A while before Kiara and Evander made it to Kiara's house. The Hero jumps and climbs over the building rooftops, his cloak swaying from the intense high winds. His body is a blur, cutting through the night sky with a fury. Once he reaches close enough to his location, he raises his hand into a hand sign. The wind swirls around him like a mini tornado with leaves and dirt spiraling out of control as the air whipped and cracked.
In an inconspicuous room, the air distorts and bends around causing many decorations standing on the tables to fall and crash onto the floor. The hero appears into the room, his body slightly distorted as he teleports. An after image of the swirling air forms as his body flickers into existence. He stumbles and trips on his footing as his vision starts to focus.
The dim room's silence is broken by a familiar voice.
"Took you long enough," the master says disinterested, his head laying on his arm while his legs are crossed together on a wooden table. His once holy ceremonial robe is replaced with a simple 2 piece black suit and his face is veiled by the shadows engulfing the room.
"What happened to the talisman?" the master questions, his crossed foot fidgets and moves anxiously awaiting for the Hero's answer. The Hero gives a long deep sigh as he places the crystal orb containing Evander's spiritual energy into the master's hand.
The master lifts the orb up into the air examining its content. The deep red and black swirly mist-like energy swirls and circulates inside the crystal orb at a slow but steady pace.
"A powerful energy…yet it's surprisingly small," the master lowers his hand, staring directly towards the Hero. His thoughts were shrouded by the dim light.
"I was busy absorbing the energy of the talisman yet this warden girl came out of nowhere and got transported with me to the Crimson PineGlade," the Hero utters, his tone frustrated and angry. "She kept distracting and fighting me. The worst part is that she stabbed the talisman freeing the Ascendant. That's how much I was able to absorb before that happened."
The master stares in silence unamused by the whole situation. Still the small amount of energy the Hero was able to steal is still sufficient enough to continue his plans.
"Are you familiar with a distortion zone?" the master raises his head, his facial features veiled by the dim light shining in the room.
"I do not," the Hero bows his head in respect, placing one hand in front of his chest with the other behind his back.
"In the ancient war, distortion zones were a rare yet powerful phenomenon where spiritual and natural energy collided with each other," the master paces around the Hero, his steps tracing a slow circle around him, "A similar way hurricanes and tropical storms are made with cool and warm air. This energy creates a dome shape of pure spiritual energy into the world."
"Why are you asking me this?" The Hero lifts his head, standing tall and definitely. The master shifts his gaze to the Hero, his long coat swaying like a seaweed floating on a dead ocean. He examines the crystal orb of Evander's spiritual energy in his hand, his fingers fidgeting and twirling with it.
"It's time we bring distortion zones back into the world," the master declares, his light tone hiding a sense of maliciousness. "This state is a goldmine of pure spiritual and natural energy–perfect fuel. The wardens would have to intervene to handle the threat. If the Ascendant insists on hiding…then we'll give him something he can't ignore.
The master walks over to a sterilized table with scientific and supernatural instruments scattered across the surface. He places the orb on a metal stand, slowly cracking it, releasing a small amount of Evander's spiritual energy into 4 runes. The small rocks with inscribed symbols glow a deep purple color, shaking violently as it comes in contact with the Ascendant's energy.
Picking up one of the runes, the master stares at it with a childlike astonishment. Turning around, he drops the rune into the Hero's gloved hand.
"Place it somewhere not too far from the city. We need leverage over the wardens to get them to react quickly," the master instructs, placing his hands firmly on the Hero's shoulder. His voice dips into a gleeful hush. "The countdown begins, once you infuse your own energy into it. Not too soon, not too late. Give it…a couple days for it to bloom like a little butterfly."
A sense of unease builds in the room one over another. Tightening his grip on the Hero's shoulder, the master guides him out to the exit. Their steps eerily in unison as they walk forward together.
"You set up the distortion zone and I'll handle the rest," the master's voice is calm and warm, the presence felt similar to that of a gentle parent–yet no comfort to his words.
The soft hiss of lab doors close behind them signaling a shift in the atmosphere around them. There is now an unseen ticking time bomb placed in the bustling world outside. They are unaware of the dark plans unfolding underneath the surface.
Hours passed as the mundane life of the civilians resumed. The school bell rings with its usual blare, signalling everyone that it's passing period. The bright orange light from the sun streamed through the windows as students started to leave advisory like swarms of ants.
Kiara's sneakers skid across the polished tiles as she moves through the busy school hallways. Her mind flickers to what happened yesterday with her and Evander. She tries to push it away but a gnawing feeling claws in her stomach. She's late for class and she doesn't want to have another run-in with the principal.
The walls are packed with students trying to find their next classes, some talking to their friends while others are just trying to cause as much chaos as they can for the staff. A few students sneak glances at their phones before quickly hiding them when they see the vice principal's sharp gaze.
"Get to your class everyone," one of the staff ladies passes through the crowd, telling everyone to walk by less standing and more moving.
"Hey you better pull up your pants," the old science teacher yells out furiously, his voice rough and booming, pointing at a certain student, "That's called gang activity. This is school, not prison. You don't want to know what happens to those that sag."
The student tenses up. Without missing a beat, he yanks his pants up. Kiara and her friends laugh at the scenario as they walk to the science teacher's classroom. The teacher happily greets with a big grin on his face like nothing has happened to his students walking by.
Chemistry. The only class Kiara is in that is the least boring mainly because she gets to blow things up in his class. A sharp tang of chemicals mixed with a faint burnt scent of something the teacher likely burned earlier that day fills the room.
Inside, Kiara picks up the test tube examining the color of the acid. Her partner writes down observations of the different colors in the test rack. The scratch of the pencil contrasts the sound of clinking glassware in the background.
"Ahh. I got a bit of acid on me," a sheepish girl yells out, seeing the droplets of hydrochloric acid on her hand. The science teacher rolls his eyes, grabs the girl's arm, and puts it under the sink.
"Calm down, it's diluted. Wash it off and you'll live," the teacher says with annoyance, drying his hand with the washcloth. "Save that drama for theater class."Kiara and her friends laugh at how their teacher has no filter and just says what he wants.
Kiara picks up one of the test tubes. It's split in half with one side being a dark purple and the other being a bright turquoise-green. Her partner stares in confusion, not knowing if it's supposed to do that.
"Hey Nina" Kiara yells out to her friend from the other side of the class. "Does yours look like this?"
Nina just stares dumbfounded, shaking her head so fast that it looks like a blur. Many of her classmates start asking if Kiara has shaken the test tube to mix the acid and the ingredients. Kiara lies under her breath that she did shake the tube up when actually she barely shaken it.
"Shake it up. You got to better mix it," the teacher yells out, looking over his emails. Kiara shakes the tube softly instead of shaking it violently like a protein shake. The teacher rolls his eyes, getting up from his large chair.
He gently takes the tube and aggressively shakes the tube. After the liquid base changes color, he politely gives it back to Kiara. He suddenly psyches her out by yelling in front of her, "THAT'S how you shake it. Everyone get back to work."
The rest of the lab assignment went smoothly after that until Kiara's partner accidentally sprayed the group on the other side of the table. They all got carried away with washing the test tubes and started play-fighting over the water. The paper assignment and the table's surface got soaked by many droplets and puddles of water.
I wonder what Evander is doing back at home, Kiara thinks to herself, wiping down the table as her partner picks up the soaked lab paper. The teacher is busy scolding another student for not wearing his apron to even care about the mess that Kiara and her partner made.
Meanwhile, back at Kiara's house, Edward is busy teaching Evander the basics of home-life essentials. Edward leans against the tabletop counter while instructing Evander on how to use a microwave. Evander glances at Edward, the old man's gaze analyzing his every decision.
"How do you not know how to use a microwave Evander? Where do you live?" Edward questions, pointing to the buttons to the side of the microwave, "Press the minute timer. Hit start then you get warm food."
Evander turns his head towards Edward. The faint hum of the fridge and the ticking of the wall clock break the silence between them.
"I was a…a warden…in the area where the Roman Empire used to exist," Evander smacks his lips, lying under his teeth as he puts the bowl of food in the microwave.
It ain't all wrong. Evander reminisces, looking over the buttons he needs to press, The Roman Empire was a pretty good place to hide from the wardens before being sealed.
"So you were an Italian warden right?" Edward raises his eyebrow, crossing his arms together. Evander just nods his head awkwardly- agreeing with Edward, before pressing the start button. Edward chuckles to himself before noticing something strange through the microwave. Sparks start forming around the bowl almost as if something metal is being cooked right now.
"Did you remove the spoon, Evander?" Edward's eyes widen with horror, and his mouth is wide open as he sees fire ignite in the cooking device.
"What spoon?" Evander blinks.
A burst of flames erupts inside the microwave with a big pop. The interior lights up like it's New Year's Eve in hell. The appliance starts to rumble and shake like it is under an earthquake.
Evander points at the appliance, dumbfounded. He gives the most slow and uncertain head turn imaginable.
"Is that supposed to happen–" Evander says before the microwave explodes right next to him. The door flung open violently, sending superheated soup rocketed towards Evander and Edward. Sparks fly out like dancing fireflies. Evander's body is flung to the oven countertop like a rag doll, the corner smacking right next to his ribs. He slowly slides down to the floor like he lost in a video game due to the pain surging from his side.
Kiara felt something stub the side of her body. She rubs her hand around her ribs trying to alleviate some of the pain. What is Evander doing right now? Her mind races trying to come up with a plausible answer. Biting down on her tongue, Kiara fights through the pain as she finishes cleaning up for the end of class.
The shared-pain thing is kind of not fun.
The microwave's door is hanging on just a hinge. A thick black layer of smoke is billowing out of the exploded inside. The rotating plate is cracked as the faint beeping of the microwave is still working.
Later that day.
Evander is sitting on the couch with a bag of frozen peas taped to his side. Edward paces around the room like a disappointed dad who just saw his kid crash his prized car into a ditch.
"Do you understand what you've done?" Evander says disappointed, with a deadpan look. His arms are crossed as he stares at Evander. "You have destroyed my prized microwave. It outlasted 4 different presidents."
"Kiara wanted you to teach me how to use common appliances," Evander says innocently, shrugging his shoulders while not looking at Edward. "I thought the fire was how microwaves usually work."
"I have seen Elusives done less damage than you and you've been here for barely a day," Evander pinches the bridge of his nose. "You have turned my beautiful microwave into a Weapon of Mass Destruction."
"That sounds awesome," Evander's eyes light up like a puppy when given a large bone. Edward gives a long exhale, as he shakes his head in disappointment.
The front door opens with a loud thud. Kiara walks in, carrying her school bag on her shoulder before slowly dropping it on the floor. Edward and Evander both look on as Kiara makes her way to the living room.
"Evander, you wouldn't believe what my annoying geometry teacher ranted about," Kiara slowly lowered her gaze back to the awkward situation in front of her. "Is this a bad time?"
"My microwave–my precious microwave– is now scrap metal because of this man," Edward rubs his forehead in disbelief. Kiara raises her eyebrow and looks over at the microwave or what's left of it. Scorch marks creep across the counter as smoke still rises from the interior.
That explains why I felt a sharp pain during Chemistry, Kiara stifles a laugh, shaking her head at the absurdity of the situation. Edward gives off a deep sigh.
"Kiara…Evander is not making this easy. He's supposed to stay for a couple weeks but after starting a war in my kitchen. I might have to cut things short," Edward rubs his forehead, his stern expression softening as he sees Kiara's reaction. "I don't want to throw him out because he seems important to you but I don't know why. You have to prove to me that he's not going to make any more disasters in my house. Show me that he is capable enough to live here."
"You got it," Kiara hugs her grandpa before walking up to her room. She gives one last look at the charred remains of Edward's precious microwave. Evander stands up slowly, wincing at the pain on his side. Kiara rubs on the same side as Evander, still not used to the shared pain aspect of their link.
"Oh wait. Can you please punish Evander with one of your messed up movies?" Edward yells from the kitchen, trying to clean up everything with his supplies.
You're not walking away unscathed, Evander. You broke my microwave and now you get to feel real consequences, Edward thinks to himself. His eyes narrow just slightly–not in anger but mild amusement. The corners of his lips twitch, threatening a smirk, though it doesn't fully appear.
"You got it, Grandpa," Kiara's voice echoes above Edward. Chuckling to himself, Edward chuckles to himself like a mad genius who is about to get his revenge. The feeling quickly leaves Edward as the silence of the house creeps in.
As Edward unplugs the charred remains of the kitchen appliance, his thoughts briefly shift.
Am I being too harsh, Edward's thoughts linger like a cloud in his mind, It's just a microwave after all. To subject Evander to whatever messed up movie collection Kiara has in stock is just…
The smell of scorched metal fills the air. The machine's interior is covered in soot- blackened walls, cracked turntable and the door dangling on a single hatch.
Wait a minute. This man–this man…I'm not being too harsh, Edward stands straighter, his brow furrowing in recognition, He deserves the full punishment. He literally nuked it. You know he should see the full trilogy. Yeah, now that's a real punishment. For my precious microwave.
As the evening wore on, the house fell into a silent hush. The sky turned from a burnt orange to an indigo color stretching across the dusk. The chaos of the day, mostly left behind except for the faint smell of smoke. The refrigerator gives a soft hum- the only thing that survived the warfare that happened earlier.
Evander looks wearily on the comfy couch as Kiara scurries through the box of movies to show Evander.
"Since you've never seen movies since you know being locked in a talisman for what- 1000 years ago I think," Kiara says with an enthusiastic tone picking out a certain dvd disk, "It's time for you to see what humans can make with a camera and a bit of imagination."
"What's a camera? What's a movie?" Evander questions himself, picking up a few pieces of popcorn into his mouth as he speaks.
"It's kind of like a play of some sorts," Kiara says, sliding the disc into the DVD player, "You are going to love this movie."
"Okay, what kind of movie or play is this?" Evander rolls his eyes waiting for the movie to start playing. Kiara looks directly at Evander, a mischievous grin wide on her face.
"It's called body horror," Kiara says enthusiastically, her body swaying back and forth from anticipation.
"Body what now?" Evander questions as the movie begins.
After an hour into the movie, Evander hides behind his blanket as he watches the surgeon finish sowing up his victims into his creation. The camera moves back to reveal the whole thing of unconscious human bodies connected to one another like a big chain.
The characters start to wake up confused and ultimately scared of what just happened to them. Kiara just looks on with a mischievous grin on her face laughing at the whole ordeal, "Look at how scared she is Evander." Kiara's laughs echo in the living room as Evander just looks at her with a concerned look on his face.
One of the character's head shakes in a terrified motion as the people that he is connected to move in synchronised motions with each other. The noise of their panicked screams echo in their tiny confinement as the mad surgeon laughs madly to himself from the shadow, his face contorting evilly.
"You find this funny?" Evander whispers almost as if afraid the surgeon will hear him.
"The situation no but the acting and effects are so bad yet so realistic at the same time is remarkable," Kiara places a handful of popcorn into her mouth.
Kiara bounces on her seat, her eyes widening and sparkling with delight as she watches the feeding scene of the grotesque abomination. "Oh, that's so gross. I can't believe someone actually thought of this." Kiara covers her eyes as the camera zooms in on the feeding process.
"Wait since the humans are all connected by mouth and—" Evanders curiosity sparks, his eyes widening from the realization.
"Yep." Kiara says calmly, "The worst part is he fed them laxatives when they were unconscious."
"What are those?" Evander inquires, clenching tightly on his blanket.
"You will see soon," Kiara slowly moves her hand to cover her eyes and the camera stays still as a grotesque scene unfolds for Evander and Kiara to see. Evander just looks blankly, his expression motionless as he glares at Kiara whojust laughs to herself as she is still covering her eyes with her hands.
"Digestion!" Kiara dramatically waves her hands at Evander who is unamused with her antics. She smiles with a wide grin on her face, "That was my favorite line from the first movie because of the way the surgeon said it. It was so unintentionally funny because he kept saying- "DIGESTION." Kiara laughs to herself while avoiding locking gaze with the disgusting scenes unfolding on the tv.
"You're an awful person, you know that?" Evander says blankly, turning his gaze back at the TV, "Why is this scene still going on? We get the message clearly."
"That's ironic coming from the man who fought in an ancient war and probably has eliminated hundreds of thousands of people in the past," Kiara says casually, placing a big scoop of popcorn into her mouth.
"It also gets much much worse after this moment," Kiara says casually, "There is a drawn-out scene that goes for way too long that makes me squirm every time."
"Really? Not the whole digestion process that just happened a couple minutes ago," Evander inquires.
"Yeah that's bad but this scene that happens later, oh my god it was both gross and drawn out," Kiara jokes to Evander.
After a while of watching, the credits of the movie start rolling as Evander just stands there motionless, his gaze unmoving, "That's it. It was all a dream? After all that suffering and depravity?."
"It's implied that he is now going to unleash fantasies because you can hear the baby cries in the background," Kiara says while stretching her shoulders. She ejects the DVD out of the player before slowly picking up the sequel movie from the box.
"Oh, hell no," Evander starts to get up from the couch, trying to avoid watching the sequel. Kiara grabs Evander by the shoulder and pushes him back onto the couch. As the TV plays the movie on its screen, Evander lets out a weary sigh as he prepares for the inevitable.
"If you want to feel better, the second move is so much worse," Kiara chuckles to herself, laying herself comfortably on the couch. "They had to censor it themselves due to it being so explicit and gory."
"I bet it is," Evander says defeated, slouching his shoulders as the movie begins.
In the far outskirts of the city, something happens in the background. The hero places the rune stone near a couple of boulders. He still wears his long layered cloak as he moves across the desert area. His spiritual energy already started the timer.
As the Hero leaves the area, his footsteps echo in the emptiness, leaving the stone behind. The rune sits there waiting, pulsing with an unnatural rhythm. It glows a deep purple color, illuminating the surrounding area with its aura. It hums with a deep resonating sound that echoes in the silence.