The Challenger

by Harlon Banks

  "Can you both stop? You've been going at it ever since we got on this damn bus." Another females voice caused Jonath to cast his gaze to another very attractive looking girl only a seat or so behind him closer to the back. She had a fair skin tone with long spiky at the front storm grey colored hair and eyes with two distinct bangs longer than the rest hanging over her eyes (one bang for each) in thin strands and longer bangs that framed her face and stopped at the base of her neck. Her voice a slightly higher pitched voice (also much shyer) than Melissa and her figure a bit more endowed than Melissa as well. Melissa gesturing calmly at the girl speaking as she spoke to Jonath.

  "That's Kayda Nagashi. She's can manipulate electricity and in her info apparently kept short circuiting or overloading power grids unintentionally with her powers. She's a really sweet girl from what I've seen, keeps to herself and her powers are the reason her hair is a mess of spikes. She pulls the look off great though and even completes the fire, ice and lightning trio thing we got going on here funnily enough haha." Melissa said with a stretch. Jonath briefly glancing at Kayde then towards Delaren and Wrain again. Both of the boys seemed to have ignored everything Kayda had said and continuing to bicker and threaten each other as soon as they got off the bus. Jonath's eyes looking at the seats at the farthest back now, looking at two others, a girl and a boy of young age sitting side by side with their arms crossed and apparently quietly sleeping through all of this. They looked like twins the closer he looked at them; both had ghostly pale skin paler than his or Wrain's and porcelain white hair, noticeably different from his own platinum silver hued hair or Kayde's stormy grey.

  "What about them?" Jonath inquired gesturing to the twins. Melissa raising up in her seat trying to look past Wrain and finally seeing the sleeping duo.

  "Oh them?" She repeated with a hum. "They're called the Astral Twins on the paper. They grew up in some irrelevant village and when they were discovered as Nightborn were exiled out of fear. The boy with the short spiky white-hair is Lee Advent and the girl with the long white straight hair that covers her left eye is Orath Advent. Dunno what their powers exactly are though. All I know is the dossier had their Nightborn abilities classified as accentuating each others and written off as Blade Dance and Gun Dance. Lee uses the former, Orath uses the latter. Kind of want to see them in action honestly." Melissa sneered as if anticipating fighting them someday. Jonath blinking and glancing back at the girl, her cerulean blue glowing eye-catching his staring and she turned her gaze to fully meet his.

  "What? Am I so pretty you just can't stop staring at me?" She taunted with a snort. Her ego was very prominent, and not without merit given how extremely attractive she was. Jonath however felt no real sense of infatuation with her, merely ignoring her comment as he spoke.

  "You know everybody else's powers but you haven't told me your own yet." Jonath said suddenly with curiosity in his voice. Melissa staring at him, and then chuckling while keeping a disinterested look in her eye as she looked back to Delaren and Wrain bickering. Both shutting up when the bus driver screamed at them to be quiet and the bus for the most part went quiet again.

  "You haven't told me yours either, I don't mind exposing everyone else's powers but if you're keeping secrets from me I keep secrets from you." She shrugged nonchalant. Jonath simply slumping back in his first position to look at the scenery outside the moving window. Melissa did have a point, he guessed... However he didn't think he had to tell them anything nor she had to tell him about hers either anyway. They'd all find out real soon what each other could do soon enough, not doubt about it...

  There were a couple more people on the bus Jonath was curious about, but he didn't want to bother Melissa any more as it was. A quick glance over to see the woman had already closed her eyes again to nod back off, and Jonath looked back out the window at the forest around him of glowing crystal trees and shrubs. Remembering what Jeremy said about how to tell time with the crystals corresponding colors. It was mid morning now, probably around ten am. Closing his eyes and being serenaded by the rocking of the bus, Jonath drifted back off into sleep as well as nobody else spoke the rest of the trip.

  Jonath dreamed of that ghost saying the Irelight was near... Then nothingness...

  "Wake up! Rise and shine!" The gruff voice of the bus driver yelling as he repeatedly and aggressively banged a closed fist across the metal lining of the bus woke Jonath up quite easily. A light, labored groan of grogginess as he rubbed his eyes and winced when Melissa tapped his left leg with her palm and beckoned him as she exited the bus followed by the rest of the riders.

  "Let's go pretty boy, time to meet our parole officers." She joked walking ahead. Delaren, Kayda, Orath, Wrain and Lee along with a few others walking in that order after her as the bus cleared out; Jonath being the last one-off as they all were ordered to pull their belonging from the hidden compartment beneath the bus on the side. A quick glance around an Jonath saw something drastically different from what he expected...

  There was a massive clearing amidst trees significantly taller than any part of the forest Jonath had seen prior, to the point they felt like skyscrapers and hiding from the world a secretive multiple structured military/college conglomeration of facilities surrounded by fences in a square around them many miles wide in every direction. None of the buildings were taller than a few stories and all were dark-colored and robust looking with tents and barrack buildings scattered between them across the spacious clearing. The moonlight illuminating everything overhead and shining down on the place where everything would change for Jonath. Once he'd collecting his bags, and looked around in quiet awe a little longer, he'd be rounded up with the rest of those he rode with and brought to a wide open park like space with short clean-cut green grass and a lone staged in the middle they all stood before as a woman approached the stand.

  Looking around, Jonath saw a vast amount of other Nightborn around him, however the number wasn't as big as he'd thought it would be. If he had to guess, there probably were only fifty others like him rounded up to listen... Nightborn were that rare, huh?

  "Welcome to Blackwater..." The voice of an older woman with bronze colored skin and mid length dark hued hair with golden eyes, lustrous features and white teeth, spoke from the stage with a monotone expression. She was dressed in a slim fitting body suit of black leather with straps hanging off her waist on both sides housing an assortment of pistols, and on the shorter side of the spectrum in height, probably coming up only to Jonath's shoulder if they stood side by side. As her golden eyes looked over those before her carefully, her blank expression thinned out into an awaiting smirk.

  "You are here because the world either fears your unknown potential, or take faith in you to become something greater, odds are it's the former but alas have no fear. For this... This, is where your lives change, for better or for worse... Nightborn." She smiled slyly. Hands gesturing in welcome as black bangs swept across her chocolate features and the profound look of her golden eyes seemed almost feral in aesthetic.

  "Let's talk about the good stuff, shall we?"

  Welcome to the rest of your Life

  The Challenger Chapter Twenty-Seven: Welcome to the rest of your Life

  "Well that's a nifty introduction." Jonath mused to himself in a monotone as he stared at the dark-skinned woman on the stage. Pale eyes glancing over the four pistols (two on each side) she had strapped to her thighs; why was she packing weapons like that for a simple briefing? He turned to see Melissa to his left, her half hidden face locked on to the speaker and her right hand gripping the strap of her book bag of clothes and whatnot leisurely; the rest of the arrivals doing the same and listening with no words. A vague exhale and he turned his gaze back up to the golden-eyed woman, unnerved slightly when he noticed she had stared at him the entire time he had looked at Melissa... Did she hear him earlier?

  Turning her gaze back to the crowd as a whole, she cleared her throat and hooked her arms behind her back again as she spoke.

 
; "My name is Min and I'm what you may as well call the Overseer of this little dysfunctional family you all will now be a part of here at Blackwater." Min chuckled with a toothy white grin. "Before I continue let me say now this is not a school, college, whatever other names you want to group it under. This is a facility contracted and funded by the government to influence the Nightborn population to be an asset to society, not an enemy." She began to gesture and pace around the stage now as she elaborated. Jonath, Melissa and the rest of the new arrivals listening without saying anything.

  "Blackwater is in short, very similar to a Group; The Mercenaries and Archive Groups to be specific. We are sent young Nightborn with either a history of delinquency growing up or pre-emptive applications from almost all around the planet to do one thing." She raised a single index finger to the crowd and waited momentarily in silence before finishing her statement. "Show the masses that Nightborn are not threats to their safety. Nightborn over the course of history during the Lunar Era have received mixed to negative reception from the majority who lack supernatural abilities as we do. We're your last and first chance at a good life." She began to ramble on about how despite Nightborn being integrated into society now over the past two centuries, there still was a rift that lay smothered under friendly faces and deceit.

  "If you all haven't noticed yet back in the city of Luminous for example, there's four nullification towers at the corners of the city that are always active, and suppress the powers of all Nightborn within the walls by a massive amount. These towers are crafted out of a synthetic, power infused metal called Lazarite, and were built after the Lunar Era graced us by a scientist named Lazarus who created said metal and believed Nightborn were a ticking time bomb on society. Lazarus believed that we Nightborn have something to do with the eternal night that plagues us to this day; he believed we should be exterminated as infants and not allowed to grow." Min paused again to let this information settle in everyone's minds. The sky above darkening as thick white clouds covered the moon momentarily.

  "A mad scientist that wanted to commit mass infanticide because he didn't like people being different." Melissa snorted to herself not amused as she listened, Jonath peering her way briefly. "How disgusting, yet not surprising..." She muttered under her breath. Jonath nodding silently in agreement and turning back to listen to Min. He remembered reading something about the pillars in the library back at the Archive Group, but he never imagined they were built by such a jackass of a man.

  "Lazarus obviously was crazy and his crusade against Nightborn didn't as you can plainly see now, clear us off the face of the planet. No, Nightborn over the course of the past two hundred years have shown they are capable of being great assets to this world." Min gestured out at all the arrivals before her with open arms, taking pride in the fact that there were so many like her here. "This facility was built by a pair of said Nightborn who became the King and Queen and ruled before the current ones were given the throne. They believed that with the right guidance you all could cultivate your gifts for the greater benefit and not giving into temptation." Min trailed off, taking a moment to collect her thoughts as she quietly paced around for a few seconds.

  "Basically they're training us to be good dogs for their personal use is what she's really saying." Delaren's irritated voice graced Jonath's ears some distance to his right. The disheveled red-haired young man spitting at the ground as he said that. The moonlight shining back on them all as the clouds gave way. Jonath tilting his head in thought as he looked at the ground for a bit, no it had to be deeper than that.

  "She sure seems like she's taking a lot of pride in conditioning us to be useful to the masses that hate us. I don't know why they hate us though, we didn't choose to be like this." Kayde commented neutrally directly behind Jonath much to his surprise, peering over his shoulder at her as pale eyes met grey hues and she smiled politely at him; her expression a gentle, calm one.

  "Hiya." She said in a gentle tone not at all put off by the sudden awkward eye contact.

  "Hey..." Jonath said back keeping his calm demeanor, turning to look up at Min again. His eyes watching her pacing, now noting her hand was over her left ear probably indicating she were listening to someone over a transmitter. She looked a bit distressed as she whispered into the receiver, the students around him muttering and whispering to one another now.

  "That's probably the only route we can take considering majority rules is a common stance on civilization." Wrain said a couple of people behind Melissa with closed eyes and frost trailing after every word spoken, messy cyan blue hair accentuating pale features. "That or things get bloody, that route would be more counterproductive than anything though." He popped his neck grunting and keeping his eyes closed the entire time.

  Jonath kind of agreed with Wrain, it was less Nightborn being trained to be valuable to society and more of a humane compromise. Min probably relished the opportunity to show through arrivals like them that Nightborn weren't threatening society as much as the common folk thought. Still though, it felt kind of irritating to know people like him were talked about behind their backs. He wondered if Dal was the type to do that... No, she didn't seem like she were fake like that. Kelarin most definitely wasn't the type to be shady either. His line of thought cut short when Min suddenly lowered her hand from her ear and addressed everyone again.

  "Okay sorry about that little interruption!" She clasped her hands together with an apologetic smile as golden eyes examined the small crowd. "As I said earlier this place is basically for you to gain a positive reputation and earn a little rep among everyone. The Royal Guard were the first of the Nightborn to ever get gracefully acknowledged by the masses and now they live lavishly in the Diurnal District. With a bit of strong will and determination along with an excelling capacity to use your powers you too can live like a great." She rested her hands promptly on her hips as mid-length black hair swayed with every motion.

  "All hail the noble King and Queen..." Melissa muttered lackluster and sarcastic to herself, Jonath noting the clear irritation in her words. He wondered why she was suddenly so upset, even if her uniform expression of apathy showed no hint of it. The whispering and chatter of the other students quieting down again as well.

  "You all will be living on facility grounds in the barracks section. Everything's catered to your needs and is quite cozy; this isn't a prison, we aren't here to make your experience awful. Your skills will be measured both power wise and intelligence wise through tests both hands on and written to get a scope of your capabilities."

  There was a noticeable groan from the audience, Jonath himself being one of them. He was an amnesic, even with the one day of intensive studying at the library and the casual research at Jeremy's house he doubted he could pass any test without looking like an idiot. It would be a bit more than embarrassing to be seen as the dumbest person here; this not even counting the fact he didn't even know what his own powers were.

  "I thought this wasn't a school? Why are we taking tests and shit?" Delaren snorted although he didn't look worried in the slightest about the chance of him failing one if he did take it. Wrain merely huffing to himself and breathing out cold breaths through his nostrils.

  Min snickering to herself as she hooked her arms around her lower back again. "Relax, tests are the only way to get a gauge of skill; there's no grade books or extra credit or anything of the sort. You take a series of tests upon arrival to scope out where you will be placed on the mission incentive. If you fail we will then teach you how to control your powers. The main goal remember, is to build your rep as a Nightborn, training your powers is a side goal that always ties in." She tilted her head idly as her tone now laced itself with anticipation.

  "We have a mission system much like the Mercenary Group where recruits here are allowed to take on jobs across the continent in exchange for rewards upon successful completion. The available jobs are ranked by a color system. Your score on these tests marks you a certain color, you can take missions of t
hat color and below; the higher the color, the more dangerous the mission but also the greater the rewards." She paused letting that all sink in. The whispers of the crowd kicking back in. Melissa snorting at that, Min sure knew how to peak people's interest with her words.

  "The color code is as follows," Min raised the five fingers on her right up to the audience, lowering one from the pinky to the thumb in that order as she spoke. "White, Red, Silver, Blue, Black. The number of contracts under these colors varies at the time, none necessarily are more common than others. Given the rarity of Nightborn there's always something up for anyone to take so don't be scared to get one. Cause after two weeks your ability to complete these jobs determines how well off you are here. You can also retake the tests after a certain amount of time and raise your color level if you want." She smiled. Jonath inhaling quietly, the unnerving thought of doing another contract after what happened between him and Liariana was a bit repulsive to him... Seemed however there was no avoiding it thought.

  "I should note that the contracts labelled Silver or higher involve possibly lethal consequences should you fail and require you to have up to a group of at least four others to undertake it unless specifically written otherwise in the assignment." Min corrected causing everyone to go silent again. "No Nightborn is capable of doing everything alone, so get friendly with your peers and learn each other's strengths and weaknesses because you'll need them to watch your backs if you want to take on the better assignments. In this facility you are protected by the law and such but in No Man's Land it's anyone's game." She tossed her hands up in acceptance of that fact, showing very clearly it was completely out of her hands if one of them died during a mission.