Fan Fiction ❯ Humanity Reborn ❯ The Meeting and Transformation ( Chapter 1 )

Chapter One \ The Meeting and Transformation

 

A certain hazel-eyed girl named Mariame was sleeping peacefully. Or so it appeared. Her head lay still on the pillow, turning to the right, and then back to the left occasionally. An arm draped across her nonmoving chest to extend past the edge of the bed. Her slightly pointed ears twitched strangely, and without warning, her body flipped into a sitting position and her eyes popped open as she took a large, gasping, raspy breath. Her conscious thoughts returned to her in a rush as she struggled for control over her body.

 

'Damn...not...again...stupid...nightmare...'

 

Panting, she swung her legs over the edge of the twin bed and rested her head in her hands. Her head was pounding, her heartbeat frantic, and her breathing was staggered and harsh. Rather it felt like she had just competed in the triathlon. Without breathing. The only thing difference was her body felt as if it had been immobile for the past few hours; in reality it had been. Soft, relaxed, mush-feeling arm and leg muscles provided a strange contrast to the most important muscle in her body that was currently working the hardest. Her heart.

 

'The nightmare again...why must I always forget to breathe...'

 

Her body calming slowly, she sighed, resigned, knowing this would be another one of her trademark nights without sleep. Standing up, she swayed slightly, and put a hand out to the bedpost to steady herself. Her heart may have stopped pounding at a breakneck pace, but her head still spun from lack of oxygen. Slipping on a pair of sweatpants, she padded slowly down the stairs, careful not to wake her parents slumbering directly below. Though they were by now used to her insomniac habits, regardless, neither would be happy if she woke them up. Flicking on the florescent countertop lights she rummaged in the fridge for something edible. A quick look in the vegetable drawer revealed a fresh pack of spinach. With a hushed cry of success, she retrieved it and shut the fridge door. Munching satisfactorily, she made her way into the modest living room. Feeling silently for the buttons on the stereo, she turned on the CD player. Skipping the cd to track five, she turned and sat in her favorite chair in front of the still-glowing fire. A glance at her glowing watch told her it was 2:14 AM.

 

'Jeez...why do I always have that dream? The stupid dream with the tiny, outdated village in the woods...blue flames…almost not really there…and a girl, crouched over a little boy and sobbing incoherently...'

 

The terror, thick in the air, overwhelming her, like a sodden woolen blanket, causing her to stop breathing, as she often did when terror overcame her in her dreams. And then she was fading out…then the usual half-sane moment when she seemingly fought for her life...

 

And there was her...one. The unnamed one, who was there, in all of her dreams, every single one, be it normal or prophecy or nightmare... saving her, talking to her, being with her…

 

'I know his face, the sharp contour of his brow. I know the way he walks, with a certain compulsion to get wherever he's going. I know his eyes, deep orbs of molten orange; with those almost undetectable specks of silver...I know his voice, too, for that matter. How strange, in a dream…

 

I know the devilish grin that gives his face the extra spark, the facade he has when he is deep in thought, yet, I know the melancholy, beaten look he gets when he's sad. I know every aspect of him---except who he is, and if he's even real.

 

He's been in my dreams as long as I remember them, always there, saving me, pushing me from the dream realm, before I fall, making me breathe when my body forgets…Yet he's there in my 'normal' dreams, too. The ones about school and such--just as if he was really in my life and one of my friends that I see in my dreams. Except he exists only in my dreams.

 

I have yet to find if he's real, or a figment of my rather overactive imagination...He's my every consultant, he knows everything about me, inside and out. And yet I don't know his name, or whether he's even real...'

 

She sighed. This wasn't a good time to start dwelling on that. Especially since he chose this time, this most recent dream, to disappear. Did it mean something? He finally left her? To do what? And why the hell when she needed him most?

 

With this frustrating thought, she went back upstairs to climb in her bed. She had a Math test tomorrow, and it wouldn't do to fail it because of lack of sleep.

 

***

 

Alleio glanced around the empty classroom, his face a blank, impenetrable mask. He sat gracefully in the exact middle of the flow of energy concentrated about the room. Traces of thoughts swirled in the unpopulated room, left over and forgotten by the previous occupants. Mentally, he smirked.

 

'Nobody realizes why exactly they forget things. Yet why you remember when you trace back your steps…'

 

Picking up the stray thoughts, he sorted through them absently, looking for a certain person's. The Nemalic's...a forgotten thought, about a dream; to be exact...he staggered mentally as his probing mind found the right wave. It was extremely strong and emotional, filled with terror...

 

'...Blue flames, almost not really there...and a girl, crouched...'

 

And then it left him, as soon as it came.

 

"Damn!" he exclaimed softly, allowing himself the loss of composure. Now why couldn't it have just stayed until he saw what this girl was leaning over?

 

He stood straight again, silently. He'd have to talk to the Nemalic to get her complete thoughts, and maybe a subconscious alliance...he got the strangest inclination she didn't know what she was. But that was strange. She didn't know she was THE Nemalic? The only one left with Nemalic blood running through her veins?

 

'She lives with humans, and unreceptive ones, at that…they wouldn't have told her that her origin was anything other than human...'

 

Alleio frowned minutely. So that was what the Energy wanted him to do? Be the one to tell her what she was and to embrace her powers? And what are her powers, exactly? He'd have to scour her mind for the hidden things she couldn't concept yet...

 

Abruptly he shook his head lightly to clear it and walked out of the room, once again searching for stray thoughts.

 

***

 

Tossing in her bed once again, Mariame sighed. She was always so restless...sometimes even so much she couldn't get to sleep easily. It didn't make any sense... the dream-realm was her escape, the only place she could escape the constant...boredom...so why couldn't she escape to it more quickly? She sighed again. Possibly because she was ALWAYS bored. Always incredibly bored to the point of madness. Sure, she had things to do...but it wasn't enough. She wanted out of her ordinary life. She wasn't talking suicide or anything...she just wanted a different, less normal, life. It was always, wake up, school, take nap, eat, computer, sleep, and if it was a weekend...sleep for 12 to 14 hours a day and then be on the computer the rest...She longed for a life like the ones in the novels. Time travel, mythos, and mystical whatever! She wanted...excitement. She looked down at her small hands. 'I want claws...' she thought. 'and fangs..' running her tongue over her slightly sharp teeth, she continued, '..not nearly sharp enough…why do I want these things?'

 

She sighed. She might as well kill the ideas. After all, they were possible only in fantasy…

 

'God...why have I always wanted to be different? Half-cat, witch, vampire, shape-shifter...I've always longed for, wished so hard--just for a bit of...well, power. Something that would make me... surreal. Is that normal?' she pondered. 'Is it human nature to want to be a supernatural freak? ...Agh. What I really need is not a powerful, unrealistic body, but rather, a LIFE.'

 

Turning over under the blankets once more, she snuggled her head deeper into the pillow and clenched her eyes together. She was determined to sleep. She couldn't concentrate at school otherwise. Even reading, which was second nature to her, became blurry to her without sleep.

 

'and I really don't want to fall asleep in math again...'

 

And with that, she let her mind float away into the unknown and her body relax into the covers.

 

***

 

Mariame yawned as she sluggishly dragged herself out of bed. Slapping a hand on her alarm clock, she stuck her feet into fuzzy black slippers located conveniently next to her bed. She mumbled a greeting to the tawny cat lying stretched across her dresser and lazily pulled open a drawer.

 

`I think I'll go low-maintenance today…' she thought and plucked a long blue shirt and jeans out of the stuffed full drawer. She threw them on without pretense and wrapped her un-brushed hair into a ponytail while shuffling downstairs. Reaching the kitchen she opened a cupboard door.

 

`Breakfast…? Yes? No? Hmm…yeah.' She decided and grabbed a packet of instant rice and a black chai teabag out of the cupboard. Eyes half-closed still, she blindly reached for the pot of water on the stove. Peering blandly inside she found it still had leftover water in it. Shrugging and proclaiming it clean she turned on the burner. A lock of hair fell out of her loose ponytail, only to land immediately in the open flame. She cursed violently and pulled back out of sheer reflex, grasping the smoking clump of hair.

 

`Damn, damn, damn!' she thought, inspecting it. Fortunately, only the ends were scorched.

 

“Ah, well, time to get split ends cut off anyway...” she muttered, unaffected.

 

Placing the pot she still held in one hand on the burner, she set off to find a scissors. Upon reaching a pair she held out the offending lock and hacked at it. It was now an inch or so shorter than the rest of her hair. She grimaced and got a pair of chopsticks from the drawer in front of her, musing what her friends would say when the saw her mismatched hair. Turning back to the stove, she saw the water was already boiling over. `Gah!' she dumped a portion of it into a bowl and another bit into a mug and discarded the rest down the sink. Then she grabbed the packet of instant rice, ripped it open, and dumped the contents into the bowl of steaming water. She stirred it until it grew clumpy and added soy sauce.

 

`Mmm…foreign culture...'

 

She grabbed the bowl of rice, chopsticks, and mug of tea and sat down at the table. Munching at her rice, she noticed a slip of paper lying casually on the placemat. `Was that there before…?' she wondered. Unfolding it she realized it was a hastily scrawled note. She read it with squinted eyes, not having put in her contacts yet.

 

“May,“ The note started… and Mariame was surprised. How did this person know her writing penname? She read on.

 

“-Must talk to you about something extremely imperative. Meet me at the swing tree. Come immediately.”

 

Whoever had written it had not signed it. She let out a breath of frustration. This person knew too much already…nobody knew about what she called the swing tree—much less her writer's façade—so how did this mysterious being?

 

`Extremely imperative, is it now…well, whatever. He/she/it said “immediately.” “Immediately” can be in a few minutes. I have to finish my rice.'

 

***

 

Outside, Alleio was pacing agitatedly. He would have waited until she went on her way to school, but he had just found a new bit of information about who was going to be discovered at today's assembly at her school—and he was going to need the Nemalic's help. As much as he hated to admit it.

 

His head shot up as the sound of crispy leaves crunching beneath bare feet reached him. He breathed a small sigh of relief as he saw her. She was wearing a red windbreaker with jeans, her hands in her pockets and her flowing auburn hair thrown back in a ponytail. She was watching the ground as the early morning moon-breeze played with the autumn leaves underfoot.

 

`She's so ignorant…needs to learn of the real dangers here…to learn of her instincts born of her--needs to be much more alert and watchful, at all times…the outbreak of the evil intent has let more dangerous creatures into the human world…ones she's not near used to…' Alleio thought.

 

He sent a disguised telepathic message for her to look up. She did, and she was shocked. Even if he wasn't able to read her mind he would be able to tell—it was plain on her face. He shifted uncomfortably under her blatant stare. He had forgotten what a shock his profile was to humans—what was it to a sheltered Nemalic? His hair had no set color. He could change it at will and he did. Currently it was a waist-length straight, sleek black. A high forehead above dark, arched brows framed fiery deep orange eyes fringed with thick black lashes to rival a girl's. His eyes, unlike his hair, did not change—they were his signature. Hence, red or light brown hair did not look good on him. A rather reserved, boyish nose was set above masculine lips, born for aristocratic speech. A strong jaw clarified high cheekbones and a defined chin.

 

His clothes were ethereal. They also changed, not only color, but style as well. On a whim, he could go from casual-wear to lightweight diamond-hard armor, or regenerate them as they damaged. Also completely comfortable and weighing close to nothing, they seemed to float on him, but fit him perfectly, and were cool, yet warm when necessary. Currently he sported a long, casual shirt, a soft, changing blue-green in color, with black sashes running up his powerful-looking arms. It flowed like water in the light breeze. A clear crystal, shaped like a flattened sphere, hung from a fine silver chain around his neck. His pants were nondescript, unshaped except for the small flare at the bottom, nearly hiding his bare feet. What with his hair, eyes, and clothes, the overall effect was magnificent. At first glance, taking in the hair and long shirt, he looked almost feminine. At least until he turned around and impaled you with those eyes of fire. Mariame couldn't stop staring, and he realized it. He shifted uncomfortably once more…

 

`This creature has a strange effect on me, hardly ever am I nervous…' he thought, and parted his lips to speak. He didn't get farther than the first syllable before she began to change. Her eyes were slowly going from a bright green-gold to an extremely pale blue-green, and she was growing in height rapidly. Her body, previously slim and soft, started to grow lithe and held a petite strength.

 

`Oh damn…I didn't expect this...' but he should have. No doubt his aura, large and powerful and menacing, was making her instincts react to the apparent `danger'—for usually in the other, human-devoid world, Nemalics and beings such as him—Psychens-- were blood foes. No wonder, too, as they were completely different beings, one with instincts of body, another with instincts of mind and spirit. As he watched silently, her eyes widened as she realized she was changing. She looked down at her hands, and what she saw must have shocked her, for her eyes widened even more. Claws, pearly translucent and razor sharp, were making themselves known to her hands. She lifted a finger up to her face, than brought it gently down upon her other, outstretched arm. A light amount of pressure sliced through her flimsy nylon windbreaker and shirt underneath to hit tender flesh. Alleio opened his mouth in warning, but she had already broken the skin. At the sight of blood, she hissed slightly, and threw her head back violently as small fangs appeared in her mouth. He could hear her mind's voice screaming for an answer, and when her head slowly came forward again, her now pale green-white eyes revealed her extreme fear. Her ears, already slightly pointed, became downright sharp-looking. `Sharp ears?' Alleio wondered. They twitched under his gaze. A rivulet of blood running slowly down her arm caught his attention, and he approached her cautiously. She appeared unafraid of him, though, and he was relieved. He reached for her arm, but before he could grasp it, she held it out to him, a silent plea for an explanation. The silence was not long lasted, though, and she voiced her question.

 

“It's you…what did you do to me?” she whispered quietly. At the sound of her voice, she clapped a now-clawed hand over her mouth. Her eyes, which had just begun to relax from their widened state, enlarged again. He heard her think to herself, `Crap…what's wrong with my voice? It's all…growl-y!' He smiled to himself. Her voice was indeed different from when he had heard it before; now it was slightly deeper, and it had a definite purr to it. He clasped her arm in his hand and with the other pulled a sash off of his own arm, wrapping it gently around the small cut she had inflicted upon herself. He spoke, and it was harsh, blunt, and frigid with potent ice.

 

“You're a Nemalic. The Nemalic. Nemalics were a race of supernatural beings similar to animals. You're no less `human' in the mind and soul, if you want to call it that, you're still not at all mortal. Your body is unnaturally powerful, and you possess animal instincts.”

 

Mariame was lost in confused thought.

 

`His voice contradicts his actions…he's binding my arm like it's broken or something, instead of just a stupid cut, yet he sounds so damn arrogant and cold!'

 

Repressing a shiver, she focused on what he was saying.

 

“…I wasn't expecting you to change into your form so soon, but I didn't count on my aura forcing your instincts to surface.”

 

She looked mildly dazed and replied,

 

“Nemalic? Supernatural…”

 

`Immortal…'

 

She spoke hesitantly.

 

“So…I'm what, exactly? I'm stronger now? Your aura made me like this?”

 

She waved a hand around her to indicate his flaring energy as he replied,

 

“Yes. I've explained this already.” She winced at the sharp comment.

 

“Animal-like, though not animal as you see in the human world,”

 

Having finished wrapping her arm, Alleio let it drop to her side.

 

“I told you. Supernatural. Only word that comes to mind about now.”

 

“So, okay? What did you call me out here for?” she asked, inspecting her claws in fascination and running an exploratory tongue over her sharpened teeth.

 

Alleio sighed, annoyed slightly. Such naïve ignorance.

 

“There is a disturbance about. A dark being, of incredible evil, capable of corrupting the entire human race. Rather like ripping their very humanity out of their souls. You may even go so far to say if this being of incredible evil is not stopped, there will be no Soul Realm anymore. You would know this as the world you go to when you dream. Anyway, this entity of pure evil does not have a name, or even a physical form, as of yet. But I and others of my kind have noticed a change in the shift and rotation of the world…it could have been a rise in the general evilness of humans, or the amount of nightmares going on in the Soul Realm, but it's there, and growing. We figure this evil manifestation is the collection of all possible evil in the entire human race, past, present, and future combined—making it incredibly evil, beyond comprehension of even the capabilities of a highly advanced mind.”

 

“Ah…others of your kind? Do they all look that hot?” Mariame blurted, not realizing fully what she said. Then she gasped slightly and clapped a hand over her mouth. Again.

 

Alleio raised an eyebrow. `Hot?' His face remained impassive; inwardly, though, he was smirking. He waited for his words from before to fully sink in.

 

May blinked, once, twice, three times, taking it all in. Her brow furrowed slightly as she realized what was being said. “Wait, though. If all the evil through all of time is collected in this one being, won't it disappear from the rest of the beings? Because it's all there in the one…manifestation?”

 

Alleio brightened slightly. Not visibly, of course, but internally. Maybe this girl wasn't so ignorant—at the very least, she was intelligent.

 

“More or less it'll still be there, as you can't just snatch the evil out of someone and make it dissipate, unless you sanctify it. The manifestation is not purifying. In fact it's the very farthest thing from holy. Christians would know it as the Devil, or the evil intent that possesses them to madness. More to the point, simply, it cannot be everywhere at one time; theoretically, if we find the source of the evil intent, most---not all, as evil cannot be destroyed completely, in order for there to be goodness there must be mild evil.”

 

“So this guy has to be stopped.”

 

“It has no name and no gender. It is evil. Evil, in every sense of the word. It would have no inhibitions or regrets, but yet, no real desire. All it have would be one emotion, hate. Hate, at the world, at the human race, at every living thing that's ever lived. Hence, even without any desire, it will seek to destroy every living thing, including the human race, on the face of the earth, with its own hatred. Literally by implanting untold amounts of hate and malice in every conscious being's mind, or at least those with what you might call, `humanity' in them, making them go quite insane, and destroying their soul. In a sense, we will all destroy ourselves quite nicely, either by suicide, or war, or just pure hate at each other. `Humanity', or conscious living, is such that all the being will have to do is implant the evil intent…Of course, in order to do that, it needs a physical form, and a rational mind, to reason the way to actually implant said evil into our minds.”

 

“So…we have to find the person the evil is possessing? Or will possess?”

 

“Exactly. And that is where our source of evil will be residing…We have other “missions”, like to find the one Sanctimon who is capable of purifying such an evil, and to control the spirit the evil will possess. I called upon you because we need all races of humanity—My psychic beings, I represent them, because I am the ruler of the Psychic Realm, and therefore it is my duty to protect them…And you, you're the only one left of the Nemalics, so you're the only capable one…the Sanctimon, she's the only one left of her kind, also, for whatever reason, most of them have died off. And, to represent the mortal humans, we have the being that the manifestation will be possessing—ironically, he has to be of completely pure soul, so the being can overtake him completely without the human's evil to interfere…he will have to fight, in a sense, his own battle.”

 

“I…see. Continue.” By this time she was exploring her powers. Walking over to the wire fence behind the tree, she sliced at it experimentally. Her eyes widened again (Alleio wondered, briefly, if she always looked that shocked) as she saw she could slice through the steel wire with no pressure. She whistled. `These things could do some serious damage...'

 

Alleio smiled at her thought.

 

`Power is a sweet thing…'

 

Then the faint smile faded and his face molded into the blank mask as he spoke.

 

“Basically I know where the sanctifier is right now. Or at least, where she will be. You have an assembly at school today, no?”

 

“Yes…that's right…school…SCHOOL! What the hell am I going to do? I can't very well hide these things!” She exclaimed, holding up her clawed hands and baring her fangs. Alleio, though, shook his head.

 

“Once you get out of my range of aura, you'll change back to your human appearance. And for future times encountering my spirit, be ready, and control your instincts. If you were to be seen like this…humans have always had a strong reaction to Nemalics, and not necessarily a positive reaction. I'm surprised you didn't completely let your Nemalic spirit overcome you and start attacking me the minute you saw me.” After all, his presence WAS intimidating…

 

Mariame raised an eyebrow at his arrogance.

 

“I wasn't afraid of you, that's why.”

 

“You're rare. Usually beings flee at first glimpse of my eyes.” He fixed orange orbs of light on her own now ice-blue spheres.

 

“Yeah. I was just transfixed…are you coming with me to school? And…err…aren't people going to notice your...ah…attire? Assuming you're coming with me, of course.”

 

Alleio nodded shortly.

 

“I will be accompanying you. Do not worry yourself about my appearance. Focus on keeping yours under control. Emotions can set it off too, and yours will be stronger now, much stronger.”

 

And with that, his hair shortened rapidly to a shaggy cut; much like the one some of the guys at her school wore, keeping the color the same. He morphed his clothes into jeans and a polo shirt, and even added a pair of K-Swiss on his feet, much to his dislike. He hated shoes of all kinds. They changed the natural way of walking, however protective they may be. The necklace on his neck disappeared and the bands around his arms seemed to unwind and dissolve. Mariame watched all this with great interest.

 

“Ahh…where did you GET those clothes? I want some!” she asked, turning back towards the house.

 

Alleio gazed silently after her, and followed.

 

***

 

Alleio was watching the glowing light. He was utterly unaffected. His mind was skeptic…but unusually clear of others' intrusive thoughts. Apparently this 'hypnotist' had an assembly full of students' minds turned to mush, with nothing on their mind except the gently swaying light and soothing music.

 

'This man is inferior. A disgrace and mockery of my race. He's not even concentrating on controlling their minds...he's off in his own fantasies.'

 

His nose wrinkled slightly in disgust and he shifted his eyes from the "hypnotist" to the gray, prison-cell ceiling above him.

 

'Nobody has the power to control human minds...with exception of me and those pure of my race...'

 

“Speaking of Sanctimons…” he murmured.

 

There was a faint glow in the audience. Blue. No, white. It seemed to be growing slightly. What's more, it was centered around a girl who was apparently asleep. Alleio knew better. She wasn't sleeping. She was entranced. Nobody else seemed aware of the eerie blue-white glow radiating from her person, but then again, they were just humans. As he watched curiously, the white-blue radiance grew to a crackling orb of light surrounding the girl.

 

Little sparks of power ran across the surface of the sphere as she slowly rose out of her seat and moved to a midair standing position. She was beginning to get the attention of a few people around her. No wonder, she was floating nearly twenty feet off the floor by now. An invisible wind pushed the curtain of sleek gold-brown hair away from her face and revealed closed eyes paired with a calm, knowing smile. She now had practically the entire audience's attention, not to mention the forgotten hypnotist's.

 

Without warning, she moved in a graceful swoop and her arms crossed in front of her chest protectively. Armor grew magically up from her feet and she swung herself into a defensive stance in midair. The hypnotist's face morphed into a snarl, and he did the same, only on the ground below. The peaceful smile on her face transformed into a smirk, her eyes popped open, and she thrust out a single bare hand toward him, palm facing forward. The energy around her suddenly contracted into a tight little sphere centered on her abdomen.

 

With a calm look, she moved the crackling energy up her arm and into her hand. Thrusting once more, the ball of energy was flung toward the hypnotist and caught him square in the chest. He was thrown backwards with the force of it and hit the ground with a muffled thump, crackling with blue-white purifying energy. The entire audience winced and then turned back to the still-floating girl. Alleio, however, smirked inwardly. Whatever evil this man possessed, it was now gone.

 

By this time she was murmuring an incantation of some language of her dead race. It sounded more like a low hissing sound, but as it wound down, she slowly began to descend back down to the floor. Alleio realized she was fading fast, her powers spent for whatever reason, this was probably the first time she had used them… she was falling faster, and less gracefully. He concentrated slightly, a little effort on his part...and with telekinesis he slowed her descent until he could get there physically.

 

Peoples' eyes widened, watching the man and the Sanctimon... particularly a pair of hazel-gold eyes that looked very familiar. Beckoning to the hazel-eyed girl, he picked up the powerful Sanctimon and walked out of the assembly. The hazel-eyed one followed, silently releasing a bit of her instinctive spirit to travel down her arms as her claws flashed out of her fingertips.

 

***

 

Mariame followed Alleio out the gym door.

 

`So this is the sanctifier,' She thought, glancing at the girl Alleio held in his arms. `She can float at will and shoot ball of energy at people…' She scowled. `And I thought my claws and fangs were powerful…I wonder what Alleio can do…probably more than any of us…'

 

`The door, May.' She jumped at the sound of his sharp voice in her head. She remembered, then, that he was telepathic. She rushed to the door to open it and thought, `I wonder why he uses my penname…' Ahead of her, Alleio had his own thoughts to her.

 

`Because nobody else calls you it- and I do not like using common names.'

 

She jumped slightly again, but smiled at his response. Ever the cool and arrogant one. When would she get used to his mental conversing? She held yet another door open for him to carry the Sanctimon through and they walked out into the deep night. Wait, night? It was the middle of the day! Alleio felt Mariame's confusion and actually spoke to her this time-

 

“The Earth is reacting to this one's powers. Her power is based off the Earth and the way it coexists with the universe—she uses her powers and it shifts the cycle of the Earth. There actually is a way to make the shift so small as to be inconceivable, but this one here does not know how to do that yet. You see, how using the Energy this one time has affected her.” He indicated the girl still lying limp in his arms.

 

“The Energy?”

 

“Yes. What your instincts, my psychic abilities, and her Sanctification powers draw off of. It's the natural energy and life force of the universe. The natural flow, way of things…what gives us our soul and our will to live and be curious…holy, you could say, though not, as one might think, in the religious form.”

 

“So, basically, the opposite of the Evil Manifestation.

 

“Naturally.”

 

By now they had reached a Ford Mustang that was silver hued, with an implication of blue intermixed with the gray-tones. Alleio turned the keys in the ignition with a thought and the doors unlocked automatically. He gently set the Sanctimon down on the back seat and closed the door. As they got in their seats, Mariame asked,

 

“So where are we going now?”

 

“To the village in the forest of the mountains. Where this girl lives— she does not yet know she is the only one left of her kind.”

 

Mariame glanced back at the still unconscious girl in the back seat.

 

`Only one left of her kind…? But that means…oh, dear…'