Location - The Pioneer Classroom
Settling down in the classroom, a female instructor walked into the room, her every step brimming with dignity and authority. She appeared to the class as a spectacle of mystery and usualness. Her unusual white hair whose ends were seemingly rolled inside a spool which made it seem like a spool of thread. Her hands were the next unusual thing about her, as her fingers were dyed in a black paint.
She took her place on the instructor's podium as she set her hands on the table, her ethereal green eyes scanning through the classroom. Her ethereal beauty was humanised by the beauty mark that rested under her right eye. She wore a top which one hand was a tight sleeve while the other was a loose and big short hand which was complimented by her baggy Pioneer camouflage and her white shoes.
She stared around each of the students like she was searching for something and after sometime, she lowered her gaze from the tensed students.
"I'll be in charge of your Detel training. Let us begin," she stated coldly as she tapped her hands on the board without an introduction of her name or anything of the sort. "This is the last class of today and I have been made aware of your Detel infusion results and those who barely meet the criteria to be here and those that lack the drive to be here. Today will be more of a basic lesson, but it doesn't mean that it isn't important. I'll be talking about what is the basics of this session, the Detel - V9 or….. humanity's "serum of hope"..." she commented as the board bought out a clean page display and after picking up her digital pen, she wrote the subject being discussed on the board.
In the back of the class, some students whispered amongst each other. "Hey, isn't she 'The Witch'? What's she doing here?" a student asked his seat mate who replied "How am I to know?! I'm just as shocked as you are! If we were going to have someone from Constellation, why did we have the weirdest one of them all,". Kael picked on their conversation as he became more confused as to what was happening. As soon as the strange instructor walked into the class, the whole aura of this place seemed to have changed so quickly. Leaning to Lark and Monnae, his encyclopedia for anything relating to Sanctuary, he posed the question to them. "Who is she, Lark?" Kael inquired, his voice lowered deliberately so as not to catch the attention of the instructor.
"That's someone part of Constellation and among them, she's one of the more unique and interesting," Lark stated like it answered any of the questions I had. Monnae stretched her hand and gave him a bump on his hand and then turned to answer Kael. "Don't mind Lark. Constellation is the name of the group that consists of the top 10 Pioneers of Sanctuary. To give you an example, Aesis, the current strongest Pioneer is part of this group and so is Team Leader Kina," Monnae responded quite clearly.
"I guess that's why the whole class has been riled up. It's like meeting a hero or celebrity in your class lessons,...is what I'd like to say, but if feels different from that" Kael gave an analogy as he starred at the rest of the class but instead of eagerness of admiration, the students were wary as they stared at the woman in silent contempt.
"Yeah…she's a bit different. You can say that amongst the weirdness of the group called Constellation, she's one of the most hated," Lark commented as he stared at the instructor who got ready, effectively ignoring the tense atmosphere of the class.
"Most hated? I don't understand, aren't Constellations supposed to be the heroes of Sanctuary and the strongest fighting force? How could someone from that group be hated?" Kael questioned, baffled at how a Constellation member was being treated.
"It's because of who she is and her Detel awakened powers that breeds her fear and disgust. The Witch or The Fateweaver is her title and her real name is the Fated Star, Thalia Serus and the last surviving member of House Serus. Her Detel awakening ability granted to her is the "Fateweaving" of House Serus which ironically led to a destined fate of destruction," Lark reminiscences as he talked about The fated Star, Thalia.
"Fateweaving? What does that mean?" Kael was confused on what Thalia's powers could be and how it warranted this level of unfriendliness against her. "The lessons should commence now and a point to take notice of is that, I like my lessons to be quiet, and take the five who fell unconscious out of my class, they don't meet my criteria" Thalia commanded, her presence weighing heavily on the students forcing them to unconsciously lay their heads on their desks and interestingly, some passing out and t an exact number of five like she had said.
Stopping her release of her energy, the students regained control of their body and stared incredulously at the five students who were escorted out of the class. "How did she know the exact number?" Kael questioned, curiosity lingering in his wide opened eyes.
"That's why she's hated. That fearful power of hers, the power to read the future is such a scary thing to most, even when the user is your ally. I guess you could say this is one of the flaws humans have, their greed and jealousy," Lark answered the clueless Kael who seemed shocked upon hearing his answer.
"What?! Is there someone who can read the future? And she's hated because of that?! Wait a minute…isn't that just foolish? How can you hate someone with such a useful yet ridiculous power, especially knowing she's your ally," Kael bewildered at what he had just heard grabbed Lark's hand tightly as he made his confusion known.
"I would appreciate it if student Kael and Lark could keep their conversations for later," the instructor, Thalia, glanced at both Kael and Lark, her ethereal green eye locked on them intensely before turning her eyes away and getting ready for the lecture.
"I know my reputation precedes me so I don't think I need to but…My name is Thalia Serus, the last member of House Serus. I will be in charge of your Detel training, giving you everything you need to have or know to survive in the world outside Sanctuary walls. And to start off, I'll give you the textbook and brief history of Detel serum," she lectured, her voice clear as it echoed in the classroom.
Tapping her painted black fingers on the board, it displayed "History" and then turning back to the class, Thalia began to explain. "Detel - V9 or the Detel serum is in fact more of Old World technology than it is Sanctuary. The name for this serum was given by its creator, the legendary scientist and the man who could be said to be the First Pioneer, Dr Detel Ivor. The Detel - V9 was the last of his series on this serum aimed at providing humanity with the power and strength to combat the Xions," Thalia stated as she casually waltzed around on the lifted podium.
The screen changed into a holographic image of Dr Detel. It was an image that even someone like Kael would be able to recognise. If you live in the Sanctuary, you must have at least seen this image until you got tired of it. From the random holographic images scattered in Pioneer and down through all of Sanctuary, Dr Detel was so well known that children knew him better than they knew about the Great families nor the Commanders who rule Pioneer.
"Now, what does it do? Well, the Detel scrum is mostly just a basic physique amplifier if your Infusion level isn't up to par.The lowest one could achieve to still be able to benefit from the Detel Infusion is 80% as recorded and the highest rate as of right now is 99.98%," Thalia turned and looked at Kael as she read out the number.
THALIA'S POV
As she stared at the monstrous genius who broke the score which had been maintained for more than decades, her eyes glimmered with a unique energy and as she blinked her eyes, the world went black and white with different threads wrapping and flowing through each individual in the class. Amongst the many threads, there was always a very unique one which had been dubbed the Fate Thread by House Serus. It was the thread used to peer into the possible fate of the individual being observed.
Curious on how he came to have this high of an infusion result, she picked one of Kael's threads which was his Fate Thread with her fingers fully painted black playing with the thread. As she peered into the thread, the words "Destroyer", "World Beloved", "Saviour" and "Anchor" echoed in her head.
All her life, she had always gotten cryptic messages whenever she tried reading through Fate Threads and she didn't want only these messages especially after waiting all her life with only hope. Grasping a firm hold of the Fate Thread which was wriggling in her hands, she decided to peer into Kael's fate again.
As she forced her powers again, the white and black static world she was in seemed to have cracked as a gaping hole with an unending darkness filled the other side. The world before Thalia's eyes began to morph and then a deep and omniscient voice echoed through her head.
"Do Not Try To See And Understand A Supreme Being,"
The voice cryptic yet still unbelievably clear sounded in Thalia's head as her eyes began crying tears of blood until they popped out of her eyes cleanly. Her skin started to become visibly hotter and began to melt. Thalia seemingly engulfed in the madness began to use her nails to claw up her melted skin, her voice murmuring inaudible sentences.
"Do Not Stare At A Supreme Being,"
The voice commanded again, its voice obsolete as Thalia.s legs began to petrify and plants began to grow out of her eye sockets, her eyes which feel to the ground turned into twisted forms of her mother with her head held by her hands, her stomach missing her intestine and mouths forming on all parts of her.
"Do Not Go Against The Plans Of A Cosmic Being,"
The voice said and then just as how it unexpectedly appeared, did it disappear, leaving behind Thalia who was back to normal, her eyes on her face, no sign of her altered body or the madness she went through just now. She didn't remember or knew what happened but a fear, more primal and ancient than death, rooted in her very being as she let go of the Fate Thread of Kael.
Opening her eyes in the black and white world, she covered her mouth with her hands, her eyes filled with excitement and joy as she murmured to herself, "Mum, I found him. I found the destroyer you foresaw and my anchor. All this time I have spent waiting hasn't been all for naught.,"
Location - Sanctuary (The Central Area)
Time - XX years ago (Decades Ago - Before The Purge of House Serus)
In a girl's room, a girl who was just starting her life in this destroyed world could be seen chatting with an older woman with short white hair, the same ethereal green eyes, her hands which were running through the child's hair fully painted black.
"Mum, why is our House not respected amongst the Great Houses and given the same respect?" Thalia asked her mother, her eyes filled with innocence and curiosity. Without stopping her hands, the current head of House Serus explained to her daughter, the only true family she has left.
"It's because we're not as strong as we were before, little one, especially after we haven't been able to produce a fateweaver who has an anchor since the Old World which was our golden era," Thalia's mother explained as she expert made her way through Thalia's white hair.
"What is an anchor? Why do we need one to be strong? The other Great families don't need one and they're still strong," Thalia queried her mother to which with a smile and a gentle tap to her forehead, Thalia's mother answered
"An anchor is the person we'll thread our fates together. They are the only ones who can mak us whole and ground us to this world when we weave too far away. You may not understand now, little one, but when you find our anchor, you'll know automatically and you'll feel changed and only then would you understand," she said as she had a reminiscent look on her face.
"Dear Mother, did you have an anchor?" Thalia questioned as she stared at her mother whose face morphed into an expression she had never seen her wear before. "No, I never go the chance to meet an anchor and then I fell in love with your dad so I forgot about it but it doesn't mean I don't feel the emptiness it leaves but I learnt to live with that," She said as she laughed and then picking up Thalia, she circled her around and they both fell on the bed while chuckling.
PRESENT
"You always said that 'When you find your anchor, you will feel fulfilled and whole and powerful beyond what you thought was possible and when you thread your fates together'. You were right, Mom. I feel changed. I feel alive," Thalia thought as she wiped the red blood tears that had formed a trail on her face. The dark colour of her top helped to reduce the visibility of the blood stain on her clothes.
As she closed her eyes and reopened them, the white and black world faded back into reality. As she regained consciousness back in her body, she found the whole class were staring at her with rapt attention.
It was nothing surprising to her as she knew that once you were reading the Fate Thread, the reader would slip into a state of non existence, as being both here and not here at the same time. So to others, it would seem like she was just distracted for a fraction of a second unknown to them what she had just done and ironically, unknown to her the horrors she had just come in contact with albeit indirectly.
"I'm sorry. Let us continue the lessons," Thalia stated as she went back into teaching.
In the void, the same voice sounded again again but this time, it was unheard by anyone.
"Do Not Remember The Supreme Unless The Supreme Wills It"