Zodaccia: Realms of Chaos (finalpreview)

  Heres the last installment of the sneak preview.  Hope you guys liked it.



Soon the entire finished product will be available.  It will be a graphic novel, so there will be sketchings and other illustrations as well with it.  =)  Hope Ive made a few fans by posting here.



Back track

Chapter 5



      I never expected anything like this in life.  Honestly I’ve never expected much at all… theres no time for expectation when youre surrounded by violence and hardship.

  Alright, so up until two months ago there wasn’t much violence—other than Sensei’s training…Sensei wasn’t even really human, though, and he never struck out with intention to harm any of us that I can remember, only teach…so I cant exactly count that as violence, I suppose, even if he really is the former dark ruler of the underworld..and tormenting my brothers psyche.

  Violence is more like how it’s been for two months straight…

  Ever since Jaisen was forced to kill that homeless guy he was so fond of.

  That was the first time we were faced with a Xanthian in a direct mannerism and ever since they’ve been snooping us out.

  Jaisen went to check on his homeless friend, but when he slid down into the underpass to find him, the guy he called Curly wasn’t Curly anymore.

  We had seen the dark stares of the Xanthian, and knew they were only pretending to be human, but never had been confronted with one like that before.

  Jaisen was forced to fight and kill his friend, the lunch he had brought him—something he did every couple of days—Im pretty sure went uneaten.  Washed down the flood channel after Jaisen was finished doing what he had to.

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  My oldest brother hasn’t been the same ever since.  He used to laugh and joke all the time, one of the funniest and quickest wit I have ever known, I can’t lie, it’s one of the biggest reasons I hit it off with him so well when I joined the regiment.

  I haven’t heard him make much of any joke since Curly’s vessel died at Jaisen’s hand.  Killing changes you, but not nearly like killing a best friend because you had no alternative…

  I only met Curly once or twice, but I must say he really did seem quite intelligent and above the curve for a homeless guy.  Jaisen always enjoyed having conversations with him, hell he used to sit with Curly in that stinky underpass for hours at a time, just shootin’ the shit and talking about their pasts.

  Jaisen has a huge heart, but it seems like its shrinking more and more day by day, now.  The fear of being forced to take out another friend, or one of us is robbing him of who he is.  Then there are the things like what Corey’s been doing.

  It must be even harder to try and keep your mind and heart open when even your close loved ones are hacking at them.

  It’s been less than two weeks since Corey and Jessica got high and fooled around, which wouldn’t have meant anything if Jaisen hadn’t been already dating her for a few months.  Corey has been slipping, he says he’s not doing the meth still, but it’s obvious he is…

  I just don’t know what to do anymore.  I hope Rochelle is okay… I hope she calls me.

  “Hey, there’s Jaisen.”  Corey points at the plume of dust marking his bike. 

  “It’s about time.”  Jason groans.



61

  “I intercepted him a few times; his dad was giving him shit.  I think he’s really planning on leaving Vegas.”

  “I’m sure that has nothing to do with the fact that you betrayed him last month the way you did, and that you’re still doing the meth and won’t even admit to it when you know we can check your mind.”

  “Hey, my business…not yours….”

  “Screw you, dude!  If you don’t start flying straight you’re gonna ruin this whole campaign.  Don’t you remember what Azrael said?  If we don’t operate as a unit then not just Earth, but all of existence is headed for the showers.

  You need to deal with this hate crap man, aim it where it fucking belongs.  Am I gonna have to run away with Rochelle if we get serious just to make sure your hands aren’t moving for her?”

  “That’s low.”

  “So was screwing Jessica, and lying to us, and always focused more on girls than work.”

  “Jaisen isn’t blood, it’s none of your business, an look who’s talking Mr. Chase-her-into-an-alley.  You demanded to take that piece home so you could bust a mack!”

  “He is to me, so no matter what you say that means he is to you as well.  Get off it, you’re an asshole and selfish, you don’t think of the full aspect.”

  “Whatever.  I’m going to practice initiating my key-one, you know, practice the full aspect?”

  “Don’t ruin any relationships while you’re out.”

  “Hey, you wanna go?!”



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  “Yeah right, I’ll beat your tweeker face right in before Jaisen even parks his bike, Corey!  I’ll fold you in ways that would make Gumby scream!”

  “Bring it on then, Benedict Arnold!”

  “You’re the only one who’s betrayed anyone in this tribe, so look in the mirror before you go slinging titles, Captain Hypocrite!”

  “Whatever, go play with your boyfriend.”

  “One day you’re gonna remember all of these things, and it’s gonna break you inside, Corey, it’s gonna open you up like a can opener and tear out your guts like sardines as your heart breaks under your own selfish weight.”

  “You’d like that, wouldn’t you.”

  “If it means you’re not such a jerk to the people who love you anymore, then hell yeah, I really would.”

  Corey glares at his brother, staring him right back in the face unwavering, then growls and turns away.  “Whatever.  I’ll be over by the rocks.”

  “On the day you wake up alone, with no one around you, remember it’s you who always walks away instead of fixing the problems you created, or at least even admitting to them!”

  “Fuck you.”

  “You’re already doing a good enough job of it, yourself.  Why interfere?”

Twenty minutes later

  The three of them sit in a triangle facing one another, holding their hands out to the center and focusing.

  “I don’t think it’s gonna work.”  Jason says with some defeat.

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  “It already did at Dads house, blew out all the electronics.  I should probably send him some money to pay for it…”

  “I caught that.  Jason was too busy daydreaming of that girl.”

  “I’ll be right back, I’m gonna go see if she called me.”

  Corey shakes his head, looking to Jaisen who is still focusing.

  “He’s whipped before he’s even seen her naked.”

  Jaisen doesn’t respond. He’d been listening to the argument between the Wrigben brothers.

  “So you really think we’re gonna be able to initiate these super powers or whatever with meditation?”

  Still no response.

  “I guess it makes sense, ‘cause that’s how we astral project and communicate telepathically, right?”

  “Hey, can you shut up so I can focus?”

  “Fine, whatever. “

  It’s funny how they’re always talking down and being rude to me because of a few mistakes I made, yet I’m the jerk-off-asshole.  Whatever, man, I bet they would calm the hell down if I decided I wasn’t into all off this anymore.  Maybe I just wanna be a normal guy for a while…

  They keep on pushing and I might just say screw existence anyhow.

  I don’t see what the big deal is, honestly, Jaisen and I used to kick girls back and forth all the time, and he’s so high and mighty now cause he decided he doesn’t like meth anymore and I still do?  It’s my choice, so what if they don’t wanna do it.

64

It’s not like I’m trying to pressure them to keep doing it with me, or something.

  Oblivion must have been very desperate when she set us all up for this mission, ‘cause honestly I don’t see a friendship between Jaisen and I in six months let alone three years.

  Jason’s all wrapped around his hips though, he swears that I’m the weak link here when Jaisen isn’t even holding his mental stability together anymore.  Everyone sees him changing, turning all introverted on us and whatever.

It’s more than just at me, ‘cause he’s also falling away from himself as well as everyone else.  He wants to run away because it’s scary.  Grow up.

  He’s probably gonna go Xanthian pretty soon and I’ll have to kill him anyhow.

  Whatever, I’ll do what I have to.  They can be punk-asses all they want, but I’ll make sure they know who the real strength in this little group is.  I’m gonna activate these abilities and show them both that I’m not just some crutch they can shrug off when they feel like walking on their own.

  He said that the visions are the keys to our power.  Visions….

  I bet I could initiate a vision….I have to embrace a mentality like Azrael.

  Make these Xanthians miserable in the worst ways, I need to crush their will, and steal their strength away from them through fear.

  I will be merciless…from now on no Xanthian will be pitied.  They are vile and wretched, and I will enjoy tearing them apart and causing them misery.

  He didn’t only say these things to himself, he felt the truth in them, his rage building, making him hate stronger.  His fists clenched in his lap, lip twitching and brow furrowing.

65

Using his anger for his brothers to push his hatred for the Xanthian beyond anything before, his hatred for the necessity to be this way, for Oblivions interference in his life.  Then he felt it.

  The change.

  It was like a beast more hideous than any mutant awakening within him.  A gnarling creature appears within his subconscious.  The OniDamhmus known as aZu’Arli’an halts in deep existence.

  His unseen Chaos Daemon within himself roaring out, reverberating through him and causing him to burst with nova fire.

  This darkness…It comes from my anchor…Mother, what have you done?  Only iJo’Ciou’ has maintained a Chaos evolution, yet you tamper with mine?

  She has her reasons, dear brother.  We musn’t question her decisions, it is not our purpose to decide for her entirety, we are but sentinels to her defense, as are the sentient beings amongst the planets of our home.

  Meddle in your own consciousness, ‘Ciou.  You know personally the darkness and power she is tampering with.  You should be questioning this motive over any of us.

  No Arli, ‘Ciou is correct.  It is not our place to question the order of design, we are only to enforce and accept her guidance.  Mother knows far more than any of us combined.

  I never said I wasn’t going to acknowledge and comply.  I have already initiated the responsive feed.  I just think this is a bad idea.

  Corey heard the conversation clear as day, more of a sequence of thoughts within himself than telepathy like his brothers shared with him.

  The link was open, a single thought triggers the transfer of his consciousness into the archive systems of Oblivion.

66

…

         Host signature detected, determining source bio-pattern.

  Whoa!  Hey, check that out…

  Welcome to the main console, Temper, it is detected that you have an awaiting initiative process on standby.  Would you like to initiate protocols for key-one access?

  Uh… Is that how I make the powers in my real body work?

  Affirmative, key-one access allows for physical enhancements to your core essence within the third dimension.

  Let’s activate key-one protocols then.

  Command confirmed, initiating tetrahedron of dimensional light.  Please activate your personal Psiforce holocron device in order to continue.

  What?

  His vision suddenly swirls with images, they coalesce to form a rendering of himself from the chest up, rotating slowly and crawling with odd Zodaccian code.  On his left shoulder a small hexagon separated into three diamonds is highlighted.  A second one as well, dimly, however with an azure hue, the third was black.

  The bright crimson part of hexagon separates and seems to move closer, there are the elemental insignia of fire, ice, and electricity but only the fire is lit with red, and brought closer to him.

  As you activate your holocron key, your insignia will illuminate, allowing you access to the mainframe in which you can align and sharpen your dimensional energies and knowledge.



67

  This is the control panel in which you can organize your accrued abilities and toggle them on, off, and to other categorized enhancements.

  You will notice there are columns for each key which lists the available abilities of its category, as you have been informed, only one enhancement from each category can be activated at any given time, however this can be altered with expansion of energetic compilations.

  It’s like a game…an RPG game.  Oh man, I so got this covered.  This is awesome!

  Let’s see… key-one items… there are three icons darkened.

  An eye, strong arm, and looks like a sprinter…

  The display shows all three host abilities, when the icons illuminate, the ability is available.  The icons are listed from oldest host, to youngest in your traditional reading pattern.

  Alright… so… I’m in the middle then.

  As Corey reaches to the icon, the arm illuminates and his diamond of the hexagon illuminates around him brightly, scrolling encryption down around it until it culminates between his feet and fills the hexagon cell with light.

  Corey’s eyes flutter open and he looks around, seeing Jaisen still struggling with his meditation while his younger brother is approaching them again.

  “Oh-kayyy?”

  His vision suddenly scrolls with characters unfamiliar to him, the arm icon flashing in his lower left peripheral vision, followed by his actual arms highlighting in a crimson flash.  “Key-one enhancement level one, awaiting activation command.” He reads aloud in his vision.  “Hey this thing knows English now.” He adds.

68

  “Activate, key-one protocol?” He says, reaching up to press against his left clavicle as he recalled Oblivions multi-toned voice advising him.

  Heat rushes suddenly through his body, forcing his eyes wide.  His arms flash rapidly now as heat rushes through his veins and his muscle structure, at first he struggled against the sudden burning pain, but then he doubles over gripping his biceps and relenting to the searing ache.

  “G..GGAAHHH!!!!” He roars.

  His vision fades again, slowly swirling around in darkness and mist, but then his own voice, only with a robotic tone, begins to speak from all directions, as his vision fades in like before, only much more realistic as a detailed false environment depicts his voices explanations.

  Azrael Dracuul: The most dark and sinister being of light known to the old existence halves, Armagg and Eden.

  Before his death as Prince Griffin Anubyz, son to Lord Inferno and Lady Tse'Novaugh Kai, crowned imperials of the star; Cyria, but more specifically the planet within the star; Avylahn.

  He enjoyed a privileged and powerful youth.  The civilization was technologically superior to Earth by thousands of years and the diverse intelligent life forms far beyond human advancement, which is how Griff learned to defy the immense gravity of his star-planet home by toddler age. 

Griff was manipulating fire by the early adolescence to the extent that the flaming exterior atmosphere of Cyria could be tampered with by him with a bit of focus.

  He learned the ways of the Imperial code, his father noble, and his mother flawless in the eyes of not just Avylahn, but every planet within the solar system inhabited by life.



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  Griff was only in his mid-adolescence when the binary star-planet Bestidos, adjacent to Cyria and co-cause of the orbiting planetary weirdness around them ; 25 planets, all with indigenous life of some form or another, each with unique orbits which often passed amongst one another with astounding mathematical precision and technological fail safes, was changed by the arrival of the essence to be known as Turbulance in the future.

  Travel between planets was mainly accomplished via acceleration pyramids on the planetary surfaces built by the Avylahnians and other advanced societies within the solar neighborhood.

  Bestidos; the star-planet within Deimos, was destroyed over a period of six-hundred and ninety-five Avylahnian years, and suddenly became a point of heavy interest to Inferno and his followers.

  He claimed that the source of "Great Turbulence" had been delivered to rectify the ageless feud between Bestidos and Avylahn, canceling out the violence of the Bestidions until the presence felt disdainful and regretful instead of ravaging and destructive.

  It had long been thought to be suicide to enter the planetary core since the arrival of the Great Turbulance, but now Inferno was sure that the sister planet no longer harbored a threat.

  He went to investigate, and as his ship made contact to the planet within Bestidos, the being to be known as Turbulance waited for him nearby, having sensed the approach.

  He had come out of his millennium-long insanity and remembered, now, being literally deported by the guardian of his past dimensional home to this place where he was bound by the need to breathe, something that was not true in his home realm.



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  Because it kept him imprisoned on the barren planet which previously was the source of turmoil in the galaxy of Zodaccia, which increased his rage exponentially—both because he was entrapped while his loved ones from home suffered at the hypothetical hands of the deity there, a hateful and malicious being, as well as by the hateful and violent nature of the majority of Bestidions.

  Turbulance had a unique physiology reminiscent to the free molecular structure of energy, although focused and comprised to maintain a presence of intelligence.  His species was never before released from the other dimension, but Turbulance was a special case; an adaptation of evolution gave him the ability to not only adapt defenses by absorbing different energies, but to fully incorporate them into his being in order to form offensive abilities as well.

  The deity saw problems in its grand design and transferred Turbulance to its sibling, where he was incorporated to eradicate the dark civilization of Bestidions, ending two problems at once.

  By the time Turbulance killed off the entire star-planet, the energy he radiated under the flames of Bestidos corrupted it from the bright purple and blues they had been to mostly black with some streamers of red.

  Such a power, and it was now truly without hatred according to Inferno’s senses, and he knew this power could be used for much good in the galaxy for tracking down and eliminating the scattered evils that managed to escape Bestidos upon Turbulance's arrival, as well as the other dark civilizations.

  Griff agreed with this plan, he was not allowed to travel with his father, however, just in case... the entire solar system seemed to freeze for the short time of his departure, until Inferno announced that Turbulance would be coming to Avylahn alongside him.