Corrupted

The underground was like a labyrinth: Full of stairs and hallways. "Are we walking in circles?" Louis thought, then realizing that the walls weren't the same as before. Steve looked at the ceiling. "What are these metal things? Are they dividing each room?" He wondered. Mia was calmer than before and Josh was untied but the woman had a gun stuck to his head ready to shoot if he made a sudden move.

They kept walking until they were in front of a huge door. "These must be the boss room" the two kids thought. To them, this felt like an awesome experience. Like a tour. They were enjoying it.

The woman knocked on the door. "We are here, boss" She said waiting for a response. "I knew it!" They both thought at the same time.

The door suddenly but slowly opened. It was a huge office. The office had katanas and guns in the walls, with a huge statue of a horse behind a desk and a chair. The chair slowly turned around. There was an old man. He had white hair with a huge beard. The man had blue eyes and a black suit and a red tie. You could know that his suit was of high quality just by looking at it.

"Josh, we meet again" The old man said looking at him with his piercing eyes. He made a sign with his hand, wich was followed by the other men taking out the cloth that was covering Joshe's mouth. They also tied up the hands of the three kids.

"So, why I'm I here, Sith?" Asked Josh.

"Hey Josh, don't call me that. You can call me by my name. Aren't we buddies?" The old man said with a playful voice.

"Why I'm here? You dragged kids into this so there must be a good reason." Insisted steve's uncle again with a rougher tone.

"Ugh, I didn't wanted to get to this part yet. Josh... you are part of the Sefeth family. You must die. Now." Said the old man with a gloomy expression. Then he pulled out a gun and aimed it at his head.

A look of terror appeard in Steve's face. "Wait... this is for real!? Is he really going to kill him!?" Steve realized that this was not a game. He stood up and tried to run to where his uncle was but the men stopped him and threw him to the ground. He tried to stand back up but two of the three men pushed him to the ground. Louis and Mia tried not to look. Josh looked at Steve straight at his eyes and smiled. Then BANG. A sound that filled the whole room. Blood spilled in Steve's face. Everyone knew what happened. There he was, Steve's uncle, lying in the floor, dead.

Steve cried. He felt hopeless. He had been enjoying all of the kidnapping situation. But his uncle was now dead. He had seen his uncle more than his parents, so he was his parental figure. But now, he was dead. Meanwhile, Louis had eyes of shock and couldn't move, while you could see the eyes of terror in Mia's face.

A black mist started surrounding Steve. The mist swirled around him making his friends confused, but the mafia men seemed to know what was happening. His eyes started bleeding while his hair slowly turned to a whitish silver tone. "AGHHHHHH!" he screamed because of the excruciating pain trhough his covered mouth, while the cloth started to burn. "Hmmm. He became a corrupted. So... they were related." Said the old man with a calm face. Then another bullet was shot, but this time through Steve's head.

Louis stood up to get near his friend but was also shot in his head. Mia couldn't bear it anymore and started crying, but it was not long after when she was also shot.

"Sorry kids. I know you weren't related to this, but you were near him. I had to do it for you." Said the boss with a look of sadness, but no regret.

***

Steve opened his eyes due to the pain. He was in a red bed. The bed was surrounded by white. Everything was white: the sky, the floor and even the non existing walls. He sat down trying to think about where he was. Then, everything went back: The regret for enjoying being kidnapped, the death of his uncle and the pain he felt.

He cried. He strongly grabbed the blankets and kept crying. He remembered the day his parents left him alone when he was five. Then he remembered how his uncle went to visit him every month so as to accompany and make food for him. He remembered the vacations they went together. The huge mountains, the fast rivers, the never-ending oceans and the beautiful landscapes.

"-ve... -ive... Steve!" He heard in the middle of his thoughts. Someone was shaking him hardly, but he was too weak to move or answer. There he saw his friends: Louis and Mia. There was also another girl but he didn't recognize her. She had a golden tiara, some weird cyan and pink clothes with a golden collar, she had also a whitish pink tone of hair. He tried to say something but he collapsed in his bed while he heard his friends say, "See you there".

***

He woke up again and the other girl was sitting beside him. He still felt pain but it was more bearable. Her presence only created a feeling of comfort. "Hi young man! I see you have finally aweakened" Said the girl with a beautiful voice. Her voice felt reassuring, it felt like being in a field full of flowers, running with your friends and family. "Family..." He thought then he remembered. This time, his tears were more calm -Maybe because of the girl's reassuring pressence- Then she softly put her hand on his cheek, while putting her other hand over his hand. "I know what you went through... It's going to be okay." She said comforting him.

They stayed some time without moving, until out from nowhere she grabbed him strongly and threw him to the ground "Ok corrupted, you already had a month to rest. Now you have to catch up to them!" She said with a more playful voice. "Huh?!?!? Hey! That hurt! Wait... the pain is gone! What did you do!?" He said angered because of her sudden actions.

"Wait, what's a corrupted? Why am I a corrupted?" He asked with curiosity. She remained silent for some time after what she sighted and said "So you want to know what you are... At least do you know what aura is?" She asked already knowing the answer. "Aura? Well... I've read mangas that had that" He answered confused "Wait... don't tell me..." He said with a little excitement, still feeling the burden of his uncle's death.

"First of all let me introduce myself. I'm Aria, the Goddes of Aura." She said going back to her playful voice. Then she went back to a serious tone, "There are two ways to achieve aura: The first one is to become a corrupted and the second one is to be near one. When you experience a huge trauma you transform your emotions into aura paying a price. That way you become a corrupted" She said.

"What's the price I have to pay?" Steve asked getting curious.

"Blood." She answered looking at him straight in his eyes. "Your body instinctively pumps blood out of your eyes making them red, and the stress provoked by this creates aura inside your body. The stress also makes your hair turn white." She explained.

"This is the first explained red eye and white hair that I've seen. Well, I still haven't looked at myself" Thought steve.

"Well... enough explanation. Before I send you to that world, you need to be able to control aura. So, let's start with your training." She ordered.

And then, the training started.