Sytis Ruin
06-01-2014, 03:00 AM
Chapter 1
Jun shuddered as his eyes flashed open, giving him a somewhat blurred view of his room’s ceiling. He gazed around the room desperately; making sure what he saw was just a dream. He looked down at his half burnt sheets and sighed.
"Not again," He mumbled to himself. "That's the third time this week."
He got up and yawned, stretching his arms above his head. Walking over to the door to the balcony next to his bed, Jun pulled apart the curtains in one fluid motion, letting the light from the sun seep into the room. Once his eyes had adjusted to the sudden exposure to light, Jun walked over to the bathroom to wash his face. He stood in front of the mirror that hung over his sink, and inspected his reflection. He was tall for sixteen, 6 foot 5 to be exact. And though he was tall, he was by no means skinny. He had pale white hair with a black streak of hair hanging over his right ear, and light red eyes that seemed darker in the light. His skin was a semi-tanned color, and his nose was slightly pointed upward.
Jun turned on the faucet and cupped his hands under the water, splashing some on his face. As the water ran down, he lightly brushed the thin jagged scar on the bridge of his nose.
"This will probably never go away." He thought.
He had gotten that scar when a training accident had gone wrong, and a piece of glass had broken off of a window and flown across the room to slice his nose. He grabbed a towel off the rack on his left, and dried off his face before walking over to his desk where his clothes for the day were laid out. A pair of black jeans and a red long sleeved shirt that sat snug on his skin. A thick black jacket lay draped over his chair, ready to be worn after he had put on the other things. As he put on his shirt, he stopped and turned around to face the mirror on the wall. The tattoo like pattern on his back that signified his contract with Cerberus seemed to glow in the soft morning light. He quickly dressed, then grabbed his sneakers from the corner near the door before heading to the dining hall.
Jun was an orphan. From the moment he was born he had been living in an orphanage somewhere around Hokkaido in Japan. When he was six, the meteor landed in Tokyo bay. The next day the entire population of Tokyo had been mutated and turned into the ravenous beasts that would devastate the earth for the next ten years. Within twenty four hours everywhere except for Hokkaido had been contaminated. Jun and all the other residents were pushed onto a boat, and shipped to America. A month after arriving in New York, every kid between the ages of 5 and 18 that had been from the orphanage, were transferred to a laboratory in Washington D.C. to act as test subjects for the project known as the Beast Synchronization Exam or B.S.E. for short. Unfortunately Jun was the only child from the orphanage that passed the test. He was synchronized to his beast, Cerberus: the beast of flames and destruction, and taken to an institute that had just been finished in order to teach the children how to control their powers. Jun stayed there year after year, learning how to control the beast that was now bound to him. After some time other kids started to show up, but most left not long after. And now here he is today, still at the institute advancing his powers to be able to combat the mutants that were destroying the world around them.
As Jun was turning the corner to get to the breakfast room, something small came ramming into his side. He slid across the floor and banged his head on the wall.
"Watch where you're going you oversized flamethrower!" squealed a miniscule voice.
Jun rubbed the back of his throbbing head. "Um, I hate to break it to you but you're the one who ran into me."
Jun opened his eyes and there stood Eliza Cage, also known as Liz, with her hands on her hips and a look that seemed to be looking down on the world around her. She was a 17 year old trouble maker, who couldn't seem to get enough of messing with Jun. She had long brown hair, and light green eyes. She was around 5 foot nothing, and had a baby face that made her look like a child with anger management problems.
"Well whatever," she scoffed. "Just stay out of my way and this won't happen again."
Liz stormed off, leaving Jun with a bump on his head and a bad taste in his mouth. Jun sighed. He had just woken up and the day had already started off bad.
A few minutes later, Jun walked into the dining hall. He yawned and looked around before heading over to the café were the food was served. A lady stood on the other side of a counter that had a display of food covering its top. The aroma coming off the food made Jun’s mouth water, causing him to completely forget about what had just transpired between him and Liz.
"I'll have a plate of pancakes and a side of bacon please," he told the lady, trying to hold back the urge to just devour everything in front of him.
The women smiled at him and handed him his order. He smiled back then walked over to the tables that lined the walls of the dining hall.
Almost everyone was already eating. Everyone except for Liz; who ran off in the opposite direction after bulldozing over Jun. Jun shook away the memory and walked through the row of tables, saying good morning to the other kids enjoying a nice breakfast as he went. He finally stopped at a small table near the back of the room, occupied by a boy that was holding a thin book in one hand while wolfing down a plate of eggs in the other. As Jun sat down, the boy looked up and surveyed the contents of Jun's plate.
"That's a very ordinary array of dishes you have there." He mumbled in between bites.
"I don't need to be told that by you, Jin," Jun snickered. "You're the most ordinary out of all of us here."
Jin grinned meekly as he took another fork full of food. "Touché . Can't argue with you on that one."
Jin was one year younger than Jun. He had blackish red hair and brown eyes. He wore glasses that changed tints depending on the light, and was around 6 foot 2. He was an extremely lanky person, who seemed like they would snap in half if the wind blew to hard. Jin had been Jun's best friend ever since he entered the institute five years ago. Jin was a somewhat apathetic person; except for when he was with Jun. He had been abandoned at birth and never felt the need to make friends. So instead, he chose to drown himself in the pseudo-reality of science fiction and fantasy that novels provided. When he first came to the institute he didn't speak at all, he would just bury himself in books day in and day out. Finally Jun decided to talk to the non-social Jin after much self-debate.
"Hey there, "he said in his most courteous voice. “I see you like to read... Can I read with you?"
After a long period of silence, Jin nodded his head lightly and Jun beamed with happiness.
"Which one should I read?" he said impatiently as he surveyed the bookshelf behind Jin. "I prefer anything with action; a lot of action."
Jin sat still for a second, making Jun wonder if he had heard him, before standing up and walking to the other side of the room. Jun followed him and looked over his shoulder as he watched Jin pull a thick black book with a golden spine from between two cushions.
"Here," he mumbled. "This one should suit your tastes."
He handed Jun the book then went back to reading. Jun sat down next to him and looked the book over, turning it in his hands. On the front was an intricate design that formed a shape similar to a bird of some sort. Jun cracked open the book, wanting to see what it was about and instantly became absorbed in it. They read for hours on end. Jun would go day after day to Jin's room to read a new book, or continue reading a book he had already started.
After that interaction, Jun and Jin became inseparable. They did everything together; from eating breakfast and playing games, to during chores and extra training. If you saw Jun then you better believe Jin wasn't too far behind.
While Jun and Jin were eating, Angie came and sat next to Jun.
"Hey Jun," Angie said smiling. "I see you and Jin are just as friendly as ever."
Jun stopped eating for a second and looked at Angie. She had short blond hair that barely touched her shoulders and baby blue eyes that seemed to sparkle whenever she smiled. She was the same age as Jun but significantly shorter.
"Hey Angie," Jun replied returning her smile. "You know how it is; this is just another day in the life of Jun and Jin, comedy central's greatest act."
Angie giggled a little bit and Jin cracked a tiny smile from behind his book without knowing.
"Whoa, is that a smile I see Jin?" Jun taunted. "I knew you had one somewhere, you just needed to find a way to get it out, and who better than your friendly neighborhood Pyromaniac."
After that comment Angie burst out laughing, even Jin let out a little chuckle. Angie was the last person to be admitted to the institute. She wasn't an orphan like Jun and Jin, but the reason she joined was in order to support her mother after her dad died. Jun had no idea, but every other kid admitted to the Institute was receiving some amount of money. Since he lived there, the board had decided that he didn’t really need money and never said a word about it. While the group was laughing Liz came back into the dining hall from doing whatever it was she was doing. As she entered, her eyes instantly fell upon Jun’s table.
"Oh great," she groaned. "Looks like the monkey parades at it again. Dang and I just got rid of my headache too."
At another table closer to the door, Tim sat with a few others. He noticed Liz as she entered and walked over to her. He overheard her comment as he reached her.
"Don't worry," he said. "Not all of us here are crazy, just a select few." He said as he motioned her to his table.
Liz smiled. She had always liked Tim. To her he seemed to be the most mature and level-headed person out of the whole group. Tim was a well-built 17 years old with black hair and brown eyes. He had light brown skin and a face that told you "if you mess with me you're going to get it". His real name was Timothy but everyone just called him Tim.
"Let's go sit with the other sane people," Tim suggested. "That ought to help clear your mind."
As he and Liz sat down to finish eating, a tall mysterious man around his late twenties early thirties came in and looked around the Dining room. He was wearing an all-white suit and a white fedora with a black ring going around the crown. He had pitch black hair with a ponytail that went down his back. He wore white gloves and black leather dress shoes. Pinned to his suit pocket was a silver name tag with the words "DIRECTOR OF PSYCHIC DEVELOPMENT" engraved into it in bold letters.
The director smiled mischievously then pulled a megaphone from behind his back and set the volume to maximum output. He smacked it against the wall causing feedback to sound through the room. Because of the material used to construct the dining hall, the sound rebounded off the walls and was amplified, causing the feedback to blast throughout the entire building. The students all covered their ears and bent over in pain as they tried to block out the horrific sound.
Jun's eyes flashed across the room and stopped on the Director.
"TURN IT OFF!" He cried. "YOU'RE BLOWING MY EARDRUMS!"
Even though Jun was yelling at the top of his lungs, the Director continued to act like he was completely oblivious to his pleas. When Jun saw that the Director was ignoring him he became profoundly irritated. His eyes darkened, and the megaphone burst into cloud of bright crimson flames. The fire devoured the megaphone completely, leaving nothing but a pile of ashes on the floor, and the profuse smell of melted plastic.
"It seems even the idiot can do some things right." Liz smirked as she rubbed her ears trying to get rid of the ringing in them.
The Director smiled and turned around. As he was leaving he said, "Since you're all awake now, hurry up and finish eating so we can start the training regiment for today".
Jun was dumbfounded.
"You mean to tell us that you did all that just to make sure we were awake?"
The director stopped but did not reply. Then he continued to walk down the hall till he was no longer in sight. As he walked away, Jun could have sworn he saw a grin on the director’s face.
"That is so like him," Angie said with a giggle. "He's just like a little kid at heart."
Jun had no idea how to reply.
He just shook his head and went back to eating. "There's never a dull moment," he thought to himself. "One can only guess what training's got in store for us." And with that he finished his breakfast, put the dishes by the dish washer, and went to change into his training gear.
"It's about to get hectic." Jun said as he Jin and Angie were heading to their rooms. Angie smiled.
"You better believe it." She snickered while jogging a few steps ahead of them. "There's never a normal day at the Institute for Psychic Development."
Jun shuddered as his eyes flashed open, giving him a somewhat blurred view of his room’s ceiling. He gazed around the room desperately; making sure what he saw was just a dream. He looked down at his half burnt sheets and sighed.
"Not again," He mumbled to himself. "That's the third time this week."
He got up and yawned, stretching his arms above his head. Walking over to the door to the balcony next to his bed, Jun pulled apart the curtains in one fluid motion, letting the light from the sun seep into the room. Once his eyes had adjusted to the sudden exposure to light, Jun walked over to the bathroom to wash his face. He stood in front of the mirror that hung over his sink, and inspected his reflection. He was tall for sixteen, 6 foot 5 to be exact. And though he was tall, he was by no means skinny. He had pale white hair with a black streak of hair hanging over his right ear, and light red eyes that seemed darker in the light. His skin was a semi-tanned color, and his nose was slightly pointed upward.
Jun turned on the faucet and cupped his hands under the water, splashing some on his face. As the water ran down, he lightly brushed the thin jagged scar on the bridge of his nose.
"This will probably never go away." He thought.
He had gotten that scar when a training accident had gone wrong, and a piece of glass had broken off of a window and flown across the room to slice his nose. He grabbed a towel off the rack on his left, and dried off his face before walking over to his desk where his clothes for the day were laid out. A pair of black jeans and a red long sleeved shirt that sat snug on his skin. A thick black jacket lay draped over his chair, ready to be worn after he had put on the other things. As he put on his shirt, he stopped and turned around to face the mirror on the wall. The tattoo like pattern on his back that signified his contract with Cerberus seemed to glow in the soft morning light. He quickly dressed, then grabbed his sneakers from the corner near the door before heading to the dining hall.
Jun was an orphan. From the moment he was born he had been living in an orphanage somewhere around Hokkaido in Japan. When he was six, the meteor landed in Tokyo bay. The next day the entire population of Tokyo had been mutated and turned into the ravenous beasts that would devastate the earth for the next ten years. Within twenty four hours everywhere except for Hokkaido had been contaminated. Jun and all the other residents were pushed onto a boat, and shipped to America. A month after arriving in New York, every kid between the ages of 5 and 18 that had been from the orphanage, were transferred to a laboratory in Washington D.C. to act as test subjects for the project known as the Beast Synchronization Exam or B.S.E. for short. Unfortunately Jun was the only child from the orphanage that passed the test. He was synchronized to his beast, Cerberus: the beast of flames and destruction, and taken to an institute that had just been finished in order to teach the children how to control their powers. Jun stayed there year after year, learning how to control the beast that was now bound to him. After some time other kids started to show up, but most left not long after. And now here he is today, still at the institute advancing his powers to be able to combat the mutants that were destroying the world around them.
As Jun was turning the corner to get to the breakfast room, something small came ramming into his side. He slid across the floor and banged his head on the wall.
"Watch where you're going you oversized flamethrower!" squealed a miniscule voice.
Jun rubbed the back of his throbbing head. "Um, I hate to break it to you but you're the one who ran into me."
Jun opened his eyes and there stood Eliza Cage, also known as Liz, with her hands on her hips and a look that seemed to be looking down on the world around her. She was a 17 year old trouble maker, who couldn't seem to get enough of messing with Jun. She had long brown hair, and light green eyes. She was around 5 foot nothing, and had a baby face that made her look like a child with anger management problems.
"Well whatever," she scoffed. "Just stay out of my way and this won't happen again."
Liz stormed off, leaving Jun with a bump on his head and a bad taste in his mouth. Jun sighed. He had just woken up and the day had already started off bad.
A few minutes later, Jun walked into the dining hall. He yawned and looked around before heading over to the café were the food was served. A lady stood on the other side of a counter that had a display of food covering its top. The aroma coming off the food made Jun’s mouth water, causing him to completely forget about what had just transpired between him and Liz.
"I'll have a plate of pancakes and a side of bacon please," he told the lady, trying to hold back the urge to just devour everything in front of him.
The women smiled at him and handed him his order. He smiled back then walked over to the tables that lined the walls of the dining hall.
Almost everyone was already eating. Everyone except for Liz; who ran off in the opposite direction after bulldozing over Jun. Jun shook away the memory and walked through the row of tables, saying good morning to the other kids enjoying a nice breakfast as he went. He finally stopped at a small table near the back of the room, occupied by a boy that was holding a thin book in one hand while wolfing down a plate of eggs in the other. As Jun sat down, the boy looked up and surveyed the contents of Jun's plate.
"That's a very ordinary array of dishes you have there." He mumbled in between bites.
"I don't need to be told that by you, Jin," Jun snickered. "You're the most ordinary out of all of us here."
Jin grinned meekly as he took another fork full of food. "Touché . Can't argue with you on that one."
Jin was one year younger than Jun. He had blackish red hair and brown eyes. He wore glasses that changed tints depending on the light, and was around 6 foot 2. He was an extremely lanky person, who seemed like they would snap in half if the wind blew to hard. Jin had been Jun's best friend ever since he entered the institute five years ago. Jin was a somewhat apathetic person; except for when he was with Jun. He had been abandoned at birth and never felt the need to make friends. So instead, he chose to drown himself in the pseudo-reality of science fiction and fantasy that novels provided. When he first came to the institute he didn't speak at all, he would just bury himself in books day in and day out. Finally Jun decided to talk to the non-social Jin after much self-debate.
"Hey there, "he said in his most courteous voice. “I see you like to read... Can I read with you?"
After a long period of silence, Jin nodded his head lightly and Jun beamed with happiness.
"Which one should I read?" he said impatiently as he surveyed the bookshelf behind Jin. "I prefer anything with action; a lot of action."
Jin sat still for a second, making Jun wonder if he had heard him, before standing up and walking to the other side of the room. Jun followed him and looked over his shoulder as he watched Jin pull a thick black book with a golden spine from between two cushions.
"Here," he mumbled. "This one should suit your tastes."
He handed Jun the book then went back to reading. Jun sat down next to him and looked the book over, turning it in his hands. On the front was an intricate design that formed a shape similar to a bird of some sort. Jun cracked open the book, wanting to see what it was about and instantly became absorbed in it. They read for hours on end. Jun would go day after day to Jin's room to read a new book, or continue reading a book he had already started.
After that interaction, Jun and Jin became inseparable. They did everything together; from eating breakfast and playing games, to during chores and extra training. If you saw Jun then you better believe Jin wasn't too far behind.
While Jun and Jin were eating, Angie came and sat next to Jun.
"Hey Jun," Angie said smiling. "I see you and Jin are just as friendly as ever."
Jun stopped eating for a second and looked at Angie. She had short blond hair that barely touched her shoulders and baby blue eyes that seemed to sparkle whenever she smiled. She was the same age as Jun but significantly shorter.
"Hey Angie," Jun replied returning her smile. "You know how it is; this is just another day in the life of Jun and Jin, comedy central's greatest act."
Angie giggled a little bit and Jin cracked a tiny smile from behind his book without knowing.
"Whoa, is that a smile I see Jin?" Jun taunted. "I knew you had one somewhere, you just needed to find a way to get it out, and who better than your friendly neighborhood Pyromaniac."
After that comment Angie burst out laughing, even Jin let out a little chuckle. Angie was the last person to be admitted to the institute. She wasn't an orphan like Jun and Jin, but the reason she joined was in order to support her mother after her dad died. Jun had no idea, but every other kid admitted to the Institute was receiving some amount of money. Since he lived there, the board had decided that he didn’t really need money and never said a word about it. While the group was laughing Liz came back into the dining hall from doing whatever it was she was doing. As she entered, her eyes instantly fell upon Jun’s table.
"Oh great," she groaned. "Looks like the monkey parades at it again. Dang and I just got rid of my headache too."
At another table closer to the door, Tim sat with a few others. He noticed Liz as she entered and walked over to her. He overheard her comment as he reached her.
"Don't worry," he said. "Not all of us here are crazy, just a select few." He said as he motioned her to his table.
Liz smiled. She had always liked Tim. To her he seemed to be the most mature and level-headed person out of the whole group. Tim was a well-built 17 years old with black hair and brown eyes. He had light brown skin and a face that told you "if you mess with me you're going to get it". His real name was Timothy but everyone just called him Tim.
"Let's go sit with the other sane people," Tim suggested. "That ought to help clear your mind."
As he and Liz sat down to finish eating, a tall mysterious man around his late twenties early thirties came in and looked around the Dining room. He was wearing an all-white suit and a white fedora with a black ring going around the crown. He had pitch black hair with a ponytail that went down his back. He wore white gloves and black leather dress shoes. Pinned to his suit pocket was a silver name tag with the words "DIRECTOR OF PSYCHIC DEVELOPMENT" engraved into it in bold letters.
The director smiled mischievously then pulled a megaphone from behind his back and set the volume to maximum output. He smacked it against the wall causing feedback to sound through the room. Because of the material used to construct the dining hall, the sound rebounded off the walls and was amplified, causing the feedback to blast throughout the entire building. The students all covered their ears and bent over in pain as they tried to block out the horrific sound.
Jun's eyes flashed across the room and stopped on the Director.
"TURN IT OFF!" He cried. "YOU'RE BLOWING MY EARDRUMS!"
Even though Jun was yelling at the top of his lungs, the Director continued to act like he was completely oblivious to his pleas. When Jun saw that the Director was ignoring him he became profoundly irritated. His eyes darkened, and the megaphone burst into cloud of bright crimson flames. The fire devoured the megaphone completely, leaving nothing but a pile of ashes on the floor, and the profuse smell of melted plastic.
"It seems even the idiot can do some things right." Liz smirked as she rubbed her ears trying to get rid of the ringing in them.
The Director smiled and turned around. As he was leaving he said, "Since you're all awake now, hurry up and finish eating so we can start the training regiment for today".
Jun was dumbfounded.
"You mean to tell us that you did all that just to make sure we were awake?"
The director stopped but did not reply. Then he continued to walk down the hall till he was no longer in sight. As he walked away, Jun could have sworn he saw a grin on the director’s face.
"That is so like him," Angie said with a giggle. "He's just like a little kid at heart."
Jun had no idea how to reply.
He just shook his head and went back to eating. "There's never a dull moment," he thought to himself. "One can only guess what training's got in store for us." And with that he finished his breakfast, put the dishes by the dish washer, and went to change into his training gear.
"It's about to get hectic." Jun said as he Jin and Angie were heading to their rooms. Angie smiled.
"You better believe it." She snickered while jogging a few steps ahead of them. "There's never a normal day at the Institute for Psychic Development."