TEEN: - Complete Spirit of the Omi R

[The Mighty Prince]

The sun rose for yet another new day in the small suburb town of the Bloom District, and everyone begins their daily march which they have grown so accustomed to. But for one boy, though, everything is about to change. Today doors will be opened, doors that lead him down paths which he has never even dreamed were possible…


Chapter 1
The Boy Named Sin


The alarm clock beeped on the near by night stand, it was time for Clou to wake up, and prepare for school. From underneath his covers the boy reached out and smacked the alarm clock, the beeping ceased, and he continued sleeping.

His mother walked down the hallway, already dressed and ready for work. “Clou,” she stepped in, “Clou, get up. You are going to be late again.” with a moan from underneath the covers she hurried downstairs, and out the door.

Clou brought his head out, and looked around. He squinted as he looked at the clock, “7:19...” he sat up and pushed strands of his sloppy dark hair away from his eyes, “Damn it all…” he threw the covers away and stood, letting out a yawn as he walked out into the hallway.

He walked to the bathroom, and shut the door. He saw his clothes from yesterday lying on the floor, shrugged, and began to dress. He came out a few minutes later, hair uncombed, teeth un-brushed, and half asleep. Clou, like everyone else, had to wear a customary school uniform. Ironed black pants and the pair of clean, black shoes assigned to everyone, with a long sleeved white shirt and a black jacket that must be buttoned half way at all times. Of course, Clou’s pants were wrinkled, his shoes were muddy from the day before, and his jacket was thrown over his shoulder casually.

His head was slumped down as he made his way downstairs, yawning once again. He plopped down on the couch and shut his eyes. The sick feeling he had every morning before school grew in his stomach as it did every other day at this time; Clou hated school just like every other 13 year-old. But something was different this morning, Clou had a strange hope that today would be different, something good would happen.

He opened his eyes, and saw the clock, it was now 7:54, it had only seemed like a few minutes as he sat there, but so much time had passed. He jumped up, he only had six minutes to travel four blocks to the school, no time to spare.

He grabbed his book bag that lay next to the door, untouched sine he stepped through the door the day before after school.

He ran down the street, his neighbor, and elderly man glanced up, but paid little attention to the panicking boy, it was a normal sight for everyone in the neighborhood to see Clou running for school, or anything else. He had a habit of being late to everything.

He turned the corner and picked up his pace. He came to the small corner store and left, coming to the alley…

“Watch were you are going!” Clou’s eyes were closed as he ran, and he didn’t see him coming. He collided into someone and stumbled back for a moment before falling to the ground. Clou sat up, and rubbed the back of his head, and looked up to see three boys standing above him.

“You little punk, who do you think you are!” Clou knew them very well, everyone knew them. They were three punks that attended Clou’s school: the leader of the small group, Erasa, and his two lackies Nuze and Hio. Clou had ran into Erasa.

Erasa was large, a good six inches taller then Clou, and mean. Clou remembered his last confrontation with the bully, those yellow teeth with black in between when he laughed, and the terrible smell of black liquorish. Erasa always chewed the black liquorish. He picked Clou up by the shirt, and nearly took him off the ground, “You little punk!”

“I am sorry, it was an accident Erasa.” Clou was nervous, he did not like fighting, and he especially didn’t like doing it with a boy twice his size.

“You got me dirty, no one gets me dirty!” he threw Clou back and smiled, “You know what happens to those who get me dirty Clou?”

“Um, they apologize and you let them go I suppose?” Erasa laughed and took a step forward, Clou countered with a step back. “And I actually thought this would be a good day…” he thought to himself.

“Heh heh heh…NO!” Erasa lunged forward, Clou felt a terrible force to his stomach, and air leave his mouth fast. Erasa struck him in the stomach full force, and shoved Clou to the ground.

Clou looked up, his eyes watered, “Asshole…” his voice was low.

“Huh? Guess he didn’t learn some respect!” He pulled his leg back and threw it forward aiming for Clou’s head. He moved to the right, and grabbed his leg, and pulled him forward.

Erasa fell over Clou and crashed to the ground. Clou stood quickly and looked down at Erasa, “Damn him!” the boy was on all fours, “Hio, Nuze, take care of this punk!” his two lackies turned to him, Hio cracked his knuckles. Clou stood tall, he was scared, but he would never run.

“This isn’t what I’d call fair guys…” he said with a nervous laugh.
“We don’t play fair!” Clou made the first move, and punched Nuze across the face, knocking him back, but Hio tackled him from the side and pinned him down.

Nuze sat on the ground, his cheek was bleeding, “UH! You little…” he wiped his face and stood. As Nuze held Clou down the other two loomed over him, smiling.

“Now you are going to get it, Clou. I am going to see to it that you won’t be running into anyone for a while, you won’t be walking for a while period!”

Nuze smiled, and lifted his fist, “Heh,” Clou shut his eyes, and waited for it to come, “What the…” the weight on Clou’s chest was gone, he opened his eyes and saw someone he didn’t recognize at all, but he was dressed in a uniform from Clou’s school.

Erasa and Hio were just as shocked, neither had seen him coming. Nuze stood up, he had been thrown right off Clou by the arm. “Who the f*** are you?!” Erasa waited for an answer from the large boy, he was even bigger then Erasa, “Well, it doesn’t matter, anyone who interferes with my business has to pay.” Erasa shrugged, and swung at him, but he hit only the air.

“Big mistake,” the mysterious boy grabbed his arm and threw him forward, bringing Erasa close enough so he could throw his knee up into his gut. Erasa gasped for air as it hit him, his eyes bulged.

He was thrown to the ground and Hio and Nuze stepped back, “Erasa,” Hio mumbled, “Forget it, let’s get out of here!” Hio and Nuze took off running, abandoning Erasa, who was lying on the ground, curled up in a ball wheezing.

Clou crawled back from the mysterious boy, no one had ever done that to Erasa before. He looked down at Clou, there eyes met for only a split-second, and he walked towards the school, leaving Clou.

“Who…was that…”

Clou sat there for a moment, Erasa still wasn’t moving. He stood up, and looked down the street leading to the school, the bell had already wrung, and Clou was late enough. He continued on, but was in no hurry now, he was only thinking of what had just happened. He felt nervous, sweat dripped down his face. “Who was he…?”

Clou entered the school and made his way to class. He entered, the teacher wasn’t in the room, “I guess I got lucky today…” he took a seat in the back of the room, Hio and Nuze were both sitting as well, each looked a little rattled from what had just happened, and didn’t pay any attention to Clou.

“Who was he…” Clou sat back in his chair, and began to think of that boy again. “His eyes…were…black…” he shut his eyes, and the feeling he had when he stared into that boy’s eyes returned, that cold, empty feeling.

The teacher entered shortly after Clou had taken his seat, but he wasn’t alone. With him was a new student, the boy who had beaten Erasa, “Good morning class.” the talking stopped, and the Mr. Hill looked towards the boy, “A new student will be joining our homeroom, as you can see. Please, introduce yourself.”

He seemed to scan the room for a moment, and paid no attention to Clou, but the same couldn’t be said for Clou to him. The boy nearly jumped up from his seat when he saw him, “Him! Who is he?!” Clou suddenly felt something in his stomach grow, there was a sharp pain, his eyes became wide, “Ah…”he grabbed his stomach and put his head on the desk, “What the hell…”

“My name is Sin.” that was all he said, Mr. Hill didn’t speak or do anything, he seemed to be waiting for the boy to say more, but there was only silence.

“Well, Sin, how about we have someone show you around…” Mr. Hill looked around the room for someone responsible.

Clou picked his head up and looked towards Nuze and Hio, both of them glared at this boy named Sin, each terrified. The pain in Clou’s stomach began to reside, for the time being.

“Ah, I know! Crystal!”

“Crystal?” Clou’s neck moved slowly towards her, and he forgot about Sin completely. His mind was only on Crystal. Clou knew her quite well, but unfortunately, she didn’t know him much at all. Crystal was the most popular girl in school. The boys all liked her of course, and the girls all seemed to swarm around her. She was shy, and reserved, but very likeable. Her long, brown hair, and her rosy, cheerful, pretty face attracted everyone. But Clou noticed something different, something that he couldn’t explain. It was in her eyes. When he looked into them, he found himself lost, his mind blacked out. It wasn’t a feeling that he liked her, it wasn’t a nervous feeling, but something he couldn’t describe to anyone, and something that he didn’t understand the meaning of at all.

“Me?” she said a little surprised. “Well, I guess Mr. Hill.” she stood slowly, and walked to the front of the class.

“Just show him the important things around the school, and then come back here. It shouldn’t take too long.”

“Yes sir.”

Sin paid no attention to her, he only grew agitated at the whole situation. He gritted his teeth and walked towards the door, Crystal followed timidly as her friends laughed uncontrollably, “Lucky!” one whispered, “She always gets the cute ones…” said another.

Mr. Hill sat down, and everyone resumed their conversations. Crystal smiled in embarrassment at the comments, and then followed Sin into the hallway.

Clou put his head down, his best friend Asher wasn’t there today, “Out of all the times for him to be skipping he picks today…”

Crystal pointed out the cafeteria and the main office, and Sin followed behind her, not giving an ounce of his attention. She stopped, but he walked right by, his head down, “Hey! You aren’t paying attention, are you?” she said almost shocked.

He looked back towards her and stopped, “Sorry…” he said quickly. Crystal smiled for a moment, and was about to speak when the front doors burst open.

Sin and Crystal both looked down the steps leading to the doors, and Erasa charged up into the hallway, his eyes met with Sin’s, and he then noticed Crystal, “You! What are you doing with her!”

“Erasa…” Crystal’s smile disappeared.

“Yeah, it’s me!” he stepped to Crystal’s side, and looked towards Sin angrily, “You bastard!” Sin’s eyes narrowed, “That was just a lucky shot!” he laughed a little, “You’ll receive ten times the amount of pain I did in return!” Sin didn’t respond. Erasa looked towards Crystal once again, “What are you doing with my girl!” he put his arm around her, and pulled her close, then looked back towards Sin.

Crystal looked away from Erasa and tried to pull away, but his grip was too tight. His hand began to slide up her pink blouse. Her eyes narrowed in disgust and she slapped him, “Don’t touch me!”

Erasa became angry, and shoved her away. “Bitch! You’ll pay for that!” he pulled his hand back, and Crystal covered her face in fear. Erasa felt a strange shadow over him, his eyes slowly shifted to Sin, “What is this feeling…” Erasa felt his hand freeze, he couldn’t move.

Sin glared at him, unblinkingly. Crystal looked towards him, and then towards Erasa. She stepped away and behind Sin. Erasa lowered his hand, and store straight back at Sin, “This isn’t over!” he regained his composure, and walked down the hall towards homeroom.

Crystal looked up towards Sin, who stared at Erasa as he walked down the hallway, “I have seen enough, thank you.” he began to walk back towards homeroom as well.

Crystal watched him, and didn’t understand what she was feeling. “That boy…”

The day came to a close, and everything seemed normal. Clou came out of the mob of students and saw Sin walked down the street alone, his head down. He stopped and stared, everyone ran by him. Clou was fixated on Sin, everything else was forgotten, there was no sound, and he saw nothing but him.

Crystal entered his view though, and stepped up next to Sin. She tapped him on the shoulder, and as he looked, she stepped to the other side, “Hi!” he glanced back, but didn’t answer. He looked ahead, paying no attention.

Clou shook himself out of the trance, and looked down, “Get a hold of yourself!” he looked back towards Sin, and made the decision to follow him.

“So, where do you live?” Crystal looked up towards him, and Sin glanced to the side.

He didn’t understand what she wanted, “I live in the city.”

“The city? And you go to school here?”

“Yes.”

In the parking lot just ahead of them Erasa, Nuze, Hio, and Erasa’s older brother were in the middle of a crowd, showing off Erasa’s new birthday gift, a brand new car. Erasa spotted Sin approaching the entrance, “Brother, it’s him!”

“Him?”

“The one who hit me this morning!”

“Oh, then let’s go pay him a visit.”

Clou stepped off the grass and into the parking lot, he saw Erasa point to Sin while talking to his enormous older brother, and the two of them set towards him.

“This isn’t good…” Clou and everyone else followed, Sin looked towards them, and stopped.

“What’s wrong?” Sin looked into the parking lot and sighed, Crystal’s eyes became wide, “Oh no! You have to get out of here!”

Sin ignored Crystal, and dropped his bag, and waited.

“What are you…” she grabbed his shoulder.

“Stay out of this!” he pulled away, and his eyes met with Erasa’s. He smiled.

The two of them stopped in front of Sin, “You the one giving my little brother trouble?” Erasa’s brother asked, not expecting an answer. “You have to be tough to touch anyone from my family,” Sin didn’t respond, “Or maybe it is just luck.” Sin just store back, his eyes calm, “Well, it doesn’t take too much to beat this pipsqueak, nothing special. I am just surprised it took so long for someone to come.” Erasa appeared shocked.

“Brother!” he exclaimed angrily.

“Shut-up you idiot. Stay out of this. But you have disgraced my family’s name, and now you must pay.”

Sin showed his first sign of emotion, but it was not fear, but a calm, casual smile, “I see.” his voice was different then before. The emptiness was replaced with eagerness. “I see you are far stronger, and are trained. You may pose me some what of a challenge.” Everyone gasped, no one spoke to Erasa’s brother this way. He had been dubbed the Reaper around the neighborhood for a reason. When he fought, it was brutal. The only way to escape was unconsciousness.

“Cocky little punk.”

“Sin, you can’t fight him!” Sin ignored Crystal.

“You should listen to the girl, she knows what she is talking about.”

“Enough talk, I want to see what you can do.”

“It is customary to know your opponent’s name, isn’t it? I am named Red,” he laughed, “Ironic isn’t it? That is also the last thing you’ll ever see!”

“Hmph.”

Red became angry at the lack of respect, and decided not to fool around. He put his hands in his pocket, and continued to talk, “Well, aren’t we confident. That just makes this all the more enjoyable…” he sprung forward, and threw his arm out, a blade in his hand. Sin’s eyes shifted to the blade, but he did not move.

Red put all of his strength behind it, and pushed it inside of Sin, everyone began to cheer and crowd around them. Sin fell against Red for a moment, blood dripped to the ground.

Crystal felt a great fear, and couldn’t control herself “Sin!” she ran forward, but was met with Erasa.

“What do you want with that loser?” he laughed, and stepped up towards her. “No one interferes unless they want to lose their hands!”

Suddenly from the crowd came a fist, hitting Erasa in the face, and knocking him to the ground. “You bastard!” Clou stepped forward, ready for a fight.

Erasa’s eyes grew, he felt his cheek, and touched his own blood, “You little…guess you didn’t learn earlier!”

Red pushed Sin away, letting the knife go with him. “Erasa, get up and take care of him! You aren’t going to disgrace us again!”

“I will! He just caught me off guard.” Erasa stood and laughed, “No one messes with our family! No one!”

Clou smiled, “You are just a sniveling little baby who had to run to his brother cause he wasn’t bigger then someone for once!”

Erasa jumped up and came towards Clou, tackling him. Everyone gasped; two being willing to challenge Erasa and his older brother was amazing.

“Clou?” Crystal didn’t believe it, she had never thought of him as the brave type. “What are you doing! You can’t fight him!”

Clou hit the ground, Erasa was on top of him, “You bastard!” He pulled his arm back, but Clou swung first, hitting him in the face again, and sending him to the ground.

Clou stood and looked at his fist. He didn’t know what he was thinking when he attacked Erasa, but now he wasn’t worried. Even if he lost, he knew he had at least achieved something.

Red laughed at Sin, “Nothing to say now you little bastard!” Sin’s head remained down. His shirt was drenched in blood.

“You fight a lot like your brother don’t you.” Sin grabbed the handle of the knife, and began to pull.

“Wow! He is crazy! Who is this guy?!” those watching were amazed, “This guy is a nut-job!”

Sin threw the knife to the ground, the blood flowed out freely now. “I love it! Let’s go!” Sin looked up and smiled. His eyes became alive, there was a fire burning inside of him that was non-existent before.

Preview: Why in life are there those that seem to be destined for greater things then everyone else? Why do we meet those that we care for? Is there a force we don’t know of controlling us all? Do we have any control of our own destiny and fate? Or are we all just pawns for some greater force? Is there really a god above moving everyone in the right direction? Does a man truly have a choice in the path which he takes in life? As Clou fights to avoid death, Sin fights to become closer to it NEXT: The Omi

 

[The Mighty Prince]

“Who is this guy? He’s crazy! He is going to kill himself!” the crowd watched in aw as the new comer Sin challenged the thug Red…but just behind him Clou has attacked Red’s younger brother Erasa…but in the middle of it all stands Crystal


Chapter 2
The Omi


“You little bastard!” Erasa wiped the blood away on his cheek, “No one makes a fool out of my family!” Clou stood firm.

Sin dropped the knife to the ground, and began to laugh, “Come on! Let’s go! Don’t tell me that is all you’ve got for me!”

Red couldn’t believe it, “What kind of psycho is this kid?!” he began to fear Sin, and froze.

Sin looked at his arms, and saw he was trembling. “Hmph…” his smile vanished, “Fine then, so be it.” Sin charged Red, his fist clenched.

“AH!” Red began to turn, but there was no time. Sin swung, and hit Red in the back of the head, sending him into the crowds of people who scurried out of the way.

Sin turned away from the sight, and took notice of Clou. He had become so caught up in the confrontation with Red he hadn’t even noticed Clou and Erasa.

Sin saw the blood on Erasa’s face, “Did that runt do that to him? Wow, didn’t think he had it’em.”

“Your wound!” Sin looked to his side and saw Crystal, her eyes were filled with tears, “Are…are you okay?!”

“I am fine.” Sin’s eyes changed once again, but this time they didn’t express the emptiness, nor did they show savageness. But this time it was a mixture of gentler feelings, feelings that he himself didn’t understand. “Dry your eyes! You have nothing to cry over…” he turned away and shook it all away, giving all of his focus towards Clou and Erasa’s fight.

“You bastards took down Red!” he clenched both of his fists and shut his eyes, “Impossible!” his voice cracked.

“Hey…is Erasa…crying?” the stunned whispers came from the crowd, and Erasa looked around nervously.

“I’m not!” he began to wipe his eyes furiously, “I’m not! I’m not! I’m not!” he began to stamp his feet wildly. Clou laughed began to laugh, along with everyone else watching on. Erasa looked around in fear, he had never felt this before…was it…embarrassment? Shame? “AH!” he charged towards Clou, “No one makes a fool out of me!”

Clou’s face grew serious, and he tightened his fist. But Erasa was coming towards him so slowly, it was strange. Clou glanced at the crowd, their faces seemed to vanish, then reappear in the blink of an eye. Everything had somehow become slow motion.

Clou pulled his fist back, and ran at Erasa, hitting him right in the face. Erasa stumbled back and fell on his back letting out a strange grunt as he hit.

Clou left his fist extended out for a moment, everything was normal once again. As he looked at his fist, he saw blood; Erasa’s blood. Everyone laughed at Erasa who sat on the ground holding his cheek. The tears flowed down his face, and then he began to wail loudly.

Clou looked around as everyone pointed at Erasa laughing, “And to think we feared that guy! Even that runt could take him down!”

Clou turned to see Sin, his eyes were fixated on him. The two stared at each other once again, and Clou was left puzzled once again at this boy.

Crystal threw her arms around Sin who’s concentration was shattered. He jumped up at this emotional outburst from Crystal, “What are you doing! Get off me!”

“I am sorry!”

Everyone’s laughter quieted for a moment, and as they watched Crystal cry holding on to Sin, the voice came, “What are you all doing!” an adult came tearing through the crowd of kids who quickly scattered.

“Principal Wexler…” Clou’s stomach sank, and he thought about running for a moment, but realized there was no point. He sighed, and his head dropped. This day had been terrible.

Wexler looked at the terrified Erasa, and at the unconscious Red, and didn’t know what to make of it. He pointed towards Clou, “You! I should have known! You are always causing me trouble you little brat!”

Clou expected this. He didn’t have a good record with Principal Wexler to say the least.

“You little thorn, come with me NOW!” he grabbed Clou’s ears and began to drag him away.

“Wait, sir, this boy did nothing.” Wexler stopped, but didn’t let go of Clou’s ear.

“Damn old man!” Clou tried to pull away but it was no use. He gave up trying…

“I was the one who was fighting. Not him.” Crystal let go of Sin, and backed away as he stepped forward, “He did nothing.

“Hm…” Wexler was suspicious, and a little disappointed, “Is this true Erasa?” the boy continued to cry, “ERASA!” there was no use, he wouldn’t answer. “Fine then, you come with me!” he let go of Clou and began to walk back towards the school.

Clou rubbed his beat-red ear furiously and stared as Sin followed showing no sign of emotion, “Why would he do that? I wouldn’t have…” Clou shrugged, and was left wondering what next? He turned away and started towards home, he just wanted to put this day behind him.

Crystal watched him go, “Wait!” she came to his side, “Do you know him?”

“Huh?” Clou turned back, he couldn’t remember a time when she had spoken to him before. “You mean do I know Sin?”

“Yeah.”

“I…I don’t know him. Never seen him before in my life.” Clou turned away, and shut his eyes, continuing on towards home. He had always pictured the first time he talked to her to be something different, something special. Not about some other guy.

“Then why did you hit Erasa? You never seemed like that kind of guy…” she came to his side, and he looked towards her. Her eyes seemed to glisten as she looked up at him. He had never seen her like this before. She seemed more alive then normal.

“Huh?! What kind of guy?”

“I don’t know…I guess I mean one of those guys who gets in fights for no reason. I had always pictured you as…care free I guess.”

Clou was confused more then ever. He had never known, or even imagined that anyone thought about him, let alone Crystal. “I was only repaying him for earlier when I was in trouble.”

“What did he do for you!” she became more excited and curious instantly.

Clou remembered why she was talking to him, and the hope he had felt for just a moment was gone, “Listen, I am not in the mood for talking, why don’t you ask him yourself.” he kept walking on.

“But…I wanted to know about you.”

Clou couldn’t believe it, he reopened his eyes and picked his head up, “Me? Why?”

Crystal didn’t speak for a moment, she seemed to be thinking, “Well, I am curious, that’s all. I want to…get to know you. I don’t really know why, does it matter?”

Clou didn’t know what to say, so he decided to answer her question. “This morning. I met him, Sin. I got in trouble with Erasa and his group, and he bailed me out.”

“Is that all?”

“What do you mean is that all? What else did you expect?”

“I was sure you two knew each other. You seemed so much alike.”

“Me?! Like him! No way. That guy is mean and big and crazy!”

“Well, you don’t act alike, I suppose. But when you came from nowhere and hit Erasa…oh, forget it.”

Clou smiled and glanced towards her, “No, I want to hear this one!”

“It is stupid. You’d only laugh.”

“Nothing you said could make me laugh at you.”

Crystal took a deep breath, “What makes you so sure?”

“Well, I don’t have a reason. You are just going to have to trust me if you want to get to know me.”

She stopped, “Turn towards me.” Clou stopped, and even though he didn’t understand the request, he turned. She stared at him in silence, Clou nearly jumped up when he was almost face-to-face with her.

“What?!”

“Nothing…” she looked away, disappointed.

“I thought you were going to trust me.”

She looked back towards him, and gave a small smile, “Your eyes.”

“My eyes?”

“Yes, your eyes. When you hit Erasa, you had the same look as he did today…”

Clou thought back to both times he himself had looked into Sin’s eyes. They were empty, and emotionless. They gave off such a cold feeling. Did Clou really do that to people? “You act so carefree and nice, like now. And he is,” she paused, searching for the right words to describe Sin, “so cold. When I looked at him I didn’t see anything, there was just black.” her voice became low and her eyes narrowed, “But then,” she perked up, and her voice returned to normal, “when Erasa had come into the school this morning, it changed! His eyes had this strange sense to them! It was so weird…it was like he instantly came alive when he saw Erasa touch me. The same thing happened to you when you came from the crowd. You eyes…they had that same look. You seemed so alive!”

Clou didn’t understand a word. “You changed! You both changed…and I felt it.”

She looked up towards Clou, “I know it probably sounds crazy…”

“Yup.”

She was stunned, no one had ever been so straight forward with her before, “But you know what…” he looked into her eyes, “I believe it.”

As Clou and Crystal stared at each other, each lost themselves in the other’s eyes. “The eyes, they are like windows…”

“Windows?”

“Yes, windows to the soul.”

Clou smiled, and looked away, “Maybe.” he continued walking,
but noticed Crystal wasn’t next to him any more. He looked back, but she was gone, “Where…?”

“AH! Boy,” Principal Wexler shouted at Sin, “Your shirt is covered in blood!”

Sin looked down, and remembered his wound, “Um…” he didn’t know how to explain it, “DAMN IT! I can’t blow my cover…” out of desperation Sin grabbed his side and yelled in pain, “It hurts!”

“Jenny!” Wexler’s secretary ran into his office quickly.

“Yes sir!”

“Call an ambulance for this boy immediately!”

Sin sighed, it was going to be a long night.

That night came, and it was long for Sin, but Clou as well. He couldn’t sort out everything that had happened today, no matter how much he tried. It was too much. He didn’t understand Sin, and he didn’t understand Crystal. He didn’t understand why it all happened today, and what had Crystal meant? “I am…nothing like that Sin!” The rain began to fall outside, and he approached the window in his dark room. The weather was fierce.

Meanwhile Sin had just come out of the hospitable as the rain began to fall. “Aw, come on…” he threw his school jacket over his shoulder, and began to walk home. “Damn-it-damn-it-damn-it-damn-it!” he took a deep breath to calm himself down, “DAMN-IT!!” as he screamed, he took notice of a shadow that had flickered briefly in the corner of his eye. He spun around, and saw someone run behind a tree on the path leading away from the hospital parking lot.

Sin threw his jacket to the ground, and turned, “Great, just what I needed! Someone to take my frustration out on!” he clenched his fists and allowed himself to smile, “Come, show yourself!” suddenly some strange force came into his mind, “THE OMI…” his fists loosened as every muscle in his body became weak.

Crystal stepped out from behind the tree, and she began to approach Sin, “STOP RIGHT THERE!” Crystal paused in midair and pulled her leg about as she was about to take another step.

“It is me, Crystal,” she shouted over the rain.

“STAY BACK!” Sin’s eyes became wide, his fists tightened once again.

“I am sorry, I didn’t mean to bother you…I was just wondering how you were. I heard the wound was serious…”

“STAY AWAY FROM ME! GET AWAY, NOW!”

Crystal felt a sharp pain as those words were spoken. Tears flowed to her eyes, “I…I am sorry!” she turned away and ran.

Sin shook his head and closed his eyes, the feeling grew stronger, and his entire body began to shake, “It is near…the Omi Gem…I can sense it!”

Suddenly Clou stumbled away from the window, a strong sense of darkness entered him, and consumed everything, “What…is this…” he felt his eyes close, and his knees gave as he hit the floor.

He reopened his eyes, “Something…” the feeling was controlling his entire body, his stomach ache returned, the same pain he had felt that morning in class returned, “AAAAAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHHHH!” only this time, it spread through his entire body, and he couldn’t imagine any kind of relief.

Sin searched the area, rain drops dripping down his face, “Where?! I must find it!”

“I have to…” Clou tried to stand… “find…”

As both felt the great feeling, their came a scream that wrung in both of their heads, “CRYSTAL!”


Preview: The story has begun. Sin…Clou…and then there is Crystal. Something brings them together, and something will prevent them from losing each other. But with this new found bond, a great evil rises to break it, and take the force that binds them NEXT: The Demon

 

[The Mighty Prince]

“I want to get to know you…to know you both!” Crystal has found Clou and Sin, and something draws her closer. As Clou feels confusion and disbelief; Sin stops her from getting any closer to him…

As the rain came, a girl reaches out, “I heard your wounds…were serious.”

“GET AWAY FROM ME!” but she meets with only anger, and her heart swells…


Chapter 3
The Demon


“Crystal!” Sin felt his strength return, he clenched his fists, and began to sniff the air, “Demon…” he ran towards the direction Crystal had left in.

Clou recognized the voice immediately, and he stood. His entire body began to burn with an incredible energy, the pain slowly turned into a sensation unlike anything he had ever felt. The heat felt good to him; it felt familiar. Clou began to think of the right word to describe his sensation, but nothing came, “Crystal…I can feel her presence…but it is a terrible feeling…” he looked out the window, and looked out into the darkness. “Nothing…”

Sin stopped, the trail had vanished. He began to sniff the air again, but he picked up nothing. “Crystal…” he felt a strange pain, not physically like before. This pain was something he had only felt once, and he had hoped he would never feel it again. He looked up at the turbulent sky; the chaos; the limitlessness, but yet, it was really just empty.

Another scream came from somewhere in the darkness of the nearby park, and Sin hurried without hesitation.

As he ran the trees blew in the fierce wind, and slowly they appeared to be alive. A dark feeling set over the entire area. Everything took a new form as it bathed in this evil, “This demon…he isn’t just powerful, he is unlike anything I have ever faced before. His energy has turned this place into a living…breathing…hell…” Sin felt a strange feeling that seemed to overpower all the others. His mind was clouded of thoughts of just running away, “Is this what fear is?” he smiled slightly as he ran towards the center, the darkest area of the forest came into sight. Everything vanished as it entered.

Sin stepped forward, and what he saw sent chills up his spine, “Not in 57 years of fighting have I ever seen…such a hell…” he began to shake with fear as he took it all in. Small children, animals, grown men, their tortured bodies lie in piles. Some were hung over on large spikes. In the vast darkness Sin saw countless bodies.

“This carnage…could a creature really do this? Even a demon?” Sin felt cold spread through his entire being, and he appeared drained of any feeling. He could only think of the dead, “How they must have been tortured.” most of the bodies were decaying, and the stench nearly caused Sin to vomit. Bodiless limbs were scattered amongst cracked bones and piles of ashes. Then Sin saw a piece of a large, black fang, and he finally realized he was up against neither demon or human. “Could a Zanzibuu truly do this? Could one of my kind be this ruthless?” the fear Sin felt was surpassed by rage and disgust.

Tortured cries rang further in the darkness, and then silence. Sin continued further, his fist tightened further and further until blood oozed between his tight fingers and into the ground.

As he went on, what he saw only became worse. Countless bodies lined the road, a large spikes came from one of the large piles, guts hanging from the opened chest like string. The small, headless body of a child lie flattened on the path. Sin for a moment could hear the cries of the child as it murdered ruthlessly at the entertainment of some beast. He took a deep breath, and continued on.

Ahead there were more screams, and Sin let his eyes fall out of focus as he took in the sight of the gigantic beast that stood before him, hunched over, gnawing on bear bones of a human who had been devoured in seconds.

It glanced back towards him, its eye dark, furry red. It turned towards Sin, and rain began to pour down upon them from the empty sky. The creature threw the bone that appeared to be a toothpick in its large, blood-drenched hand.

Sin scanned the area and noticed that he was in a circular dome, lined with bodies, some completely decayed, and others that still moved. They were like some kind of large collage the creature had put together. Sin heard a light, wheezing sound, and he turned back to see a boy that looked as though he were Clou’s age. He extended his hand out towards Sin, his bones tearing through his skin that was brown. A force was keeping him alive so he could experience more pain. He couldn’t even bleed anymore, it had all left him. His skin sagged over his bones, one eye hung down by a pink cord, and the other was dry. “Hhheeeeeeellllpppp…” he struggled to speak, pleading with Sin to save him, to let him out of this nightmarish world. The sight tore through Sin worse then any knife could. The anguish began to eat away at him, and he felt his eyes water. He turned away, unable to bear the sight any longer.

His head was low as the creature fully turned towards him, victims waiting below to join the collage. A young girl stood by his leg, her eyes tiny, and black. She wore only a long shirt that went down to her feet, her entire body covered in dirt. There were others, countless others staring at Sin with their sickly, pale faces.

Sin looked into the red eyes of the beast, and saw nothing behind them. He then took notice of Crystal’s head dangling out of his left hand. She seemed unharmed for now.

Neither the beast nor Sin spoke, they only gazed at each other, trying to gain a complete understanding of one another. “It is so…large…his black, leathery skin is certainly strong…my blade may not be enough to cut through him! And his muscles…he is terribly strong, but certainly fast. I saw the outline of wings…” Sin was breathing heavy, his words were low, “he has no weakness. He…is the strongest demon I have ever faced!”

“Demon?” it’s jaw moved, revealing large, wet teeth. A drop of saliva fell to the ground, and there was a high screech, the sound of a human sole screaming out for relief. “I am no demon. I…” the creature’s voice was low, and deep. But there seemed to be a shadow voice beneath it, one that seemed to be that of a child’s. “am a god!” the words echoed through the dome, and the souls screamed with it.

Sin was frozen for a moment, and then he spoke, “I don’t care what you are. God, demon, Zanzibuu; it makes no difference to me. You are just a lowly beast with no right to live. I will make you suffer like you have to these creatures. I will make you cry out in pain at any cost!”

The creature’s eyes grew slightly larger, “You talk boldly,” its eyes seemed to go straight through Sin, “but I can see you shaking. You are no more then a mere a boy to me in power. Do you know where you are boy?” the beast paused, its eyes narrowed, “You…are…in…my…HELL!” everything shook violently as the creature screamed.

Sin stared back, and he knew he could not win against creature. He tried to sense its enormous power, and identify what it was. But he found no trace of demon, human, or Zanzibuu. Could it really be a god? Or maybe, it was something else. Mabye…this creature was a devil. Something worse then a demon, something more evil, something more powerful than even a god.

“Boy…take a good look around. You will find no better sight then the squirming humans as they plead for their lives. You will find nothing more calming to your soul then their death. I know you are a Zanzibuu, join me in their suffering. Realize what you truly are!”

“You are…wrong. I know what I am. And I know…and you know…that fear means nothing to me. I will fight no matter how terrified I may be of you. I will continue to fight until you tear my fuckin arms, legs, and head off.” Sin threw his arm up and began to charge the beast. A large, black sword appeared in his hand, and he swung full force at the demon. His blade struck, and sliced its left arm clean off. Sin stumbled forward as blood spilled from the beast.

It showed no emotion as it stepped back, and glared at Sin. He looked down towards Crystal, “Do you think the girl is safe now? I can crush her at any time.”

Sin looked at him enraged, “But I shall not. I need this girl, just as you do.”

The arm lying on the ground suddenly became steam, and it lifted into the air, “We will meet again, and hopefully you will have more power by then, boy.” the steam hovered around the beast for a moment, and its arm took shape. Suddenly its wings extended out, and with one mighty flap it lifted into the air, “But remember this! The Omi is a terrible force! Its bloodlust is unquenchable, and it will kill everything…INCLUDING YOU!”

It continued into the air, and slowly the horrible sights around them began to vanish. The darkness was gone.

Preview: Clou struggles to understand what is changing, but he finds a great emptiness as he searches for answers, he is alone. We must all make the decision in our life at some point. Do we give up on our dreams, or do we struggle against impossible odds? NEXT: Confused Souls

 

[Blackjack Gabbiani]

Interesting. I like the descriptions

 

[The Mighty Prince]

“Even I…after 57 years…all of those years of fighting, and even I can not handle this hell…this is truly…a dark beast!” Sin picked his blade up, and charged the large demon. In one clean strike he removed its arm, Crystal fell from its bloody grip.

“I shall leave you now, but head my warning boy! The Omi is a terrible force that destroys all in its path, INCLUDING YOU! ITS BLOODLUST IS UNQUENCHABLE!”

The darkness pulled away, and Sin found himself back in the park. “The Omi…”


Chapter 4
Confused Souls


Sin looked down towards Crystal who lay unconscious, completely unaware of what she had been apart of. But as he looked at her, he thought back to what the beast had said about needing her. And then there was the Omi. He had sensed its great power source, it had been so strong. Now there was nothing. Just Crystal, and the darkness of the night.

He bent down beside her, and stared down. He felt new feelings inside of him; terribly strong feelings that he could barely control. Her cry had caused all thoughts of the pain to be pushed aside. There seemed to be some outside force controlling him as he chased after her scream, something he could not explain.

“The Omi Gem.” He looked down at her, and understood the strong feelings. He had felt them before, they were unmistakable. It was like a double-edged sword. One sides blow could bring happiness, but this was only temporary. For the other side always strikes sometime, and with it comes a dark wound that never heals.

Sin’s eyes narrowed, and his face formed to show disgust. He rose, and turned his back towards her.

Clou felt the pain reside, and he fell back on his bead. A drop of sweat trickled down his face and touched his lips. The intense pain was gone through his physical form, but the memory burned in his mind. He closed his eyes, and the good feelings came back. As they did so, a dark figure began to appear, and to take shape.

What Clou saw only confused him further. It was Crystal, her eyes were big, and she had a wide smile. Clou felt happiness at the sight. But beside her, a new figure began to form; one not so pleasant.

Yet, slowly it took Crystal’s figure, but there was something much different. Her eyes were narrow, and lifeless. Her big, blue eyes were replaced with small black dots that sent cold chills down Clou’s spine. Her skin became pale, and she had no smile. Only a emotionless look of sorrow.

“What…” Clou began to shake. The image terrified him. Never before had he seen Crystal appear like this. She had always seemed so energetic and happy, and she always brought good feelings. “What is this…?”

“Clou,” the happy image spoke, and Clou’s eyes shifted, he felt the warmth again. Her hand extended out towards Clou. He in return reached out, but his hand was grabbed by the cold, emotionless Crystal.

“Clou,” she spoke, and smiled. But this smile was lifeless; and fake. “do you really except this?”

Clou opened his mouth to speak, but nothing came out.

“Do you except me? The whole me? Or…” the happy Crystal pulled back, “do you wish to live with the lie?”

Clou for the first time felt this Crystal’s touch, and he was terrified. He was terrified because he understood this terrible version of her. He knew that this was not a lie, that this was the truth. He shook his head furiously from side-to-side.

“Then…I must go, Clou. Maybe, someday it can be.”

Clou felt tears come to his eyes, and he opened them quickly. He shot up, and felt his stomach move in and out frantically. “It…was just a dream!” he looked down at the hand that had touched her, and for a moment he felt the cold embrace once again; then it slipped away.

He touched his eye, and felt the warm tears fall down his face. He tried to picture Crystal again, but his mind could only draw images of the cold and emotionless form. “Could it be…that…” he shut his eyes again, and shook the thoughts away.

The next morning Clou woke to the beeping of his alarm clock, but he didn’t get up. Unlike the morning before, though, he wasn’t tired. This morning Clou felt…empty. His eyes stared up lifelessly. He did not feel like himself. This morning he felt many things, all of them new, and terrifying. There was no hope in this day.

He stood, and went to the bathroom. His mother had already left for the day. He had not seen her at all last night. He only came home to a note telling him she would be late, and that there were leftovers in the fridge.

He rubbed his forehead with the palm of his hand and looked into the mirror. He looked dead he decided quickly. His face was pale. He knew he could get away with staying home today, but something; he had no idea what; told him to go. Something would happen today, something that he needed to happen.

He walked to school, his head down, not a thought in his head. He thought back to the pain, and it was a strong memory. Then he reached inside for the good once again, and it wasn’t good this time. Physically he recalled it had felt nice, but at the same time, it could not bring away this dark feeling in him.

He saw the school ahead as he passed by the alley. He remembered yesterday’s hope, and smiled; but it was a fake smile, there was no happiness behind it.

Clou sorted through his feelings, and one realization came to him; he had never touched Crystal, he had never actually met her. Sure, he had seen her everyday, he had even had the talk the day before. But, he did not know her. His feelings in the end were a lie, only a falsehood which his mind had created. There was no way she could possibly live up to his expectations of her. She could not always be happy. The one thing he thought he could always depend on, was a lie. That smile; it was fake.

As he came to the school, he heard the commotion of the other children. Clou felt so distant from them. So much had changed in one day. He felt so heavy with burden. He was weighted down by these feelings, and he was miserable.

He took his seat in the classroom, and put his head down. “Hi!” he heard a cheerful voice chirp beside him.

He looked up, and saw his friend, Asher. He smiled, and Clou felt a little of the weight lifted. His friend, he was truly happy, Clou knew this. He sat down beside Clou, and looked at him, “What’s wrong with you? You sick?”

“No. I’m just…tired.”

His friend could sense he was lying. Clou was always tired, every morning he was tired. This was not him tired. “Whatever. If that is all you want to say then I won’t push.” the teacher entered the room, and sat down with a newspaper. Everyone quieted and watched for a moment, but he had nothing to say.

“So,” Asher looked back towards Clou, “the dance is tonight.”

“I know.”

“She isn’t going with anybody I hear. Everyone is talking about it, surely you know-”

“I do. So what?”

“So why don’t you ask her?”

Clou smiled. That had always been his dream, to go anywhere with her would have been perfect. But now, that wasn’t what he wanted. Now, he wanted to get to know her. Now he knew that there was something he didn’t understand about her, that mysteriousness, he had to know. This was his chance.

He looked towards Asher, “Yesterday-” he stopped, he wanted to tell his friend how he had spoken to her, but something told him not to.

“Yeah, I wasn’t here. My brother and I went up to the amusement park, it was a blast!”

“Cool.”

“We came to your house, but you didn’t answer.”

“I didn’t hear anyone come. What time?”

“Around 7:30.” Clou thought, he was only on the couch. Surely he would have heard the knocking. If he had, none of these feelings would be with him. He thought for a moment. He had dozed off hundreds of times, and had always heard the door. But yesterday, he didn’t for some reason.

“Too bad…” he put his head back down.

The door to the class opened again, and Sin came in. Clou picked his head up and stared at him. He is the reason, the reason everything is like this Clou thought. I never had dark thoughts like these before I saw him! His eyes narrowed, and he tightened his fist, something Clou had never done unless he was attacked. But Sin, Sin angered him. Clou felt hatred, an inense burning hatred that spread throughout his entire body.

He glanced around the room for a moment, and saw an empty seat that was in the middle, directly next to Crystal. Sin’s eyes became large as he searched the rest of the room, but there wasn’t a seat left. He began to make his way through the crowd that gathered around her every morning, listening to her talk.

Everyone watched him, their jaws nearly hanging down. “The guy who beat up Erasa…how can he be hear after getting stabbed!”

Asher watched him as well, “Who’s the new guy? Everyone seems to be fascinated with him. He come yesterday?” he waited for a moment, but didn’t get an answer from Clou. “Hey-” he looked towards his friend. Clou’s gaze was locked onto Sin, his eyes were narrow, and his nose had a strange, new wrinkle above it as he scrunched it up. Asher looked at his fist under the desk, it was tight and red. “Clou…” he whispered softly. He had never seen his friend angry like this.

Sin sat down next to Crystal, and put his head down in embarrassment as everyone became silent, and stared at him. Crystal looked towards everyone, and realized how uncomfortable he was. She understood. She felt the same way every morning as everyone made such a fuss over her. She hated talking. She moved around every morning, hoping to throw those who tried to sit near her every morning but arrived first off.

“Um,” she tried to think of a topic. At the very sound of her voice they turned away, “who’s going to the dance tonight?” Everyone began to speak at once.

Sin glanced towards her, and he wanted to feel hatred. She had seemed like everything about people he resented. Completely ignorant, worrying about no one but herself and her petty problems. But he couldn’t feel this way towards her. She wasn’t like this. He saw her face blush when everyone stared at her, and knew she didn’t fit in. He knew she was different.

She saw him staring, and smiled back towards him. He nearly jumped up at the sight. He put his head back down, and tried to forget it all.

The day continued to pass at the same, slow, boring pace as every other day, and lunch finally came. Everyone raced into the cafeteria, beginning conversations before they sat down.

Clou didn’t feel like going to the cafeteria today, he and Asher decided to go outside. Each sat at opposite ends of a large tree. Clou felt his happiness return. He forgot about Crystal, and Sin. He was just a carefree kid talking to his friend again.

“What else did you do yesterday?” he asked with his eyes closed, allowing the small gust of wind to sweep by his face.

“Well, we were there at the park pretty late. They had this concert at around nine, but when it started to rain-“ Clou was suddenly bombarded with the terrible memories from the night before, and he placed his hand on his stomach, at the thought of the pain. His friend continued, and he shook it off, “-we just went home. So, what about that new guy? Everyone seemed to pay a lot of attention to’em.”

“Sin?” Clou sighed, “Everyone is just so amazed he beat up Erasa and his big goon of a brother.”

“WHAT?!” Asher laughed at the pleasant surprise, “That is amazing. That guy must be something special…”

Clou thought about bringing up the morning before, when Sin had saved Clou, but he knew if he even began talking of that he would end up spilling all of his confused emotions. He wasn’t sure if he could explain that to his friend, not yet at least. Clou smiled for a moment, he just noticed that he had never hid anything from Asher before. The idea of having to was strange.

But Asher knew more then Clou had thought. He knew there was something he wasn’t being told. Something big; something that was eating away at his friend. He wanted to ask, but he hesitated. If Clou was keeping it from him, it had to have been something very personal. But then he also noticed the anguish he saw on his friend today, and he knew one thing; he could not handle knowing his friend was in pain and that he could help.

“Clou,” he waited for an answer.

“Yeah?”

“This morning…when that Sin guy came in to class, you seemed to get,” Asher paused for a moment, searching for the right word. “tense. I don’t think…I’ve EVER seen you get like that.”

Clou wasn’t surprised his friend had noticed, he couldn’t hide his feelings from him. He could read Clou like a book. “I guess I should have told you. Yesterday morning, I ran into Erasa, and the other two. Sin…he helped me out. He beat Erasa, Hio, and Nuze like they were nothing!” Clou stopped, and really didn’t know how he was going to explain everything. “But, later…Crystal after the fight came to me. She started to talk to me-”

“WO! Crystal was talking to you! That is major! By the way you looked I thought something terrible had…” Asher stopped himself. He realized he was way off.

“but she only asked about him.”

Asher now understood why his friend would get ‘tense’ because of this guy. He had a crush on Crystal for as long as he knew him. He smiled for a moment, and slumped down further, “I…am sorry.”

Clou felt the hurt return. He shut his eyes, and tears began to flow. The conversation played through his mind again, and as it did, he remembered something. Crystal said something, “I want to get to know you,” he whispered to himself. His eyes shot open.

“What did you say?” Asher asked.

“Nothing, I have to go,” Clou jumped up, and began to go towards the door. Asher stood and followed.

“Finally. I was beginning to think he would never build up the nerve to talk to her. Can’t believe I wasn’t there yesterday of all days…when my friend needed me the most!”

Sin, meanwhile, continued to feel as an outsider. He sat in the corner table alone. He didn’t mind being alone, he enjoyed it. He sat back, and for the first time since he had arrived the day before, he remembered what he was here for. He shut his eyes, and began to focus, “This is my best opportunity!” he whispered to himself.

He put his hands together under the table. His thoughts cleared, and he felt everyone flow through him. He could sense every ounce of energy in the room flow through him, and he scanned it. It was normal energy, until he felt something overwhelming. A great force came into him, and broke his focus. His eyes shot open, and he saw Crystal standing above him.

“Hi,” she said cheerfully. “Do you mind if I sit down?” there was no answer. Sin stared up towards her questioningly. Eventually he shrugged, ending the awkward moment, and closed his eyes once again, trying to regain his focus.

She took a seat, and stared at Sin. He paid no attention to her. She glanced back nervously and saw her friends giggle and turn away.

Sin found it impossible to regain his focus, he opened his eyes and became frustrated. “Is there a reason you are bothering me all the time!?”

Crystal looked stunned, and hurt. “Well-”

“Well what?”

Crystal looked at him, her eyes were small, and she appeared as though she would cry.

Sin felt guilty at the sight, and sighed, “I’m sorry for acting so cruelly last night.”

“Oh, no! I am sorry! If it weren’t for me, then Red wouldn’t have attacked you…”

“What? He would have come after me whether you were involved or not. You have no reason for feeling guilty. I am fine, anyway.”

Crystal felt better, and more relaxed now that he seemed to be talking with her. “I wanted to ask you to the dance tonight.”

She waited for an answer, but he just stared at her. She felt a great anxiety, never before had anyone hesitated like this. No boy had ever turned away from her. “Look,” Sin paused, searching for the right words, “Crystal, I am sorry, but no.”

Crystal opened her mouth, but there were no words. Hurt and embarrassment swelled up inside of her. She couldn’t speak, she couldn’t deal with this kind of pain. She only knew right now that she had to get away. She jumped up and ran out of the room. Everyone turned to her as she passed sobbing.

Sin’s eyes grew, and he was stunned, “Damn it…why me…I am too old to be playing these games with some delusional child!” he took a deep breath, and began to stand.

As he did so he found himself confronted by a pack of boys who had witnessed what happened, “What’s your problem!” a boy with blond hair shouted at him, “Who do you think you are?”

Sin glared at him, and then smiled, and stepped forward. The boys did not move. The blond boy shoved Sin, but he didn’t budge. “AH!” he swung, but Sin caught his fist with one hand, and slowly pushed it back. The boy’s eyes became wide with fear as he felt a sharp pain shoot through his arm. He shouted as he was thrown backwards. He lay flat on his back, while the others looked down at him.

He sat up, and stared at Sin with an unbelievable fear. Sin walked through them, the others frozen with fear. Suddenly a fist hit him in the back of the head. Sin turned, and saw another boy shaking, his fist extended out. Sin glared at him for a moment, and the boy wanted to run, but he couldn’t. “Do it again, and I will hurt you.” The boy gritted his teeth and swung.

The others cheered on as he hit Sin right in the face, but as he pulled his hand away, they saw he had not harmed Sin. He took a deep breath and punched the boy in the stomach. He fell to the ground, and gasped for air, then began to cough violently. Small strings of blood shot out of his mouth. Sin turned away and moved for the door. Everyone glared at him with hatred.

This girl as a very strong hold over them. They seem to all care. Does she not have one enemy?

As Crystal had run outside, she bumped into Clou who had been on his way back in. Clou stumbled back, but caught his balance, but Crystal fell. Clou looked down, and was surprised to see Crystal. He stuck his hand out, and remembered the dark pain of last night. She looked up, her big blue eyes watery, and filled with pain.

Clou knew that if this were yesterday, he would have been filled with rage. But something was different now. He saw Crystal as a normal person. He saw her faults as well as her great beauty. He knew how sweet she could be, and yet, he knew there were times where she was not nice, where she had been cruel.

She grabbed his hand, and Clou froze, the feeling was familiar. He wanted to let go, but as he looked down, he saw the warm Crystal who he had spoken with the day before, and pulled her up. He quickly let go of her hand, and looked away.

Asher stared at Clou and smiled, taking the strange expression on Clou’s face for nervousness. “Are you alright?” he asked Crystal, but she wasn’t paying attention. She only could look at the strange expression on Clou’s face.

“What’s wrong?” she forgot her own pain, and was only thinking of Clou.

“Huh?” he looked up surprised, “Uh, nothing!” he said without hesitation. He shook the strange feelings away, and he stared into her eyes. He remembered only her beauty, and became lost for a moment like he did when he stared into them the day before. “You seem upset,” he noticed the tears in the corner of her eye.

She glanced towards Asher for a moment, and he smiled, “I have to get inside, maybe I can still get something to eat.”

Clou and Crystal began to walk once again side-by-side, neither speaking. Both sensed the others uneasiness, “Yesterday, you said something I didn’t understand. You wanted to get to know me…and Sin.”

“Yes,” she looked back to yesterday, and remembered everything, but she could not thing of anything that had happened after she confronted Sin. Not one moment after that, only walking home alone after the rain had stopped.

“Well, if that is true, then I would like to know if…” he looked towards her, “you want to go with me to…the dance tonight. If you are already going with someone then…”

“Yes, I am.” she answered quickly, and looked back towards him.

“Oh,” Clou turned away to hide the tears that came to his eyes. He couldn’t believe he had actually done this. He knew she didn’t care for him in any way. He could only think that she had wanted to learn about Sin, and it was all fake!

Clou’s sadness shifted, and began to turn into a fierce hatred; hatred for Sin. He felt his muscles tighten, and for the first time in his life, he craved to fight. He wanted to cause him pain so badly. He could only think about how he just came from nowhere, and the girl he had dreamt about for so long already cared for him so deeply.

He turned towards the door, “Clou, wait!” Crystal put her hand on his shoulder, but he pulled away, and continued on. “Wait…” she felt tears rush forward again, and couldn’t believe what she had done.

Clou threw the doors open, and out from the cafeteria came Sin. What is this strange gaze on me? He turned and saw Clou standing at the door, his fist tightened, and his eyes gleaming with hate. This cold stare…does it really come from that boy from yesterday? Sin turned towards Clou, he could sense a power building within the boy, a power so similar to his own. The two were locked in a gaze of hate and anger. “Could it be…is this…child really…can he possibly come from my race?!”

Preview: The two boys confront each other for the first time, and a terrible storm rages inside of them. Destiny has guided them towards each other in a cruel way, and even though they are pitted against each other, the hatred is gone. A monster appears in the shadows as they clash in an empty battle. If they continue fighting each other, both will die at the hands of this terrible beast NEXT: The Dance