Chapter 1: Prisoner

EDIT: I am planning to novelize the story for all chapters, but this will be a gradual process. As of this edit, I have made these changes up through Chapter 182. Beyond that, chapters up through 638 still have script-like dialogue and other aspects of the old system. At the current number of adapted chapters, arcs 1 through 6 have been fully adapted/novelized.

EDIT 2: I have redone the beginning sections of Chapter 1. Everything prior to the "11 months later" narration is new content, other than the character descriptions for Zeth and Paul, which were moved earlier to reflect the fact they are introduced earlier. I have moved the original lore-based chapter opening down past the end of the chapter for those interested in reading it, but it's not required.

Chapter 1: Prisoner (Updated)

“Let go of me!” a teenage boy shouts, being wrestled to the metal floor.

The boy glares up at his captors. His short black hair is slightly spiked up at the front. His brown irises reflect his rebellious attitude.

“What do we have here?” a deep, gruff voice says. Two men in uniforms step aside, allowing another man to walk between them up to the boy. The middle-aged man wears a brown uniform with a hawk’s head symbol on the chest area. A brown military hat rests atop his head, with the same hawk head symbol on its front. Between his lips is a lit cigar. He takes the cigar out of his mouth, saying, “Some rambunctious brat, huh?”

“My name is Zeth,” the boy replies, gritting his teeth.

The man laughs. “I don’t really give a damn what your name is. To me, you’re just another weak Eagle Clan member.”

Zeth spits on the man’s shoes.

The man grins. “Yes, very rambunctious. As the warden here, I’ll enjoy putting you through the wringer.”

The warden turns around and walks away as he resumes smoking his cigar.

Two guards stand Zeth up, walking him forward with his hands tied behind his back. Zeth thinks, “I hope Paul is okay!”

***

The two guards force Zeth through a dim prison hallway. A third guard opens a prison cell where the two guards untie Zeth before kicking him into the cell. They close and lock the door immediately.

“Zeth!” a familiar voice shouts with relief.

Zeth sits up and sees another teenage boy, who has flat brown hair and a much leaner frame than Zeth.

Zeth smiles with relief, realizing who he is looking at. “Paul!”

“Looks like two buds ended up in the same cell,” one guard remarks.

The other guard sneers at Zeth and Paul. “Don’t get too comfortable. It won’t be long before you’re put to work.”

The two guards laugh as they walk away, echoing throughout the hallway.

“Screw those guys,” Zeth says with a sigh. “Anyway, I’m just glad we’re in the same cell.”

“I’m glad too, but our lives are basically over,” Paul laments. “The Hawk Clan despises the Eagle Clan. They’re never going to let us go.”

Zeth gazes down at the floor, his expression shifting to a deep frown.

***

One month later.

Zeth and Paul sit across from each other in their cell. They’re both wearing gray jumpsuits with an eagle head symbol in the chest area. The number 574 is on Zeth’s jumpsuit and 575 is on Paul’s jumpsuit. Their skin and clothes are covered in dirt marks. Their eyes droop with exhaustion.

“Zeth?” Paul asks.

“Yes?” Zeth responds, lifting his head to look Paul directly in his eyes.

“How do you keep your sanity?”

“What?”

“I’m asking how you keep your will to continue every day?”

“I’m not sure, to be honest. I just do it because I have no other choice. What about you?”

Even through his exhaustion, Paul manages to weakly smile as he answers. “I read this book once. It was called ‘A Gift From The Stars’.”

“What’s it about?” Zeth asks.

“You know how the yearly calendar reset 117 years ago, right?”

“Yeah, I guess so.”

“Well, the book talks about the ‘Great Chaos’ that caused the calendar to reset. It was a major war between the forces of Heaven and Hell, led by the Light Goddess and Dark Goddess respectively.”

Zeth raises an eyebrow. “Okay, but how does that help you keep your sanity?”

“I’m not finished yet. Let me continue. You see, the Light Goddess and Dark Goddess met on the battlefield in this country. After the battle, the angels returned to Heaven and the demons returned to Hell, but no one is certain how the battle ended. What gives me hope is that after the Great Chaos ended, mortals with magic powers became far more common. The book said that mortals called it a ‘blessing from beyond the stars’.”

“So, your hope is that we will randomly awaken with magic powers of our own?” Zeth asks, doubt in his eyes.

“Why would you doubt it?!” Paul exclaims. “Just before we were captured, you touched that structure at the ruins we were visiting for our class trip, and even if just for a second, your hand glowed purple.”

Zeth sighs. “My hand glowing purple for literally just one second when touching the structure just means the structure had some magic energy of its own. Clearly, I don’t have any magic energy.”

“Write it off if you want,” Paul says with a disapproving stare. “I won’t give up that hope. I’m certain that you have innate magic energy.”

“I wouldn’t get my hopes up,” Zeth replies as he leans back, closing his eyes to rest.

***

11 months later. It is May 6th, Year 118 AGC (After Great Chaos). Zeth and Paul are 17 years old.

In their prison cell, Zeth and Paul talk while focusing on the prison hallway.

“Things are getting rougher around here,” Paul says.

“Yeah, the Hawks seem anxious, like something’s troubling them,” Zeth replies.

“I’m tired of being their prisoner,” Paul mutters. “We need to find a way to escape.”

“If we tried to escape, they’d kill us,” Zeth says, shaking his head. “Or at least give us some other kind of severe punishment.”

“I’d rather die than stay here,” Paul says bitterly. “Being here… we may as well already be dead…”

“Don’t tell me you’re still holding out hope that I will awaken magic powers?”

“I still believe it, and I also believe it will awaken if we try to break out.”

Zeth sighs and shakes his head. “It’s been a full year. It’s not happening.”

A guard storms into the prison hall, dragging a battered prisoner behind him.

“You’re up for big punishment for the trouble you caused!” he barks.

“Lay off him!” Paul shouts as he grabs hold of the prison cell bars.

The guard fires his pistol at the floor in front of Paul. The loud crack echoes.

“You open your mouth again and this bullet goes right through your head!” he snarls.

He storms off, leaving Zeth and Paul brimming with silent rage. Moments later, another guard enters the hall.

“Alright, maggots, you all have work to do!” he commands.

More guards arrive and unlock the cells. The Eagle Clan prisoners shuffle out and down the corridor toward a large open area in the prison strewn with large, jagged rocks. Each prisoner is handed a pickaxe.

“Today, you’ll be harvesting the valuable metals from these rocks!” a guard announces.

Zeth and Paul move to the same boulder, beginning to chip away.

“Why are we doing this?” Paul asks.

“What choice do we have?” Zeth responds.

The guards patrol the yard, watching every swing. After a while, glimmers of shiny metal begin to peek through the stone. Zeth wipes sweat from his brow.

“Hopefully, we’re almost done,” he mutters.

Paul staggers, his strength faltering, and drops to his knees.

“I’m not strong like you,” he says weakly, taking heavy breaths. “I can’t keep doing this.”

“You have to! If they see you stopping…” Zeth warns.

“I know. I’ll be punished,” Paul says, gasping. “But I can’t keep going…”

A guard notices Paul and stomps toward them.

“Get back to work!” he yells.

“I can’t,” Paul says. “I’m too tired.”

“This is your last warning!”

“…I can’t.”

Furious, the guard grabs Paul by the neck.

“No!! Punish me in his place!” Zeth begs.

The guard kicks Zeth to the ground and drags Paul away. Zeth’s eyes fill with tears.

“What is this world we live in!?” he shouts.

The other prisoners stare at him as they continue picking away, their expressions sad, but also hopeless.

Tears falling, Zeth picks up his tool, and resumes work. Eventually, he fully unearths the precious metals from the rock. Guards collect the materials. Zeth collapses to his knees, still crying.

He hears a woman’s voice in his mind. “Follow the light in your heart.”

He looks up and sees a shimmering figure, a tall woman with flowing blonde hair and an angelic white dress. She flickers like a mirage.

“Who?” Zeth whispers.

He rubs his eyes, and the vision vanishes.

“Am I seeing things? Who was that?”

Soon, the work is finished. All the metals are quickly harvested by the guards.

“Alright, you scum, you’re done! Report to the cafeteria for your meal!” a guard announces.

“Follow the light in my heart…” Zeth says to himself quietly. “I don’t know what that means exactly, but I’m thinking I should save my friend.”

He starts walking, exiting the large open area.

“Hang on, Paul,” he murmurs. “I’m coming to save you… and then we’ll get the hell out of here… Just like you wanted.”

***

Instead of reporting to the cafeteria, Zeth heads toward the punishment area. As he gets closer, he starts peeking around corners. Oddly, there aren’t many guards near the punishment area.

He peeks through windows in various rooms, looking for Paul. Some of the prisoners he sees being punished are stripped and beaten with a spiked club. He tears up at the sight, whispering to himself, “I’m sorry. I wish there was something I could do.”

Finally, he finds the room where Paul is kept. At the moment, there are no guards, so he slips inside. Paul is still clothed but has various injuries on his head.

Zeth rushes to him. “Paul, what have they done to you?”

Paul turns to him, his voice weak. “Zeth? They’ve been beating me across the head repeatedly and calling me worthless garbage.”

Zeth’s voice is resolute. “We’re getting out of here. Come on.”

Paul hesitates. “You’ve decided to escape now?”

Zeth nods firmly. “I have. Let’s go.”

Paul slowly gets off the table he’s been placed on. His eyes widen with concern. “The guards will be back soon. They’ll notice I’m gone and put the whole prison on alert.”

Zeth glances at the door. “We’ll just have to get out before then.”

They leave the room and start running.

***

Elsewhere in the prison, a massive explosion rattles the guards.

A male guard shouts, “What the hell was that?!”

More explosions start happening across the prison, partially or fully destroying entire rooms.

***

In the area where the first explosion happened, guards see a figure walking through the flames caused by the explosion. The warden’s corpse lies at the figure’s feet. With the person’s face partially obscured by smoke, only the bottom half of his face is visible, his wicked smile apparent to the guards.

***

Zeth and Paul continue running through the prison as the explosions echo all around.

Paul yells over the noise, “What is going on here?!”

Zeth shakes his head. “I don’t know, but it gives us a good chance to escape!”

They enter a large room filled with guards and prisoners. The lights flicker and fires burn throughout the room. They continue running through the chaos as explosions kill both guards and prisoners alike. After several minutes, they are near the exit but run into a group of guards.

Zeth successfully dodges past them, but Paul is caught.

“Go on without me, Zeth!” Paul shouts. “At least one of us should make it out!”

Zeth grits his teeth. “I can’t leave you!”

Paul looks at him urgently. “Just go!!!”

Zeth’s heart sinks as he processes Paul’s words, shouting back, “There’s no way I’m leaving you behind!!”

Paul screams, “Zeth, you have to live!!!”

An explosion rocks the room, killing Paul and the guards in a fiery blast. Their bodies burn, completely lifeless.

Zeth’s eyes widen in horror as he watches Paul’s scorched body. He falls to his knees, tears streaming down his face.

“Noooo!!!!!!” he screams.

Zeth stands, wiping his tears away, and begins to run. As he does, he encounters another guard.

His voice is hoarse. “Get out of my way!!!”

He charges at the guard. As he does, his fist and arm begin to glow with a purple hue. He punches the guard, sending him flying into a wall.

Zeth looks at his arm in awe. As he gazes at it, Paul’s words from 11 months ago echo in his mind. “I won’t give up that hope. I’m certain that you have innate magic energy.”

“Could this really be…?” Zeth wonders, his voice trailing off.

Another explosion shakes the ground around him.

He shakes his head, determination returning. “I’ll figure it out later! I need to escape!”

He resumes running for the exit. He turns a corner, seeing daylight at the other end.

“There it is!” he shouts.

He reaches the exit of the prison and stumbles outside as the explosions continue. But just as he gets outside, he’s kicked from the side and knocked onto his back. He rubs his right arm and looks up.

A male guard wearing a hat that says MG stands before him.

“Are you responsible for the ongoing destruction of our prison?!” the guard snarls.

Zeth looks up at him, wide-eyed. “No! I didn’t do anything!”

The guard smirks. “Yeah, right! You wouldn’t be out here otherwise! As a member of the Hawk Clan Magic Guard, I will execute you!”

A green aura surrounds the guard. He raises his hand, fingers pointed toward Zeth. Green magic spikes shoot out of his fingers. Zeth rolls out of the way just in time to dodge them.

Zeth stands and shouts, “I told you I didn’t do this!!”

Zeth rushes toward the guard, but more green needles shoot at him. Zeth’s left arm is enveloped with a purple aura, and he swats the spikes away.

The guard opens his eyes wide, stunned at what Zeth just did.

The guard yells, “That’s magic! I knew it! You really are responsible!”

Zeth gets close to the guard and tries to punch him. The guard sidesteps to dodge. Zeth tries again, but the guard takes a step back, dodging again. Zeth throws another punch, and this time, the guard blocks with his arms.

The guard counters with a powerful punch, sending Zeth crashing to the ground. Immediately, the guard shoots more spikes, and they pierce Zeth’s abdomen.

Zeth cries out in pain, gasping, “Gah!! It hurts!”

The guard begins to form a large magic spike in his right hand. He sneers, “This will pierce your heart! Your life is over!”

“No!!!” Zeth shouts, defiance burning in his eyes.

The guard throws the spike. At the same time, Zeth thrusts his left hand forward, and suddenly, a star-shaped burst of energy flies from his palm. The star collides with and destroys the spike before continuing toward the guard.

The guard’s eyes and mouth open wide in terror. “What!!?”

The star hits the guard, erupting in an explosion.

Zeth looks at his hand, completely stunned by what he just did.

The guard’s body is left with significant injuries, and he falls on his back, dying.

“Beaten by lowly… Eagle Clan… scum…” the guard mumbles as he takes his last breath.

The guard’s eyes close, and he dies.

Zeth stares at the guard, still stunned. “How… did I do that?”

More explosions erupt within the prison, destroying more of it.

“Oh no! I need to get away fast!!”

Zeth quickly stands up and starts running, holding on to his abdomen in pain as he runs. He escapes over the hills. Once he reaches the top of the hill, he looks back at the prison.

“Did others escape? Are all of the prisoners dying along with the Hawk Clan guards?” Zeth mutters with concern. “It’s sickening that the Hawk Clan is full of horrible people bent on destroying the Eagle Clan.”

As he looks on, Paul flashes in his mind, the memory of his friend being etched into him.

“Thank you, my friend…” Zeth whispers.

Zeth looks at the purple aura covering his arm, proof that he cannot go back to being the defenseless person he was before. “So, magic, huh? Paul, it looks like you were right all along.”

With a few more massive explosions, the whole prison is finally destroyed. Zeth turns around and walks away, leaving behind the smoldering wreckage of the prison with a sharp gaze forward.

“I don’t know what life has in store for me from here on out, but I’m not going to sit idly by. I’m going to tackle it head-on!”

Zeth is now free from the Hawk Clan prison, but he lost a close friend in the process. With new powers awakened, he moves on, starting a life-changing journey.

Chapter 1 END

To be Continued in Chapter 2: Three Travelers

****************************************************************************

Below is the original lore-based beginning of Chapter 1. I went with a lore-based opening because that's how many battle shonens start. It goes over the Great Chaos and shows the battle between the Light Goddess and Dark Goddess in that war. As previously stated, this isn't required reading. Read it if you want to see how the chapter originally opened.

118 years ago, the planet of Earth was in the middle of a catastrophic event that came to be known as the “Great Chaos.” Earth became the battlefield for a great war between Heaven and Hell, with the angels of Heaven and the demons of Hell clashing for years. Heaven was led by the Light Goddess, Harmona. Hell was led by the Dark Goddess, Dakame. While this war affected the entire world, the center of this clash was on the island country the size of a continent known as Harmone. As the Great Chaos was nearing its end, Harmona and Dakame met on the battlefield for a fight to the death.

Harmona and Dakame face off in a damaged city. Harmona stands seven feet tall, with straight blonde hair that falls to her mid-back and piercing green eyes. She is wearing a war dress, gold in color and outlined with lightweight ruby-red metal strands. The uniform is sleeveless. She wears a headpiece resembling a crown on her forehead. The golden crown bears a star-shaped ruby at the front and features four upward prongs, two in front and one on each side. 

Dakame is also seven feet tall. Her straight black hair flows down to her lower back, and her eyes are solid black with glowing red irises. She is wearing a gray war dress, with blood-red energy lines running throughout it. It is sleeveless. Harmona and Dakame both have a good number of battle wounds on their bodies.

Dakame smirks. "You’ve been a thorn in my side long enough, Harmona.”

A red-colored aura appears around Dakame, and then a mass number of black raindrops appear around her. Dakame thrusts her right arm forward, and the black raindrops shoot out straight toward Harmona.

"Die, Harmona!" Dakame shouts.

Harmona crosses her arms in front of her face and guards herself as the barrage of black raindrops hits her, each drop damaging her and creating more wounds. Soon, the barrage ends, and Harmona lowers her arms, but a gold aura surrounds her.

"This isn’t over!" Harmona declares.

A bunch of small meteors form around Harmona, and then she thrusts her left arm forward.

"I will end your terror!" Harmona cries out.

The small meteors shoot toward Dakame, and she tries to dodge them but fails to dodge all of them and takes a beating from a few. However, she grabs hold of the last one and charges her energy up. She then throws the last meteor back at Harmona.

Harmona smiles with confidence. "You can’t hit me with my own attack.”

She holds her left arm out, ready to stop the attack with her hand.

Dakame smirks. "Who said that was my plan?"

Harmona opens her eyes wide in shock as a ball of black energy bursts out from the meteor, hits the ground right in front of her, and explodes. From the black explosion, moans of the damned can be heard. The explosion destroys the city buildings nearby.

When the explosion clears, Harmona emerges, but she has taken a lot of damage and has bleeding wounds all over. She is unable to react in time as Dakame gets in close and punches her hard in the face, knocking her back into a building. The impact causes it to collapse.

"Face it. You can’t defeat me. Your era is about to come to an end, and then my era will begin!" Dakame declares.

Some rubble of the destroyed building starts to be pushed to the side as Harmona emerges, rising to her feet and breathing heavily.

Huff, huff. “My era won’t end until I finally take you down. Once that happens, I will gladly welcome in the New Era," Harmona says.

"Cheap words when you look like you’re on your last breath," Dakame replies.

Dakame smirks. "Maybe you should unleash the beast again," she taunts.

Gritting her teeth, Harmona narrows her eyes with fury. "Never again!" she snaps.

Harmona charges up her energy again and then starts rushing toward Dakame. Dakame does the same and charges toward Harmona.

"Dakame!!" Harmona yells.

"Harmona!!" Dakame shouts.

They each try to punch each other, but their fists collide. Neither of them is pushed back, but the colliding punches send out a shockwave that causes more surrounding damage.

Soon after this battle, the Great Chaos came to an end. The angels returned to Heaven and the demons returned to Hell. How Harmona’s and Dakame’s battle ended remains a mystery to the mortal population, but it is believed that both of them are still alive. The Great Chaos was such a catastrophic event that a new yearly calendar started and continued as Year 1 AGC (After Great Chaos). Following the Great Chaos, mortals with magic powers started becoming far more common. Mortals came to call this a “Blessing from Beyond The Stars.” But this story does not start immediately after the end of the Great Chaos. We now jump ahead to Year 118 AGC.