Eleven years later at Inanis High, Rayleigh was practically sprinting to make it to his history class on time. Just as he rounded the corner, he bumped into Ema Aldwa, his childhood friend, who was now on the ground.
"Sorry about that, Ema. Are you hurt?"
Rayleigh extended his hand to help her up. Before she could answer, the first bell chimed, making him jump.
"Gotta run, Ema. Catch you later!" He rushed to maths, knowing Mr. Brock wouldn't tolerate tardiness.
As Rayleigh rounded the final corner, he stopped and stared at the closed door in front of him. With the front door sealed shut, he decided to try to sneak in through a window. As he slipped into the classroom, he aimed for his usual spot beside Alex Thomas, his best friend. But before he could settle in, Rita Lindsey, a teacher's pet, decided to stir up trouble.
"Mr. Brock, Rayleigh snuck in through the window,"
Rita was notorious for rating people.
"I wish she would just disappear so I wouldn't have to deal with her."
Suddenly, Rayleigh felt a feeling of unknown power wash over him, and he felt a shiver go all over his body.
Mr. Brock's gaze turned around to face Rayleigh, his expression unimpressed.
"Rayleigh, care to explain why you're late for math?"
Rayleigh scrambled for an excuse.
"Um, Mr. Reyes and I lost track of time working on a project."
He stammered, earning chuckles from his classmates.
Just then, Alex spoke up.
"Sir, the second bell hasn't rung yet. Rayleigh's right on time,"
Mr. Brock's annoyance shifted towards Alex.
"Fine, Diovr. Consider yourself lucky this time." He grumbled, returning to the lesson.
As Rayleigh sank into his seat, he shot Rita a glare. She returned it with equal intensity.
"I wish she would just disappear so I wouldn't have to deal with her."
Suddenly, Rayleigh felt a feeling of unknown power wash over him, and he felt a shiver go all over his body, and then he felt all that power rush out of him. He had no idea what that was about when he looked around; he noticed Rita was not there.
"Alex, where did Rita go?"
Alex looked at Rayligh as if he were speaking a different language.
"Who's Rita?"
Throughout that morning, Rayleigh kept asking people if they knew Rita. Everyone acted as if Rita Lindsey did not exist. After the lesson, I returned to Mr. Reyes's classroom to continue on my project for engineering. As Rayligh was about to enter the class, he heard Alexe and Mr. Reyes talking about him.
"Are you sure that he destroyed her, Alex?"
"Of course, I am certain that Rayleigh destroyed her."
Mr Reyes was sounding very concerned for some reason.
"You are certain that Orgri- No, Mr. Brock noticed that Rayleigh has awakened. Alexander, I need you to be 100% certain."
"I swear on the name of Galva, the great lightning spirit, and as my mother."
As Rayligh listened, he got more questions. Who was Glava? He was sure Alex's mom was called Simon. And what was this about him'awakening'? What did that even mean? Before he could confront them, Mr Brock walked up behind him and knocked him unconscious.
When Rayligh came to, he was strapped to a chair with what looked to be dark red rope. As he looked around the dark room, he heard a man's voice, a low and dangerous voice.
"Well, it seems that Goren's son is awake."
The voice sounded so familiar to Rayliegh, and then he recognized the voice.
"Mr Brock?"
He was not sure that it was him, but he needed to get a stall for time.
"Yes, it's me, Mr. Diovr. I am so glad I didn't accidentally kill you, human minds are so fragile and easy to break."
As Rayliegh got used to the darkness, he could make out a silhouette of what seemed to be the place where Mr Brock's voice happened to be coming from, but the silhouette was too big and misshapen.
"Listen, sir, I don't know why I am here. Did I do something to offend you?"
Rayleigh was getting frantic because he had just noticed a massive sword in a corner of the room.
"Oh no, my dear boy, you have not offended me, but your existence is a nuisance to my masters, and they all want you to be dead, so I am here to kill you."
Just then, a bolt of silver lightning shot through what appeared to be the door and hit Mr. Brock as Rayliegh strained his neck to see what or who did that. Alex appeared out of nowhere right in front of me.
" Thank the Spirits that you are alive. I am sorry I didn't sense your presence being threatened. Mr Reyes is waiting outside for us. Come on, Rayleigh!"
As they ran through the back street to Mr. Reyes, there was an explosion behind them, and as Rayleigh turned around to see what made the explosion, he saw a mess of tentacles trying to get inside an outfit. Rayleigh then realized that the outfit was Mr. Brock.
As they ran, Rayleigh noticed that everyone around them was acting as if nothing was happening. As they rounded a corner, they ran into Mr. Reyes.
"So glad to see that you are safe, Rayleigh."
Mr. Reyes appeared to be wearing a clock made of dark blue scales.
"Alex, I am so relieved that you two are safe."
"Not really,y sir, Orgriral is still after Rayleigh."
As soon as Alex and Mr. Reyes finished, Mr. Brock shot out from the back streets and started running straight at them.
"Well, we are on a tight schedule, so it's best if I take care of him, don't you agree?" With that, Mr. Reyes transformed into something I can't truly explain. His eyes were covered by bloodied bandages.
"You shall not harm my master's hair!"
Mr. Reyes was cold, and with that, he sent a spear straight at Mr. Brock, who then vanished. As Rayleigh stared at what had just happened, he started to get lightheaded and then fainted.
"Rayleigh! Rayleigh! Wake up, damm, it we don't have time for this!"
As soon as Rayleigh opened his eyes, Alex slapped him across the face.
" What the hell was that forAlex? I'm up, can't you see that!"
As Rayleigh got up, he realized where he was. He was in his bedroom. As he got to his feet, he heard people talking downstairs.
"Alex, can you please tell me what is going on?"
Before Alex could answer, Mr. Reyes came to the door.
"Ah, Rayleigh, I see that you are awake now. If you would come downstairs, there are some things we need to tell you."
When Alex and Rayleigh came downstairs, both Rayleigh's and Alex's moms were sitting at the dining room table with Mr. Reyes.
"Mom, what is all of this, what is happening, who are you all?"
Robin, Rayleigh's mother got up and hugged him and then brought him to the table.
"Listen Rayliegh, it's time I told you about your father and why I could not tell you about him until now."
As Rayleigh was listening to his mom, he noticed that Mr. Reyes got up and went outside.
"Your father is a very unique person, you see, Rayleigh. There are gods, lots of them, and your father was one of the strongest ones, but he was banished to the void realm. The void realm is the in-between the realms. Anyone who wants to travel to another realm must go through the void. When your father was first banished to the void realm, it was a barren wasteland, but once your father took control, he made it into a prosperous kingdom. He took outcasts from all the realms and made the void their home. Then, when he was visiting this realm, he met me and we just knew that we were made for each other, so we ended up married and had you."
As Rayleigh was processing this, he noticed that his mom was crying, then Alex's mom, and Simon spoke up.
"Rayleigh, now it's my turn to explain. There was a war that started around 15 years ago that has been temporarily stopped thanks to your father, Kura, but it is going to continue very soon, so it is time for you to know all of this. Your father knew this, so he sent us out to recruit other gods, elves, and spirits and their children to help you when the time was right."
As Rayleigh was about to ask something, there was a bang, and Mr. Reyes came running back inside looking concerned.