Eventually Isaac approaches the trio with a handful of metallic bracelets. He hands each of the young Walkers a bracelet and locks it in place for them on their wrists.
“What are these?” Nick asks.
Isaac steps away from the bench and motions for them to stand. “These are bracelets made by mage Walkers like you, Nick. They’re made to help bring out energy in Walkers, and by using them the training process gets its completion time cut down severely. Remember how it takes years for Walkers outside of the Guard to awaken their powers?”
Nick nods. “So these things and the Pathfinder are what makes training only take a month? That’s incredible.”
“A month is the maximum.” Isaac says. “That’s the longest this training method has ever taken to awaken the first Chain, which is required for Walkers to be able to go on missions. Marcus Marxon managed to awaken his first Chain in only a week.”
Hector and Nick look at Allison with sheer amazement. She just shrugs. Hector wondered if the girl realized how amazing- and annoying- her father was.
Nick looks back to Isaac with a confused expression on his face. “What are Chains?”
Isaac sighs “Every Walker, regardless of their class, has at least three ‘Chains’ on their soul. When you break one you basically unlock a special power up corresponding to your class. Chains are gateways to the soul, and thus the powers you get from breaking one will reflect your fears, desires, regrets- stuff like that. Your main class will have three Chains, and any subclasses you have will only awaken one Chain. And before you even ask- you break a Chain by training really hard and tapping into your soul.”
Allison joins in to help explain it to Nick. “The training we’re starting today is all to break the first Chain. Once that happens, we’re legitimate members of the Guard who can go on missions and fight the Void.”
Nick nods. “Seems pretty simple. So to break the first Chain I need to go on some journey of self discovery or something?”
Isaac laughs. “Not quite. You see, before you can even break the first Chain, you need to learn how to manifest your shadow energy. The bracelets you three are wearing are tailored to your main class, and will help bring out the powers of that class. How fast that happens just depends on how hard you three can focus your energy.”
“So how do we manifest our energy then?” Hector asks. “I want to get this over with as soon as possible so I can beat Allison's dad’s record.” He shoots a playful smile to his teammate, but she just rolls her eyes. Hector groans internally. Of course he had to get stuck on a team with a stuck up prodigy.
Isaac holds out his hand. “The same way you channeled energy into the Pathfinder. The bracelet will absorb the shadow energy you give off and store it for you. Just think of something you’re proud of, or something you want to protect or whatever else matters to you- and this bracelet will harness the energy and eventually create a physical manifestation of your energy. Just like this.”
Black smoke suddenly forms in Isaacs palm, and with a black flash, his crimson sword appears in his hand. He stabs the sword into the ground and leans on its black guard. He smiles smugly. “Once you first physically manifest your energy, it’ll be easier for you to do it without the bracelets. Once you can do that, it shouldn’t take long before the first Chain is broken. So get to it- there isn’t much else for me to explain.”
Isaac smiles as he walks away from the three young Walkers, his sword disappearing in a puff of black smoke. Hector looks down at his bracelet as he gets some distance from his teammates. Ever since he’s seen his captain’s sword, he’s been wondering if his tracker powers would be as cool as a dueler’s. That crimson red blade of his left Hector breathless every time he saw it. Something about it seemed so beautiful, but also dark and powerful. Hector looks up at his captain.
“Captain, what does your sword do?” Hector asks. Nick and Allison snap out of their thoughts to see their captain’s response.
Isaac turns around and looks at his hand. “My sword?”
Hector nods. “Yeah. Like, do you have all three Chains unlocked already?”
Isaac stares at his palm absently. “Yeah. I broke my third Chain at seventeen. But as for what my sword does… well, you might not want to know that much about me.”
“My father talks about you captain.” Allison says. “He says that your sword is troublesome to face in a fight. I don’t even know what my father’s Chains do, but I know he’s a powerful man. For him to be wary of your powers must mean that you’re a lot stronger than you let on. After all, you are a member of the Midnight Order.”
Isaac hesitates, which worries Hector. The captain speaks with a hint of spite in his voice. “Marcus called my sword troublesome? That’s ironic.” He looks at Allison, then to Nick and Hector. “There is a lot that we don’t know about each other yet. Once training ends, I promise I’ll tell you more about myself. For now, just get to training.”
Hector looks away in disappointment, but quickly turns his attention back to his bracelet. Hopefully this time his Invert powers wouldn’t break anything. He sits back down on the bench and stares at the bracelet as his mind races in five different directions. The thing he’s most proud of, the thing he wants to protect more than anything- they used to be Hector’s individuality. And he was still proud of himself more than anything else, but he was finding himself thinking about that Void boy sitting alone in his house. Hector didn’t know him very well, but he felt like it was his mission to keep Damon safe.
He closes his eyes and places all of his thoughts on Damon as he tries to channel forth his energy. After a few minutes of nothing interesting happening, he decides to take a break. He had to have been doing something wrong. Even when he was touching the Pathfinder, he didn’t feel any type of ‘energy’ coming out of him. He wasn’t sure how he even got the thing to work, and was starting to believe that, thanks to his Invert blood, the bracelet wasn’t going to detect his energy at all. But then Allison speaks.
“Wait guys.” She says. Hector looks up at his teammate. She has a mix of worry and confusion on her face. “Where the heck is Hector?”
Hector almost laughs at the absurd statement. “What are you talking about?”
Allison jumps and looks around in all directions, her eyes completely glossing over Hector each time she faced him.
Isaac shakes his head and walks towards Hector. “There is no way in hell…”
Hector starts to feel worried by the sudden way his teammates were acting. Isaac places a hand on his shoulder and smiles.
“Can you can see him?” Nick asks with wide eyes.
Isaac turns to the boy. “Of course, I have tracker abilities as well. I just can’t believe that Hector already has his.”
Hector could barely speak. “What’s going on? I don’t get why you guys are freaking out, I’m standing right here.”
Isaac shakes his head in disbelief. “Well, to put it simply- you’re invisible. I can tell where you are because of my tracking abilities, but none of us can actually see your body.”
Hector smiles. “So I already manifested my energy?”
Isaac grins. “Yeah, but you kind of took it to the next level Hector. To be honest I’m surprised that it wasn’t Allison who broke his record.”
Hector stops smiling. He studies the amazed look on the captain’s face. “What do you mean?”
Isaac pulls his hand off of Hector’s shoulder and smiles even wider. “Hector, man… you’ve already broken your first Chain.”
Hector sits in stunned silence, unsure if anything around him was really happening. That lasted for about five seconds, and then the panic began.
“How do I become visible again?” Hector asks.
Isaac laughs at the confused Walker. “Just imagine becoming visible again while focusing on the same things that you did before.”
In a worried panic, Hector tries to follow his captain’s orders. But his mind was scattered all over the place. He couldn’t properly focus on
a single thought. The fear of forever staying invisible was completely terrifying him. But after about ten minutes he finally starts calming down, and shortly after, he becomes visible to his teammates. Allison was staring in wonder at the boy who had broken her father’s record.
Hector had awoken his first Chain in only seven minutes.
* * *
After Hector broke his first Chain Isaac took him to the Council to.display his newfound abilities. As he was walking back to his house, Hector could only wonder what the Council truly thought of his display. He was half Invert, and he managed to outshine Marcus Marxon. There was no way that he wasn’t number one on their Walkers to watch list. And underneath his cool exterior, Hector was worried about all of the crap he would have to endure because of the Council. If they were going to have all eyes on him, it would make it even harder to hide Damon.
Hector smiles at the thought of the boy. He had been anticipating hanging out with his newfound friend all day long during his training. As soon as he steps into his house he calls out for the Void boy to let him know that he was home. When no yells come back to him, Hector just assumes that Damon must have been sleeping. But then a lone voice responds to Hector from the kitchen.
“Damon? Sorry, he’s a little preoccupied at the moment.” A familiar male voice says. The ominous voice sends chills up Hector’s spine. He knew the voice, but it didn’t belong to anyone that Hector was friends with. He thinks fast, trying to figure out how to escape. He thinks back to his training and starts trying to summon his shadow energy. Hector was no longer wearing his bracelet, but Isaac had told him he seemed to have a natural ability to effortlessly summon his energy. He walks past a mirror to check if his first Chain was still working, and sure enough, there was no reflection.
Without hesitation he runs to the kitchen. Even though he was invisible, he stops dead in his tracks once he sees the man standing in his home. He tries to slow down his breaths as a sudden wave of uncontrollable, mind altering fear overcomes his body. His entire being felt as if a simple nudge would shatter his mere existence. If he felt any type of confidence by breaking Marcus Marxon’s record, it was now replaced by an overwhelming feeling of helplessness.
Valus of the Void stood calmly in Hector’s kitchen. The man fake yawns as he taps his fingers on the table, like he was just waiting for something to entertain him. Damon sits unconscious on the floor, slumped up against the sink. Hector fights back the urge to cry out. He needed to run- to get away from Valus. There was nothing in Hector’s power that could stop the Void man standing so casually in front of him. But could he really just leave Damon?
Valus snickers. “So you’re a tracker then. Invisibility is a pretty cool power, but it could end up being quite troublesome down the road. I should kill you before you become a thorn in our sides. You’re whole team is just full of troublemakers.” He turns his entire body to face Hector, and that was when the young Walker broke. Fear wasn’t a strong enough word to describe what he was experiencing. His heartbeat was as if he had just ran a marathon, and he could hardly even breathe. He felt as if there were parasites crawling beneath his skin, robbing him of his lifeforce.
A sudden cawing distracts Hector for a brief moment. He spots the bird- a crow to be exact- as it flaps it’s way over and lands on Valus’ shoulder. The bird was purple, just like everything else from the Void. And once Hector stared into it’s emotionless eyes, he felt another wave of panic overcome his body. He wanted nothing more than for his captain to show up and rescue him. He would even accept help from Allison’s father.
Valus slowly walks forward, closing the gap between them. Hector can feel his body weaken as the Void grows closer, and he see’s his body reappear in a reflection on the wall. “Your little Walker tricks won’t hide you from me, boy.” Valus says plays. He smiles playfully as he reaches his hand out. With a purple flash, the Void suddenly holds a katana in his hand. Hector didn’t think that he could become more frightened, but in this moment he no longer had a desire to live. Death seemed more inviting than standing next to this man.
Valus turns around. Hector doesn’t feel ashamed at the little relief that washes over him. He thought for sure that Valus was going to kill him. But when the Void grabs Damon by his shirt and lifts him off of the floor, Hector manages to overcome the immense fear. “What are you doing with him?”
Valus turns to face Hector, and the young Walker regrets saying anything at all. The elite Void just laughs and looks away. “You managed to say an entire sentence while I was inducing you with fear? That’s quite impressive, you really will be a pain to deal with.” A sudden purple light appears in thin air, and it spreads wider and wider, smoke swirling within it. Valus throws Damon into the light, and his body disappears from sight. And then the purple vortex disappears.
Hector clenches his fist as a drop of sweat runs down his face. He was completely helpless. More than anything else he wanted to keep Damon safe. He had finally found someone who he thought understood him- who he could relate to- and he couldn’t even protect them. All he could do was cower in fear as Valus of the Void shattered his confidence. Hector shouts in frustration at the Void. “I asked what you were doing with him! He doesn’t want to be with you monsters!”
Valus looks taken aback, but quickly smiles. “You call us monsters, but you Walkers and Inverts never tried to stand in our shoes. You’re all so oblivious to who the real monsters are, so you just find whoevers doing the next worst thing to put the blame on. You judge us Void with your morals and completely disregard the possibility that we are anything more than a mere hindrance to your otherwise perfect existence.” He shakes his head as he raises his sword.
“Don’t try to act like you creeps are anything better than scum. You willingly kill completely innocent people.” Hector spits back with venom in his voice.
“And who are you to deem what makes someone innocent?” Valus retorts. “You’re all unable of imagining a bigger picture- of seeing us Void outside the role of the monsters. It’s too bad that you’re all going to die soon, I would have loved to show you the truth of this world we live in.” The Void’s eyes lock onto Hector’s, re-instilling any fear that had faded away over the course of their exchange. Hector hadn’t noticed before, how blue the elite Void’s eyes were.
“Your eyes aren’t purple.” Hector whispers.
“Ah, yes, that’s pretty interesting, isn’t it? You probably wouldn’t have guessed, but I’m Damon’s brother. We’re both sons of the Queen of the Void.”
“So you’re half human and half Void…” Hector says in amazement. “What kind of messed up relationship did your parents have.”
“I have Void and human blood flowing through my veins, yes. But none of that is of concern to you. Right now, you should be worrying about something else entirely. Under orders of the Queen, I can’t kill you yet. But she didn’t say I couldn’t have a little fun.”
The Void runs forward and slashes with his sword. Hector is too paralyzed by his fear to move, and he can only cry internally as the blade passes through his head. He flinches, but after a few moments he realizes that he wasn’t injured at all. “What was that?” Hector asks. He knew for sure that the katana had went right through his face, but for some reason he wasn’t bleeding.
“What was what?” Valus asks, his head cocked. Hector prepares to yell at the Void for playing games, but he quickly forgets what he was so confused about. His entire body suddenly felt light, and his mind grows fuzzy. He had no memory of what just happened. Valus laughs.
“You poor child, be glad I didn’t take something more important from you. Now remember what I’m about to tell you, Hector. The 25th of June marks the end of your kind. And this war doesn’t end with the four of us. If you somehow manage to survive the onslaught that is to come, just remember that the diamond is one of its own.”
As Hector was about to ask just what the Void’s ambiguous message meant, he falls to the ground. His mind was in such a haze that he could
no longer properly form thoughts. There was nothing for him to do, no words to speak, and no way of fighting. His mind slips further and further away until everything turns black.
* * *
Hector was awakened sometime later thanks to a firm shaking. He slowly opened his eyes to find Council Member Axus looking down at him. Most of his body was numb, but he felt as if somebody had hit him in the back of the head with a brick. One second he was on his way back to meet Damon, and then he was looking up at one of the Council members. He tries his hardest to recollect what had happened to connect those two points, but nothing was coming up. He had no idea why he was laying on his kitchen floor.
As he regains the ability to move his mind races to Damon. Did Axus find the Void boy that Hector was hiding in his home? Axus shakes his head as he lifts Hector onto his feet. “You’re coming with me, Hector. You’re in for a lot of trouble with the Council, and you’ve got a lot of questions to answer.”
Hector quickly starts panicking, but he nods his head. He couldn’t do anything to worsen his situation right now. He wanted to know what happened to Damon, but he would just have to see what the Council members said before he brought it up. He knew that something was wrong, but he couldn’t quite place a finger on it.
“I can’t believe that Valus was here.” Axus says in disbelief. Hector had no idea what the Council member was talking about, but in that moment a gear clicked in the back of his mind.
“The 25th of June marks the end of your kind. And this war doesn’t end with the four of us. If you somehow manage to survive the onslaught that is to come, just remember that the diamond is one of its own.” Hector blurts out the words like a robot reciting a script. He covers his mouth immediately after speaking, unsure of what in the world had just escaped from him. Council member Axus looks at him with wide eyes, a hint of fear evident in his green gaze.
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