by Joshua Lemay
Sphereshifters: Aleph (Story Arcs 1, 2)
by Joshua Lemay
Copyright 2012 Joshua Lemay, All Rights Reserved
Cover Design and Illustration by Stephanie Rowley
Discover more by Joshua Lemay at https://sphereshifters.com/
If you attained this eBook during a "Free" promotional period then please consider that as one purchase.
Table of Contents
Introduction
Lancer's Introduction
Rei's Introduction
Rei, Taken
Entering the Umbral Stand
A Recluse's Baubles
The Archaic's Introduction
Addition and Subtraction, the Fantoccini
The Madman's Pursuit
Deluge
Returned to Owner, Reason: Defective
Enter the Foray
Moonstruck Reservoir
Love: A Sudden Whim
The Origin of a Legend
Of or Pertaining to Brainstorming
Slagrock Funeral Ceremony
Jaylee's Introduction
Bonus Content: Rei's Kidnapping
Bonus Content: Meeting with Mr. Ellis
The End
Introduction
Hey! It's me, Josh. I wrote this. Nice to meet you.
I don't want to bore anyone with a huge introduction, since I don't like them myself, but I do have a few things to say quickly.
Sphereshifters started as an idea I wanted to try. The concept of a serial story isn't common nowadays. In its place we have TV episodes, anime, manga, and podcasts to a degree. Why not write a story under the same idea, though? Add continuations weekly, keep the plot exciting and fresh, and have the possibility of involving readers directly into the writing process through ideas, suggestions, and the like.
I, for one, enjoy that. I love hearing from people and seeing their comments. If someone doesn't like a certain thing, I can take notes and contemplate steering away from it in the future. On the other hand, if they love something, maybe I'll add more sections like that.
Serial stories were hugely popular in the mid to late 1800s, published in newspapers and magazines. In the present they're relegated to niche literary magazines mostly. They can be a ton of fun to read, though, and bring with them an interesting aspect of suspense where you need to wait and wonder what'll happen next.
I hope you agree with me and I hope you enjoy these stories. They are the culmination of three months of work, updating, editing, and adding new background stories every week(from January 1st to March 30th ). If you have any comments, I'd love to hear them. You can contact me at mailto:[email protected] or go check out https://sphereshifters.com/ to directly comment using the comments area at the bottom of each story section. I also have a Facebook page set up, which you can find at https://www.facebook.com/Sphereshifters
Thanks for reading!
Lancer's Introduction
Today he would become powerful.
Lancer knew it, could feel it, the built up power straining to get loose for years. This was the time. Today. Now.
True, every time he sphereshifted, he failed, but now he understood why. Simple, really. Why hadn't he realized it before? Everyone thought him subpar, less than mediocre, but he would prove himself.
A tree branch clicked against the classroom window. Sunlight splattered through the trees, spreading across the floor in an array of color. Lancer breathed deep, soaking it in, preparing for his first successful sphereshift.
History lessons didn't start for another ten minutes. Everyone should be outside, eating lunch, unaware of his moment of awesomeness. When they came inside to return to their daily routine and study boring old history about sphereshifters who'd influenced something no one cared about, they'd find him, successful.
This is how he imagined it, at least. Having been unable to perform controlled sphereshifting, he didn't really know what to expect. Sure, he could do some stuff, and a bit happened, but he couldn't do it on purpose and he never knew what would happen. He just sort of tried, and it happened or not; the whims of the world, fate, kismet, and all that.
Lancer stood at the front of the classroom, facing the desks. He started by bringing his hands high into the air. He kept them there, spread his fingers.
It was warm inside. Not too warm, but warm. This is what he thought of while attempting to summon his innate power, some miraculous sphereshifting no one could imagine. History lessons? Pft! He would become history incarnate; people would learn his story in the years to come.
The secret, he realized while eating lunch, was not to practice minor sphereshifting. Who cared about small stuff? He'd go big. Huge. Powerful, wonderful, and awe-inspiring. He coaxed forth all his energy, willing it to focus itself in his center so he could command it as he wished.
Nothing happened. He closed his eyes, waited. Nothing still. Something tickled his nose and he lowered his arm to scratch it. In that instant he heard a crackling.
His eyes snapped open and he looked towards the source of the noise. Another hiss, then boom. Boom! Again. It came from outside. He laughed, giddy, never realizing how easy sphereshifting was. He could do this all day. Ha!
Fireworks sputtered from the floorboards, whizzed through the air, and let loose with a bang. Not quite what he expected, but who didn't like fireworks? They kept going without him even concentrating, so apparently he was good at this.
A teacher ran around a corner outside the classroom window and scolded some kids in the yard. The fireworks stopped. The leader of the group frowned and shook his finger in the air, losing the spark of firework he'd planned to send skyward.
Lancer frowned. He hadn't made fireworks; he hadn't made anything. He stared out the window, dejected. What had he done then? Not much. It hadn't felt like anything, so it probably wasn't. Like every other time.
Something tickled his nose again. Before he could use his hand to itch it, he sneezed. The force sent him flying backwards, crashing into the desks. He blinked, because he'd sneezed quite a few times in his life and never once had it sent him flying. Haze filled his vision, stiff webs like interconnected sparks clouding his sight.
And then he could see normally again. He should get up, he thought, and fix these desks. How much time did he have left? Not much. A minute?
He stood fine, but when he touched a desk to pick it up and push it into place, a jolt shocked his fingertips. He yelped, surprised. Sparks flew from his body as his hand snapped away from the desk, leaving a trail of electricity connecting him and it.
"What the?" Really, this had never happened before, and he didn't know what to do about it.
The desk shook, hopping back and forth like a chilly bird trying to move to keep itself warm. Without warning, the desk shimmied towards him of its own accord.
Lancer stumbled away, tripping over another desk. This time, caught up in his downward descent, he didn't even cry out at the sparks connecting him with the new desk in a static line. Rumbling, this desk too was heading for him. Careful not to hit another desk, hitting a pair anyways, he scrambled towards the edge of the classroom.
The desks kept coming like hungry beasts. Wobbling towards him, faster and faster, he had nowhere to escape but out of the classroom. Except a desk cut him off before he could make it to the door.
Jaylee found him first, sprawled on the ground, assaulted by desks. Not an attack so much as toppling onto him, but it didn't feel good either way. She squeaked, plowing through desks to reach him. They snapped back towards him seconds later, but being so close they lacked the momentum for any serious oomph.
The history teacher found them, limbs akimbo, struggling to get free. It
looked, for all intents and purposes, more illicit than it was, but the teacher had no idea what had happened and scolded them for improper actions. When he realized sphereshifting was involved, he fixed the problem with a flick of his wrists.
"Oh! Lancer! Are you alright?" Jaylee flung herself at him, squealing when sparks tickled her skin, laughing when they didn't hurt.
"Jaylee. Ergh." Lancer couldn't move. Which was worse, her or the desks? "I'm fine."
"I don't know what you did, Lancer." Mr. Jacobs's husky voice didn't sound like it cared, either. Lancer knew he was about to get in trouble, but with Jaylee clinging to him like a bug he couldn't very well explain himself and try to get out of it. "You're staying after class, though. You cause enough trouble during lessons and now you're causing trouble between them? I don't know why you're so obstinate." When Jaylee appeared in no rush to release Lancer from her death hug, Mr. Jacobs added, "If you want me to send a note home to your parents about your lack of discipline, by all means Jaylee continue this lewd display."
She let