The Phoenix In Her

A Dream

"She? Chosen by an academy? What a load of bull!" I heard a couple of the graduating students say. To be honest, I was just as stunned as they were. I stood in the middle of the ever-long whispers and glares.

From nowhere, I felt an alarming push sending me to crash a wall. There she stood, Nancy Halter, with her obnoxious pair of red eyes staring at me blood struck. Her face made a turn to disgust as she grabbed the collar of my shirt.

"You downgraded shit. How much money did your father use to get you into such a school? Why don't you just die?" She spat at me, grabbing the collar of my hoodie

I mean if I could, I would but you're making it quite hard, you see.

"Miss Nancy, please maintain your composure. We're in front of important people," the principal said calmly, signalling a couple of teachers to restrain her.

"Seraphina. Please return to your position to continue the selection process," the principal said with a hint of mockery in his tone.

I slowly lifted myself from the ground using my left hand as support. I didn't even need to look around to know no one was coming to help. I took a slight glance at the wall that I crashed into and boy, I could almost see a smear of blood stained on the white clean walls. Was it from my head, or had the stain been already there for a long time?

I walked back to the position I had stood before, placing my fingers on the biometrics scanner to ensure my selection. I took a glance at the officers of the military academy, there was nothing much to see there except they were staring back at me as well, especially the lady who had saved me from the mess outside. I knew I had no abilities but I could tell she was terrifyingly powerful. No doubt about it.

As soon as I was done, I exited the hall immediately not wanting to be part of the next celebration of doom for me. The surrounding stares meant danger and I would rather not be part of it.

I entered the bathroom and pulled off my hoodie to get a good look at all the injuries I had gotten. I touched the back of my head to how badly it was bleeding and I let out a sigh of relief. As I stared at my reflection in the freshly wiped mirrors of the bathroom, all I saw was lifeless being staring right back at me. The fact the Military selected me meant I was probably going to be used for some scientific research or sold off to some alien planets. There was no telling what I was going to be like in the next few days. Waste product or a lab rat?

The sole mission of the Military was to fully eradicate the Daelaiw as high as their pride stood, it was always a battle of who would take the responsibility of destroying the mindless creatures - superheroes or the military itself. Now, why will they ever need a downgraded shit like me?

My thoughts seemed to flood my entire head as I pressed the buttons on the vending machine. I bit out of the chocolate bar as I strolled on the pedestrian walks. Not many lived around this part of the city and so the streets had this melancholic feeling to them.

On the sky-high billboards were journalists and reporters addressing the situation of the Daelaiw on a daily basis - How they preyed into the lands of Earth and other planets.
The Daelaiw Species. One could say they were mindless superhumans, zombies as one would call them before, but seeing they were of much higher and stronger archives, the name changed. Dae meaning Extremely Mutated Categorized, Laiw meaning Beings in the Pderoian Language of the Steam War.

This was the city of Caparius- where I was born. A city with no boundaries to freedom and no hate to diversity- is what they rang on the News every single commercial break. I wouldn't blame them though, this was so far one of the safest places to live and also supported other life exchange programs.

This was the isolated part of town and of course my little safe place. No unnecessary sky buildings to block the view of the sun. This was the part of the Earth that I loved. They were other countries that still treasured the Earth's natural beauty and resources but since the war of the Seventh, it has never been the same.

I sat on a nearby bench as I faced the isolated beach leading to the humorously large ocean view. I watched as the sun slowly rose up from the ocean beyond horizons. Sure it did hurt at some point but it made me feel warm inside. A feeling that felt like home. This was indeed a safe place for me.

It sure is nice to spend my last days like this. I let out a contempt sigh, still staring at the growing sun.

Maybe it was the burning tingles in my eye or the fact I was staring at the sun for too long. A tint of a fiery red light slowly came out of the sun, heading straight for me not leaving my eye sight.

Shit.

It looked dangerous. I was sure it was but why can't I move? My eyes fixated on the object before me as a feeling of warmth clouded me. I could feel the temperature rise by each second, it emitted an almost blinding radiance and shook tremendously, that buildings around the area began to collapse. Different writings came out of the some and spread out all around me, each gluing themselves almost covering my whole body.

I wasn't dreaming. I could hear people speaking in a different language, but no one is hear. I could hear them in my head.

"Who are you?" I called out feeling a pounding headache settle in. The writings began to sink in to my skin and the stone fell to the ground almost immediately.

"Phase 1 complete," a voice rang in my head as I felt myself succumb to darkness.