Ok, well first of all I want to pay my respects to Tarheel91, for his two awesome stories. Seriously, The Boy who was Lucky and Burst are some of the best stories I have read, like ever. I can’t wait to see what happens next. I sure wish I could write that well one day. Oh well.

Anyway I’M FINALLY A CHIEF BANDIT! WOO! It was hard, but I sure did do it. I think I may have a screenshot or two. I’ll post a dramatic blog about it later. Hopefully this chapter is better than the last one. –crosses fingers-

Sister?

Yes?

Come and look at this boy.

What about him?

I can’t seem to view his future.

Pish posh, we both know that is impossible. Are you sure your holding down X and left at the same time? Make sure you’re not moving the left analog stick.

What are you talking about?

Huh? Oh. . . nothing. This is interesting. I’ve never seen someone whose future wasn’t . . . flexible before.

Well what does this mean?

It means that he is the only one who can determine the fate of the war ahead.

Impossible! The fate of the war has already been foreseen!

This boy should not even been born. If the right people can figure out how to use him, they have the power to override fate. The ultimate trump card.

I only pray Commander Naktar can get to him before Eris does.

It seemed like an eternity waiting for the doors one the ship to open. The crowd of children were basically split in attitude. Most were excited while the rest of them were nervous, and did a bad job of hiding it. Where ever we were going, they would be first to go. I didn’t feel particularly excited or nervous. Why should I? I didn’t choose to be here, I was chosen, so why should I worry about what’s ahead. Either I’ll make it through the night or I wont, I’d be okay with either of these. I did however feel slightly curious as to what was in store for us. I assumed it would be rigorous training, most likely in combat, only slightly touching on academics.

Why was I chosen? I didn’t perform to my full potential in Basic Training; I wasn’t that grand of a fighter. Maybe it was my intellect, but I purposely tried to keep my grades in the B range to avoid attention. Maybe it was the fact that on every test I got an 85, or the closest to 85 as possible. Maintaining regularity in my grades might have aroused suspicion, why couldn’t I have though about this before?

After about five minutes of sitting idly in the cabin I heard a soft yet noticeable crack. A giant gate on the right side of the ship slowly creaked open. The stress on the old rusty hinges gave off a loud buckling noise. Several people around me covered their ears to fend off the obnoxious noise. The sunlight flooded into the compact cabin, momentarily blinding me. After my eyes adjusted to the light, I could see we landed in a dock identical to the one that we departed from.

“Hello!” The shrill voice of an overly eager boy filled the air. Everyone turned to see the man who made the announcements and a boy who looked to be around ten years of age standing in a much smaller door to the left of the large gate.

“This boy will lead you to your rooms.” The announcer looked around the room. “Do not underestimate him because of his size. Happens to be 15 and could kill one of you without even blinking.” The announcer looked at me a moment longer than everyone else. Hah, the fool. He thinks he has me figured out, like I cannot bear to have anyone in control of me. That was not the reason I fought Soren at all. I would not challenge the boy because there was no reason to. Soren was going to hurt me, so I fought him. This boy was only sent as an escort, not as an opponent.

“Ok everyone, follow me!” The bow started to briskly walk out the door and down the platform. I jumped over a few rows of people and shot the announcer a look before shooting out the door after the boy, who was already down the platform.

Everyone behind me was jogging slowly, probably admiring the facility. Even I had to admit it was a very well crafter building. Definitely reaches out and grabs attention, whether you want to look or not.

The boy led us through the twisted hallways of the building, and eventually we came to a large room. “This will be your sleeping quarters. First everyone choose a bed.” The children frantically ran around the room, trying to find a bed closest to their newly made friends. I chose the bed closest to the front of the door, under a large poster that said “PEPS.”

“Now that you have chosen your sleeping quarters, look behind you.” Everyone turned to the walls. “Stick your index finger in the lock and turn.” I twisted my finger in the lock and felt a tingling sensation travel up my arm. A door to the right of the lock opened. Inside were two pairs clothing and something that looked like a large flat piece of wood. Amazing, yet again they made doors so well designed, measured, and hidden that even I could not tell they were there. “The lock has registered your finger print, width, and sweat signatures. You will find these locks all around the building. They will be used to open doors and dispense food, and also double as a way to track your movements throughout the facility. Wouldn’t want you noobies wandering around and getting lost now would we?” You could cut the tension in the air with a knife. Several of the students made smart remarks to each other. They didn’t have the courage to talk back to the boy who apparently could kill them as easily as getting a drink of water. “These lockers will be used to store your books and whatever personal possessions you may have brought with you. Inside the locker you will find two pairs of clothes and your desks. Desks will be used for your studies. The silk outfit is for relaxing. The thicker outfits are your rank one uniforms. Put them on now.” The students all reached for the uniforms and grudgingly put them on. The uniform was to big for me. It felt like I was swimming in it.

“Ok look on the left sleeve. There should be a blue button. Press it.” I pressed the button and the uniform snapped tight around me. It fit like a glove. I reached over to close the locker, but my arm wasn’t were it was supposed to be. I looked around and the other students seemed to be having the same problem. “As you may have noticed, it takes much more force to move your limbs now. This is to constantly train your bodies in strength. During battles the extra force required will lessen, you should be surprised with the results.” I tried to move my arm again. It seemed like I had to try and use as much force that would normally be required to make a successful punch to move my arm normally. So it took about twice the force to move normally.

“No time to rest you lazy cadets, lets get moving.” He started to walk out the door. I noticed he didn’t move as awkwardly as the rest of us. He must be strong. I followed him rather easily. He wasn’t moving slowly enough to allow us to get used to the suits. At least he was courteous.

He led us into a bright room with many ridges in the wall. “Ok I have to leave you guys now, good luck!” He disappeared in a flash of light. Good luck? With what?

A man walked out from another hidden door. “Welcome trainees. We are now going to give you a little test of mind and body.” As he said this the suits began to relax, and I could move normally again. “In a few moments I will walk out of this room and you will be free to attack each other. The last man standing wins.” The man walked out of the room, and everything went black.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

I opened my eyes in a room. It wasn’t really dark, but it wasn’t bright either. That’s odd, I don’t see any lights, why can I see? More importantly where am I? I tried to move my head but it refused to budge. Odd. . . I tried to move my arm but it also wouldn’t move. Drugged? I can’t move but. . . I called apon the power I used when fighting Soren. Why can’t I feel any changes in the room? When I fought Soren I could sense the wind patterns shifting changing by the smallest amount, and the head from the room was amplified. Now I can’t feel anything at all. I couldn’t have been drugged, why would they risk harming some of the most promising children in the world. Unless they wanted us dead, but if that was the case they would have blown up the ship of just killed us when we were knocked out. This has to be something else.

Why couldn’t I feel anything? Unless there is nothing to feel. . . but that is crazy. What had the man said? “A test of body and mind.” Why would he say that? If this was an elimination match, why would you need intelligence for a test of brute strength? I understand we are going to learn tactics here, but we have not taken any formal classes yet, and Basic Training was not all that revealing. The test itself does not make sense either. Why would they want us to kill each other? Weren’t we the prized possessions of our towns? If they killed us then war would definitely erupt. There had to be some deeper meaning. . . unless this is all in our heads. That would explain the lack of temperature and heat, but there is no way. . . The locks. That sensation was probably the transition into this mental simulation. So this was all a test to see if we could figure it out.

So now that I know what’s happening what’s going to happen now? Almost like an answer to my question, my limbs gained feeling. I could move again. Well movement is useless without a weapon. Again, I felt my dagger and sheath return to its familiar place at my side. Now to kill everyone else.

It looked as if no one else figured out what was happening. It was easy to eliminate everyone else. A simple stab to the head sufficed. I finished eliminating 37 of my 39 fellow classmates. The other two were left on the other side of the room. I slowly walked over to the other side of the room. No need to rush, they could not move anyway. As I got closer, I realized those two people were the boy and girl I noticed from the ship. Funny, I though they were smarter than the rest. Oh well. I prepared to strike the boy first.

My dagger was inches from his face when my blade was intercepted. The familiar sound of metal hitting metal ran through my ears. It was a long silver staff with a blue orb at the end that caused the clash. I looked over to see the girl was the one wielding the weapon.

“What do you think your doing?” Her voice slipped into my ears like honey. She really was beautiful.

“Our task is to eliminate everyone else. I was merely following instructions.” She looked annoyed with me.

“If you were smart enough to break the illusion, you should know that nothing you do here will affect anything in real life. They are just trying to separate the best from the best, obviously your better than him. Why would you still feel the need to harm him?” I hadn’t thought of it that way. “You broke the illusion even faster than I did, and look; he is coming out of it now too.” I looked and saw she was right, the boy was sitting upright. I put away my dagger and she placed her staff in the holder on her back.

“I’m sorry for acting so hastily. Since we are obviously the smartest ones here, why don’t we work together?” The girl looked like she was considering the offer.

“An alliance?”

“Yes. This test was most likely to see which one of us was most capable to lead. We three have proven that we are equals, and if we make a truce then we will show that we don’t have to win an all costs. This would be the wise decision.” The boy looked up at us.

“What’s going on now?” The girl interrupted him.

“We are not equals. You figured it out before I did.” What a smart girl.

“That doesn’t mean we can’t work together.”

“Fine, I’ll join” The girl stuck out her hand. I didn’t know what to do. “Shake it. . .” I took her hand and shook. “My name is Laillie. I prefer Lai.” The boy looked up again.

“I’m not sure what just happened, but if your teaming up I want in. Never can get enough friends.” His hand shot up. “My name’s Rork, but people call me Roy.”

“My name is Echo. Nice to meet you.”

As soon as I finished my statement I felt my body getting hot. Then came a flash of light. I found the three of us in an extremely small room.

“Hello you three. Welcome to the mind.”

What We’ve Learned

Ok this is a new segment that will recap every important thing that happened, basically a bulleted summary.

1. Echo arrives at school
2. The administrators don’t fully understand Echo
3. Echo enters an simulated area called The Mind
4. Echo creates an alliance between Lai, himself, and Roy
5. The sisters with the power to view the futre can’t see into Echo’s
6. Echo’s power he used to fight Soren dosn’t work in the mind. (for simplicity I’m going to refer to this power as the darkness from now on)
7. Echo is very, very smart
8. Wsxedcr08 needs to learn how to write a story