Chapter 1: The Dragons Awaken.
”Arise champion.”

A voice spoke softly in Alto’s mind.

”Your destiny stirs,” It continued, ”And so do I.”

The voice was soft, but very deep and still; somehow it seemed harsh. Inviting and dangerous, the voice beckoned to him.

”Long have I slumbered, awaiting the moment to come.” It continued.

He could hear the edges of a long sleep in its voice, as if it was getting used to walking after being asleep for a long time. But he could feel the sleepiness creeping out of it, the voice was gaining power. The voice was awakening.

”I have been a part of you,” the voice said, ”Since the moment the very idea of your existence was conceived.”

What was the source of the voice? He couldn’t pinpoint it. When he tried to grab at it, it shied away from his hands, never ceasing to escape his grasp. The more he chased, the further it went away from him. Almost as if the Voice was a shadow. And he felt something else in it, something else he couldn’t pin down.

”I am the primeval Darkness, born of the God of Shadows; his ultimate creation and his ultimate pride.”

The Voice was more distinct now, the softness was slowly ebbing away, the Voice growing harsher still.

”I am Nuul.” It said suddenly, as if the speaker was right next to him. His eyes quickly darted open. He saw an alien landscape, spires spiralling endlessly into the air, pits descending infinitely into the ground and he saw him. He saw Nuul; a being swathed in misty shadows, indistinct under its shadowy mantle.

”Your fate draws closer.” He said. ”And with it, the Dark.”

Alto could hear his voice clearly now, he could see Nuul speak, and he could feel a hint of a power. He could feel a hint of the Dark. He felt as if it was behind him, but when he turned it turned with him. He moved and it moved with him. Again, it felt like chasing a shadow.

”Ah, you feel the shadow of my power,” Nuul continued, ”But you cannot grasp a shadow unless you devote yourself to the greater whole.”

As Nuul spoke, Alto couldn’t help but feel drawn by some invisible force. The shadows around him seemed somehow welcoming, as if open to accept any and all.

”Your future will be harsh, the other gods will see to that.

Alto could feel the truth in his words, as if he trusted Nuul enough to know that every word that he said was gospel. He found his mind telling him that what Nuul said was like the meaning of life, his mind told him that this was the most important thing he would ever hear.

”You will need power, vast power. Power beyond your wildest dreams, even to survive until your fated time. The Dark can give all that, and much, much more.”

He felt his mind swaying and body swaying to the words of Nuul. His voice had softened again, but now it was as if they had their own gravity.

”So?” the Dragon said. ”What are you waiting for?”

He phrased it as a question, but it felt like a subtle insult. What was he waiting for when power was right in front of his eyes, waiting to be grasped by the one it was destined for?

”Embrace your destiny, Alto Ganze. The Dragon said finally. ”Embrace the Dark.”

He could feel the power growing. It was far beyond a shadow now, it was like the darkness. It was drawing him in, he could feel what felt like gravity trying to pull him into the shadows. He was tempted, the power was meant to be his. Somehow he knew this, and he knew he would need it very soon.

But there was something holding him back from accepting immediately, something at the very core of his being… Something he had built up and cultivated over the course of his life. He felt the urge, and he let it take control.

”That’s got to be the most clichéd thing I’ve ever heard.” Alto said.

The dragon was obviously taken aback.

”…What?”

”I said, that was probably the most clichéd thing I’ve ever heard.” Alto replied.

Nuul thought for a moment, and Alto could see he was confused.

”Are you… insulting me?” Nuul said.

Alto thought for a little bit.

”Yeah. I guess I am.” He said with a shrug.

Nuul suddenly stood up, and he looked pretty angry by Alto’s standards.

”HOW DARE YOU?!?!” Nuul said, enraged by his words. ” I AM THE PRIMEVAL SHADOW! ALL OF THE DARK IS MINE TO COMMAND! YOU DARE INSULT ME?!” The shadows radiating from Nuul began to billow instead of ooze, and the gravity that previously drew Alto to Nuul’s words now reversed and he could feel himself being repelled.

Alto stood there, thinking of how to answer the Dragon.

”Yeah.” He replied.

”I WILL DESTROY YOU!” Nuul threatened, enraged. ”YOU WILL DIE IN THE INFINITE DARKNESS! MY POWER WILL SHATTER YOUR SOUL!”

”Hey, if you shatter my soul,” Alto started, ”And you’re a part of my soul, wouldn’t you die as well?”

”ARGHHHH!” The Dragon screamed in frustration.

Alto was quite amused. He knew he shouldn’t be having fun with this but still, he was that kind of person. But, even though he was in a dream he was pretty sure time was passing outside and today was the first day of a new school year. He didn’t want to be late, so he decided to speed things up a little bit.

”You really need to learn to take a joke, Nuul.”

”DON’T SAY MY NAME SO CASUALLY, HUMAN!” He shouted, still enraged.

”Whatever. Anyhow, this is getting a bit old and I don’t want to wake up late so I think I’ll be taking that power you’re offering.”

Alto extended his hand to the obviously still enraged Dragon. Nuul glared at him, intending to bore a hole in the annoying fool’s soul with his eyes. Nuul didn’t exactly have enough power for that but it’s not like anyone actually knew about that except for him. Still, he was really contemplating not giving Alto his power. He really didn’t like him much.
However, it’s not like he really had a choice in the matter because he was going to be there anyway and if Alto died he wouldn’t have a way to use his powers anyway.
Then he looked at Alto again. He had a really weird smile on and he was waggling his eyebrows at Nuul. His rage flared up again.

”FINE.” He said bitterly.

He really didn’t want to do this but he wasn’t going to get anything by talking to him so Nuul just gave him his power. The shadows around him coalesced into a book, the focus of Nuul’s power. The book opened, revealing a swirling portal of shadow.

”If you want my power, then… Then… Just use the damn book!” Nuul was tired of talking to him, and he really didn’t want to keep this going any longer than he had to.
Alto looked at the book with the swirling shadow vortex. It was a very large book, just smaller than his body. He didn’t really know what the Dragon meant by use the book but he’d assumed that he’d annoyed the Dragon enough to make him want to stop talking in his shadowy darkness mastermind voice.

”Okay.” Alto replied to him. ”See you around Nuul!” After saying that, he promptly jumped into the open book disappearing from Nuul’s shadow realm thing.
Nuul looked as Alto leapt into the portal.

”Ugh, just my luck. He used it properly.” Nuul said, still angry. ”Why did I HAVE to be stuck with such an annoying vessel?!” He asked himself bitterly.

Meanwhile, Alto woke up. His eyes opened, and he found himself in his bedroom. When he sat up, something slipped off of his bed. He looked at it and found a book. It was just like the book in the dream, except much smaller. The book in the dream had been about 5 feet by maybe 3 or 4 feet when it was closed, but this one was just 1 and a half feet by 1 foot. It was still as big as his torso so it was still pretty large.

He picked it up and tried to leaf through it, only to find that it wouldn’t budge.

Hmm. He thought.

As he pondered how to open it, he looked up at his clock.

Aw shoot! He thought. I’m almost late!

Quickly getting up from his bed, he rushed to get ready for a new school year.

Haiden looked around, gazing at the sweeping arches that held up vaulted celing, the stained glass windows that refracted the bright light into myraid of beautiful colors that highlighted scenes of human triumph and law. Good god, why the hell was he dreaming about a church, he hated having to come when he was awake. He might go ibsane if he had to come here in his dreams as well. Just as he was about pinch his cheeks in order to escape this nightmare, a bright light flashed behind him.

When he turned around, he had craned his head way up to fully take in the enormity if the creature before him. It was a white-gold dragon, partially shrouded in hazy wavering light, almost like it was a mirage on the verge of disapating.

Hello, Haiden. I am Luxius, humble servant of the God of light, whose radiance brings purification and order where ever it may shine. You have been chosen to be his champion, and I am to be the source of your strength. So come, lets us fight together against the other gods and claim victory for our lord of light.

Gaiden stared at the Luxius for a full five minutes, before asking his one and only question.

"Do I have a choice?"

"Of course, you can choose to not accept my power, get attacked by monsters, and die.

"I can already tell that your going to be annoying." Haiden let out a sigh of frustration befire resuming. "Okay, I'll accept this power then, since my only other option is certain death, I hope it's something cool at least." No sooner than he said that, he felt an intense burning sensation on his right ear. As he began screaming in pain, grasping at his ear, Luxius chuckled a little at his misfortune, he felt he was going to enjoy messing with this kid.

I think off it as being fairly hot myself. Anyway, take a look at it when you wake up I'll explain to you later how it works.

With that, Haiden woke up, in his bed, with his ear feeling like a grilled sausage. He cursed Luxius with every word he knew, before getting up to look at his ear. This was soon followed by more curses, which continued as he made his way to school.

"Of all the thing I could get from a freakin'dream dragon, it had to be an earring. I fucking hate jewelry".

Colors of all variants flow about crashing into walls of rhythm, the lingering colors trace abstract memories. Dienze found it all...too artistic for his liking. Reshaping the landscape to become a hellscape, the dragon waited for the dreamer to become aware.

The next thing she knew she was plunging in a lake of fire, startling but not enough to wake her. She climbed from the inferno onto a spire with a look of sheer confusion, after all should she not be burning to death? "Yeah, still dreaming. Must be a nightmare." Sal reaches back into the flame, as if to further confirm it.

Dienze formed from the flames, he had a habit for the theatrics it would seem. He circles around her as if a tornado of flame, but her reaction was less than what he had hoped.

"Nah just a dream, probably have heart burn...gotta stop eating fast food so late."

Dienze has been called alot of things, Hell serpant, Demon of flame, Purifying flame...and now heart burn. Are you always so short with your superiors? Dienze's voice radiates from the flame.

Sal retorts dripping with sarcasm. "Oh no sir, I only treat talking flames as if they are idiots I promise." Soon the sitting on a throne of flame, with a most condescending look on her face.She continues on, "So whats the point of all this, is this my subconscious telling me to stop smoking?"

Dienze Burst out laughing revealing his true form. I Enjoy you child! I am Dienze, the one of flame! You are to act out my intent, but obviously Rage forces Sal to interject, Though DIenze's eyes smirk knowing it was coming. Yeah I must be dreaming, some stupid lizard tells me I am simply his tool, oh HELL NO! I am going to wake up now! The girl closes her eyes as hard as she can trying to wake?
A clawed hand slams infront of her, causing a burst of wind and flame Calm yourself, your my will manifest, not a servant....Its not like what I want differs from you. Little girls always rebel, even if its what they desire.... The dragon rest his massive face on the ground, already dreading the time coming. "well come on than out with it, curse me and tell me how I don't know you. Go on and on about how you are your own. He even yawns, while he cleans imaginary dirt from his massive talons.

"Y-You....Whatever.Since I suppose your just going to keep showing up,and I am to be forced into this anyway. Just let me wake up....I got things to do. Jackass...

The dragon shows his teeth, a twisted grin grows up its scaled cheeks. HA! When you awake ill do something about that mouth, but ill spare you details for now. Just know that flames are more than your tool now. Be prepared you are the spark that leads to the purifying flames.

As his laughs ring out the chair in which she sits engulfs her in flame to wake her.

Instantly she wakes too a sharp pain in her mouth. A heat so intense, her eyes water. "THE HELL!" She bounds out of her bed/couch and makes it straight to the mini-fridge downing an entire liter of soda. Her clock reads 12:00pm.....But the sunlight outside...Shit! Grabbing her shirt she runs out her door. Giving her neighbor a pleasant view.....

Haiden was shocked to hear a cry of "THE HELL" coming from his neighbors house as he made his way to school. Looking to investigate, he had the pleasure of seeing his neighbor Sal running out the door. . .without a top.

"Well, Hi there Sal, You seem to be in a rush, want to walk together," As he said this he never once moved his eyes above chest level. It not that he was being a pervert(at least not totally), but he wanted to see how far he could push her buttons before she exploded. He needed this in order to relax from the crazy dream he had, as well as the burning pain he had in his ear. "I won't tell anyone that you like to expose yourself to the world in the morning, I promise." Luxius took this as a signal to give his opinion on the matter.

That's a lie, isn't it?

"No, who am I going to tell? Not a lot of people can stand me besides my family, and I sure as hell ain't telling them. Just wish I had a camera, I would probably be rich, wait no I'd be arrested. Forget I thought that last part."

The pain in her mouth had started to subside thus allowing the nerves to notice the metallic object that now pierced her tongue. Stupid dream dragon, he was going to have to try harder to shut me up than some jewelry!

The words of the mouthy brat broke her thought. Haiden, in her eyes was a mess of hormones, this theory enforced further by the guys fascinations with her breast, (Wonderful as they may be) Sal rolled her eyes as she slid on her shirt. "Im not exposing myself to the world,honestly.You really need to work on your poker face, your thinking about telling someone right now aren't you? You got the time, my alarm clock is on the fritz yet again." She can fix an engine, she can maximize your graphics card, Setting her damn alarm clock is impossible.

As she noticed that he was calmly standing (Well compared to her lumbering) with no real purpose it must not be that late, she allowed herself to relax. "Do we have time for Breakfast? I could seriously go for a B.E.C..."

Haiden moaned at Sal's lack of reaction. Great, she was being level-headed today. Oh well, might as well role with it.

"Sure, breakfast is always good. Also, that wasn't my poker face. I wouldn't be able to get away with shit if it was. And don't worry, I don't have anyone to tell except my family, and that wouldn't go over well, especially with my sisters. I was wishing I had a camera,so I cpuld sell take a pic and sell them for cash, but then I realized that would be very not legal. So if you didn't kill me first, you could call the cops. How are your classes by the way?"

Haiden began walking in to her house. He always thought it was cool she owned her own house, he wished he did, but that required money he didn't have. He could make it with his skills in programing, but his equipment took as much money to maintain as it made him, plus he always hsd to get the latest gadget. Like his mom kept telling him, he had no self control and his wallet paid the price, literally.

"Also, for one, you know I prefer to be called Raiden, as it's 100% cooler than Haiden. For two, what's your bra size, B or C-cup?" The last question was him trying to get under her skin just one last time. He doubted it would work though, but he had to try.

As he walked, he gave a glance at his watch, noticed the time, cursed heavily, then turned rapidly to Sal.

"Actually, breakfast will have to wait, as well the answer to my question, since we are actually going to be late if we don't leave pronto." He then began to sprint, not looking to see if Sal was behind him or not. While he thought school was a pain, he'd never hear the end of it if his sister's found out he was late on his first day.

A long winded explanation to say the least, Sal was reminded of a spastic parakeet chirping away at its own voice. As she listened it was as if he actually had put more than a little thought into selling a photo of her. He asked a question in there, "Wait what? How can I know how classes are going they haven't started yet?"

Opening the door to her house Haiden seemed all to ready to go inside, anyone else she would likely to have strangled but kiddo had earned her trust...sort of. As they entered her kitchen she looked around trying to find something breakfast/not bad-ish. Thoughts of how she should actually buy groceries more than once a month, "Raiden?" She looks back from her cabinet expecting some retort only to see him flipping out over his watch.
Of course breakfast has to wait, some people care about first-impressions. Sal sighed watching the kid burst out mid conversation. She grabbed her messenger bag,along with a "To Go" protein drink. Casually she walks to the side of her house....Her Scooter flies out a moment later. With ease she catches up to Haiden.
"Oh and to answer your question, Its an F-U cup." She smirks as she leaves him in her proverbial dust.

-.- do not hit refresh while posting.

"Well then, my plan worked. It worked against me, but it worked." She could have at least made like she was going to offer him a ride, instead of just rocketing past him. Women.

Now he had to try and make it to school on time, not easy on two legs, especially his two legs. He didn't do much in terms of physical activity, so this was torture for him.

'Dammit, hey Luxius, can't you, I don't know, give me super speed right now. You got to have something?'

I do, but I'm not using it for something as mundane as this. It's below me

'Bullshit you just like to see me suffer.'

That's just icing on the cake

Haiden groaned, he was going to go insane at this rate, and he didn't even get any cool powers to show for it.

Eden awoke in a beautiful emerald forest. Lush trees pressed in around her, embracing her, and the sound of bird song filled her ears. Looking up in awe she began to walk forward and next thing she knew, she was falling. She hit the ground and collapsed into a bundle. She rolled over and rubbed her shoulder on which she fell. Looking up again she saw gravel and sand following her into the hole.. No, not hole. A cavern. She could see blue sky through the trees above her.

As she got up, the hole into the cavern began to retreat. While she was sitting the ceiling appeared to be in arm's reach but as she rose it retreated to be three times as high as her. "What?" She exclaimed, looking around the cave it appeared to be lit from the inside, a golden aura shone out the rock.

"Hello my champion" a voice boomed through the space, a mighty voice, as strong as a boulder. Eden's first reaction was one of fright, followed by the thought "I am not your anything." She was shocked to discover that her thoughts echoed through the cavern without her mouth moving. The voice rumbled with quiet laughter. "I am Taurin, born of brown earth and golden sun. And we have chosen you to be our champion" the voice boomed again. "Who's we?" Eden asked, the voice halted, unsure of how to answer, but Eden was off already "where am I? And what do you mean by champion?"

"I have a gift to give, power, amazing power. And on our-my behalf you must go into the human world and fight my enemies"
A boulder a way off from Eden moved, and split open. Revealing a great big golden eye that stared into her soul. An image of Sauron's eye in Lord of the rings, flashed briefly through her mind.
"Who will I be fighting?" She was uncomfortable underneath the crushing power of Taurin's gaze.
"The occasional ogre, maybe a troll. Nothing drastic. At least not until your strength has increased" the eye moved, as did a large part of the cave floor, at first Eden feared an earthquake, but then she noticed it was only part of the cave moving, what she took to be a hill shook and burst apart. Rocks flying everywhere, with a cry Eden rose her hands to protect her face. When the dust settled, before her was a mighty beast. It's scaled rippled, reflecting granite, then lush forest, then desert, then rich clay and fields of wheat. It's eye was as big as her torso, it's head was massive, four people could fit in it's jaw, before it even opened her mouth. Strangely, she was not afraid. But the awe she had for this mighty god brought her to her knees. A large smile crossed her face, as she dreamt of riding this amazing creature into battle, her face painted with gold shouting a mighty war cry as she crushed the oppostition. "Let's do it" she said with a lunatic sparkle in her eye.

---

Eden woke up, blinking slowly as she stretched. The clink of metal drew her out of her mental slumber. Her body was adorned with rich armour. She had such a strange dream that night, with a dragon, who gave her powers and a sword and armour. Looking alongside her bed she jumped when she saw the sword. Without thinking about it she threw the sword into the cupboard and closed the door. She struggled to find the straps to get the armour off and it followed the sword into the bottom of her cupboard. She stood panting with effort against the closed door. Then she slowly pulled it open again. The armour was still there, gleaming at her. "So it wasn't a dream" she gulped. Someone knocked on the door. Peeking her head around the door she looked who it was, it was the person who lived in the room next to hers, "you okay? There was quite a racket coming from here just now"

"I'm fine, it's all fine. Just dropped some stuff" she snapped at the small girl.
"You sure, sounded like more than something dropping."
"Why, do you think I'll lie to you" she closed the door on the poor girl's face.

She stomped over to her cupboard, roughly tugging on the clothes she had lain out the night before. Before she left her room the sword caught her eye, she suddenly felt guilty for leaving it there. The dragon mentioned that she must always carry it anyway. In a rush she unclipped the sheath from the armour belt and tossed it into her hockey bag, throwing the books in as well to hide the weapon and make sure she only carried one bag.
She locked the cupboard after her and left the room, closing the door loudly as stomped past the poor girl from earlier. She left for the school building, deciding to skip breakfast. 10 minutes until class begins

"Finally..." Alto gasped, panting from his recent exertion. "I made it!"

He stood up straight, breathing hard. He turned and looked at the sloping mountain behind him.

"Why the hell did they put this school on the very top of this mountain anyway?" He said aloud.

Alto had run all the way from the bottom of the mountain to the school gates, transportation being out of the question. He was just late enough to miss the tram to the school and was forced to run to not be late. Students like him would usually wake up early to make the hike just to get to the School, but the majority of the teens in the school itself never had to worry about hiking to school. The college was a boarding school after all, and normally all the students would live in it but Alto lived close by and you had to pay extra fees for the dorms. Still, he was considering it now, because he had an extra load to keep in mind.

The book he'd gotten earlier this morning wasn't just large, it was heavy as well. He'd struggled a little but in the end he made the climb. Maybe I will move in. He thought wearily. He could afford it, but filling out the forms now was going to be bothersome. Still, living in Pantheon College did have its advantages.

Food was provided of course and he wouldn't have to climb all year as well. There was also the view, which was fantastic from the dorms. The school dormitories were built like towers on the mountainside, because any other kind of building would've been difficult. The dorms were arranged in a semicircle enclosing part of the mountain itself. The centre of the semi-circle housed a large courtyard area where all the classrooms and the cafeteria were.

It's most prominent feature however, was probably the headmaster's office. The school itself was built just below the peak of the mountain, but the Headmaster's office was on the very peak itself. It seemed to provide an extension to the mountain, and it looked just like a large castle spire of some sort. Apparently people sometimes stayed overnight in the headmaster's office to see the sunrise. Some people said if you looked at just the right angle, the sun, the land, the night, the wind and the sea all seemed to converge into one point.

"You are going to be late, human." Nuul said suddenly.

"Oh, hey!" Alto said in surprise, "You can talk to me outside of my dreams as well?"

"As much as I would like not to, yes." He replied.

"That's pretty damn cool." Alto said. He felt Nuul twitch in his mind.

"If you delay any longer, you will be late. Why did you even bother exerting so much effort, if you were going to spend so much time admiring scenery?"

"Ah, right." Alto said, remembering the time.

He ran into the school gates, and towards the auditorium in the centre of the courtyard. Hope someone else is later than me. Alto thought.

Haiden collapsed at the gates of the school, just behind some other guy that he only got a passing glance at. Not that it mattered, because at the moment he was more concerned about getting air into his lungs. He had fucking sprinted up this monstrous slope of a monster, and he had hated every second of it. The fact that the dragon in his head had made snide remarks the whole way didn't help in the slightest. After taking a minute to catch his breath, Haiden got himself up and slowly walked into the school, making sure not to over exert himself, lest he faint right then and there. He looked around, glad that he didn't see his sister Regina anywhere, or else he have to sit through another of her ridiculously long lectures, while Madeline chuckled in the background at his misfortune. Haiden quickly merged with the crowd in the auditorium, hoping beyond hope that he wasn't super late and had missed all of the important things, like where the hell he was supposed to go after it was over.

Eden stood in the doorway of the hall admiring the scenery, if anything the academy was well situated. She could almost pick out the places where she would enjoy sketching the view. She checked her watch, there were still a few minutes to go. The walk was easy to the dorm, but the hockey bag annoyed her. Her leg was grazed where the sword constantly poked and bumped her. She looked over the people in the hall, the people that were to be her classmates. A relatively short guy practically collapsed nearby. His blonde hair and ear piercings caught Eden's eye and she looked at him with interest. He was breathing heavily from the sprint up the hill. "intrested are you?" The dragon remarked Why, are you? she replied with a stiff thought. She was getting exhausted of this having to share her personal space.

She gravely wanted class to start, her brother started a new game yesterday and she wanted to pop around for a few rounds against him before curfew at the dorm. Her dad shoved her into the dorm to save travel costs everyday, she could still come around and visit whenever she wanted, the train ride would not take long.

The dragon purred deep in her mind, his deep base gave her a headache. "Look out for others with strengths that can be used in battle. Over time you will also notice those who have items like the one I gave you"

Whatever you say boss.

*to be revised*

Sal and her amazing mode of transportation arrived well before others, aside from one. A tall pale and proud looking young man, with an attire that screamed hello I am Fr*ck'n rich. A certain dragon could be heard in her head "He is a suitable mate but should you not get to know him before having such thoughts?

Sal's Eyes blast as wide open as they possibly could, "What?!" She Screamed out loud, drawing the attention of the man in question. Within Sal's thought she laid into her mental version of the dragon who simply laughed at her attempts, "Girl you are so lewd, even passing thoughts rage with a fiery passion. On the outside Sal's tan skin tone had taken on an excellent pink hue, her embarrassment rising to levels she did not know possible.

She, through a miracle, made it to the auditorium without making contact with the little dream boat. She sits about midway on the second row.

Chapter 1: Part 2: School begins.
Ah, good. Alto thought. I’m not the last one here.

Looking over his shoulder, he saw there were still a few students later than he was. That was probably a good sign. Finding an empty seat, he quickly sat down as if he’d just gone to the bathroom.

Phew. He thought. We haven’t started yet.

His gaze drifted to the large circular stage at the front of the huge auditorium. He could see the speakers for today were just about finishing their preparations. The students quieted as the school staff started the opening ceremony.

Alto doubted there were many people who hadn’t sat through this kind of thing before, besides the freshmen. He allowed his gaze to roam the auditorium, taking in its sheer size. The majority of it was arranged in a semicircle around the central stage, which ended maybe about 50 meters before the foot of the staff tower.

The Auditorium was of course decorated with vast numbers of awards, Pantheon College being one of the best in the world. There were also other extravagant decorations, most of which one would associate as coming from a rich school. But there was one such decoration that truly caught the eye.

Many students upon seeing it for the first time would be astonished at the sight of it, but eventually as they became seniors they would become accustomed to its presence. High above the stage of the auditorium was a round stained glass window depicting 6 Dragons in flight.

Each dragon had a slice of the window for themselves, and each was a different colour with different designs. But the designs were usually indistinct, mainly because at any given moment light was always streaming through the window.

The most distinct one was a black dragon, mainly because of how dark it was dyed. But now that Alto looked at it, it struck him as awfully familiar. In fact, using his imagination, it looked almost exactly like Nuul did. Or as he imagined he did anyway.

He couldn’t see Null clearly in his dreams, the dragon had been in shadows the whole time and it was really hard to make out any distinguishable features. But in his mind, if Nuul did look like anything, he would look exactly like the black dragon in the stained glass.

Nuul, you can hear my thoughts right? Alto thought to Nuul.

”As much as I would like not to, yes.” Came the quick reply.

Are you seeing what I’m seeing?

”Yes I am, yes that is me, and no I do not know why it’s there.” Nuul replied in a tired tone. Suddenly, Alto felt Nuul’s attention snap towards the stage.

”…And now, the opening speech from the school principal.” Came the announcers voice.

The opening ceremony is nearly over… Alto thought. Now it’s time for the principal’s speech.

The principal had a rather odd trait. Most of the time his grey hair, suit and eyes allowed him to blend into most places and he was normally not noticed. However, attention would always fall on him exactly when he needed it, almost as if it was magic.

You know what, Alto thought. It really could be magic.

He watched as the principal climbed onto the stage, and he felt Nuul following his gaze as well.

”First of all, I would like to say this,”

The principal started. Alto had heard all of this before, but as with each of those other times, he still felt like he was hearing this for the first time.

”Welcome, new students to Pantheon College. I want you to know that this school, in every facet, is amongst the best, if not the best, in the world. The educational experience you will receive in Pantheon College will be like no other in the world. It is my aim to guide our future generations, and to make them the best of the best.

The speech had always been the same, all the years Alto had been enrolled.

”To all of of our returning students, I wish to say: Welcome back to Pantheon. We hope that the year that you are about to experience, will be as good as, if not better, than your last year.

This year promises to be interesting. Alto thought smugly. After all, he had a dragon in his head now, which was always fun.

”Pantheon College is dedicated to bring you all the best possible educational experience, and as the 5th principal of Pantheon, I too will strive to uphold our values. Let me tell you about the legend of Pantheon.”

A legend? Alto thought. What legend?

He could hear that many students had erupted into whispering, wondering what this ‘legend’ was. Alto hadn’t heard of it, even though he’d been here for three years already.

”It is said that once long ago, this mountain was once the focal point of a great war between gods. Six of seven gods of creation sought to conquer each-others’ territories to expand their own, but each of their armies were equal in strength and could not defeat the other. In an attempt to end the stalemate, each god created a dragon in their image, and imbued it with all of their powers.”

Whoa. Alto thought. Nuul, do you know this legend?

There was no response, but he could feel that Nuul was as confused as he was.

”It is said that the Dragons met here, on this mountain. The gods saw that their powers were equal, but they were so desperate to end the stalemate that they desperately pitted the Dragons against each other. It is said that the Dragons were so powerful, that their battle destroyed much of the world as it was then, and also each other.”

Alto could feel Nuul was surprised at this. That most probably meant that what the principal was saying was true after all. There was a high chance Nuul was one of those Dragons, there probably weren’t any others made.

”The seventh god, the God of Destiny, wishing to prevent such a catastrophe from happening again; decreed that at an unknown date in the future each god would put forward a champion to represent them in combat, and they would meet here to decide who would be the one to rule them all.”

If this is true, I’m one of those Champions aren’t I? He thought grimly.

”You are one of the Champions. That is why I am bound to your soul.” Nuul said finally. ”I am bound to your soul as a means to use my power, as my body was destroyed in the battle.”

If there was such a massive battle, Alto thought. Shouldn’t there be craters everywhere or something? Or maybe even your bones?

”Our bones where never meant to last the ages.” Nuul said. ”For all I know, they could have turned to dust as soon as we died.”

Man, I have so many questions! Alto thought to Nuul.

”Ask them later, human. I have questions of my own.”

The Principal then got to the final part of his speech.

”This is the legend that inspired our first principle to build Pantheon College. This legend is what inspired our motto. As you leave here today, students, remember what the first principal wanted from all of his students.” The Principal said, putting on a warm smile. ”Become Worthy of the Gods.”

As soon as his speech ended, the auditorium erupted into wild chatter, students discussing the 'legend', teachers trying in vain to regain order, and Alto stood up, a storm of thoughts buzzing around in his head.

Haiden was confused by the principle's speech, as he had been expecting a another version of the last years speech. He sure as hell didn't get why the principle was telling them a random legend about gods, dragons, and their supposed champions. Wait a minute. Gods. Dragons. Champions. Son of a fuck.

'Why is the principal telling a story about you, and it seems like you also have some other dragon buddies as well. Thanks for informing me about that little tidbit of information. Cut the crap and tell me what's going to happen Luxius.'

[i][b]Simply put, as I know you don't have the patience for the whole story, you will be fighting for the God of Light against random monsters that appear at night on this campus, and when you gain enough power, other champions. You also can't tell anyone about this, not a one. The reason for this is that we don't know who could be a Champion, and we don't want them to know who you are either. So keep our mouth shut or i swear, I'll burn your ear right off[b][i]

Haiden's hand immediately went to his ear, knowing that Luxius wasn't one to make idle threats, not knowing that the pain that would flare up in his ear didn't do any actual damage and thus making the threat toothless. But hey, what he didn't know, wouldn't hurt him. Haiden got up from his eat and walked over to Sal, whom he'd seen earlier in her seat, but hadn't felt the need to speak to. Now, he just needed a way to calm his nerves, as he hadn't expected all the shit to hit the fan so soon, he'd thought have a month or so to train his abilities and shit. But nope, he had thrown right into the thick of it straight off the bat. Gods need to learn a little thing about preparation in his opinion.

"Hey Sal, what did you think about the principle's weird speech. I thought schools weren't allowed to make religious speeches anymore?" HAiden said as he got within speaking distance of the elder girl, one hand in his pocket and another fiddling with his hair. This as something he always did when he got anxious or nervous about something.