The Hidden Society

         Alex read over the stories he had written so far. It had been about a month since the dream that inspired Accell. So far, he had written two stories each for Accell, Overload, and Water Witch.
         They were all coming along nicely. But he still felt unsatisfied. There were plenty of heroes in the Water Witch storyline, and Overload's support team was off to a nice start. But what about Accell? He needed some backup as well. But what sort of backup would someone that powerful need?
         But then he remembered something. One of his thoughts when he first started this that he had forgotten. He smiled to himself. The world that Accell lived in didn't have as many heroes as Overload's and Water Witch's world. They didn't need that many. After all, if every hero was as strong as Superman, there would be no need for Batman.
         One tweak to the ending of the second Accell story. And then the hidden society was ready.


         Accell's training was coming along nicely. Axle and Rachel still couldn't come together with each other the way that Mr. Matthews and his other half seemed to be able to do, but they had gotten the hang of working together. They didn't feel the same level of power as they had when they'd first joined together, but they were still plenty powerful.
         Mr. Matthews was pleased with their progress. "You two are doing well. You're getting the hang of this much sooner than I expected. I think it's about time I introduced you to the others."
         "Others?" Axle asked. "You're saying there are others like us?"
         "Of course there are," Maxum said. "There are hundreds of us, remember? And it's time for you to meet some of the others."
         "And where are they?" Axle asked Maxum and Rachel. He could tell that she knew more than she was letting on.
         "Rachel knows," Maxum said. Then he chuckled. "All of us go through this test after we get our powers. To reach the Sanctuary is a sign that you're ready."
         "Ready for what?"
         "You'll find out. Now, the two of you have already shown you're adept at manipulating the fabric of space. So, it should be easy for you to reach the Sanctuary. Again, Rachel knows how to get there. Like with everything, both of you need to work together on this."
         Accell concentrated on creating a doorway. Axle focused on the portal itself, while Rachel focused on the destination.
         They stopped once they figured they had created the portal. They looked to see that they hadn't made the portal they thought they'd made. They had made a door.
         "Not bad, actually," said Mr. Matthews. "I was expecting a portal and not an actual doorway, but not bad." He put his hand on the door frame. "You're pretty close. You're just a little off, but I'll fix that." His hand glowed slightly. Then he gestured towards the door. "After you."
         Axle cautiously walked toward the door and opened it. He could only see black. Slowly, he walked into the wall of black.
         He felt a tsunami of nausea wash over him. It felt like his stomach was tied in a huge knot, then swung around while still inside him.
         Then he was no longer surrounded by blackness. He bent over, trying not to throw up.
         "You new here?" asked a voice. It had the same double-speech as Maxum. Or Accell.
         Accell looked up. A woman was in the room with him.
         "Yeah, it's my first time here," replied Accell. He paused. Axle and Rachel hadn't tried to work to become Accell, so why was he using Accell's voice? "Wherever here is."
         "Yeah, the first portal here always kicks you in the gut."
         The portal hummed. Maxum walked through. The portal closed behind him. "You'll get used to these portals, kid."
         Maxum walked towards the only door, which the woman was standing next to. "Greetings, Marcial," Maxum said to the woman.
         "Greetings, Maxum," Marcial replied. "It's been a while." She nodded towards Accell. "So, that ghost has bonded already."
         "Axle decided to call her Rachel. I don't know why."
         "It might be his Beyond Vision," reasoned Marcial.
         "Maybe, but I don't quite think so," said Maxum. "But he's decided on the name Accell. As in acceleration."
         Marcial nodded. Not a bad name.
         Once Accell was no longer nauseous, he stood up and walked over to Maxum. Maxum waved his hand and the doorknob turned. Accell followed him down the corridors. Eventually, they reached an archway. A massive open space was on the other side. With his Beyond Vision, Accell could tell that they were in an enclosed space. But it was so large that his normal vision couldn't see the far wall.
         "Welcome to the Sanctuary," said Maxum.
         Accell looked out. They were at the top of a cliff, for lack of a better term. He looked at the city below, trying to draw a mental map of it. It was impossible. It was constantly changing. Buildings were built, moved, morphed, and destroyed. Statues were carved in the blink of an eye and were reduced to rubble just as quickly. The layout of the city changed by the millisecond, or so it seemed.
         "It's chaos down there," said Accell.
         "That's what I thought the first time I came here," said Maxum. "Eventually, you'll realize that there is a bit of order to that chaos. Thankfully, we're not going down there just yet. We're going up."
         "Up?" He looked up. How had he not noticed the giant structure suspended above the city? Then again, it was at the edge of what he could see. It was so far away that he couldn't make out any features. The only reason he could tell it was huge was the bridges connected to it.
         He could see three, possibly four bridges connected to it. And there were likely more that were too far away to see.
         Maxum led Accell to the nearest bridge. It was like no other bridge he'd ever seen.
         "What is this made out of?" asked Accell.
         "Diamond," replied Maxum. "Only the most powerful of us can manipulate diamond."
         "Where are we?" asked Accell.
         "This is the Sanctuary," replied Maxum.
         "I know, but where is the Sanctuary?"
         "I don't know," said Maxum, which surprised Accell. "I don't know whether we're in the same solar system, galaxy, or even - no, you don't need to know that just yet. All I know is we're not on Earth. All you need to know is that this is a place where our Beyond Vision is strong. And it's a safe place."
         "Do you know why it's stronger here?" asked Accell.
         "No one does," said Maxum. "But there are theories. Have you ever heard of a white hole?"
         "I've heard of a black hole. I'm guessing that a white hole is the opposite of a black hole."
         "Pretty much. While nothing can escape a black hole, nothing can enter a white hole. Stuff falls into a black hole, and then spills out of a white hole. The Sanctuary acts sort of like a white hole for our Beyond Vision. We can't see into it from the outside. But from here, we can see the multiverse much more clearly."
         Accell could see what Maxum meant. He looked out with his Beyond Vision. He could see Earth much more clearly than when he was on it. He felt a hand on his shoulder and he snapped out of it. "We're here," Maxum told him. It didn't feel like they'd been walking for that long, but even still, they'd reached the end of the diamond bridge.
         A rather large building stood in front of them. Accell couldn't quite figure out the best way to describe it. It wasn't built with any specific architectural design in mind. Or, at least, it wasn't one that Accell was familiar with. It wasn't European, Amerindian, or Asian-style, but a combination of all those and more. The one thing Accell could tell was that this was supposed to be a temple of some sort. It felt like the sort of place that one could only enter if they had an invitation, at penalty of death. Well, perhaps not death, but there would still be a rather severe punishment.
         Accell didn't remember getting an invite, but Maxum was leading him into the building. It seemed to be a lot larger on the inside. Maxum led Accell down a long series of tunnels. Accell got the feeling that Maxum didn't quite know where he was going himself. The tunnels may have been as chaotic as the city below them was.
         Finally, they reached a large chamber, which Accell was fairly certain was larger than the building should have allowed. Including himself and Maxum, there were thirteen people in the chamber. Somehow, and perhaps it was because of Rachel, Accell knew who the others were. Three of them were still new and unfamiliar with their powers like he was. Three of them were their mentors, like Maxum was to him. And the other five were the council.
         "Maxum," said one of the council members, "glad you and your protege could join us."
         "Please, take your positions," said another council member. Accell walked over and stood with the other, trainees, he guessed. Maxum stood a few feet behind him.
         "Who else are we waiting on?" asked council member #3.
         "Let me check the list," said member #4. "That's actually everybody. Maxum was the last one we were waiting on."
         "Very well," said the fifth member, whom Accell could tell was the leader of the council. "Welcome to the Sanctuary, young initiates. We understand that things may be difficult for you going forward, but know that we are here to help train you. Let us get to know you, starting with the first to arrive, the protege of Unbo. State both of your names."
         "My human name is Sarah," said the first initiate. "But I also go by Sine Wave. I'm still workshopping the name."
         "It can be hard to figure out a good name," said the second council member. "We are confident you will figure yours out in time."
         "Now, the second to arrive, the protege of Redox, your turn."
         "My name is Conner. I go by the name Control."
         "Sounds like a villain's name," said the fourth council member.
         "That's what I said," said Redox.
         "The third initiate," said the council leader, "protege of Tecton."
         "My name is Grace. I also go by Gigaton."
         "A nice, powerful name," said the first council member. "Perhaps a bit much, but a good name nonetheless."
         "And finally, the protege of Maxum."
         "My name is Axle," he said, realizing that he was speaking as Axle for the first time since reaching the Sanctuary. The other initiates had said their human names without the double-speech pattern as well. "After I merged with Rachel, I go by another name; Accell."
         "Rachel?" asked the third council member. "Who is Rachel?"
         "For some reason, Axle decided to give a name to the ghost he merged with," explained Maxum.
         "And I'm quite fond of it," said Rachel.
         There was a murmur amongst the council. "She's already merged with someone?" Accell heard one of them say.
         "Order!" shouted the council leader. The room fell quiet. "It seems the council has much to discuss. Unbo, Redox, and Tecton, please escort the initiates to their quarters."
         "But what about my mentor?" asked Accell.
         "As the man said," Maxum told his protege, "the council has much to discuss."
         That bit of information blindsided Accell. His mentor was one of the leaders of this hidden society?
         As the other three mentors led the initiates down one of the diamond bridges, many different questions swirled through Accell's brain. He needed some answers. "So, why is the council meeting about this?" he asked.
         "We don't know," said Redox. "The council doesn't share much with the rest of us."
         "From what I've heard," said Unbo, "there's something special about the ghost you've bonded with."
         "Rachel."
         "Sure. Rachel."
         "That's another thing," chimed in Gigaton. "Why were they concerned about Axle naming his ghost counterpart?"
         Tecton stopped walking, causing the rest of the group to stop as well. "I'm not entirely sure," she admitted. "But thinking about it, I can't think of a single case where someone else did it."
         "I don't know if anyone has ever given a name to their ghost," said Redox. "The ghosts don't have names they go by. As far as we know. Even while we're bonded with them, they still keep secrets from us."
         Accell knew there was truth to that. Axle and Rachel were rarely on the same page. But even when they were in sync with each other, there was information that the two of them hid from each other.
         "I like the idea of giving names to the ghosts," said Sine Wave. "How are you going to be able to refer to them?"
         "Once you've been around the ghosts long enough," said Tecton, "you'll learn how we distinguish them in conversation."
         "I still think I'm going to come up with a name for my ghost," said Sine Wave. "It sounds like it could be fun."
         "At least make sure it's a name I approve of," she said in a male voice.
         Control and Gigaton shook their heads in surprise. "That's odd," said Control, "hearing you go from a female voice to a male one."
         "You'll get used to it," Unbo, Tecton, and Redox all said at once.
         "But which one is more jarring?" asked Accell. "Her going from a female voice to a male one..."
         "Or me going from a male to a female voice?" finished Rachel, before laughing.
         "Okay, she seems a little unhinged," said Gigaton.
         "Imagine sharing a brain with her," replied Accell, now back to normal.
         "You'll get used to it," Unbo, Tecton, and Redox all said at once.
         They reached the end of the bridge and soon reached a bright yellow building. "Right this way, initiates," said Tecton. Unbo went in first, followed by the initiates, then Redox with Tecton bringing up the rear. Unbo finished talking to someone. "Follow me." Unbo led them down a hallway, then to room 319. "In here." He opened the door.
         Axle walked in first. He was surprised to find that inside, there were beds. There were four Twin-sized beds around the room, as well as four dressers and four desks. There was even a TV. Axle found himself wondering what channels it got.
         "It'll take a long time for you all to master your powers," said Redox. "The best place to learn how is right here in the Sanctuary."
         "The four of you will still be allowed to live with your families," continued Tecton. "But there will be times when you need to stay in the Sanctuary for a prolonged period. When this happens, this room will be your home away from home. Think of it as a dorm room."
         "We'll let you all get settled in," said Unbo. "You'll be spending the night here. Get to know each other. Your training continues in the morning."
         The mentors left. It didn't take long for the initiates to choose a bed. Then, they sat in awkward silence for a few minutes. "So, how are we going to do this?" asked Grace. "What do we talk about?"
         "How about we tell our names, and one interesting thing about us?" supplied Conner.
         "And how we merged with our ghosts," added Axle.
         "We can say that later."
         As Axle and the others all introduced themselves, Axle felt an expected warmth in his heart. This Sanctuary place was so weird and chaotic, but at least he wasn't alone in his inexperience. The next day's training session would be brutal for all of them, but at least they'd share in the misery. It wouldn't be long before the four of them were fast friends.




         "She's already merged with a human? And you didn't think to inform us?"
         "It was best that I start training him up first."
         "He makes a valid point. We all know the trouble the boy is in. It's best he learned how to protect himself."
         "But what are we going to do? She wasn't supposed to form a new Hybrid for at least another year. How did this even happen in the first place?"
         "I don't know. But my Beyond Vision was feeling wonky. Someone may have been dreaming."
         "But who? And what do we do about your pupil?"
         "Let's hope we don't make the wrong decision."