Board Thread:Clubs/@comment-35646433-20190605001841/@comment-37611621-20190609152603

Also, I'm going to give you no context whatsoever for this next thing:

Would you pay to read the rest of this?

 The Council had gathered to discuss a young woman—Iucyn—and her Finding. They each took their seats at the large, circular table in the dead center of the Councilhall.

“Will Iucyn Rayana ever Find? She’s incredibly late, and with the war beginning to affect the Abandoners’ world…” Mer Irai began, whispered, breaking the long silence. The translucent edges of her tail nervously fluttered in her crystal basin of water that her magnificent throne was situated in.

“The young girl is going to be hurt in the war, isn’t she,” the scratchy voice of the Dragon Councilmember stated gruffly. “Much of it will be beyond Abandoners’ perception—she’ll have to suffer in silence.”

“I voted to not involve the Allied Intelligents, anyway. We shouldn’t meddle in those Human affairs,” the Iucyn representative scoffed, his fist hurtling towards the ancient, mossy, cobblestone table.

The Human at the table of Council gasped. “Not all of us are bad, you know. Only those who abandoned the treaty! That was almost a millennia ago, Iucyn Minla,” he retorted.

“Now, now, we’re focusing on the young… Iucyn Rayana’s Finding. Not your bickering on the Ancient Treaty. Why did the Iucyn create the Findings in the first place? The Fae never did, and we look humanoid enough,” Faerie Kaim said plainly.

Chineko Sachisha sighed in a purr-like manner and meowed, “She’s going to need help,” wagging her three black-and-white tails in the air.

The nine Councilmembers argued, often carefully dodging the topic of Rayana’s Finding. Eventually, they all agreed that at age fourteen, she was probably going to be the latest Iucyn finder in all of history.

 The four speakers, one situated in each corner of the small room buzzed with ear-piercing static. The clattering of pencils on small, plastic desks could be heard from the end of the hallway as heads popped up from behind their small test barriers, covering their ears in pain. Rayana shakily jotted down the answer to the last math question on the test, clenching her teeth at the antagonizing sound. The chaotic noise ceased after a few moments of agony to the ears, although the crackling continued. It abruptly stopped, and waves of whispers thoroughly soaked the room.

“—president speaking,” a soft voice flowed through the speakers, cut off at the beginning. Evelyn, the broadcast operative at the school was not the brightest. There was usually a little bit of static for every broadcast. Rayana spun around in her small, wheeled stool and eyed her best friend Juniper. Juniper displayed no apparent reaction other than their usual creased brows and their always-paying-complete-attention-to-the-task-at-hand. Rayana then turned back to the speaker. Everyone had been told that it was supposed to be only Evelyn who would always give the students announcements with her nasal voice. Additionally, she often forgot to turn the microphone off, so random conversations could be picked in all of the various classrooms.

The chaos to quickly ceased and President Hira Lyneto continued. “Just so that you all know, this message is being broadcast to the entire world, through different prominent political figures, of course.”

Confused faces aroused and Rayana saw Juniper scrawl down a note on a ripped-off piece of their scratch paper sheet and tossed it to her. “Meet me in the alleyway on 57th after school,” it read, and Rayana turned to tilt her head and nod. She’d never been there before, but she’d passed by it during walks from home to school and school to home.

The speaker continued, slight and almost-hidden stress catching onto President Lyneto’s voice. “We’ve received distress calls from multiple countries. Reports of strange, unidentified winged beasts attacking civilians on at least three hundred separate locations on the Earth were given to the UN and they’ve decided to push the information to the world.”

Juniper tossed a second note onto Rayana’s desk: “Scratch that time. Meet me after this broadcast.”

Rayana, confused, replied only with a raised eyebrow. She’d go because she finished the test, but Juniper hadn’t. How could they come?

The president continued. “Citizens with unknown infections have shown up at various hospitals around those locations seeking help. Others have been found, dead, either trying to fight off or run from these monstrosities.”

Suddenly, someone in the classroom interrupted the President’s speech, but no one other than Rayana reacted. It was a tight voice and whispered though somehow screaming; It was an unfamiliar voice. It also seemed too calm for the current situation.

“All Iucyn or mingling Allied Intelligents, please report to the Councilhall immediately.”

“Well, what does that mean?” Rayana asked, but all she received was dirty looks from the rest of the class.

“Pay attention, please, or at least be quiet so that we can hear,” someone snapped and Rayana looked to Juniper for help, for they always were there for each other for ensmallen confusion or any other need, but they were simply not in their seat. She scanned the room for her friend, but they were nowhere to be seen.

As the broadcast finished, and President Lyneto recited her signature finishing-of-a-speech, Rayana stood up and rushed out the classroom door. Ignoring confused cries from her classmates and teacher, she continued on her path.

Where is Juniper? she thought angrily. Juniper wouldn’t mysteriously disappear. It just wasn’t in their personality. There wasn’t even a wisp of mischievousness in their whole body. Rayana stomped down the stairs and through the vacant hallways, each shadow seeming to increase as she passed by them. She shoved open the doors and the wind whipped her elbow-length ginger hair around her face. The flag, high above, twitched restlessly in the gusting wind. She walked down the block, away from the school until she reached 57th Avenue. As she stepped onto the damp, uneven concrete of the alleyway, everything was eerily still. A chill ran over the back of her spine as she crept past the leaking trash bins that smelled moldy as a rat scurried across her path. She still needed to ask about Juniper’s disappearance. It didn’t make any sense. Juniper had always been a rule follower; why would they leave during class? Softly, Rayana whispered a short “hello?” and continued walking. What if the “winged beasts” mentioned by President Lyneto would come and kill her? Or maybe steal her? Maybe she would never see her parents again. Maybe Juniper would come into the alley and find her dead or dying. Maybe—

“Rayana.”

She spun around and elbowed the attacker in the stomach, on reflex. It had bluish skin and seemed slightly see-through. She tripped the monster and pinned it to the ground with her foot. There were more of them, different colors and shapes and sizes. She squinted as to not be potentially traumatized by these beasts and charged at another one. She was going to die. But not before she lessened the load for the rest of the city.

“Rayana! Stop, now.”

“Who are you, and how do you know my name?” she shouted, sprinting towards a red figure with papery pink wings. It screamed as her fist passed through the wing, shattering like glass.

“Do we need a reverse serum?” A voice that sounded like Juniper’s carried across all of the screaming easily, somehow.

“Juniper! What did you…” Rayana didn’t know what to say. She couldn’t even think.

The creature with the injured wing spoke with a voice papery to match its wings, “I’ll be fine, Iucyn Juniper. Fae heal quickly. Iucyn Rayana is our main concern here.”

“W-what’s Iucyn?” Rayana implored, raising her fists and preparing for an ambush.

“We’ll explain later, but for now…” Juniper stepped out of the shadows, their skin pale and bluish in the fading light, which was a contrast from their normal rich, light-brown skin. A giant red beast gently yet firmly took hold of Rayana’s shoulders, despite her protests, and pinned her to the ground. Juniper gazed down at Rayana’s helpless position and their short, jet-black hair fell into their face as they drew a vial filled with bright red liquid from their dark cloak.

They weren’t wearing that a few minutes ago, Rayana realized. Juniper’s expression was almost emotionless, but the slight hint of sympathy that spread over their face made them crouch down and clutch Rayana’s arm while they spilled the crimson serum all over the alley floor. It rose from the concrete in billowing clouds of pinkish substance.

Juniper squeezed Rayana’s hand, saying, “You come with us, or you’re going to die.”