A Hero In The Dark

Chapter 112: A Brave New World

~ One Year Later ~

It's been a whole year since the death of Setrákus Ra. A lot has changed since then.

There's a whole academy built for the Human Garde's training in Point Reyes, California, designed similarly from the LDA structure I've seen in my visions. Agatha and I helped with the architecture. It's an exact replica.

The entire campus is protected by any harm you could imagine; from any legacy a Garde could develop and lose control of. Fire, water, chemical leaks, you name it.

We already have students partaking in the Earth-Garde program – a contract by the United Nations that every Garde, Loric and human, were accustomed to sign to ensure the safety of the civilians. Otherwise, they claim we'd need to be taken in for quarantine and processing. What that means exactly? I am not entirely sure. I hope I don't need to worry about it.

Anyway, the students recently admitted into the Human Garde Academy include:
Daniela Morales. Telekinetic and wielder of stone vision. Her mom went missing during the bombardment of New York City and her stepdad died in the invasion.
Caleb Crane. Telekinetic and duplicator. His uncle, Clarence Lawson, is a retired military general.
Nigel Barnaby. Telekinetic and sonic manipulator. His parents put him into a boarding school at a very early age and left. He ran away as soon as he got his legacies.
Ran Takeda. Telekinetic and kinetic detonator. She lost her family in the attack of the warship over Tokyo.
Isabela Silva. Telekinetic and shapeshifter. I've already warned the HGA guards and administration to have a system where she can't steal an identity and run away from the academy.

There are plenty of others – nearly 200 in total in fact – and more coming in every day.

Omar Azulay. Fire breath.
Lofton St. Croix. Quill generation.
Nicholas Lambert. Superstrength.
Maiken Megalos. Superspeed.
Miki. Wind transformation.
Lisbette Zabala. Glacen.
Seamus McKenna. Insect telepathy.
Bertrand the Beekeeper, as everyone calls him. Animal telepathy.
Nemo. Breathing underwater.
Simon. Knowledge transference.
Max. Ability to understand any language. 
Rena. Ability to bring any inanimate object to life.
And Fleur, whom I am sure has only developed her telekinesis.

I still have to have a talk with some of them. Miki to start. Nemo after. There are questions I need to ask them. To keep everyone safe.

I've made a sworn promise to protect the new Garde from any harm that may come to them just like I promised to do the same for the last surviving Loric. In terms of the others?

Six and Sam have been travelling the world; sightseeing and vacationing along with Stanley, the Chimæra that prefers the form of a cat and has bonded well with Sam.

Marina and Eight have made a home for themselves in the Himalayan mountains, where Eight spent so much of his time in the early days. Marina seemed to appreciate the idea. Last I heard, they had a baby. A young boy named Liam who is only 3 weeks old. I have yet to see him in person. No matter. It is nearly time.

Nine and Agatha? They are both living on the premises of the HGA. Nine is a professor there, that goes by the title Professor Nine, even though he has never even finished high school. He negotiated for the title himself. He is the one in charge of training the new recruits. Agatha helps him. The two have become quite the pair over the months. Agatha is as comfortable as ever now and as much so as to get into a relationship with Nine. That, to me, says something in itself. I'm proud of her.

Ella and Crayton and Olivia have ventured back to Spain. Ella is going to school again; moving up the grades, growing into those dreaded teenage years that I hardly miss at all.

Sarah has returned to Paradise, Ohio. Living with her family again. Living a normal life. I have to say; I'm a bit envious, but I guess I always was jealous of Sarah, even if I hate to admit it.

Henri has moved back into their house too. BK tagged along with him. Just a suburban alien enjoying his retirement in the town that he started in. I think he missed being back there. He's even gotten himself another red pickup truck, just like the one I've seen him sit in on that first day I met him, waiting for John after school.

Malcolm and Lexa are both working at the academy. Malcolm as a professor teaching the kids the science of their legacies and Lexa with the job to keep the new students' identities off the internet. Even with Setrákus Ra dead and the rest of the trueborn Mogadorians in a prison in Alaska, you can never be too careful, I suppose.

Adam and Rex and Dust on the other hand, are in that prison in Alaska. Well, they've been pardoned, but Adam chose to stay. I guess Rex decided to stick along. I believe they are doing their best to rehabilitate their people into non-bloodthirsty murderers.

In terms of the other Chimærae; Bandit, Regal, Biscuit, and Gamera, they are stationed at the academy as well. Some of them – or rather all of them – have gotten quite acquainted with the students. I have found Bandit relatively fond of Nigel, Regal fond of Caleb, Biscuit fond of Daniela, and, of course, Gamera rarely leaves Malcolm's side.

And no, I didn't forget about Five. How could I? I think about him all the time. As much as I do about John in fact.

Five... I don't know where he is. None of us do. Agatha said he disappeared; that he went to deliver the cloaking devices with the rest of them and he never teleported back to the stone. I've been looking for him ever since. Dropping in and out of Loralite stones around the world; the one in New Mexico in particular since it's his last known location. Never have I found him. Every night, I try to use my telepathy to reach out to his mind, but either he isn't answering or something happened to him. None of the others got a new scar though, which means he's still alive. And it's not like I can sense his energy out of all the energy in the world. I may be strong enough to take down the biggest warship anyone has ever seen, but I'm not that strong. Add that to my to-do list: find Five. I just have to hope he is alright.

As for John, he has been spending most of his time in the Himalayas in India. At the cave with the prophecy. He said he's working on some sort of surprise; has been working on it for months. I can make a pretty good guess at what it is, but he asked for my pendant. If it is what I imagine it to be, I don't understand how my pendant completes it. So, the last 6 months have felt somewhat bare. I still carry the pendants of the deceased three, but without my bond to Lorien, I just feel so much weaker. Well, he did say I would have it back by tonight; he was hoping to be finished by then anyway. And it's getting to be about that time.

Me? I've been just fine. Aside from the worry of Five's disappearance, Pixie and I have been as happy as we've ever been. I share a private suite with John on the HGA campus; separate from the student residence and faculty suites and, thankfully, Nine's suite. Pixie and I go for runs around campus every morning as a continued part of our training. Sometimes John joins us, sometimes not. Sometimes I even use my Eneration for a morning fly. Ever since the battle against Setrákus Ra, it's a skill I've been working on; using my energy to blast upward until my feet come off the ground. I'm getting better at it. Though even so, I haven't been back home. I haven't seen my family since the day I got them out of Mogadorian hands, nor have I seen my old friends since the day I left. Both over a year ago. It's not that I'm necessarily homesick. I just miss them. But at the same time, I have a promise to keep and Human Garde to protect. I'll find a way to see them soon.

I come out of the shower and into our room with the blue towel wrapped snug around my body, and rifle through my closet for something nice to wear.

This should do.

A yellow crop tee and a short silky pink skirt that goes halfway down to my knees. Completed with a pair of silver-studded earrings as large as a thumbnail and as shiny as glitter itself, with the addition to the three pendants of course.

A suitable summer outfit for the California weather and soon to be Indian weather.

I slide my black flip-flops on my feet and turn to the bunny eagerly waiting behind me that's staring at the door.

"Ready to go, Pixie?" I ask with an overexaggerated excited tone to raise her enthusiasm. She stands and bobs her small white tail from side to side and I smile widely. "Don't want to be late for my own birthday party, now do we?"