Chapter 3 - Seymour

Mamoru, an instructor of Phoenix Forest, arrived in New York to meet with a spy stationed there. He stopped at a barbershop and entered. Inside, a Hispanic man smiled warmly at him. "Mr. Mamoru, your hair is a mess. Come here and let me take care of it." Mamoru shuddered at the thought of his long black hair being cut. "Don't worry, I'll just trim the edges to make it look neat," the barber assured. 

Mamoru sat down and looked at himself in the mirror as the barber sterilized his pair of scissors. "Tell me what you saw," Mamoru whispered as the barber released his hairband. 

"Saw?" The barber furrowed his eyebrows, "Nothing unusual has happened around here lately."

Mamoru frowned, "Are you sure? You sent a message to me with your bird telling me that you witnessed the magic of a demon."

"What?" The barber placed his cutting tool in its case and called out, "Rico!"

A large colorful parrot perched on the barber's left shoulder, "Here, here!" Rico cackled.

"What did you tell Mamoru?"

"That a demon's magic was spotted, why?" Rico cocked his head, a bit perplexed by his master's question.

"When did that happen?" The barber frowned.

"Yesterday, at 3:23 pm. Once we saw the large pillar of negative energy, you told me to inform the school. Thus, I teleported there and told Mamoru. When I came back everything was normal, as if it never happened. I was surprised. I expected a lot of media coverage."

"So that's it," Mamoru nodded, " It's as if everyone's recollection of the event was erased from their memories," he turned to the barber, "including you."

"To be able to wipe memories of over eight million people in almost a drop of a pin," the barber grabbed a seat to prevent himself from collapsing from shock and fear, "this means we're dealing with a potential Star Eight student, or maybe Star Nine."

Mamoru jolted from his seat and made his way to the door. "I'll be taking my leave, I have to inform the Council of Elders."

"Let Rico take you there." The barber suggested.

"No thank you," Mamoru respectfully declined. "I need to meet a swordsmith who lives in this city. My old sword got broken during my fight with Cabrakan."

"I see." The barber frowned, "Well then, drop by again for a haircut."

Mamoru smiled, "I will."

Back at the disciplinary hall, August gazed coldly at his current opponent. "Will you initiate the fight or shall I?"

"What can I do against you though?" Corbin replied.

August chuckled, "And here I thought you wouldn't go down without a fight." He stretched his right arm out, eyes flashing bright rich yellow "Die boy, Auric Dominion." Deep from the earth, a large conical spike made completely out of gold darted out in front of Corbin. It pierced through his midsection and lifted him high in the air as it increased in height. August pressed his hand and the spike paused. A stream of blood gushed out of Corbin's mouth.

"Is that it?" Sandara was disappointed. "Seems he was all talk. I actually thought he had an ace up his sleeve." She laughed uncontrollably. She stopped upon noticing the expressions of her co-members. They were in shock. She darted her eyes to the battleground and saw that the large and powerful gold spike was reduced to mere dust. She was more shocked by the fact that Corbin could still stand even with his belly pierced through, leaving nothing but a big wide gap. 

Corbin anticipated that something like this would happen. In his fight against Blas, Corbin manifested his powers at the brink of unconsciousness from all the beatings Blas inflicted on him. It was a risky gamble but he was screwed either way so why not? August attracted the gold dust particles back to him and reshaped them into a longsword. He examined Corbin's eyes. It was the darkest color he had ever seen in his life. To his surprise, although he was staring directly at a black soul vessel, his life energy was not being drained. He smiled and the sword disappeared into thin air.

"I retract my original statement." August declared, "Corbin Wingston can control his power to some extent as realized here. I believe as time goes on, with diligence and perseverance, Corbin will be shaped into a fine warrior to protect mankind against those who pray for our extinction." 

Mercy and Caesar were elated whereas Sandara and Andrew twitched in anger. They both stomped out of the hall as the others went down to congratulate Corbin.

"Corbin," Mercy greeted, "although we've decided not to execute you, you're still a criminal and as such, you will be put in the delinquent class."

"That's alright with me, Miss…" Corbin did not know the kind woman's name.

"Forestville." Mercy informed.

"Thank you, Miss Forestville." 

"And I'm Caesar Topman," Caesar jumped in with a bright smile. He turned to look for Sandara and Andrew but they were nowhere to be found. "Oh, it seems Sandara and Andrew left early. Anyways, let's go get you sorted out." With that said, he led Corbin out of the hall.

In a class, Instructor Darryl was busy teaching his students various properties of magical elements when, to everyone's surprise, Blas burst through the doors.

"Blas?" Darryl, as well as everyone else, looked as though he had seen a ghost. "I thought you were…"

"Dead?" Blas walked confidently past the stunned students to his seat. "Not that easy to get rid of me, sir." He fist-bumped his friends who were glad to see him and noticed a boy on the other side of the class shaking in horror. It was Seymour, a weak Star One known for being the only student in the school unable to manifest his ability, and also known for being Blas' toy. Tears could be seen threatening to flow down his poor eyes. 

"Why wasn't he dead? Is he bound to my life forever?" Seymour lamented.

"Seymour," Blas grinned, "did you miss me?"

Seymour gritted his teeth solemnly. He was too frightened to look at him. Darryl, noticing the tension in the room cleared his throat loudly and resumed his teaching, hoping to divert Blas' attention from Seymour. However, Blas was like a tiger on its prey; totally fixated. Ever since his fight with Corbin, Blas has been looking to vent his frustration and anger on someone. And Seymour was the right person for him.

"I'm talking to you, Seymour." His smile morphed into an angry frown. Blas rose up and marched to Seymour, who was sweating profusely.

"Blas!" Darryl commanded, "Don't start a fight now.

Completely ignoring his instructor, Blas grabbed Seymour's collar, pulled him closer, and slapped him viciously. Seymour fell to the floor, and Blas stomped him down against the hard cemented floor, laughing maniacally. The students turned their heads away, not desiring to catch his attention. As blood leaked from Seymour's nose and tears streamed down his bloodshot eyes, Blas continued stomping him.

"Tell me, Seymour! Tell me if you miss me or not!"  

"That's enough!"Darryl, unable to watch the spectacle anymore pushed Blas away from Seymour. Blas shrugged and went back to his seat. The instructor helped Seymour up but once Seymour was on his feet, he screamed and ran out of the room. Darryl ran after his student and Blas and his friends laughed amongst themselves.

It was nighttime now and Corbin had just finished unpacking his stuff and tidied his room. He was still seen as a potential threat because of his powers so he was not allowed to stay in the same dorm as the other male students. A one-bedroom house with a bathroom and a tiny kitchen a few walks away from the boys' dormitory was given to him temporarily until he was no longer deemed dangerous. He peeked out of the house through the window and saw that the students weren't back from the campus. They were probably having a party or something of that sort. He closed the window and was about to push the curtains back when he saw a short boy who seemed to be carrying a duffel bag as he sprinted past his house. Was he escaping? Corbin sighed and pushed the curtains back. He couldn't care less because the only thing on his mind was his lost memories. The ability to drain an individual of their life energy with just a glance. How did he get such a devastating power? He remembered what happened to him internally during his near-death experiences. When he was almost knocked unconscious by Blas and killed by August, he found himself totally naked in a dark space surrounded by absolutely nothing. Unexpectedly, he saw a ray of light spark and he was revived. 

Corbin walked to the kitchen and pulled two cutlery knives from the drawer. He went to his bathroom and stared at himself in the mirror. "My eyes are ugly," he stared at himself with disgust. Suddenly, he stabbed his eyes with the cutlery knives. His body fell face down, causing the knives to dig deeper into his skull.

Earlier in the afternoon, Maluma arrived at Phoenix Forest in the form of a raven and flew towards the school. However, she noticed that she was unable to enter due to a barrier placed around the school, probably to ward off evil entities like herself. She could destroy the barrier but if she did so, the school authorities would know and she did not want that. Not because she was weaker than them. On the contrary, she vehemently believed she could defeat everyone in the school as long as the Nine Great Elders were not around. She was afraid that they might resort to killing Corbin to make sure he did not fall into her hands. She decided to stay in a tree and wait for anyone to come out of the school. Then, she would corrupt their soul and enter the school.

Seymour packed his stuff into a black duffel bag with haste and charged for the door. Everyone was still in school for Revival Night; a party to remember the Revival War which was a war between the Spectaculars and the evil demonic cult, Abaddon a millennium ago. During this celebration, students dressed up as popular warriors and engaged in merrymaking with their friends. Seymour didn't have friends. He was treated as an outcast in the school just because he could not manifest his power. He did in fact have a supernatural ability but it was so weak that he was considered a mere human on campus. Even today, he was abused in front of a class of thirty people yet no one, except the instructor, stepped in to save him. He was tired of the mistreatment. It was too much for him to handle anymore. He did not know where he was going and he did not care. Anywhere was better than here.

Seymour ran until the manmade structures were far from sight and he was surrounded by a canopy of trees. He dropped the bag and bent down with his hands on his knees, panting heavily. Suddenly, he was enchanted by the siren-like voice coming from a stream. He trekked to the water source and upon reaching there, he saw a beautiful woman on a large rock in white silk clothing combing her long blonde hair as she sang angelically. A stream of tears ran down Seymour's face.

"Mom?" He whispered.

The woman glanced at him and jumped down from the rock. "My baby!" They ran towards each other and hugged passionately. 

"You left me!" Seymour sobbed miserably.

"I'm so sorry my love." His mother wept as well. Cleaning both of their tears quickly, she looked at him happily. "You're a big boy now. I am happy for you. Have you made friends? I'd love to meet them."

With that, Seymour's eyes flooded again. "Ever since you died," he snotted phlegms back into his nostrils, "I've been tortured over and over. I felt like just ending it all."

His mother hugged him deeply. "Don't worry, Mummy is here now, she'll kill them all for you." Her expression darkened. "But, I'll need your help for I am just a ghost now."

"Oh…" Seymour frowned sadly.

"Don't worry, once you complete this task, I'll be revived and we'll live together once again."

Seymour's face shone with happiness. Really?" 

"Has mother ever lied?" Her body gradually morphed into Maluma but Seymour could not tell because he was already trapped in her illusion magic. "I will give you tremendous power. The power to destroy your enemies with a flinch of your wrist. In turn, you must bring Corbin Wingston to me." With that, Maluma transferred a piece of her will and magic into Seymour's body. "You are ready my child."

Seymour stared at his hands and gestured at the stream. Large volumes of water from the stream flew violently in the air as if a bomb was placed in the water source and went off. "Telekinesis?" He glanced at Maluma who was nodding proudly.

"Now go, and get Corbin for me."

"Yes, mother." He took his duffel bag and made his way back to the school.