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Chapter Zero: To Ashes
Two young teenage girls were walking down the sidewalk, one was slightly shorter in height, with long, red, wavy hair just past her shoulders. She was dressed in a male school uniform, a blue suit jacket, with the emblem of a hornet on it, along with a white dress shirt, a black tie, blue dress pants and black slip on shoes. A red scarf was wrapped around her neck, both ends swayed freely in the evening breeze. The taller one was also slightly lankier looking, with straight, platinum blonde hair wrapped up in a loose ponytail low on her head, the long locks swaying as she walked. She was also wearing a suit jacket, but a more feminine one, with a more dramatic curve for the jacket, and a black skirt that went to the knees, she also had long leggings up to her thighs, and a pair of black heels.
The two girls walked through the swaying hills and curving roads of the nicer district in town, the shorter girl spoke, her voice young, but deeper than the taller girl's. “Why do all the rich people live on hills?” The taller girl gave a friendly giggle, her voice was a bit more formal in tone. “Good question, Maria! Maybe they pay for the view, you can see the rest of the city from here.” Maria chuckled at the girl, turning around and starting to walk backwards to see if she could get such a view. The city was fairly large and pretty looking, Maria could see the glass skyscrapers shimmer, surrounded by smaller buildings of the city district. The large, wide buildings of the market district, and on the other side was the suburbs, where it became a grid upon grid of smaller square houses. She glanced off to one side, and a couple of miles down the road on the horizon was the battle academy that was built a couple of years ago. “I see what ya mean, Lily. Though it just makes me think people up here just wanted to look down on people.” Maria said to the girl, now known as Lily. Maria turned back around and looked at her while she talked. “Lily crosses her arms and gives a friendly smile. “Well that's one way to take it...” Maria walked up and patted her on the shoulder.
“C'mon, you and your dad live up here.” Maria said in jest. “Don't tell me he didn't do that at least once.” Lily sighed and shook her head from Maria's joking assertions, commenting on what she said. “I do, but that doesn't mean I look down on anyone... My dad is rich, that doesn't make me any special.” Maria laughed, looking at the mansion on the hill coming up in front of them. It was Lily's since Maria knew it was the biggest damn house she'd ever seen. It had at least a hundred rooms, and it was on the top of the highest hill that the brick paved roads can actually take you to.
“Whatever you say, lil' miss big bucks.” She remarked, walking up to the front gate of her home, it was a bit overkill to Maria. It was a security checkpoint with a motorized gate, two security guards standing at the gate. One guard was in the front, he had a standard looking guardsman uniform, and a sword strapped to his belt. He was in pretty good shape, as it looked like he was trained to combat any troublemakers who showed up. The other guard stood behind the gate, in a little control room full of buttons to control the gate. They both stopped in the front, where one of the guards addressed Lily. “You're late in getting home, Ma'am” Lily nodded and responded to his statement. “Oh, I know Rudolph. I just wanted to walk home with my friend.” The guard immediately announced in reply “I see that, but he still worried about you being 2 hours late.” Lily sighed, a palm rubbing her face as she returned to looking up at him. “Well, I'm sorry.” The second guard pulled the leaver, the automatic barred black gate swinging open, showing the brick road up a long curving path to the massive white mansion. “Well, I'll see you tomorrow, Maria. Are you gonna be at my Violin recital tomorrow?” Maria crossed her arms, shifting her weight onto one leg as she answered. “I'll ask my dad to drive me, hopefully I'll make it in time.” Lily smiled at Maria. “Great! I'll see ya then!” She said with unabashed joy, walking through the gates and having them close. The guard looked at Maria, but she just turned around to walk away, heading down the hill and back into the city.
Maria was walking down the road, thinking to herself quietly like she always did whenever she didn't have anybody to talk to. Lily was always a pretty nice girl, she was kind, friendly, and always tried to be at least a little bit humble about her money. But because of the name she gotten from her father funding weapons for the war that happened a couple of years ago and making a fortune off of it, the children at school would always insult and bully her. She would sit alone in the playground, barely holding back her tears from all the mean things they'd say. Maria chose to protect her, standing up for her when she couldn't. Ever since she did that for the first time when Maria was 8, they slowly became best friends. Maria didn't mind the money, she was more about getting to know Lily as a person, but sometimes being friends with a rich girl had it's benefits. Maria got to go to an awesome banquet for Lily's 14th birthday a couple of months ago, it was probably the best day of both of their lives. Apparently being the only friend of Lily is a title worth being respected for, as everyone was kind to Maria, even though Lily's father was too busy on the phone, away from the table to enjoy Lily's birthday with everyone else. Though, Maria wondered if he was always like that or not.
Maria, now finished with her thoughts on Lily, was just getting back into the city, she had to walk through another district before getting to her neighborhood, it was probably going to be another couple of miles. She looked up at her surroundings, cars slowly driving past her, homes on the left and right slowly passing by her, people busy living their lives as usual. Then then peered up into the sky, locking her gaze with the most noticeable thing. The rift....
Ever since she was a little child, the sky always had a strange feature to it, a massive black rip in the sky. It was like the sky was a picture, and someone pulled it apart at the seams to show what was behind it... A monstrous black rip that extended from horizon to horizon. Whenever it hit noon, the sun would fade behind the tear, making a 1 hour night. While people didn't know why the tear was there... where was at least a reason why. Strange monsters started appearing, falling from it and terrorizing cities with strange, almost magic abilities. That huge academy she saw in the distance was erected back when she was a little kid, it was supposed to be an academy for people who were learning to fight back the monsters, that's really all she knew about it. But she knew that at least while that school was there, she might be able to sleep at night knowing she wouldn't be attacked by those monsters, since she hasn't ever seen one before, maybe they were doing a good job.
The sun was starting to set, the colors of the sky changed from the light blue, to a dark and rich gold color, She smiled to herself, the winds were starting to get cold regardless if she was wearing a coat or not, but she loved how beautiful the city could get with the right conditions. She hummed quietly to herself as she approached home. Her home was pretty standard, it was in a neighborhood that had a bunch of houses build nearly exactly the same, as it was cheaper. It's pretty lower middle class, but she didn't care as long as it was comfortable. The outside was painted a pale blue color, the roof had black shingle tiles atop it, it was two stories, and she could see her bedroom on the second floor, facing the road and the city.
She walked up the stone walkway, gently knocking on the door before coming in, saying casually. “Mother, I'm home.” After a brief delay, a brunette woman, appearing to be in her late 30's came stepping out of the kitchen walkway, smiling at the black haired girl at the front door. “Welcome home, Mary! Dinner is about to be ready, so get out of your school outfit and meet me in the kitchen.” She said, Maria nodded, but asked a question or two before she left. “Where's dad?” The mom answered. “Oh, Michael is in the bed room, you know how much he likes that new TV...” Maria responded with a light chuckle, before asking again. “Did Sienna call?” The mother shook her head for no, Maria sighed quietly to herself. Her big sister was always busy at Spectrum, it's been 3 years since she left and she only visited home 2 times, she pondered to herself if they must be that busy, or maybe she just didn't want to visit her baby sister anymore.
Maria feigned a smile at Lorrie, walking up the stairs to her bedroom, shouting that “I'll be down soon!” She walked down the second floor hallway, seeing the door to Sienna’s empty room before heading to her own. Opening the door and heading inside, Maria didn't really care for style, it was a simple bedroom with walls a soft sky blue shade, a simple oak dresser and a small walk in closet to one side. Her bed was propped up on a metal frame with white pillows and dark red, stripped sheets. She kicked off her slip on shoes into the corner of the room, open the closet to look at her normal at home clothes. As she isn't one for style or standing out, her pallet tended to be very mute colors, she slid off her school jacket and dress pants into her tank top and shorts. She grabbed a maroon colored, long sleeve buttoned up blouse and a pair of gray colored jeans, staying in her socks as she sat onto her bed with a bit of a bounce. Her room was quiet, the only sound was the low hum of her ceiling fan.
But that wasn't the only sound for long, she heard a loud shriek, she jerked lightly from the sheer volume of it, it's cry sounding slightly muffled through the insulated walls. She leaned up out the window and noticed something strange... A jet black bird flying around. She tilted her head inquisitively, wondering if it was a crow who got lost from it's flock. But it was odd... It wasn't moving the speed she thought it should go.. and that shriek was so loud. The black bird flew over the house, before a loud crashing sound was heard, the entire house rumbling as dust knocked from the ceiling fell to the ground. There was another massive shriek, this one was so loud that it caused the window of Maria's room to shatter into dust, falling into the yard below, she stumbled forward, landing on her chest before getting back up. The room started to feel hot, and the sounds of muffled screaming erupted within the house. Maria flew into a panic, running to her door to open it. But the smell of smoke began to seep through the crack of the door and she wondered... “Did whatever hit my house just cause a fire?” she thought that was just her mind, but she realized she mumbled it as well. The shrieking again pierced her ears, her hands began to tremble and she started to fear what was on the other side of this door. She needed to find her parents and help them get out of the house, every single second she waited was another moment she wouldn't have, she turned the knob and opened the door.
The other side of the hallway was ablaze with a strange red flame, the fire spread quickly, she had a short window of opportunity, but as the staircase wasn't ignited unfortunately, the other side of the room that was ablaze was her fathers room.. She thought to herself, he couldn't have survived that... The blast of heat on her face knocked her from her thoughts. She rushed down stairs with an agility she's never experienced before from just the pure adrenaline stemming from her fear. She rushed past the living room, trying to make her way to the kitchen before she heard a rumble... The flaming hallway collapsed into the kitchen, causing a massive billow of ash, smoke and debris to fly out at Maria, the collapse was enough for her to nearly fall from the force. She waited for a second, covering her mouth as the entire house was ignited with the flames, turning dark, smokey and red. There was no sounds... no screaming, no breathing.. nothing but her own heart beat, the crackling of the flames and the burning of her home. She felt the tears well up in her eyes, she really didn't know if it was the smoke or the feeling like she just lost both of her parents that was making that happen.. but it sure felt like both factors were valid at this point.. Unfortunately, the door was covered with a massive billow of flame, she'd be cooked if she went through there, the kitchen was the only way to get to the back door. She decided to head back up the stairs, feeling the structure begin to collapse as she crossed, panicking and making a leap just as the stairs crumbled into the inferno, the stumbled to her feet, running to the door of her room and pushing the door open with her shoulder.
Her room was in pretty good condition, the smoke and the flames began to mar her personal belongings, but it was still intact. She needed to head out of the window and hope for a soft landing, she walked up, opening the window and pressing her back against the wall, getting ready to make the leap. She broke out into a run, but as she did, she saw... something she never believed. It was the head of a black bird. A bird so big that it's entire face covered her only escape.. It was jet black, red flames billowing where it's plume would normally be. It's eyes glowed an eerie red as it shrieked loudly at her, she screamed, leaping onto her stomach and sliding as it shot a monstrous amount of red flamed into her room, searing it black. The fire licked at her clothes, burning through them and searing her flesh. It hurt like a pain she could never have possibly imagined, it was like her skin was being boiled away to nothing. It was only a blast of fire lasting a couple of seconds, but it felt like forever. Her skin on her neck, back and arms were nearly melting off the bone, leaving just blood and exposed muscle, the charred remains of clothes barely staying together on the rest of her body. She heard a massive flap, the bird began to fly away... She was in so much pain that she couldn't believe it, she stood up on shaky legs, climbing into the seared frame of the window before her weak body gave out, sliding along the short tiled roof and falling 10 feet to the grass and broken glass below. She groaned, clawing into the grass and pulling herself further and further away from the inferno.
She got near the sidewalk before she passed out from the pain and injury, eventually, members of Spectrum showed up along with firefighters and an ambulance to pick up Maria and help the rescue of anything else left inside the home. Maria felt a stretcher underneath her chest, a slight rattling as people began to talk. “Is she the only one?” A male voice called out. A female one replied. “Unfortunately, we found the remains of others in the building.. this was the only one who we could recover.” the man pulled out a clipboard, writing something down on it. “To be honest, this girly is lucky enough to be alive...”
Chapter one: Welcome Home
Two girls were sitting in their dorm room, one sitting on one of the bunk beds, the other one sitting on the floor. They were hostile with each other and shouting insults as they debated. The skinnier, light haired one shouted at the other girl. “That very notion is appalling and you know it, My father is a good man! He wouldn't be stirring up things without any regulation like that.” The more athletic, taller girl contented that “Well, it still happened and my entire family was part of it. Your dad didn't curate or anything... He just sold to any buyer. He funded the whole damn war!”
The light haired girl scoffed, her bright emerald eyes looking with scorn at the black haired girl, they both appeared to both be young adults. The light haired girl had long, flowing platinum blonde hair to her shoulders, brushed to a shine like beaten silver from how pale the blonde really was. Her face had an oval shape to it, her features were slight and graceful, standing at 5'6 with a light frame, she was dressed in the female school uniform for Spectrum academy. She opted for a long sleeved white shirt with a deep burgundy vest over top of it, a neat white lace ribbon wrapped around her neck in a bow, a burgundy skirt went down past her knees, meeting a pair of stockings coming up from her shoes. Her eyes were rounded, her nose thin but slightly long to fit her face, her lips about average and her skin the color of a peach. The white haired girl stood up, crossing her arms. “That's just a baseless assumption... He wasn't the only person selling weapons.”
The girl in black was a couple of inches taller with a stronger build, wider shoulders and larger skeleton, built with some muscle under her athletic but sleek frame, her hair was longer and wiry looking in an unkempt way, pulled into a low ponytail with no bangs so they didn't get in the way. Her face was heart shaped, her eyes somewhat slanted looking like a narrow almond with a warm dark brown color. Her skin was tanner and rougher, she would be medium skinned if it wasn't tanned olive from often being in the sun. Her lips were rougher and slightly thicker. She was in a similar uniform, but was wearing a leather jacket over her white shirt and vest, her brow furrowed at the prissy rich girl. “Yeah, but he still did, and hes guilty of it! Your dad was a war monger, deal with it.” Lily clenched her fists, she hated hearing her family insulted.. She opened her mouth, inhaling and getting ready to shout at her as the door knob spun, slowly cracking open.
“What the hell are you two doing?” The woman at the door said in a raspy and slightly deeper voice than Lily. They both looked up at this girl, she was a slightly younger looking girl with a rounded face, standing at about 5'4. Her eyes were an unnatural red color, Lily knew this was common to people who received exposed to ash for an extended period of time, her father made her read all the brochures about safety protocols for handling the substance. Her skin was pale.. not fair, but nearly milk colored, she had slight tinges of red where the blood stream came closer to the surface of her skin, but it was still an oddly ghostly pale. Her eyes were rounder than Morgans, but still almond shape, her nose a bit shorter and slight on her face, her lips were thin but smooth, the corners naturally turning to a frown. Her hair was a deep crimson red shade, like a pomegranate. chin length but slightly unkempt, like someone cut it short and let it grow out naturally, her hair naturally parting to the right side to give her slight bangs to one side that covered most of her face. It had a slight luster to it, but it was still a bit disheveled looking. She was wearing the male school uniform for spectrum, a long burgundy cotton blended suit jacket with a black button up blouse underneath, a deep red tie over top of it stuffed under the buttoned up jacket.
Lily's eyes widened in surprise, it was Maria. It's been three years since she's even seen her, that would make Maria 15 to Lily's 16, but it's still be such a long time. “Maria!” She said, standing onto her feet and running to her, wrapping the slightly shorter, but more medium built girl into her arms, Maria sighed, not returning the hug but not really pushing her away either, her face remaining stark. Lily said with a huge smile on her face, like her father just got her a pony made of diamonds. “Oh gods.. I was so sad when I heard what happened... I'm so sorry I didn't visit you.. I don't know where they took you after you got out of the hospital...” Maria sighed, taking a step back and breaking away from the hugging. “I was taken to a boarding school.” She said, a matter of fact kind of deal. Lily thought how stoic and cold she sounded was a bit odd. “I'm so sorry about what happened to your parents...” She said, with a hint of sadness in her voice, the annoying girl sitting on the floor and looking up at the both of them didn't matter for a short while, until she stood up behind Lily and questioned them both. “Who's the goth chick?” She said, the dark rings under Maria's eyes gave her a somewhat look akin to that, but she wouldn't call lack of sleep any kind of new fashion trend. Lily turned and sighed at Morgan, explaining herself. “This is Maria.. She was my best friend for years.” Morgan rolled her eyes, shifting her weight to one side. “Great, another rich girl I can spend my life with for the new few years.” Maria glared at her, speaking with the same coldness she gave to Lily. “My parents died when my house burnt down and I have burns on over 50% of my body.”
Morgans lips curled into a slight frown, she didn't really expect that for a response. Lily walked over to the bed and sat back down on it, looking up at Maria as the red eyed girl carried her two bags over to an empty drawer. Lily questioned Maria a bit while she unzipped one of her bags, folding up some of her clothes and placing it into an empty dresser on the other side of the room. “If you survived, why didn't you contact me?” Maria responded flatly, it didn't have any malice or annoyance, it felt like she was just really distant. “I cut all my ties. You didn't contact me in the hospital so I just... didn't bother.” Lily frowned, her voice gaining in volume as she sounded somewhat frustrated by her aloofness. “Why though? We were friends. I could've asked my dad to adopt you or something.” Maria just quietly spoke while finishing the first bag, pulling out the other one for some of her other personal belongings. “And that didn't happen. Past promises tend to be hollow ones.” Morgan chuckled a bit as Lily's expense. “This is what you call a best friend? She seems to hate you as much as I do!” She said, with some bitter humor to her voice. Maria set down her bag, walking over to Morgan, leaning forward to look eye to eye with her, Morgans hazel eyes meeting Maria's deep red ones. “Just to let you know, I don't like you either. Don't you fucking laugh at either of us again.” She said, with a hint of malice in her voice. Morgan leaned back on her seat just a bit, wondering is this girl was out of her mind or something. “Or what? You even try to beat me up and you'd get expelled.” Maria didn't even flinch, or change her expression at her. “I'll show you my version of diplomacy.” She let go, the black haired girl stepped back and steadied herself, glaring at the angry little redhead.
“You got a lot of mouth on you, kid.” Morgan said, adjusting the lapel of her coat since it was all wrinkled by the girls balled fist grasping it. “Just who do you think you are?” The red head shifted her weight onto her other leg, crossing her arms and looking at the two of them, Lily stood up and looked over to her confused by her strange temper. “Maria Roth, and I assume you're my two dormmates?” She stated flatly, reaching up to adjust her tie. The damn thing was uncomfortable as hell. “Morgan Leland.” She stated, before pointing over her shoulder at Lily. “She's Lily Sterling... And also a liar.” Lily frowned, sighing frustrated at Morgans antics. “I've had enough of your childish antics...” Lily turned to Maria, looking at her blood red eyes. “So... Why did you join Spectrum?” Maria shrugged her shoulders, returning to her bag, placing a photo of her and her older sister, before Sienna joined spectrum in the first place. She answered, half busy unpacking her clothes and folding them into the empty drawer in front of her. “I came to learn how to kill those beasts with my own two hands, along with anything that will get in my way, Nothing more and nothing less.” Morgan sighed at Maria, her eyebrows lowering as she spoke. “Well you're just an exemplar of sanity, aren't you?” Morgan said sarcastically. Maria finished packing, placing her backpack over her shoulder. “The receptionist told me that our instructor was going to meet us on the dorm rooftop in 10 minutes, Let's get going.” Maria said, leaving the dorm room and leaving the door open as she head up the staircase of the four floor building. Morgan and Lily both followed as well.
They got to the top of the stairs, Maria pulling the bar to the door to creak it open, and upon the gray fenced rooftop stood a lone woman. She was staring away across the campus. She had long, dark red wavy hair to her shoulders, a black beret resting on top of her head and was wearing a white coat, with a long white skirt down to her ankles along with a pair of dress shoes. She turned around, her eyes were a soft blue color and she had a slight smile on her face. “I'm glad you've arrived early.” She said, her voice was gentle and friendly sounding, but one thing Lily noticed about her face. She actually looked very similar to Maria. Even though she was probably a couple of inches taller, and about approximately 6 years older from her more womanly facial features, if she had to guess. The woman turned around, crossing her arms at the three who arrived. Maria's eyes widened, as she just realized who this woman was. “Oh god, no...” The woman was actually Maria's older sister, Sienna. “Hey, Little sis!” She woman shouted at Maria, Maria quickly burying her face into her hands from the overwhelming surge of shame flowing over her like a dam ruptured via explosions. Morgan began to laugh loudly at the exchange, jokingly commenting. “Looks like the Nepotism Express arrived right on time!” Maria shook her head, briefly leaving the palms of her hands to complain to her. “Just shut up... It's not nepotism is I don't want i-.” Which Morgan quickly interrupted with the most mature response she's ever said. “Choo choo!”
Sienna smiled at them both. “I admit, I did pull a few strings to get me to be your instructor. I've set up this arrangement weeks before, when you sent in your application papers. The same goes for you, Lily ” She said, looking at Lily. Lily smiled and ran up to hug Sienna, which she quickly reciprocated. “I thought Maria having a team with people she knew would help her out a bit.” She explained, looking over at Maria, who is still trying to inspect the lines of her palms, by stuffing them both in her face.
Two young teenage girls were walking down the sidewalk, one was slightly shorter in height, with long, red, wavy hair just past her shoulders. She was dressed in a male school uniform, a blue suit jacket, with the emblem of a hornet on it, along with a white dress shirt, a black tie, blue dress pants and black slip on shoes. A red scarf was wrapped around her neck, both ends swayed freely in the evening breeze. The taller one was also slightly lankier looking, with straight, platinum blonde hair wrapped up in a loose ponytail low on her head, the long locks swaying as she walked. She was also wearing a suit jacket, but a more feminine one, with a more dramatic curve for the jacket, and a black skirt that went to the knees, she also had long leggings up to her thighs, and a pair of black heels.
The two girls walked through the swaying hills and curving roads of the nicer district in town, the shorter girl spoke, her voice young, but deeper than the taller girl's. “Why do all the rich people live on hills?” The taller girl gave a friendly giggle, her voice was a bit more formal in tone. “Good question, Maria! Maybe they pay for the view, you can see the rest of the city from here.” Maria chuckled at the girl, turning around and starting to walk backwards to see if she could get such a view. The city was fairly large and pretty looking, Maria could see the glass skyscrapers shimmer, surrounded by smaller buildings of the city district. The large, wide buildings of the market district, and on the other side was the suburbs, where it became a grid upon grid of smaller square houses. She glanced off to one side, and a couple of miles down the road on the horizon was the battle academy that was built a couple of years ago. “I see what ya mean, Lily. Though it just makes me think people up here just wanted to look down on people.” Maria said to the girl, now known as Lily. Maria turned back around and looked at her while she talked. “Lily crosses her arms and gives a friendly smile. “Well that's one way to take it...” Maria walked up and patted her on the shoulder.
“C'mon, you and your dad live up here.” Maria said in jest. “Don't tell me he didn't do that at least once.” Lily sighed and shook her head from Maria's joking assertions, commenting on what she said. “I do, but that doesn't mean I look down on anyone... My dad is rich, that doesn't make me any special.” Maria laughed, looking at the mansion on the hill coming up in front of them. It was Lily's since Maria knew it was the biggest damn house she'd ever seen. It had at least a hundred rooms, and it was on the top of the highest hill that the brick paved roads can actually take you to.
“Whatever you say, lil' miss big bucks.” She remarked, walking up to the front gate of her home, it was a bit overkill to Maria. It was a security checkpoint with a motorized gate, two security guards standing at the gate. One guard was in the front, he had a standard looking guardsman uniform, and a sword strapped to his belt. He was in pretty good shape, as it looked like he was trained to combat any troublemakers who showed up. The other guard stood behind the gate, in a little control room full of buttons to control the gate. They both stopped in the front, where one of the guards addressed Lily. “You're late in getting home, Ma'am” Lily nodded and responded to his statement. “Oh, I know Rudolph. I just wanted to walk home with my friend.” The guard immediately announced in reply “I see that, but he still worried about you being 2 hours late.” Lily sighed, a palm rubbing her face as she returned to looking up at him. “Well, I'm sorry.” The second guard pulled the leaver, the automatic barred black gate swinging open, showing the brick road up a long curving path to the massive white mansion. “Well, I'll see you tomorrow, Maria. Are you gonna be at my Violin recital tomorrow?” Maria crossed her arms, shifting her weight onto one leg as she answered. “I'll ask my dad to drive me, hopefully I'll make it in time.” Lily smiled at Maria. “Great! I'll see ya then!” She said with unabashed joy, walking through the gates and having them close. The guard looked at Maria, but she just turned around to walk away, heading down the hill and back into the city.
Maria was walking down the road, thinking to herself quietly like she always did whenever she didn't have anybody to talk to. Lily was always a pretty nice girl, she was kind, friendly, and always tried to be at least a little bit humble about her money. But because of the name she gotten from her father funding weapons for the war that happened a couple of years ago and making a fortune off of it, the children at school would always insult and bully her. She would sit alone in the playground, barely holding back her tears from all the mean things they'd say. Maria chose to protect her, standing up for her when she couldn't. Ever since she did that for the first time when Maria was 8, they slowly became best friends. Maria didn't mind the money, she was more about getting to know Lily as a person, but sometimes being friends with a rich girl had it's benefits. Maria got to go to an awesome banquet for Lily's 14th birthday a couple of months ago, it was probably the best day of both of their lives. Apparently being the only friend of Lily is a title worth being respected for, as everyone was kind to Maria, even though Lily's father was too busy on the phone, away from the table to enjoy Lily's birthday with everyone else. Though, Maria wondered if he was always like that or not.
Maria, now finished with her thoughts on Lily, was just getting back into the city, she had to walk through another district before getting to her neighborhood, it was probably going to be another couple of miles. She looked up at her surroundings, cars slowly driving past her, homes on the left and right slowly passing by her, people busy living their lives as usual. Then then peered up into the sky, locking her gaze with the most noticeable thing. The rift....
Ever since she was a little child, the sky always had a strange feature to it, a massive black rip in the sky. It was like the sky was a picture, and someone pulled it apart at the seams to show what was behind it... A monstrous black rip that extended from horizon to horizon. Whenever it hit noon, the sun would fade behind the tear, making a 1 hour night. While people didn't know why the tear was there... where was at least a reason why. Strange monsters started appearing, falling from it and terrorizing cities with strange, almost magic abilities. That huge academy she saw in the distance was erected back when she was a little kid, it was supposed to be an academy for people who were learning to fight back the monsters, that's really all she knew about it. But she knew that at least while that school was there, she might be able to sleep at night knowing she wouldn't be attacked by those monsters, since she hasn't ever seen one before, maybe they were doing a good job.
The sun was starting to set, the colors of the sky changed from the light blue, to a dark and rich gold color, She smiled to herself, the winds were starting to get cold regardless if she was wearing a coat or not, but she loved how beautiful the city could get with the right conditions. She hummed quietly to herself as she approached home. Her home was pretty standard, it was in a neighborhood that had a bunch of houses build nearly exactly the same, as it was cheaper. It's pretty lower middle class, but she didn't care as long as it was comfortable. The outside was painted a pale blue color, the roof had black shingle tiles atop it, it was two stories, and she could see her bedroom on the second floor, facing the road and the city.
She walked up the stone walkway, gently knocking on the door before coming in, saying casually. “Mother, I'm home.” After a brief delay, a brunette woman, appearing to be in her late 30's came stepping out of the kitchen walkway, smiling at the black haired girl at the front door. “Welcome home, Mary! Dinner is about to be ready, so get out of your school outfit and meet me in the kitchen.” She said, Maria nodded, but asked a question or two before she left. “Where's dad?” The mom answered. “Oh, Michael is in the bed room, you know how much he likes that new TV...” Maria responded with a light chuckle, before asking again. “Did Sienna call?” The mother shook her head for no, Maria sighed quietly to herself. Her big sister was always busy at Spectrum, it's been 3 years since she left and she only visited home 2 times, she pondered to herself if they must be that busy, or maybe she just didn't want to visit her baby sister anymore.
Maria feigned a smile at Lorrie, walking up the stairs to her bedroom, shouting that “I'll be down soon!” She walked down the second floor hallway, seeing the door to Sienna’s empty room before heading to her own. Opening the door and heading inside, Maria didn't really care for style, it was a simple bedroom with walls a soft sky blue shade, a simple oak dresser and a small walk in closet to one side. Her bed was propped up on a metal frame with white pillows and dark red, stripped sheets. She kicked off her slip on shoes into the corner of the room, open the closet to look at her normal at home clothes. As she isn't one for style or standing out, her pallet tended to be very mute colors, she slid off her school jacket and dress pants into her tank top and shorts. She grabbed a maroon colored, long sleeve buttoned up blouse and a pair of gray colored jeans, staying in her socks as she sat onto her bed with a bit of a bounce. Her room was quiet, the only sound was the low hum of her ceiling fan.
But that wasn't the only sound for long, she heard a loud shriek, she jerked lightly from the sheer volume of it, it's cry sounding slightly muffled through the insulated walls. She leaned up out the window and noticed something strange... A jet black bird flying around. She tilted her head inquisitively, wondering if it was a crow who got lost from it's flock. But it was odd... It wasn't moving the speed she thought it should go.. and that shriek was so loud. The black bird flew over the house, before a loud crashing sound was heard, the entire house rumbling as dust knocked from the ceiling fell to the ground. There was another massive shriek, this one was so loud that it caused the window of Maria's room to shatter into dust, falling into the yard below, she stumbled forward, landing on her chest before getting back up. The room started to feel hot, and the sounds of muffled screaming erupted within the house. Maria flew into a panic, running to her door to open it. But the smell of smoke began to seep through the crack of the door and she wondered... “Did whatever hit my house just cause a fire?” she thought that was just her mind, but she realized she mumbled it as well. The shrieking again pierced her ears, her hands began to tremble and she started to fear what was on the other side of this door. She needed to find her parents and help them get out of the house, every single second she waited was another moment she wouldn't have, she turned the knob and opened the door.
The other side of the hallway was ablaze with a strange red flame, the fire spread quickly, she had a short window of opportunity, but as the staircase wasn't ignited unfortunately, the other side of the room that was ablaze was her fathers room.. She thought to herself, he couldn't have survived that... The blast of heat on her face knocked her from her thoughts. She rushed down stairs with an agility she's never experienced before from just the pure adrenaline stemming from her fear. She rushed past the living room, trying to make her way to the kitchen before she heard a rumble... The flaming hallway collapsed into the kitchen, causing a massive billow of ash, smoke and debris to fly out at Maria, the collapse was enough for her to nearly fall from the force. She waited for a second, covering her mouth as the entire house was ignited with the flames, turning dark, smokey and red. There was no sounds... no screaming, no breathing.. nothing but her own heart beat, the crackling of the flames and the burning of her home. She felt the tears well up in her eyes, she really didn't know if it was the smoke or the feeling like she just lost both of her parents that was making that happen.. but it sure felt like both factors were valid at this point.. Unfortunately, the door was covered with a massive billow of flame, she'd be cooked if she went through there, the kitchen was the only way to get to the back door. She decided to head back up the stairs, feeling the structure begin to collapse as she crossed, panicking and making a leap just as the stairs crumbled into the inferno, the stumbled to her feet, running to the door of her room and pushing the door open with her shoulder.
Her room was in pretty good condition, the smoke and the flames began to mar her personal belongings, but it was still intact. She needed to head out of the window and hope for a soft landing, she walked up, opening the window and pressing her back against the wall, getting ready to make the leap. She broke out into a run, but as she did, she saw... something she never believed. It was the head of a black bird. A bird so big that it's entire face covered her only escape.. It was jet black, red flames billowing where it's plume would normally be. It's eyes glowed an eerie red as it shrieked loudly at her, she screamed, leaping onto her stomach and sliding as it shot a monstrous amount of red flamed into her room, searing it black. The fire licked at her clothes, burning through them and searing her flesh. It hurt like a pain she could never have possibly imagined, it was like her skin was being boiled away to nothing. It was only a blast of fire lasting a couple of seconds, but it felt like forever. Her skin on her neck, back and arms were nearly melting off the bone, leaving just blood and exposed muscle, the charred remains of clothes barely staying together on the rest of her body. She heard a massive flap, the bird began to fly away... She was in so much pain that she couldn't believe it, she stood up on shaky legs, climbing into the seared frame of the window before her weak body gave out, sliding along the short tiled roof and falling 10 feet to the grass and broken glass below. She groaned, clawing into the grass and pulling herself further and further away from the inferno.
She got near the sidewalk before she passed out from the pain and injury, eventually, members of Spectrum showed up along with firefighters and an ambulance to pick up Maria and help the rescue of anything else left inside the home. Maria felt a stretcher underneath her chest, a slight rattling as people began to talk. “Is she the only one?” A male voice called out. A female one replied. “Unfortunately, we found the remains of others in the building.. this was the only one who we could recover.” the man pulled out a clipboard, writing something down on it. “To be honest, this girly is lucky enough to be alive...”
Chapter one: Welcome Home
Two girls were sitting in their dorm room, one sitting on one of the bunk beds, the other one sitting on the floor. They were hostile with each other and shouting insults as they debated. The skinnier, light haired one shouted at the other girl. “That very notion is appalling and you know it, My father is a good man! He wouldn't be stirring up things without any regulation like that.” The more athletic, taller girl contented that “Well, it still happened and my entire family was part of it. Your dad didn't curate or anything... He just sold to any buyer. He funded the whole damn war!”
The light haired girl scoffed, her bright emerald eyes looking with scorn at the black haired girl, they both appeared to both be young adults. The light haired girl had long, flowing platinum blonde hair to her shoulders, brushed to a shine like beaten silver from how pale the blonde really was. Her face had an oval shape to it, her features were slight and graceful, standing at 5'6 with a light frame, she was dressed in the female school uniform for Spectrum academy. She opted for a long sleeved white shirt with a deep burgundy vest over top of it, a neat white lace ribbon wrapped around her neck in a bow, a burgundy skirt went down past her knees, meeting a pair of stockings coming up from her shoes. Her eyes were rounded, her nose thin but slightly long to fit her face, her lips about average and her skin the color of a peach. The white haired girl stood up, crossing her arms. “That's just a baseless assumption... He wasn't the only person selling weapons.”
The girl in black was a couple of inches taller with a stronger build, wider shoulders and larger skeleton, built with some muscle under her athletic but sleek frame, her hair was longer and wiry looking in an unkempt way, pulled into a low ponytail with no bangs so they didn't get in the way. Her face was heart shaped, her eyes somewhat slanted looking like a narrow almond with a warm dark brown color. Her skin was tanner and rougher, she would be medium skinned if it wasn't tanned olive from often being in the sun. Her lips were rougher and slightly thicker. She was in a similar uniform, but was wearing a leather jacket over her white shirt and vest, her brow furrowed at the prissy rich girl. “Yeah, but he still did, and hes guilty of it! Your dad was a war monger, deal with it.” Lily clenched her fists, she hated hearing her family insulted.. She opened her mouth, inhaling and getting ready to shout at her as the door knob spun, slowly cracking open.
“What the hell are you two doing?” The woman at the door said in a raspy and slightly deeper voice than Lily. They both looked up at this girl, she was a slightly younger looking girl with a rounded face, standing at about 5'4. Her eyes were an unnatural red color, Lily knew this was common to people who received exposed to ash for an extended period of time, her father made her read all the brochures about safety protocols for handling the substance. Her skin was pale.. not fair, but nearly milk colored, she had slight tinges of red where the blood stream came closer to the surface of her skin, but it was still an oddly ghostly pale. Her eyes were rounder than Morgans, but still almond shape, her nose a bit shorter and slight on her face, her lips were thin but smooth, the corners naturally turning to a frown. Her hair was a deep crimson red shade, like a pomegranate. chin length but slightly unkempt, like someone cut it short and let it grow out naturally, her hair naturally parting to the right side to give her slight bangs to one side that covered most of her face. It had a slight luster to it, but it was still a bit disheveled looking. She was wearing the male school uniform for spectrum, a long burgundy cotton blended suit jacket with a black button up blouse underneath, a deep red tie over top of it stuffed under the buttoned up jacket.
Lily's eyes widened in surprise, it was Maria. It's been three years since she's even seen her, that would make Maria 15 to Lily's 16, but it's still be such a long time. “Maria!” She said, standing onto her feet and running to her, wrapping the slightly shorter, but more medium built girl into her arms, Maria sighed, not returning the hug but not really pushing her away either, her face remaining stark. Lily said with a huge smile on her face, like her father just got her a pony made of diamonds. “Oh gods.. I was so sad when I heard what happened... I'm so sorry I didn't visit you.. I don't know where they took you after you got out of the hospital...” Maria sighed, taking a step back and breaking away from the hugging. “I was taken to a boarding school.” She said, a matter of fact kind of deal. Lily thought how stoic and cold she sounded was a bit odd. “I'm so sorry about what happened to your parents...” She said, with a hint of sadness in her voice, the annoying girl sitting on the floor and looking up at the both of them didn't matter for a short while, until she stood up behind Lily and questioned them both. “Who's the goth chick?” She said, the dark rings under Maria's eyes gave her a somewhat look akin to that, but she wouldn't call lack of sleep any kind of new fashion trend. Lily turned and sighed at Morgan, explaining herself. “This is Maria.. She was my best friend for years.” Morgan rolled her eyes, shifting her weight to one side. “Great, another rich girl I can spend my life with for the new few years.” Maria glared at her, speaking with the same coldness she gave to Lily. “My parents died when my house burnt down and I have burns on over 50% of my body.”
Morgans lips curled into a slight frown, she didn't really expect that for a response. Lily walked over to the bed and sat back down on it, looking up at Maria as the red eyed girl carried her two bags over to an empty drawer. Lily questioned Maria a bit while she unzipped one of her bags, folding up some of her clothes and placing it into an empty dresser on the other side of the room. “If you survived, why didn't you contact me?” Maria responded flatly, it didn't have any malice or annoyance, it felt like she was just really distant. “I cut all my ties. You didn't contact me in the hospital so I just... didn't bother.” Lily frowned, her voice gaining in volume as she sounded somewhat frustrated by her aloofness. “Why though? We were friends. I could've asked my dad to adopt you or something.” Maria just quietly spoke while finishing the first bag, pulling out the other one for some of her other personal belongings. “And that didn't happen. Past promises tend to be hollow ones.” Morgan chuckled a bit as Lily's expense. “This is what you call a best friend? She seems to hate you as much as I do!” She said, with some bitter humor to her voice. Maria set down her bag, walking over to Morgan, leaning forward to look eye to eye with her, Morgans hazel eyes meeting Maria's deep red ones. “Just to let you know, I don't like you either. Don't you fucking laugh at either of us again.” She said, with a hint of malice in her voice. Morgan leaned back on her seat just a bit, wondering is this girl was out of her mind or something. “Or what? You even try to beat me up and you'd get expelled.” Maria didn't even flinch, or change her expression at her. “I'll show you my version of diplomacy.” She let go, the black haired girl stepped back and steadied herself, glaring at the angry little redhead.
“You got a lot of mouth on you, kid.” Morgan said, adjusting the lapel of her coat since it was all wrinkled by the girls balled fist grasping it. “Just who do you think you are?” The red head shifted her weight onto her other leg, crossing her arms and looking at the two of them, Lily stood up and looked over to her confused by her strange temper. “Maria Roth, and I assume you're my two dormmates?” She stated flatly, reaching up to adjust her tie. The damn thing was uncomfortable as hell. “Morgan Leland.” She stated, before pointing over her shoulder at Lily. “She's Lily Sterling... And also a liar.” Lily frowned, sighing frustrated at Morgans antics. “I've had enough of your childish antics...” Lily turned to Maria, looking at her blood red eyes. “So... Why did you join Spectrum?” Maria shrugged her shoulders, returning to her bag, placing a photo of her and her older sister, before Sienna joined spectrum in the first place. She answered, half busy unpacking her clothes and folding them into the empty drawer in front of her. “I came to learn how to kill those beasts with my own two hands, along with anything that will get in my way, Nothing more and nothing less.” Morgan sighed at Maria, her eyebrows lowering as she spoke. “Well you're just an exemplar of sanity, aren't you?” Morgan said sarcastically. Maria finished packing, placing her backpack over her shoulder. “The receptionist told me that our instructor was going to meet us on the dorm rooftop in 10 minutes, Let's get going.” Maria said, leaving the dorm room and leaving the door open as she head up the staircase of the four floor building. Morgan and Lily both followed as well.
They got to the top of the stairs, Maria pulling the bar to the door to creak it open, and upon the gray fenced rooftop stood a lone woman. She was staring away across the campus. She had long, dark red wavy hair to her shoulders, a black beret resting on top of her head and was wearing a white coat, with a long white skirt down to her ankles along with a pair of dress shoes. She turned around, her eyes were a soft blue color and she had a slight smile on her face. “I'm glad you've arrived early.” She said, her voice was gentle and friendly sounding, but one thing Lily noticed about her face. She actually looked very similar to Maria. Even though she was probably a couple of inches taller, and about approximately 6 years older from her more womanly facial features, if she had to guess. The woman turned around, crossing her arms at the three who arrived. Maria's eyes widened, as she just realized who this woman was. “Oh god, no...” The woman was actually Maria's older sister, Sienna. “Hey, Little sis!” She woman shouted at Maria, Maria quickly burying her face into her hands from the overwhelming surge of shame flowing over her like a dam ruptured via explosions. Morgan began to laugh loudly at the exchange, jokingly commenting. “Looks like the Nepotism Express arrived right on time!” Maria shook her head, briefly leaving the palms of her hands to complain to her. “Just shut up... It's not nepotism is I don't want i-.” Which Morgan quickly interrupted with the most mature response she's ever said. “Choo choo!”
Sienna smiled at them both. “I admit, I did pull a few strings to get me to be your instructor. I've set up this arrangement weeks before, when you sent in your application papers. The same goes for you, Lily ” She said, looking at Lily. Lily smiled and ran up to hug Sienna, which she quickly reciprocated. “I thought Maria having a team with people she knew would help her out a bit.” She explained, looking over at Maria, who is still trying to inspect the lines of her palms, by stuffing them both in her face.
“Anyways,” Sienna said with a
smile. “You guys are a little early, and your fourth teammate
hasn't arrived. We need a minimum of 4 people to actually be called a
team.” Lily let go of the hug, walking over to a nearby bench and
sitting down. Lily raised her hand to ask a question. “Why do we
need four people to make a team?” Sienna smiled at that question,
knowing she totally read the brochure on common questions people
would ask an instructor, and that was number 2. Along with 'What the
hell is with the white coat?' She answered calmly. “The team
requirement is 4 to 8 people, it allows the academy to split up
enough people to finish the job, but not enough to pool all our
resources and slow down how quickly we can react to emergencies. It's
just the most efficient thing we can do.” Maria raised her hand to
ask her own question. “What the hell is with the white coat?” She
wondered. Sienna answered bluntly. “Instructors wear it, Maria.”
Maria blinked a couple of times before flatly replying with “Oh.
Why didn't I know that before...?” The door swung open behind
Maria, She turned her head back to see a woman with sand colored,
wavy brown hair slightly past her shoulders.
“Salutations, Madams.” She said, her voice was a bit... archaic. It sounded like those noblewomen Maria used to watch on those educational recreations. Those sucked by the way. She was wearing a frilly white long sleeved shirt with a pair of black colored dress pants. She was the second tallest of the group, being slightly shorter than Morgan, but taller than Lily. She had a diamond shape to her face, with rounded eyes and full lips, along with a warm hazel color to her eyes. She gave a friendly bow to the four girls sitting atop the roof. Morgan replies to her greeting first. “Who still calls people 'Madam' these days...?” The brunette scoffed, crossing her arms and walking past her to stand in front of Sienna. “Well you should go and see a linguist, as most people have forgotten how to talk like a proper lady.” Sienna smiled at the girl before speaking. “And that must be Robin, we're all here, so we can begin the initial test as soon as possible!” Maria stood up, walking up to Sienna as well. “Initial testing?” She pondered aloud, Sienna walking past them both and looking at the door. “I need to see how well you do in a fight so I can actually set up a training schedule. Meet me in the gym.” She said, leaving briskly.
All four girls began to follow her downstairs and out the gate, eventually getting to the gymnasium.
“Salutations, Madams.” She said, her voice was a bit... archaic. It sounded like those noblewomen Maria used to watch on those educational recreations. Those sucked by the way. She was wearing a frilly white long sleeved shirt with a pair of black colored dress pants. She was the second tallest of the group, being slightly shorter than Morgan, but taller than Lily. She had a diamond shape to her face, with rounded eyes and full lips, along with a warm hazel color to her eyes. She gave a friendly bow to the four girls sitting atop the roof. Morgan replies to her greeting first. “Who still calls people 'Madam' these days...?” The brunette scoffed, crossing her arms and walking past her to stand in front of Sienna. “Well you should go and see a linguist, as most people have forgotten how to talk like a proper lady.” Sienna smiled at the girl before speaking. “And that must be Robin, we're all here, so we can begin the initial test as soon as possible!” Maria stood up, walking up to Sienna as well. “Initial testing?” She pondered aloud, Sienna walking past them both and looking at the door. “I need to see how well you do in a fight so I can actually set up a training schedule. Meet me in the gym.” She said, leaving briskly.
All four girls began to follow her downstairs and out the gate, eventually getting to the gymnasium.
