"To be or not to be... However... For you all... You have no choice..."

-UNKNOWN TO US

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Date: June 04, 2086

Location: Persuary Mansion, San Fransisco, CA

The multitudes gathered around the Persuary Mansion. And this mansion was old... Like REALLY old.

And not a lot of people that gathered there weren't too happy about the smell... But, that doesn't change the fact that it was famous and important...

Especially for the families... But thats for me to tell you...

The sky was gray... Cloudy, but strangely enough, cold had no power over the city as the humidity fell drastically, allowing many folks around the city to relax, feel calm, and cool off from the summer heat.

But not to the young children, whom of which just stood there in bewilderment. Their faces were those of 'Why-The-Heck-Were-We-Here?' type of look...

Well... Except for one...

"Woo Hoo!" Dylan exclaimed wildly.

"Geez," said a green-haired kid, "Someone seems way to excited for their own good..." he grumbled.

"Have you ever of the background of the Persuary Mansion?"

"Does it look like it?" the boy folded his arms across his chest.

"Zach dear, be nice." a much older lady said.

"Yes grandma," the boy, now known as Zach said, "I guess I'm still no good at talking to people," he scratched his head, "Sorry, please go on..."

"Well," Dylan started, "The story goes as so; A long time ag-"

"CAN I TELL IT? PLEASE?" said a newer voice. The pair turned their heads to see a blonde-haired boy run up.

Dylan smiled. "Sure. You can tell it." he replied.

The new boy panted in attempt to catch his breath. "Okay, so about 2000 or so years ago, there, in that very house, lived a man named Jean Persuary. He was a wealthy man, whom of which was one, if not, THE greatest alchemist of all time, he rivals that of Nicholas Flammel. It was said that Jean was working on a project... It was said that the project, if he finished, would change the world so vastly, that he became a target for the Hunters."

"And who were the Hunters?" Zach questioned.

"The Hunters was, or is said to be, an organization that targeted people that were getting way ahead of their time... They were often called 'God's Earthly Officers'. They found Jean and killed him on this day, in December, 2000 or so years ago..." he finished.

"Chris, are you done yet?" a younger girl asked.

"Yes Rose," Chris said, "I'm finished."

"Finally... Chris stopped!!!" a boy said.

"Sorry Jimmy..." he replied, running a hand through his hair.

"Okay..." said a brown-haired girl, "So, what now?"

All the boys (and girl) all jumped and screamed at the new incomer.

"Oi-Oi! Melissa! Wait up!" an older man yelled, running after her.

The girl just tch'd at the older man. "Whatever, Dad." she spat out the last word.

"Don't be like that..." her father stated, laughing nervously.

"Jeez," Melissa stated, "Just leave me alone!" she turned her body from her father. She then walked away from her father, leaving him with the crowd of children.

Silence... Thats all there was for a moment.

"Whats her deal?" Chris asked.

"Well, lets just say that she's not too happy of some of my decisions in the past," he replied, "Anyway, lets go inside then, shall we boys and girl, everybody's already heading on inside..." the man chuckled nervously.

The children just stared at him blankly, as if they were a deer in the headlights...

"Zach dearie," his grandmother said, "It's time to head in. It's time to wrap this day up." she waved her arm.

"Coming!" Zach replied, running towards her, and together, they walked into the mansion.

The other boys saw their own families walk on in after the duo had done the same.

"U-Um..." Chris started, "Good day to you sir!" he saluted the older man, and ran after to his supposed parents.

"I'll do the same..." Dylan quickly and quietly said, running after Chris...

"I guess what she said was true..." the older man stated, "Our time has come..." he sighed, and walked into the old, rotting mansion.

As soon as they entered the mansion, there was a large fit of coughing, for the old mansion had collected started to fly a bit around them.

"What is this place?" said a voice behind them.

"Ahhh Melissa, you decided to show up after all..." her father said.

"W-Whatever," she crossed her arms, "Why are we even in here?" she inquired. She seemed distressed and anxious.

"You have come in here at the right time, my daughter." he reached out to put a hand on her shoulder, but she backed out of his arm's reach. He sighed, and pulled his hand back, and walked to the large group of adults.

Melissa sighed, and let her arms fall to the side. Chris noticed that she had done this. So, in response to her change in behavior and the ambiguous answer her father had given them, he asked her "Why do you act like that towards your father?"

She cocked her head towards him. She directed her sea blue eyes to stare directly into his very own bright green ones. She thought about it for a minute. She then frowned.

"It's my brother. Thats why." came her response.

"What happene-" Dylan started.

"Thats all I'll tell you." she interjected. She then stomped off towards a far away corner.

"Whats her problem?" Chris asked. Dylan shrugged his shoulders.

"Do you guys not know who she is?" a new voice popped up. Dylan looked to the side.

"Oh... Hello Lulu..." he said, his gaze still upon Melissa. He held out his hand. She took it.

"Hi Dylan!" she said as she shook it.

"Wait a second, who is she?!" Chris asked frantically.

"Thats Melissa Armstrong." she said, the boy's faces were still blank. "Ugh... Shes the runaway that still attended school."

They still had no clue...

Lulu face palmed herself. She sighed, "shes the one who lost her twin right in front of her, ran away, and became a delinquent on the streets. Also known as the 'Angel of Violence'."

"Shes the Angel of Violence?! The girl who fights to protect her friends against anybody who dares to antagonize them?!" Chris exclaimed.

"I knew she seemed familiar..." Dylan stated, "She used to be so shy and well reserved... So much that she was unnoticeable and had no presence.."

"Yeah..." Lulu said, "Well, from what I heard, her twin jumped off of a 300 ft cliff after encountering bullies, she ran away from the scene, and nobody knows why... Some say trauma... Others say fear... The only ones who would know is her and whoever else was there."

The children just stood there, fazed as to what they had just heard. Had this girl really been through that much already, in such a short amount of time? Was she even worth talking to now?

"Shes actually really kind though. Try to talk to her, she is in need of a fiend?" Lulu muttered before walking away.

The group of boys just stood there and stared at the brunette in the far away corner. She just stood there, leaned up against the wall, arms crossed and one foot pressed against the wall behind her. She seemed to be zoning out towards the window that was several meters to her right.

The group of boys just stood there and watched as the brunette sighed and pushed herself away from the wall and walked off.

"Shes very observant." Dylan muttered.

"Okay everybody! Come round about the top floor!" a new man said, stepping up to the stairs, we've got a LOT to talk about upstairs..." he motioned his arm to beckon all of them to follow.

On the way up to the top floor, the two boys conversed  and learned more about one another.

Dylan learned that Chris' full name was Chris Night, whose parents are divorced, his mother had remarried and had two more kids. His stepfather worked at CPP, or Chronic Prower Productions.

And Chris learned that the boy's name was Dylan Van Der Walt. He has a younger sister. His mom stayed at home while his father also worked at CPP.

As it turns out, their fathers were friends at work. And as the saying goes like father, like son, the two boys also became friends.

When they had reached the top floor, there was so much indistinct talking that the duo couldn't hear each other.

"Okay everybody, quiet down!" the same man from before had said.

"Hi Dad!" said a very flamboyant red-head.

"Pipe down for a second Nico!" the man, now known as Nico's father told his son.

The crowd was quiet. Taking this as a cue to continue, he did.

"At this point you all know the 'fairy tale' of Jean Persuary, I presume," There were murmurs from the kids at this point, "What if I told you that this 'fairy tail' was no fairy tale, but known fact? And that the creation, that everybody was looking for, was in our own hands?"

"No." came the response.

"I knew you would say that. But it is true... And every generation, in our 18 families, we pass it down to what we call heirs."

At this point, a woman continued, "These heirs, at the age of 10, receive a gift. And on this very day, we will give those gifts to you. Use them well. Don't let anybody outside our family know. In the wrong hands, these will lead to the destruction of our world..."

"In this chest," continued the first man, "Are the gifts. Find the ones that has your name, keep it with you at all times, no matter what. Protect it." he finished.

The adults guided the kids to the chest, and the parents put the small boxes in their arms.

"Now," said the woman, "It's time to celebrate!"

The children, at this point, all had shared the same thought- 'What the heck were these people thinking?'  They meant, like, who in their right mind would throw a party in a broken, run-down mansion?

About an hour later, Melissa walked up to Kaitlin, and said "You want to know whats weird?"

"Sure." came Kaitlin's response.

"Is it me, or is it a bit too smoky in here?" is all Melissa could manage before coughing.

"You're right..." Kaitlin said in between coughs, before collapsing.

"Everybody, get out of here!" someone said.

It was too late. The air seemed to heat up exponentially, singing her skin like melting plastic as the center of the room exploded, launching the majority of the people out of the many windows.

The children braced for impact but didn't feel anything, as time seemed to slow down. Melissa opened her eyes and saw the box glow. Her eyes widened as her body seemed to fall onto a pillow...

A really, REALLY wet pillow... She looked behind her to gaze upon an enormous transparent hand, made of water that grabbed her back.

Her eyes widened even further (If that was even possible) as the hand slowly receded back into the ground, letting her land safely onto the ground. When she felt the ground, she mentally panicked and looked around.

She couldn't see any of her family. She then remembered that it was her family (Including herself) that had been closest to the center, where the explosion had token place. She frantically ran back to the mansion.

Panting, she reached the hill right before it, where she saw several of the other children gather around. Their faces read that of pure terror and fear. Melissa walked forward.

Now that she was closer, she could see why. There was an old lady, whom of which Melissa remembered as Zach's grandma, was kneeling on the ground. Right above her head, was the barrel of a shotgun, cocked and ready to fire at any moment.

And the man who held the gun was unlike any other man she'd ever seen before. She couldn't see his features much, due to the fact that he was wearing a black hoodie.

His smirk was that of pure evil and insanity as she could distinctly see that his eyes were tearing up, his lips moving, as if he was saying sorry, as his finger pulled the cold, black trigger.

At that point, she could no longer watch. She shut her eyes as tightly as she could as there was a sharp bang, which held an echo for a minute. The smell of burning flesh, blood, and gunpowder filled the air. And after a moment of silence, Melissa dared to open her eyes slowly.

Blood. Blood was all over the ground as the kind-hearted grandmother crumpled to the ground, her body lifeless.

Zach stared at her lifeless corpse with horror as he brought his hand to his face, pale with fear. He pulled it away and gaped when he saw that there was a lot of blood on it. He clenched his fists as he started to walk forward.

And, it was then that Nico, Chris, AND Dylan all held him back as Zach seemed to scream and shout in anger towards the hooded stranger, whom of which slid his hands over her eyes, shutting them for the final time.

Melissa just stared in fear and terror. What is she feeling? Why was she feeling this way? She fell to her hands and knees, taking a fist-full of grass, as she cried out. She couldn't force herself to move. She kneeled there as pearly tears fell onto the sodden, green grass and her hands.

Zach had managed somehow to break free out of the three boys' grasp as he reached into a bag that hung loosely onto one of his shoulders. He ran over, and pulled out a knife. It was the same knife that he had gotten from Jack.

"She was my LAST family!" he exclaimed, slashing at him. The man didn't move as the blade slashed his flesh, tearing a large gash on his cheek.

Before he could do anything else, Melissa said "It's just like that."She stood up, wiped her face, and ran off into the park.

All the children stared off into her direction...

"Let's go after her!" Lulu said.

"Why? We should let her go..." said Nico.

"She needs friends right now." Lulu rebutted. Nico opened his mouth to speak.

"Not now Nico!" Chris said. The remaining 17 children nodded. And they all ran off in the same direction that the brunette had taken.

Three hours had passed. And the 17 all gathered to tell each other news... Bad news...

"Shes not anywhere." said a dark-haired boy.

"I think I see her." said another child, except this one had hair as white as snow, her voice as soft as it too. She pointed North of where she had stood.

They saw her, the box in hand, run up a high cliff edge, and made an attempt to throw the box away. She brought it close and tightened her grip on the box, which turned her knuckles a death pale white color. The children saw her tear up. They jogged to her.

Lulu kneeled next to her. She waited a moment, allowing Melissa to get used to her being at such a close proximity to her, before patting her shoulder. "It's alright," she said, "We're here for you." Melissa seemed to tense up a lot as she said these words.

"Now what?" Nico asked. The crowd was silent.

"We stick together," Melissa stated, standing up, her back turned at the other children,  "Like a family." she said glancing over her shoulder.

The 18 stood in silence. "You're right," Chris said, "Thats our best option right now."