"Why didn't you tell him about his parents?" The angel-looking woman asked.
"He'll find out eventually by traveling through each realm. He'll learn things about himself and his heritage he never thought were imaginable." The demon-looking man said.
"Besides, that's something he should learn about on his own. We shouldn't be the ones to tell him." The human-looking man said.
"That's true. Once he unlocks his full power plus those runes you gave him, he'll be unstoppable." The devil-looking woman said.
"That's why I didn't give him runes. We can't have him be a threat to us." The devil-looking man said.
"But still, that poor boy, he's only a child, but he has to carry the burden of three entire realms." The human-looking woman said.
"Well, it was fate that picked him. The question is why, though, " the human-looking man said.
"Only time will tell, but I agree. A 17-year-old boy shouldn't have to bear such a burden." The devilish-looking woman said.
"All we can do now is wait for his return and hope he bears good news. Although I guess if he fails, we and the other three realms will cease to exist. That's the only way he can be a threat to us."
Kai Mercer
When I awoke, it was dark. Where am I? When am I? Questions stirred in my head.
I dragged my hands on the ground by my side.
"Wood?"
Then it hit me.
Did someone think I was dead and bury me alive?
I started pounding on the coffin and screaming.
After a while, I stopped panicking and relaxed. I was trying to think of a way to get out of this mess.
Ah, right, the magical runes they said they gave me.
I closed my eyes and focused on each part of my body until I felt something weird, but I felt nothing weird. I figured I'd feel something weird if a rune was on my skin that shouldn't be there.
I was confused at first, then panic started to rise through my body again. I didn't know what to do. The man said he gave me runes, but where were they? I started to get angry. Did they lie to me? If so, why am I even alive? Why did they "revive" me if they weren't going to give me the power to fight?
I took a couple of deep breaths to calm myself down.
I closed my eyes and focused inwards this time.
I felt something weird under my sternum. I focused harder on it, and suddenly a rush of power coursed through my body, and the lid of the coffin, as well as the 6 feet of dirt on top of it, flew up into the air. The wood shattered, sending sharp shards hurdling through the air.
I jumped out of the hole and breathed a sigh of relief.
"That was… unpleasant. I hope I never get buried alive again." I said, chuckling.
I took some time to orient myself until I heard footsteps followed by shouting.
"Who's there?" The voice said.
I wasn't sure if I should respond, so I tried to sneak off. Out of the corner of my eye, I saw a flashlight flicker through the trees. It started panning in my direction.
By this point, I was about 10 yards from the grave I popped out of. The flashlight flicked over me. I put my hands up.
"Who are you?" The voice said.
"Kai Mercer," I responded simply.
"Kai Mercer died a month ago. Who are you, really?" The voice responded with a questioning tone.
So it's only been a month since I "died".
I slowly turned around and pointed at the grave I came out of.
The flashlight flickered to the grave, then back to me.
"Son of a bitch! Who are you?" The man was getting angry.
"I told you," I said, "Kai Mercer."
Then everything went silent, even the wind. Someone or something spoke.
"Fate has returned him; do not interfere with what he is destined to do." The voice was flat with no emotion.
The man had a pendant around his neck that started glowing.
"Good god, you really are Kai Mercer." The man said in utter disbelief. His eyes were wide, and his jaw was practically touching the ground.
"What is that around your neck?" I asked.
"It lights up when someone is telling the divine truth." The man took off his jacket and handed it to me. "Let's get going. If someone else sees that grave open like that, they will flip out."
"Where exactly are you taking me?"
"To someone who will know what to do with you." The man's voice sent a chill down my spine, causing me to shiver.
The man led me to my old school, the one I was at before I died. It was a little different than it was. We made our way through the winding halls. The halls were empty, but I could hear chatter coming from the classrooms.
We arrived at a door that read "Director's Office."
The man knocked, and a woman's voice came from inside. "Come in."
If this were my old school, it would be weird for me to just wander into the director's office, especially if it was the same director I had.
The man stepped in first and looked back at me with a questioning look. I steeled myself and walked through the doorway.
I crossed the threshold of the door. It was my director, but she didn't seem to recognize me.
"Who is this boy, Archibald?" Director Skye asked.
He took a long breath before speaking. "Kai Mercer, Miss Skye."
"Kai died a month ago. That's not him."
"I am Kai," I said simply.
Just then, the pendant on the man's neck began to glow.
Director Skye's eyes went wide. "Kai? Is that really you?" There was utter disbelief in her voice.
"I think so. I'm not so sure myself. I fell asleep one day at my home. The next thing I knew, I suddenly woke up underground. I had no idea how long I was down there for." I said.
I decided not to tell them about the people in the courtroom and the contents of that conversation. I didn't know how they would react to it.
"Exactly a month," Archibald said flatly, "to the second."
Director Skye circled her desk and walked up to me, placing a hand on my shoulder. "You feel… real." She said her voice was trembling a little. "You also look healthier, you're not as thin, and your eyes aren't sunken."
"When I was out there, I heard a voice come from the grave, it said, 'Fate had returned him, don't interfere with what he's destined to do. '" Then my pendant lit up," Archibald said hesitantly.
"Fate?" Skye whispered, "Sounds like you're meant for some big stuff, Kai." She tried to joke about it, but she couldn't help the fear and admiration in her voice.
"I don't want this, though. Why did it have to be me? I never agreed to this."
"Fate doesn't have to agree with a mortal's wishes. If fate truly chose you, you have no choice but to fulfill whatever it is it asked of you."
"Now what do I do?" I asked.
"The only thing you can do, train, but you seem pretty shaken. Why don't you take today off?" Skye paused, "Here's the key to the new dorm building. Your room is number 316."
It turns out the school had been turned into an academy to train students who would be sent off to fight in the war.
"Thank you Director Skye." I said.
I turned to leave but Director Skye put her hand on my shoulder.
"Just Skye is fine." She said. She had an obvious forced smile on her face.
I nodded and turned to leave. This time I was actually able to.
I made my way through my old school. The layout was still the same but there were now swords, spears, shields, and all other kind of weapons lining the hallway.
I got to the new dorm building and went to room 316, which was on the third floor.
I put the key into the door and turned it, not knowing what to expect.
I opened the door to a short hallway with a door halfway down it on it the left. There was a washer and drying across from the door.
I walked down the hallway to an open room with a bunk bed in the back right corner a TV against the back wall, a couch facing it, and a little kitchen in the far corner across from the bunk beds.
I sat down on the couch and turned the TV on. Every channel I flipped through was about the war.
"Another city has been destroyed by the war between the demons and angels." The reporter said.
Then it flipped to a video feed of the city. It was horrifying. Buildings were destroyed, craters in the ground, and the ground was caked in blood, you could even see it from the helicopter flying over, which is where the video feed was being taken from.
Just then I heard a door behind me open. I turned around to see a girl with long white hair the flowed down her back. She had black eyes like looked like the void. She had nothing but a towel covering her.
"Who the hell are you? And why are you in my room?" She screamed.
"I'm… Kai Mercer."