How Fortunate (08-20-2022)

## Osaka, Japan, Earth, CRDNCE-218 [08-20-2022]

“Suspect went down this street. Engaging,” A Syndicate agent said as another one was evacuating the area of the strip mall. Around eight agents sweeped the streets, looking for one person. It was an Elysian, who had just accidentally attacked a person with their abilities during an argument. Despite the Elysian Rights Act allowing the use of powers, attacking someone with them when it isn’t self-defense or a mercenary job is highly illegal.

The Elysian peeked out from a near pitch black alley. He noticed an agent coming towards him and slipped his head back in. The agent walks past but then stops and shines his flashlight down the alley. The ray of light doesn’t cut through the inky blackness. The agent radios in, “Got an oddity over here. Alley’s darker than the rest. Light can’t get through it.” The Elysian curses to himself out loud, “Shit.” The Agent raises his gun after hearing him and shouts, “Contact with the diseased!” The Elysian thinks fast and quickly holds out his right hand, the symbol on his palm glows and then flashes a bright light. The agent grunts as he covers his eyes. The Elysian bolts further into the alleyway and makes a sharp turn on his left. He makes it out of the alleys and darts into the open street. A few more agents spot him and instantly begin shooting, to which he just barely evades.

The Elysian finds himself at a pier and stops just before he nears the end of the walkway. The agents trail him there and keep their guns on him. “Stop, plague!” one of them shouts, while another commands, “Hands on the floor, now.” He obeys, and puts both of his palms on the cold and damp wood and looks up at the agents slowly making their way towards him. One of the agents takes point on a building and aims their rifle at the Elysian’s head. She hears in her ear, “We’re not arresting this one. Take him out.” She nods and lines up her shot. Before she can pull the trigger, she feels something around her neck before being pulled away from her stationary weapon. She grabs at her neck, feeling something slowly crushing her neck. She grunts and kicks as she’s slowly lifted into the air. She finally manages to let out a scream before it’s cut off immediately with a crack from her neck.

The other agents look towards the building and see their comrades' bodies dangling in the air. A few let out gasps and the others ready to shoot at the Elysian, believing it to be him. A humanly roar is heard from the distance and they all look over to see someone barreling at them on all fours. They pounce and slash through two agents’ necks and tackles another. They claw furiously at the agent’s abdomen as he screams in agony. The other soldiers look in fear and begin to fire at the attacker. The bullets stop in place right in front of them and slowly drop, as if they had hit someone. There appears Blink, who just took all the bullets. The wounds on him close quickly. An agent radios, “Got two more diseased, need-” Blink appears in front of him and snaps his neck. The remaining agents open fire on Blink, letting the first attacker pounce on them and kill them.

The Elysian says to himself as he tries to find a way to escape, “What the fuck…”. The two slowly approach him, with one still on all fours. They come over and sniff him. They then make a grunt which in his head immediately begins to translate in his head. As they grunt, the fugitive Elysian hears, “You’re an Elysian. You should come with us. We’ll help you.” The Elysian looks at them with confusion. They grunt again and he hears, “My name is Wild Child. This is Blink. We are the Seraphim.”

“Call me Luck,” the Elysian says.

“How fitting, seeing as we saved your ass. Lucky you huh. Anyways, come with us.”

“I won’t do that.”

“You don’t have much of a choice, kid. You are a runaway resisting arrest, and also assaulted Syndicate agents. You are also now an accessory of murder of several agents.”

Luck thinks for a minute, and weighs his options. After a few minutes Wild Child gives a slight annoyed roar, “Well? What are you gonna do?” Luck nods and accepts, “Fine, but only for a while until I get the heat off me.” Blink assures, “Yeah, that’s never gonna happen. Anyways, I’ll open up a way to Hazor.” Luck looks confused and asks, “Open up a way? Like-” He’s immediately interrupted by a wormhole that appears in front of Blink. Wild Child crawls in, with Blink waiting for Luck to enter. He obliges, and almost trips up on himself as he gets to the other side. Wild Child gives a hearty yell which translates in Luck’s head, “Welcome to Hazor!”

## Briefing Room, Eden, Hazor, CRDNCE-218 [09-17-2022]

Luck groans as he’s sent into the briefing room. There he sees Here Lies Fate, floating in midair with her eyes clothed. “Luck, thank you for coming.” Luck says dismissively, “Yeah yeah. What do you need?” Fate tilts her head a bit at the audacity of Luck, but then says calmly, “It seems one of the missions you were tasked did not go as well as prospected. Would you like to talk about it?”

“What is there to talk about?”

“Well, I feel like several of your comrades being injured is something to talk about.”

“They couldn’t keep up. They should’ve done better.”

“Oh, so you think you’re better than them?”

“Of course I am. I shouldn’t even be in this rank.”

“And what do you think you should be?”

“A Throne, easily.”

“Thrones are bodyguards to the Cherubs. Among the strongest of us. You think you’re worthy of that?”

“Absolutely.”

“With the position of Throne comes the responsibility of caring for others, which you lack.”

“I care for others, if they’re my friends. I don’t protect nobodies.”

“That’s the whole point of the Seraphim, Luck. We protect people we don’t know from evil elements. We wouldn’t have achieved what we have if we just focused on saving people we knew and were friends with. It’s a selfish way of thinking.”

“Being selfless hasn’t helped anyone get stronger.”

Here Lies Fate chuckles to herself. Luck asks offended, “What? What’s so funny?”

“What you said is completely false,” she replies, laughing a bit more.

“Oh really?”

“Do you know of our leader?”

“I keep hearing about him, but I never really see the big deal. Sounds like a guy who just sits around and does nothing all day while we go out and risk our lives for him.”

Here Lies Fate, smiles a mischievous grin and dials something on her wrist watch. It rings twice before someone picks it up. “Hey Aaliyah, how are you?” the voice says. Here Lies Fate’s face gets a bit reddish and she says in a dreamlike tone, “Hello High One. I would like to ask you to come to the citadel square. Luck has interest in meeting you.”

“Oh for real? Okay, I’ll meet you both there. Give me a few minutes!”

“I look forward to seeing you again.”

“Me too.”

The voice hangs up and Fate stops hovering over the ground. She stands up, revealing to Luck her six foot stature. Luck looks up at her, and she looks down at him. She grabs her spear and taps it on the ground. “We go,” she states as she walks out of the room. Luck mimics, “*We go*.” as he follows behind her.

## Citadel Square, Babylon, Hazor [09-17-2022]

The two make it to the Square. Here Lies Fate stops a few yards away from a platform. Luck looks confused and is about to say something before Fate shushes him with her spear hitting the ground. “You’ll see, young Dominion.”

A couple of minutes pass, Luck looks around and begins to get impatient. A few more seconds pass and he groans and complains, “Where’s this so-called ‘High One’ you were talking about? He’s sure taking his sweet damn ti-” he’s interrupted by a lightning bolt hitting the platform. It creates a shockwave, almost pushing Luck back. Fate stands steadfast and smiles. Luck adjusts himself and looks towards the source of the strong blast of energy and he sees a man standing where it used to be. Luck looks up at Here Lies Fate, and notices she’s doing something he’s never seen her do before: Her uncovered eye is open, and looking directly at the man. He looks back at the man, and notices him walking towards them. He’s wearing a green and gray hoodie, with black sweatpants and sports shoes. The main thing he also notices is his green beret. He begins to think to himself, is this the real leader everyone’s talking about? His thoughts are cut off by Here Lies Fate walking forwards a bit and kneeling down to the man’s level. She puts down her spear and puts her hands together in front of her waist. They both embrace for a while, before he sees the man hold her face. He can see them mouth words to each other, but can’t hear what they’re saying. He adjusts her hair and her decorations. As Here Lies Fate mouths something, she tilts her head towards Luck, to which the man follows and directs his gaze towards him. He looks back at Fate and says some more things to her before taking his hands off her face gently and puts his attention on Luck. Fate stands up and faces Luck as well, her face now more maroon than when she was calling him.

The man speaks up and introduces himself, “Yo, you’re Luck I see. I’m Creed. Welcome to Hazor and the Seraphim, green.” Luck looks unimpressed and responds, “Yeah sure. I heard you were the one that runs this whole joint?”

“I am, yeah. Well, I also run it with the Cherubs. I could never do it on my own.”

“Uh huh. Look, it’s cool meeting you, but you’re just another guy to me.”

“Ouch, that kind of hurt. Well, that’s to be expected. Teens are pretty hurtful. I think you just need a hug. From what I heard from Corvus and Wild Child, you went through a lot in Osaka.”

“It was nothing.”

“Nahhh come on. Bring it in at least once.”

“I said I’m fine.”

“Imma give you one anyway. Everyone needs one every once in a while. Bring it in.”

“Hey old man, like I said-”

As Creed gets closer, Luck feels the air around get hotter and more electric. His hairs stand on end and his sweat immediately evaporates as it leaves his pores. Despite Creed’s friendly look on his face and a glowing saints’ halo behind his head, Luck felt a terrifying power emanating from him.

Suddenly, flashes of images race through his head. The images increase in frequency, until he can see something that resembles a large gate. Another image of a colossal being and a large starred sigil next to it flashes in his mind, much like the sigil on Creed’s left hand and on his necklace. A loud clap of thunder shoots through his brain, as if a lightning bolt had just crashed down right in front of him. He steps back a little, almost tripping over himself trying to fruitlessly escape his zone of influence. Creed was now an arm’s length away, and Luck felt like the weight of the entire universe was hitting the front of his face. He whimpers a bit, as he realizes that he should never cross this man, else he’d meet a fate worse than Death itself.

Creed grabs Luck by his shoulder and ruffles his hair then pulls him in for a hug. Luck muffles something as he feels the intense heat from his body almost burn his skin. Creed puts him back at arm’s length and says cheerfully, “See? Better right?” Luck stammers and trips over his words before finding his English again, “Y-yeah…” Creed looks a bit confused then realizes, “Oh SHIT. I forgot to suppress my heat. I’m so fucking sorry dude.” Immediately the past heatwave levels around them disappear. “Almost gave you a stroke. My fault. I hope I didn’t give you any burns.” He looks around Luck’s body and notices the yin and yang symbols on his hands. “Oh, are these the source of your abilities?” he asks with intense curiosity. Luck snaps out of his terror and answers obediently, “Yeah. I got them 6 years ago.” Creed looks at Luck in empathy and says, “The Elysian War…” Luck nods in response and looks away. Creed hugs Luck again, this time even tighter. “Fuck, dude. You were just a little kid when that happened. Were you…alone when the Vapor hit you?” Luck shook his head and answered, “No, I had three of my friends with me. Two of them died.”

In an instant, he feels a pulse run through his brain like another thunderclap, this time much louder and powerful. He hears from Creed in a determined tone, “We’ll avenge them. I promise you.”

“It was my fault though. We were curious and took a capsule. I dropped it and…it spread to all of us.”

“It wasn’t your fault. That shit shouldn’t have been made in the first place. You were 11. You wouldn’t have known.”

“One of my friends hates me for it now.”

“Hmm, I know how that feels. I had to fight one of my old friends during the War. He’s alive, but he’s dedicated to killing me. Hey, look. You’re still young, I used to be kind of like you. A bit tempered, well I was extremely tempered. I also thought I could do everything myself. I’ll let you know now that that leads you nowhere. You have to rely on people, and let them rely on you. There’s a lot of people that need our help. It’s how I met Aaliyah, and the other Thrones and Cherubs. They were alien to me, but I helped anyway. I feel like it’s my job, as someone with these abilities, to use them for good. But stuff happened, stuff that I’m not proud of, so I’ve taken a backseat until I’m really needed.”

“What happened? If you don’t mind me asking?”

“Aaliyah, could you?”

Here Lies Fate nods and walks over. She taps her spear and all three of them enter her temporal domain. She searches the Absolute Fate and points at the date 07-07-2021. It plays back and shows Creed punching the queen of the Terrus Conglomerate. It zooms out and fast forwards to the effect of those punches. The planet slowly collapses in itself and eventually explodes. Luck looks on at the destruction in fear and looks at Creed, who’s looking at the destruction with intense sadness. Luck speaks up slowly, “The people…did they…?” Here Lies Fate answers, “The innocents were evacuated long before we attacked. There were nothing but evil beings on that planet.” Creed adds, “But now, those refugees can never go back home. They’re all on a new planet that my daughter terraformed nearby. I still feel horrible about it a year later.”

“You were rightfully angry. Please don’t beat yourself up about it, Dear Seraph.”

“Maybe one day. But it’s still fresh in my head. But yeah, Luck, that’s why I sit in my office all day. Slaving away at political bullshit and whatever. I left the external affairs to Aaliyah and the Squadron.”

Luck nods in understanding and slowly puts his hand on Creed’s shoulder, to which he responds by smiling. “You seem like a good kid. You just need to be nice to others. Can you at least do that for me?” Luck reluctantly nods and says, “I’ll always prioritize my friends, but I’ll at least look out for my teammates I guess.” Creed ruffles his hair again and looks at Here Lies Fate. She looks back at Creed with happy eyes and takes them out of the domain. “Well, gotta get back to the office. Australia apparently wants to propose an amendment to my Bill. Seriously, what the fuck is an Australia?” Fate giggles and kneels down to Creed’s level again. He responds by hugging her again and holding her face. “I trust you to mentor Luck well, Aaliyah. You always do well with that.” She leans into his hand on her cheek and responds, “Of course I will, High One. I won’t disappoint you.” Creed nods and slowly removes his hand before walking back to the platform. He waves and then snaps his fingers. A lightning bolt hits him, causing a shockwave like when he arrived and he disappears within an instant.

Luck looks up at Here Lies Fate and notices her eye is closed now. She looks his way and asks, “So about being selfless and weak?” Luck scoffs and looks away. Fate smiles and taps her spear. “You can head back to your barracks. I will call you when the next mission arises.”

“Yeah yeah. Later.”

Luck walks away, and Fate watches. She goes back to the briefing room and notices a note on the door. She takes it off and reads it. In Luck’s handwriting it says, “Here Lies These” with a crude drawing of someone grabbing their crotch. She looks unamused and taps her spear. At the same time she can hear Luck in his room yelp and shout, “HOW THE FUCK DID MY TEA FALL? IT WASN’T EVEN ON THE EDGE??? FUCK THAT’S HOT!” She smirks and walks into her room.