Double doors burst open into the cool evening air.
Two overly shined dress shoes, sparkling in the fading red sun, stepped casually down the steps leading to the academic building and onto the concrete sidewalk of Hero Street.
It was six-thirty at night. The evening sky was slowly and gradually transitioning from the deep, rich orange and pink of dusk to the dark indigo of night. Starlight snuck through the pinkish-gray rows of clouds.
"I told you to come to my office at five. But here you are, sitting alone out in the cold." Khohn said icily toward a nearby bench, which was half-lit by an overhead streetlight.
Khohn's eyes - hidden behind thick-lensed glasses - focused on a dark, slumped figure sitting on the bench just outside of the academic building.
The figure didn't move or speak for a while. It kept its shimmering hazel eyes staring at the dirt and stone streaked walkway.
"Sorry, Professor Khohn..." Riarshi mumbled, still refusing to look his professor in the eye. "I couldn't stay in that building any longer-"
"I've already spoken to Hara and Tabito," Khohn scolded, interrupting him. He seemed unconcerned about Riarshi's excuse. "Stand up and follow me, Riarshi. We have something important to discuss. Though we're not doing it out here in the open." Khohn's glasses reflected the spotty glare from the stars birthing in the East.
The sky continued to darken. Floating clouds hid the moon behind a dark-gray cloak.
Khohn, walking hurriedly, passed Riarshi's bench and continued down the sidewalk leading toward the Spiritfield Stadium. Riarshi slowly rose to his feet, wiped his nose, and followed Khohn as ordered with his head low.
Where the hell was Professor Khohn going? Didn't he want to meet in his office?
Despite these questions forming and colliding within his head, Riarshi's body acted without thought and shuffled a few lengths behind his professor. The chill air nipped at his cheeks. He stuck his hands into his pockets.
His fight with Hara had given birth to a tidal wave of negative emotions that flooded every cell in his body. The corpse-like hands - clawing and reaching from that black wall - had run their fingers along his shoulders, sending sharp, painful chills into his chest. The glowing blue eyes, which normally stared at him hungrily from a distance, had hovered close by the nape of his neck, their bitter gaze grazing his skin.
So he had done the only thing he could think of. The only remedy that worked... He had ran away. Otherwise, what he did to Leon might have happened again to someone else. He didn't know what he would become, or if his emotions would turn him against his own friends.
Instead of letting the hands seize him, he had darted from the building and sat himself on the nearest bench. His knees could barely hold weight once his feet met the sidewalk. Hara's words had bounced around his head, blocking the formation of other thoughts.
And now, as he walked behind Khohn, the thoughts returned in the form of an overwhelming flood of negativity.
It was true, he really was a burden to everyone around him. Because he still maintained his childish dream of becoming a Hero, because he only focused on surviving the Program, he ignored how his actions affected those around him. Maybe Hara was right, maybe he was holding Tabito back from accomplishing everything he could have if he wasn't his partner. He was only dragging Tabito down - using him for his own selfish desires.
Tabito and Hara were high magic users. Both of whom were destined to become great Heroes and contributers to society. While he - a half-demon commoner with weaker magic - had no expectations of greatness.
A cool breeze, whistling briskly past Riarshi's face, snapped his swirling mind from his trance. He looked at Professor Khohn, who strolled twenty feet ahead.
The clouds shifted. The newly lit stars and moon illuminated the man's front, casting a deep blue shadow along his back and creating a darkened silhouette.
They didn't speak a word throughout the entire trip. The ghastly silence was broken only by the occasional swoosh of a passing car or beep of a horn echoing in the distance.
The pressure building inside of Riarshi's chest grew with each sluggish step he took. He tried to think, fighting the rising panic. He had to ensure Tabito and Hara didn't pay for his stupid actions. Because all this stress... everything... was his fault.
It was. It really was.
Sacrificing himself for them to continue on was the only way he could truly repay them for the three months of help they graciously gave him. He wouldn't have made it as far as he did without it, no matter how much it pained him to admit.
Riarshi lifted his gaze from the sidewalk again. He suddenly realized he had followed Professor Khohn to the entrance of the Spiritfield Stadium. Its towering and sparking green wall shot from ground by the gate, launching blades of grass and clumps of dirt high into the air. Riarshi could feel the magical aura emitting from the wall warm his skin.
Khohn, unbothered by the heat, lightly tapped it with an extended finger, shattering it like a mirror into hundreds of small fragments that glittered in the night sky.
Riarshi broke the silence first. "Uhm, Professor Khohn, why-"
"No talking. Just follow me."
Riarshi did just that.
***
After a five-minute journey through the stadium's interior, professor and student walked through the long and cold concrete tunnel and into the center arena.
With an audible grunt, Khohn stepped onto the flat square stage at its center. He stopped in its middle, looked toward the night sky through the arena roof's opening, and clasped his hands behind his back.
The stadium was empty, barren, but most of all - dark. There wasn't a hint of light in the arena aside from the faint glow of the stars and the moonlight streaking down through the opening in the stadium's roof. The nightly illumination glimmered off the reflective surface of the center stage. Everything else was but a mere shadow.
A moment's pause. Silence. Then Professor Khohn released a long, drawn-out sigh.
"Look above, Riarshi," Khohn ordered calmly, pointing at the hole in the roof. "You can nearly see the entire night sky through the opening."
Riarshi instinctively tilted his head and glanced at the indigo sky. He said nothing.
"You see those two stars right there," Khohn shifted his finger position, tilting his chin up. "Near the north end of the roof? See them?"
Riarshi searched. It only took a few seconds, but two stars shining brighter than any other caught his narrowed eyes.
"Yeah, I see them. What a-"
"Experts say that stars are billions of miles away," Khohn interrupted, but with a smooth and peaceful tone that took Riarshi by surprise.
He adjusted his glasses. "The brightest are the ones either biggest or closest to us here on Earth. What I think most interesting is that these stars - although they are large, beautiful, and appear every clear night - are probably already dead, imploded, and gone from existence. Despite that, we still see the powerful light they cast. That is, if we take the time to search for it."
Khohn turned slightly, and Riarshi noticed his glasses flicker a blinding white from the reflection of the overhead stars.
"Uh, okay... But what does that have to-"
"You understand the seriousness of what occurred. Correct, Riarshi?" Khohn asked coolly, clasping his hands behind his back again as he turned in the opposite direction.
They were finally on topic. Riarshi - seeing his chance - immediately stepped forward, took a deep breath, and recited the first thing that came to mind.
"Yes, sir, I do. But I need to tell you that Tabito and Hara had nothing to do with it. It-"
"It was all your fault," Khohn interrupted, "yes... I know... they told me."
A sudden, powerful pump of Riarshi's heart burned painfully through his chest.
He blinked. "T-they what?"
"They told me the entire thing," Khohn repeated. "They kept their composure while Leon insulted them at the bar. They were about to ignore the playful taunts of their peers and walk away. It was you, however, who snapped and attacked Leon unnecessarily. You know, I was about to expel every single one of you. Fighting off campus is strictly prohibited. Well... I was... until they reassured me the way I just described to you was what happened exactly."
Riarshi's face lost all color. His throat and chest clenched as though he was being suffocated by a mangled rope and the freezing air engulfing him within the arena.
They ratted him out to save themselves.
This hurt Riarshi more than any beating he had ever received, and it showed plainly on his face.
"B- but... t- they" he could only mumble the few words that escaped his throat. His knees felt weak, like he was standing on two pillars of soft jelly.
"Well, is that not the truth?" Khohn asked softly, finally turning to face Riarshi.
Riarshi wasn't sure how to respond. His body shivered uncontrollably.
"Well, if you have no counterargument, that only leaves one thing." said Khohn, taking a single step forward with his nose pointed high.
Riarshi couldn't divert his eyes from his shaking hands. He wanted to cover his ears so he wouldn't hear what Khohn said next, but he had lost control of his arms. He no longer had the strength to move or react. He was paralyzed.
He knew what the Professor was seconds away from saying.
"You're expelled, Riarshi. You're no longer welcomed here in the Aginem Hero Program," said Khohn stoically, without even a hint of remorse or emotion behind his words.
These words, drawn out and floating in the air, sucked the life out of Riarshi and spat it onto the dirt beneath his feet. His body was now nothing more than a cold, empty shell. His breaths became shallow and shaky, and his brain screamed for air.
"Ending it right where it all began, in this same arena. How fitting." Khohn furrowed his brow. "You should have never come here, demon boy," he growled, turning away from Riarshi once more.
Again, a single heartbeat pulsed throughout Riarshi's chest. This time - instead of an uncomfortable heat - the feeling was of a familiar, piercing cold.
"What did you say?" Riarshi stammered, slowly lifting his head.
"The Hero Program is an institute dedicated to creating, organizing, and improving the next generation of Heroes here in Aginem. Magic is all that matters in this world, Riarshi. You should know that fact better than anyone. How did a demon like yourself ever think you'd be able to stand a chance?"
Suddenly, Khohn cackled in a way Riarshi had never heard before - evil and mocking. The high-pitched squeals flooded the stadium.
"Professor, why are you..."
"Look at how pathetic you are, standing there in a daze, dumbfounded, not even knowing what to say or how to respond." The light from the two brightest stars in the sky cut through the indigo hue of the arena and shone upon Khohn's growing, sadistic smile. "I wonder what your parents would think."
Riarshi sucked in a sharp breath. Bitter cold flooded his lungs. His shallow breathing switched to rapid pants, chest rising and falling rapidly as sharp, audible wheezes escaped his throat. A tight, gripping pain gnawed at his innards.
"A weak son who doesn't even have the balls to realize what he truly is and push his own power! You try to act all confident and strong like a real Hero, but in reality you're just a scared little boy who hates himself more than anything else! You've been running this whole time, running from yourself!"
"Stop..."
"You know what? Your parents are probably glad they're dead!"
"I said, stop..." a deep, vile voice growled.
"First your parents, then your caretaker, and now your only friends deserted you to save their own asses. Every - single - person you've ever cared for or loved has left you behind, Riarshi Thomas!"
Saliva spit out of Riarshi's mouth with each gasp of air, collecting and dripping grossly on his chin. Every muscle in his body tensed with such intensity his nails dug into his palms, causing blood to trickle and fall to the ground.
He was losing control.
His veins and tendons popped through his skin like valleys of mountains. His eyes were bloodshot. The arena spun into a black abyss whose frigid air dulled his senses.
He was numb.
"You don't belong in this world, Riarshi. You... are all alone!"
Khohn was right. He was alone... Everyone in his life - gone... everything he built up in his three months in the Hero Program - gone... All the work he put into avoiding his own heritage - his demonic side - gone... It wasn't anyone's fault but his own. He was his own worst enemy. The few friends he made... the ones who tried to help him... the ones he became a burden for... had left him.
Every negative emotion Riarshi hid inside of his mind - despair, depression, loneliness, disgust, and fear... kept building, building, and building, until his body couldn't take it anymore... until his mind couldn't take it anymore...
His entire life, he had been running, sprinting away from the black wall of hands that continued to reach for him, hoping to grab onto something to pull him back.
In this moment, where the line of good and evil was blurred, where freezing cold was all he felt, Riarshi dug his heels...
He stopped running... and he stood still...
Something within him screeched in victory. The ink black hands draped around his legs, arms, and chest.
One hand - the biggest and darkest one of them all - shot out and wrapped around his mouth. Its fingers dug into his skin like sharpened ice pics and pulled tight. Instead of avoiding this wall, he dove right into these emotions, enveloping his body in its darkness entirely.
Then...
A monstrous roar erupted throughout the stadium, completely shattering the stage and shaking the foundation to its core. Lightning struck around the darkened arena. Large, jagged lines of blue bolts snapped and sparked around each of Riarshi's limbs as black, predatory lines cloaked his limbs.
Khohn cast a green magic wall to prevent the pulsating shock waves and howling winds swirling around Riarshi from pushing him back.
"There it is," he whispered. "I-"
He had no time to react. In what seemed like an instant, Khohn's wall shattered into a thousand small green shards, dissolving into the night air.
A fist engulfed in velvet black and sparks had struck through the wall, destroying it instantly and connecting to the side of Khohn's jaw.
Blood and teeth.
The bone crushing impact of this hit launched Khohn into the arena wall, bursting it into jagged pieces with a deafening crash!
The cloud of smoke formed from microscopic concrete fragments floated away into the starry night sky. Khohn's body slid down the wall and plopped heavily onto the dirt ground below. Several teeth fell from his mouth, bounced off his shoulders, and landed into a pool of warm crimson blood flowing onto the grass.
A bright, icy, and evil pair of blue eyes bounced in the stadium's darkness. Steam, thick and bluish-gray, poured from a mouth lined with razor-sharp teeth.
"Dear gods... he's a monster," Khohn spat out, along with another two teeth. "Now I truly know why."
A hiss seared through the clenched teeth of this devilish figure. Steam rose. The monster reared its head back. Then a bone chilling roar shook the stadium.
"KWARRRRRR!!!!"
"Well, looks like I have to get serious now," Khohn muttered with a slight smirk. A pair of bright emerald green eyes shone through the darkness of the night shadows and smoke filling the arena.
A lightning quick leap.
Then darkness won.