Tobé was close to collapsing from the pain. He looked down at his chest and saw what was once her hand, now a sharp blade that she continued to push further into his flesh. Breathing grew more and more difficult. She pulled the blade out from his chest, causing blood to gush out as  if from a waterspout. He became faint from the blood loss, and his legs buckled as he fell, but Lua caught him just before he collapsed to the ground.

Tobé watched, horrified by her newfound strength. She lowered him slowly, an act that could be read as kind. She laid his head on her lap and began to softly stroke his hair—a memory she once had.  

"Shh…it's alright, my love," she whispered.

Tobé stared up at her, completely paralyzed but not yet dead. It was from this perspective, his head in her lap, that he saw a thick, black, liquid substance rise from her back. It stretched itself toward Tobé until it formed a face; a white porcelain mask, with striped markings and hair like tentacles on all sides. It opened its beady eyes and stared at Tobé. Suddenly, more creatures of this kind began to rise from the ground. Their masks had no markings but otherwise looked identical as they were the underlings to their alpha. They looked down at Tobé like hyenas, ready to consume their prey and scavenge from his insides.

"This body can no longer sustain me." both the creature and Lua said simultaneously, with the creature communicating through the markings on its mask. “But I sense strong reiki in you. I must have your body."

Tobé didn’t even have a moment to process what was said before the creature lunged into the wound in Tobé’s chest, letting Lua’s body fall to the ground and deteriorate, leaving nothing but ash on the ground and the clothes she wore. Tobé’s body, however, was completely lit up. Every cell and fiber moved and twitched on its own, and he could feel the exact moment that he lost control. Everything went black. He was gone.

His body fell limp with the death of its inhabitant. Then, as the alpha creature gained control, Tobé sat up once more. He examined his hands and fingers, then stretched and twisted, as if trying on a new suit.

"Assimilation is complete."

He rose, and with the alpha’s abilities, he touched the back of his jaw that now served as a communication link. He grinned.

"Master, Alpha 078, reporting in. I have taken control of the Chief's son."

"Good work," responded the Master through the comm link, his voice slick and smooth. "Commence the second objective as planned."

"Yes, Master."

Alpha Tobé disconnected the call and looked at his underlings as they awaited their orders.

"The second objective will now commence. Destination: the Taisen village."

The creatures nodded, then dissolved into the ground like water. Using Tobé's memories, the creatures began to head back to the village. 

— ✧ —

The night sky was so clear. The two moons of Zonia were perfectly visible, shining over the vast kingdom of Auran. Tall skyscrapers reflected the light of these moons, casting a soft light over the smaller buildings between. The beauty of this sight paled in comparison to its pristine castle, the beacon of the kingdom. 

Because tonight was so clear and bright, the city’s nightlife thrived. Despite the late hour, residents making their way home came upon others who were just getting started for the night, looking for dancing and fun among others. The center of the city was the most glamorous. The outskirts were a bit more varied, with some broken down buildings that housed thieves and the poor. 

At the city's edge were its walls, which bordered all of Auran. There were few gates, and guards stood watch at each one. The guards at the main gate of Auran had the most responsibility, as they monitored the traffic of incoming and outgoing visitors and merchants who crossed the stone bridge on their way to the market district. Tonight had been busy for them, as bright nights always were. Visible moons above usually meant lots of tourists trying to enter the gate. As the night dragged on, guards grew less focused. However, their attention was drawn by a small female voice.

"Somebody, please help!" yelled the voice from the other end of the bridge.

The guards were startled.

"Did you hear that?" the first guard asked.

"Yeah,” the other said. “Stay here, I'll check it out."

The second guard left his post and began to walk toward the bridge which led to the forest. He monitored those walking past him. None of them seemed to be in danger. The voice was probably just a kid who wanted to cause trouble. When he reached the middle of the bridge, he noticed a small person hiding in the shadows at the far end. They peeked their head out from a stone post and then hid again.

"Who's there?" the guard called. “Come out!”

There was no response. The guard raised his hand and ignited a ball of white energy using his reiki. Then, he pressed his hand forward and sent the light out toward the end of the bridge. The ball of energy illuminated the shadowed figure: a much younger female Zonian, an elven child, who was covered in dirt and stared at the guard with wide, scared eyes. 

The guard rushed forward.

“Are you alright?” he called to the girl. 

As he grew closer to the child, he noticed that she stood next to an adolescent Zonian girl on the ground, who breathed heavily and held a bleeding wound on her right arm. 

"Please help us,” the child pleaded. “She needs a doctor.”

"Of course,” he said. The guard looked back at his partner, who was watching and waiting to see what was going on.

"Oi, we need medical attention here!"

— ✧ —

The school bell rang, finally signaling the end of the school day. The silence that had filled the halls just moments before was disrupted in a flash. Every door in the hallway burst open, and out darted droves of teens from each one. To some, this was just another school day, but for others, this was the last day of high school. Members of the senior class rushed to celebrate, gathering among their friends and saying goodbye to their underclassmen friends and favorite members of the faculty. 

An exhausted Kevin left his classroom without this senior enthusiasm. He simply began to trudge down the hall, joining the ocean of students who moved together like a herd of cattle. His thoughts remained on what stuck with him all day: what happened at the mall. Last night, those same visions had resurfaced and woken him up over and over again. He couldn’t avoid them during classes either. He found himself repeatedly dozing off for a second at a time, only to be startled by the vision and then to be laughed at by his classmates. 

He sighed. He was frustrated and embarrassed. This was not how today was supposed to go.

"Yo, Kev! Wait up!" yelled Johnny from somewhere behind him.

Kevin didn’t turn back, he was deep in thought and didn’t hear his friend. He reached into his locker. Once he opened it, he emptied its contents into his backpack. At the same time, he tried once more to decipher his visions, even though he’d been having the same conversation with himself all day. 

The way my parents looked reminded me of that motorsports race they took me to when I was ten, he thought. It was before we moved here…and the night of the car accident.

Kevin thought about that night. It had been a warm summer evening. He remembered the cheers of the crowd, the racers each pulling impressive maneuvers to gain the lead for a few seconds. However, he also remembered his family choosing to leave in the middle of the race. His mother had felt under the weather. He vividly remembered her hands clutching the front of the flowing dress she usually wore, her knuckles white with pain. Still, Kevin was a kid. What he remembered most was having a blast.

Then, the night took a turn for the worst. As they were driving home, another car T-boned them on the passenger side where Kevin sat. It happened completely out of nowhere. His folks made it out with minor bruises, but he had to be sent to the hospital for observation. That moment was the one that changed his whole life; then came the scar on the right side of his face, the discolored pigment of his right eye, and the strange star-shaped scar around his pupil, which he didn’t think could happen. To make matters even worse, they’d moved to this hellhole. Thankfully, Sara and Johnny came along and made his life a little better.

"Hey Kev!" yelled Johnny once more.

Kevin snapped out of his concentration and saw Johnny and Sara leaning against the lockers next to him.

Sara rolled her eyes. "Dude, you gotta get out of your head sometimes." 

"Didn’t you hear us calling a second ago?" Johnny said.

"Oh, sorry. I was just thinking." Kevin scratched the back of his head from embarrassment.

As the friends caught up about their last day as seniors, the scrawny, ill-looking teen from the mall walked down the hallway nearby. He clearly looked out of place, so he did his best to avoid students and faculty. He didn’t want to touch anyone as he moved through the school, and though other students clearly found this odd, he didn’t care. He was only a sophomore in this school. His pale and clammy complexion always led others to believe he had health issues, even though he didn’t really. No one ever cared if he came to school either, he couldn’t help it. He frequently needed to stay home to tend to his constant headaches. He’d gained a reputation as a nobody with no friends. Many probably had forgotten he even went here.

He scanned the hallway quickly. He was looking for one student in particular, and his gut told him he was getting close. And then he made it: there was Kevin, surrounded by his friends, by the lockers. He felt relief, but also the urgency of a soft yet irritating throb at the back of his mind.

“A headache?! he muttered to himself. Why now…”