Deceiving Souls

Chapter 21 - Where to look

Galaxy's eyes snapped open. He was surrounded by darkness, but he didn't run. He watched as the ground around him crumbled and broke until he was standing on a single pillar surrounded in water like a star covered sky. He looked down at his reflection, but it didn't change. His stomach hurt with anxiety and he looked around.
"Hello?" He asked. He was only answered by silence and he looked back down at his reflection, willing it to change. He started to shake and realized it wasn't him trembling. The pillar beneath him cracked until it broke and he was plunged into the starry ocean. He opened his eyes again and now he was standing at his school.
"Wha...?" The earth around him shifted and he was facing all of the 11th graders walking through a hallway. Everyone was unrecognizable, he looked around for a clue of what he was seeing. Somebody walked past him, a voice in his head yelling that he should pay attention to that person. They were full black, no features were shown. They walked away from Galaxy, farther into the crowd. Galaxy reached out for them.
"Wait!" He called, but it was too late and he was sent plunging into the ocean of stars once again.

Galaxy's eyes snapped open at his alarm clock going off. He sat up, blinking the tiredness out of his eyes. He got up and put on his fingerless black gloves with a white tank-top and jeans shorts. Today him and the others were to train their powers to prepare for whatever was coming. He felt determined today.

Galaxy walked out of his room and checked his phone.

Orbit: "Me and Leela are in the car! :) almost to you guys."

Galaxy: "Got it!" He texted back.
Galaxy looked up to see Lexi also ready to go. She had a pink T-Shirt on and blue jean shorts. Lexi looked at Galaxy but seemed a bit tired.
"Couldn't sleep?" He asked her. She nodded.
"Just too excited... and nervous." Lexi muttered. Galaxy heard a car horn go off and walked outside to see Orbit in the driver seat of her car with Leela sitting in the back.
"Get your furry butts over here!" Orbit called to them. Galaxy laughed and walked down the stairs of his porch and to the car. He let Lexi sit in the passenger seat next to Orbit and he sat down next to Leela in the back. She seemed spaced out not even noticing he sat down next to her.
"Hey." He simply said, which snapped her back into reality. Leela looked at Galaxy a bit startled then let her shoulders relax when she realized it was him.
"Hi." She murmured and looked away. Galaxy sighed.
"It'll be fine." He said, already knowing that Leela was scared. Leela looked at him.
"What if I hurt you guys?" She started shaking. "What if I can't control my powers? What if I..." She trailed off. Galaxy took her hand in his.
"It's a learning experience for all of us Leela. You won't hurt us I know it. Besides, we're not that helpless." He added jokingly which made Leela chuckle slightly. Lexi turned around in her seat to look at them.
"Aw, how cute." Lexi said teasingly. Galaxy shoved Lexi back into her seat which made her start laughing hysterically at his flustered anger. The car slowed to a stop and Galaxy looked out the window to see that they were in a large, empty field surrounded by a forest.
"Alright, we're here." Orbit said before shutting off the car. The four of them stepped out of the car and looked around the empty field.
"This is perfect!" Lexi perked up. "There's so much clear space!"
"Yes, this is where I went with Kantun when they showed me my powers." Orbit told them.
"Do you think the keepers will show up?" Leela asked. Orbit looked around and then turned back to the others. "I don't know, but I can still help you guys if they don't show up." She told them. They followed Orbit to the center of the field. They lined up next to each other but at a good distance.
"Okay, Kantun told me to focus all your energy to the palm of your hand and then you release that energy. Let's practice." Orbit explained before going to practice her abilities. Lexi immediately started to focus and Galaxy glanced at Leela who was hesitating.
"What's up?" He walked over to her.
"I don't know... I'm just... scared." She murmured.
"Then let me help you." He said calmly before grabbing her hand in his. They both kneeled down and put there hands out. Galaxy didn't know what he was doing or if he could do it but he felt that he was lending some of his energy to Leela to make it easier for her. Leela closed her eyes and inhaled deeply, she opened her eyes and gaped as little pink flowers sprouted from the ground in between the two.

"Wow..." Leela finally spoke after a few seconds of comfortable silence. Galaxy looked at Leela and couldn't suppress the amazement he felt when he saw the yellow glow coming from her hands illuminate her face. Every feature of her face was brightened by the glow. She looked up at him as the flowers grew to their max and the light started to fade. An awkward silence was left between the two and even Lexi and Orbit had seemed to have gone quiet. Galaxy quickly stood up and let go of Leela's hand. He turned around to see Orbit and Lexi watching them, amusement shown on their faces.
Leela stood up.
"We should probably continue training." She said.
"Yeah."

Galaxy walked into a clear spot of the field to practice himself. He looked around and saw Lexi create a fire in her hand and quickly panicking in fear she would burn herself. Orbit parted her jaw in what looked like a laugh Galaxy couldn't hear and sprayed water from her hands to set out the fire. Leela was sitting down, peacefully summoning flowers and vines from the ground. Galaxy turned away from them and focused on what he was doing. He closed his eyes and inhaled. He tried focused his energy but kept feeling disrupted. He put his hand out and tried focusing any energy there but nothing worked.
"I don't even know what my power is." He mumbled to himself. He started to wonder if he even had a power.
"Got anything?" Lexi said from behind him which startled him. He looked at her and then glanced down at the ground.
"No." He muttered. Lexi stood next to him now.
"Maybe it'll just take longer for you to figure it out." She suggested. Galaxy pinned his ears back, frustrated.
"We can't take that time! I can't hold us back like that! We still haven't found the fourth and we don't even know what's coming!" He started panicking.
"Galaxy, you're not holding us back..." she started.
"Well I feel like I am! I don't want to see another person I care about disappear and it be my fault again." He lowered his tone and stared at the ground.
"Galaxy..." Lexi's voice faded as darkness surrounded Galaxy. He jerked his head up and stared into the darkness.
"Hello?" He called out. The darkness changed and the world shifted sending him staring down the now empty 11th grade hallway of his school. Just then did he remember his dream from that night. He heard a noise behind him and turned around to see the winged, white anthropomorphic wolf with blue eyes and a diamond on its forehead.
"You..." He trailed off as the figure looked behind Galaxy. He saw the black silhouette of a person. It was the same person that Galaxy had seen in his dream.
"The fourth..." He suddenly realized. The black figure turned away from Galaxy and started walking away.
"Wait! What's your name!?" He tried to chase after the figure but jerked back into reality. He realized he was lying on the ground surrounded by Orbit, Leela, and Lexi. He sat up quickly.
"Galaxy! What happened?!" Lexi asked frantically. Galaxy took a second to process his vision.
"I know where to find the fourth." He said at last.

Galaxy, Lexi, Orbit, and Leela sat in a circle at Galaxy's house. Galaxy explained to them his vision and his dream.
"So you're telling me that it's one of the 11th graders?" Orbit clarified. Galaxy nodded. Lexi suddenly perked up.
"That's absolutely perfect! That means that it's one of the kids in Orbits class! She can keep an eye out for any signs of the fourth!" Lexi stated. Galaxy's eyes widened and he realized that Lexi was right.
"What are the signs anyways?" Leela asked. Galaxy thought for a moment.
"Well there's always the chance of that strange Shadowed Spirit showing up... but we haven't seen it since I fought it off when Lexi figured out her powers. Galaxy remembered his use of power in that moment and suddenly felt less doubtful about his abilities.
"Maybe there'll be signs of power like... lightning... or something." Lexi suggested. Orbit seemed deep in thought.
"It could be Skull." She said. Then decided otherwise. "No, it can't be him. I visit him a lot and he would've showed signs by now." She concluded.
"What about Raven?" Lexi said. Galaxy's fur fluffed up at that suggestion.
"Raven is in 10th grade." Orbit corrected her. Galaxy let out a quiet sigh.
"Really? Isn't he like 16?" Lexi guessed.
"15." Orbit corrected Lexi once again. Lexi huffed.
"I guess you'll just have to keep an eye out." Leela said. "And we will too when he have the chance." She added. They all seemed to agree on that.

~~~~~~~

An anonymous person sat down on their sofa, deep in thought. They lifted their hand again and watched as they created tiny sparks of lightning between their fingers. They gasped. They didn't know what was happening but they were gonna figure it out.