Shadows of Our Past

[Skylos]

To every story there are two things that must happen. The first thing is that the story must have a beginning lest the story never start. Likewise, every story should also end lest it go on forever. This is not an ending, but a beginning to things that were set in motion. There was not a single event that set things into motion… it was many things that had happened over the millennia . . .

War. Destruction. Loss. Ponic Shade had had enough of these three. The Shadow Wielder king had effectively destroyed everything that Ponic had ever known and loved. His family was dead, he had no home left to return to, and worst of all the love of his life had slipped away before his eyes. Ponic straightened his white Shadow cloak and put his hood over his jet black skin. He turned to look at the shambles of his home one last time. He longed for his earlier life where he could turn to his loving family for support, but all that was but a distant memory now that the Ulters had taken everything. Ponic sighed and turned to face a portal he had created a few minutes before. He stepped through, was then thrown into a state not unlike being stretched and thrown around in a whirlpool, and then emerged into an environment that was unlike anything he had seen before.

The sky here was blue and everything around was lit brightly by something. Ponic shielded his eyes with his right arm and squinted. His eyes were overloaded with this unnatural brightness. “Gah. What in the Shadow Realm is blinding me?” Ponic made a conscious effort to put his head as far back in his hood as he possibly could as he said this.

“The sun, perhaps?” The snarky reply came from a boy wearing a simple yellow shirt and blue jeans. His expression was guarded and he seemed to be looking over Ponic rapidly. “And what on Earth is a Shadow Realm?” He said, adjusting his glasses in the process.

Ponic’s eyes recovered enough by now to see who was talking to him. It was almost like a cultural shock to him. The boy’s skin was so pale! And his eyes were… brown, like his own! What oddness was this? “It’s a place that’s really dark.” Idly Ponic was amused by his double-meaning, but then it depressed him because he could do nothing to change it.

“That’s…really descriptive.” The boy responded in a sarcastic manner.

After Ponic’s eyes finally adjusted to the extreme change in lighting he was surprised to find that he was in a rather familiar setup. He was standing on a pathway of sorts that was entirely black, and very hard. On either sides of this pathway were houses. The one behind this boy was rather eccentric, but he figured that this was possibly normal here. There was also another person who was standing in the middle of the pathway in front of him.

The person in front of him was…weird. His skin was paler than the first boy. His hair was a normal red… that… reminded him of Keera… The human’s eyes were wrong though. They were blue, also like Keera’s, but his eyes were lined with dark rings as though the boy had never slept a day in his life. He was clothed entirely in black in otherwise normal clothing. Ponic then watched as the human’s eyes changed color! Now they were an odd violet. Violet! Not only that, there was something decisively off about the shape of his irises.

“What on Earth…” The first boy started before he found that a mass of… something was heading right for him. The boy quickly dropped to the ground and the black mass missed him and instead blew a hole in the ground next to him. The boy brushed off some earth and stared at Ponic. “Do something!” he suddenly shouted in an obviously stressed and freaked out manner.

Ponic turned and looked at the second boy again. That was Power. I should be able to defeat him, though. I have to protect the other guy. Ponic noticed that his shadow was oddly elongated here already without him having changed its shape. He then remembered that there was a sun here…It actually gave him an edge here! Ponic saw another blob of energy forming now. Ponic took a step towards the second boy. “Hey you. Leave him alone!”

The boy in black then examined Ponic and fired the blob at him instead of the boy in yellow. “Die.” was all the boy said in what sounded like a distorted manner.

Ponic fired a quick blast of Shadow that met the blob halfway. Smoke exploded from the collision and Ponic used this distraction to slip into his shadow. He sensed around and found the shadow of the boy that was attacking him. After a moment he emerged from the boy’s shadow and Ponic quickly blasted him point-blank in the back of his head. This caused the boy to lose consciousness on the spot and fall over.

“Wow. That was…incredible. Is he ok?” The boy in yellow walked over and looked at the knocked out boy. There was something vaguely familiar about him but he could not place it. He went to move a piece of hair out of the boy’s face and his skin grazed the boy’s forehead. White sparks shot out of the boy’s hand and he immediately retracted it and looked at it. “Gah! What was that?” The boy looked at his hand and it suddenly filled with a bright, white energy. His brown eyes then filled in to be a yellow color instead.

Ponic was surprised by this. He had literally just witnessed a human developing their Power. Before he could comment he suddenly sensed another shadow present that had just appeared from nowhere. He looked up and found a tall man looking at them.

The man was wearing a red striped sport coat and purple dress pants. On his head was a top hat that covered silver hair. His eyes were hidden behind sunglasses but his facial expression held a smile.

“Uncle Chuck?” The boy in yellow inquired.

Chuck nodded to the boy in yellow. “Ah Caleb. Your Light Soul seems to have finally sparked to life. You’re the ripe age of twelve so you will have many years to develop it.”

“My what?” Caleb responded with a look of bewilderment stretched across his face.

“A Light Soul is a sphere of condensed Power that is found within the being of a person that grants them access to Power. In your case, since it’s a Light Soul, you are able to craft Light into many forms to assist you.” Chuck briefly explained. He then pointed to the knocked out boy on the ground. “He has a Darkness soul.”

“Darkness? Does that make him evil?” Caleb inquired.

Chuck merely shook his head and gave a small smile. “Good and evil are not as white and black as you may think; a Power is not inherently evil. You may even find that the words are synonyms.”

Caleb shook his head. How would that work? He looked down at the boy and figured that he didn’t look very evil when passed out… He looked no different than anyone else.

Ponic had stayed quiet through this explanation. So these two were polar opposites in Power… It was interesting, but it was also convenient for him. He knew his own Power was made up of Light and Darkness. Perhaps if he could convince the Dark one to lay off attacking them then he could stick around these two in case he was followed.

“He’s a Shadow Wielder.” Chuck then said.

This caused Ponic to flinch slightly – he hoped they hadn’t noticed it. He figured he’d better paint the picture of his race lest this Chuck fellow caused Caleb to think he was some sort of monstrous powerhouse. “Yes. But I’m not like most of them.” He said this mostly to Chuck. Chuck returned a simple smile to him which almost made Ponic feel uneasy. “Shadow Wielders live in another Realm known simply as the Shadow Realm. It’s a very dark place and I don’t really want to talk about it. I can manipulate Shadows.”

Caleb digested all of this information and frowned. “Uncle, you seem very familiar with all of this… Why haven’t you told me about Power before?”

Chuck responded with a chuckle. He then spoke to him in a logical manner, “I didn’t think you’d believe me until you could see it for yourself. It’s interesting that you saw three Powers in one day though. I hadn’t expected that.”

“The ghost had made my Power stronger, but I was not in control of myself.” came a deep voice from the ground. The Dark Human boy was staring up at them. How long had he been conscious? “I normally don’t have much more Power than him.” He pointed to Caleb.

“Ghosts? Could there be more out there?” Caleb looked rather worried about that thought. What could happen if he was taken over? Sure his Power was little to nothing at the moment, but if the ghost could boost his Power then he could wreak havoc!

“I think it’s best if we investigated this matter.” Ponic then decided as though taking charge.

The Dark Human looked at him. “And who are you?”

“I am Ponic.” Ponic replied tersely. He did not want to say any more in the matter.

“You can call me Caleb.” Caleb then noted to them. Secretly, this was his middle name but he did not like being called by his first name because he found it weird – Skylos.

“Pi.” Pi then told them.

“Like the Greek letter?” Caleb inquired. But then he found that he was being ignored.

Ponic then cut in before any other small talk could occur. “We need to stop wasting time. If there are more out there then delaying will hamper our efforts.”

“Ok. Then let’s start looking around. See ya uncle.” Caleb smiled to Chuck, then turned and began to walk off with the others.

“Good luck; don’t get in over your head!” Chuck then turned around and walked into his house.

---

After some time had passed, the group of Ponic, Caleb, and Pi had made no headway and were tired of wandering around with no leads. Ponic decided that is was time to figure out some leads even if it made Pi uncomfortable. “Pi. Did that presence in your head leave you any clues? And where were you possessed?”

“I keep getting hungrier every time someone says his name.” Caleb commented dryly.

Pi ignored Caleb’s statement and instead answered Ponic. “I was at home, in my room, as usual.” His tone was one that lacked any emotion as he said this.

“Right. But did you remember anything that the ghost might have known? You were sharing the same mind.” Ponic inquired.

Pi shook his head. “I don’t remember.”

Ponic thought for a second and he then decided that it’s time for him to get some real answers. He suddenly jumped at Pi and vanished as he would have collided with him.

Pi went wide-eyed at this development and exclaimed, “I can feel a presence in my mind!”

Caleb backed away slowly and looked slightly disturbed by what just happened.

Ponic reappeared after a few seconds and seemed to be in good spirits. “I have found a lead while searching within your mind.”

Caleb raised an eyebrow and then inquired, “What do you mean by searching his mind?”

“It’s fairly simple. As a Shadow Wielder, I can freely enter other beings’ minds and gather information that way. Although Pi’s possessed state left his mind repressed, I was able to piece together some clues based on bits and pieces that his subconscious recorded. In a nutshell, I interacted with his mind directly.”

Pi seemed unimpressed, given the dull look he gave Ponic after his explanation. “Well then, what did my mind tell you…?” Pi asked in as bored of a manner as he could manage.

Ponic placed his hand on his chin and seemed to think about how he should answer. He had never been in this Realm before and some of the things he had seen were quite alien to him. After a few moments, he nodded his head to himself and answered, “It appeared that you were in some sort of run-down factory. There were… boxes being made.”

Caleb then gave a look of recognition. Excitedly, he quickly responded, “Oh! That has to be the box-making factory down by the river. It’s a very old factory that’s a bit of an eyesore. Honestly, I kind of wonder why it hasn’t been demolished yet.”

“Splendid!” Ponic then proclaimed, “Let’s start there.”

“Wait Ponic. That factory is a ways away. I don’t really fancy walking all the way there. We’ve already been walking around for ages as it is.” Caleb then gave a small frown. “Isn’t there any trick up your…er…cloak that could get us there quicker?”

Normally, Ponic would have replied in the positive. Unfortunately, he had never seen this factory nor felt its shadow before, so he had nothing to go on to get them there. He also wasn’t sure if he could transport all three of them. Transporting himself was fairly easy, but a bunch of people?

Before Ponic could reply in the negative, Pi spoke up, “I can get us there faster...” Pi’s blue eyes filled with violet the next seconds. In front of them, a disk made of Darkness appeared and hovered in the air. Pi jumped onto it. “We don’t have all day…Get on...” Although he was helping, he seemed to be annoyed that he had to help them.

“Thanks, Pi.” Caleb then said to the Darkness Human. He jumped onto the disk and wobbled for a moment before he caught himself. He had never hovered on anything before, so he hoped that he wouldn’t fall off en route.

Pi did not answer to Caleb’s gratitude and only seemed to become more annoyed. He stared straight ahead as though he were a figurehead.

Ponic jumped onto the disk as well after Caleb had righted himself. I wonder if Pi is purposefully trying to ignore Caleb. Could there be bad blood between them because they are Darkness Human and Light Human? Caleb didn’t even know about them before today. Ponic thought this to himself; he didn’t want to upset Caleb, nor did he want to make Pi cross with him, too. “I think we’re all set, Pi.”

Pi didn’t move a muscle, but the disk started forward, seemingly on its own accord. What was truly happening was this: Pi was controlling the movement of the disk with his mind. Darkness Humans were experts when it came to the mind. This didn’t mean that Light Humans were abysmal, it just so happened their expertize lied elsewhere. The disk moved them quickly through the neighborhoods and through the rest of town. They made sure to take the roads less traveled so that they wouldn’t be seen.

Once the trio arrived to the front of the factory, they jumped off of the disk and Pi had it vanish. His eyes returned to being blue. “I hope this isn’t a waste of time…” Pi then noted to the others.

Ponic, Caleb, and Pi then walked into the factory. Although it was rather dark, there were windows along the far walls that did let in a little bit of light. It was certainly not enough light for any workers. “I guess no one is working today. All of the lights are turned off.” Caleb pointed this out, but something seemed of odd about that fact.

“That can’t be right. I can hear machinery, not unlike the impressions of sound I could hear within Pi’s mind.” Ponic was sure this was the right place because of the sounds. He didn’t think that it was coincidence that he’d hear the same sound so soon. “Perhaps our ghost doesn’t need to have the light turned on to see.”

That would be rather inconvenient, Caleb thought to himself. He could not see in the dark and the lighting in the front room was not adequate for him to make his way around the factory. There were certainly areas that would have no windows at all. “We should find the light switches.” Caleb then suggested as a plan of action.

“Who needs the light? I can see fine without it…” Pi then walked forward and began to descend a staircase that led to a large, open area which seemed to branch off into all of the other sections of the factory.

“Hey! Wait up! Didn’t I just say I couldn’t see? Geez.” Caleb seemed annoyed that Pi had gone off on his own, but what was he going to do about it? Just then, the lights turned on.

Ponic was standing beside a large panel that had many switches on it. “It appears I have located the lights.” He said proudly as he passed by Caleb, now descending the stairs to catch up with Pi.

Caleb joined Ponic and Pi on the next floor. Because it was so spacious, Caleb felt like there would be nothing of interest on this floor. He wasn’t entirely right as there was one thing that caught his eye. “There’s an elevator over there. If we use that we could go deeper into the factory. If some ghost is here then I doubt that it’s on the top floor.

“All right then. Let’s use this elevator.” Ponic walked up to it and saw that it didn’t have a doorknob. He looked down and noticed it had a panel on it with a few buttons. He figured it must have been like the light switches he found a minute ago. He pressed the button and was only momentarily surprised when the metal door rose upwards. Earth is a strange place. It’s bright, you can flip switches for more brightness, and you can press buttons to open a door upwards. Ponic felt somewhat alienated, but at least he was learning.

Pi quietly entered into the elevator and pressed a button on the panel against the wall. “I seem to recall this floor being important for some reason.” He then explained briefly. His tone didn’t make it seem the slightest bit important. The gate close in front of them and the elevator descended to the next floor. Once the gate opened, they emerged into a hallway that was only lit with emergency lights.

“I guess the light switch was only for the top floor.” Caleb then commented. “Which way do we go, Pi?”

Pi looked around dispassionately. He then started walking to the left without saying anything.

Caleb leaned in next to Ponic and whispered to him. “Do you think he’s like this to everyone? It’s starting to get to me.”

“If he does, then I wouldn’t think he has very many friends.” Ponic then noted. “In which case, we should tolerate him until he can learn that that’s not the way to make friends.” Ponic then quickly added. “Besides, he’s the only clue we have right now so we’re stuck with him until this is over.”

Caleb had to agree with Ponic’s observation, although he didn’t really like it. Caleb then noticed that Pi had entered a room off to the left side of the hallway. “We should catch up before he gets jumped by something.”

As they entered the room, they became aware that it was an assembly room of some sort. It was a very large and spacious room, but not as long and large as the top floor room. What was interesting was that the various conveyer belts were active. Something was being made in this room. Computers lined one side of the room and they seemed to be running code and instructions.

“I wonder what they’re making.” Caleb then commented aloud. He walked over to one of the computers and began to make himself at home. His expression suddenly sank as he pulled up files and read through blueprints. “Not boxes. It looks like they’re making weapons…Very dangerous weapons at that. These kinds of explosives could level large cities!”

“We should destroy them quickly and stop production as soon as possible!” Ponic then exclaimed.

Pi seemed to take that quite literally as he then smashed into the computers with Darkness. The Darkness made good work of the computers, including the one that was in front of Caleb.

Caleb jumped back in shock. “At least wait for me to get out of the way…! Wasn’t that a bit drastic?” Caleb turned around and noticed that the machinery was suddenly going haywire. “Well. That worked of course, but what about the bombs that have already been made? We can’t possibly safely dispose of them.”

“It was necessary…” Pi then noted to Caleb. He then looked ready to destroy the bombs as well, but Caleb’s comment gave him pause. “We would need to take them elsewhere first.”

But before they could even formulate a plan, many workers suddenly filled the area, having been summoned by the loud noises that Pi had caused when he destroyed the computers. Caleb could tell by looking at the workers that something was off about them. The fact that they were holding heavy tools and looking distantly at them tipped him off as well. “They’re possessed like Pi was!”

“Then we will have to fight them.” Ponic noted, Shadow collecting to him.

“W-wait. We can’t kill them. They’re human beings!” Caleb then objected. Although, at that moment, some of the workers leapt at them and began to attack them savagely with their tools. Caleb barely dodged out of the way of a wrench.

“Don’t worry about that. I’d never strike using a lethal blow unless I was left with no choice. Remember, Power reflects what the user wants, and using it non-lethally is its default setting. Most people aren’t aiming to kill anyone… There are people that enjoy that kind of thing, but I see I’m not in that kind of company.” Ponic smiled to Caleb. He shot off Shadows and had them explode in front of some of the workers, effectively removing them from play.

Pi narrowed his eyes, having heard Ponic. It seemed like he might have had an objection, but he said nothing and instead had his Darkness flow over some of the workers like a blanket. It smothered them and caused the workers to lose consciousness.

Because of how Ponic and Pi handled the workers, Caleb suddenly felt much better about his Power, although he was a little creeped out by Pi being able to do such a thing. It wasn’t a killing move, but it seemed like it could easily be tweaked to be. “Let’s get out of here before more come!”

“Right. Let’s take a shortcut.” Ponic opened the others’ shadows and they all fell in. After a few seconds, they emerged upstairs on the level where they had first entered the elevator.

Caleb looked around wildly. “What on Earth…How did you…Where?” He seemed a bit frazzled from having experienced something that was simply so odd that words could not even explain it. Caleb had been in a space that had been completely black and seemed to go on forever. Somehow, he felt as though he was moving, but he couldn’t figure out how he as moving or where he as even going. How does one even travel through a shadow? How is that possible?

“Sorry. I guess that was your first time going through a shadow. It’s a very useful form of transportation, but I can’t go to somewhere I’ve never been before. Since we had already been up here, it was easy for me to get you all here. Although… I suppose easy might be over exaggerating. Remind me next time to only take one other person. That was rather tiring.” I can’t believe that actually worked.

“Right… Just as long as it’s me.” Caleb then joked.

Pi seemed to have been unfazed by Ponic’s quick fix to their location. He looked up suddenly. “Can you hear it? The factory is in full production. It sounds like every piece of equipment is on.”

“Then that means that blowing up those computers didn’t really accomplish much after all.” Caleb shook his head, feeling a bit let down that their efforts were futile. Caleb happened to look up at that moment to see that there were more workers coming at them now. “There’s a lot of workers now. We should split up and see if we can lose them. Maybe we’ll even encounter a way to shut down the factory in the mean time!” With that, the team bolted, each going a different way and into a different room.

---

After some time had passed, Ponic chanced upon Caleb. He slipped behind him and rose out of his shadow. As Caleb turned around, Ponic covered his mouth and shh’d him.

Caleb dropped to a whisper. “You just scared me to death! Don’t do that…”

“I assure you, if I had another way to get to you without forcing attention to our location I would have done that instead. Were you able to find anything else out about the weapons?” Ponic inquired. They needed to move because there was no telling how much time it would be until the weapons were moved out and used.

Caleb had no reason to not believe Ponic. After all, they were in a perilous situation and he didn’t believe that Ponic would jeopardize their safety. “Just… I don’t know. Try to be less stealthy until I can get used to you. Fair enough? Anyway… Yes. I did figure out that there is a master control room. The problem is that it’s sealed. If I try to attack it, it’ll cause very worker in the factory to surround me.”

Ponic nodded his head a bit. He was afraid of that. “Then we may need to resort to drastic measures.”

“What would you consider to be drastic measures…?” Caleb then asked, very afraid to even ask the question since he had a good idea what he meant. “And have you seen Pi anywhere? I can’t find him anywhere.”

“If we detonate the bombs within the factory, then the entire factory will be destroyed along with all of the weapons.” Ponic explained. “And if the ghost truly values its life then it’ll flee before the explosion hits. That’s when we can strike it.” It sounded like a simple plan, but it would cause quite a bit of alarm. “No. I haven’t seen him since we split up. We’ll need to find him first.”

“You can’t possibly mean to explode the factory! You’ll cause a panic!” Caleb interjected. “Besides, what about all of the workers? They’ll be killed!”

Ponic shook his head. “I’ll get them out. Don’t think me so cold that I wouldn’t rescue everyone first. I’ll drop them all into their shadows and put them elsewhere. They’re possessed right now so they wouldn’t know the difference anyway. I highly doubt this ghost even cares about their well-being. Now let’s find Pi.”

Caleb didn’t have much say in this plan it seemed, but at least Ponic had remembered the workers. The two didn’t go far before an explosion rocked the factory! “That…That sounded like it came from outside? Could Pi have been chased to the bridge?”

Without wasting a second, Ponic slipped Caleb and himself into a shadow and they emerged at what used to be the bridge to the factory. It had been completely destroyed. Standing at the edge of the wreckage was none other than Pi. He had his back turned to them and appeared to be staring down into the abyss. Rain was pouring over the scene, having suddenly started not long ago.

Pi slowly turned around, his body drenched from the rain.

Caleb immediately took a step back. He could tell that there was something wrong with Pi. “He’s… not well.” It was a curious feeling, but Caleb could just tell that it was so; something was off about Pi.

Ponic took this to mean that Pi had been possessed by the ghost again. In fact, he confirmed this easily by looking into Pi’s eyes. Seeing that they were of an odd shape once more, Ponic knew that they would have to take out Pi again. But what if we have to keep doing this? Defeating Pi over and over doesn’t kill the ghost. It was already dead, after all. Or was it? They hadn’t even seen it yet!

“You…will…die!” Pi suddenly said, not in his right mind. He ran towards Ponic and Caleb and slammed a large Darkness orb into their position. It exploded crazily and caused the floor to cave in, effectively causing the entire entrance to be cut off from the rest of the factory.

Caleb and Ponic dropped to the floor below, only Caleb was more or less caught by his Shadow to cushion the fall; Caleb had no way of surviving something of that height without breaking a few bones in the process!

Pi joined them, having slipped into a black substance and using it to travel right up-close to them. He emerged from the pool of Darkness and held his right hand out. Tendrils of Black Lightning arced from Pi’s fingertips and began to coil around and shock both Caleb and Ponic.

Having had no training by anyone, Caleb looked like he was taking quite a bit of abuse by the lightning; it seems especially effective on him for some reason. In fact, sparks of gray seemed to bounce off of Caleb every now and then and hit the floor, causing it to fracture ever so slightly. “Pi! Snap out of it! Argh!” Caleb bellowed, trying to get Pi to come to his senses. Had he actually come to his senses before? This could have been an elaborate trap! That thought caused a look of horror to come over Caleb’s face. Had they been tricked?

“Concentrate Caleb! We have to get out of this attack by overwhelming him!” Ponic then saw the look on Caleb’s face. “The ghost is real; I saw the impressions of it in his mind. It just hasn’t been exorcised completely. Pi will undoubtedly wake up if we can kill it.” Ponic then let out a Shadow Blast and it caused Pi to slide back and lose control of the lightning coils around Caleb and Ponic. “…But I don’t know how to kill it, so we’ll just have to hammer on Pi until we can think of something!”

Caleb was freed from the coils, but he felt incredibly weakened by the Darkness. “Hammer him? I can’t even hammer a nail without hitting it a hundred times with a hammer. Do I look like I could harm anything?!” Caleb Pantech, although having a sharp tongue and quick wit, definitely lacked something rather vital to fighting: Strength. Caleb was short, as expected of a twelve year old, and had a rather scrawny build. When given the choice between riding a bike or reading a book, he was already reading the encyclopedia by the time the question was finished being asked. Caleb was book-smart; he had no talent for combat.

Nevertheless, Caleb was tasked with fighting Pi, or else Ponic would be left to his own devices. Pi suddenly had exhibited more power than he had had previously. Perhaps he had had a power-up? Caleb tried to remember what had happened before. I had activated my Light Soul when I touched Pi. That means that Pi is a sort of catalyst for some reason. But then he remembered his uncle’s words. Pi was using the opposite Power. The reason they clashed was because they were in opposition by default. And I am to believe that Darkness is not evil? Light gathered slowly into Caleb’s left palm. It was but a trickle of Power in comparison with Pi’s lightning which seemingly gathered so easily to his fingers.

“Uhh… Caleb... I said hammer. That’s more like a… quill.” Ponic had tried to word it delicately, but he just couldn’t. He also knew that he had only become a Light Human a few hours ago, but still! Shouldn’t his Power be a bit…bigger?

Caleb wished it had been bigger too. So it’s not on par with Ponic’s Power. So what? “Well. Even a quill has a sharp end!” Caleb unleashed – could something so small even be considered unleashed – the Light in the form of an orb. It flew straight and true, impacting – could something so small actually impact something – into Pi’s chest. It burst, causing a few gray sparks to erupt from Pi, but overall, it didn’t really seem to do much.

Pi gave a pause, but then he narrowed his eyes and came quickly at Caleb, now targeting him because he was obviously weaker. “Death…Death…Death!” Pi then screamed, seemingly insane. Darkness spread out from his body and covered the floor. It ran like water across the floor and grabbed Caleb as it neared him, enveloping him in a snare of Darkness.

Before anyone else could react, the Darkness shattered as Ponic sliced through it with a Shadow Blade that he had just created. “Caleb, you’ve got to get out of here! It’s getting to be pretty obvious that he’s out of your league.” And possibly out of mine. I think that hit before must have been a fluke!

“And just where exactly am I meant to be getting to? He blew up the bridge!” Caleb waved his arms.

“Oh. Right. Good point. I’ll just send you away in your sha-“

“No! I’m going to fight. Have you forgotten that the city is at stake here?! I’m not going to go crawl in some hole somewhere while the city is in danger from nukes!” Caleb seemed quite adamant about this point, and Ponic had no choice but to allow him to stay.

Pi approached the Light Human and Shadow Wielder with Darkness flowing around his body like water in zero gravity. “This will be your grave.” Pi’s eyes held no light in them; they were empty and devoid of feeling like a body that was merely a shell. Darkness began to rain down like spearheads upon Caleb and Ponic.

Ponic needed to do something about the many spears that were about to impale them. How can I combat that many at once?! I can only take out a few before they hit us. I’ll have to… do some sort of rapid-fire attack. Thinking quickly, Ponic made a Shadow Blade, but he made one smaller. He noticed that the smaller he made it, the quicker he could fire it off. That’s it! A new attack! Ponic used this new-found knowledge to counter Pi’s attack. Many smaller sized Shadow Blades appeared from Ponic’s shadow and began to barrage the spearheads with ease. After a few moments, all of the spearheads were destroyed. Ponic continued his barrage and began to slice up Pi’s body. One of the blades slashed just above Pi’s left eye, causing him to recoil backwards in pain.

“Ponic! Stop it already! You’re going to kill him!” Caleb looked at Ponic frantically. Something about Ponic’s strength had thrown him off. Caleb had grabbed Ponic’s left arm to get his attention; Caleb had it.

Ponic snapped out of his attack and saw that Caleb spoke the truth. The Darkness Human was fairly slashed up from his barrage. Ponic had not meant to take it quite that far, but it had happened that way all the same. “Wow! Sorry. I was so intent on getting rid of the spearheads that I forgot that the enemy is actually a friend.” A friend? I’ve barely known him for a few hours…What made me say that? But Caleb and Pi were the only two people in existence that he knew… They were his friends, because they were all he had.

Pi began to wobble a bit as he tried to walk forward. His head was hung low and he appeared top-heavy, as though he might fall over any second. “Blood…Will…Have…Blood!” Darkness literally leaked out of his skin and dripped to the floor; it had a slight red tinge to it.

“He’s going crazy! If we keep this up, he may harm himself!” It can’t be natural to leak blood and Power so easily, right? Caleb didn’t really know much about Power. He would have to study it in great detail if he survived this.

Ponic began to shake his head. “I know that. But it’s not like we can stop him without hurting him! Much as I don’t want to, he has to be defeated if we want to avoid a cataclysm!” If I can just prevent this here, then maybe something good will have come out of failing to do just that at home… Determination covered Ponic’s face. “Shadows! Gather and attack!” The box factory’s various shadows began to have a life of their own, and they flew swiftly towards Pi.

Pi unleashed a massive wave of reddened Darkness which, in turn, flew just as the shadows did, but they were swallowed up by this Darkness, causing them to become even darker. The wave then continue towards Ponic and Caleb and submerged them only seconds later. The Darkness had become like an ocean and it filled the entire floor of the factory, all the way up to the entrance.

Caleb began choking in the Darkness Ocean, unable to hold his breath for long. It was also incredibly painful and gray sparks were constantly burning his skin, clearly irritated by the Darkness. The Darkness numbed his body; it was beyond just freezing cold and his senses became dulled. But the worst thing that occurred was that the blood was washing over him. The redness that stained the black – it caused Caleb to panic, as though triggering some sort of nightmare. Unable to breathe, Caleb started to drift off just as two violet orbs burned into his eyes.

Sunlight streamed through the small gaps between leaves. Caleb sat on the ground with his back up against a tree trunk. It was a rather nice summer day; it wasn’t too hot and a cool breeze was present. A thick book was in Caleb’s grip, cracked open and being read briskly. The realm within books kept Caleb’s attention off of reality, a place he didn’t want to be. As Caleb read the book, he became aware that he couldn’t really focus on its content. He would read a sentence, but then be unable to recall what he had just read. It was the oddest thing! A man and woman, both with brown hair and brown eyes sat next to him, watching over his shoulder.

Caleb then looked up from his book and noticed something rather odd. The sunlight was suddenly gone, having been covered by thick black clouds. Where had they come from so quickly? There hadn’t been any clouds a few moments before. The wind became harsh within the following seconds and rain blew in from nowhere. Caleb jumped to his feet and watched in horror as the tree’s leaves were all dislodged from the branches and blown away. The tree itself withered and was uprooted, being dislodged from the ground and blown away like dust. Alarmed, Caleb turned to his parents and found them to be impaled through many times by black stakes and tied up in chains. Blood was gushing everywhere. Hands went to Caleb’s mouth in horror, trying to keep down the sick feeling he was flooded with.

“We don’t love you Caleb. We’re leaving you alone. Forever.” The mouths of his parents moved in time to one another, speaking in monotone; it was not unlike a chant. The forms exploded and red blood began to rain down on Caleb, covering him and causing him to absolutely lose it. He fell to the ground in agony, unable to hold back his emotions. He felt sickened beyond what he knew was possible. He screamed into the air and held his head tightly in his hands. “Stop! Stop! It’s not so! They’ll come back! I know they’ll come back! Stop it! Why?” He began to sob as he dropped to the ground in a curled up mess.

“You are alone. You always will be alone. No one will come for you. No one wants you. You are nothing.” Pi stood in front of Caleb. The grass seemed to wilt and burn away, spreading out into the distance so that the entire field was nothing but brown after a few seconds.

Caleb looked up and saw the form of Pi, but he was much different. Pi was wearing an all-black robe that was trimmed in blood-red. The trim looked strikingly like veins that seemed to pump the red color around the robe; the red veins seemed to have particles of black that moved through them. Pi’s shoulders were spiked with narrow, sharp stakes. There were matching spikes on the black metal boots that covered Pi’s feet and what was visible of his legs. Even the gauntlets that Pi wore had spikes on the knuckles, but they also were clawed. The claws were an eerie, shiny red, almost like blood had just been applied to them. He cracked his neck so that his violet eyes were held at an angle beneath his black cowl. The space around Pi’s outline seemed to visibly darken as he walked closer to Caleb. “Fade into Darkness. Give your soul to me…”

In horror, Caleb tried to move backwards on the ground. He needed to flee. He needed to get away from Pi! He’s a monster! Help! Fear washed through him as he stumbled to his feet and ran. Caleb was not an athlete, but he ran faster than he ever did before in his life! He looked over his shoulder and saw that Pi was walking nonchalant towards him. Caleb wasn’t making any progress away from Pi despite the fact that he was running away, full speed. As Caleb turned his head back around to face front, he ran into Pi. Pi’s eyes were mere inches away from Caleb’s eyes. Caleb then felt his chest be punctured, painfully. He gave a shocked look and looked down, seeing a black spire stabbed all the way through his chest with a chain attached to the end. Pi grinned with glee, then pulled on the chain and dislodged it forcibly back through the front of Caleb’s chest. Caleb’s mouth gurgled with blood and blood began to pour out of his chest wound. I’m…going…to…die… Laughter filled his ears as he fell to the ground, vision waning away…

…leb… Ca… Caleb…! A voice rang through Caleb’s head. Wasn’t he dead yet? There was no hope for him. How could anyone be heard? Caleb suddenly felt pain on his face. ..Wha…what? Caleb opened his eyes and found that he was staring up at a metal ceiling. He was soaked completely and laying on concrete. He idly rubbed his face and got up. He was dripping a black substance that wasn’t quite water. In front of him was the factory, but it was entirely filled with the black liquid. “I was…I was in that Darkness?” Caleb shivered. He looked to his side and found that Ponic was looking at him, very concerned.

“Sorry for slapping you, but you wouldn’t snap out of it!” Ponic then explained. He looked to his left. He had also hit Pi around the same time. He really wasn’t sure which woke Caleb up, but he was fine now.

Pi was on his knees rubbing the back of his head ever so slightly. He had a look of cold-fury upon his face. He slowly stood back up and took out a dagger. He lunged the dagger at Ponic and tried to overpower him, knocking him to the ground where the run-off of Darkness was washing over the concrete floor. The two began to struggle as Pi tried to finish off Ponic who was at the limit of his Power, having used the majority of it to escape the Dark Ocean.

Caleb stared at what he was seeing. Only moments before he had been traumatized by what he had seen…Now he was somewhere else. What had he seen? What was going on? “P-Ponic.” Things were not making sense, but he saw that Ponic was about to be stabbed and he wouldn’t stand for his friend to be gutted in front of him. I won’t watch helplessly for a second time! Yelling loudly, Caleb jumped on Pi and then tried to knock the dagger loose. Coming in contact with Pi’s skin caused both Pi and Caleb to start sparking gray. Pain shot up immediately and both Pi and Caleb were screaming as Caleb refused to let go until Ponic was safe.

Ponic managed to wiggle free and he blasted one last Shadow Blast at the dagger, dislodging it from Pi’s grip and throwing it into the flooded factory beside them. The Shadow Wielder rolled out from under Pi and then quickly got back to his feet. He felt so drained from using Shadow. There wasn’t much left that he could do now.

Pi broke free from Caleb’s grasp and stood back up, skin now burned in several places due to the gray sparks. His eyes were wild with rage as he stood over Caleb. A chain began to appear from his right wrist that was aimed directly for Caleb’s heart! But the chain stopped after only a few links formed and Pi’s eyes went wide.

Caleb was pointing his left index finger at Pi’s chest. A beam of Light had rushed out and struck Pi squarely at that point. Caleb didn’t know why he had pointed his finger; it had happened by instinct. Caleb watched as Pi collapsed to the floor in an unmoving heap.

Ponic slowly trudged over to Caleb, who was sitting on the floor, stuck in the previous position and not daring to move from the shock. Ponic bent down and checked Pi’s vitals. He was fine, but out cold. “You didn’t kill him.” Ponic confirmed. “But I don’t know what he’ll do when he wakes up.

“I…Can’t…” Caleb was deeply troubled. The look on his face was blank, but inside he was in turmoil. What one earth had just happened to him? He’d watched his parents murdered, he’d watched himself be murdered, he saw Ponic almost get murdered for real, and he had just burned someone and blasted them unconscious. “I can’t do this…” Caleb quickly covered his mouth. He was going to be sick…It took every effort to not vomit.

Ponic looked down at Caleb who was presently having what appeared to be a panic attack of some sort. Not too long ago, he had been doing the same thing. Was there anything he could do…? He’s the only person I know. I can’t leave him like this. All I have are words; I hope that they’ll be enough… “Caleb. I know that things seem pretty bad right now, but I assure you that you will get through this. You’re confused right now, but it’s only temporary. Let it settle in your mind. You defeated Pi. He is not dead.”

“Not…Dead.” Caleb said this a few times and then mouthed it. He then exhaled and managed to stand up, albeit, shaking. “I thought he killed my parents…I thought he killed me… So I jumped him when I saw I wasn’t dead. I wasn’t even thinking. I just wanted to defeat him.”

“Are you sure that’s the only reason?” Ponic then inquired. Ponic had a good feeling about there being another reason. He’d wait for Caleb to say it out loud.

Caleb thought about it some more. Another reason. “Oh. Oh! He had a knife! He was going to kill you. I couldn’t let him do that.” Caleb’s eyes widened. “I protected you without even caring for my own safety.” Caleb looked down at his hands as though he had never seen them before. Specifically, he eyed his left hand where all of his Light had come from. “I want to save Pi, too…”

Ponic gave a grimace. “I don’t know how to save him. I can enter his mind and search for the ghost, but I was unable to find it last time. I think it may be beyond my current abilities. I can only sense things that have a shadow…and it does not have one.”

It became apparent that even those with Power were limited. Caleb had been thinking that Ponic was some sort of powerhouse, but at the end of the day, there was nothing either of them could do. “There’s nothing we can do… Why have a certain strength and be unable to use it? What’s the point?” Caleb lamented openly. It was a rhetorical question and he didn’t expect an answer.

“Don’t beat yourself up. Being powerless is a part of life. You just have to get stronger… Maybe after getting stronger, you’ll be able to protect what’s closest to you.” Ponic closed his eyes and looked away. I’m sorry Markov and Keera. I couldn’t protect what was closest to me either.

The silence was then broken by a groan. Pi’s eyes shot open and he stood up quickly. The malevolence had not left his eyes. Ponic stiffened. “Here we go again. I don’t think I can go for much longer, but we don’t have a choice!”

Caleb stared at Pi, shocked that he was back in business so quickly. “No way… I can’t keep this up either. I wish I could just… free him from that ghost. There must be something that can do that. What if I…” Before any other moves could be made, Caleb ran up to Pi and put his index finger right to Pi’s forehead. Instead of Light forming at his index finger, as Caleb thought he could purify the ghost with Light, a brilliant gold burst from his hand and started to move over Pi like a blanket. To Caleb’s shock, it became an Aura that shrouded both Caleb and Pi. Seconds later, Pi let out a horrific scream!

Pi looked to the roof with wide eyes as his mouth fell open. The scream was inhuman. From out of Pi’s forehead came a sort of shadowy mass. It was roughly in the form of what one would identify as a ghost. It started to turn gold, then it suddenly shattered into particles of golden dust. Pi stopped screaming and his violet eyes dropped back to being blue and shaped normally. He took a step back and held his chest. “What…Where…How…?” Pi looked around in a confused state. “What is going on…? I feel like I have been in a dream for so long, but never asleep…”

“Pi…? Are you…well…you?” Caleb then asked, wondering what on Earth he had just done. I obliterated the ghost…With that golden aura…

Pi raised an eyebrow and looked incredibly annoyed. “Pi was the name of that Ghost. My name is Neon.” He shook his head. “Why are you staring at me like that? It’s really annoying me…” Neon began to walk past Caleb and he stopped at the edge of the ruined bridge.

“It had a name?” Ponic raised an eyebrow. So his name was really Neon? “Are there more of them? This is kind of important since that one was trying to blow up the city.”

Neon answered without turning around. He gave an annoyed sigh. “Why are you asking me? You’re being such a bother… Fine. Yes, there’s plenty more. Each of those workers is affected by one. They are named after letters of the Greek alphabet, so I guess there’s a limited quantity of them…? I don’t really care. You can destroy them all if you want.”

“Won’t you help us?” Caleb then asked. He was shocked by the extreme apathy this Neon person had. The nukes could have killed him and his family! “You’re really strong. You flooded the factory with that Darkness.”

“Tch. The ghost did that. Didn’t I say before that I don’t have that kind of Power. I hate repeating myself…” Neon was abrasive; he really wished this conversation was over. “And if you’d look you’d see it’s gone now.”

Sure enough, when Ponic and Caleb turned around to check the inside of the factory, they found that it was no longer flooded. Curiously enough, it appeared that all of the workers were on the floor and knocked out. “Hey. The ghosts…they’re all gone!” Caleb then exclaimed, checking each person in turn.

“Wait a minute. I need to check something.” Ponic suddenly had a bad feeling. He slipped into his own shadow. Sinking down a few levels, he appeared in the room where the weapons had been in production. He cursed under his breath after his suspicion had been confirmed. Ponic appeared back with Caleb and Neon. “The nukes, they’re all gone! They’ve been moved!”

Caleb was taken aback. “What?! What are we going to do?”

Neon crossed his arms. “Nothing. It’s not your concern anymore. And it never was mine.” He jumped across the ruined bridge.

Ponic then shouted, “Where are you going?!”

“Home.” Neon replied, only using one word. That was all that was needed.

Caleb turned to Ponic and looked let down. “Why did I save him? He’s worse now than when he was possessed.”

“Don’t say that Caleb. You don’t know his past, and he doesn’t appear to want to be friends. I say we give him some time, then we go find him and ask for his assistance again.” Ponic was rubbed the wrong way as well, but he wasn’t about to cause a scene over it. No, the real problem would be locating the ghosts now that they had abandoned the factory.

---

Neon walked down the street alone. It bugged him that he had been saved by other people. What a bother…Ugh. He didn’t much like to admit that he needed their help. He could have managed to get free of the ghost, he was sure of it. He didn’t need that annoying Shadow Wielder and… Light Human – His gaze drooped thinking about how annoying the Light Human was – helping him. They must have thought themselves so clever, freeing me. A sudden pain in his chest caused Neon to pause. Suddenly, he felt like falling apart as the gravity of being hit by so many attacks sunk in. He dropped to one knee and clutched his chest and then the space above his left eye. “Ugh… That blasted Light…” His blue eyes squinted as the pain above his left eye intensified. “If I see that kid again, I’ll make sure he knows what true pain is… And no Shadow Wielder will save him.”

The Darkness Human finally made it to his street and he stared at the front of his house. 2028 East Grey Stone Lane, Boulogne-Billancourt. The house was run-down and clearly was in need of a paint job. Why paint a house white? It just gets dirty… So stupid… Paint it black so that if it gets dirty, no one will notice… He sighed to himself and opened the gate. The paint was peeling off of this gate as well as the rest of the fence. Indeed, even the gate itself was about to fall off its hinges. Good for nothing father… Can’t even repair a gate... Why do I have to live with him?

John was a terrible man. He’d beat Neon occasionally…as well as his mother. Neon dreaded being at home due to this man, but it was the place he had to come home to every day. His mother was insistent that he stay at home. There was something in her eyes that Neon could not place, almost as though she was pleading to him. But why would she care if he was at home…? He hated it. I wish he’d die. I’d do the deed myself if I could… The man had no talent. If Neon could work at it, he could become stronger in Darkness and slowly torture the man until his heart stopped beating. No one would miss him.

Closing the door behind him, Neon entered his home. The dreary interior didn’t affect him; he was used to it. Without speaking to anyone, he quickly moved upstairs and entered the abyss… his room. He shut the door silently, not wanting anyone to be alerted to his presence. He had been missing the majority of the day and he didn’t want to explain himself.

Neon’s room was sparsely decorated. There was a black bed and a dresser that contained his clothing. On top of the dresser was a single picture frame that housed a picture of his mother. He had closet which didn’t really have much in it… Curiously, there was a stuffed black bunny with red eyes inside of it. The single window he had in his room had bars over it; John did not trust Neon to not try and escape. The only other thing to note was the presence of stars on the ceiling. Neon was not allowed out at night so these were the closest things to real stars he could watch. Neon looked into the mirror on his dresser and found himself touching where the dagger had sliced at his left eye. “That Shadow Wielder… He has left his mark on my face.” This greatly displeased him.

After a few minutes of starring at what would probably become a scar, Neon suddenly had the distinct notion that something was mortally wrong. With a head-snapping start, he opened his door and flew down the stairs; it may have been the fastest he had ever moved in his life. What unfolded below would change his life at its very core.
John was dead; his body was on the floor in front of him, having just been killed. Neon stared at this body for several moments before it dawned on him that it had been a fresh kill which meant that the assassin was most likely still there. Not feeling even a shred of sympathy for the man, Neon quickly decided that he needed to leave because he was in mortal danger.

As Neon made his way to the front door, he noticed that something was coming up his walkway! It was some sort of robot? Could this be the killer? But why would it be outside right now… Regardless of what it was, Neon wasn’t about to take a chance. He was not a strong Darkness Human, and he was in the dark about the identity of the assassin. Neon turn around quickly and then ran for the back door. On the way, he heard a crash from the basement. Neon froze and turned his head to the stairs that led down to the abyss. Of course, this abyss was as bright as the sun to him; a Darkness Human lost in the darkness would be…pathetic.

Were there two assassins? Neon wondered whether he should leave or investigate. If the killer was down there… Neon crept down the stairs and then froze once more. Again, there was another body on the ground. This time, it was his mother… His mother was dead on the floor. Neon dropped to his knees. Could he really not be sick? Could he really maintain a state of nonfeeling? Before him was a second murder scene. He felt chilled.

Snapping back into reality, he saw the real reason why he felt chilled. An old refrigerator that they kept here in the basement was wide open. What? Was the assassin just looking for food…? Could his parents literally have been murdered over hunger?

That’s a pretty stupid line of thinking, kid. A disembodied voice whispered into Neon’s mind.

Alarmed, Neon looked around and saw nothing; yet, he could feel a presence. It was an odd presence, and it almost felt…comforting? Why would he be comforted by this feeling? He was literally standing in the same room with the murderer! Before he could ruminate on this further, he then noticed that there was something descending the stairs! It was the robot from before. Neon, thinking that the robot was probably after him now, ran and hid behind the open refrigerator door.

“Ooooh? I am most certainly sensing some type of human in here! Maybe this one won’t be deceased!” After a few seconds, it spoke again. “Oh fiddlesticks! Another dead one! Why are there so many dead ones in this house? Sheesh! So unsanitary.”

Neon could not see the robot, but it appeared that it had moved near the corpse of his mother. This was still fairly close by. He hoped that it did not notice him would leave… But this meant that the robot was not the killer, as the robot had obviously just discovered both bodies and it had not been expecting any bodies…

“What do we have here?!” The robot then said, coming right for Neon’s present location. “I think we have a live one!” It seemed to say this in a manner befitting a corny game show host. But the robot never made it to him. A sudden smashing sound was heard, followed by the refrigerator door slamming shut.

A man was standing in front of the refrigerator. He was black skinned, but he appeared to have white on his skin that either had been painted on or was… natural… in the shape of bones. Most notably, he was shirtless so his “rib cage” could be seen. In his hand was a three-bladed scythe which, incidentally, was covered in blood and dripping everywhere. He didn’t turn his head to look at Neon through his sunglasses. “You didn’t see anything, kid.” He turned and walked calmly up the stairs. He lit a cigarette as he did so.

Neon was not so shocked as to completely freeze up and not demand answers. “Stop!” He yelled, suddenly finding courage to speak.

The man stopped. “What?” He then said, sounding extremely bored.

“Who…Who the heck do you think you are?” Neon demanded. His blue eyes seemed to sharpen like daggers, ready to stab into this man. “You just killed my parents.”

“Right. Your parents.” The man replied in a dull sort of acknowledgement. “They were about to kill you. You’ll thank me later.” He shrugged his shoulders.

“Who are you?” The Darkness Human then demanded. It was no surprise that Neon did not refute the possibility of John trying to kill him. In fact, Neon had wondered why he hadn’t tried before today!

The man then smirked. “I’m no one. Forget I exist. I don’t exist.” He continued walking and then was out of the basement.

Neon rushed up the stairs, but when he got to the top, he found no trace of the man; he had disappeared completely. He did not know who the man was, he was completely sure he had never seen him before, and he did not want to meet this person again. He utterly hated the fact that this person had just made his life happier; he was now in debt to a random stranger. It was infuriating! He was also… Alone.

What was the Darkness Human to do? He couldn’t very well live on his own, and there was a possibility that there would be more of those robots that would come here to hunt him. I must leave here… permanently. But where would he go? He had no living relatives. Without thinking, he left his house and began to walk up the street in the pouring rain.

---

His aimless walking suddenly had Neon looking at the front of the box factory. Come to think of it, this place had been abandoned many years ago. For there to have been any workers in it in the first place should have told anyone that something was amiss. But no one even noticed. People can be so annoyingly stupid and unobservant. He gave a light sigh and closed his eyes. A hand then gently put itself on Neon’s right shoulder. Instantly, Neon pulled away and whirled around to face the violator of his personal space. “Don’t touch me!” He barked.

“WOW! Chill man!” Ponic had a slightly surprised expression on his face. “I see you’ve come back. Come to hunt ghosts without us? Really, you don’t need to have a personal vendetta against them. You can work with others.”

Neon glared at the Shadow Wielder and crossed his arms. “That was not my intention for returning here. I… walked here.” It appeared that Neon was unable to think up an adequate excuse in time.

Ponic raised an eyebrow. “No really? And here I thought you might have flown here! Seriously Neon. Why did you come here if not to look for clues?”

“You’re prying into my life and I don’t appreciate it!” Neon then responded, mad with Ponic. “If you absolutely must know, I don’t even know why I’m here!” He closed his eyes and looked away. “I ended up here after walking around town… My family is gone and I have nowhere to be… Where did that Light Human go? Isn’t he with you?”

“Caleb. And no, he went back home after I decided to hang out here.” Ponic then saw that Neon was trying to change the subject after dropping a bombshell. “Back up a moment! Your family is ‘gone’? What are you saying?”

Neon’s face became pained and he looked off to the side. “They’re dead. They were murdered. I wouldn’t be surprised if those ghosts were behind it. They were pretty terrible people, but at least they let me live at home. Now I can’t do that.”

Ponic’s face hardened as Neon shared what had happened, or rather, the short version of what had happened. “All dead? That… Well then we are the same.”

Neon looked up and opened his eyes. Blue stared into brown for a half of a minute. Neon finally broke the silence. “You have suffered a great loss… I can feel it. It’s there, in your mind. The whispers in my head speak of it…”

“Whispers…?” Ponic found this to be a little strange, but perhaps it was a Darkness Human thing. Or he’s crazy. Ponic thought grimly. But Neon was right. “Do you want to talk about it? It’s fine if you don’t… I’m homeless too, actually. That’s why I’m even here in this Realm. There’s nothing for me to return to.” Ponic thought for a moment. “Neon, live with me. I’ve decided to take up residence in this abandoned factory because I have no other place to call home. It’s better than nothing…”

“Here…?” Neon looked at the rundown shape of the factory. It was…actually it was better than where he lived now. This was actually a step up. “You’re a strange man, to invite someone you’ve barely known for half a day to live with you.” Neon shook his head. “It’s unbelievably stupid.” Neon then added.

“Yeah. Well I can’t say no to that face.” Ponic chuckled a bit. The two walked inside the factory, and out of the rain. “I doubt anyone will ever bother us here. It makes a nice base.”

Neon raised an eyebrow. “Base? Base for what? You aren’t still thinking you’re going to hunt down those weapons and ghosts, are you…? It’s a fool’s errand, and it’s none of your business…”

“Yes, I am!” Ponic then said, proudly. “I mean what I say and I will carry out my promise to protect people from these ghosts. It’s the least I can do with my Power.”

“Don’t expect me to help you.” The Darkness Human prefaced, “But I will take your offer to live here. I suppose I can protect the place should they attack here, but the rest is your own funeral. Don’t expect me to come save you from anywhere…”

Ponic seemed bemused and amused simultaneously. This Neon character was difficult to befriend. He appeared to continuously push him away, even when it seemed like they might make progress. Perhaps he was just a loner by nature. “Right. I’ll hold you to that.” Ponic then slowly put his hand out.

Neon eyed the hand with obvious distaste written on his face. After staring at it for several seconds, he sighed and took it in his own hand.