Abel Hayes and the dark phoenix

'Esme,' Acacius said, 'I have to orchestrate the afternoon brawls at the strike Class Amphitheatre. Do you mind taking Abel of my hands?'

'Galdly, sir.'

'He will live on isle of the lost for now,' gesturing towards a smaller, more inconspicuous isle than any I had seen,

'This is your home now child.' Acacius said warmly as he left.

Out of all the Isles, the tenth, the isle of the lost was without a doubt the most plain.

It has the sinplest builidngs, and yet it was the nost cramped.

But it did have a unique feature, something I had not seen on the other isles: hundreds of glowing colored statues.

Some were of animals and others were of humanoids strapped in armour and bravely brandishing weapons.

Esme led me into the inside of the largest home, its interior was extremely simple and it was very crowded, there was a larger number of teenagers here than I had seen flitting about the isles.

I glanced at the available bunk beds and came to the conclusion that there was no way they should have been enough for everybody, then I saw the sleeping bags laid out haphazardly and understood.

The place looked like an overcrowded disaster relief center.

Esme didnt follow me in, but all the teenagers who saw her nodded respectfully.

I was at a complete loss, standing in front of an open door, looking at a bunch seemingly perfect beings.

They were also looking at me with curious glances, a vague intereft.

While I was nervous, this wanst knew to me, after all I had been to several schools. I just prayed that it would take a while for them to realize that I was a loser and give me a hard time.

'Well?' Esme encouraged. 'Go on.'

Esme announced, 'Abel Hayes, meet the tenth isle.'

'Beta or unawkened?' someone shouted.

I was confused, but Esme spoke up for me,

'Unawakened..for now.'

The room was mostly silent at that, though I did catch a few sneers and snickers.

It woulve been weird if one of the teens didnt step up.

'Now, now, brothers and sisters. We always welcome one of our own. Its nice to meet you Abel. That sleeping bag is yours..the one right there.'

The guy looked to be a fourth year university student, and boy was he unnecessarily attractive!

He had the kind of smile that could diffuse any difficult situation.

He was ripped, not to mention tall, he rocked ripped jeans and a tight fitting v neck.

'This is Cain,' Esme said, and her voice sounded softer somehow. I glanced over and could've sworn she was staring at him with googly eyes.

She sensed my gaze and tried to collect herself. 'He's your Isle prefect for now.'

'For now?' I asked.

'Youre not fully awakened, even though Acacius has already prepared your quarters you cannot claim it yet,' Cain explained patiently. 'You must first prove yourself as worthy. Until then, this is your home. Isle ten takes all who do not have a place elsewehere.'

I looked at the small sleeping bag that had been laid out for me. Actually I didn't mind that this place was cramped. I'd be more comfortable here with company, than alone in some big mansion all by myself.

Though, it was clear that this would not be my permanent home, maybe that was why I had no way to mark it as mine: apart from the box of Burrunjor quills Acacius had someone deliver to me.

But I wouldn't set it down here ,not while so many of the teens were giving me dirty looks

'How long will I stay here?' I asked Cain.

'Depends,' Cain answered. 'Usually, it's until the depths of your powers have been measured..'

'How long will that take?'

'Not very. We will probably find out during tomorrow's war games

For now, let me show you the best part of isle of the lost,' Cain said with an excited smile. 'If you dont mind Esme Ill take it from here.'

Esme nodded, and bade me goodbye.

Cain walked me to through a grove of trees. It took a while, but the Grove finally cleared up, and what I saw could only described as breathtaking.

I stared at it, with my mouth agape.

'You should see it at night' Cain laughed lightheartedly.

It was the same array of crystal forms I had seen earlier from afar. But now, standing amidst the crystal statues, the feeling was indescribable.

Every single statue had been sculpted to perfection out of amythyst, black opal, alexandrite, beryl, or some other kind of rare crystal, each of them sparkling brilliantly in the sunlight.

'Who are they?'

Cain immediately understood what I meant. 'The celestials. Once upon a time each of them were sculpted to perfection by one us' He muses.

'Why, what are they to us?' I asked.

'They are our ancestors.'

'What!? Ok enough with the weirdness. Why am I here? Why was I attacked? Why is this the only safe place for me? And why do I have to stay here with you guys? Why is your Isle so crowded when there are larger, empty, floating ilses just hanging around in the space?'

I pointed to the first few Isles I had seen and Cain frowned. 'We dont chose which isles we belong to. It depends on the nature of your powers and how strong the are with you.'

It was annoying, the way he said what he said, like his words actually made sense.

'My powers!? I'm inpulsive and have learbing difficulties. Do those count?,' I said.

'My only special ancestry are the blacks that used to work on the plantation fields back in south africa.'

'Hussh, you cant talk like that. Do you want this novel to get canceled!?' Cain said as he worriedly looked at the sky.

'And I wasn't talking about your mortal ancestry' Cain sighed. Clearly, this was not the first time he'd had this conversation.

'You're special in more ways than you know. Within you lies the blood and power of a celestial.'

'You mean, one of my parents was a god?'

'No, they are forbidden from having children with mortals. But they weren't in the olden day. A few millenia ago, one of you ancestors was a born of a celestial and a mortal.'

'How could you possibly know that?'

'Because the magical veil would not have allowed you into the dreamtime realm unless you were one of us. This is the home of your kind, Abel. You're one of us.'

'No, Im not.'

'Really?' Cain laughed. 'Let me geuss, you were never able to saty past a few months in school before getting expelled.'

'How –'

'You could probably never get above a D on your report card right?'

I was confused, then embarrassed. 'How do you know all that?'

'Because all of us were the same. Nothing taught at school made sense to you right?

That's because mortal science is behind our's by light-years. You were taught from a shortsighted, broken, and flawed viewpoint your mind disdained.

As for your impulsiveness, it is due to the intapped power locked within your bloodline, looking for a chance to explode!

Until you've mastered it and reached your full potential, you'll always be that way.

But the greatest proof is that you not only survived, but defeated a Burronjor; something no one in out history has been able to do.

If you weren't like us, that would not have been possible.

And deep down, you know this is true.

Face it:

Yoi ate an inhuman.'

My nind was in chaos, I was trying to make sense of it all to no avail.

Then a deep husky voice laughed, 'Look at what we have here. If it isn't mister monster killer himself!'

I looked over. The big scary guy from the isle thay reeked of blood swaggering towards us like he owned the place.

He had three goons following closely behind him, it was funny but he and his entourage actually reminded me of Sansa Ellis.

In any case they ware all huge and scary like him. All wearing dark clothes, like rebellious teens on steroids.

'Seth,' Cain warned. 'You better not be here to start any trouble?'

'Oh, of course not,' the big guy said. 'I'd spoil my fun when I shove my pole all the way through your a** tommorrow.'

'Ja pha' ar leto,' Canaan cursed in some ancient language, which I somehow understood with perfect clarity.

It meant "***** ** **** *** ****". (Sorry readers, but there is no way I'm repeating that.)

I was surprised, and honestly impressed that he had such a mouth on him.

Before him, even Sansa Eliss would have to admit defeat.

Needless to say, Seth was not amused. 'You wait until tommorrow. Ill enjoy slowly killing you.'

Seth retorted, but he was still shaking with rage from Seth's insult.

He immediately turned towards me. 'Who's this little dog?'

'Abel Hayes,' Cain replied said, 'Meet Seth, leader of the Shura type inhumans.'