would not allow Sarah, Marion or Julia to answer either, being under the suspicion that someone was trying to kill one of them, and that even without such a threat, it would be wise to exercise caution when answering ones' doors. Upon the presentation of the proper password, Peter and Simon were permitted into the residence. James saw that Marion had through some means, acquired a sword. James did not inquire on the subject because he knew Marion's birthday had been recent and that James hadn't gotten him anything. James instead commented on how he, Peter and Simon should acquire weapons as well.
Julian woke up. He did this often because he slept often and in short intervals. Father didn't seem to know that growing young men needed to rest in order to rejuvenate their strength. Julian was trying to figure out what his gift was. It had been recently discovered or invented that all humanoid life had some kind of gift, a gift of power. Julian didn't especially want power. Julian could not define what he wanted, for he knew not words like freedom and liberty and justice and love. He decided to examine his birthday gift a little more. He took it outside. The sun shone brightly to the east - it was still morning. Julian unsheathed the blade. He did not like how it felt light in his hands and heavy in its sheath. It was very evident, even through Julian's haze of awakening, that there was indeed a right end and a wrong end to this sword, and that it would be obvious to anyone whose life was about to be ended by it that they were on the wrong end.
Paul rapped persistently on Julian's door. Julian called to him from behind the building. Paul, after recovering from a slight confusion, went down to speak with Julian. Paul was one of The Five, first chosen, first called out, and naturally was supposed to be the leader of The Five. Paul was intelligent, incredibly so, yet he craved power for the purpose of fulfilling his master's wishes. Julian wasn't allowed an opinion of Paul. If he disliked Paul, he might then ignore Paul's orders, if he respected Paul, he may make illogical decisions in favor of Paul's life. Since Julian indeed disliked Paul naturally, he decided that respecting Paul would cancel out disliking him, and he would be free of blame. Paul wanted to get the Five together to train more officially. When Paul approached Julian, Julian began to have a headache. Sleeping very little usually did not affect him so, but that was what he dismissed it as.
The next day was the training. They ran first of all. Paul made them run quickly, but each member enjoyed the challenge. After running they practiced with swords, with axes, with shields. Nobody was seriously injured, but Julian was sore all over. Upon complaining, Lindsay suggested that he be examined by the physician, as none of the rest of the Five felt any sort of pain at all. Lindsay was second called of the Five. Julian fancied her, but he did not know what this feeling meant.
The physician saw nothing that should be causing Julian to feel pain. The physician pinched Julian. Julian recoiled, an expected reaction. The physician pondered for a while. The physician had received news of such things as the latest generation developing some superhuman abilities. The physician pinched himself in a different place than he had pinched Julian. Julian recoiled. The doctor seemed to be thinking even more. Julian felt odd now, not pained, but odd. The Doctor felt odd as well, as he did not feel the pinch. Julian was told he had some kind of Power that allowed him to “sponge pain” from other people.
Father saw this as an obstacle. He sent Julian to seek more power, other powers. He must seek the powers alone and he must seek them quickly. Julian knew not of any power except within one's self. Father told him of Gods and of other 'races' of humanoid beings which may possess greater power than his angel/human hybrid. Julian sought the God of Death.
Marion needed to find weapons for his friends. Charging them to protect his mother and sister (and telling his mother to keep his sister under due control) he left on wings of his mind. He saw the entire world in one trip. He sought out every blacksmith he had ever read about. Several were hermits, living alone in deserted areas, the most infamous of which lived very, very far north. North was cold and dark. The sun did not shine as much on the north end of the world because it was 'cursed' land. There was a bladesmith there known only as Hermit. He told Marion that he would gladly present him with a mystical blade or two if Marion would bring him the mystical elements of them. Marion knew he had very little time for such folly, but that a blade of mystical quality was... unheard of to Marion's knowledge. Hermit pointed at Marion's blade and complimented its craftsmanship as being beyond his own ability. Marion decided that the mystical elements of the blade of which Hermit spoke were not so rare, and that moving so much as to collect them would warm him a bit. Hermit asked for the peak of the highest mountain in the world. Marion hadn't ventured so high before, but he made such an effort and reached the peak, an oddly thin point upon which no man could probably stand without fear of being impaled through his feet. Marion took the tip of the world and brought it to Hermit. Surprised at the proficiency of Marion at the task given, the blacksmith had barely time to gather other materials he needed for the blade. He forged and worked the steel into two axes. Hermit told Marion that the axes would attach to the first person to use them for their intended purpose. Marion took the term "attach" here to mean physical, painful attachment to worked steel. Hermit assured him it would not be either of those, but that the blades would feel weaker in the hands of one they were ineffectual toward, and that if the love was left unrequited, it may lead to the subject's death. Marion thought of the blades falling suddenly in love with his sister, and becoming jealous of James would kill them both. He decided that Peter or Simon should have them... or maybe not...
Marion thought he was heading south, into warmer weather, when actually his bearing was almost due west. He saw a dark spot on the ground below him, landed and inspected it. The spot turned out to be a black and winding staircase. The staircase turned into darkness. Feeling fear for the first time in his life, he drew his sword, and instantly the room was brighter. His sword was glowing. It was not glowing as a candle or lantern or raw bulb does, but the side away from Marion was glowing, allowing him to see into the darkness which now held him prisoner, without blinding him. Marion realized that he was floating along the hallway for the first time when there was no floor beneath him to see whatsoever. He floated on through a labyrinth of black halls until he came to a torch on the wall. This was the first of a series which led as those in some archaic crypt, to what was obviously very unhealthy for the one following them.
Julian knew he must have made a wrong turn somewhere. It was dark. Very dark indeed, but wait, what was that? A torch. Shoeprints in the dust indicated that someone was there quite recently - too recently, but they ended suddenly – too suddenly.
Marion saw the towering God of Death in a moment he would later reflect on as an important moment in his life. The God acknowledged Marion's presence by asking what he wanted.
Julian reached the dwelling of the God in time to hear the question, and thinking it was himself to which the question referred, he responded with "power" as his brother did the same.
Marion looked, surprised that his own echo resounded so quickly, and saw himself, only he was different. Marion did not remember his mirror having such pale skin, or white hair. Seconds passed before Marion realized that this, surely was his lost brother, and that the god, having the aura of a genie granting wishes or the driver of a hearse, concluded that the other self he saw must have been dead.
If Marion was confused by the presence of another self, Julian was shocked. Julian wondered why he would beat himself to finding power that he did not wish to find.
The Death God now addressed them both. To Marion of the blades which he sought, to Julian of the power he sought. They both felt themselves become weightless. Marion suddenly was flooded in pain. Marion felt his own pain as part of his mind was ripped from the rest and put into his brother, and Julian remained painless, relaxing in the embrace of death itself. Marion felt an itching in his shoulders, lower back and forehead. Julian felt the same. Ensued scratching, tails, wings, horns sprouting from the places. The God then separated them by sending Julian back to the colony and Marion to the home of the next blacksmith from which he would attempt to beguile a blade.
Marion felt odd. He felt confused at his surroundings, as he was only moments ago in total darkness. He now felt his wings and tail. Why did he have wings and a tail? He had never seen anyone else with wings and a tail, save the brother he only recently saw for the first time. Was that his brother or just a look alike? He was unsure, but what he was sure of was that his new, evilesque augmentations would prove to be more than a bump in his next task.
Father was only somewhat satisfied with Julian at changing his useless power into one that was redundant with the wings and tail that the God of Death had forced upon him. The horns, however did have their... look that they gave him... and looking threatening would aid him in some aspects of his new job. Father charged Julian now to seek a different god, possibly an elemental god, from which to draw power.
The Blacksmith came to the door to see what some 'demon' was doing in her back yard. Upon sight of her, Marion tried to act as politely as possible. She came at him with her personal sword drawn. Marion drew his own. Steel touched steel with a light whine. She swung at him, he caught her blade halfway to his neck, and sensing something that he could not define, spread his wings involuntarily, pushing the two apart, disarming the female and surprising the male. Marion knelt before the blacksmith. She questioned him as to why he was tormenting her, and he explained that he only wanted blades with which his friends could defend themselves. She seemed very open to the idea. She beckoned him to follow her into the shop, and as he did so he realized that on his head were horns. Horns! He did have an evilesque appearance...
The blacksmith introduced herself as Al. Marion snorted. She reintroduced herself as Alexandria Smith, and commented that he probably had some portly plumber's name as well. He introduced himself. She smiled humbly and inquired how many blades and of what kind he wanted.
Of course he wanted rare blades, why else would someone travel so far south, even if by wing... this man... or demon... was strange. If he was a demon, why not take normal blades and possess them? If he was a demon, how could he have friends? She happened to have rare materials, it was actually why she lived so far south of the nearest civilization, the desert was untouched by any other human in the world.
This thing, this Demon-man was not expected to pay for the blades, even as rare and mystical as they were. Marion inquired as to how he repay his nonexistent debt. Al, surprised at this, had no answer. She needed nothing, not anymore at least. He insisted that there must be something she needed. He also noted that he was in very little pain compared to the room with his doppel-ganger. There was something odd about her, he thought, but he didn't quite know what...
She made the blades in the daytime. Marion tried to get used to his wings. For the first time, he wondered what his friends would say when he returned with such an incredible change after only four days. The desert was hot, evidence rising in waving patterns above the golden sand. This was why he had left the Cloak, the two axes and his Communication Device (CD for short, prior generations called them 'phones' but that was too general a term for the intellectuals) in his bag. He only now realized that he had become a monster. His friends and family, no matter how much they loved him before, could not possibly accept him now. He was now something different, something scary that little kids would run away from and scream at the sight of.
He tested his wings. He assumed the wings would allow him to fly, otherwise what good would it do to have wings? His wings were covered in scales, as those of the mythical dragon. He was frustrated. If he were not so dehydrated, he would cry. Dehydrated... water... there was no water in Al's house... He pondered this so much that he barely realized that he was flying. Marion was no stranger to flying, but this was the first time he would be flying by normal means. He flew back to Al's house. The cool atmosphere of his current altitude was missed as soon as he left it.
Al was taking a break, strange dust of many sorts littered the floor, One sword was done, it was short compared to Marion's and had a bluish hue to the steel. Marion asked about water. Al's response was even stranger than he had expected. Al explained that she had not had any food nor water since it happened, her voice trailing off at the end implying that asking what happened was the wrong thing to do. Marion asked. Alexandria Smith explained that she was dead, though plainly he could see her standing there. She did not smell of rotting flesh nor feel too cold, in fact prior to knowing the fact Marion couldn't help but fancy her a bit. This did not cease with the knowledge of the fact, as it did not sink in entirely at the time. Al seemed sadder now, recalling, she died of some kind of plague, she remembered flying as though on a current of liquid air, looking down and seeing a large dark square on the ground. Then she woke up, feeling odd, as though nothing was wrong. Everything, she would find in the next few seconds, was wrong. She was not buried. She was not herself. She was in somebody else's body. This was why, Marion guessed, she had been so welcoming of him. Any living person would not have challenged him to a fair fight.
The story made her sad. She sobbed dryly, Marion comforted her as best he could. She could feel very little through her magical bonds to her body, but she did feel his embrace. She did not especially feel that Marion was sharing a genuine compassion for her, so much as she felt that she was a disgrace to all things living, even to him, a demon.
It occurred to Marion that she did not know of the goings on in the world. Al went back to work, but Marion stayed with her. He explained that there was no more government, at which she rejoiced. He decided that this range of emotions was enough for a girl, even an undead girl, and that he was desperately thirsty. He asked where the nearest water was, and she said it was about three hundred miles. She said it casually over the pinging of her hammer on the hot ingot. He wondered if he heard her correctly, as the pinging was quite loud. She repeated. The nearest water was three hundred miles away. Bearing 14 degrees. Marion flew off, even at such risk.
Julian reached the edge of the crater with surprising ease, even for one flying about. At the center of the crater was a small orb, which brought Julian to a place much like where he met the God of Death when he touched it. This place was of dark granite giving more reflection for his eyes to see. The Goddess of Fire rose into the room. She seemed friendlier than the Death God at first, but upon seeing the influence death had on Julian, she knew what Julian wanted. Power was hers to use, to lend, but not to give. Julian made a rude remark about the Fire Goddess' weight, and was shortly teleported back to the crater from which the mysterious orb carried him. Julian was in immense pain. His wings were gone. His tail was gone. Dead weight already, but he now knew the old phrase about a woman scorned was true. Crackling noises emanated from the stubs where his wings and tail had been. He knew not whether they were burned, part of the atmosphere, or simply seared off, a trophy for the angry Goddess.
Julian lay there smoldering for nearly an hour before he decided that his wings were now of lower temperature than the desert in which he lay, leading logic to point to it being his time to go. He floated. He realized how much he was used to his wings for balance now. He had them maybe four days... probably less, and they had become part of him. Julian didn't know how old eighteen years was, but he knew that Paul was much older, maybe a year even, and that Lindsay was younger. Father must be at least two years older than Julian... yes, two years was quite a while.
Marion found water. Marion drank, deeply satisfying his thirst. He knew that it was too late to drink his suggested amount for the day, lest he get sick, so he filled nearby vessels and brought them back to Al's house.
Finally with enough energy to pay attention, Al's house was a small, gray house with Vinyl siding that didn't ever need to be painted and Plastic windows which were introduced as an alternative to glass shortly before the gun-ban because the plastic was supposed to be more resistant to bullets. Al did not know anything about the house. Al had never lived in the house. Al never tried to return to society. Society wasn't ready for something like her, she claimed, not yet. She was an abomination to life itself, which society was also not ready for. Marion briefly considered the thought of his own house, it had brown panels on the siding, but he hadn't ever taken the time to notice exactly what they were. Steel? Aluminum? Wood? He did not know, he did remember his friends, promising to defend it to the best of their ability until he returned, and his cat, which promised to be as annoying to his friends and sister as possible.
Marion dined and slept. Al went out to collect odd little desert rocks. Al's life consisted of this, Collecting rocks, refining the metals in them, disregarding the useless parts, making them into ingots, combining ingots to make alloys, etc. until someone came along looking for the best swords in the world. Marion dreamed of her, of his friends, of his cat, finally of his mother and sister, of his doppel-ganger. Indeed a stressful five days he had.
Marion awoke to silence. She must have finished the blades. He looked, and not only were there blades, but armor plating for a humanoid with wings and a tail about Marion's size. It was a pale greyish blue. Marion looked around the shack, there was no sign of Al around, except for a note. The note said something about the armor being a nice combination of rugged magical desert cacti and will power, something about how she would enjoy meeting Marion again, but some moss is only available certain days of the month due to some lunar cycle and she must be collecting them the day that Marion left, and that however he must leave, her heart would go with him.
He arrived home on the tenth day after he left. His journey made him weary for the three hundred miles to water was less than halfway to his home. He rested at some unsuspecting town north of the watering hole. He wasn't approached by anyone, but his tired figure was photographed from across the street. He crashed through his back porch around 5 o'afternoon. Julia ran to the back door, reaching it as Marion was standing himself up from the fall. He remembered to brace himself, and was lucky he learned to do so in the desert, for setting a leg was difficult for a Dr. Mom. Julia didn't recognize him. She ran for the guys. Cat came out the door which Julia had left open in her panic. Cat recognized its owner and, being all-a-pur, enjoyed it's friend's gauntleted patting. Marion decided that it was best to wait for the boys to return than to just walk into the house. Girls were panicky, the boys would trust him a lot more once they recognized him. It was a boy cat. Marion decided that Cat was as good a name as he could think of.
Horns? Wings? Silly girl. Good Gods! It's Marion! He's got horns and wings! Peter was the first human to recognize him. Simon was the first human to ask what happened. Julia was still afraid of him. Marion finished the story, excluded most of the part about Al, and asked for news of his home. His mother was upstairs, as afraid as Julia was and less able to rush around.
Marion presented the blades. James waited patiently as Marion handed his first blades at Julia, who was still cowering, and wound up setting them on the bench and shoving them toward her. He handed a nicely made longsword to Simon, and a battle-axe to Peter. Finally, he drew out the twin axes. James counted people. James counted people again. James look went from 'confused' to 'ecstatic and confused'. The axes were ornate to say the least, one had a blade which came as a hatchet out from the end of the handle and curved, more finely though and came down to the grip, then the back curve was exaggerated to accommodate. The other axe was obviously made for killing, its edge was concave, the handle much shorter and guarded by the blade itself. James tightened his grip on the blades and felt powerful. The blades felt home here, they had found their master. In a smoother motion than any of the boys had ever seen her make, Julia grabbed her gifts and retreated to the indoors to cower, they assumed.
With her gone, Marion could ask more intimate questions of his four best friends. Cat did little in the way of answering, and seemed more content on licking its forepaws. James however, before Marion could begin this second tier of questions, insisted with a tone of sincerity that Cat was the only one who slept with Marion's sister, and that he sincerely doubted that they did anything, as generally cats don't go for inter-species breeding. Marion, James and Simon laughed. Peter did not laugh. Peter stared at the sky in horror.
Julian looked down at the house. He was not angry. He wondered why exactly he was supposed to kill this woman. Julian saw with his trained eyes that the four on the porch were not the woman whom he was supposed to be killing, but that they would probably represent a significant impedance. Julian's arms were crossed. The stubs where his wings and tail once were twitched involuntarily. He decided that the phrase "get on with it" best described what he was feeling at that time. He did.
The four on the porch went inside hurriedly, each drawing their weapons for the first time out of true necessity. They ran up to the girls, warning them of the strange flying thing. Marion was too tired for this. His power of flight was gone. The thing in the sky... had horns... Marion's twin had horns. Why was he here?
The ceiling crashed down in a mess of fiberglass insulation and drywall and shingles and lumber. Julian levitated slowly into the room. James and Julia both looked ready for anything, while Peter, Simon and Marion looked tired and Marion especially, wizened.
Julian reached into the air in front of him as a dying person, or one on psychoactive drugs does, only he pulled a sword from the sheath of air that he had reached for. James was getting itchy. Marion and Peter brandished their swords before themselves, but Marion was only a few weeks ahead of the other four in practice, and they had none.
Julian charged at Marion. Marion parried in one of the fastest moves he had ever made. Marion jumped high, pushing his twin into the ceiling. Marion was angry. Julian was getting there. Julia lit her feet, a more controlled way of flying; she saw the need for her to help her freak brother out. Julian pushed Marion back down, breaking a table with his heavy armor. Julia shot fire from her hand for the second time in her life, the first had been on accident. This fire was much, much more powerful than that accidental flame wave in Geometry class. The flame searing Julian's hair from across the room brought back bad memories. Julian was angry for the first time.
Julian roared more fiercely than any forest bear or jungle cat could hope to. He charged now at Julia, and for the first time she saw his face, that of her brother. She was taken aback, even if she had possessed the coordination to protect herself, she would have lacked the conscious capacity. James thought quickly. Marion thought slowly. Simon thought more quickly than any of the others and telekenetically separated Julia and Julian. The effort this took was monstrous and the others were so surprised by the sudden action that none of them could think to act. Julian now had fiery wings and tail sprouting forth from the stubs which the fire god had reduced them to. Julian was furious. As he broke through the mental barrier put up by Simon, James teleported between the monster and the damsel in distress, receiving a blade in his belly, and rescuing the aforementioned damsel, teleported away to safety. The breaking of the barrier killed Simon, his body slumping awkwardly backward, eyes closed. Marion was overcome with pain, though he didn't know why.
Peter saw his cousin there, dead, Peter was now furious. Marion was confused. Finally Julian threw Peter against the wall behind, knocking the object unconscious. Julian turned, strode down the hallway, the flame fading from his back and posterior. He said something in an unknown tongue, and with a resonating 'shink' completed the task for which he was sent there. He was calm now. He felt bad. He had done something awful. He flew to the only home he knew.
Marion's pain faded. He ran to Peter's side, he was alive, but his mind was not in this world. Objects around the room began floating arbitrarily, though Marion could not discern if it was Peter or Simon's doing, but soon he was led to believe that it was Peter, because Simon was conclusively dead. Cat now came from his hiding spot and instinctively avoided the dead in the hallway. Marion walked into the next room, and was already crying.
Recovering from the traumatic events, he realized that James might be injured. Peter would survive, but James... prior to discovering how to control his power James would frequently wake up on some island he visited in elementary school. Marion hoped James was able to keep a clear mind under the situation. Marion's lack of confidence was mocked by James upon learning of such thoughts, but Marion now pointed out that there were much more pressing issues at hand.
Julian felt horrible. Julian had killed a person, and why? Because he had been told to. Did she deserve to die? Did anyone deserve to die? Julian cried, his pale, thin frame shuddering between sobs. When he recomposed himself, he decided that Father would not treat reluctance well. Julian flew home to share the good news.
The car would not go any faster. Peter was still unconscious, James was still bleeding. Were there still Hospitals? Maybe they had not been destroyed for mutual feelings of brotherhood or fear of retribution... There is one!
The medics rushed out, assessed the situation and took James first. Next they took in Peter, and finally Julia and Marion.
Julia had nothing wrong per se, Peter was simply comatose, James would require religious aid in addition to his medical attention, and Marion was put in the special needs wing.
Peter woke up after about a week, at which time James was feeling better, Julia was feeling worse, and Marion was feeling absolutely awful.
The doctors assessed Marion's wings, horns and tail as being cancerous. They would spread to other parts of his body, possibly mutating existing limbs or possibly growing even stranger limbs. The cancer produced hormones which made his muscles and bones stronger and made his adrenaline glands produce a more powerful substance.
The hospital also assessed Marion's 'gift' as being the most useful they had ever seen. Marion 'got' to accompany various amputations and painful surgeries until eventually he became angry and his pain-stealing ability reversed in the middle of a leg amputation, causing the leg pain to go through everyone in the vicinity. This basically caused the doctors to decide not to use people as pain-killers.
Shiny medals with ribbons. Julian liked the shiny medals and streaming ribbons, but realized what they were for and decided that the shiny medals were not worth it. He could not leave the compound of his own accord. Paul had tried this and Father had killed him. A long story short, Paul's soul had to fight through hell to get back to his body, which, he claimed, did not feel the same the second time through. Julian did not know much about death, but he knew that he did not want to die. He knew Paul had come back, but he had also heard tales of people dying and staying dead. Would the woman he had killed come back?
James was not allowed to leave the bed still, because he had stitches holding some of his insides together and holding his insides in. Julia was worried about Marion, after all it had been a week since she had seen him. Peter meandered into the hospital room clutching a bag of ice to his head, and Julia ran excitedly to him, promptly asking if he had seen her brother.
Marion's doctors finally identified the cancer as being inoperable, but also not particularly deadly. If the cancer would cause him to die (without changing drastically) it would be indirect.
Marion returned to his friends, but did not tell them of the horrible pain he had felt in the amputation wing, or of the nature of his mutations. Surprisingly they did not ask, which Marion attributed to having very understanding friends, though apathy could also have been the culprit.
For the first time all week it occurred to the four remaining that they had lost a friend. Simon's body had been left at the house, as well as Marion and Julia's mother's body. Julia was finally informed of her mother's death. Marion, whom had been remaining detached from the sorrow caused by his guardian's death, wept with her. Cat, waking up from a nap, realized Marion's return and pounced on him playfully.
The four were allowed to sleep in the same room, and beds were provided for Julia, Marion and Peter. Marion noted that the hospitals were better-staffed now than they were before all this chaos happened.
The next day, before the three healthy ones awoke, James was taken in to get his stitchings removed and blessed. Marion did not panic upon noticing that his friend was missing, but instead looked for food. The hospital, historically, did not have very good food. Marion was now eighteen years old with cancer, no guardians (his father was disallowed such a title), one less friend than a week ago, and was hungry. Finding a snack machine (the best choice for taste) he brought breakfast back for his sister and friends. Cat sniffed the jerky with distaste, but seeing that everyone else was eating it with little complaint, he decided that he was hungry enough to scarf down the meal provided.
James hobbled back in, not entirely trusting of his new belly, but Marion noted that he was not in pain. Peter finally looked around the room and at his friends enough to wonder where their weapons went. The hospital would not allow weapons to be within wieldable range of their owners, so they locked them in a safe in the entrance hallway. James noted that he could probably still get his, as they teleported with him during the encounter with the “evil twin” of Marion.
Julian was sent on more missions. Several in the brotherhood had been killed during the initial usurpation, but nonetheless the remaining members had to finish the job. Organizations besides the government were torn apart, primary members slaughtered, buildings burned. Many of the hospitals were defended as though fortresses, almost a new government built so soon after the fall.
Julian's missions were those of the highest importance and difficulty. Paul, having learned his lesson last time, became a devout follower of Father, and completed his tasks hastily and zealously. Lindsay's behavior was more friendly toward Julian, in spite of Father's warnings of respect and love being evil.
Alarms sounded. Marion awoke. Cat awoke. James awoke. Peter awoke. Julia was not there. James and Marion worried. Marion introduced the idea of gathering their weapons back in order to quell whatever caused such alarm. James agreed. Peter felt a bit left out, but followed anyway. Cat didn't have weapons, but stalked off to find Julia.
A fireball flew down the hallway. Either somebody was experimenting with flammable projectiles, or Julia was nearby. Cat ran in the direction from which the fire came. Marion ran forward, down the hallway to the lockers. James followed Cat, accidentally teleported, and found his axes at his belt. Peter followed Marion, after a very tearing decision involving a ceiling collapsing. Marion and Peter acquired their weapons and looped around to find Julia and James heading off fifteen or so tall, blond haired people. Peter saw what appeared to be a gigantic snowball hurling toward the two and, thinking quickly, put a telepathic shield between the snowball and his friends.
Marion knew what was going on. Marion stepped in front. Julia and James uttered simultaneous thanks to Peter, whose welcoming was muted by another crash. Hospital guards burst down a door, breaking the concentration of the strange intruders, whom appeared to be casting more snowballs. The shield-bearing guards pushed the intruders out of the hospital and into the parking lot. One of the intruders drew a sword. Marion lunged at it. The intruder was caught off-guard. Marion's sword plunged into the chest cavity of the very surprised criminal. Marion grabbed his adversary's sword with his left hand and wrenched it away. Marion's chest hurt. The intruder fell, limp, at Marion's feet. Marion's chest hurt no more. The other intruders looked in awe at Marion.
Feeling strange, which was not uncommon given that he had horns, wings and a tail, Marion spread his wings, raised his sword, and roared at the intruders. One of them caught fire. Marion thought for a few seconds.
Marion could feel pain from others instead of them feeling it... so could then...
Marion stepped between a burst of lightning and James, then relaxed everything he could feel, and concentrated on the particular adversary whom was currently trying to electrocute his friend. The one who cast the spell writhed in pain, flailing hazardously on the ground, even though the electricity was coursing through Marion's body. Another enemy saw what was happening and threw one of the magical snowballs at him. Marion knew now how to use his power against others. He focused on all of the enemies. Little did he know, for his eyes were closed, that they were returning the favor. Little did they know that what they were about to do would make them feel very stupid.
Marion felt the cold briefly, then one enemy turned blue and collapsed. Marion felt dirt and debris being blown into him, briefly, then another enemy started scratching himself all over, failing to relieve the small pains growing ever more intense, then collapsed in frustration and pain.
James, Peter, Julia, The Guards, and the ever-timid Cat were amazed at what was going on. The remaining ten enemies were afraid of what was going on. Everyone ran. The enemies managed to drag the three in anguish to the van in which they arrived before being mauled by thirty or so shields, axes, swords and the like. Marion now noticed the sword he was holding in his left hand. It was not ornate at all. This, he thought, was a tool of death. He liked it, and didn't like it. The handle was able to slide along the blade and lock in place to give any combination of two blades, or simply one blade. The guards thanked them for their help, rather timidly, and stated plainly that no chances could be taken and they would have to leave their weapons again.
Marion now understood. The weapons were a trust issue. The guards did not trust the patients and visitors to be sane or moral, and the patients and visitors would have to trust the guards with their lives... for the most part.
Julian was called into Father's office. Lindsay was called into Father's office. They were informed that a fifteen member team had failed to infiltrate a hospital, but the defenses appeared to be weakened. Ten of them had fled in fear, three were unconscious from pain and expected to part with this world soon, and two had done so on the scene.
Julian was to take out his mirror while Lindsay distracted everyone else. That sounded easy enough. Lindsay's power appeared to be that of healing. While Father constantly denied its usefulness, it was proven otherwise. Lindsay's weapon of choice was the Tri-staff, like nunchaku stuck together. Julian realized that only certain members of the Brotherhood received swords like his en route to the hospital/fortress, talking with Lindsay about strategy. The driver was silent
Julian knew some magic, mostly telekinesis. Lindsay was an expert in telekinetic magic, but was by no means gifted in it. Sometimes spells would fizzle when not properly concentrated upon. The enemy, as reported, did not suffer from this. The enemy could also move organics with his, making him a much bigger threat than merely knowing telekinesis. Another enemy appeared to have fire magic, which would be interesting to deal with. The two remaining showed no visual display of magic, but excruciating pain led all of one of the more experienced groups to flee. Julian wondered about this, remembering his old power. Lindsay commented that the two without powers were probably the most dangerous. Julian agreed, mostly because Lindsay outranked him, but after actually thinking about the statement, decided that he actually did agree.
They were here. The guards, as usual, were waiting by the door. The alarms, as usual, were blaring. The monster stepped out from the van first, offering his hand to the lady who followed.
Lindsay's strategy was to scare the guards, which was not very effective as they were protected with steel plating and shields, were not very much affected by her tri-staff. Julian lunged, piercing the nearest guardian's shield and chest-plate, and chest. He retrieved his sword, modified its blade-proportion, and took into another guardian. He thrust the short end into the shield and pulled it upward and away, twisting around to stab the long end into the man's chest. He pulled the shield off, angrily, and tossed it with vigor at one of the combatants against Lindsay, knocking him over. The other guardian bashed her with his shield, and now on the ground lay two disoriented combatants. Julian lunged at the guardian left standing while Lindsay (now weaponless) and the disoriented guardian (now shieldless) began unarmed combat.
Julian put away his sword, and picked up two shields to feel their weight and wieldiness. He then practiced the bashing technique on the remaining guardian's head. The remaining guardian flew past Lindsay, hit the ground helm-first and rolled over.
Marion's doctor informed him that he should be in severe pain. Marion agreed with the doctor, and for a bit, forgot about the invaders. The doctor noted electrical burns, light shock, and small scratches on his wings, tail and face, full of debris. Marion hurt, once again.
The alarm sounded again. Marion stood up. Marion's doctor yelled at Marion for doing so. Marion sat down. The doctor instructed him to take off the plate armor covering his legs. Marion looked down. It was only now that he realized that he had left his chest-plate, arm-plates and gauntlets in James' hospital room, because he had taken them off to sleep. His leg-plates were still on, and scratched from the debris which had harmed his face and wings.
Peter felt odd. It was not odd, anymore, to feel odd, however, Peter felt particularly odd. He wanted to help Marion because that's what a good friend would do, but he also wanted to help Julia because that's what a good man would do. Peter then remembered that he was only recently old enough to be considered a man and that he was nowhere near mature enough for such a call to be made. It then occurred to Peter that the best way to help Marion was to help Julia to keep the hospital safe, and hurried off to do his part.
Peter was oddly thin for the axe that he carried. It was about five feet in total length and was similar in design to James' two axes, only one-half of the axe-head was concave and the other convex. Peter used his telekinesis to lift the axe most of the time, as well as lifting other heavy objects. Peter didn't talk much. Peter had only said one word since his cousin and friend, Simon, had died; 'Welcome', and it had been covered by more hectic noises, however nobody had noticed how little he was talking because it was not much less than usual.
James and Julia were not very far ahead of Peter. The door had been left shut. More guardians poured out of the adjacent door and into the door to outside. Peter ran faster. James and Julia followed the guards outside, where there was already a fairly intense battle going on. Unconscious or dead bodies lay all around the parking lot. The guardians had now brought batons to assist them, but the two opponents specialized in death, so such precautions were to no avail.
Julian recognized them, pointed, and lunged. He did not miss, he was sure of it, but he did not hit his target as intended. His target was directly behind him, smiling wryly. Julian hated that smile. Julian lunged again, and the same series of events happened, only this time followed by two axes hitting him in the back.
James, not wanting to get stabbed in the stomach again (the “blessing” part of recovery was particularly traumatizing), teleported back and away after this initial strike.
Julian did not like being out-maneuvered. Sparks emanated from his back, and soon after, flames. Julian floated a few feet off the ground.
Julia, acquiring her bearings about the battle, decided that the lady was the appropriate target to attack. Sparks emanated from her hands, and soon after, flames. Julia threw fire at the mysterious lady twirling a stick around.
Lindsay caught the fire with a telekinetic wind, blowing it back at Julia.
James, unhappy with such an action, teleported to behind the cause of the wind and chopped into her for a change. Peter saw the whole battle, guards splayed all around, most bleeding, and the two obvious enemies now working much more together against his two friends. One enemy swung its silver sword down to strike one friend. Peter intervened, remembering his cousin and friend. Peter knew it was not wise to hold his enemy at bay with his mind, and James, thinking quickly, teleported Julia and himself out of the way of the lunge.
Peter, seeing this, let go of the telepathic wall, and the enemy with horns fell forward, became more frustrated, and fire burst from its back.
Peter was mildly afraid.
Julian was mildly angry. Lindsay took these few seconds to heal herself and Julian. Julian lunged at Peter.
Peter parried the attack, to his surprise, and pushed the aggressor back.
Julian was moderately angry. He adjusted the sword to have two equal-length blades. He conjured a telekinetic blast at Peter.
Peter felt very comfortable fighting like this. James and Julia were taking on the mysterious woman whom now accompanied Marion's evil twin, and Peter was doing a pretty good job of fending off the evil twin himself.
Lindsay shouted at Julian that they should both go, because these battles were not gaining them ground. Julian didn't like this idea: he had not achieved his objective. Julian did, however, like Lindsay, and she outranked him, so, however reluctantly, they returned to the compound.
A girl barged into Marion's room during the final examination of the extent of his injuries. Marion was, still, in severe pain, however his wounds had been cleaned, so the pain was slightly less severe than it had been. The girl, without a word, walked up to Marion and laid a hand on him. Marion was shocked that somebody had touched him. His friends had not done so since his mutations, and even the doctor was keeping his distance. Marion was suddenly in no pain at all. The girl winced, as though temporarily feeling the pain Marion had been in, but then it left her, too. The doctor examined Marion's former wounds, declared them healed, and hurried off to another room to tend to hospital guards harmed in the recent intrusions. The girl lingered for a few seconds, then hurried off as well, presumably to the same place. She was wearing a white robe that extended to her feet with ornate gold embroidery around the edges and cuffs. She was the single most beautiful girl Marion had ever seen, however he was so surprised by the recent five seconds that he didn't know exactly what to say. He shouted his gratitude after her as she left, and heard a foreign reply, however not being versed in any foreign languages, he didn't know what, exactly, she had said.
Julian feared what Father might say about his return without success, which was not voluntary, or what the punishment may be. Lindsay feared nothing. Lindsay was given the consequences of her actions, which, ironically, included helping Julian to match the quality of their enemies' weapons.
However, Father had heard of the most powerful weapon ever made, and directed them toward it. The weapon was a fiery sword, placed to protect this paradise from human corruption. The fiery sword would have to go willingly with Julian, however, meaning he would not be able to simply take it: He would have to kill its previous owner.
A lot of the story behind who, exactly, the previous owner was is very ambiguous, but he(or she) would not have had the strong will to resist the sword's calling to defend the paradise from intruders, and stayed there. Father trusted Julian to have such a strong will.
Julian hoped Julian had such a strong will.
Lindsay informed Julian that she did not want to be a burden on him. Julian inquired how she came to the conclusion that she was, previously, a burden on him. Lindsay did not have an answer, but instead inquired as to how they would get to this solitary paradise.
Lindsay was sitting on Julian's shoulders, and they were flying east, into the rising sun. When ocean was finally below them, Julian feigned a fall, Lindsay giggled after realizing that it was a joke, and messed with Julian's short, blond hair. The island was spotted below them.
The island was perfectly round, approximately three miles in diameter. Something else flying whooshed by them, catching both off guard. Julian decided that being closer to the ground was a good idea.
They landed. They had very little sight of the other flying object, but now they saw what they assumed it was. A tall, broad-shouldered and muscular man stood before them holding a blood-red sword with two blades, the lower blade a miniature copy of the upper. The man was wearing white robes with ornate gold embroidery around the edges and cuffs. The being had wide, feathery wings and its face was very smooth and youthful, even though it appeared to be the original guardian of the island.
The two intruders brandished their weapons, and the being was made aware that the two did not actually want access to paradise, but rather, wanted something else that he would not like them taking. The being brandished his weapon as well. Due to the man's large size, the sword looked to be normally-sized, however as the three moved closer, the two normal people realized exactly how large their enemy was.
Julian estimated the strange, winged being to be nine or ten feet tall. Julian realized that this being resembled Father in many ways but Father was only a bit taller than Julian. Julian told Lindsay that it would be awesome if she would keep him alive, then lunged at the being with his sword at the same proportion as the enemy's.
Lindsay did not know how she was expected to help with anything other than healing Julian's wounds from the ground when both the gigantic creature and he were flying, and she was not. Lindsay did what she could, and Julian seemed to be out-maneuvering the giant. The giant, becoming more and more frustrated by the gnat buzzing around him, slicing at vulnerable places, let out a roar and said something in a language Julian and Lindsay understood. It was a secret language supposedly written by Father, but this being knew it. Perhaps then, this was an old acquaintance of Father. Julian kept lashing, and eventually got a good hack at the giant's wing, sending it sprawling to the ground.
Surprisingly to Julian, the giant was parrying most of the vital strikes he attempted to make, such as the giant's chest, head, and until just then, wings. Julian realized that it was now aiming to crash-land on Lindsay, which he particularly disliked. The giant, evidently realizing the former fact, spread its remaining wing in an attempt to steer itself into the ocean. Julian also disliked this, because it would mean diving for the sword if the giant died.
A nine-foot wide splash represented the giant returning to earth. The giant swam to shore. Julian landed softly. Lindsay thanked Julian for bringing the fight back to her altitude. Julian and Lindsay both knew the giant could not block attacks from both of them simultaneously, so they used this to their advantage.
Julian flew at the giant's head, the giant parried. Julian repeated the lunge, the giant kept parrying. Lindsay Lunged at the giant's chest, hitting it as hard and fast as she could with her tri-staff. Lindsay fell away in time for the giant to miss her. Julian lunged at the giant's neck again, taking off the head . The giant fell over backwards, its greenish-blue blood spilling over the white sand.
Julian picked up the sword formerly wielded by the giant. The sword twitched in his hand and greeted him. Julian was sure he had gone completely mad. The sword introduced itself as 'Uriel'. Lindsay asked Julian what was wrong. Julian told her. Lindsay was sure he had gone completely mad, but then again all sorts of odd things were happening lately.
The sword shortened as Julian held it, though he did not notice this immediately, as the sword was still very large. The sword Father had given him was very plain, silver with a black handle of wood wrapped in leather, and was about four feet in total length. Uriel, as it evidently called itself, was about as tall as Julian from end to end, a dark, blood red with a red-tanned leather handle... at least it felt like leather.
Uriel told Julian to fly around with him, you know, test it out. Julian did so. The island seemed larger now than when they had arrived. There was a fortress-like building in the middle he hadn't noticed before. Julian landed at the fortress. Uriel told him to be alert.
Julian heard footsteps. A humanoid... thing hobbled forth from nearby brush. The thing moaned, presumably at Julian. More footsteps, more things. The first thing reached for Julian and made biting motions. Julian (or Uriel, it was difficult for one to tell) slashed at the thing, knocking it back. The thing, though bleeding, hobbled back toward Julian. Julian lunged at the thing, severing its head in two. The other things hobbled continually toward Julian, but Julian flew away. The things knelt down before the dead thing and proceeded to eat it.
Julian was disgusted. Julian remembered Lindsay. Julian flew back to the beach and announced to Lindsay that they were leaving instantly. Lindsay agreed. Uriel disagreed. Julian told the sword to shut up.
Step 4
Marion was amazed. Popularly voted to be leader of humanity. After the chaos and recovery and other massacres there were only about a hundred thousand humans left. Marion was now Twenty-five years old. His skills in combat had been now proven to his peers.
James was jealous. James had not fought so nearly the line separating bravery and stupidity as Marion. James knew this. Marion knew this.
Marion was a good leader. Marion knew what must be done. He was already head of the survival militia, but now that office had been passed on to James. Peter was next in line. Peter did not especially want the office, so keeping James alive was generally in his best interests.
James and Julia were engaged as much as anyone was in the new culture. Their marriage was a month away. Neither had second thoughts. Peter was jealous. James knew this.
Julian was ordered to do it. Paul said so, and the chain of command said that Julian had to do it. Humanity was becoming scarce, so this village could not be passed up. Julian had to go alone.
Two of the Five had been killed. Challenged beyond their ability. Julian did not now remember their names, as they died a very long time ago and were unimportant to him. Father still called Lindsay, Julian and Paul “The Five” because it sounded better than “The Three”. Father surmised that he may replenish the group eventually, but for now the three remaining could do what he needed them to.
Julian flew to the village. The village did not see Julian. A few people had weapons, but most were minding their own business, tending to children or bread or pets. Julian killed them. Uriel enjoyed every bit of it. Julian was very sad afterward, but sadness was weakness, so he ignored it.
News reached Marion that a village had been destroyed. Peter, who had been trying to make a point to Marion about how the passive defense was not very effective, enjoyed this small victory. Peter and James had been making such points to Marion since before he had been chosen to lead all of humanity.
Marion knew things that Peter and James did not. Marion knew about the leader of this group. Marion knew that the one hundred remaining members of the group could annihilate the small town that remained of humanity without thinking twice, and with relatively little effort.
Marion knew things that his enemy didn't know also. Marion knew, for instance that the leader of his enemy intended to finish off the remainder of the group after they had done their job. Marion knew that the leader had sired most, if not all, of the group.
Marion was well-suited to leadership now. Marion kept the morale of his town up, even though they were all that was left of humanity. Marion knew that only bad things could come next. The enemies would attack next. Marion did not know when, but if enough of them survived, the people would want retribution.
Paul's tone had become increasingly hostile toward Julian. Lindsay had been distancing herself from him as well. Father had been seen pacing around the square of the compound. Julian found his only companion to be Uriel, but, being a sword, Uriel mostly wanted to talk about killing things and people, etc. Uriel didn't talk to anyone else. Julian wondered if this was because he was actually insane or if Uriel was just picky.
The following day, Father announced the plan. The humans primarily lived in a fortress city. There were individuals here and there whom had not been targeted yet, but they would be dealt with later. The fortress city must fall.
Digression 1
For most of the existence of humanity, individuals have struggled to achieve three things; Love, Flight, and Immortality. Of these, Love is the only one still missing. Flight was discovered with the original airplane, and developed into larger and larger airplanes, however only recently with the phenomena of parallel combination has individual flight been possible for human beings. Immortality was obtained only a few years ago, and as such inventions go, it was very expensive. Now that money was of no value, the inventor of the “Reproducer 2000” was giving away the little transmitters that broadcast the thoughts of the person dying to the nearest Reproducer 2000 unit, and into their replacement body. As it happens, the transmitter often left the person being “reproduced” feeling quite odd, as though they had been stabbed or shot or hit by a truck and somehow were perfectly fine.
The Reproducer 2000 worked on principles of Fission and Fusion, tearing apart molecules of Oxygen and Nitrogen to make Carbon and Iron and other things found in the human body, bonded in the correct way and in the correct pattern of motion to continue the person's life. However, as anyone who has ever studied fission and fusion knows, it takes a lot of heat, and produces a lot of heat, so naturally the person being Reproduced would have some ill effects such as first degree burns, dehydration, second degree burns, etc.
The Reproducer 2000 ran on solar energy, mostly because that was the most powerful energy source the inventor could find at the time, however with each use, the excess energy from the reactions taking place would be captured by a vast array of thermocouples, solar panels and turbines to reduce the charge time between uses.
The Reproducer 1999 was more commonly known as the “printer of things” and was available for individual sale in most places. This predecessor to the immortality device worked on the same principles only less accurately, so for instance one could send digitally a shovel and it would be reproduced perfectly, however a hamster would not have such a lucky fate.
Step 4
Nobody noticed until it was too late. The militia acted as quickly as possible, but by that time half of the city had been slain. The militia could not protect everyone because the enemies kept breaking through their lines of defense and killing more innocent civilians. The enemies finally retreated when seventy-five of their number had been killed. At that point, a similar percentage of the humans had been slaughtered. Most of them did not trust the Reproducer 2000. Peter did. His mistake.
There was outrage. The men formerly not in the militia joined. The women remaining mostly had read books of magic and could perform enough of it that in spite of their lacking physical strength, they were allowed in the militia.
Digression 2
Marion did not like religion. Religion in general involved doing strange things because somebody said so and they never really helped because the only reason anyone did the strange things was because whoever said so said so, so there was no belief involved, only ritual. In most cases, the people who said so were saying so on faith in somebody else saying so, so it had been vastly disconnected from any gods it was supposed to be idolizing.
Marion was flying about one day in a dark and cold band around the world known as the cold zone. This “cold zone” was caused by the terrible weapons humans had once used to kill each other, before the chaos. It was generally accepted that the cold zone was a bad place to be.
Marion landed. Marion heard a voice. Marion was sure he had gone completely mad. Marion could not see anything from which a voice should come. The voice told Marion that it knew he couldn't see it. Marion agreed with the voice. Marion found suddenly that he could not see anything. Then Marion found suddenly that he could, and was looking directly at a normal sized man with pale skin, brown hair and blue eyes. The man was wearing a brown robe that went down to his feet. The man, it now occurred to Marion, was slightly translucent.
The man and Marion talked for a long time about the world, the state of humanity, good places to eat, great music, though the man thought very highly of some old dead guys of whom Marion had never heard.
The two paused. The man looked off into the distance. Marion looked off into the distance. The blue sky of the daylight in the northern warm zone gave way to the dark gray sky of the cold zone.
Marion asked the man who he was. The man asked Marion if he believed in gods. Marion asked the man if he believed in humans. The man thought that was a good answer, though a little cliché. Marion mentioned meeting what appeared to be a God of Death once. The man stated that he had noticed his brother's handiwork.
The man laid a hand on Marion, and while slightly less odd the second time, Marion still thought it was odd. Marion felt stronger. The man said no more, but waved at Marion and walked a few steps away from him and disappeared.
Step 4
The man told Peter to remain calm; the process would be over in a minute. The man swore. Peter's transmitter had been crushed in the slaughter. Peter felt odd. It was very hot in the chamber. Peter only remembered some things, like how to speak and how to move his fingers. Peter didn't remember his name, or what transmitter the man was talking about. In fact the only thing keeping Peter from going insane and panicking was that the man had told him to remain calm. The process was finally over, and the chamber opened and several men in thin white hospital gowns rushed in, grabbed Peter and helped him out of the chamber.
The man explained to Peter that the unit which was supposed to transfer his thoughts and memories to the unit here had been, evidently, destroyed. The only information they had on him was that his name was Peter and that he had the power of telekinesis. The man went on to explain that when such terrible things happened it was generally taken as the responsibility of the unit's supervisors to help the victim to recover as well as possible, and that his current set of thoughts and memories are a standard set designed to expedite the process of relearning ones' life.
Peter was escorted into a hospital room. The walls were a light shade of green that made Peter feel slightly odd, though calm. A case of bottled water was brought in, and he was instructed to drink it as he felt the urge to. Peter did, now that he considered it, feel a bit sick, and instinctively drank a bottle. A woman about his age came in. Peter could tell that he liked her, though not much else came to mind. The woman hugged him. The nurse explained to the woman that Peter had no memory of the events prior to his death. It felt odd to Peter to hear someone talking about his own death in past-tense while he was sitting there. The woman now introduced herself as Julia, his best friend's sister.
Peter found it odd that the first person he met from his past was not in fact a friend of his, but a sister of a friend of his, neither of whom he remembered.
The people had already decided, so Marion's job was already done, however he gave a compelling speech about the future of the world and humanity and good places to eat and great music. Callings to all of these wrenched the already emotionally hysterical remnants of humanity. They would fight. Either they would die or they would win. Every member sought more power and strength and ability.
Following his speech, James came up to Marion and told him the news. Peter was alive but could not remember any of them, or anything about himself. The two went to pay him a visit. On the way down, Marion realized how bad of an idea this was.
Peter jumped, spilling the bottle of water all over the hospital chair. A six foot tall thing with horns and wings just walked into the room. Nobody else seemed to be so afraid of the thing, so Peter relaxed a bit. The thing said for Peter to relax, and the slight pain from some minor burns from the process of reproducing himself disappeared. Peter relaxed. The thing introduced itself as Marion. The three started talking about some wedding. Marion said he needed to talk to his friends alone. The nurse left. Peter grabbed another bottle of water.
Marion told James, Peter and Julia about his plans. The cold zone was always hostile to life so long as both existed, so naturally, that was where the “Brotherhood” had made its Headquarters.
Marion, Peter and the militia would make their final stand at the headquarters. James, Julia and a specially trained branch of the militia would stay behind. Marion was convinced that if the primary militia pieced together of normal citizens failed, then the specialized branch would be able to protect James and Julia well enough that the survival of humanity as a whole would be guaranteed.
Julia looked strangely at her brother, then at Peter. Marion noticed, then remembered that Peter could not remember anything before about a day prior. Marion told Peter to follow him. Peter did so, mostly out of fear. Peter had been having flashbacks, but only faint ones. The nurse said that such things happened quite frequently with the only other patient whose memory could not be re-written from the chip. The device merely weakened the neurons in the brain, and the re-writing simply strengthened the memories stored on them.
Julia would work with Peter to recover his telekinesis, and possibly some magic. Julia brought Peter his axe, which she hefted awkwardly into the room. She, however, would not let him have it until he retrieved it from her telekinetically. Peter only afterward realized why; the axe was very heavy. Peter doubted he could even lift the axe by his own strength. Peter tried. Peter failed. Peter flashed back.
Peter now remembered many things about the past, eyes meeting, Marion's back porch being demolished, Marion's twin. Peter finally remembered how he swung the axe before – with his mind.
Now that he had the swing of things, Julia told him to follow her. Peter did so. Julia led Peter to a chubby, unshaven, bespectacled man wearing a long robe of many strange colors. In the man's hands were a crowbar and a plastic book full of wrinkled, yellow pages. Over the man's shoulder was a very worn-looking towel.
The man did not introduce himself. The man told Peter to sit down. Peter started to sit down. Julia cleared her throat noisily in the way one does when attention should be paid to something being ignored.
At this point the man looked at Peter more closely, startled, tossing the crowbar off to the right accidentally and shaking the towel off his shoulder. The man apologized and motioned for Peter to stand. The man told Peter that magic was not just something to trick people with anymore, and started a very short course on how to perform magic. The man handed Peter a white plastic notebook with three rings on the inside. Hanging from the three rings, as Peter opened the notebook, were about twenty blank, yellowish parchment papers. The man explained that the runes could not be used for magic unless certain paper was used. The man motioned to another table piled with scraps of cloth, yarns and leather straps, in case Peter wanted to have his spellbook readily at his side at all times. Peter looked at his axe and decided that he needed all the hands he could get to dedicate to the axe. He chose a strap from the bottom of the pile. The strap was an old tool-belt for a very, very large person. The man took the strap and the book and connected them in the usual way, then hurried Peter along to a table full of sticks.
The man said that the sticks were not sticks, but wands. Peter felt certain at this point that somebody would jump from around a corner and tell him that today was some kind of prank-pulling day. Peter took a medium-length wand. The longer wands looked unwieldy and the shorter ones looked difficult to use without magicking oneself.
The man took out his own wand from the strangely colored robe and, taking Peter's spellbook from him, drew strange shapes on the papers, one on each page.
The man asked if Peter's power was back. Peter looked hopefully at Julia. Julia nodded. The man explained that the magic would work a lot like his power, except slightly disconnected. Peter's power would feel like Peter was controlling it, whereas the magic would feel more like Peter was aiming it. Julia dragged his axe away. The man led Peter to a target range, where the man would then instruct him more exactly how to use magic.
Peter flashed back again, Julia's youth, Marion before the wings and horns, James, and a fourth person whom he did not remember especially. Then Marion had horns, the visual memory was fading, wings of fire, an invisible wall that Peter could see... Then Peter saw himself and the fourth person from the previous scene lay dead. The vases, silverware and unattended weapons floated in the air. Marion's twin walked calmly out of his mother's room, wiping the blood from his sword on the carpet.
Peter returned to reality with what was evidently very little time loss. The man asked Peter if he had been listening. Peter looked at the spellbook, and imagined the shape on the target, his invisible hands throwing the rune toward it. Fire erupted from a few inches before his fingers, curled itself into a ball and flew toward the target obliterating it, and the target next to it, and the target on the other side of that, and part of the hillside behind the target. Magic was his.
Peter practiced with other things, such as the wind magic and water magic, doing odd combinations such as freezing the water by blowing wind over it. Peter asked the man what a yellow, zig-zagging shape did. The man cautioned him that even the most practiced magicians had difficulty using electrical magic, demonstrating a bit of it between his hands and wincing in pain. Peter saw the bluish-green energy lightly burning the man's hands, but decided that if he was expected to defeat the exterminators of humanity, then he should use all of the available resources. New targets had been set up, and Peter tried the spell. Peter's wrist twitched involuntarily and electricity coursed from it to the ground and through the air to the targets. The man was impressed, but said nothing.
Julian felt alone. Julian was alone in a sense; he was the only one he knew whom was considering that what they had done was not good. Julian no longer knew friendship. Julian disliked everything he had seen prior. He was allowed to research certain things in the compound's library, and all of the books were approved by Father. He found a book about people like Father, with feathered wings and pale skin and white hair. The book said that the beings often possessed powers beyond a typical imagination, and that killing one would release those powers into the killer's mind, driving him or her mad.
Lindsay felt alone. Lindsay was alone in a sense; she was the only one she knew whom was considering that what they had done was not good. She knew that Julian had at one time been her friend, but that he had been talking to her less and less, among others. She did not know who she could trust.
Paul felt alone. Paul was alone in a sense; he was the only one he knew whom would follow Father to the very end, cleansing the world of its stain. Paul knew that Father was always right, and that he should neither respect or disrespect Julian and Lindsay. Paul had received a special sword from Father, it was longer than the officer's sword. Paul knew his place was to die with Father, cleansing some other world from its stain.
Peter felt claustrophobic in the crowd of militiamen and women, which was odd, as he was in the front with Marion. Marion marched along with his wings spread wide so as to keep the militia behind him. Marion's armor had not been replaced since he had acquired it all those years ago, yet it still fit him perfectly. Peter's clothes were leather and canvas, but moved freely enough that he could make any attack he found necessary.
The militia had been trained in combat with and without weapons. They had been trained in ranged weapons and magic of any kinds they could master. Most of the militia had not discovered their powers. The few that had mostly excelled in combat and were left guarding James and Julia.
The militia rounded a corner. On top of a plateau before them was a fortress. From the fortress quickly sprang about a hundred white haired figures in black clothes with shiny silver blades, One white-haired figure in black clothes with horns and a blood-red sword, and one white-haired figure in black clothes with white, feathered wings.
The enemies of humanity assembled, poised to kill.
Julian floated above, hesitantly, but still appeared ready to kill.
Marion drew his sword, slowly, and pointed it toward the ground at his side.
Father threw a very long, shiny blade at Marion. Marion brushed it aside and it stuck into the ground noisily. Paul lunged at Marion, and the battle began. The militia ran forth to do battle with their exterminators. There was fire, there was water, and soon ice. Peter did his best to fight. He threw fire at an assailant, and the assailant was no longer capable of much.
Marion managed to disarm Paul. Marion kicked Paul over, then Marion heard it.
It was the voice of the man he had met last time he wandered into this area. Marion blinked and saw him, above himself. The man extended a hand toward Marion, and Marion reacted by floating mysteriously upward toward him. A beam of light shone through the smog-filled cloud. Marion was floating a few feet off the ground. Peter was standing a few feet from him, confused by what was happening. Light began to glow from Marion's fingers and the cracks in his armor, then from all his skin, even the wings and tail.
Not wasting the advantage confusion gave him, Paul wrenched violently Peter's axe from its owner's hands, and, lifting it over his head, sundered Marion's armor, and a flash of light blinded all present.
Some say that Marion was seen afterward with white feathered wings, shortly before disappearing.
Paul disappeared as well, along with Peter's axe. Peter was knocked away. Everyone else present was shocked. Julian now saw what had happened. Julian landed. Father landed.
Father had killed him. Father had killed Julian; Julian knew it.
Marion's sword landed a few feet from where Julian stood. Julian picked it up. Sparks flew from Julian's back. Peter stood up. Father smiled.
Julian looked at Peter and nodded. Peter remembered the runes in his book and drew with his wand the closest he could remember to the zig-zag. Peter felt no pain. Julian felt no pain. Many of the brotherhood were in anguish. Lindsay walked up to Peter and healed the wound in his chest from being disarmed.
Julian lunged at Father, but Father dodged. Julian smashed a few lesser members of the brotherhood with his horns. Father lunged for his sword, and after a slight struggle, retrieved it. Peter could hear Marion's voice saying something, but over the clashing of the battle, he could not discern words from it. Peter did, however, remember a trick he used to know for flying. With his mind, Peter grabbed a sword from a fallen militiaman. The sword was broad and had a thick hilt against which he could brace his back foot.
Peter carried the sword, with himself on it, to the level of the battle between a fiery man with horns and a pale man with feathered wings. The man flying by normal means was becoming tired. The twin of Marion was angry, and slashing with both swords, getting gashes in here and there. A muscle cut, and the feathered man fell to the ground.
Peter dove at an angle, pinning the man to the ground with the sword he had been riding, catching himself with a roll and some telekinesis. Julian landed in front of Father. Peter pulled his acquired sword out of the wing it was pinning down, and began to swing to behead the monster which had killed so many. Julian stopped Peter's near mistake and motioned for him to back away. The remaining members of the brotherhood were backing away from the body of their leader.
Father cackled maniacally as Uriel rose to end his life. The cackle resonated throughout the battlefield for a few seconds after it was over.
Step 5
James and Julia were married in a combination of celebration of survival and wedding ceremony. Peter was the Best Man, and the Maid of Honor was a beautiful healer girl. Julian sat in the back, carefully watched by the militia.
After the kiss and before the cake, Julian left. Julian did not choose the time between the kiss and the cake to leave because he wanted to see the kiss and did not want cake, in fact quite contrary, he wanted cake very much and wanted to see others in love very little. Julian left because he was in love as well, and Lindsay was now in prison unfairly, for when she was unable to choose sides, she ran away from the battle.
Julian went to the makeshift prison. Uriel helped him free her, and they flew off to a small, perfectly round island Julian knew about.
James took the news of Marion's probable death and disappearance very badly. By the time of the wedding, James was beyond his loss of a friend and continued on in his friend's footsteps as leader.
Peter knew that Marion was alive, somewhere.
Marion and Alex lived happily ever after.
Step 1
The news story was about some rebellion in the capital, small groups of armed criminals firing at city guards armed only with shields of steel and wood. They were obviously part of a much larger revolutionary group, the leader of which was unknown, but the group was renowned for being fierce in combat even when they had no firearms handy. A few were captured to be questioned but all committed suicide by stopping the beating of their hearts.
Sarah was folding laundry. The news was uninteresting to her, more of the same. She wondered why she still folded laundry, it was a foolish thing to do, for only to wear each article and wash it and fold it again. The same thing with dishes, which are washed, dried and put away by hand only to be eaten from by flatware the following meal. It was all cyclic and meaningless as more progress would be made by leaving what was out of flatware's reach upon the plate for microscopic life to dine upon and grow into something green, for that would be a new culture in the world, however lilliputian it may be.
The story changed. Newborns were being kidnapped. The mothers were what some tyrant-coward many years ago referred to as "aryan" - pale skin, blond hair, blue eyes. The reporter noted that these 'aryan' people were supposed to be vastly superior to all others, and that this person might be trying to make some kind of superhuman army.
Sarah found this much more interesting than the prior story, but surmised that it was a dream, that she was with her boyfriend that night, and that her hair was "dirty blond". She also assumed that being heterochromic would exempt any 'aryan-ness' that one blue eye gave her. Regardless of her conscious thoughts against what may have happened, the news report had the same effect as that of a gun, the latter kind had actually not been heard by Sarah in her lifetime, but suffice to say she was afraid.
The time came only a few months later, as in a blizzard of commotion Julian was born. He was of average weight and length and expressed his opinion about being removed from the sanctuary where he had been so content. His brother by several minutes was Marion, and upon sight of him the professionals were worried. Marion was significantly smaller than his brother, he could be called scrawny even. He expressed his discomfort in the new surroundings in more the manner of one sixteen years older being aroused too early for his liking. His calm attitude should have worn off on the doctors caring for him, who rushed around trying to make sure he was going to make it. He was in less danger of dying than most people, announced the doctor, but they were going to keep an eye on him just to make sure.
The moments flew by as trees or fence posts on a long car ride through Kansas, only with less pain in the buttocks and more interesting things to watch. A tall man in dark clothes appeared in the ward silently. Nobody noticed him save the child he was examining. He raised the boy up to eye level, The boy expressed disinterest in being disturbed as he just got through a terrible ordeal. The man disappeared with the boy and any records of his existence, and as silently as (if not more so than) he had arrived.
Step 2
Marion's jet black hair was tied back so as not to interfere with his concentration. His teacher was using an ancient trick of the arcane, and could not be seen, he could however be heard, smelled, felt, and have effects on objects.
The easy ones Marion got. His teacher rifled through his bag and put a pen on the table, he moved a cup about three inches, and (Marion assumed on purpose, regardless of it seeming otherwise) bumped into the sword rack. Marion knew that his teacher was somewhere behind him, which was to his advantage as a human, being that the generally thicker skin was on the back and that the ears are formed in such a way that means sounds from behind sound slightly louder than sounds in front. There was a foot tap. Marion lunged backward fifteen feet and grabbed the invisible wrist of his teacher.
Shocked by his pupil, the teacher lost his concentration and was visible again. Marion caught him after only an hour... ridiculously soon for a first-try student. Marion recited to the teacher every move he noticed the teacher make in the hour of concentration. Tea and headache medicine were served to both master and student, for an hour of concentration gave especially the younger one a pain.
Eventually the teacher would lead Marion to detect stealth through arcane means, fighting mystery with mystery. Marion longed for more than just this. This class was to keep Marion alive, not save the world. There was evil out there, Marion knew, and it was going to destroy humanity.
Marion's mother picked him up after class that day. Someday his teacher would permit him to fly home, but today the teacher did not realize Marion's affinity for flight. It got him in trouble a few times in school, notably for sports, in which he was no longer allowed to take part, along with his friend James who could teleport. The people involved in sports now had to have identified their power and learned to restrain it.
The "intellectuals" as they called themselves, watched the sports from the air, telekenetics holding themselves up by the pants, Marion levitating, and James repeatedly teleporting to the same spot until such time that Marion, on his left side, decided that they should retire to the bleachers. Marion's sister, named Julia after his still missing brother, was on fire, notably distant from the others as she cared for their lives (too much in Marion's opinion) flew off to put on more stylish clothes than the vented Kevlar she was forced to wear by her mother when she did such things.
Julian woke up. He woke up early because he hated the place he called home. Father came out and each child was at his room, bed made, dressed and ready for the day. Julian was first outside. Today was an odd day, possibly Tuesday or Thursday, as they feel particularly odd considering the scheduled events on given days and lack thereof. There had been an announcement of a special squad being formed the day before. Names were not given.
Julian was chosen in the middle of the five. He didn't take note of the other members, he deemed it unimportant at the time. The Five, as it was called so forth, would become infamous, notorious for their efficiency in slaughter.
Julian did not know he had a brother. Marion did not know what his missing brother looked like, but he didn't think of such often as he was in school most of the day and such activities as reading, writing and arithmetic took his mind away from any fantasies he might have of a more interesting sibling that he never met, possibly fighting off a gang of tigers in some jungled area of the world.
Father gave the order. The two-hundred ninety-five children not charged with further training loaded up in cars and vans and the like to overthrow the government. The government represented the highest achievement humans have made, which is somewhat pitiful if one ponders such ideas, but government allows, if not forces, humanity to be organized, and such was vastly preventing Father's job of extinguishing the horrid flame that humanity had become.
Father called it his job. In truth it was his goal in life. Nobody was paying him in respect or money for such a deed, in fact his prior 'employer' told him not to. Needless to say he resigned from that position.
When Marion got home, he remembered for the first time all day that it was his birthday. He didn't expect anything from his parents, as they were not together, if that's what it could have been called when his father married his mother after the 'guess what? surprise!' incident, they disagreed on almost everything, then they separated later that month.
His mother, in a typical mother-like fashion got him something that he could use, something that he didn't want, and something that he hoped with all his heart and soul he would get. Naturally, as it was difficult to imagine anything more he needed, he was surprised to be getting anything, especially from his mother. The first thing he unwrapped was a white traveling cloak. It was an indeed handy thing to have, and it was warm when he put it on. Cloaks were goofy to wear and went out of style approximately five-hundred years earlier. The second thing was a simple knife of his grandfather's, it was very plain and had one blade, the blade was very dull from use and worn down by the sharpening stone, likely the very same he saw in his grandfather's workshop when he would be dissatisfied with the edge of a draw-knife or plane. The third gift purred when he touched the large, newspaper wrappings. It couldn't have been in there five minutes and still be happy, so Marion hurriedly opened the box. The cat was huge. His mother announced that it was born just a few months prior. Cats had a long life expectancy now that scientists had started messing with genes and whatnot, so this cat could grow up to be of ridable size.
His father, being rather detached from the child's wants and needs and knowing only that the boy was a boy and remembered his own feelings as a boy, his own unsatisfied, wanton wishes. Surprisingly, such a gift given in humility can be more meaningful than a warm, white traveling cloak or family heirloom, or best friend. In a way his father's gift was both an heirloom and would become his best friend. Marion's great-grandfather presented his father with it as many years before, but being that his dependence upon a weapon for survival was very low in the security of society, a sword was almost shunned by the generation. The sword was a fine sword, the steel had a hint of gold and red throughout the dull blade and as he brandished it for the first time, almost playfully, it shone in the sun as though the source of light had misplaced itself and was suddenly in the blade emanating from it rather than the west where it was supposed to be setting. Marion did not initially notice the red and gold in the blade's color due to the time of day at which he held out his sword. Marion liked thinking that, his sword...
Today was Julian's birthday. Nobody knew except Father. Father made no motion of the fact until late that evening. He presented himself unexpectedly to Julian, which, as all things unexpected tend to do, surprised him. Father told Julian to be calm and that he was only here on the eighteenth anniversary of Julian's birth. Father presented Julian a sword. The sword was freshly made, Julian did note that it was indeed hot, from being worked or from being stored, he could not determine. The blade glimmered lightly reflecting the yellow bulb lighting the room, it was a silver blade, flat, sharp, plain. Julian imagined nothing but death coming from such a gift, herein being some irony in his own life, whether he could call his life his own or not was a different question altogether, however one he didn't dare entertain in the presence of Father. Julian thanked Father for the gift, however half-heartedly. Father left his child to his doings, for soon he would be tasked with breaking-in the sword so to speak.
Julian's mother remembered him on this day. Sarah cried. She wondered how it might be possible that Julian was still alive, a small part of her, taken so far away from the whole, for so long... it didn't seem fair.
Step 3
The news spread rather slowly that there was no more government. The children killed the heads of state, the next in line down as far as the government would define such things. Father did not dare declare himself ruler of the free world, first of all because there would be folly in declaring himself ruler due to the assassination attempts which would inevitably follow directly, but also that he did not think the world in itself was free. They were slaves to fear, Slaves to the now useless monetary currency which stood for more goods than were available, Slaves to other people, Slaves to drugs, and especially Slaves to War.
When news of the massacre reached larger cities, it started spreading more quickly. Smiths started making more swords, axes, shields, plate armor. Those formerly labeled "renaissance nerds" were most prepared. Electricity kept flowing, people knew not why. Radios eventually allowed the further inland to know of the resident anarchy. Marion's job was to defend his mother and sister. Marion thought he looked rather skinny to be defending anyone really, but he promised that he would do his best, argued that his sister didn't need protecting, and that it was silly to think that anyone would think ill of any of them.
Marion's lessons were teaching him how to stay alive himself, not how to work a sword or defend others. He decided that the blade did not cut his hand when he tested it so it was probably very dull. He started working on the edge. He got a stick of similar size and distribution and practiced with it in the large, unused part of his mother's house.
One day, soon after the coup, he was practicing swinging, jabbing, etc. and he sensed something. He reached behind him and found that he was holding the throat of his best friend, James. Shortly after releasing said hold, he found out that the telekenetics were on their way, and that they seemed to think that things were much worse outside the small realm of Marion's house. Julia, of course, was pleased to see James. The telekenetics arrived at two different doors at once. James would not allow Sarah, Marion or Julia to answer either, being under the suspicion that someone was trying to kill one of them, and that even without such a threat, it would be wise to exercise caution when answering ones' doors. Upon the presentation of the proper password, Peter and Simon were permitted into the residence. James saw that Marion had through some means, acquired a sword. James did not inquire on the subject because he knew Marion's birthday had been recent and that James hadn't gotten him anything. James instead commented on how he, Peter and Simon should acquire weapons as well.
Julian woke up. He did this often because he slept often and in short intervals. Father didn't seem to know that growing young men needed to rest in order to rejuvenate their strength. Julian was trying to figure out what his gift was. It had been recently discovered or invented that all humanoid life had some kind of gift, a gift of power. Julian didn't especially want power. Julian could not define what he wanted, for he knew not words like freedom and liberty and justice and love. He decided to examine his birthday gift a little more. He took it outside. The sun shone brightly to the east - it was still morning. Julian unsheathed the blade. He did not like how it felt light in his hands and heavy in its sheath. It was very evident, even through Julian's haze of awakening, that there was indeed a right end and a wrong end to this sword, and that it would be obvious to anyone whose life was about to be ended by it that they were on the wrong end.
Paul rapped persistently on Julian's door. Julian called to him from behind the building. Paul, after recovering from a slight confusion, went down to speak with Julian. Paul was one of The Five, first chosen, first called out, and naturally was supposed to be the leader of The Five. Paul was intelligent, incredibly so, yet he craved power for the purpose of fulfilling his master's wishes. Julian wasn't allowed an opinion of Paul. If he disliked Paul, he might then ignore Paul's orders, if he respected Paul, he may make illogical decisions in favor of Paul's life. Since Julian indeed disliked Paul naturally, he decided that respecting Paul would cancel out disliking him, and he would be free of blame. Paul wanted to get the Five together to train more officially. When Paul approached Julian, Julian began to have a headache. Sleeping very little usually did not affect him so, but that was what he dismissed it as.
The next day was the training. They ran first of all. Paul made them run quickly, but each member enjoyed the challenge. After running they practiced with swords, with axes, with shields. Nobody was seriously injured, but Julian was sore all over. Upon complaining, Lindsay suggested that he be examined by the physician, as none of the rest of the Five felt any sort of pain at all. Lindsay was second called of the Five. Julian fancied her, but he did not know what this feeling meant.
The physician saw nothing that should be causing Julian to feel pain. The physician pinched Julian. Julian recoiled, an expected reaction. The physician pondered for a while. The physician had received news of such things as the latest generation developing some superhuman abilities. The physician pinched himself in a different place than he had pinched Julian. Julian recoiled. The doctor seemed to be thinking even more. Julian felt odd now, not pained, but odd. The Doctor felt odd as well, as he did not feel the pinch. Julian was told he had some kind of Power that allowed him to “sponge pain” from other people.
Father saw this as an obstacle. He sent Julian to seek more power, other powers. He must seek the powers alone and he must seek them quickly. Julian knew not of any power except within one's self. Father told him of Gods and of other 'races' of humanoid beings which may possess greater power than his angel/human hybrid. Julian sought the God of Death.
Marion needed to find weapons for his friends. Charging them to protect his mother and sister (and telling his mother to keep his sister under due control) he left on wings of his mind. He saw the entire world in one trip. He sought out every blacksmith he had ever read about. Several were hermits, living alone in deserted areas, the most infamous of which lived very, very far north. North was cold and dark. The sun did not shine as much on the north end of the world because it was 'cursed' land. There was a bladesmith there known only as Hermit. He told Marion that he would gladly present him with a mystical blade or two if Marion would bring him the mystical elements of them. Marion knew he had very little time for such folly, but that a blade of mystical quality was... unheard of to Marion's knowledge. Hermit pointed at Marion's blade and complimented its craftsmanship as being beyond his own ability. Marion decided that the mystical elements of the blade of which Hermit spoke were not so rare, and that moving so much as to collect them would warm him a bit. Hermit asked for the peak of the highest mountain in the world. Marion hadn't ventured so high before, but he made such an effort and reached the peak, an oddly thin point upon which no man could probably stand without fear of being impaled through his feet. Marion took the tip of the world and brought it to Hermit. Surprised at the proficiency of Marion at the task given, the blacksmith had barely time to gather other materials he needed for the blade. He forged and worked the steel into two axes. Hermit told Marion that the axes would attach to the first person to use them for their intended purpose. Marion took the term "attach" here to mean physical, painful attachment to worked steel. Hermit assured him it would not be either of those, but that the blades would feel weaker in the hands of one they were ineffectual toward, and that if the love was left unrequited, it may lead to the subject's death. Marion thought of the blades falling suddenly in love with his sister, and becoming jealous of James would kill them both. He decided that Peter or Simon should have them... or maybe not...
Marion thought he was heading south, into warmer weather, when actually his bearing was almost due west. He saw a dark spot on the ground below him, landed and inspected it. The spot turned out to be a black and winding staircase. The staircase turned into darkness. Feeling fear for the first time in his life, he drew his sword, and instantly the room was brighter. His sword was glowing. It was not glowing as a candle or lantern or raw bulb does, but the side away from Marion was glowing, allowing him to see into the darkness which now held him prisoner, without blinding him. Marion realized that he was floating along the hallway for the first time when there was no floor beneath him to see whatsoever. He floated on through a labyrinth of black halls until he came to a torch on the wall. This was the first of a series which led as those in some archaic crypt, to what was obviously very unhealthy for the one following them.
Julian knew he must have made a wrong turn somewhere. It was dark. Very dark indeed, but wait, what was that? A torch. Shoeprints in the dust indicated that someone was there quite recently - too recently, but they ended suddenly – too suddenly.
Marion saw the towering God of Death in a moment he would later reflect on as an important moment in his life. The God acknowledged Marion's presence by asking what he wanted.
Julian reached the dwelling of the God in time to hear the question, and thinking it was himself to which the question referred, he responded with "power" as his brother did the same.
Marion looked, surprised that his own echo resounded so quickly, and saw himself, only he was different. Marion did not remember his mirror having such pale skin, or white hair. Seconds passed before Marion realized that this, surely was his lost brother, and that the god, having the aura of a genie granting wishes or the driver of a hearse, concluded that the other self he saw must have been dead.
If Marion was confused by the presence of another self, Julian was shocked. Julian wondered why he would beat himself to finding power that he did not wish to find.
The Death God now addressed them both. To Marion of the blades which he sought, to Julian of the power he sought. They both felt themselves become weightless. Marion suddenly was flooded in pain. Marion felt his own pain as part of his mind was ripped from the rest and put into his brother, and Julian remained painless, relaxing in the embrace of death itself. Marion felt an itching in his shoulders, lower back and forehead. Julian felt the same. Ensued scratching, tails, wings, horns sprouting from the places. The God then separated them by sending Julian back to the colony and Marion to the home of the next blacksmith from which he would attempt to beguile a blade.
Marion felt odd. He felt confused at his surroundings, as he was only moments ago in total darkness. He now felt his wings and tail. Why did he have wings and a tail? He had never seen anyone else with wings and a tail, save the brother he only recently saw for the first time. Was that his brother or just a look alike? He was unsure, but what he was sure of was that his new, evilesque augmentations would prove to be more than a bump in his next task.
Father was only somewhat satisfied with Julian at changing his useless power into one that was redundant with the wings and tail that the God of Death had forced upon him. The horns, however did have their... look that they gave him... and looking threatening would aid him in some aspects of his new job. Father charged Julian now to seek a different god, possibly an elemental god, from which to draw power.
The Blacksmith came to the door to see what some 'demon' was doing in her back yard. Upon sight of her, Marion tried to act as politely as possible. She came at him with her personal sword drawn. Marion drew his own. Steel touched steel with a light whine. She swung at him, he caught her blade halfway to his neck, and sensing something that he could not define, spread his wings involuntarily, pushing the two apart, disarming the female and surprising the male. Marion knelt before the blacksmith. She questioned him as to why he was tormenting her, and he explained that he only wanted blades with which his friends could defend themselves. She seemed very open to the idea. She beckoned him to follow her into the shop, and as he did so he realized that on his head were horns. Horns! He did have an evilesque appearance...
The blacksmith introduced herself as Al. Marion snorted. She reintroduced herself as Alexandria Smith, and commented that he probably had some portly plumber's name as well. He introduced himself. She smiled humbly and inquired how many blades and of what kind he wanted.
Of course he wanted rare blades, why else would someone travel so far south, even if by wing... this man... or demon... was strange. If he was a demon, why not take normal blades and possess them? If he was a demon, how could he have friends? She happened to have rare materials, it was actually why she lived so far south of the nearest civilization, the desert was untouched by any other human in the world.
This thing, this Demon-man was not expected to pay for the blades, even as rare and mystical as they were. Marion inquired as to how he repay his nonexistent debt. Al, surprised at this, had no answer. She needed nothing, not anymore at least. He insisted that there must be something she needed. He also noted that he was in very little pain compared to the room with his doppel-ganger. There was something odd about her, he thought, but he didn't quite know what...
She made the blades in the daytime. Marion tried to get used to his wings. For the first time, he wondered what his friends would say when he returned with such an incredible change after only four days. The desert was hot, evidence rising in waving patterns above the golden sand. This was why he had left the Cloak, the two axes and his Communication Device (CD for short, prior generations called them 'phones' but that was too general a term for the intellectuals) in his bag. He only now realized that he had become a monster. His friends and family, no matter how much they loved him before, could not possibly accept him now. He was now something different, something scary that little kids would run away from and scream at the sight of.
He tested his wings. He assumed the wings would allow him to fly, otherwise what good would it do to have wings? His wings were covered in scales, as those of the mythical dragon. He was frustrated. If he were not so dehydrated, he would cry. Dehydrated... water... there was no water in Al's house... He pondered this so much that he barely realized that he was flying. Marion was no stranger to flying, but this was the first time he would be flying by normal means. He flew back to Al's house. The cool atmosphere of his current altitude was missed as soon as he left it.
Al was taking a break, strange dust of many sorts littered the floor, One sword was done, it was short compared to Marion's and had a bluish hue to the steel. Marion asked about water. Al's response was even stranger than he had expected. Al explained that she had not had any food nor water since it happened, her voice trailing off at the end implying that asking what happened was the wrong thing to do. Marion asked. Alexandria Smith explained that she was dead, though plainly he could see her standing there. She did not smell of rotting flesh nor feel too cold, in fact prior to knowing the fact Marion couldn't help but fancy her a bit. This did not cease with the knowledge of the fact, as it did not sink in entirely at the time. Al seemed sadder now, recalling, she died of some kind of plague, she remembered flying as though on a current of liquid air, looking down and seeing a large dark square on the ground. Then she woke up, feeling odd, as though nothing was wrong. Everything, she would find in the next few seconds, was wrong. She was not buried. She was not herself. She was in somebody else's body. This was why, Marion guessed, she had been so welcoming of him. Any living person would not have challenged him to a fair fight.
The story made her sad. She sobbed dryly, Marion comforted her as best he could. She could feel very little through her magical bonds to her body, but she did feel his embrace. She did not especially feel that Marion was sharing a genuine compassion for her, so much as she felt that she was a disgrace to all things living, even to him, a demon.
It occurred to Marion that she did not know of the goings on in the world. Al went back to work, but Marion stayed with her. He explained that there was no more government, at which she rejoiced. He decided that this range of emotions was enough for a girl, even an undead girl, and that he was desperately thirsty. He asked where the nearest water was, and she said it was about three hundred miles. She said it casually over the pinging of her hammer on the hot ingot. He wondered if he heard her correctly, as the pinging was quite loud. She repeated. The nearest water was three hundred miles away. Bearing 14 degrees. Marion flew off, even at such risk.
Julian reached the edge of the crater with surprising ease, even for one flying about. At the center of the crater was a small orb, which brought Julian to a place much like where he met the God of Death when he touched it. This place was of dark granite giving more reflection for his eyes to see. The Goddess of Fire rose into the room. She seemed friendlier than the Death God at first, but upon seeing the influence death had on Julian, she knew what Julian wanted. Power was hers to use, to lend, but not to give. Julian made a rude remark about the Fire Goddess' weight, and was shortly teleported back to the crater from which the mysterious orb carried him. Julian was in immense pain. His wings were gone. His tail was gone. Dead weight already, but he now knew the old phrase about a woman scorned was true. Crackling noises emanated from the stubs where his wings and tail had been. He knew not whether they were burned, part of the atmosphere, or simply seared off, a trophy for the angry Goddess.
Julian lay there smoldering for nearly an hour before he decided that his wings were now of lower temperature than the desert in which he lay, leading logic to point to it being his time to go. He floated. He realized how much he was used to his wings for balance now. He had them maybe four days... probably less, and they had become part of him. Julian didn't know how old eighteen years was, but he knew that Paul was much older, maybe a year even, and that Lindsay was younger. Father must be at least two years older than Julian... yes, two years was quite a while.
Marion found water. Marion drank, deeply satisfying his thirst. He knew that it was too late to drink his suggested amount for the day, lest he get sick, so he filled nearby vessels and brought them back to Al's house.
Finally with enough energy to pay attention, Al's house was a small, gray house with Vinyl siding that didn't ever need to be painted and Plastic windows which were introduced as an alternative to glass shortly before the gun-ban because the plastic was supposed to be more resistant to bullets. Al did not know anything about the house. Al had never lived in the house. Al never tried to return to society. Society wasn't ready for something like her, she claimed, not yet. She was an abomination to life itself, which society was also not ready for. Marion briefly considered the thought of his own house, it had brown panels on the siding, but he hadn't ever taken the time to notice exactly what they were. Steel? Aluminum? Wood? He did not know, he did remember his friends, promising to defend it to the best of their ability until he returned, and his cat, which promised to be as annoying to his friends and sister as possible.
Marion dined and slept. Al went out to collect odd little desert rocks. Al's life consisted of this, Collecting rocks, refining the metals in them, disregarding the useless parts, making them into ingots, combining ingots to make alloys, etc. until someone came along looking for the best swords in the world. Marion dreamed of her, of his friends, of his cat, finally of his mother and sister, of his doppel-ganger. Indeed a stressful five days he had.
Marion awoke to silence. She must have finished the blades. He looked, and not only were there blades, but armor plating for a humanoid with wings and a tail about Marion's size. It was a pale greyish blue. Marion looked around the shack, there was no sign of Al around, except for a note. The note said something about the armor being a nice combination of rugged magical desert cacti and will power, something about how she would enjoy meeting Marion again, but some moss is only available certain days of the month due to some lunar cycle and she must be collecting them the day that Marion left, and that however he must leave, her heart would go with him.
He arrived home on the tenth day after he left. His journey made him weary for the three hundred miles to water was less than halfway to his home. He rested at some unsuspecting town north of the watering hole. He wasn't approached by anyone, but his tired figure was photographed from across the street. He crashed through his back porch around 5 o'afternoon. Julia ran to the back door, reaching it as Marion was standing himself up from the fall. He remembered to brace himself, and was lucky he learned to do so in the desert, for setting a leg was difficult for a Dr. Mom. Julia didn't recognize him. She ran for the guys. Cat came out the door which Julia had left open in her panic. Cat recognized its owner and, being all-a-pur, enjoyed it's friend's gauntleted patting. Marion decided that it was best to wait for the boys to return than to just walk into the house. Girls were panicky, the boys would trust him a lot more once they recognized him. It was a boy cat. Marion decided that Cat was as good a name as he could think of.
Horns? Wings? Silly girl. Good Gods! It's Marion! He's got horns and wings! Peter was the first human to recognize him. Simon was the first human to ask what happened. Julia was still afraid of him. Marion finished the story, excluded most of the part about Al, and asked for news of his home. His mother was upstairs, as afraid as Julia was and less able to rush around.
Marion presented the blades. James waited patiently as Marion handed his first blades at Julia, who was still cowering, and wound up setting them on the bench and shoving them toward her. He handed a nicely made longsword to Simon, and a battle-axe to Peter. Finally, he drew out the twin axes. James counted people. James counted people again. James look went from 'confused' to 'ecstatic and confused'. The axes were ornate to say the least, one had a blade which came as a hatchet out from the end of the handle and curved, more finely though and came down to the grip, then the back curve was exaggerated to accommodate. The other axe was obviously made for killing, its edge was concave, the handle much shorter and guarded by the blade itself. James tightened his grip on the blades and felt powerful. The blades felt home here, they had found their master. In a smoother motion than any of the boys had ever seen her make, Julia grabbed her gifts and retreated to the indoors to cower, they assumed.
With her gone, Marion could ask more intimate questions of his four best friends. Cat did little in the way of answering, and seemed more content on licking its forepaws. James however, before Marion could begin this second tier of questions, insisted with a tone of sincerity that Cat was the only one who slept with Marion's sister, and that he sincerely doubted that they did anything, as generally cats don't go for inter-species breeding. Marion, James and Simon laughed. Peter did not laugh. Peter stared at the sky in horror.
Julian looked down at the house. He was not angry. He wondered why exactly he was supposed to kill this woman. Julian saw with his trained eyes that the four on the porch were not the woman whom he was supposed to be killing, but that they would probably represent a significant impedance. Julian's arms were crossed. The stubs where his wings and tail once were twitched involuntarily. He decided that the phrase "get on with it" best described what he was feeling at that time. He did.
The four on the porch went inside hurriedly, each drawing their weapons for the first time out of true necessity. They ran up to the girls, warning them of the strange flying thing. Marion was too tired for this. His power of flight was gone. The thing in the sky... had horns... Marion's twin had horns. Why was he here?
The ceiling crashed down in a mess of fiberglass insulation and drywall and shingles and lumber. Julian levitated slowly into the room. James and Julia both looked ready for anything, while Peter, Simon and Marion looked tired and Marion especially, wizened.
Julian reached into the air in front of him as a dying person, or one on psychoactive drugs does, only he pulled a sword from the sheath of air that he had reached for. James was getting itchy. Marion and Peter brandished their swords before themselves, but Marion was only a few weeks ahead of the other four in practice, and they had none.
Julian charged at Marion. Marion parried in one of the fastest moves he had ever made. Marion jumped high, pushing his twin into the ceiling. Marion was angry. Julian was getting there. Julia lit her feet, a more controlled way of flying; she saw the need for her to help her freak brother out. Julian pushed Marion back down, breaking a table with his heavy armor. Julia shot fire from her hand for the second time in her life, the first had been on accident. This fire was much, much more powerful than that accidental flame wave in Geometry class. The flame searing Julian's hair from across the room brought back bad memories. Julian was angry for the first time.
Julian roared more fiercely than any forest bear or jungle cat could hope to. He charged now at Julia, and for the first time she saw his face, that of her brother. She was taken aback, even if she had possessed the coordination to protect herself, she would have lacked the conscious capacity. James thought quickly. Marion thought slowly. Simon thought more quickly than any of the others and telekenetically separated Julia and Julian. The effort this took was monstrous and the others were so surprised by the sudden action that none of them could think to act. Julian now had fiery wings and tail sprouting forth from the stubs which the fire god had reduced them to. Julian was furious. As he broke through the mental barrier put up by Simon, James teleported between the monster and the damsel in distress, receiving a blade in his belly, and rescuing the aforementioned damsel, teleported away to safety. The breaking of the barrier killed Simon, his body slumping awkwardly backward, eyes closed. Marion was overcome with pain, though he didn't know why.
Peter saw his cousin there, dead, Peter was now furious. Marion was confused. Finally Julian threw Peter against the wall behind, knocking the object unconscious. Julian turned, strode down the hallway, the flame fading from his back and posterior. He said something in an unknown tongue, and with a resonating 'shink' completed the task for which he was sent there. He was calm now. He felt bad. He had done something awful. He flew to the only home he knew.
Marion's pain faded. He ran to Peter's side, he was alive, but his mind was not in this world. Objects around the room began floating arbitrarily, though Marion could not discern if it was Peter or Simon's doing, but soon he was led to believe that it was Peter, because Simon was conclusively dead. Cat now came from his hiding spot and instinctively avoided the dead in the hallway. Marion walked into the next room, and was already crying.
Recovering from the traumatic events, he realized that James might be injured. Peter would survive, but James... prior to discovering how to control his power James would frequently wake up on some island he visited in elementary school. Marion hoped James was able to keep a clear mind under the situation. Marion's lack of confidence was mocked by James upon learning of such thoughts, but Marion now pointed out that there were much more pressing issues at hand.
Julian felt horrible. Julian had killed a person, and why? Because he had been told to. Did she deserve to die? Did anyone deserve to die? Julian cried, his pale, thin frame shuddering between sobs. When he recomposed himself, he decided that Father would not treat reluctance well. Julian flew home to share the good news.
The car would not go any faster. Peter was still unconscious, James was still bleeding. Were there still Hospitals? Maybe they had not been destroyed for mutual feelings of brotherhood or fear of retribution... There is one!
The medics rushed out, assessed the situation and took James first. Next they took in Peter, and finally Julia and Marion.
Julia had nothing wrong per se, Peter was simply comatose, James would require religious aid in addition to his medical attention, and Marion was put in the special needs wing.
Peter woke up after about a week, at which time James was feeling better, Julia was feeling worse, and Marion was feeling absolutely awful.
The doctors assessed Marion's wings, horns and tail as being cancerous. They would spread to other parts of his body, possibly mutating existing limbs or possibly growing even stranger limbs. The cancer produced hormones which made his muscles and bones stronger and made his adrenaline glands produce a more powerful substance.
The hospital also assessed Marion's 'gift' as being the most useful they had ever seen. Marion 'got' to accompany various amputations and painful surgeries until eventually he became angry and his pain-stealing ability reversed in the middle of a leg amputation, causing the leg pain to go through everyone in the vicinity. This basically caused the doctors to decide not to use people as pain-killers.
Shiny medals with ribbons. Julian liked the shiny medals and streaming ribbons, but realized what they were for and decided that the shiny medals were not worth it. He could not leave the compound of his own accord. Paul had tried this and Father had killed him. A long story short, Paul's soul had to fight through hell to get back to his body, which, he claimed, did not feel the same the second time through. Julian did not know much about death, but he knew that he did not want to die. He knew Paul had come back, but he had also heard tales of people dying and staying dead. Would the woman he had killed come back?
James was not allowed to leave the bed still, because he had stitches holding some of his insides together and holding his insides in. Julia was worried about Marion, after all it had been a week since she had seen him. Peter meandered into the hospital room clutching a bag of ice to his head, and Julia ran excitedly to him, promptly asking if he had seen her brother.
Marion's doctors finally identified the cancer as being inoperable, but also not particularly deadly. If the cancer would cause him to die (without changing drastically) it would be indirect.
Marion returned to his friends, but did not tell them of the horrible pain he had felt in the amputation wing, or of the nature of his mutations. Surprisingly they did not ask, which Marion attributed to having very understanding friends, though apathy could also have been the culprit.
For the first time all week it occurred to the four remaining that they had lost a friend. Simon's body had been left at the house, as well as Marion and Julia's mother's body. Julia was finally informed of her mother's death. Marion, whom had been remaining detached from the sorrow caused by his guardian's death, wept with her. Cat, waking up from a nap, realized Marion's return and pounced on him playfully.
The four were allowed to sleep in the same room, and beds were provided for Julia, Marion and Peter. Marion noted that the hospitals were better-staffed now than they were before all this chaos happened.
The next day, before the three healthy ones awoke, James was taken in to get his stitchings removed and blessed. Marion did not panic upon noticing that his friend was missing, but instead looked for food. The hospital, historically, did not have very good food. Marion was now eighteen years old with cancer, no guardians (his father was disallowed such a title), one less friend than a week ago, and was hungry. Finding a snack machine (the best choice for taste) he brought breakfast back for his sister and friends. Cat sniffed the jerky with distaste, but seeing that everyone else was eating it with little complaint, he decided that he was hungry enough to scarf down the meal provided.
James hobbled back in, not entirely trusting of his new belly, but Marion noted that he was not in pain. Peter finally looked around the room and at his friends enough to wonder where their weapons went. The hospital would not allow weapons to be within wieldable range of their owners, so they locked them in a safe in the entrance hallway. James noted that he could probably still get his, as they teleported with him during the encounter with the “evil twin” of Marion.
Julian was sent on more missions. Several in the brotherhood had been killed during the initial usurpation, but nonetheless the remaining members had to finish the job. Organizations besides the government were torn apart, primary members slaughtered, buildings burned. Many of the hospitals were defended as though fortresses, almost a new government built so soon after the fall.
Julian's missions were those of the highest importance and difficulty. Paul, having learned his lesson last time, became a devout follower of Father, and completed his tasks hastily and zealously. Lindsay's behavior was more friendly toward Julian, in spite of Father's warnings of respect and love being evil.
Alarms sounded. Marion awoke. Cat awoke. James awoke. Peter awoke. Julia was not there. James and Marion worried. Marion introduced the idea of gathering their weapons back in order to quell whatever caused such alarm. James agreed. Peter felt a bit left out, but followed anyway. Cat didn't have weapons, but stalked off to find Julia.
A fireball flew down the hallway. Either somebody was experimenting with flammable projectiles, or Julia was nearby. Cat ran in the direction from which the fire came. Marion ran forward, down the hallway to the lockers. James followed Cat, accidentally teleported, and found his axes at his belt. Peter followed Marion, after a very tearing decision involving a ceiling collapsing. Marion and Peter acquired their weapons and looped around to find Julia and James heading off fifteen or so tall, blond haired people. Peter saw what appeared to be a gigantic snowball hurling toward the two and, thinking quickly, put a telepathic shield between the snowball and his friends.
Marion knew what was going on. Marion stepped in front. Julia and James uttered simultaneous thanks to Peter, whose welcoming was muted by another crash. Hospital guards burst down a door, breaking the concentration of the strange intruders, whom appeared to be casting more snowballs. The shield-bearing guards pushed the intruders out of the hospital and into the parking lot. One of the intruders drew a sword. Marion lunged at it. The intruder was caught off-guard. Marion's sword plunged into the chest cavity of the very surprised criminal. Marion grabbed his adversary's sword with his left hand and wrenched it away. Marion's chest hurt. The intruder fell, limp, at Marion's feet. Marion's chest hurt no more. The other intruders looked in awe at Marion.
Feeling strange, which was not uncommon given that he had horns, wings and a tail, Marion spread his wings, raised his sword, and roared at the intruders. One of them caught fire. Marion thought for a few seconds.
Marion could feel pain from others instead of them feeling it... so could then...
Marion stepped between a burst of lightning and James, then relaxed everything he could feel, and concentrated on the particular adversary whom was currently trying to electrocute his friend. The one who cast the spell writhed in pain, flailing hazardously on the ground, even though the electricity was coursing through Marion's body. Another enemy saw what was happening and threw one of the magical snowballs at him. Marion knew now how to use his power against others. He focused on all of the enemies. Little did he know, for his eyes were closed, that they were returning the favor. Little did they know that what they were about to do would make them feel very stupid.
Marion felt the cold briefly, then one enemy turned blue and collapsed. Marion felt dirt and debris being blown into him, briefly, then another enemy started scratching himself all over, failing to relieve the small pains growing ever more intense, then collapsed in frustration and pain.
James, Peter, Julia, The Guards, and the ever-timid Cat were amazed at what was going on. The remaining ten enemies were afraid of what was going on. Everyone ran. The enemies managed to drag the three in anguish to the van in which they arrived before being mauled by thirty or so shields, axes, swords and the like. Marion now noticed the sword he was holding in his left hand. It was not ornate at all. This, he thought, was a tool of death. He liked it, and didn't like it. The handle was able to slide along the blade and lock in place to give any combination of two blades, or simply one blade. The guards thanked them for their help, rather timidly, and stated plainly that no chances could be taken and they would have to leave their weapons again.
Marion now understood. The weapons were a trust issue. The guards did not trust the patients and visitors to be sane or moral, and the patients and visitors would have to trust the guards with their lives... for the most part.
Julian was called into Father's office. Lindsay was called into Father's office. They were informed that a fifteen member team had failed to infiltrate a hospital, but the defenses appeared to be weakened. Ten of them had fled in fear, three were unconscious from pain and expected to part with this world soon, and two had done so on the scene.
Julian was to take out his mirror while Lindsay distracted everyone else. That sounded easy enough. Lindsay's power appeared to be that of healing. While Father constantly denied its usefulness, it was proven otherwise. Lindsay's weapon of choice was the Tri-staff, like nunchaku stuck together. Julian realized that only certain members of the Brotherhood received swords like his en route to the hospital/fortress, talking with Lindsay about strategy. The driver was silent
Julian knew some magic, mostly telekinesis. Lindsay was an expert in telekinetic magic, but was by no means gifted in it. Sometimes spells would fizzle when not properly concentrated upon. The enemy, as reported, did not suffer from this. The enemy could also move organics with his, making him a much bigger threat than merely knowing telekinesis. Another enemy appeared to have fire magic, which would be interesting to deal with. The two remaining showed no visual display of magic, but excruciating pain led all of one of the more experienced groups to flee. Julian wondered about this, remembering his old power. Lindsay commented that the two without powers were probably the most dangerous. Julian agreed, mostly because Lindsay outranked him, but after actually thinking about the statement, decided that he actually did agree.
They were here. The guards, as usual, were waiting by the door. The alarms, as usual, were blaring. The monster stepped out from the van first, offering his hand to the lady who followed.
Lindsay's strategy was to scare the guards, which was not very effective as they were protected with steel plating and shields, were not very much affected by her tri-staff. Julian lunged, piercing the nearest guardian's shield and chest-plate, and chest. He retrieved his sword, modified its blade-proportion, and took into another guardian. He thrust the short end into the shield and pulled it upward and away, twisting around to stab the long end into the man's chest. He pulled the shield off, angrily, and tossed it with vigor at one of the combatants against Lindsay, knocking him over. The other guardian bashed her with his shield, and now on the ground lay two disoriented combatants. Julian lunged at the guardian left standing while Lindsay (now weaponless) and the disoriented guardian (now shieldless) began unarmed combat.
Julian put away his sword, and picked up two shields to feel their weight and wieldiness. He then practiced the bashing technique on the remaining guardian's head. The remaining guardian flew past Lindsay, hit the ground helm-first and rolled over.
Marion's doctor informed him that he should be in severe pain. Marion agreed with the doctor, and for a bit, forgot about the invaders. The doctor noted electrical burns, light shock, and small scratches on his wings, tail and face, full of debris. Marion hurt, once again.
The alarm sounded again. Marion stood up. Marion's doctor yelled at Marion for doing so. Marion sat down. The doctor instructed him to take off the plate armor covering his legs. Marion looked down. It was only now that he realized that he had left his chest-plate, arm-plates and gauntlets in James' hospital room, because he had taken them off to sleep. His leg-plates were still on, and scratched from the debris which had harmed his face and wings.
Peter felt odd. It was not odd, anymore, to feel odd, however, Peter felt particularly odd. He wanted to help Marion because that's what a good friend would do, but he also wanted to help Julia because that's what a good man would do. Peter then remembered that he was only recently old enough to be considered a man and that he was nowhere near mature enough for such a call to be made. It then occurred to Peter that the best way to help Marion was to help Julia to keep the hospital safe, and hurried off to do his part.
Peter was oddly thin for the axe that he carried. It was about five feet in total length and was similar in design to James' two axes, only one-half of the axe-head was concave and the other convex. Peter used his telekinesis to lift the axe most of the time, as well as lifting other heavy objects. Peter didn't talk much. Peter had only said one word since his cousin and friend, Simon, had died; 'Welcome', and it had been covered by more hectic noises, however nobody had noticed how little he was talking because it was not much less than usual.
James and Julia were not very far ahead of Peter. The door had been left shut. More guardians poured out of the adjacent door and into the door to outside. Peter ran faster. James and Julia followed the guards outside, where there was already a fairly intense battle going on. Unconscious or dead bodies lay all around the parking lot. The guardians had now brought batons to assist them, but the two opponents specialized in death, so such precautions were to no avail.
Julian recognized them, pointed, and lunged. He did not miss, he was sure of it, but he did not hit his target as intended. His target was directly behind him, smiling wryly. Julian hated that smile. Julian lunged again, and the same series of events happened, only this time followed by two axes hitting him in the back.
James, not wanting to get stabbed in the stomach again (the “blessing” part of recovery was particularly traumatizing), teleported back and away after this initial strike.
Julian did not like being out-maneuvered. Sparks emanated from his back, and soon after, flames. Julian floated a few feet off the ground.
Julia, acquiring her bearings about the battle, decided that the lady was the appropriate target to attack. Sparks emanated from her hands, and soon after, flames. Julia threw fire at the mysterious lady twirling a stick around.
Lindsay caught the fire with a telekinetic wind, blowing it back at Julia.
James, unhappy with such an action, teleported to behind the cause of the wind and chopped into her for a change. Peter saw the whole battle, guards splayed all around, most bleeding, and the two obvious enemies now working much more together against his two friends. One enemy swung its silver sword down to strike one friend. Peter intervened, remembering his cousin and friend. Peter knew it was not wise to hold his enemy at bay with his mind, and James, thinking quickly, teleported Julia and himself out of the way of the lunge.
Peter, seeing this, let go of the telepathic wall, and the enemy with horns fell forward, became more frustrated, and fire burst from its back.
Peter was mildly afraid.
Julian was mildly angry. Lindsay took these few seconds to heal herself and Julian. Julian lunged at Peter.
Peter parried the attack, to his surprise, and pushed the aggressor back.
Julian was moderately angry. He adjusted the sword to have two equal-length blades. He conjured a telekinetic blast at Peter.
Peter felt very comfortable fighting like this. James and Julia were taking on the mysterious woman whom now accompanied Marion's evil twin, and Peter was doing a pretty good job of fending off the evil twin himself.
Lindsay shouted at Julian that they should both go, because these battles were not gaining them ground. Julian didn't like this idea: he had not achieved his objective. Julian did, however, like Lindsay, and she outranked him, so, however reluctantly, they returned to the compound.
A girl barged into Marion's room during the final examination of the extent of his injuries. Marion was, still, in severe pain, however his wounds had been cleaned, so the pain was slightly less severe than it had been. The girl, without a word, walked up to Marion and laid a hand on him. Marion was shocked that somebody had touched him. His friends had not done so since his mutations, and even the doctor was keeping his distance. Marion was suddenly in no pain at all. The girl winced, as though temporarily feeling the pain Marion had been in, but then it left her, too. The doctor examined Marion's former wounds, declared them healed, and hurried off to another room to tend to hospital guards harmed in the recent intrusions. The girl lingered for a few seconds, then hurried off as well, presumably to the same place. She was wearing a white robe that extended to her feet with ornate gold embroidery around the edges and cuffs. She was the single most beautiful girl Marion had ever seen, however he was so surprised by the recent five seconds that he didn't know exactly what to say. He shouted his gratitude after her as she left, and heard a foreign reply, however not being versed in any foreign languages, he didn't know what, exactly, she had said.
Julian feared what Father might say about his return without success, which was not voluntary, or what the punishment may be. Lindsay feared nothing. Lindsay was given the consequences of her actions, which, ironically, included helping Julian to match the quality of their enemies' weapons.
However, Father had heard of the most powerful weapon ever made, and directed them toward it. The weapon was a fiery sword, placed to protect this paradise from human corruption. The fiery sword would have to go willingly with Julian, however, meaning he would not be able to simply take it: He would have to kill its previous owner.
A lot of the story behind who, exactly, the previous owner was is very ambiguous, but he(or she) would not have had the strong will to resist the sword's calling to defend the paradise from intruders, and stayed there. Father trusted Julian to have such a strong will.
Julian hoped Julian had such a strong will.
Lindsay informed Julian that she did not want to be a burden on him. Julian inquired how she came to the conclusion that she was, previously, a burden on him. Lindsay did not have an answer, but instead inquired as to how they would get to this solitary paradise.
Lindsay was sitting on Julian's shoulders, and they were flying east, into the rising sun. When ocean was finally below them, Julian feigned a fall, Lindsay giggled after realizing that it was a joke, and messed with Julian's short, blond hair. The island was spotted below them.
The island was perfectly round, approximately three miles in diameter. Something else flying whooshed by them, catching both off guard. Julian decided that being closer to the ground was a good idea.
They landed. They had very little sight of the other flying object, but now they saw what they assumed it was. A tall, broad-shouldered and muscular man stood before them holding a blood-red sword with two blades, the lower blade a miniature copy of the upper. The man was wearing white robes with ornate gold embroidery around the edges and cuffs. The being had wide, feathery wings and its face was very smooth and youthful, even though it appeared to be the original guardian of the island.
The two intruders brandished their weapons, and the being was made aware that the two did not actually want access to paradise, but rather, wanted something else that he would not like them taking. The being brandished his weapon as well. Due to the man's large size, the sword looked to be normally-sized, however as the three moved closer, the two normal people realized exactly how large their enemy was.
Julian estimated the strange, winged being to be nine or ten feet tall. Julian realized that this being resembled Father in many ways but Father was only a bit taller than Julian. Julian told Lindsay that it would be awesome if she would keep him alive, then lunged at the being with his sword at the same proportion as the enemy's.
Lindsay did not know how she was expected to help with anything other than healing Julian's wounds from the ground when both the gigantic creature and he were flying, and she was not. Lindsay did what she could, and Julian seemed to be out-maneuvering the giant. The giant, becoming more and more frustrated by the gnat buzzing around him, slicing at vulnerable places, let out a roar and said something in a language Julian and Lindsay understood. It was a secret language supposedly written by Father, but this being knew it. Perhaps then, this was an old acquaintance of Father. Julian kept lashing, and eventually got a good hack at the giant's wing, sending it sprawling to the ground.
Surprisingly to Julian, the giant was parrying most of the vital strikes he attempted to make, such as the giant's chest, head, and until just then, wings. Julian realized that it was now aiming to crash-land on Lindsay, which he particularly disliked. The giant, evidently realizing the former fact, spread its remaining wing in an attempt to steer itself into the ocean. Julian also disliked this, because it would mean diving for the sword if the giant died.
A nine-foot wide splash represented the giant returning to earth. The giant swam to shore. Julian landed softly. Lindsay thanked Julian for bringing the fight back to her altitude. Julian and Lindsay both knew the giant could not block attacks from both of them simultaneously, so they used this to their advantage.
Julian flew at the giant's head, the giant parried. Julian repeated the lunge, the giant kept parrying. Lindsay Lunged at the giant's chest, hitting it as hard and fast as she could with her tri-staff. Lindsay fell away in time for the giant to miss her. Julian lunged at the giant's neck again, taking off the head . The giant fell over backwards, its greenish-blue blood spilling over the white sand.
Julian picked up the sword formerly wielded by the giant. The sword twitched in his hand and greeted him. Julian was sure he had gone completely mad. The sword introduced itself as 'Uriel'. Lindsay asked Julian what was wrong. Julian told her. Lindsay was sure he had gone completely mad, but then again all sorts of odd things were happening lately.
The sword shortened as Julian held it, though he did not notice this immediately, as the sword was still very large. The sword Father had given him was very plain, silver with a black handle of wood wrapped in leather, and was about four feet in total length. Uriel, as it evidently called itself, was about as tall as Julian from end to end, a dark, blood red with a red-tanned leather handle... at least it felt like leather.
Uriel told Julian to fly around with him, you know, test it out. Julian did so. The island seemed larger now than when they had arrived. There was a fortress-like building in the middle he hadn't noticed before. Julian landed at the fortress. Uriel told him to be alert.
Julian heard footsteps. A humanoid... thing hobbled forth from nearby brush. The thing moaned, presumably at Julian. More footsteps, more things. The first thing reached for Julian and made biting motions. Julian (or Uriel, it was difficult for one to tell) slashed at the thing, knocking it back. The thing, though bleeding, hobbled back toward Julian. Julian lunged at the thing, severing its head in two. The other things hobbled continually toward Julian, but Julian flew away. The things knelt down before the dead thing and proceeded to eat it.
Julian was disgusted. Julian remembered Lindsay. Julian flew back to the beach and announced to Lindsay that they were leaving instantly. Lindsay agreed. Uriel disagreed. Julian told the sword to shut up.
Step 4
Marion was amazed. Popularly voted to be leader of humanity. After the chaos and recovery and other massacres there were only about a hundred thousand humans left. Marion was now Twenty-five years old. His skills in combat had been now proven to his peers.
James was jealous. James had not fought so nearly the line separating bravery and stupidity as Marion. James knew this. Marion knew this.
Marion was a good leader. Marion knew what must be done. He was already head of the survival militia, but now that office had been passed on to James. Peter was next in line. Peter did not especially want the office, so keeping James alive was generally in his best interests.
James and Julia were engaged as much as anyone was in the new culture. Their marriage was a month away. Neither had second thoughts. Peter was jealous. James knew this.
Julian was ordered to do it. Paul said so, and the chain of command said that Julian had to do it. Humanity was becoming scarce, so this village could not be passed up. Julian had to go alone.
Two of the Five had been killed. Challenged beyond their ability. Julian did not now remember their names, as they died a very long time ago and were unimportant to him. Father still called Lindsay, Julian and Paul “The Five” because it sounded better than “The Three”. Father surmised that he may replenish the group eventually, but for now the three remaining could do what he needed them to.
Julian flew to the village. The village did not see Julian. A few people had weapons, but most were minding their own business, tending to children or bread or pets. Julian killed them. Uriel enjoyed every bit of it. Julian was very sad afterward, but sadness was weakness, so he ignored it.
News reached Marion that a village had been destroyed. Peter, who had been trying to make a point to Marion about how the passive defense was not very effective, enjoyed this small victory. Peter and James had been making such points to Marion since before he had been chosen to lead all of humanity.
Marion knew things that Peter and James did not. Marion knew about the leader of this group. Marion knew that the one hundred remaining members of the group could annihilate the small town that remained of humanity without thinking twice, and with relatively little effort.
Marion knew things that his enemy didn't know also. Marion knew, for instance that the leader of his enemy intended to finish off the remainder of the group after they had done their job. Marion knew that the leader had sired most, if not all, of the group.
Marion was well-suited to leadership now. Marion kept the morale of his town up, even though they were all that was left of humanity. Marion knew that only bad things could come next. The enemies would attack next. Marion did not know when, but if enough of them survived, the people would want retribution.
Paul's tone had become increasingly hostile toward Julian. Lindsay had been distancing herself from him as well. Father had been seen pacing around the square of the compound. Julian found his only companion to be Uriel, but, being a sword, Uriel mostly wanted to talk about killing things and people, etc. Uriel didn't talk to anyone else. Julian wondered if this was because he was actually insane or if Uriel was just picky.
The following day, Father announced the plan. The humans primarily lived in a fortress city. There were individuals here and there whom had not been targeted yet, but they would be dealt with later. The fortress city must fall.
Digression 1
For most of the existence of humanity, individuals have struggled to achieve three things; Love, Flight, and Immortality. Of these, Love is the only one still missing. Flight was discovered with the original airplane, and developed into larger and larger airplanes, however only recently with the phenomena of parallel combination has individual flight been possible for human beings. Immortality was obtained only a few years ago, and as such inventions go, it was very expensive. Now that money was of no value, the inventor of the “Reproducer 2000” was giving away the little transmitters that broadcast the thoughts of the person dying to the nearest Reproducer 2000 unit, and into their replacement body. As it happens, the transmitter often left the person being “reproduced” feeling quite odd, as though they had been stabbed or shot or hit by a truck and somehow were perfectly fine.
The Reproducer 2000 worked on principles of Fission and Fusion, tearing apart molecules of Oxygen and Nitrogen to make Carbon and Iron and other things found in the human body, bonded in the correct way and in the correct pattern of motion to continue the person's life. However, as anyone who has ever studied fission and fusion knows, it takes a lot of heat, and produces a lot of heat, so naturally the person being Reproduced would have some ill effects such as first degree burns, dehydration, second degree burns, etc.
The Reproducer 2000 ran on solar energy, mostly because that was the most powerful energy source the inventor could find at the time, however with each use, the excess energy from the reactions taking place would be captured by a vast array of thermocouples, solar panels and turbines to reduce the charge time between uses.
The Reproducer 1999 was more commonly known as the “printer of things” and was available for individual sale in most places. This predecessor to the immortality device worked on the same principles only less accurately, so for instance one could send digitally a shovel and it would be reproduced perfectly, however a hamster would not have such a lucky fate.
Step 4
Nobody noticed until it was too late. The militia acted as quickly as possible, but by that time half of the city had been slain. The militia could not protect everyone because the enemies kept breaking through their lines of defense and killing more innocent civilians. The enemies finally retreated when seventy-five of their number had been killed. At that point, a similar percentage of the humans had been slaughtered. Most of them did not trust the Reproducer 2000. Peter did. His mistake.
There was outrage. The men formerly not in the militia joined. The women remaining mostly had read books of magic and could perform enough of it that in spite of their lacking physical strength, they were allowed in the militia.
Digression 2
Marion did not like religion. Religion in general involved doing strange things because somebody said so and they never really helped because the only reason anyone did the strange things was because whoever said so said so, so there was no belief involved, only ritual. In most cases, the people who said so were saying so on faith in somebody else saying so, so it had been vastly disconnected from any gods it was supposed to be idolizing.
Marion was flying about one day in a dark and cold band around the world known as the cold zone. This “cold zone” was caused by the terrible weapons humans had once used to kill each other, before the chaos. It was generally accepted that the cold zone was a bad place to be.
Marion landed. Marion heard a voice. Marion was sure he had gone completely mad. Marion could not see anything from which a voice should come. The voice told Marion that it knew he couldn't see it. Marion agreed with the voice. Marion found suddenly that he could not see anything. Then Marion found suddenly that he could, and was looking directly at a normal sized man with pale skin, brown hair and blue eyes. The man was wearing a brown robe that went down to his feet. The man, it now occurred to Marion, was slightly translucent.
The man and Marion talked for a long time about the world, the state of humanity, good places to eat, great music, though the man thought very highly of some old dead guys of whom Marion had never heard.
The two paused. The man looked off into the distance. Marion looked off into the distance. The blue sky of the daylight in the northern warm zone gave way to the dark gray sky of the cold zone.
Marion asked the man who he was. The man asked Marion if he believed in gods. Marion asked the man if he believed in humans. The man thought that was a good answer, though a little cliché. Marion mentioned meeting what appeared to be a God of Death once. The man stated that he had noticed his brother's handiwork.
The man laid a hand on Marion, and while slightly less odd the second time, Marion still thought it was odd. Marion felt stronger. The man said no more, but waved at Marion and walked a few steps away from him and disappeared.
Step 4
The man told Peter to remain calm; the process would be over in a minute. The man swore. Peter's transmitter had been crushed in the slaughter. Peter felt odd. It was very hot in the chamber. Peter only remembered some things, like how to speak and how to move his fingers. Peter didn't remember his name, or what transmitter the man was talking about. In fact the only thing keeping Peter from going insane and panicking was that the man had told him to remain calm. The process was finally over, and the chamber opened and several men in thin white hospital gowns rushed in, grabbed Peter and helped him out of the chamber.
The man explained to Peter that the unit which was supposed to transfer his thoughts and memories to the unit here had been, evidently, destroyed. The only information they had on him was that his name was Peter and that he had the power of telekinesis. The man went on to explain that when such terrible things happened it was generally taken as the responsibility of the unit's supervisors to help the victim to recover as well as possible, and that his current set of thoughts and memories are a standard set designed to expedite the process of relearning ones' life.
Peter was escorted into a hospital room. The walls were a light shade of green that made Peter feel slightly odd, though calm. A case of bottled water was brought in, and he was instructed to drink it as he felt the urge to. Peter did, now that he considered it, feel a bit sick, and instinctively drank a bottle. A woman about his age came in. Peter could tell that he liked her, though not much else came to mind. The woman hugged him. The nurse explained to the woman that Peter had no memory of the events prior to his death. It felt odd to Peter to hear someone talking about his own death in past-tense while he was sitting there. The woman now introduced herself as Julia, his best friend's sister.
Peter found it odd that the first person he met from his past was not in fact a friend of his, but a sister of a friend of his, neither of whom he remembered.
The people had already decided, so Marion's job was already done, however he gave a compelling speech about the future of the world and humanity and good places to eat and great music. Callings to all of these wrenched the already emotionally hysterical remnants of humanity. They would fight. Either they would die or they would win. Every member sought more power and strength and ability.
Following his speech, James came up to Marion and told him the news. Peter was alive but could not remember any of them, or anything about himself. The two went to pay him a visit. On the way down, Marion realized how bad of an idea this was.
Peter jumped, spilling the bottle of water all over the hospital chair. A six foot tall thing with horns and wings just walked into the room. Nobody else seemed to be so afraid of the thing, so Peter relaxed a bit. The thing said for Peter to relax, and the slight pain from some minor burns from the process of reproducing himself disappeared. Peter relaxed. The thing introduced itself as Marion. The three started talking about some wedding. Marion said he needed to talk to his friends alone. The nurse left. Peter grabbed another bottle of water.
Marion told James, Peter and Julia about his plans. The cold zone was always hostile to life so long as both existed, so naturally, that was where the “Brotherhood” had made its Headquarters.
Marion, Peter and the militia would make their final stand at the headquarters. James, Julia and a specially trained branch of the militia would stay behind. Marion was convinced that if the primary militia pieced together of normal citizens failed, then the specialized branch would be able to protect James and Julia well enough that the survival of humanity as a whole would be guaranteed.
Julia looked strangely at her brother, then at Peter. Marion noticed, then remembered that Peter could not remember anything before about a day prior. Marion told Peter to follow him. Peter did so, mostly out of fear. Peter had been having flashbacks, but only faint ones. The nurse said that such things happened quite frequently with the only other patient whose memory could not be re-written from the chip. The device merely weakened the neurons in the brain, and the re-writing simply strengthened the memories stored on them.
Julia would work with Peter to recover his telekinesis, and possibly some magic. Julia brought Peter his axe, which she hefted awkwardly into the room. She, however, would not let him have it until he retrieved it from her telekinetically. Peter only afterward realized why; the axe was very heavy. Peter doubted he could even lift the axe by his own strength. Peter tried. Peter failed. Peter flashed back.
Peter now remembered many things about the past, eyes meeting, Marion's back porch being demolished, Marion's twin. Peter finally remembered how he swung the axe before – with his mind.
Now that he had the swing of things, Julia told him to follow her. Peter did so. Julia led Peter to a chubby, unshaven, bespectacled man wearing a long robe of many strange colors. In the man's hands were a crowbar and a plastic book full of wrinkled, yellow pages. Over the man's shoulder was a very worn-looking towel.
The man did not introduce himself. The man told Peter to sit down. Peter started to sit down. Julia cleared her throat noisily in the way one does when attention should be paid to something being ignored.
At this point the man looked at Peter more closely, startled, tossing the crowbar off to the right accidentally and shaking the towel off his shoulder. The man apologized and motioned for Peter to stand. The man told Peter that magic was not just something to trick people with anymore, and started a very short course on how to perform magic. The man handed Peter a white plastic notebook with three rings on the inside. Hanging from the three rings, as Peter opened the notebook, were about twenty blank, yellowish parchment papers. The man explained that the runes could not be used for magic unless certain paper was used. The man motioned to another table piled with scraps of cloth, yarns and leather straps, in case Peter wanted to have his spellbook readily at his side at all times. Peter looked at his axe and decided that he needed all the hands he could get to dedicate to the axe. He chose a strap from the bottom of the pile. The strap was an old tool-belt for a very, very large person. The man took the strap and the book and connected them in the usual way, then hurried Peter along to a table full of sticks.
The man said that the sticks were not sticks, but wands. Peter felt certain at this point that somebody would jump from around a corner and tell him that today was some kind of prank-pulling day. Peter took a medium-length wand. The longer wands looked unwieldy and the shorter ones looked difficult to use without magicking oneself.
The man took out his own wand from the strangely colored robe and, taking Peter's spellbook from him, drew strange shapes on the papers, one on each page.
The man asked if Peter's power was back. Peter looked hopefully at Julia. Julia nodded. The man explained that the magic would work a lot like his power, except slightly disconnected. Peter's power would feel like Peter was controlling it, whereas the magic would feel more like Peter was aiming it. Julia dragged his axe away. The man led Peter to a target range, where the man would then instruct him more exactly how to use magic.
Peter flashed back again, Julia's youth, Marion before the wings and horns, James, and a fourth person whom he did not remember especially. Then Marion had horns, the visual memory was fading, wings of fire, an invisible wall that Peter could see... Then Peter saw himself and the fourth person from the previous scene lay dead. The vases, silverware and unattended weapons floated in the air. Marion's twin walked calmly out of his mother's room, wiping the blood from his sword on the carpet.
Peter returned to reality with what was evidently very little time loss. The man asked Peter if he had been listening. Peter looked at the spellbook, and imagined the shape on the target, his invisible hands throwing the rune toward it. Fire erupted from a few inches before his fingers, curled itself into a ball and flew toward the target obliterating it, and the target next to it, and the target on the other side of that, and part of the hillside behind the target. Magic was his.
Peter practiced with other things, such as the wind magic and water magic, doing odd combinations such as freezing the water by blowing wind over it. Peter asked the man what a yellow, zig-zagging shape did. The man cautioned him that even the most practiced magicians had difficulty using electrical magic, demonstrating a bit of it between his hands and wincing in pain. Peter saw the bluish-green energy lightly burning the man's hands, but decided that if he was expected to defeat the exterminators of humanity, then he should use all of the available resources. New targets had been set up, and Peter tried the spell. Peter's wrist twitched involuntarily and electricity coursed from it to the ground and through the air to the targets. The man was impressed, but said nothing.
Julian felt alone. Julian was alone in a sense; he was the only one he knew whom was considering that what they had done was not good. Julian no longer knew friendship. Julian disliked everything he had seen prior. He was allowed to research certain things in the compound's library, and all of the books were approved by Father. He found a book about people like Father, with feathered wings and pale skin and white hair. The book said that the beings often possessed powers beyond a typical imagination, and that killing one would release those powers into the killer's mind, driving him or her mad.
Lindsay felt alone. Lindsay was alone in a sense; she was the only one she knew whom was considering that what they had done was not good. She knew that Julian had at one time been her friend, but that he had been talking to her less and less, among others. She did not know who she could trust.
Paul felt alone. Paul was alone in a sense; he was the only one he knew whom would follow Father to the very end, cleansing the world of its stain. Paul knew that Father was always right, and that he should neither respect or disrespect Julian and Lindsay. Paul had received a special sword from Father, it was longer than the officer's sword. Paul knew his place was to die with Father, cleansing some other world from its stain.
Peter felt claustrophobic in the crowd of militiamen and women, which was odd, as he was in the front with Marion. Marion marched along with his wings spread wide so as to keep the militia behind him. Marion's armor had not been replaced since he had acquired it all those years ago, yet it still fit him perfectly. Peter's clothes were leather and canvas, but moved freely enough that he could make any attack he found necessary.
The militia had been trained in combat with and without weapons. They had been trained in ranged weapons and magic of any kinds they could master. Most of the militia had not discovered their powers. The few that had mostly excelled in combat and were left guarding James and Julia.
The militia rounded a corner. On top of a plateau before them was a fortress. From the fortress quickly sprang about a hundred white haired figures in black clothes with shiny silver blades, One white-haired figure in black clothes with horns and a blood-red sword, and one white-haired figure in black clothes with white, feathered wings.
The enemies of humanity assembled, poised to kill.
Julian floated above, hesitantly, but still appeared ready to kill.
Marion drew his sword, slowly, and pointed it toward the ground at his side.
Father threw a very long, shiny blade at Marion. Marion brushed it aside and it stuck into the ground noisily. Paul lunged at Marion, and the battle began. The militia ran forth to do battle with their exterminators. There was fire, there was water, and soon ice. Peter did his best to fight. He threw fire at an assailant, and the assailant was no longer capable of much.
Marion managed to disarm Paul. Marion kicked Paul over, then Marion heard it.
It was the voice of the man he had met last time he wandered into this area. Marion blinked and saw him, above himself. The man extended a hand toward Marion, and Marion reacted by floating mysteriously upward toward him. A beam of light shone through the smog-filled cloud. Marion was floating a few feet off the ground. Peter was standing a few feet from him, confused by what was happening. Light began to glow from Marion's fingers and the cracks in his armor, then from all his skin, even the wings and tail.
Not wasting the advantage confusion gave him, Paul wrenched violently Peter's axe from its owner's hands, and, lifting it over his head, sundered Marion's armor, and a flash of light blinded all present.
Some say that Marion was seen afterward with white feathered wings, shortly before disappearing.
Paul disappeared as well, along with Peter's axe. Peter was knocked away. Everyone else present was shocked. Julian now saw what had happened. Julian landed. Father landed.
Father had killed him. Father had killed Julian; Julian knew it.
Marion's sword landed a few feet from where Julian stood. Julian picked it up. Sparks flew from Julian's back. Peter stood up. Father smiled.
Julian looked at Peter and nodded. Peter remembered the runes in his book and drew with his wand the closest he could remember to the zig-zag. Peter felt no pain. Julian felt no pain. Many of the brotherhood were in anguish. Lindsay walked up to Peter and healed the wound in his chest from being disarmed.
Julian lunged at Father, but Father dodged. Julian smashed a few lesser members of the brotherhood with his horns. Father lunged for his sword, and after a slight struggle, retrieved it. Peter could hear Marion's voice saying something, but over the clashing of the battle, he could not discern words from it. Peter did, however, remember a trick he used to know for flying. With his mind, Peter grabbed a sword from a fallen militiaman. The sword was broad and had a thick hilt against which he could brace his back foot.
Peter carried the sword, with himself on it, to the level of the battle between a fiery man with horns and a pale man with feathered wings. The man flying by normal means was becoming tired. The twin of Marion was angry, and slashing with both swords, getting gashes in here and there. A muscle cut, and the feathered man fell to the ground.
Peter dove at an angle, pinning the man to the ground with the sword he had been riding, catching himself with a roll and some telekinesis. Julian landed in front of Father. Peter pulled his acquired sword out of the wing it was pinning down, and began to swing to behead the monster which had killed so many. Julian stopped Peter's near mistake and motioned for him to back away. The remaining members of the brotherhood were backing away from the body of their leader.
Father cackled maniacally as Uriel rose to end his life. The cackle resonated throughout the battlefield for a few seconds after it was over.
Step 5
James and Julia were married in a combination of celebration of survival and wedding ceremony. Peter was the Best Man, and the Maid of Honor was a beautiful healer girl. Julian sat in the back, carefully watched by the militia.
After the kiss and before the cake, Julian left. Julian did not choose the time between the kiss and the cake to leave because he wanted to see the kiss and did not want cake, in fact quite contrary, he wanted cake very much and wanted to see others in love very little. Julian left because he was in love as well, and Lindsay was now in prison unfairly, for when she was unable to choose sides, she ran away from the battle.
Julian went to the makeshift prison. Uriel helped him free her, and they flew off to a small, perfectly round island Julian knew about.
James took the news of Marion's probable death and disappearance very badly. By the time of the wedding, James was beyond his loss of a friend and continued on in his friend's footsteps as leader.
Peter knew that Marion was alive, somewhere.
Marion and Alex lived happily ever after.
