SYSTEM ASCENSION

Sneaking over the wall had been a consistent thing over the past few years. The trio would go over the wall and settle under a large tree close to the orphanage. Today was not any different. The sky was reddish and warm. A perfect afternoon in Qld.

They drew things their eyes came across as they sat. The orphanage, trees and even birds.

"That’s a nice looking stone." Tora commented on the little rock beside them.

The boys glanced at her like she had hit her head somewhere.

"Nice looking stone?" Curn raised a brow.

"We should put it in a museum." Zeal snorted.

She simply raised her hand and smacked them both on the face.

"Ouch!"

"It’s a nice looking stone." She repeated.

"Yes! Yes."

"It’s nice."

The girl began to draw the stone when a sound cut through the air. They raised their eyes and sighted a carriage approaching.

"What’s that?" Zeal mumbled.

"It’s a carriage," Curn replied. "Although I don’t know why it’s coming here. The street is closed off, so only visitors come this far."

"It must be coming to adopt kids." Tora gasped.

The boys nodded.

"That’s the problem!" She snapped. "If sister Amy finds us outside, we’re dead!"

They exchanged a silent glance, then scrambled to their feets, parking up everything. In a second, they left the scene, climbed back and settled in like every other child.

Zeal successfully arrived in his room before the bells that had always chimed once or twice a year drew his attention. It rang repeatedly and louder than he remembered.

He waited a while until everyone had run to the visitors, before he came out.

The children were already gathering at the gate. He saw expensive carriages with a strange crest on it, but what was stranger was the way everyone sensible adults had bowed their heads. He didn’t understand, but he didn’t care.

"They probably came to adopt a child..."

He turned away. He had barely moved two steps when the sound of footsteps grew his attention. He was flaked by two guards.

"What..." He shrunk back.

Without saying a word, the guards grabbed him and began to carry him towards the carriage.

"Let me go! Damn it! Let me go!"

The workers and children pathways till he was dropped on his feet before the owner of the carriage.

This man carried a natural air of authority, and his clothes look like they could buy the whole orphanage. It didn’t make him scared, instead, he was pissed.

"What do you want?"

"You climbed over the gate just now, didn’t you?" The man leaned slightly.

"No." He tried to move but the guards were behind him.

The man leaned even more and raised his hand. Zeal kept his guard up, expecting a strike but the hand came down to pat his head.

"I didn’t expect you to be alive. Zeal."

"..."

His face flushed instantly. He hit the hand away and moved to the side.

"How dare you pat my head?! Do I know you?"

"I’m your uncle." The man smiled. "and your emperor. My name is Daevon."

"...what?"

"I rule Salvador —"

"I don’t care! Get out— Aakk!"

Amy smacked his head.

"Don’t talk like that!"

He pouted, watching as the emperor laughed. "Today is truly my lucky day. Who knew making a random turn on a patrol could produce a gem."

"I am not a gem!"

The emperor bent down to his height. "Come with me."

"No!"

"You’re still hot-headed as usual."

Zeal backed away. "Stay away from me."

The man reached for him, but he was already trying to run.

"Don’t you want to leave this place?"

"No!"

"You’ll enjoy—"

"I don’t want anything!"

"Let me talk—"

"Go away!"

"Ze—"

"Nooooo!"

"Your brother!"

Since the conversation had begun, Zeal actually stilled. A thought he had never had flashed his mind.

"Huh?"

"You have a twin," the emperor said. "He’s waiting for you."

"A...twin..." His eyes slowly lit up. "A twin?!"

He closed the distance between himself and the emperor.

"Hey! Is...is it li..ke.... like Tora and... and Curn?!"

Emperor Daevon didn’t understand why he was suddenly stuttering and easily ruled it as excitement so he nodded. However, Amy understood well. Although he was estimated around nine years of age, he had spent four years in the orphanage, and she had vividly remembered trying to teach him a single word for two years.

He was mentally dead when he was brought, so his growth was ten times slower than an average baby. Just hearing him say a lot of words brought a smile to her lip.

Zeal turned back looking around for his friends, but he quickly realised that they didn’t show up. Determined to tell them the news, he ran past them into the orphanage, but then he stopped.

They watched him return to the emperor and gestured for the man to bend down. Emperor Daevon complied to his height, and he whispered.

"C..an Tora and... and Curn come too?"

"Sure."

His eyes lit up, and he dashed back into the orphanage in search of his friends. This brought a smile to everyone’s face.

The women proceeded to apologize for Zeal’s behaviour and invited the emperor for tea. The man politely declined and just stuck to waiting for Zeal’s return.

At least that’s what they thought until ten minutes went by. They had expected him to run with his friends almost immediately, but it was taking too long.

Emperor Daevon pushed off the carriage and took the same direction the child had taken a while back. Guards walked ahead, while the workers walked behind.

The moment they turned the corner, the air changed.

What had been a quiet afternoon in Qld became noise and chaos. Armed men dropped from the rooftops, from behind structures, from the alleys, their faces covered.

"Formation!" one of Daevon’s guards barked, but it was already too late. The first wave of attack hit. Children screamed and broke into run, while workers were shoved back by guards trying to make a wall of bodies.

Amy moved on instinct. She snatched the nearest kids, herding them toward the orphanage hall.

Her eyes scanned the chaos, and then she saw it. On the cobblestone, half covered in blood was Zeal’s necklace. She ran forward and snatched it, but then she saw a limb beside it, slice clean from the shoulder.

Her breath hitched, and she froze up. She didn’t need to search for which child has it.

In the center of it all, Emperor Daevon didn’t draw a weapon. He just stretched his hand.

"Ability activate."

Fire answered his call. A wall of gold-orange flame erupted from the ground and cut straight through the field, burning a clean line between the attackers and the children. The heat warped the air. Everything in sight went ablaze. Trees and armed men alike. Even the ground burned.

He finally saw through. The surviving men were grabbing two children and throwing them into a swirling black portal that had torn open behind them.

Daevon surged forward, fire trailing behind him.

The last one was Zeal.

He was kicking, biting, screaming. "LET ME GO! TORA! CURN!" Tears cut clean lines down his dirty face. His last hand clawed at the arms holding him, in the air, at anything.

Their eyes met across the fire.

"Zeal!" Daevon roared.

The man holding Zeal tossed him.

Zeal disappeared into the portal with a choked sob. "Uncle..."

The portal snapped shut and his eyes snapped open with a startled gasp.

Zeal shot upright in his bed, energy bursting from him. It slammed into the walls, blew out the lamp, sent papers and books flying. The room shook like it was caught in an earthquake.

For a long moment he just breathed in panic.

His fist was clenched and his hand trembled. He looked at the hand that had been sliced off clean. It hurt, like it just happened.

"You were murmuring in your sleep." Elias’ voice cut through his panic.

He looked sideways, and saw the boy reading a book, ignoring the shattered glasses beside him.

Zeal realised that it was just a dream and he had long outgrown that day. He chuckled weakly.

"Good morning Elias."

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