It was Friday, more specifically quarter past four about half an hour after the school day ended. The sun bathed the surroundings in its golden warmth and especially onto a small shining white coach with large black tinted windows that was parked outside the main entrance of the school. It's engine off as the laughter and excited chatter filling the air coming from the Safe House members, stood outside by the coach with thier carry-on lugage as Blyke and Isen stood (in casual, cooling clothing) at the spacious cargo compartment of the coach, worked diligently at the spacious cargo compartment, loading the attendees' baggage with practiced efficiency.
"I'M SO EXCITED!!" Evie excitedly exclaimed, peircing over all the already loud and bubbling chatter. She couldn't keep still and her eyes sparkled at the possible fun she was going to have on the trip. She gainned the stares from other nearby attendees as her two friends she was with, the timid indigo-haired Roland and the "timid" and sly (suspicious to a few) Terrence. The two boys simply looked at the bubbling, pink-haired girl in awe of her excitement.
"EVERYONE'S IN CASUAL CLOTHES!" Evie continued to exclaim, "I never though I'd live to see all the higher tiers out of their uniforms!" She went on looking and pointing at each of the higher tiered attendees of the trip without a pause of calm. From Isen and Blyke, to Arlo in a black shirt and jeans beside Elaine with a white shirt and brown dress to Seraphina in a blue shirt stood next to John in a blue hoodie and khaki shorts, although he looked like he had something on his mind weighing him down. "LOOK AT ALL OF THEM!" Evie kept going on and on with undying energy.
"Errr... Okay?" Roland responded to his friend, not knowing what to say.
As for Remi, she was in pale blue shorts with a white and pink t-shirt, that complemented her pale pink hair. She had a clipboard and pen in her hands, observantly scanning the area like a hunter, searching in a forest. She was ticking off the people that were going onto the trip, making sure everyone was there.
She had checked off everyone that was there but noticed that on name was missing. She scanned around frantically, hoping she didn't miss the attendee but to no avail. "He's not here yet, where is Kayden?!" She panicked in her mind seeing the abscence of a new yet beloved friend of hers. She walked up to John and Seraphina, knowing that John in particular would know the most about the mysterious Kayden.
"Hey guys, do you know where Kayden is?" Remi asked, her concern evident. Seraphina shook her head, and Remi turned her gaze to John.
"Nope, I already texted him to ask where he was," John replied, meeting Remi's gaze. "He mentioned he's about to make an entrance."
"An entrance? What does that mean?" Remi cocked her head with a raised eyebrow.
"No clue. He didn't say anything else."
"Huh?" Remi murmered with an obvious hint of concern. She continued to wait and wait for Kayden. Still not there yet. Until suddenly like seeing an island as a stranded survivor...
"WHAT'S UP GUYS!" Everyone heard the voice of a very recognisable individual known to many as the Lightning Ace, the new student, who many thought to have humanized John, Kayden. Many turned to look at the where Kayden spoken from especially Remi, who turned extra-quickly, to see him wearing black round sunglasses at the widely openned window of second floor of the main school building, where they stood in front of.
"Ah Kayden you're here! Wait... why are you there?" Remi exclaimed, relieved to see him but again with a cocked head with a raised eyebrow, wondering why he was on the second floor of the main school building.
"Give me a second!" Kayden annonced as he moved back and away from the window, leaving everyone, who was watching to ponder. A second later, like a frog, Kayden leaped out and far from the window and towards the group.
His suit case hanging onto his hand like a flying banner, his hair waving chaotically yet uniformed in the passing gust of bombing air as he fell down and towards the group swiftly and rapidly. He was wearing a black, zipped hoodie with grey casual trousers all waving in motion and his black backpack hanging onto his bag. Everyone was silent, trying to proccess what was happening in front of their eyes of concern and confusion.
And with a loud slam, Kayden landed rather gracefully, hands in pockets, onto the ground by the group. Everyone was silent in awe, Remi quickly walked to Kayden with an annoyed look of the surface but inside is a worried and concerned souls for what Kayden just did. "Why did you do that?! You could've been hurt!" Remi asked in a berate-like way and angled eyes of annoyance on her face.
"Why not, it made a cool entrance," Kayden non-chalantly replied with a carefree tone, "You worried?"
"Obviously I was! So is everyone." Remi replied this time in a way that showed her concerned mind. But for Kayden, he went silent.
"Wor-ried?" Kayden mumbled, stumbling on his words for the first time. The idea of worry for him, coming from someone else than his close old man, Xavier felt reminded him of something be prefered to be left kept private, something of a disturbing deformity sprinkled up in his mind like as if the past was crawling to him. It crawled through his mind like an unsettling presence, causing his eyes to twitch behind the masking sunglasses and the air around him felt less carefree and of something indescribably negative.Though these changes were subtle, Remi, being in close proximity, noticed the shift in his demeanor, sensing that something deep-rooted and hidden was surfacing.
"What? Why does he feel a bit off all of a sudden? What happened?" Remi's mind quickly filled with questions, a sense of unease settling within her. It was as if a temporary crack appeared in Kayden's personality. "Kayden?" Remi called out, hoping to break the instant mental barrier that Kayden constructed.
"Ah..." Kayden replied, suddenly and seemingly returning to his usual self, "Don't worry, I'm a durable one!" He exclaimed with reassurance but Remi couldn't feel reassured, still shakened from the strange change in personality that Kayden shortly displayed. Despite how short it was, she couldn't stop thinking about it but she decided to ask about it later.
"Come to think about it, wasn't your ability Electricity Contol?" Arlo stepped up towards him with angled eyes with furrowed eyebrows, "Most people would not be fine like you are from falling from that height with most abilities."
"Again, I can't stop the feeling that he's investigating me," Kayden thought, "It feels to familiar to my time as the 'Breaker'."
"My ability is Electricity Control but... How do I put it?" Kayden replied, tapping on his head, "You see when a higher level god-tier reaches a certain level they get an Unlocked Physical meaning thier physical bodies in certain attributes with some relation to thier ability could be trained to a greater extent." He explained but this Unlocked Physical was actually the second attribute that one awakens apon becoming a Transcendent, the other being the second set of Aura Channels.
"THAT JUMP WAS AWESOME!" Exclaimed the bubbling voice of Evie as she just couldn't stop moving, "I NEVER THOUGHT THE LIGHTNING ACE WAS THIS COOL!" The strange excitment made Kayden furrow his eyebro with a sense of puzzlement. He looked at Remi now with his best friend, John and the one he deemed a blockhead, Seraphina.
"What's up with Evie?"
"Let her be," Seraphina simply replied, "She's Evie afterall."
"Ah right... I forgot that she's obsessed with powerful people." Kayden commented.
Chatter sooned returned and Kayden handed his suitcase to Blyke, who then loaded it into the coach as the last bit of big luggage. They then slam shut the doors to the compartment and Remi in satifaction ticked off Kayden's name before checking with everyone individually if their all set, before excitedly announcing to everyone present, "Alright everyone! We're all set to go! WHO'S READY FOR A VACTATION!"
"YEAH!" Many estatically responded with, but a few, Arlo, John and Seraphina had concerns knowing Spectre is planning something in Rowden. This was followed by them lining up and entering the Coach. Kayden decided to stay back as Remi, Blyke and Isen were going in last and he had one last person to meet, Terrance.
"Let's play with the rat of Spectre shall we?" Kayden thought.
Just as a third had already boarded, he walked past Terrance and quietly and directly said to him, "Go tell Spectre, that what their planning isn't going to work." Terrance went to look at the passing by Kayden, who had a descrete smug smirk, with an investigative feeling, he knew that Kayden is a complete unkown variable to the plan. Just like many wouldn't be able to see through Terrance's mask, Terrance couldn't see through Kayden at all, he was unpredictable because of that carefree nature.
Everyone had got onto the coach and the driver, a man roughly fifty was ready to drive the students to Rowden as his impatience grew. Kayden, Blyke, Isen and Remi sat next to eachother at the back of the coach, while John and Seraphina sat together. The coach was full of the social chatter that bubbled in excitement as Kayden sat on the large, white and blue seat by the window with Remi beside him, followed by Blyke then Isen on the far end. As everyone was settling in and getting comfortable...
"CRAP!" Isen exclaimed with panic obvious in his voice. Alerting everyone within 6 seats of him.
"What?" Blyke asked as Remi and Kayden watched the two.
"I forgot to charge my phone!!" Isen cried out, complaining and getting on the nerve of Kayden as the aqua-eyed boy had a detest for complainers before Kayden sighed.
"Give the phone here, I'll stop your complaining." Kayden exclaimed in annoyance, Isen gave Kayden his phone. Kayden eyes glowed a sparkling aqua hue as the others looked as their cocked thier heads. Sparks quickly appeared around the phone before disappearing.
"Here, it's charged." Kayden said as he handed the phone back.
"THANKS, man!" Isen exclaimed now seeming like he had achieved his dreams.
"Can you train me sometime since we have similar abilities?" Remi asked as she though that she could get far stronger if Kayden were to give her guidence and learn neash tricks like instant phone charging.
"Maybe sometime later."
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Kayden was fully awake and aware, everyone else on the coach apart from the driver was asleep. It was silent, a defening silence, Kayden couldn't sleep oddly and was infact full of energy. Turning to the window it was black, so dark that not even the sun would be able to illuminate the outside. It contrasted to the bright, flickering, unhuman, white light within the confines of the coach. He looked opposite to the window to see Remi, Blyke and Isen peacefully yet disturbingly silent as they slept on the white, dreamily soft chairs.
Kayden noticed something didn't feel right, the silence seemed unnatural. There were no gentle snores, no stirring, not even the hum of the engine. A heavy feeling then crawled onto his eyelids as no matter how much strength he mustered, he couldn't keep them open. He struggled. He failed, his eyes went shut and blackness.
On all sides, the sight of nothing.
He felt vulnerable, a feeling he despised.
A moment of time passed until a weighty, uncomfortable, and unsettling presence pressed upon his body, but he couldn't discern its nature. He tried to resist, to move, but his body remained immobile. He might as well be paralysed, a target, an oppotunity for the enemy. "Not like this. I must see!" Kayden thought, he yearned to witness what was happening, to intervene somehow.
Then in a flash, the surpression went.
He felt that he could move his body, he opened to eyes to then freeze. Regret washed over him as he beheld a scene of utter devastation. From all sides every single one of his friends and fellow Safe House members, killed. Each one becoming a dead mess - each body marred by cuts and burns. Next was his mind
His mind twisted in disturbance, fear and loss. He became an emotional mess on the inside. His sanity fading. It was only a luxury.
He looked at himself, he had become a child - small, weak and innocent. The bodies, coach, everything disapeared into non-existance. Nothing perhaps.
"You were too weak." The voice of a woman in her early-mid thirties echoed through the air, the familiarity of it striking Kayden to the core. He turned, desperate to see the person behind the voice. As soon as a figure was in his peripheral vision...
With a stealthy gasp, Kayden jolted awake, his body instinctively tensing. With his transcendent mindset firmly in place, he frantically looked on all sides, gaining as much information as possible. He's still on the coach. Chatter filled with laughs and excitement, the coach felt alive. Everyone is alive, he sighed in relief. It was just a dream.
No one noticed his sudden movements. That's good for him.
Kayden adopted a facade of indifference. He decided to push the dream aside, convinced that he had already embarked on the path of strength. No weakness would be exposed, not now, not ever since.
"Hey, how much longer until we reach the resort?" Kayden's question, directed at Remi, the girl with pale pink hair.
Remi's eyes sparkled with joy as she noticed Kayden's awakening. "Ah, Kayden, you're finally awake!" she exclaimed, her excitement infectious.
"Ugh, this girl is too excited." Kayden thought as he shrugged nonchalantly, concealing the turmoil within him. "Well, yeah, of course I am."
Her smile widened. "Anyway, we're only about ten minutes away from the resort. We're almost there!"
"Ah, I guess that's good," Kayden commented, "What's the plan when we get there?"
"Since it's getting late once we arrive, we'll have dinner then leave everyone to themselves and meet up tommorrow at ten." Remi excitedly exclaimed with a smile.
"Ah thanks, I'll pass on the dinner. I'm not hungry." Kayden said with a monotonic tone as the vivid dream lurked in his mind like a predator waiting for opportunity to hunt something weak. Weak, that's right - the feeling of weakness, along with worry towards him. Something he'd rather forget, casted into shadows.
"You sure?" Remi asked with genuine concern for Kayden's wellbeing. She knew he usually spoke out his mind and was capable in many things like power, endurance and intelligence but couldn't help but feel concerned. Especially after what happened back at school, when his demeanor change temporarily.
"It's fine, I'll just head up to my room." Kayden shrugged of Remi's kind concerns.
Kindness was something from his experiences as a Transcendent a sign to watch out for, it could be masks after all. Kayden was good at discening those with masks and it was for the majority of people but Remi's is truthful yet naïve. That reminded Kayden of what he used to be, long ago before he tasted the true cruelness of the world but he did like it, something reflected in Remi.
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30 minutes had passed, The group had entered the seven-story-high, off-white painted modern resort building. It looked far more impressive in person than in photos, leaving many attendees in awe and excitement, while others couldn't find the same level of enthusiasm. John is still shaken by the news of Spectre and his worries for Seraphina, Arlo can't shrugg off the feeling of something bad will happen and Seraphina was still full of paranoia for John losing his ability.
Currently, Kayden was strolling down a long, silent, well-lit hallway - soft grey carpet covering the floor, dampening the sounds of Kayden's steps and off-white walls flanking all sides and wooden doors of a variety of types for each of the rooms and a scent of cheap air refreshener fillled the hallway. He was dragging his charcoal-colored suitcase with his right hand, he was alone as he had seperated after they sorted who his roommate was going to be (it was chosen to be John),from the others as they were going for dinner in the cafeteria because he simply wasn't hungry.
He had his head looking down to the ground at his moving feet, leaving his black hair to hang downwards. He was gritting his teeth, in frustration. "What's wrong with me?" He thought, "I had that stupid nightmare and nearly fell apart in front of Remi and the others. This is not like me. Was I that worried for their well-being? Can I truly feel such sympathy after only ten days?."
Kayden clenched his grip on his suitcase tighter and gritted his teeth harder.
Kayden was in conflict especially after that nightmare he had back on the coach on the one side was the carefree side that was forgiving and on the other, was dominated by the Transcendent mentality that help him survive and grow but had rules such as never trust, always suspect. Don't feel bad, Kayden could be next so move on. Never show weakness. Normally these two sides were in balance but with his taste of normalcy, the Transcendent mentally didn't need to be so strong, it messed with his head. He nearly forgot his reason to try live a normal life.
Kayden stopped. He looked back from the direction he came from.
"No I mustn't doubt myself... I was doing fine wasn't I?" Kayden thought, continuing to walk. His new thoughts pushed back his doubts, "Almost all of them are kind yet naïve but they shouldn't end up like me. I'll just be someone people can look up to just like how I looked up to Xavier like a cool older brother or uncle. " Kayden kept thinking about the acheivements he had done and his enjoyment of his normalcy within the past ten days, easing the doubt and keeping it left in the shadow away from anyone's eyes. The internal conflict is a weakness after all, can't be shown or he'll be exploited and preyed on just like how it has always been.
Before he knew it he arived at the door of his two person room, encountering a tall, polished oak door with a metal plaque bearing the inscription "Room 407" in bold black serif letters. He went to inserting his small silver key into the keyhole, he turned it, followed by a discreet yet noticeable click. With a decent push, the heavy door swung open, revealing a decently spacious interior compared to what had been shown in photos.
The room welcomed Kayden with its light grey walls, creating a soothing and serene ambiance. The centerpiece of the room was two double beds adorned with pristine white duvets, inviting him to unwind and relax. The wallnut-colored wardrobes stood against one side, offering ample storage space for his belongings. A glass door caught his attention, leading to a petite balcony, adorned with delicate light peach-colored curtains, allowing a soft, filtered sunlight to permeate the room.
Kayden took his shoes off and walked to the bed closest to the glass doors with his suit case. He parked the case by the bed, closed the curtains, and placed his sunglass on the case and let himself fall onto the soft, cushioning bed. A wave of comfort washed over him, momentarily easing his thoughts, but he soon clicked his tongue in annoyance, remembering the troubling thoughts that had occupied his mind just moments ago.
"How annoying. I'll just have to do some training," he murmured, searching for a solution to push the intrusive thoughts away. Kayden decided to practice Aura Circulation, a technique commonly used by Transcendents to train the power of their abilities. He got up, sat cross-legged on the floor, and let his eyes glow—a mesmerizing mix of aqua and elegant purple-blue hues. Blue sparks of electricity spiraled around him as he engaged in Aura Circulation, a practice that simulated the use of his abilities and exercised his aura channels, much like lifting weights trains muscles.
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Some time had passed, Kayden felt releived of his frustrations and returned to the world, he got up and checked the time with his phone. It read "21:39". It had been just a litte over two hours since Kayden and the others arrived at the resort. He looked around the room and noticed that his roomate, John hadn't arrived yet. He decided to simply lay on his bed and relax, to enjoy his time for now. He had realised that he just needed time to relax for a while.
Click!
"Hm?" Kayden's attention was suddenly drawn towards the openning door of the room. As the oak door openned, it revealed a black-haired teen with burnt gold eyes. Wearing a blue hoodie and khaki shorts, John had arrived into the room. "Hey John." Kayden greeted his roomate non-chalantly.
"Oh... hi." John replied to Kayden with an obvious tone of tiredness.
"Tired?"
"Yeah, a bit."
"You were out for a while, I can't imagine you to eat for over an hour." Kayden commented, suggesting an explanation from John to satify his curiousity.
"Ah... I was walking and talking with Sera for a while." John exclaimed with a lack of energy as he took of his shoes and got on the other, unoccupied bed.
"What about?"
"Just some things about Spectre and all that, you know," John lazily replied out of fatigue but had a hint of worry subtly in his voice, "Hey Kayden, do you think everything is going to be fine?"
"I don't know." Kayden carelessly replied.
"You're SO good at comforting." John sarcasstically retorted with as much energy he had left.
"Well, it's true you will never know how things could turn out. It's arrogant to think that you know what will happen," Kayden explained , "You just need to be strong both mentally and physically." Kayden continued in still a carefree tone but with enouraging hints hidden in his words.
"That's easier said than done."
"So? You just have to be willing to be strong."
"Heh, I guess. Hey, I noticed that you go to far lengths for me. Why?" John asked going from lazily to curious.
"Isn't that what normal friends do?"
"It's supposed to be equal, I feel indebted to you."
"It's supposed to be equal you say?" Kayden asked to himself, "Ok. Pay me ten thousand dollars." Kayden continued non-chalantly as he saw a blank expression cover John's face as if he was a computer than just ran into an error. Making Kayden chuckle, snapping John out of his mind.
"Really?" John asked.
"No you idiot." Kayden carelessly replied, "Hey, aren't you really good at fighting hand to hand without abilities?" He asked, changing the topic.
"Uh... yeah?"
"Good, that makes the two of us good at it."
"Really? I never thought... you'd be the type to be good at hand to hand."
"Want to start a combat club for back at school?"
"Huh? No one would want it."
"You joking? I heard when you were playing cripple, you fended off some mid tiers. The low tiers happily join," Kayden explained, "And if you're stressed you can releive yourself with training."
"Huh? I guess so," John lazily commented, "Well... what's the time?"
Kayden then went to turn on his phone to check the time before replying, "Seven past ten."
"Ah I'm going to sleep, I'm too tired."
"Sure, go ahead.
Chapter 2.1 - End
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A/N: ok that was another 4k word long chapter. I guess I like writing. Also how did I even get into no. 2 on wellston??? We haven't even gotten 200 views like what?
Next chapter either tommorrow or on Thursday.