Chapter One: Unnatural Disasters, Oddly Shaped Irises, and a War; Part One

???'s P.O.V.

A dark figure stood in front of the boy who was seemingly nearly dead from the lightning strike. He stared down at him, reaching out to grab him, but I fired a ray of light from my hands before he could touch him, making the dark figure jump away. I then moved at light speed, stopping by the boy and grabbing him, looking at the dark figure with a blank expression.

The dark figure looked back at me, a cloud of darkness encasing his body. He revealed himself just a bit, showing off his darker than black, slick hair, and the color of his eyes were so dark it was hard to tell the different between his irises and his pupils, his sclera a very dull white, almost a light grey. His eyes were so dark they may as well have just been clouds of darkness. His skin was pale but his body was lean and he was rather tall, giving off an intimidating aura. He held out his hand toward us, a cloud of darkness starting to spread out from his body and reaching out to swallow me and the boy.

However, I wasn't worried. This wasn't the first time I had dealt with this person, nor would it be the last. Though at the time, I didn't have time for that. I quickly made my body flash brightly, blinding the male figure and making him shield his eyes to no avail. My light not only protected me from his darkness, but also blinded him temporarily, allowing me to get away. Once he regained his vision, the two of us were out of his line of vision, but I watched him from afar, making sure to stay hidden. The man clenched his fists slightly, but shook his head. "Fine... You can have that one Akari...but I think we both know who the true victor of this little battle is..." He said with a blank expression before disappearing. After that, I quickly left myself, carrying the boy in my arms.

Sanda's P.O.V.

I slowly started to regain my consciousness. I groaned, holding my head with one of my hands as I sat up. I had a searing headache and I couldn't remember much of anything other than right before the storm hit. I blinked a few times as my vision began to clear, realizing I was in a bed, in a room I didn't recognize. "What the... Where..?" My eyes widened with shock as a sudden burst of events played through my mind. I soon realized that these were the events that happened before I was knocked out.

I quickly stood up and ran, going into the bathroom that was linked to the room I was in. I started throwing up in the toilet. After a few minutes I started to calm down, letting everything sink in. "H-How am I still alive..? D-Did I cause that storm..?" I slowly wrapped my arms around myself, actually shaking as I slowly came to a realization. "D-Did I cause all that death and destruction..?" My eyes were wide with terror and despair, tears filling them. As soon as they began falling, my cheeks got shocked, just like before after what happened with my dad. "O-Ow, dammit! This is still happening..?"

"Yes, and it'll continue to happen until you learn to control it," said the voice of a young woman. I quickly turned my head in the direction of the young woman's voice. I couldn't help but stare at the young woman who was standing in the bathroom door frame. She had long white hair that went down to her waist and her eyes were white, irises shaped like bursts of light, almost like the sun or a star, not to mention she was beautiful and looked no older than me. Her figure was hidden by her baggy clothing, but just by looking at her I could tell she was thin and had some curve to her.

"...W-Who are you..?" I couldn't look away from her eyes. She had an air of elegance around her. She seemed like an angel without wings. She was unbelievably gorgeous, though her attire made her look like your average everyday teenage girl.

"My name is Akari Amaterasu. As for who I am exactly...well, I think it's best if we wait until you get yourself situated until I tell you everything." She answered.

"What do you mean tell me everything..? I'm fine, just tell me now-"

"I said you need to relax first. I don't need you losing your mind and going out of control on me." She harshly cut me off.

"Lose my mind and go out of control? What is that supposed to mean..?" Well, I'd always been a patient person, and I was kind of freaking out internally at that point, so I thought it would be best if I took some time to calm down as well. I gave her a nod and slowly looked down at the ground, sighing. She seemed a bit surprised that I was so willing, turning away from me. "I'll leave you be for now. I'll be back though. Get some more rest, Sanda Aito." She then proceeded to leave.

I was surprised she knew my name, but I figured that would also be in whatever explanation she had to tell me later, so I just let it go. I stood up and rinsed my mouth free of the taste of vomit, shocking myself a few times, but quickly wiping any water off myself to stop it with the white towel that was already hung up in the bathroom. "This getting shocked by water bull is really starting to annoy me..." I muttered and started to walk out of the bathroom.

However, as I caught a bit of my reflection in the mirror, I stopped. I noticed a bit of yellow in my eyes, which was weird, considering my eyes were grey. I took a step back to get a look at my entire reflection and my mind went completely blank as I saw the person standing in the mirror. My hair was now deep black instead of the faded brown it used to be. It was also spiky instead of smooth and messy, and my eyes were yellow, irises oddly shaped just like that Akari girl's. "My irises...they're shaped just like lightning bolts..?!"

"W-What the heck is this?!" I suddenly shouted, getting really close to the mirror and looking closely to see if this was some kind of trick, but it wasn't. What I saw in the mirror was the current me at the time. Not to mention my body was much leaner, as if I played some kind of sport, but I never did sports and I was skinny as hell before the unnatural disaster.

After staring at my reflection for a few minutes, I sat down on the bed in my new room, running my fingers through my hair, thinking about everything that had happened one piece at a time. A bit of static shocked my hand as I ran my fingers through my hair, but it didn't hurt since it was just light static. "Lightning storm... Being shocked when I touch metal or cry... My home town being destroyed... My family dying... Lightning shaped irises... Jet black hair... Will continue until I learn to control it..?" I let out a heavy sigh and fell back on the bed, my arms stretched out at my sides. I stared at the ceiling, not knowing what to make of all the crazy stuff happening. "Where am I..? What the fuck is going on..?" I clenched a ball of my hair into my fist, closing my eyes. I felt so exhausted and I had just woken up. In only a few minutes, I was out again, one of my arms over my eyes and the other just at my side.

???'s P.O.V.

When I first saw Sanda, he was in his room, sleeping in an awkward position on his bed. I didn't want to just leave him like that, so I used my nature powers to create vines from my body and moved him into a more comfortable position on the bed with them, covering him with the blanket. After making sure he was completely comfortable, I went to exit his room. I peeked at him from the doorway and saw that he was sleeping peacefully. I smiled and closed the door gently before walking off.

"How is he?" Akari asked me from behind as I turned to walk away from the room.

"He seems alright right now. He's sleeping peacefully at least." I said with a smile.

"Did you use your ability to help with that?" She tilted her head.

I giggled. "My element can calm people down somewhat yes, but yours is the element that has the ability to put people's minds at ease. Maybe it was just your graceful and elegant presence." I winked at her and smiled playfully.

"Oh stop it, I was just worried about the poor guy is all. It's not anything different from how I treat everyone here." Akari huffed.

Her flusteredness made me giggle again. "I know I know I was just teasing. You can't blame me when the literal word 'light' is in his element."

Akari sighed. "Yes I understand. I didn't know you were one to say things like that. I expect it more from Kazane, but not you Hanako."

"Can't I have any fun?~" I asked in a teasing tone.

Akari giggled. "I suppose so, but please, I already have one crazy bird to deal with, don't make it two..." We both looked at one another and started laughing. We continued to converse as we walked out to the lounge to meet with the rest of the group and talk about Sanda.