A Choice of Weapon

Jia had gone on a run that day as she'd done every morning, having to blow off steam for the emotions she suppressed when she tried hard not to fight the students that acted like annoying idiots. After the running she got dressed in her uniform. The tight white pants with the green line under the right knee, black and green trainers, white and green tank top and the white and green long gloves Zen had given her. She looked at her hands with it and the warm and happy sensation invaded her. She shook her head and left the room. She got to the training room on time, some of the students were already there. She entered to see that at the end of the room was Zen. He was standing like he'd done the first day, and a few other members were there too, including Alt. Zen looked at her when she entered the room and smiled looking at her arms. Jia stood in one of the corners, leaning against the wall. After everyone had arrived Zen spoke. 

- "Okay, you're all here, good. We'll get right to it then. Today you will be picking your weapon." He said, a few gasps of excitement went around the room. Jia could tell Zen was excited too, his eyes were lit as he looked at them. He smiled. "Okay then, let's go!" He said and left the room, Alt and the others followed, the students did so too and Jia went last, as always. 

The weapon picking ceremony was done with both Dark and Light's Squad Leaders present. Which was something Jia was not looking forward to. All Squad Leaders present meant her father, her mother and Dun would be there to watch her. They walked to the Arena that was behind the Academy, as they entered Jia saw the people she'd wished she never see again as well as a few of her brothers and sisters. They looked at her with disapproving and disgusted eyes. The arena seats were filled with citizens and a few Tribe members that were there only as spectators. The Squads were on one side of the arena seats, waiting for the event to start. Zen and the others sat at the right back, where other Green Light Squads were, next to where the Darks were. Jia sat in the spare seat she found and she could feel her family's looks digging into her skull. It was ironic that they had lived with her all her life and they'd never payed as much attention as they did now. 

In front of them, at the other side of the Arena were people in the grey uniforms, the Seer was among them. A man stood up and spoke to the entire crowd. It was the Head, he had the same white eyes and hair as the Seer. 

- "People of Fazhan, the Weapon Election will begin now. Let us cheer on and hope for all the fighters to be elected the weapon that suits them best." He said in a loud and clear voice projected by the hovering microphone in front of him. He sat down and the crowd cheered as a woman in grey that sat a few seats besides him called out a name, specifying the Squad the person belonged to. She called out a girl's name, she was a Dark of the Brown's Fox Squad, Jia was surprised to see she had purple-coloured eyes. She was one of the few that had changed Tribes. She had long red hair and was very small in size, she looked even smaller as she entered the huge arena and stood in the middle. The woman that had read her name now blew a horn, the little girl stood in a fighting stance when she did, and in a few seconds the ground shifted. The girl jumped up, men and women entered the arena and started fighting her, animals came in the picture too, a big spider and then a swarm of smaller ones. The event was meant to bring fear to the person, she put a crown on before entering that registered her fears and made them appear. It was only in the case of experiencing extreme fear that the weapon conjuring could be made. The crown was something Jia didn't like at all. Having something look into her head was exactly what her worst fear was. For a moment she wondered if she could conjure up the weapon the second she put the crown on. After a little while the girl screamed and extended her hand, it shone a bright purple light and a whip appeared in her hand. She thrust the whip and took down the spiders and people. The crowd applauded and cheered and the girl looked relieved. Two people in grey came towards her and took the crown off, they put a lotion on the hand that held the whip and then said a few words, the purple light shone again and the whip disappeared. 

The process was repeated with every person, as with the Election Ceremony, they started with the lowly tribes going up to higher ones. This time Dark went before Light. They finally reached the Green, the new Dark members went up to the arena, taking strong steps and fearless stares. But everybody had fears and the arena showed them. As the level of the fighters grew so did the level of their fears, it was harder to conjure up something, the battles became longer as the projections tried to make the fighter experience utter fear. Eventually the Dark were done, Jia's parents and Dun looked proud as their kids excelled. Finally it was the Light's turn. They started off with the lower tribes and slowly went up, finally reaching the Wolf Squad. Jia payed full attention. Nin Juchel was the first to go, she stood there looking tiny in the huge arena. Men and women appeared and Nin fought them easily, she'd improved her fighting a lot. The men and women started multiplying, becoming a large mass. No animals appeared. Only people, fighters, and each one was stronger than the other. And as Nin struck them they didn't disappear, on the contrary, they multiplied. For every one person she struck, two appeared. The mass was building up and the battle was exhausting her. It took her a very long while for her to experience the fear needed. She let out a scream and a green light shone in both her hands. A bow appeared. Arrows appeared in her hand one by one as she struck the mass. She killed them all. The crowd cheered an applauded fervently. The grey people came in and repeated the same process, making the bow disappear. Nin came up towards them, Zen and the other members congratulated and she sat, a wide smile in her face. The next to go was Thur, he fought a giant made of stone and conjured up a sword. Kul, Hen, Ged, Din, Saf and Xion followed, they conjured up throwing knives, daggers, chain ball, a sword, a whip and a set of knives that attached to his feet and hands. And then it was Jia's turn. When the woman said her name silence reigned the otherwise noisy crowd, murmurs grew instead of cheers, Jia stood up, all eyes on her, she saw Dun lean forward in interest. 

Jia went down the stairs and reached the door where they put her the crown she despised. She entered the arena and stood. The woman blew the horn and Jia waited for what was to appear. Nothing appeared. For a very long while she just stood there, murmurs increased in the crowd. After a while a shape appeared and attacked, Jia stopped it but couldn't see the shape, it disappeared as suddenly as it had appeared. Another shape did the same and she stopped it. She looked around with her frown. More shadows appeared for a very long time, maybe hours. Jia stopped them easily. Another shadow appeared but now she recognised it. It was wearing Dun's face. It disappeared and another one appeared, now wearing her mother's face. Little by little they stopped disappearing and each shadow wore a different face. Her fathers, her brothers, Zen and Alt. Jia fought them as they hit her, hate in their eyes. Seeing Zen's face like that was killing her. Every time he appeared she hesitated to hit him. She still fought them though, they were good fighters and she rarely knew where they came from, but she managed to do it. She fought them for a while until all of a sudden they stopped attacking and disappeared. Jia looked around. They finally appeared in front of her, one next to the other and they no longer wore expressions of hate but of fear. They stood still and went on their knees. And a great shape appeared behind them. Occupying most of the arena's space. 

It was a tall creature that was like an attachment of two, half white half black, attached with gory stitches that were bleeding out. The creature had bleeding eyes and it smiled, the lips bleeding where the stitches tied both parts of its face together. It was terrible creature, one Jia didn't think she could ever forget, and yet it looked familiar. Jia remembered it. A nightmare, the creature destroying villages and life and in that dream the creature had smiled at her, and it had been her face that wore it. Just like it did now. She wasn't sure what it was, the creature didn't have her eyes, or nose, or lips, or teeth, and yet she knew they looked the same. Not sure why, but afraid of it. It sent shudders down her spine.

The sneer showed razor white teeth and it laughed a guffaw that put Jia's hair on edge It reached it's white hand, claws instead of fingers and grabbed one of Jia's sisters, Lun. Jia tensed and ran forward but she didn't move. She couldn't move. She struggled as much as she could but couldn't move, she was held by an invisible force. Jia groaned and grunted. The creature brought Jia's sister to it's mouth and chewed her head off. It moaned in pleasure and then ate the rest of Lun's body. Jia's hair stood on edge and she groaned and grunted harder as she tried to move. The creature did the same with Jia's brother Kin, and with Wad, Hin, Quon, Zer, Kai and Nu. All her brothers and sisters were gone and Jia was terrified. Because she could see the ones that came next. The creature ate Alt. And there they were, her parents, Dun and Zen. Jia's breathing had reached a terrible speed, her body hurt. She looked at them, and was unsure if what was paralysing her was fear. The creature ate Jia's parents. And only they were left. And Jia was terrified. No. They are not going to die. I'm not going to let them. I'm going to protect them. She thought to herself. She closed her eyes shut and screamed a determined groan as she tried desperately to move. The invisible grip didn't budge and Jia saw as the creature grabbed Dun and Zen with both hands and brought them to it's mouth. Jia tried to spread her arms as she screamed, finally the grip let go of her and she ran to them, she jumped up towards the creature in a summersault to give herself more strength green light shone all around her and she saw weapons fly around her. Numerous weapons. And she saw what she needed, two katanas one with a silver blade the other with a black one, one with a white hold and the other a black one, both with a green lace flying from the hold. Both weapons came to her hands and she gripped them tight, their power feeding her. The light disappeared and she looked at the creatures head, she crossed her arms and then opened them, cutting the creature's head off. It fell with the sneer on it. Jia landed on the headless neck of the creature and the creature fell to its knees, Jia jumped down. And the creature disappeared, taking Zen and Dun with it.

Jia was on one knee panting. The realisation that it had all been part of the crown's projections creeping up to her. She sighed and closed her eyes, relieved none of it had actually happened. And at the same time, slightly embarrassed that everybody else had been watching. She stood up and looked at the crowd, the usual impassive frown on her face. The crowd was quiet, they were shocked. Jia looked up at the Head and the Seer, their faces showed shock as well. She looked at the fighters and looked at the faces she'd seen the creature eat. Her siblings looked scared though they tried not to show it. Jia supposed that watching yourself get eaten was never a pleasant thing to see. Jia's parents wore the disapproving look they always did, only this time intensified, under it however was a slight surprise and shock. It amused Jia to see it. She looked at Dun, he was angry. Furious and hurt. She looked at Zen and Alt. Alt was wide eyed, shocked, impressed and a little afraid. Zen was hurt, nothing else. 

Author's Note

For the last chapters I apologise for the possible and probable grammar and spelling problems you might find! I'm uploading the chapters that I've written without checking them because I'm short on time! When I have time to spare I'll come back to them!

Reviews

[Created to Write]

For her to have one katana that's white and one that's black is so cool! What's the monster? So even though her siblings and parents didn't notice her, she still cares if they die? That's intense.