Kyrien’s mind was working hard to process the possibilities that had opened up in the last few seconds. Isaiah had no visible heart scarring nor half hearts embedded in his palms but he was clearly a Gaia user. And nothing less than a holder of one of the seven known Regalias at that. Perhaps there were some other Gaia users that did not have their cores inserted in the regular area. After all, Kyrien knew that he was no expert on this matter since he was relatively new to the scene. But there was a possibility that Kyria could be part of all this and he was kept in the dark all this while. He wondered what part she had that everyone would know who she was. It seemed that there was something about Kyria that everyone knew about here.
“I want to join the Nine Diamonds.” Kyrien blurted out, and as the words left his lips a slight tremor ran through his body. He wasn’t sure what it was but suddenly it felt as if a weight had been lifted off his shoulders.
Isaiah was about to light his cigarette when he halted with the open flame inches away from the tip and simply stared straight at Kyrien who refused to flinch despite the intensity of his golden gaze. “The Nine Diamonds is an elite class S team. What makes you think you’re worthy of being on my team?” The intensity in Isaiah’s eyes never wavered. “You barely even know the basics. And you want to be on one of Seven Storm parties. The people on my team are fierce, powerful and extremely experienced. I can’t just take you in because Arcadia told me to babysit you.” Kyrien flinched at the last sentence. He certainly was new and everything Isaiah had just said hit raw nerve after raw nerve. But he needed to get into the heart of Gaia business as fast as he could. There was a certain competitiveness in Kyrien that made him excellent at what he did, be it at school or anything otherwise. He could master this. And he would show Isaiah that he didn’t need days, or months or years like the others.
“If I get past your trial, you’ll let me be on your team. And you will make me a vanguard.” Kyrien’s inner competitiveness was making him bold now. Isaiah took a long drag from his cigarette and looked hard at Kyrien. It was like he didn’t see Kyrien clearly before and this was the first time the Tempest King was seeing him. “You are your sister’s brother after all.” He let a chuckle lose. “Fine, you have five days. That’s all you have. If you can pass my test in five days, you’ll be the ninth vanguard of the Nine Diamonds. I’ve been looking for a new one anyway.”
At the blonde’s answer, Kyrien almost couldn’t believe what he was hearing. “Wait, are you serious? I mean isn’t there someone who would be in the running for vanguard?” He managed to stammer. “Vanguards of the Nine Diamonds have always come from external teams. Arcadia is the fore vanguard. She used to be from the Silent Forest.” Isaiah said in a matter of fact manner.
“But she’s your sister. And from what I’ve heard, Silent Forest is a class S rank.” Kyrien was slightly puzzled. “It doesn’t mean anything whether or not we were siblings. When you are part of Gaia, you are either ally or foe. The community isn’t just about fighting for a good rank. But we protect this community with our lives.” Isaiah cast a sideways glance in Kyrien’s direction and laughed lightly, shaking his head at the same time. “As much as you don’t want to believe me, there are things we call the ‘nix’. They are the forsaken core users that have been tampered with.” Kyrien watched the blonde male blow smoke rings with ease. “They disrupt the balance of Gaia and the Seven Storm Alliance was formed to protect us. And the Genesis Children.”
The last few words were almost hushed and Isaiah was frowning now. Kyrien bit back his questions about the Genesis Children. This was not the time for it. He needed Isaiah to like him and putting his nose in places that it didn’t belong in was not going to help him. Kyrien snapped out of his own thoughts when the blonde male cleared his throat. “I’ll see you in five days. You know the basics. Work on it. If you pass in five days, you’ll be my vanguard.” Isaiah smiled a roguish grin. “Think about the answer to this question in the meantime. Are you fighting this battle for yourself, or for your sister? Think hard, Kyrien. The answers that you give are the answers that you live by.” And then he was gone, just as suddenly as he appeared earlier.
YOU ARE READING
GAIA
FantasyScience has surpassed itself on all fronts. But nothing is ever as it seems on the surface. People continue as their lives in the day, but at night, some of them dabble in fights to protect what technology has created to be bio-engineered weapons. G...
