Lord of Annihilation

"Do you know Reyna's room?" Alex implored to Olivia.

The rooms of the various students had not been shared with the others, therefore unless the student themselves revealed it, one would not be able to know.

Hearing his question Olivia nodded.

"Reyna and I entered at the same time. In fact our rooms are quite close to each other. She is in Room J28, whilst I'm in J22."

Alex nodded in understanding,

For some reason, Olivia turned around to look towards Lucius, when she revealed her room number, before hurriedly turning back.

'What am I thinking!' Olivia admonished herself, while her face reddened a bit.

Lucius did not catch this reaction, however someone else did.

'Hoho! Someone's got a serious crush.' Ka'lor'ah smirked to herself, taking care to not reveal her thoughts to Lucius.

"Ah. A childhood friend/foster sister, the odds surely are against her, isn't it?' she inwardly mused.

Outside, the trio had already made their way to Reyna's room.

Alex immediately used his hands to bang on the door.

BANG!BANG!BANG!

"Reyna! You in there? It's me Alex. Open the door." he spoke into the small mic which was placed with the scanner.

Due to the doors being pressured locked and sound-proofed, the person on the inside would not be able to hear, the sounds on the outside. One had to speak into the mic, in order for there voice to be projected inside.

Waiting a few seconds, no reply was heard.

Alex furrowed his brows and continued. "Reyna! Are you in there? Open the door immediately!" he yelled into the mic once more.

Silence.

Getting worried, Olivia asked, "What do we do know? The scanner says that the room is occupied, so she must me in there."

Alex was helpless facing her question, when he heard Lucius' cold voice.

"Step back."

"What are you going to do?" Alex sounded confused, but obediently stepped back. He then suddenly thought to himself, 'Wait, why did I naturally obey his words?'

Of course, Lucius did not pay heed to Alex's internal struggles. Stepping forward towards the door, Lucius raised his palm and started gathering his soul power in his hands.

A ball of dark black soul energy, which gave of a feeling of withering started to rapidly condense in his palms. Looking at the ball of energy, Alex's and Olivia's eyes shrunk as a feeling of death and decay formed within their hearts.

Gathering his power until the ball was formed and compressed into the size of a pebble, Lucius gently blew it inside the scanner panel.

He then patiently waited.

"Hey, what was that ball of energy?" Alex spoke

Lucius did not bother replying, but another voice explained in his place.

"That's Lucius' special ability at Stage 1. The both of you will also develop such special abilities, when you step into Stage 1." Ka'lor'ah gently explained.

Hearing that voice, the both of them were shocked for a second before being delighted.

"Ka'lor'ah!" "Savior!". Alex and Olivia replied respectively.

"Hi!" Ka'lor'ah excitedly spoke.

"The door had opened." Lucius cut into their conversation.

"We'll catch up later. First let's find out what's wrong with this girl." Ka'lor'ah spoke befitting of her seniority.

Placing his hands on the surface of the door, Lucius exerted a little of his strength and pushed it upwards. The door which was usually unmovable, slid upwards without any resistance.

In the place where the electromagnetic locks were usually, black smoke wafted. The smell of metal corrosion and decay was present.

Directly stepping into the room, Lucius furrowed his brows. Olivia and Alex who were behind him also looked at the room in a serious expression.

The furniture inside the room were moved haphazardly. Clothes, blankets and towels were carelessly thrown on the floor. A revolting stench filled the air and a yellowish fluid was pooled in the ground.

Recognizing the stench Alex spoke out in a worried manner, "That's.... gastric acid. She was vomiting?"

The door into the bathroom was open and the sounds of running water was heard.

Unable to hold herself back, Olivia rushed into the bathroom. Alex similarly wanted to follow, only to find himself being held back by Lucius.

Unable to contain his anger he exploded at Lucius.

"WHAT NOW, BASTARD?! That's my little sis in there. Are you going to stop me from entering?!"

Lucius did not reply, but slowly continued to stare at Alex with his cold and indifferent eyes.

Seeing that uncaring look on his face, Alex felt a great surge of anger welling up inside him once again. Just as he was about to attack Lucius, Olivia's clear voice sounded out.

"Both of you, do not come in here!"

"What?" Alex sounded confused to which Lucius casually replied.

"She's undressed." his voice sounded mechanical with no intent or feeling behind it.

Hearing him Alex stood dumbfounded, staring blankly into space. Lucius simply turned around and left the room, before leaning against the wall outside.

Olivia's voice sounded out once again.

"What are you standing there for?! Get out!" she yelled in anger.

Alex immediately dashed outside. Nearing Lucius, he hesitated for a second before slowly asking.

"How did you know?" he whispered.

Lucius quietly turned to face Alex and replied with two words.

"Soul power."

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'Where am I?' Reyna thought to herself. Her thoughts were dulled and her surroundings clouded in darkness.

"I....I remember that we were leaving to a frontier planet aboard a spaceship. Talking about our clothes and taking pictures, Olivia and I made almost missed the scheduled time and barely made it onboard.'

'After that, I met Alex who seemed to be injured. Ah, yes. Alex got into a fight with Lucius over some matter. I tried to mediate between the both of them, but they continued fighting.'

'Then I ran back to my room crying and continued to cry for sometime under the blanket.'

She struggled to recall the events after that. Her thoughts growing more and more sluggish.

'Then I think I felt hungry? Yes, I was feeling hungry due to skipping my breakfast that morning. I decided to head to the kitchen and make myself a sandwich. What happened after that?'

'I seem to recall going to the Viewing platform?'

Suddenly her thoughts became extremely clear.

'MURDER! SOMEONE WAS MURDERED ABOARD THE SHIP! The murder found my presence and began to chase me!"

Her thoughts became more and more chaotic from this point onwards. Reyna's emotions once again began to grow confused. Her fear which had been missing all this time, slowly began returning.

Reyna felt herself, sinking deeper and deeper into a cold swamp.

'SOMEONE HELP ME! I'M SCARED! FATHER?! UNCLE BLACK?! ANYONE!!' Reyna screamed with all her might, only to not receive any response.

A tangible fear crept upon her, immobilizing her thoughts. Reyna felt a hand reach out towards her.

'I BEG YOU! PLEASE LEAVE ME ALONE! I DID NOT MEAN TO WITNESS THAT!!' she cried out. Alas no response was heard.

She felt a dark, cold hand be placed on her face. Reyna was too scared to open her eyes. Her body stiffened and her thoughts stopped flowing. She could no longer feel her body, with only a cold heavy presence surrounding her.

She felt the fear of death, for the first time in her life.

'I....'

Suddenly the darkness covering her vision shattered, with bright light replacing it. A feeling of warmth and comfort enveloped her entire body.

The fear she felt retreated immediately, with the feeling of safety replacing it.

Reyna was currently feeling a very strange feeling. It seemed distant, yet vaguely familiar.

'It's like.... Mom's warmth.' she suddenly realized this feeling.

"Child." A deep and ethereal voice sounded out beside her.

Opening her eye's Reyna could see something in the distance. A silhouette shrouded in layers, hidden behind this warm, white light.

The only reason she was able to recognize this figure in the first place, was due to the dark gold robes, she was wearing.

The feeling of motherly warmth was radiating off this person. Observing it closer, Reyna realized that this feeling was not the same as her mother's warmth. It felt distant and profound.

"You are?" Reyna questioned.

"You are finally awake." the ethereal voice spoke in a gentle tone. Reyna could feel on smile on that silhouette's face, when she spoke.

"Witnessing that murder had a profound impact on your psyche. You were almost lost in your own fear." sensing Reyna's questions the voice answered.

Reyna bit her lips and spoke, "So that was real?"

"I'm afraid so." the voice replied.

"Why? Why would a someone do such a thing to their own kind." Reyna did not understand this fact.

She simply could not understand the rationale behind such an actions. Aren't we all of the same kind? Fellow brothers and sisters of the Alliance? Why would they kill each other.

"Your question treads on the emotions and feelings of humans. Unlike your sciences. It does not have a 'right' answer." the voice continued in it's gentle tone.

"All you can do is protect yourself and trust in your kind."

Taking a few minutes, Reyna then spoke.

"I do not ever want to feel that emotion ever again."

"Then all you can do is to become stronger. So strong that, nothing ever scares you."

"But how?" Reyna cried out.

Hearing her, the voice chuckled once before speaking in a regal voice.

"Tell me child. Do you seek power?"

-----------------------

"REYNA. YOU FINALLY WOKE UP!" just as Reyna finished the conversation with that mysterious and ethereal voice, she heard a loud voice from in front of her.

Opening her eyes for real this time, Reyna was greeted with the sight of a worried looking Olivia. She was sitting next to Reyna's bed, seated in chair. A warm, but damp cloth was held in her hands.

Seeing her best friend show such concern towards her, Reyna felt warmth in her heart.

"Ah! I was worried that you wouldn't wake up. Uncle would have killed me, if something happened to you." she heard another arrogant, yet kind voice speak to her.

Turning her neck, she noticed Alex leaning against the wall while looking at her.

"Alex?" Reyna questioned.

"Glad to see your eyes are working fine. You know, you gave the three of us quite the scare, back at your room." he spoke in reply.

"The three of us?"

Olivia kindly explained, " Me, Alex and Lucius. When you did not show up for the emergency meeting, the three of us got worried and broke into your room. We found you unconscious in the shower, before bringing you to my room to be treated. Are you feeling fine?"

"Ah, yes. I feel alright." Reyna assured her.

"By the way, where is Lucius?" she asked while looking around. She noticed the Olivia and Alex being present in the room, but no signs of Lucius.

Olivia's face suddenly turned serious. With a cold voice she spoke.

"To catch a rabid dog!"