Chapter 1: The World Eight Years Later.

  Eight years have passed since the historical fight where the stars overpowered the moon. Yet, Taiyo doesn't recall any of it. All he remembers... was that someone he cared about, someone that he had begun to trust, had turned their back on him.

  Taiyo Vitale was awoken by the bright light of the sun seeping in through the curtains of his bedroom. Tiny dust particles silently drifted through the air, only to be illuminated by the incoming sunlight. Tai let out a yawn, stretching his limbs long and far. He quietly looked around his room, in search of his phone. He shuffled through the bed and his nightstand in a half-awake daze. Finally finding it, he grabbed it and

  Reading the time of 6 A.M in a blaring red that hurt his eyes, Taiyo got up out of bed and started to perform his morning work-out routine. He did a few sets of push-ups and sit-ups and did a bit of small endurance lifting with the tiny weights he stored in the corner of his room. He took a cold shower to wake himself up, brushed his teeth, and ate a bowl of cereal before getting dressed and heading out to school.

  Today was the first day of his third year at Holy Valley High School. While he had previously had nothing to do, over the summer he decided to devote his time to his exercises, gaining a fairly lean and healthy build that he was quite proud of. After double checking everything he had on him, he grabbed his bag and headed out of the door at around 6:45.

  Tai slowly meandered out the door and locked it behind him with a sigh. He was quite nervous for this day. After all of his previous displacements he couldn’t figure out just what was worth getting excited for anymore. After all, he could be at another school in an instant with his luck.

  Heading down the road, silently flipping through his phone’s social media account, he noticed a group of five people from his year that he saw at the new student orientation. One of the boys made eye contact with Taiyo and offered up a big smile and wave. He walked over to Tai, the rest of the group looked over curiously to see what he was doing.

  "Hey, you're Taiyo, right? I recognize you from orientation," he said cheerily, getting uncomfortably close. "Since our school district is mostly in this neighborhood we all know each other or have at least seen one another around before."

  Taiyo lives in an apartment in the general area yet he wasn’t directly in the neighborhood.

  "Yeah, I’m Taiyo. What do you want?" Taiyo said with an annoyed look. People like him who could just start conversations with anyone at any time were probably his least favorite type of people. What if he wasn’t in the mood for conversation?

  "Yeah I guess I should get to the point, huh," the boy responded with a laugh. "I was wondering if you wanted to walk with us to school from now on?"

  "No." Taiyo said blankly and started to walk away, already tired of the conversation.

  "Come on, it'll be fun!" The boy grabbed Taiyo's arm and started dragging him towards the group.

  “Wh-What?!” Taiyo was startled as he was proudly pulled along and shown off to the group like the boy’s new stray that he just rescued.

  ***

  The group had been walking for a good amount of time and everyone was interested in the newcomer. Taiyo didn't talk much, only saying a one or two-word response whenever he was addressed, giving the occasional ‘sure’ or ‘okay’ when necessary. His looks were surprising to the group, it’s what really got attention. His messy rust-orange hair and his sharp midnight-blue eyes already made him stand out as is. One would only guess why someone trying so hard not to stick out would have such bright colors on them. The only explanation that made any sense was that everything about him was completely natural and he didn’t have a choice. Also the fact that he had looked like some kind of pop star and was extremely fit raised many questions on who he was and what he did.

  "So Tai... Can I call you Tai? I'm just gonna call you Tai," the same boy from earlier started up the conversation again.

  "Do what you want," Taiyo sighed.

  "I never introduced myself, my name is Kendall Noel, it's nice to meet you Tai!" Kendall smiled, the freckles dotted around his cheeks popping out more than ever. “Say are you some kind of emo or into that goth aesthetic? You dress kind of dark despite how bright you look and you talk pretty flat.”

  "Don't call me emo, I'm not emo."

  "Nah, you're definitely emo."

  "Are you always this frustrating? This can’t be normal,” Taiyo raised his eyebrows and

  “Really? I don’t see a problem.”

  ***

  Taiyo opened the classroom door as Kendall and the others followed behind him. Taiyo was scanning the room to try and find a quiet place to sit until he saw a seat next to a quiet girl with ghost-blonde hair and blue eyes. She looked visibly bored. Everything around her seemed bored. The world looked so dull in her eyes as she stared blankly ahead of her, resting her head on a clenched fist and twirling strands of her hair between her fingers.

  "She looks unproblematic..." Taiyo muttered to himself.

  Taiyo walked to the back of the class and sat down next to the girl. They exchanged looks yet neither really seemed that interested in the other. With a 'if you don't bother me I won't bother you' expression, he quietly sat down without saying anything.

  Kendall sat right next to Tai and smiled at him.

  "Okay class, settle down!" the teacher said over the voices of the loud classroom. "Welcome back to Holy Valley High School. I'm sure all of you are acquainted with one another so let's get started please."

  ***

  After an uneventful homeroom class, the bell rang for all of them to head to gym class and everyone proceeded to the school basketball court for a class game. Once on the court, everyone put on a T-shirt with their respective numbers and it was girls vs. girls first and then boys vs. boys next.

  For both matches, everyone was constantly excited to see what was going to happen. These games were meant to test someone's current physical level and capabilities as a person to see what their limits are.

  On one team, Kendall was the captain as a center with four chosen others on his team. On the other team, Taiyo was the point guard captain with his selected team behind him.

  "Hey Tai! I won't go easy on you just because we're friends!" Kendall yelled with a grin.

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  "Who ever said we were friends? You’re insane," Taiyo hid his face as he chuckled a bit.

  ***

  The game played out as a fairly intense one with each side scoring a lot of points. The audience was on the edge of their seats as they watched the swift movements of each team working in unison.

  "Taiyo pass it over here I'm open!" one of Tai's teammates yelled from the other side of the court.

  "Right!" Tai responded in a hurry.

  A few of his acquaintances noticed how the usually quiet and mind-his-own-business Taiyo turned into a focused and determined, skilled player once he was out on the court.

  "Not on my watch!" Kendall leaped in front of Taiyo with his arms extended to block the pass, his energetic personality making him a dangerous opponent as a smile never left his face.

  At that moment, Tai could feel his desire to win take over his entire mind. Every other thought in his head disappeared and became irrelevant for a moment. Tai could feel energy rushing through his body like it was his blood. The rush of adrenaline was immense as time seemed to slow down in his mind.

  "I'll definitely win this!" he yelled out.

  It was strange, he never wanted to do anything this badly. For that one period in time, all he wanted was to win that immediate challenge ahead of him. The consequences of his actions didn’t matter at all. The future? Irrelevant. The only thing that mattered was that moment alone. With that level of determination, his body became faster as his motions blurred. Many stared in awe as steam rose from his slowly heating limbs.

  "Faster... I need to go faster..." Taiyo muttered.

  He disappeared from sight. Only the slowly rising steam remained where he was previously standing just a moment ago.

  Everyone was hurriedly looking around, trying to find where he had gone. Suddenly, a loud bang and the sound of shattering glass broke the momentary silence. Many people turned around and stared as Taiyo slammed the ball into the hoop, the broken glass sparkling around him, shimmering like ethereal crystals.

  He landed on the ground without making any sound as steam continued to rise off his body. He looked up and everyone saw that his sclera were now glowing a shadowy black hue as white lights flickered like flames in his eyes. Returning to his senses Taiyo looked around confused and back down at his hands that were severely cut and bleeding with multiple burn marks.

  The girl who sat next to him in class whistled in amazement at the sight. Her eyes actually lit up for the first time.

  Taiyo looked up to see everyone staring at him in utter awe and a hint of fear at the same time.

  "What's wrong with all of you? Got a staring problem?" Taiyo asked.

  "Uhm I suppose Mr. Vitale's team wins..." the coach said slowly as he blew the whistle.

  "Bro that was awesome!" Kendall ran up to Tai and swung his arms over his shoulders. "You melted the freaking rim, you're like some kind of monster dude!"

  "Yo what the heck was that!" a boy yelled off from the stands. "That was like a special move from some kind of video game."

  "Dang I drew attention to myself without meaning to," Taiyo winced. “But… What was that?”

  The coach approached the hoop and noticed that the glass had broken nearly perfectly and the hoop's rim was almost entirely melted from the point he grabbed. He let out a small sigh and took out a small purple pen and began to scribble in a faint font onto a crumbled receipt in his pocket. After completing the script, he crumpled the paper into a ball and stuck into the lining between his pants pocket. He chanted something silently which in turn created a small wisp of smoke that arose from the same place where the paper was put.

  The bell rang while everyone was still staring so Taiyo grabbed his stuff and decided to go to lunch. The coach stared off at him, a concerned look playing on his face.

  ***

  Taiyo walked up the stairs of the main building with his lunch in hand. He opened the roof door and sat down with his back to the railing. He closed his eyes and slowly breathed in the fresh air, trying to clear his head. Thoughts and questions of what had happened during the game constantly kept finding their way back into his mind. What had he done? What kind of power was that? Why is he just finding out about it?

  "Yo, you can't just eat my food! You have your own lunch box already!" Kendall yelled at the girl next to him.

  "Too bad little Kendall. A man should always be happy to give up something for a beautiful woman like me." the white-haired girl that sat next to Taiyo said with a grin.

  "I wouldn't call you a woman... No more than a girl..." Kendall muttered to himself as he blew his hair out of his face.

  "I heard that!" she yelled back. "Fine, if you're gonna be rude about it I'll just share some of my food with you."

  The girl took a chunk off her plate and splattered it all over his chocolate brown hair, coloring it a multitude of colors.

  "Hey, I just washed it this morning," Kendall shouted furiously, standing up.

  "That'll teach you to disrespect a lady," the girl said triumphantly.

  Taiyo closed his eyes and sighed irritated. "I guess I can somewhat understand why Kendall is still following me around, but why are you here too?"

  "I'm interested in you. It's not every day a high school student moves faster than the human eye can follow, dunks a 10-foot tall hoop, and then manages to break and melt it. " she said while stuffing her face with food. “That’s not exactly human you know? You should be surprised that I’m the ONLY one following you.”

  "Stalking someone and talking while you eat isn't very ladylike of you..." Kendall smirked.

  "Anyway, Taiyo it's nice to actually meet you." she smiled. “I’m sure we’ll get along great!”

  "First of all, I never agreed to that and secondly, I don't even know your name," Tai said as he finished up his food.

  "Hi, I'm Lyra Nevada, your new beautiful friend!" Lyra said.

  "Beautiful my butt..." Kendall said while pouring water on his head to clean it.

  "Oh stop pouting! You're so much more fun to mess with when you're happy like you usually are," Lyra responded with a frown.

  "You aren't going to leave me alone are you?" Taiyo asked.

  "Nope. You better get used to us hanging out a lot because we're going to become the three closest friends at this school!"

  "There’s no way that’s happening."

  The group went through the rest of their day, splitting up after lunch. But, they agreed to meet to walk back to their neighborhood after school.

  ***

  "How did I let you two rope me into this..." Taiyo said as they walked home.

  "I'm glad you're finally opening up, Tai! It's great to hang out together!" Kendall said with his usual smile back.

  "Geez, you're so loud, dude. Just be quieter."

  "No can do! That is impossible!" Kendall made an X shape with his arms. Taiyo raised his eyebrows a bit at the movement but quickly moved on.

  "Well, I'm glad you guys are accepting me into your friend group!" Lyra said with a giggle. She quickly walked in front of the boys and spun around, her long skirt doing a little flourish and spin as she walked backwards in front of the two boys with a smile.

  "I totally got the wrong impression from you..." Taiyo said.

  "What'd you mean?" she tilted her head and got a bit closer to him.

  "What I mean is…” Taiyo pushed her gently back out of his face, spinning her around so they now walked side-by-side once more. “You seemed so quiet and I thought you could've been normal but here we are. Just my luck."

  Taiyo could’ve sworn that for a split second, Lyra’s expression got a bit saddened at this but she smiled again so quickly that he just had to think that his mind was playing tricks on him.

  "I'm only quiet because everyone else bored me. None of them seemed as weird and interesting as you,” She smirked.

  "Wow, thanks."

  "Any time."

  "Hey Tai! Let's all go skating together!" Kendall said as he started walking backward in front of Taiyo, copying Lyra’s moves.

  "No." he responded bluntly.

  "I'll get you to go, don't worry."

  "I'm not worrying, I just won't go."

  "That's a good idea Kendall! When should we go?" Lyra butted in.

  "Not you too..." Taiyo said annoyed.

  "Hmm, maybe this weekend? That should work for me..." Kendall responded.

  "What, no, I didn't agree to this."

  "Yeah, that's good for me too. Well, then it's settled!" said Lyra.

  "You guys can’t be serious," Taiyo said exasperated.