Okay, I guess I lied about the whole thing being edited by this week. As of now, I only have a newly written prologue and the first chapter done. Keep in mind I did combine a bunch of chapters, so Chapter one is like eight pages now. But still, that’s no excuse.
Anyway, as a peace offering, I did finish Chapter 3. The only problem is that it’s edited in word and not formatted for MMOTales, because I was planning to put it directly in with everything I have so far. Since I’m much too lazy to do the actual work of MMOTaleifying it, I uploaded it to MegaUpload. You can download it here.

Chapter 3

If you’re too lazy to download, I’ll copy and paste exactly what I have written in the document onto here. But I’m giving you a fair waring, I have no idea what it’s going to look like or if you will even be able to understand it, since I used indentations instead of lines to separate the paragraphs… you know, like in any normal piece of literature. Also, I replaced the {…} of Echo’s mind talking to italics, so that wont be reflected in this either. It’s strongly recommended you download the link and like this blog.

Well, here it goes

To me, it seemed like only an instant. My eyes slowly flickered open. I was staring up at a grey sky. Gloomy waves of billowing clouds danced around the heavens. A sudden noise broke me out of my trance. I sat up slowly to find Demitri staring at me. He was breathing heavier than normal, and his hair was completely disheveled. Under closer inspection, his clothes were tattered and he had several cuts and bruises.
“What happened?” That’s what I wanted to say, but my body wouldn’t cooperate. My tongue lagged behind the syllables to produce a growling and yawning sound. He flinched a bit as I spoke.
“Hans would like to speak with you.” He was acting like I’ve never seen before. His movements were agitated, and he kept looking around, like he was trying to escape. I tried to say something else, but I was still unintelligible. Demitri looked at me one last time before summoning his shadow to carry him to an unknown destination. I turned to look at him, and collapsed into a deep slumber.

—

I woke up again in what seemed like minutes. Yian was lying down next to my head, gazing at something with expressionless eyes.
<You’re up.> His thoughts were extremely distracted, cold and distant.
I see that.
I sat up to an upright position. I happened to notice Fye’s necklace back in its original position.
I could have sworn… the memory of being stabbed through the chest echoed through my head. I grimaced and clutched my torso. Oddly enough, there was no scar.
<We have to go.>
Go… where?
<To see Hans.>
He got up and I struggled onto his back. I still wasn’t at one hundred percent, but it would have to do. He turned around, slowly at first. It took a while, but soon my mind was almost at normal levels. I surveyed the area, but, there was nothing there that looked familiar.
Where are we?
Yian didn’t answer me; instead he lifted his powerful wings and launched off into the fog. It turns out we were a few miles out from the island the school’s on. He reached the familiar soil and touched down, immediately switching over to a trot. He remained oddly focused, until we reached the school wall; or at least what used to be the school wall. In it stead, was a gaping hole, about three men high and wide. As we neared, Yian’s heart rate increased, and his breathing became irregular.
What’s wrong? What happened here?
Yian tensed, but he ignored me. He flew around the hole and back to the front gate. I rummaged through my pockets and got my card, which allowed us entry into the facility. I was confused as to why we didn’t enter through the gaping hole, but I’m sure Yian had his reasons.
I rode on his back all the way to the main entrance.
I think I should go on alone.
I didn’t have to tell him twice. Without saying a word, Yian took off into the skies and out of sight, somewhere in the direction whence we came. I pushed open the door and slowly walked through the halls; however, something was different. All of the students looked scared, and stressed. As I walked past, there were nervous whispers interchanged between the students; some even turned and ran. What could have happened to make these kids so afraid?
I reached Han’s office and knocked on the door. I could hear him rustling around inside, before yelling out to come in. When I walked inside, everything looked just like it did the last time I was there. He looked tired, but composed.
“Come in, have a seat.” His voice was unaffected. I sat down on one of the mats on the floor. He sat there for over ten minutes, just staring at me.
“Did you… want something?”
“You really have no recollection…”
“No sir.” This didn’t feel like the time to be joking. His eyes were soulless.
“Kiel… is dead. You killed him.”
“What?” There was no way. The last thing I remember is him stabbing me. I should be dead, not him.
“I don’t know how to be anymore clear. His body’s still there, on the floor. It’s pulsing with so much destructive energy we couldn’t even move it.”
“What… no… that’s impossible… he was going to kill… I didn’t… I couldn’t…” I was up and backing towards the door. My head was spinning. I know I didn’t, I couldn’t. I would never kill a student…
“The pendant, Echo. You lost control. You jumped on him, ripping him to shreds with your bare hands and teeth….”
He continued talking, but I couldn’t hear him. I was already running through the halls, pushing past the crowds of students that didn’t move. I had to get away… no, I had to clear my name. I found myself in front of Demitri and I’s training room. I collapsed against the door and slumped to the floor. I couldn’t bear to look, not yet.
<It’s the truth.> Yian’s voice was as cold as ever.
No…
<Yes! I was there, Echo. I saw the whole thing.>
But…
<When all that energy flooded into your body, it completely displaced your consciousness. I struggled to hold onto it and your body at the same time. I saw everything through your eyes, Echo.>
His memories flooded into my head. Talking about it must have released some mental barrier he put in place to protect me. I saw Kiel’s body being tossed into the air, like a rag doll. Two sharp, black, claws snatched the body out of the air and slammed it to the floor. Kiel screamed out in agony as they ripped into his shoulders, tearing out chunks of flesh. The view zoomed in a little and shifted up slightly, right before snapping back down. A huge piece of skin and clothing was ripped from the body, and tossed upwards. The claws kept working their perverse task. Kiel’s body lurched in pain. Surges of black energy pulsed through the body and the claws did their work, dissolving the body from the inside out. The memory faded away. The mental block was back in place.
I had to see for myself. I jumped to my feet and fumbled around for my card.
<No, don’t…>
But it was too late. I swung open the door, and froze at the sight. Kiel’s body was ripped in two. Chunks of flesh and clothing littered the room. Blood coated everything in the room. I felt something squish as I took a step backwards. I looked down, only to find a blood soaked tuft of hair under my shoe. I couldn’t scream, I couldn’t move, I couldn’t do anything. Blood tickled out of the room and into the hall.
I felt a hand on my shoulder. It momentarily snapped me out of my trance, just enough to take control of my motor functions. I turned to face the person behind me. It was a girl, someone I’d never seen before. She wore a red sweatshirt over a black, long sleeve t-shirt, and red sweatpants with a while stripe on either side of her body. Her hair was grey and stretched down to her heels, only interrupted by the long, thin, black and red, maple leaf decorated spear strapped around her back. She had the red eyes of an adept, red, empathetic eyes.
“I… I didn’t mean to kill him…” I stammered, not knowing why I was opening up to her.
“I know… I know.” She said in a melodic and comforting voice. She walked towards me, and pulled me into a deep embrace. I buried my head in her shoulder, and cried.

—

Strangely, I woke up in an extremely conferrable bed. The pillows were white and seemed to be made of silk and eagle down. The blankets were also white, delicate, but warm; they made me want to sleep forever.
I fought against the sleep and sat up, exaggerating my yawn. It’s odd that I don’t even question it anymore when I wake up in strange places. The room was a nice change from the dreary grey of the school building. The walls were painted bright blue. The curtains were the same white color as the bed. There was a dresser, and mirror, but not much else, besides a single lamp in the corner near the bed.
The sound of running water was coming through the door to the next room. It didn’t occur to me that the room actually belonged to anyone…
I looked around and saw a spear with a long blade, protruding from a maple leaf shaped guard, at the top of a long black and red hilt. The spear looked so familiar, although I just couldn’t put my finger on whom it belonged to.
Suddenly, I became aware of the fact I wasn’t wearing a shirt. I hopped out of bed and stretched for a bit, before I began to look around.
“Oh!” A melodious voice exclaimed. I swiveled around to find a girl standing there, hair dripping wet. The only thing covering her body was a beige towel, which matched the color of her skin extremely well.
I remembered now. It was the girl I met the night before. I blushed and averted my eyes, slowly.
“I didn’t mean to startle you.” I blurted out. I was feeling funny inside. I wanted to look, but I knew I shouldn’t.
“It’s okay… really. I just didn’t expect you up so soon.” I heard some drawers open and some rustling around. I began to calm down, but the moment was still awkward. I turned to look at her. She was busy drying her hair in the mirror. It danced around her body, enticing me with its rhythmic movement.
“You…” I began, but I couldn’t get the words out.
“What?” She turned from the mirror to face me. She had a cute, quizzical look on her face.
“You look stunning. With your hair like that… I mean.” I was sitting down now. I fumbled around with one of the pillows. She blushed and looked back into the mirror.
“Thank you.” Her voice was a little uneven. There was a long silence. She stopped drying her hair.
“Um… I have to get dressed now.” Any feeling of security I had before completely disappeared. My face turned a deep shade of red, and I instantly spun around.
“Right, right.” I made sure to listen more intently than usual. I could hear her towel drop to the floor, and the slight scratching sound and she slowly put on her selected clothing. Out of respect I retracted my mind, so I couldn’t see what she was doing.
“Okay.”
I turned around, still blushing. She was wearing an outfit similar to the one she had on yesterday. She jumped onto the bed and sat down cross legged, facing me.
“While you do look good, you may want to put your shirt back on; it’s cold outside. It’s over there.”
She gestured over to her dresser. My shirt was sitting on top, freshly washed and ironed. I carefully pulled it around my shoulders and buttoned it up. It was nice and warm.
“Hey… thanks.” It was difficult to speak coherently. I’d never felt this way before.
“No problem.”
She was silent for a while.
“Come, sit.”
She patted the bed next to her. I eagerly walked over and sat next to her. We sat that way for a while.
“I never got to tell you, thank you… for being there for me.” She looked at me with a surprised expression.
“No problem…”
“I don’t even know your name.”
“It’s Reina.” She grinned.
“That’s a beautiful name.” She blushed. “I’m Echo.”
“Well that’s an unusual name. Where did it come from?”
“I’m not sure.”
“You never talked to your parents about it?”
“I don’t know my parents.” She looked surprised, and hurt.
“I’m… I’m sorry.” I looked at her quizzically.
“There’s nothing to be sorry about. You didn’t have anything to do with it. And besides, I didn’t know them to begin with. There’s nothing to miss.”
I smiled, and she smiled cautiously back at me.
“So what about you, why don’t you live in a dorm like the rest of us?” She laughed.
“I’m not really a student here. I came when I was five, when the threat was first recognized. They were desperate for as much help as they could get. When they discovered I was an adept they took me away without even a word to my parents. I haven’t seen them since.” She looked sad.
“Well, that I can be sorry about. You must miss them a lot.” She looked at me with a sad yet surprised expression.
“Yeah… sometimes, I guess. But it’s not all bad. At least I’m independent.” She grinned and I grinned back.
“So what’s your power anyway?”
“Shhh.” She leaned in close to my ear. “ESP.”
Her body felt so warm against mine. But strangely, her voice made me shiver.
“Oh really? So can you tell me what I’m going to say next?”
She backed up and winked at me.
“If I could, there would be no point in having this conversation, would there?”
“I suppose you have a point.”
“In fact, I haven’t been able to predict a lot of things when you here before. I wonder why you’re the one exception.”
“If I knew, I would tell you.”
She grinned.
“I’m sure you would.”
She hopped out of the bed and stretched up to the sky, in a way that highlighted her figure. I couldn’t help staring at her, good thing she didn’t notice.
“Well, I have places to be; make yourself at home.” I tried to act casual as she walked over to the dresser and picked up her spear. She twirled it in the air for a bit, like a baton, before latching it in the holder she had slung around her shoulders.
“You’re leaving?” She turned to face me.
“Yeah, I have a session scheduled with Jin in sparing room five. You should be fine for a couple hours though, right?”
“Well, it couldn’t hurt to walk you there, could it?”
“I’m a big girl, I can walk by myself.” I could sense she was just playing with me.
“Hey, cut me a break. I’m just trying to be a gentleman.”
“Okay then, gentleman, walk with me.”
She headed out the door and I bounded off the bed to follow her. She giggled and slowed her pace, folding her arms. We reached the apartment door and I rushed to open it for her.
“My lady.”
I held out my arm and half bowed. She laughed again and elbowed me playfully. We entered the hallway and walked toward the row of rooms dedicated to sparring. It was quite a walk, somewhere over two miles, but we weren’t in a rush. We talked for a bit, about home and some things we missed, she talked more than I did, but I didn’t mind, I loved to listen to her melodic voice, after a while we came to the cafeteria.
“I’m hungry. Let’s get something to eat before we go.”
I hadn’t noticed before, but I was getting hungry too. I guess I had lost track of time, in fact, I wasn’t even aware of how long I was unconscious. We walked into line. A lot of students kept shooting me nervous glances, but I paid them no mind. I was with Reina, not them.
“Thanks again for letting me stay with you.”
“Well it was either that or you would have to go home. And I’m sure you wouldn’t want only one murder to ruin your life. Particularly because when you graduate you’re just going to be killing people for a living.”
Little did she know I had killed before…
“Well still, I really appreciate it. Especially that bed. I don’t know how you could give it up.”
She giggled.
“Who says I did?”
I looked at her quizzically.
“Why would I give up a chance to sleep with you?”
She winked and all the blood in my body rushed to my head.
“Settle down tiger, clothes on… Well, for now at least.”
She winked again. I could barely stand, and I was sweating like a madman. She laughed and turned to get her sandwich, while I absent mindedly passed by the station. We walked side-by-side to the payment line.
“That’s a nice necklace.”
“This?” I gestured to Fye’s necklace with my still shaking hand.
“Yeah, I’ve never seen a stone like that before. What is it?”
“You know I’m not sure.”
She reached up to touch it. As her hand made contact, her whole body stiffened. Without a moment’s notice, she went limp, and collapsed to the floor. I dove down to catch her head before it hit the floor.
“Oh s#!%, Oh s#!%” I chanted, almost inaudibly. “Reina, Reina! Oh my god. It’ll be okay.” I scooped up her limp body and jumped over the people in line ahead of me. I charged out of the room, pushing by several crowds of people. I didn’t know what I was going to do. My only chance would be to get her to Jes… before it’s too late.

—

“So, can you help her?” Reina was lying on an hospital bed. Jes was busy examining her.
“Yes, there doesn’t seem to be any physical damage. She’s just almost completely drained of her energy. Which is weird. Are you okay?”
“Yeah, yeah, just make sure she’s okay. I have to go take care of something.”
“But… where-” I didn’t stay to hear the rest of her speech. I had to go figure out what happened, why touching the necklace would hurt Reina. I didn’t care who I had to shove aside as long as I could keep Reina from getting hurt anymore. I was running, running blindly through crowds, not sure where I was going.
<What’s the matter?>
Rein’s hurt!
< Who the hell is Reina, and how did she get hurt!?>
Who she is doesn’t matter right now, but she touched my pendant. Do you know where Demitri is?
<Yeah, I’ll take you to him.>
Where the hell are you?
There was a pause.
<I’m coming.>
What were you doing?
<I don’t think you want to know.>
I had just reached the exit when I saw Yian standing there majestically, waiting for me to mount him. I leaped, but slightly overshot him. I reached out my hand and grabber his thick fur, allowing me to pull myself atop him. Just as I did, he ran with incredible speed, faster than I had ever seen him run before. A thick fog had just set in; and without my adept eyes it would have been impossible to see anything in front of me. I warned Yian about any objects that he might collide with, because he was running too fast to pay attention for himself. We had been running for what seemed like seconds when we came to a large clearing. There was no fog, no grass, not a single bush, all that was on the land was a hill on which rested a gigantic tree. It must have been 300 meters tall with a trunk the size of the cafeteria I had been in only moments ago. Sitting under this tree was Demitri. He remained motionless until we had reached him.
“Demitri!” I yelled, frantically waving to him. “What does this pendant do?” I said, hysterically trying to get the answer out of him as quickly as possible.
“It drains your power.” Said Demitri with an emotionless voice.
“What do you mean?” I was now standing over him. He was staring out into the distance, his face as emotionless as his voice.
“Exactly what I said, it drains the energy of the wearer. Even though, technically, it’s the Adept Stone that does it, not the necklace itself.”
“…If that’s true, then why didn’t I feel it when Fye first gave it to me?”
“That’s because the stone is a living thing, a parasite really. It wouldn’t want to kill its host right away, now would it. It starts off leeching small amounts of energy, but over time, the stronger you get the more it feeds; which means you have grown incredibly strong.”
“How would you know that?”
“Well, it completely drained the energy from Reina in one bout. She’s no lightweight, I’ve seen her fight before, and never once seen her lose. The amount of energy that that pendant sucked up must have been monumental; and for you to not even notice it, you must have huge amounts of untapped energy. Especially now that we’ve been training for three years, and you’ve been wearing it every day, that one gem must hold enough energy to light up this whole planet for years.”
“How did you know about-“
“You didn’t think I would let you run around without being monitored did you? You’re a hazard to us all as long as that necklace stays around your neck. Well, as long as it can be ripped off of your neck.”
That made me pause. I had never seen him so bothered by something before.
“Why can’t I just give it back to Fye? He seemed to be doing just fine with it before?”
I reached up to rip the cursed thing off my neck. Before I could even get my hand past my waist, Demitri was there, holding it firm. His eyes were filled with fire.
“Don’t you ever, and I really mean ever, take that necklace off.”
“But why…”
“We don’t fully understand why this happens, but we assume it’s because of your parasitic, yet symbiotic relationship. The stone needs direct contact with you to join your energy stream. When that contact is disrupted it assumes its host is in danger. Somehow it creates a bride from its reserves to your energy stream, and floods in everything it has. The stone may sometimes even kill itself in the process, but the host gains all the energy that has ever been stored inside of the stone. That has been passes down from generation to generation in Fye’s family. All those people, all that energy, and then yours too! You can’t even imagine what kind of destruction you could cause! I managed to stop you last time, and even though the pendant was only off for twenty seconds, it was the hardest fight of my life. I thought I was going to die.”
I was paralyzed with fear, of myself, of this gem.
“So that’s why you have to promise me to never, ever take that stone off.”
I stood there, not moving. He had grabbed my by the shoulders, and stared directly at me. I was looking directly into his eyes; it was too much to comprehend all at once.
“Damn it boy, promise me!”
A tear streamed down his cheek. Seeing him so upset really frazzled me. I suppose, he was like my father, and I his son. I couldn’t let him stay this way; I cared for him too much.
“I promise.”
His hands slumped, and I quickly broke away and jumped onto Yian’s back. This necklace was way too dangerous. However, I was stuck with it, and I would have to make the best of my situation.
I knew I promised Demitri I wouldn’t, but I’m an orphan, who had his real parents killed by his best friend, only before killing the same best friend by an accident. If that doesn’t warrant me to break the rules once in a while I don’t know what would. I made up my mind. If Demitri wouldn’t help me master the Adept Stone, I needed someone who would. Someone who had no regard for his safety or the safety of others. Someone who’s entire goal in life was to obtain power. Someone who already expressed a perverse interest in my development.
Someone like Jin.