1.
Ethan shuddered as he climbed the towering cliff that lead to the Black Order’s Headquarters. He shifted his hands, and a small rock avalanche drifted on to him.
“Achoo!” A sneeze wracked through Ethan’s insides, forcing to get out, while a bit of snot slurped down. Ethan snorted it up and climbed the final stretch of his journey. Finally, after a week of traveling, he had arrived at the infamous Black Order’s Station. He sauntered up to the gate, pleased with himself, and knocked, rattling the squeaky hinges.
Ethan Olph was 19 years old, and about to become a member of the newly found Black Order, found in the Bermuda Triangle. The organization was devoted to finding and defeating demons, or Akuma, that wish to find “Innocence,” which is like a sort of light matter. Innocence seems to attract strange occurrences, so most of the time locating where the Innocence is is easy, it’s the getting it that is hard. The Akuma are souls that are trapped in dark matter, created by a new evil man named “The Earl of Millennium.” He has complete control over these tortured beings, which do his bidding against their will. That is why the Exorcists, the people chosen by God, are needed. When an Exorcist finds a piece of Innocence, it is honed to that person’s best ability, and converted to an item. There are rare cases however, when a person is born with a piece of innocence inside of them. They can then manipulate any part of their body to an Anti-Akuma weapon.
Ethan stood before the forbidding gates, trembling from the cold. A chilling breeze blew by and ruffled his blond hair, shifting it in front of his hazel eyes. He pushed it back to its’ place and pulled his green coat around him, shivering. What could those members be doing in there?
Jordan’s head was resting on his propped up hand as he slept. Slowly, very slowly, it started to slip, bringing it closer and closer to the face of his desk, where it would slam if not caught. A little more it slipped, a little more, a little more…
Bam! Jordan jerked his head up and started rubbing the spot where it had hit the desk.
“Huh, what’s this?” He wondered aloud as he checked the security cameras. It seemed a boy was standing at the front gate, waiting to get in. “Hey, O’Malley,” he mumbled as he gestured to the screen, “what do you make of this?”
O’Malley, the head supervisor, leaned over Jordan’s shoulder. “Who’s that?”
“I ‘unno sir. Should we get the gatekeeper to check him?”
“Yeah… check him out. If he’s clean, let him in. We might have gotten ourselves a new member.”
The wind howled, piercing through Ethan’s coat. It’s not like they’re all asleep. It’s noon for Pete’s sake. Well, with this weather, Ethan thought as his eyes gazed over the choppy seas and the skies filled with their gloomy, omnipresent clouds, it could very well be midnight.
“Mysterious traveler!” boomed a voice, “agree to go through our tests, and you will be granted audience with us. If you do not cooperate, we will be forced to remove you from our premises and… and… and whatnot. What do you say?”
Ethan grinned at the hidden voice’s tone of boredom and decided to play along with his perfect way of speaking. “I do agree, sir or madam, and I will subject to your tests to prove my worth. How may I continue in the proper manner, so as not to impolitely and unnecessarily offend you?”
“Seriously dude,” offered the voice from everywhere and nowhere, “just stand still for our scanners.”
Ethan grinned even wider. It seemed he had tired the speaker out. A robot stepped out from a little gazebo that was carved in the rock face so well that Ethan hadn’t even realized it. It turned toward him, showing itself fully. It was entirely made out of a chrome material, very shiny even against the bad weather. It stood on four legs, and its main body was shaped like a cylinder. Its four legs were shaped like paddles, perpendicular to the ground, with red stripes running up the sides. The robot’s head was connected on a long, flexible neck. The head was shaped like a video camera, with one glass eye centered on its face.
The glass eye shot out a colored beam which scanned over Ethan two times, one purple, one red. When it was finished, it stepped back in to the stone gazebo and disappeared from view.
“Okay dude. Come on in.” the voice sounded more bored then ever as the big, iron gates opened and closed with a squeal.
I'm pondering whether I should leave it there and start a new chapter or continue. Suggestions?
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