Chapter 1: The Beginning After The End

“Over a century ago, my great grandfather and his family survived the end of the old world. The world seemed to be dead and had little hope to thrive again. But the remaining survivors emerged from their shelters and started life over,” William said.

“You already told me this part, grandpa,” Simon said, tucked in bed.

“Have I? Well, shall I continue or are you going to interrupt?” William asked.

Simon quieted himself and listened closely.

“Like I said, they started life over, rebuilding what we had. It was only a few years later that they noticed strange changes in the new children,” He said.

“What kind of changes?” Simon asked.

“Magical changes. Mere babies could lift what grown men couldn’t, see things that others didn’t, and most of all command the elements,” William said.

“Like mages?” Simon said.

“No, like magicians,” William said, “As the years went by, the children had children of their own, each one inheriting their parent’s power. Somehow each generation grew stronger and stronger. There were also more power either found or created by the children. That’s where you got your power from.”

Simon looked at his hands and smiled at the thought of him being able to have his abilities.

“I think that’s enough for now. Time for you to go to sleep,” William said, standing up.

“Aw, come on,” Simon whined.

“I’ll tell you more tomorrow night,” William said, walking to the door.

“Okay,” Simon frowned.

William turned off the light and left the room. Simon fell asleep quickly and dreamt of his past, present and future. It was late at night when there was the sound of an alarm blaring it’s warning. Simon’s mother burst through the door and grabbed him out of bed.

“What’s going on?” Simon asked in a haze.

“We’re under attack. Just stay calm, honey,” She said, running to the basement.

It was pitch black down there and the alarm was muffled after she closed the door.

“Where’s dad?” Simon asked.

“He’s protecting our town along with the guards,” She said.

“From what?” He asked.

“Uh…. I don’t know,” She said, lieing.

There was a loud bang on the door, the laughter of what sounded like lunatics.

“Open up or we’ll open up for ya!” One yelled.

They continued to hammer on the door until it opened and one of them walked in.

“Well well well, look what we have here,” The pirate said.

Simon woke up with a jolt and was breathing heavily. He scanned the room for any threats and relaxed as he found none.

Thank Cybel…. He thought, It was only a dream…

He’s an adolescent, 17 to be exact.

“Simon, you’ll be late for work!” Yuelia called up.

“I’m coming,” He said, getting dressed.

Yuelia is a friend who moved in with him a few years ago.

“So, how’d you sleep?” She asked, putting her hair in a pony tail.

“Ahh…. it was good,” He said.

He had white hair, red eyes, and pale skin. He has had the same recurring nightmare of his for the past four months now.

“Was it?” She asked, moving a loose strand of brown hair from her face.

“Yeah. Sweet dreams, right?” He said, smiling awkwardly.

Yuelia looked at him and stared for a while.

“... Stop trying to read my mind,” He said, “We talked about this.”

“I guess you’re right,” She sighed, looking away.

Simon looked at the clock on the wall and saw that he’d be late for work.

“Oh, crap. I gotta go. I’ll be back this afternoon!” He said, going to the door.

“Hey babe,” She said, tossing a baked potato his way.

“Thanks,” He said catching it and leaving.

He then teleported to the dock and reported for work.

“Sorry, I’m late,” Simon said.

“Late? You’re just in time to see the new guy try to do his job,” his co-worker, Lew, said.

Lew was a shorter kid with short, black hair and dark skin. He started to laugh as the new guy scraped the metal container on the ground.

“Give them a chance,” Simon said, “You weren’t the best when you started.”

Lew stopped laughing and crossed his arms. They watched as the newcomer tried to move the crate onto the ship. Who ever they were, they were doing a terrible job. They eventually got it on the ship, but there were scratches on the concrete dock. The manager had a worried look as he inspected the damage.

“How much you want to bet that he’s gonna fire them?” Lew asked.

“Eh…. I don’t know. That’s a risk I’m not willing to make,” Simon said, eating the potato.

The manager walked over to the new guy and started to yell.

“Ohhhh, he gonna get it now!” Lew said.

Then the manager pointed at Simon and the new guy walked over to him.

“Are you Simon Emrich?” he asked.

“Yes. What do you need?” Simon asked.

“I was told to get training from you so I can do better,” he said.

Lew started to laugh hysterically.

“Me?” Simon asked.

“Yeah. He said that you knew what to do,” he said.

“Uhh, sorry, but I just fill and empty the crates,” Simon said.

“So I was demoted?” he said sorrowfully.

“What do you mean ‘demoted?’ This is the same level as that,” Simon said, pointing at the crane.

“Oh… so I was just given an easier job,” he said.

“Yep, you got a way easier job alright,” Lew said, walking off.

Simon sighed and walked towards an open crate.

“Are you going to follow or not?” Simon called back.

The new guy ran to catch up. When they were at the crate, Simon started unloading it.

“What are you doing?” he asked.

“I’m doing my job. What makes it easy is this,” Simon said, teleporting to a warehouse and back.

“But I can’t do that,” He said.

“Well find a way to get it done quickly because you’ll probably never step foot inside that crane again,” Simon said, picking up another piece of cargo.

A few hours went by as Simon got to know the new guy. His name was Lucas, his ability was emotion manipulation, and he didn’t know much about anything.

“So, we just do this all day?” Lucas asked, lifting some cargo.

“Yeah. We empty one a day. We don’t go home until we do,” Simon said, teleporting to and from the warehouse.

“Oh boy,” Lucas said, walking to the warehouse.

They were only halfway done with unloading the crate.

“So how many years have you done this?” Lucas asked.

“Uh…. about three years I guess. I don’t really remember,” Simon said, unloading more.

“Can’t you just teleport everything inside the crate into the warehouse at once?” Lucas asked.

“Nope. Tried that once, the crate came with me. I nearly lost my job because of it,” Simon said.

“Oh. I remember that. It was all over the news,” Lucas said.

“Thanks for reminding me,” Simon said, teleporting more cargo.

A few more hours passed and they were done towards the afternoon.

“That was quick,” Simon said.

“Quick?” Lucas said.

“Yeah. It usually takes me a whole day to empty one of these. You were a big help today,” Simon said, nudging Lucas’s arm.

“Thanks,” Lucas said, walking out of the empty crate.

“See you tomorrow,” Simon said, walking home.

“Wait, we just go home after we’re done?” Lucas asked.

“Yeah. That’s how it’s been ever since this place was made,” Simon said, continuing to walk.

Simon got home and sat on the couch. It was oddly cold in the room, but he didn’t mind.

“Oh, you’re home early,” Yuelia said, walking into the room.

“Yeah. I had some help today. A new kid named Lucas,” Simon said, looking at her.

“That’s nice of him,” She said.

“Well well well, you look fancy tonight,” Simon said, looking at her dress.

“Thanks. I was invited to a festival,” She said, smiling.

“Oooh, sounds fun,” Simon said.

“I hope it will be. You want to come?” She asked, sitting next to him.

“Sure. Let me just get ready,” Simon said, getting up and walking to his room.

“Make sure you look presentable,” She called up.

“Got it,” He replied.

It took him a while to find something presentable, but he eventually did find a suit his mother gave him. He sighed as he tried to remember what happened to her, but it was too hazy.

“Simon?” Yuelia said.

“Yeah?” Simon replied.

“Hurry up, or we'll be late!” she said.

“Okay, I’ll be down in a minute,” he said, putting on the suit.

He came down the stairs and presented himself.

“Oooh, You look nice. Where’d you get that suit?” She asked.

“I’ve had it for a long time. A gift from my mother,” He said, adjusting the tie a little.

“Oh. I’ve never met your mother, have I?” She said.

Simon went silent and thought about what she said.

And you probably won’t for a while…. He thought.

“Simon?” She said.

“Uh, I don’t think so,” he said, snapping back to reality.

“Why?” she asked.

“I’ll tell you afterwards. I don’t want to ruin your night,” he said, “We should go, or we’ll be late.”

She nodded and told him where to go. He teleported there with her and waited for everyone else.

“Who are we waiting for?” Simon asked.

“For a coworker of mine,” Yuelia said, looking around.

After a few minutes, Yuelia’s co-worker showed up.

“Hey, Yuelia!” She yelled across the stand.

“Hey, Alice!” Yuelia yelled back.

Alice walked over to them and hugged Yuelia.

“I see you brought Simon! How are you?” Alice said, shaking Simon’s hand.

“I’m good. How are you doing?” Simon asked, trying to get out of her grip.

“I’m great!” Alice said, letting go.

Simon held his hand as circulation returned. Alice and Yuelia talked as Simon looked at the hundreds of carnival games spread out across the area. He smiled at the thought of someone actually winning one. He had made the mistake of trying to win one many times before and the outcome was always the same; he either lost or won and lost the prize. Either way, he lost in some way.

“Simon, you’re pretty quiet today,” Yuelia said, getting his attention.

“Huh? Oh, yeah. I was just looking around,” he said.

“A ha… okay,” Yuelia said.

“So, tell me something about yourself,” Alice said.

“Me?” he asked.

Alice nodded quickly with a huge grin on her face.

“Uh… well, I work at the dock. I unload the crates and put them in the warehouse,” he said.

“Okay, that’s cool, but I meant something personal,” Alice said.

“Oh… I… hm,” he said, thinking.

“Are you okay?” Alice asked.

“I’m fine… I was born in Apra,” He said, still trying to think.

“Oh, how is it there?” Alice asked.

“It’s good. I haven’t been there in a few years, but it’s good,” he said.

As Alice was about to ask another question, an alarm sounded from the dock. Simon looked at Yuelia and ran towards the sound. When he got there, he saw what was left of the supply crates, each one torn open by what looked like some kind of monster.

“Hurry up before we’re spotted!” a voice yelled.

Simon hid behind a crate and peeked around it to see who said it. He soon ducked back after he saw who it was; a pirate.

“Hello there,” a lady said, grabbing his shoulder.

She teleported him in front of the pirate before he could do anything. He looked up slowly and was filled with fear. The pirate looked like a normal kid; a gray t-shirt, shorts, pale skin, and brown hair. He also had a seath that looked like it held a guard's sword.

“Well, well, well. Who do we have here?” the pirate said, kneeling down.

“I caught him in one of the busted crates,” the lady said.

Simon looked up at her. She looked like a thief, having a black skirt, orange leggings, an orange vest, a scarlet bikini top, and a green hood. Her face was almost completely covered, he could tell that she had dark skin, like the Harmians.

“What’s your name?” The pirate said, lifting Simon’s head.

“S-Simon,” Simon said, shaking in fear.

“Hm… Simon. Nice to meet you,” The pirate said, helping him up.

“Is he the one we’re looking for?” The lady asked.

“I’m not too sure, Shards. Should we let him go and see?” The pirate said.

“Yes. If further study is needed, we should watch from afar,” she said.

“Who are you?” Simon asked, worried.

“You will refer to me as Teebs. Put him out,” Teebs said.

Shards waved her hand in front of Simon’s face and made him fall. His vision was becoming black, he became abnormally tired, and his hearing was muffled. Teebs said something muffled, but Simon could barely make it out.

“Until next time, Pendant Spawn,” he said.

Then everything went black.