Chapter Three - Or So I Thought.

The next day, Hiro would be sitting at his desk at school. The teacher would walk into the room and look over at Hiro with a glare. Hiro didn’t notice as he was staring out the window to his left.

“Good morning class.” The teacher said,

“Good morning sir!” Some students said in unison.

“Alright, time to get ready for class everyone.” The teacher said, everyone stood up, including Hiro. Hiro looked at the teacher and his eyes widened. The teacher had some kind of dark purple aura around him.

“What the hell…?” Hiro internalized. Hiro then felt a shiver down his spine.

“Why do I feel like I’m being…” He looked to his left, seeing another student staring at him. It was a young man in the same year as Hiro. He had black hair with a 70/30 parted leaf perm.

“… Watched…” Hiro internalized. Hiro closed his eyes, shaking his head. Once he opened his eyes, he looked back at the teacher and everything was back to normal.

“I just got an announcement from the school that the gymnasium is off limits, so please… Don’t enter the gym under any circumstance.” The Teacher said. Hiro looked at the teacher, raising a brow.

“Now, everyone, get out your books and we’ll go over last night’s homework.” The teacher said, Hiro sat back down, putting his hands in his bag to grab his book.

He looked back over at the student who was looking at him and was looking down at his book on his desk. Hiro shook his head, pulling out his book and opening it.

A few hours later, Hiro would walk out of the classroom down the hall as the bell rang. Hiro walked down the hallway looking around.

“I’m gonna go check out the gym…” Hiro internalized. He began jogging slowly down the hall until he reached the stairwell door. He quickly descended down the stairs until he reached the first floor of the school. He walked out the door, looking around to see if anyone was following. He then quickly sprinted over to the gymnasium but he suddenly appeared in front of the gym doors as if he had teleported a short distance. He looked around confused,

“What the hell was that?” Hiro murmured. He shrugged, turning the handle to open the gym door. Though the door was locked.

“Shit…” Hiro internalized. He sighed, looking to his left and seeing the hole that was made during his battle with the demon that was covered by caution tape. Hiro sighed,

“Okay then…” Hiro said. He started walking backward from the door slowly. He then started sprinting toward the gym doors from the opposite side of the hall. He then appeared laying down in the gym similar to what happened earlier.

“Ouch…” He slowly stood up, wiping off his shoulders.

“What the hell is happening…?” Hiro thought to himself. He then felt a shiver down his spine making him shake. He then looked behind him seeing some kind of purple glowing crystal with the same dark purple energy that was flowing around his first hour teacher. Hiro stood up walking toward the crystal.

“What the hell is that-”

“Stop moving.” Said the voice of a young man. Hiro stood still looking behind him. It was the student from earlier holding a pistol. Hiro’s eyes widened,

“I-IS THAT A-”

“Shut up. Are you stupid or something?” The boy said. Hiro raised a brow,

“You’re the one pointing a fucking gun at me.” Hiro said. The boy sighed,

“Your energy… It’s weird…”

“Give me one good reason why I shouldn’t shoot you where you stand.” The boy said. Hiro looked shocked,

“I-I was just trying to see what this was…” Hiro said. The boy raised a brow,

“You didn’t put that there?” He asked. Hiro shook his head,

“No, obviously not!” Hiro said.

“Another thing, how do you know how to Leiwen?” The boy asked. Hiro raised a brow,

“Leiwen?” Hiro asked. The boy looked confused,

“Do you not even know how to use your own Mana?” The boy asked. Hiro shook his head,

“It’s my first time having Mana!” Hiro said. The boy blinked,

“What… That doesn’t make sense…” The boy said. Hiro looked at him somewhat sternly.

“That can’t be possible, if you have Mana you had to be born with it to use it.” The boy said. Hiro looked at him in confusion,

“Then that means…”

“That mana isn’t your own.” The boy said. Hiro looked extremely confused,

“W-What the hell are you talking about… Anyways, can you put the gun down and tell me what this thing is…?” Hiro asked. The boy looked at the purple crystals, raising a brow.

“I don’t know what that is, my Sensei hasn’t taught me about those.” He said. Hiro looked confused,

“Your sensei?” Hiro asked. The boy sighed,

“Forget about it, we’ll meet up with her later…” The boy said. Hiro sighed,

“Dude, I don’t even know your name and you expect me to meet up with you later…?” Hiro said. The boy blinked,

“We’ve been in the same class for nearly half a year and you don’t know my name?” The boy asked. Hiro nodded. The boy sighed,

“My name’s Park Jin-Ho.” Jin-Ho said. Hiro looked surprised,

“You’re Korean?” Hiro asked. Jin-Ho blinked,

“Yeah… What of it…?” Jin-Ho said, with a somewhat angered look. Hiro smiled,

“Sorry… I was just asking...” Hiro said, backing off slightly. Jin-Ho closed his eyes and exhaled slowly, walking toward the exit. He then opened his eyes and the pistol faded from his hands with a dark blue thick smoke.

“Come on, do you want to get caught by teachers for being in here?” Jin-Ho said. Hiro quickly followed,

“Nope, I’ve been in the teachers office too many times the last few weeks…” Hiro said. Jin-Ho, raised a brow, sighing.

“You’ve been gaining some rumors…” Jin-Ho said. Hiro shrugged,

“Who cares, it's just some stupid teenagers saying stuff-”

“- Throughout Eternaxis.” Jin-Ho said. Hiro looked confused,

“Eternaxis? What the hell is that?” Hiro asked.

“Wow, okay so then you really do have somebody else’ Mana.” Jin-Ho said. Hiro sighed,

“Man, can you just tell me what the hell Eternaxis is??” Hiro asked. Jin-Ho shook his head,

“My Sensei will tell you when we meet up with her, it’s stupid to speak about outloud.” Jin-Ho said. Hiro looked confused,

“Why can’t we just meet her now?” Hiro asked.

“Are you an idiot? We can’t just leave school.” Jin-Ho said.

“Why not, you never ditched?” Hiro asked.

“Oh my god you are a horrible student.” Jin-Ho said. Suddenly, the bell began ringing.

“Meetup behind the convenience store after school, got it?” Jin-Ho said. Hiro looked surprised,

“Oh, uh, okay…?” Hiro said.

A few hours later, Hiro would walk into his bedroom, putting his backpack onto the ground against the wall. He would change out of his new school uniform, putting a white t-shirt on and a black jacket with black pants with pockets. He would walk out of his bedroom, closing the door behind him. Lyra would walk out of the guest bedroom wearing one of Hiro’s baggy white graphic t-shirts with the main character of some anime and pajama pants.

“Greetings, how was school?” Lyra asked. Hiro shrugged,

“Abnormal.” Hiro said. Lyra looked confused,

“I met another person with Mana.” Hiro said. Lyra looked surprised,

“Who!? Was it a demon!?” Lyra asked, though a little too loudly. Hiro covered her mouth,

“Sh!” Hiro put a finger over his mouth.

“Remember, you don’t speak Japanese…” Hiro whispered. Lyra nodded. Hiro removed his hand from her mouth, sighing.

“N-No, he was another human being I think…” Hiro said. Lyra nodded. Suddenly, there was a knock on the door downstairs. Hiro looked surprised,

“Go back into your room.” Hiro said. Lyra raised a brow.

“What? Why?” Lyra asked. Hiro sighed,

“Just… Do it..” Hiro said. Lyra nodded,

“Understood…” Lyra said. She walked back into the guest bedroom, closing the door behind herself. Hiro then walked downstairs to the front door, opening it.

“May I help you…-” Hiro looked up seeing a young woman that looked to be in her early 30s who was about 5 '11. She had long blonde hair and a scar vertically on her left eye.

“Are you Hiro Uyehara?” She said and had a somewhat deeper voice which was slightly intimidating.

“Is your father home?” She asked. Hiro looked surprised,

“Who are you? how do you know my name and that I have a father?” Hiro asked. She looked annoyed,

“Is he?” She asked.

“Why is that important?-” Hiro asked.

“Tch…” She moved Hiro out of the way, walking into the house. Hiro looked angry,

“H-Hey, get out of my house!” Hiro said. Just then, Jin-Ho walked in.

“Hello, Hiro.” Jin-Ho said.

“H-How do you know where I live??” Hiro asked. Jin-Ho blinked.

“Is that a serious question? If not, I’m not entertaining that…” Jin-Ho said. The woman walked upstairs, toward the guest bedroom.

“H-Hey!” Hiro shouted, following her up the stairs. The woman opened the door, seeing Lyra.

“Princess Fournier!” The woman said. Lyra looked surprised,

“Ms. Vaelith!?” Lyra said. Lyra stood up, walking over to Vaelith.

“Greetings, your highness, we just learned of your location just now, you must come with us…” Vaelith. Hiro walked in the room,

“Hey, I didn’t say you could come in!”

“What’re you doing to Lyra!?” Hiro asked. Vaelith looked back at Hiro,

“My name is Former Royal Knight Cassandra Vaellith, lower your tone when you speak to me…”

“… Vessel of Ryuji…” Cassandra said. Hiro looked surprised,

“What? How’d you know that?!” Hiro asked.

“I used to be an ally of Ryuji’s…” Cassandra said. Hiro looked shocked,

“W-Wait, you know Ryuji!?” Hiro said. Cassandra nodded,

“Regrettably so…” Cassandra sighed. Hiro raised a brow,

“Regrettably?” Hiro asked.

“You don’t know?” Cassandra said.

“No… Not really…” Hiro said. Cassandra looked back at Lyra.

“It’s too soon for me…” Lyra said. Cassandra sighed, looking back at Hiro.

“So basically, Lyra is here because something bad happened in the Aetheris realm of Eternaxis…” Cassandra began explaining.

“H-Hold on, what the hell is Eternaxis??” Hiro asked. Cassandra looked surprised,

“You can’t even explain to him what Eternaxis is?” Cassandra asked Lyra.

“I apologize, but if I speak about anything related to home, it all comes back to me.” Lyra explained. Cassandra groaned,

“Guh, Teenagers…”

“Anyways, Eternaxis is what we consider the space of all things…” Cassandra continued.

“There are Seven known dimensions within Eternaxis.”

“KNOWN!!??” Hiro shouted.

“Shh!” Cassandra slapped Hiro. Hiro fell on the ground with a bruise on his cheek. Lyra looked shocked,

“Stupid Brat…” Cassandra said.

Suddenly, the mark on Hiro’s cheek began to burn in black frames with a thick red outline. The flames then vanished, same with the mark. Suddenly, Hiro got up with his eyes closed. As he slowly opened his eyes which were now a dark red instead of their normal brown, his hair transformed colors to a dark red as well.

“Hello, Cassandra…” Ryuji said. Cassandra glared at Ryuji.

“So… You’re capable of taking over this brat’s body…?” Cassandra asked. Ryuji nodded,

“And more… Though, I can only control his body for a limited amount of time…”

“… Unless he finds my second blade…” Ryuji finished.

“And where would that be…?” Cassandra asked. Ryuji looked surprised,

“So you are saying you want me to take over this brat?” Ryuji asked. Cassandra chuckled,

“Sure, and then I’ll kill him to get rid of your soul permanently…” Cassandra said. Ryuji chuckled which slowly turned into a maniacal laugh,

“Well then… You were always a good knight Cassandra… But too good, and you know he didn’t like that…” Ryuji said.

“Cyrus was insane… He was from the start but when the king realized… His fate was sealed…”

“Maybe things would be different if none of you got infected with that virus…” Cassandra finished. Ryuji laughed,

“Really? You’re still stubborn enough to believe that was just a natural Virus?” Ryuji said. Cassandra’s eyebrows burrowed in anger,

“Don’t say it…” Cassandra threatened.

“Or what…!?” Ryuji chuckled,

“You gonna kill me!? I’ll just revive into another brat’s body!”

“Maybe even the princess…-”

“You wouldn’t dare!” Cassandra said.

“Then keeping the brat alive it is…”

“That Virus didn’t infect us… It cured us…” Ryuji looked over at Lyra.

“Cured us from obeying the orders, your snob of a father would give us!” He shouted at Lyra.

“Then you side with Cyrus?” Cassandra asked. Ryuji chuckled,

“Of course not, Cyrus is a dictator who would treat us the same way as King Fournier…”

“… No, see I side with none of you… I side with him…”

“When you say him, you don’t mean-”

“You know EXACTLY who I mean.”

“The boy prodigy who was said to be the next king…”

“He can’t be trusted… And you know that…” Cassandra said.

“Well… By seeing the recent events of his little clique says otherwise…” Ryuji said. Cassandra exhaled,

“It’s time you give the brat his body back…” Cassandra said. Ryuji smirked,

“I think I will… But next time we meet… I’ll be in my own body…” Ryuji said. Cassandra scoffed,

“We’ll see…” Cassandra said. Ryuji looked Cassandra in the eyes, smiling. He then closed his eyes and Hiro returned back to normal.

“God… That's so annoying…” Hiro scratched the back of his head.

“Anyways… Continue…” Hiro said. Cassandra looked at Hiro, sighing.

“That’s for another day…”

“By the way… I’ll be taking Lyra with me, she’s under better care with me…” Cassandra said.

“W-What!? No!” Hiro said.

“This isn’t up for debate, Hiro.” Cassandra said.

“I never said you could call me Hiro! Call me Uyehara!” Hiro said. Cassandra looked pissed,

“I’ll be calling you what I want… Hiro...” Cassandra said, sternly.

“Grab your things, your highness… We’re going…”

“But…-”

“-But!? You expect this teenage boy with no combat experience to protect you!?” Cassandra asked in frustration. Lyra looked shocked, shaking her head.

“Exactly, now grab your things and let’s go…” Cassandra said. Jin-Ho looked at Hiro blankly before following Cassandra out of the bedroom. Cassandra walked downstairs over into the kitchen, opening the fridge.

“Who has no goddamn beer in their fridge?” Cassandra said. Jin-Ho walked over,

“They own a convenience store downstairs, there’s some there.” Jin-Ho said.

“Cold?” Cassandra asked. Jin-Ho shrugged,

“Probably.” Jin-Ho said.

Meanwhile, upstairs, Lyra would be packing up some extra clothes she got into a duffle bag Hiro gave her.

“Do you really want to go?” Hiro asked. Lyra didn’t respond.

“C’mon… Be honest…” Hiro said. Lyra sighed,

“She was right… You have no combat experience…” Lyra said. Hiro sighed,

“That’s true but like… I just saw signs of my Mana today at school…” Hiro said. Lyra sighed,

“Ryuji’s mana, and do you think you can control that?” Lyra asked. Hiro sighed,

“I mean, I dunno, I can always train…” Hiro said. Lyra sighed,

“I’m sorry Hiro… She was right… It was nice knowing you though…” Lyra said. She zipped up the duffle bag, walking out of the guest room. Hiro followed her down the stairs.

“We’re leaving now.” Cassandra said. The three then walked over to the front door, opening it. They then walked out, walking down the stairs. They continued by walking down the street as the sun set. Hiro walked out of the house, down the stairs and watching them walk away. He sighed, looking back at the house.