Chapter One: The Changing Of Times

A warm breeze blew across the training ground, blowing dust into the face of Penny who had been watching over it for some time, silent but in deep thought.

Her father had come back into her life, and they were meant to train together so that she could harness her abilities. And though she struggled, she knew this was important and so she remained determined. But Keera, the mysterious woman who had been with Penny for quite some time now, was also present. Penny trusted Keera very little since she had been caught trying to influence Penny with her magic. Though, this was not the only reason that Keera had been pushed away from Penny's mind. The fight with Ember, the constant state of turmoil and chaos with her old friend had closed Penny off from ever wanting to bond with anyone ever again. She knew her emotions had gotten in the way, and she would not make the same mistake again. She refused with every fiber of her being to not ruin her mission. Which was to save the Underworld, a home to her people that she had only been a part of for a very short time. For most of her life, she had been on Earth, home to humans and significantly less selfish creatures. But saving the Underworld was her destiny. Saving the Witches and the Lycans and the Vampires and all the other creatures that inhabited this plain was a fate that she had never gotten to choose. She was expected to do it no matter what. And this fact itself infuriated Penny. Ember was the Underworld, or at least a physical manifestation of its energy..so why couldn't it simply do everything. It seemed to be all knowing and all powerful, so why couldn't she just save herself?

" That would be too easy..wouldn't it.." Penny muttered to herself as she began tying her thick blonde hair behind her head into a ponytail.

Today she would further her training, And this time it would be away from the judgemental eyes of Keera, with whom Penny refused to speak to at the moment.

Shawn eventually appeared on the training Ground in front of his daughter, ready to begin their work. Shawn was the Prince of the Night Slashers, a group of supernatural beings that were guards to the the most powerful and horrid of creatures. His homeland was Outworld, a Prison of sorts, one that very few ventured too and almost none ever returned from.

" Today we are going to work on the weapon summoning again" Shawn pointed out as he reached behind himself and retrieved his enormous scythe from behind his back. Penny had not practiced the technique since the last time they attempted to summon her own weapon but she would try it nonetheless.

" Remember..you have to clear your mind" Shawn smiled as he watched on, across from Penny who closed her eyes tightly. After inhaling and exhaling a few times over the course of a few minutes, Penny reached behind her back, and envisioned a weapon that would be best suited to her needs.

After a few seconds, she clenched her fist and from behind her back, she retrieved a rather strange looking whip. Blades adorned it, and other than the length, it looked like a basic whip.

" Interesting choice...let's see how you fair with it" Shawn jumped into the air and swung his scythe down at Penny which sent a large slice of magic towards Penny's direction who with one flick of the whip, destroyed the attack. Shawn then proceeded to launch several more scythe attacks and all were deflected by Penny with ease.

Though she was happy to have summoned the whip, she did not feel all that much more powerful with the weapon. It was nice, but Penny felt as though she could do without it. And almost as though it could sense her distaste, the whip faded and dissapeared.

" What happened? " Shawn questioned, seeing that the whip was now gone.

" I don't need it. I am perfectly capable of handling you without it" Penny smirked at Shawn's shock to hear the confidence from Penny. " We shall see.." Shawn growled as he proceeded to launch several more attacks, which Penny deflected again, however this time, with her hands. Magic was never casted from her, she simply deflected them with sheer willpower. Something that Noone in the world would have been able to do. To withstand Shawn's Scythe..with no use of magic at all, meant that Penny truly did have promise. It was pleasantly surprised to see this.

" Be proud of yourself that you can deflect my attacks that way. Most people would have died instantly. To not use magic or weapon is a show of great strength and power. But make sure you don't get too cocky with it. It doesn't matter how strong you are, If you can always make a mistake. One single mistake can cost you your life or the lives of others" Shawn's words had wisdom but Penny already knew this lesson. She knew she couldn't afford to be overconfident however she didn't feel as though she was being so. She had a pretty good sense of what she was capable of, and that was thanks, in part, to the level of focus she possessed at the moment.

She knew she can handle anything that her father threw at her. Though he was strong he was also very predictable. And that made sense, Because if he was the most powerful being in the world he didn't need to be unpredictable to defeat his enemies. However power had made him sloppy which was ironic considering the lesson he was giving Penny laughed to herself.

" I am done with training for right now" Penny lowered her guard as Shawn landed back onto the ground, surprised that she wanted to end her training so early.

" Why? Do you have somewhere to be? " Shawn joked.

" No, But if this is the level of training that i'm getting then I think i'm good. I have exceeded your expectations in this department until we move on to the next level of training. I don't think this is needed any longer" Penny explained.

Shawn admitted that she had exceeded some of his expectations. She had made quite a lot of progress within such a short amount of time but he did not wanting her skipping on important lessons despite how capable she believed she was. " Just because you are doing good now doesn't mean you have it down perfectly. We will continue our training as scheduled. You need to be ready, not overconfident" Shawn stood firm on his decision and he knew Penny would be upset with him.

" Listen, you might be my dad. But you weren't in my life. You didn't raise me. And for that matter, neither did mom. I spent my whole damn life training, getting stronger. This isn't natural born talent, I worked for it. And I know of made mistakes, but so has everyone else. I'm not perfect. But neither are you...you couldn't kill Gabriel" Penny pointed out which left a silence over the training ground.

" That's right..I know about it. You had the chance to end Gabriel and it could have prevented all the crap that happened and you didn't do it. Your love for him made you hesitate and look where that got us! " Penny was speaking to Shawn as though he were an old fool, as someone she had no respect for and this broken Shawn heart. To hear the truth and know that he couldn't argue it.

" You, More than anybody else could have done something about all of this and you did nothing. You could have prevented it all. But because you like feeling standing the way you made a mistake. And though i've made a mistake with feelings in the past i'm not gonna do that anymore. I refuse. I refuse to let this go on any further because someone has to freaking end it. And if that person has to be me, then so be it" Penny walked over to Shawn, staring deeply into the black voids where his eyes once were.

" And i'm not even gonna fault you for it. I'm not gonna make you feel like crap for making a mistake. But I'm not gonna let someone tell me how to do things when they themselves couldn't figure crap out. If they could, then I wouldn't have to be doing everything now" And with that, Penny turned and walked away, leaving Shawn in the middle of the training ground. To think on all that she had said and to know that he, more than anyone in the world, could have possibly prevented the catastrophe.

" If only you knew the truth " Shawn sighed as he stated up into the bright green sky above.