Chapter 2 - Mount Carlisle

"Red is Blood?" I repeat Maia's words.

"Yes. Red is Blood which means your power is wielding or manipulating blood in exchange for giving blood."

"Why does that scare me?" I say, anxiety building up inside of me.

"Don't worry. For you, it's actually a good power. You see, all of us have blood circulating through our bodies. If blood cells die, new ones are instantly made to replace the old ones. In your case, if you use your power you'll be able to use a considerable amount of blood and still be fine since the blood cells will be replaced.

However, you will need to be careful not to go overboard. Just as too much bleeding will eventually lead to death, the same thing will happen if you go full rogue and misuse your power. Your red blood cells won't be replaced fast enough and, in the end, you'll die. That's why, you need to master your power and find out where your limit lies."

"You know so much about Powers." I say after she finished explaining everything.

"I've figured most of it out myself but the things I didn't know before, I learned from our relatives who also have powers."

"Wait...relatives?"

"Yeah, our cousins, aunts and uncles, grandparents and carers are still alive...well, some are barely holding on. Didn't Mum and Dad tell you about them or mention anything before?"

"I thought they were the only family in my life. They never talked about the fact that there are relatives who I could have known about and since they never said anything, I never had a chance to ask them." I answer.

Maia purses her lips.

"Come on, let's stop thinking about it for now. This must all be a shock to you and I bet you're tired. Let's pick this up another time ok? Why don't we just celebrate your birthday hmm? There's no way I'm not going to spend my brother's birthday with him. This all feels a little surreal..." Maia tries to cheer me up.

"Ok." I sigh, trying to muster up a smile that isn't fake enough to make her frown.

"Then, let's go! We wouldn't want to miss your special day."

* * *

[In an unknown location]

"When will my army be ready?"

"Tomorrow. The last couple of soldiers will complete their Final Examination, then all the teams will be picked and organized, ready to be given orders to charge into battle."

"Good. I don't want to waste any more time. I feel another Power has been activated and it's the strongest one of them all."

* * *

"Maia?" I call out my sister's name, trying to get her attention. After eating cake and singing songs, Maia said that she had to go deal with something but it's been 15 minutes already and I'm bored.

"Maia? Where are you?" I find her in a room which look to be a laboratory of some sort. There's nothing around but a projector shining onto a blank curtain showing a world map.

"Maia?" I say again once I see her standing close to the projected curtain.

"We've been discovered." Maia speaks at last after staring at the screen intently.

"Discovered? By who?"

"He goes by the name 'Vultur' but his real name is Marvin. We couldn't find out his surname no matter how much we tried but at least we were able to get his name." Maia speaks seriously with a hint of disgust.

"And who is this Martin Vultur guy exactly?" I ask.

"He's a leader. A leader of the Evil Association of the Sinister Youth or, for short, EASY."

HOTS and now EASY? They must really like using acronyms to name their organizations.

"Vultur has been trying to track us down for years but we've kept ourselves hidden pretty well. However, now, we're not so hidden anymore. Vultur has been able to find us and he's out to get all of the Powers including, unfortunately, you." Maia sighs, mulling over on what her plan of action would be.

"But, how does Vultur know I'm a Power?" I inquire.

"Vultur knows whenever a person turns a power on but he doesn't know where the person is. I think because you're the last one to get your power he has been able to get your location and draw a rough map of the other Powers. After all, he's an evil genius that has many little geniuses working at his every command so finding us must have been a pretty good piece of cake." Maia explains.

"How do you know this about Vultur?"

"Margamine Janirae, our cousin from Dad's side, has the bracelet which the orb lights up to the colour pink."

"Which is which power?"

"Um..." Maia shuffles nervously in her place.

"Meat." She says in a rather small voice.

"Meat?!" I shout out.

"Yeah. Margie's power enables her to manipulate meat or organs, professionally speaking from both humans, animals, living as well as non-living creatures. In order to use her power, she has to give up one of the organs she's going to use. For example, if she is going to use liver and the intestines, she has to give up the organs inside her in order to use them. However, before using the power, she has to eat the organs she is going to use so that the organs in her body are restored straight away as they're used." Maia chuckles uneasily.

"So, for her, the power is not as great as either yours or mine as she can't use it freely and she'd rather not eat the meat due to her needing to eat it raw since cooked meat will dissolve in her stomach and won't be used for restoration.

She works as the Power's lookout. She volunteered. Her job is to find out intel from Vultur's side about anything and everything that happens and takes place in EASY. It's not as easy as it seems since EASY's security system is pretty tight, I daresay the same or on par with ours. However, thanks to her we know so much about Vultur than we did before."

"Wow. She's got it rough." I say, shivering from the thought of Margamine eating raw meat.

"Yeah but she's fine. She barely uses her power and by being the Power's lookout, she feels like she's contributing, contributing without using her power."

"So, what happens now that Vultur knows our approximate whereabouts?" I glance to the map, looking over all the places the other Powers are at.

"Now? Now we must have a meeting." Maia points to the top of the map where a mountain is drawn and the name 'Mount Carlisle' is written.

"The Powers will be able to dish out a plan which will make us succeed and also keep us safe from Vultur and his army."

* * *

We've been travelling for half a day now, passing mountains, rivers and terrains and we have finally made it to Mount Carlisle.

The mountain is protected by a combined Iron and Steel wall, as well as a gate. To obtain access, Maia must give the special ingredients that one must have picked on the journey to be able to pass through. The special ingredients are kept secretive and only chosen members of the Powers get to know the ingredients.

After Maia slides the items into a wooden box at the side of the gate, the large, tall as Titan, doors slide open.

"Woaw!" I gasp as soon as I see what's beyond the gate.

There is a whole futuristic and modern area in front of us. People are working on different things that I've never seen in my life.

"Um, Maia?" I finally say after breathing everything in.

"Yes Rikari?" She smiles, proudly looking at her surroundings.

"What is this? Or that? Or anything?" I point to the things some of the people are focused intently on.

"Those are called, you could say, gadgets. Another way to call all of this is by using the term 'technology'." Maia describes the place.

"Oh." I say, still not understanding what this 'technology' is.

"You see, 8 years ago, the Emperor of the land was lucky enough to get a visit from the Old Wizard himself. The wizard blessed the Emperor's palace and his land and gave him a gift which he called 'technology'. It entitled anyone and everyone to be able to learn, make, build and use this technology to improve our lifestyle and make things easier and better. However, the Old Wizard warner the Emperor of the consequences of misusing the gift." Maia pauses.

"And what were the consequences?" I ask, eager to know the answer.

"Nobody knows. It's said that only the Emperor knows the answer. Maybe the answer is that fearful that he is willing to send people to prison one bad action against technology." She tells me the answer to my question.

"Anyway, enough learning, we're here for official business. Excuse me, do you know where Valoria Somber or Jemaima Renkan are?" Maia asks one of the people walking around.

"Oh, Maia. Nice to see you again." The woman bows.

"I'm not sure where Valoria is but Jemaima's over there." The woman points to the direction of an outdoor food area.

"Of course she's there." Maia mumbles under her breath whilst walking over to the food place.

"Jemaima 'Jemma' Renkan. Long time no see." Maia says.

The person, named Jemaima, turns around to face us and looks at us...through shaded glasses.

"Is that little Maia I see here?" The woman says, peering over her glasses.

"You know I'm not little anymore. I'm almost 18." Maia corrects the woman.

"You'll always be little to me. Besides, you're 5 years younger than me so whether you like it or not you'll always be younger than me." She smiles.

"Not in mental age I'm not. Anyway, we came here for a specific meeting." Maia nods at the woman kind of randomly.

"Ah. I see. Follow me." The woman gestures for us to follow her.

After walking past the people and into the main building which is situated right in the middle of the plaza, we head round the corridor on the left and step into this small room with some buttons on the side. The woman, Jemaima, presses one button and I feel a kind of funny feeling run through my bones.

"Where are we?" I ask Maia.

She looks at me and at my confused and curious gaze.

"Oh. We're in an elevator. It is used to take people up or down buildings quicker instead of using the stairs." She says.

"Wow." I say as I admire the elevator.

"Are you both connected or something?" Jemaima asks us.

"Well it may be a surprise to you but he's my-"

"Boyfriend." The woman shouts out, interrupting Maia.

"...brother..." Maia finishes off the sentence she first started.

The Jemaima lady looks at both of us, from Maia to me and back to Maia again.

"That's why he looks so much like you. You know, if this building was higher, I would have asked how you both met but, unfortunately, we don't have any time left in the elevator." She points to the doors as they slowly open apart.

"Come on." Jemaima beckons us out of the 'elevator' and into a long corridor of closed doors. We walk past some and I've got to admit, some of the the doors sound interestingly intriguing. For example, Door 9 and Door 44.

We finally reach the room we're supposed to be in - In Door 79.

"Brace yourself." Jemaima seems to be speaking to me as she opens the door to reveal some people round a big, oval table.

"Maia!" One girl shouts out.

"Valoria? I've missed you so much." Maia and the girl hug each other.

"I missed you too. You do NOT know how difficult it can be with these lot." The girl, Valoria, points to the other four people in the room.

"WE should be the ones complaining, not the other way round." A guy mumbles.

"Alright guys. Let's settle down before any of us start a huge argument. I came here for important business, not to hear you bicker over yourselves. Anyway, the topic of today's meeting is...Maia's brother, Rikari Amatsuri." Jemaima presents me to the group.

"You're her brother?" The same 'Valoria' girl speaks.

I nod my head.

"That can't be true. You look nothing alike." One of the guys with green hair speaks up.

"Uh..." I scratch the side of my face, not knowing how to convince them.

"Guys. Don't be mean to my brother. I actually already knew about him all these years but I didn't tell you all because I wanted to make sure that it was real and not some fake news. I know you're all basically my family, since we're related, but you have to know that sometimes you can't blurt out everything you hear." Maia tells everyone.

"Fair enough." The same guy with the green hair says.

"But...why is the meeting about Maia's brother?" The Valoria girl asks Jemaima.

"Hmm? Oh, well, I just wanted to make a grand entrance for Rikari, which seemed to work, before getting into the real topic of our meeting."

"Vultur has has been able to roughly pin point our locations." Maia says.

"Wait. What? How?" A woman with red hair asks.

"From the intel I got from Margie since Rikari is the last Power, Vultur's meter must have given him 1000 metre approximate locations of us all."

"So, he's a Power too?" The red haired woman says.

"Yes. His power is red for-"

"Blood..." The guy with the green hair finishes Maia's sentence and looks at me uneasily.

"Kill him..." Someone mutters softly.

We all look at the person who spoke and see a man, at the far side of the table with his head down in a sleeping position.

"Vale? What's he doing here?" Jemaima asks.

"Uh..." Valoria starts.

"He invited himself over." The green haired boy answers Jemaima's question.

"Vale. Get up now! I know you aren't sleeping because you barely sleep at all and yet you're always looking like you came back from a grand day at the spa. You know this room is only for the Powers. You're not even a family member!" Jemaima tells the man off.

"But you need me." The man whines looking up at Jemaima then makes eye contact with me.

"Because..." He gets up and walks closer to where I am.

"He may be a threat to you if his power is Red. For decades, no one knew the origin of the Red colour except the wise Lady Pria. However, after the Battle of the Strong, Red was recognized to be deadly, lethal and overwhelming, meaning that if anyone involved themselves with anything Red, they would have great misfortune when carrying out their goals." The man pauses.

"But you know...it's just a legend so I'm not sure if by saying this is going to change anything or not. Black is as bad as Red and-"

"Okay, that's enough of your talk. Vale. Get out."

"But I haven't finished-"

"Get out. Now! Please. Out." Jemaima points to the door we came through.

The Vale guy was about to argue back but drops it, looks at me one last time and walks out the door.

"Finally. I didn't know when he'll lea-"

CRASH!

"Warning! Warning! Unrecognized intruders have breached the grounds. They are heavily armed with Level 5 weaponry and Class 3 defences. All workers and clients to evacuate to Exit XOZ. Warning! Warning!" An announcement warns us.

"Damn! Forget the meeting. You've all gone through your training. Get your gear and weapons from the safety room and stand ready for battle!" Maia shouts over the alarm.

"Rikari, come with me."

"Is that Vultur outside?" I ask, more nervous than I should be.

"Yes..." Maia confirms.

"...and his 10,000 man army."