Burning Phoenix - Saga 1

(Prominis 19, 56 / 12:03PM)

(???) How long has he been napping for? The dude just got choked, so it can’t be that bad.

(???) But Luna is the strongest female fighter out of the candidates, probably the strongest one here…

(???) I’ll take the blame for this, I could’ve handled it better…

In the void, he heard three voices coming from somewhere. He wanted peace—

How many times does he blackout and hear new people?

Jolting out of his nap, Luke opened his eyes to see David sitting on a chair, facing the direction of Luke.

(David) Victim?

(Luke) Of what?

(David) Gwen’s wake-up call?

(Luke) Gwens—oh … I guess so …

(David) Listen, son, sorry for what Luna did to you. Even though I talked with her afterward, she just rolled her eyes and walked off angrily, you know, typical teenage girl…

(???) Bro, that's not some typical teenage girl!

As David was apologizing to Luke, the sincerity and slight guilt about Luna’s outburst, a teenage male voice was heard to the left of Luke. Looking to his left, he saw a teenage boy with red hair, who was none other than—

(Luke) Uh, Jack right?

(Jack) Yeah, man, I thought you had it rough! But noooo, look what she did to me!

As Jack was lying in bed in the hospital lounge, he showcased to Luke a little cast on his ankle, the reason for being in the lounge in the first place.

(Luke) Did she break your ankle?

(???) She just sprained your ankle, which was mostly your fault Jack…

Another teenager, probably a young adult, was sitting in front of Jack, similar to how David was to Luke. Luke didn’t recognize him, but he felt like he had seen him before…

(Luke) I feel like I know you…

(???) Name’s Miles, wanna soda?

As Luke looked closely, Miles was different from the others. For one, Miles looked to be older than Luna, most likely two years older than her.

He had a dark skin tone, followed by his hair being wrapped up in a ponytail. His hair was gray, followed by the unusual black eyes, as well as a body being well built and sturdy, probably more than Stan’s. He was also tall, a few inches taller than Jack.

He wore a blue shirt with a black vest, followed by black boots and blue jeans, and had a necklace with a cross.

(Luke) No thanks, I’m good.

(Miles) Cool beans. Want a soda, Jack?

(Jack) Yeah, pass me one.

Miles passes the soda that he was originally going to give Luke to Jack.

(Jack) Mr. Pepper? You know I don’t like Mr. Pepper Miles…

(Miles) Then give it to me.

(Jack) …

(Miles) Give it.

(Jack) Get your own!

Miles then snatched the soda away from Jack, and as a way to insult Jack, Miles opened the Mr. Pepper soda can, looked Jack dead in the face, and drank the entire can in one gulp. Finishing the soda, he crunched up the can and threw the tin can like a frisbee to Jack. Jack gaped at him.

(Miles) Keep it.

(Jack) You’re an asshole, you know that?

(Miles) Your spoiled ass started it.

(David) Jack, if you keep it up, I’ll make sure you get put into the same ring as Luna.

(Miles) So stop complaining.

(David) You too Miles, you’re close to being Luna’s candidate.

Jack and Miles immediately zipped their mouths shut for the greater good of themselves.

(David) Anyway Luke, I asked Jenny and she told me that you’re good to go.

(Luke) Oh ok …

Luke then proceeded to get up from the hospital bed, stretching and breathing in so that he could continue with his first day.

(Luke) So what did I miss?

(David) 8 to 9 AM was mostly the ring competition. 9 AM to 10 AM was mostly the history of fighting techniques, and 10 AM to 12 PM was the elite training. Right now, everyone is busy getting lunch.

(Luke) Oh … I was wondering, how did Jack sprained his ankle?

(Jack) Dude, I’ve been trying to understand that part up until now.

(Miles) Jack “accidentally” tripped Luna during the elite training. She got angry and kicked his leg while he was running away. The fall is what led to his sprained ankle.

(Jack) But Sean made a bet with me!

(Miles) You and Sean … I swear…

As Miles gets more and more frustrated with Jack's antics, Luke is ready to go to the lunch hall with his friends. As Luke was about to set out…

(David) Kid, just want to let you know that Luna isn’t that bad of a person. She can be a huge handful, but once you get to know her, you can understand where she’s coming from.

As Luke gave David a nod of acknowledgment, Luke walked out the door, hoping to get a meal in his stomach.

(David’s thoughts) She went through hell. If I was in her shoes, of course I would be unstable…

(Luke’s thoughts) I almost died … just how much more pain can I take?

______________________________________________________________________________

(Prominis 19, 56 / 8:33PM)

(Luke’s thoughts) I guess they all crashed out…

Since Luke didn’t go through the hellish training before lunch, all the candidates who participated went to sleep early.

(Luke’s thoughts) Don’t want to be spoiled though … so I’ll leave them be…

Walking through the garden behind the main building, Luke saw the Kepputhan night sky. The two moons that were barely visible to the night sky shone dimly as Luke ate a leftover slice of pizza from the dining hall.

(Luke’s thoughts) I guess in big cities, light pollution is still a thing… I kind of wish I saw the full night sky, filled with stars, galaxies …

As Luke was lost in thought, he heard two voices coming from the other side of the garden. He didn’t pay any heed to it, but he wanted to get close to hear what their conversation was about.

Walking towards the area, he opened his ear to eavesdrop just a bit in case the conversation was interesting—

(???) Sorry, I just don’t find you attractive …

(???) So what if I’m not attractive to your tastes? Many girls find me cute and sexy. I guess you’re into more nice guys huh? Well, I can be a little good boy if you want.

(Luke’s thoughts) What?

Luke stopped to comprehend what he just heard, his eyebrows tilted and his eyes squinting. Slowly, he checked to see what was going on, but carefully so that it didn't look like he was spying.

Hiding behind a bush, he looked to see what the two people were talking about—

Luke’s eyes fell upon a girl with fair skin, fidgeting with the stands of her blonde hair.

From her bright blue eyes averted from the other boy’s glance, to the way her cross necklace shone on her black dress, Luke would have mistaken her for an angel.

(Luke’s thoughts) Who is that girl …

His cheeks showed no signs of stopping his blushing, followed by his palms being sticky and wet. His whole body lit up in warmth as if a mere glance would shine the whole cloudy night sky.

But there was someone else talking to her.

The boy looked to be Gary and Diego’s age, and judging by his leaf shaped ears, Luke realized the boy was an elf.

(Luke’s thoughts) That’s the elf from the ring tournament that was with Jack, I think his name was… I forgot …

The elf showed that he didn’t mean any harm to the woman, but he didn’t want to take no for an answer.

(Ginger Elf) What’s your type? And I promise you I’ll meet that criteria in no time!

(Blonde Girl) I uh … don’t have a type …

(Ginger Elf) Oh, you don't? Then why not go out with me? I could—

(Blonde Girl) I mean … as long as he’s nice and has a good heart, then that’s all that matters …

Luke began to get more nervous, as his chest began to feel heavy as he stared at her.

(Ginger Elf) I could be nice. And I mean, not everyone has a heart of gold. We’re all human in a way, despite my appearance—oh … I get it … I see … I guess you’re not attracted to elves huh?

(Blonde girl) No, I—

(Ginger Elf) Just because I’m an elf doesn’t mean you should reject me for it! That’s pretty discriminatory if you ask me!

(Blonde girl) I just—

Luke’s fists began to clench as the girl’s blue eyes started to tear up. Controlling himself, he quietly stepped out of the bush and walked away, trying to find some way to intervene with the two.

(Luke’s thoughts) I’ll just have to go away and come back so it’ll look like I just barely got here.

Slowly walking away, Luke then pulled back to the same spot, hoping to casually slide into the conversation or at least make his presence a little known to them. Walking to the area where the girl was being misunderstood, he wanted to introduce himself with a simple greeting.

(Luke) Uhm … are you two alright?

As he questioned both the girl and the elf, he wanted the elf to drop the act. Upon seeing the girl up close, he felt timid as the girl was looking at him, his eyes avoiding any contact with her.

But focusing his entire attention on the ginger elf.

(Ginger Elf) Ah don’t worry, we’re doing just fine …

(Luke) Are you guys sure?

(Ginger Elf) Yeah … name’s Sean.

Revealing his name to be Sean, the teen looked at Luke with a normal complexity, with a twisted smile.

(Sean) Hey, do you like party tricks?

(Luke) Sort of …

Sean pulled out from his large pants pocket, a small metal box. Having it in the palm of his hand, he gave it to Luke, his lips smiling with mischief. Luke’s eyes were scanning the box, a bead of sweat forming next to his right eye.

(Luke’s thoughts) What’s this…

Luke tried opening the box, but it was lodged in tight. Dumbfounded, Sean started laughing as Luke’s naivety was showing, slapping his knees as he laughed.

(Sean) Haha… you’re supposed to push the button at the bottom.

Luke then saw a little black button in the center of the bottom, the button not being a switch but a simple click. As Luke was about to hit the button, Sean gave him one more bit of advice.

(Sean) For the trick to work, you have to stare at the top of the box. Don’t worry, it’s not going to kill you…

Luke, looking down at the box, pressed the button on the bottom. He didn’t know what would happen per se, but his curiosity is what—

The box burst open, opening up a boxing glove fist that gave Luke an uppercut to the chin. The force of the punch from the box caused Luke to stumble backward onto the ground.

Luke wiped his mouth to find blood.

(Luke’s thoughts) My tongue!

He massaged his cheek, his fingertips scrounging back and forth along the area, knowing that wouldn’t be enough to cure a bleeding tongue.

As Luke stood up, he noticed that Sean was running away in the distance, cackling. Luke let out a huge breath.

(Luke’s thoughts) Why is everyone out to get me?

Luke headed towards the hospital lounge again, rubbing his cheeks, until he was stopped by the girl. Her face had a lot of worry, one of sentiment and care.

(Blonde girl) Are you ok?

Avoiding eye contact, Luke started to sweat with nervousness and perspiration, letting his extremely timid sideshow.

(Luke) Y-yeah … I-I’m fine…

(Blonde girl) … I’ll go with you to the hospital if you want.

(Luke) N-No, you don’t have t-to—

(Blonde girl) But you're bleeding!

(Luke) I can manage myself—

The girl then grabbed Luke’s hand and ran with him to the infirmary. Her long black dress flowed in the wind. Running through the garden in the night sky, Luke’s eyes stared at her hand clasping his.

(Luke) I-I never caught your name…

The more he was towed by her, the redder he got. Even the girl noticed Luke’s sweaty palms as she held them, but she didn’t mind the nervousness of Luke one bit. Looking back where Luke wanted to know her name.

(Blonde girl) Oh … uhm … my name is Hope …

The girl named Hope had her cheeks blushed with nervousness, not as much as Luke's, but enough to be noticeable.

But as they were about to part into the infirmary, Hope stopped to turn towards Luke, her eyes staring at his.

(Hope) Luna shouldn’t have done that…

(Luke) I mean I’m still alive, I think she just has anger issues.

He began rubbing his chin, the pain still caused by the jack in the box punch. As hope opened the door to the building, a warmth reignited inside Luke.

A warmth that he hadn't before everything that he loved was lost.