Chapter 1 - Once Upon a Time there was a Normal Day

The noon sky was covered with cumulonimbus clouds, an ominous sign for a chance of a heavy downpour on the forest of steel below. The day was halfway done as the world continues to revolve around the summer sun. This was such another day for humankind with each individual having their own unique stories to tell. Somewhere on the Milky Way galaxy, on the Orion arm, within a Local Interstellar Cloud, on one of the planets of the solar system named Earth, there lies on the eastern part of the globe, on the south east of Asia within the Archipelago of Philippines, in the province of Leyte, inside a double storied house, sleeping on his black platform bed, a young boy awoke with a back full of sweat.

As for why Clementine was heavily sweating in this cool morning, he can't help but blame it on a recently forgotten nightmare. Wondering how that nightmare was for a while, the word death was the only thing that came into his mind. And not even snippets of that dream arose in his memory. He was frustrated as it felt like a fish bone was stuck on a person's throat, or a word stuck on one's tongue or an author's wretched writer's block. He quickly tossed aside that thought as his unfocused gaze suddenly caught sight of the blinking red light of his digital table clock. With that single glance, he quickly bolted upright on his feet and organized his bed space in a jiffy.

He is almost late for school.

After taking a rushed bath and preparing his back pack, he went down the wooden stairs toward their dining room. On the way, he smelt the sweet fragrance of fried eggs and inside he saw a lazily poised brat on pink pajamas with cute white rabbit designs sitting on the dining table and a middle aged woman with shoulder length curly black hair was stirring a frying pan at the stove on the far side of the dining room. Clementine directly took a piece of bread at the table and gulped it in two munches along with some milk.

"Brother, I guarantee if you keep eating like that then sooner than later we'll be required to call an ambulance." The little loli wearing a pink pajama sat in front of him munching on Pandesal bread is his little sister Angela, an 8 year old with an annoying smart mouth. With weird golden pupils and a pale complexion, when compared to their parent's and his' black pupils, black hair and brown skin, he wondered sometimes if they really are siblings. If he had not been there when his mother gave birth to her, he would really have thought that she was adopted. In the end, he just attributed it to the thought that mutations really do sometimes happen in life. Like albinism, just that this is something different.

"Brat, who are you cursing there! Anyway, I don't have enough time to play with you so just finish eating your breakfast We will now be going to school." After munching on the last piece of bread, he went to the kitchen to bid his mother goodbye.

"Okay here is your allowance for this day. Remember to save. Money doesn't grow on trees. Nowadays prices are going up like there's no tomorrow. And had you brought your umbrella? The weather forecast said that there is a high chance of rain in our area. Be careful on the road and take care of your little sister." Clementine's mother, Madeline, was in her usual nagging attitude. Ever since their dad left them, the family of three had survived due to his mother's hard work and persistence.

"Ma, we'll be alright. Don't worry." He knows that his mother loves him and his sister dearly and he already got used to listening to her repeated advice and ranting with patience and understanding. That's just how his mom is.

Taking a step outside, Clementine heard his sister's voice on the open window.

"Wait for me big brother. I'll be there in a sec." Angela's cute voice rang from the window

"What took you so long?" Clementine asked in curiosity, at this amount of time his sister should've long been ready. Her sister ran outside and followed her brother as they walked towards school.

"I've prepared a gift to Milo and that kind big sister we met yesterday. I've heard from Milo that both of you are in the same school so I was hoping that you'll give this to her on behalf of me." She showed two bracelets of mismatched and chaotic beads, but instead of looking like an ugly piece of trash, the randomness instead brought out its aesthetic beauty.

"Err... I can't." Clementine scratched the back of his head while thinking for a reason.

"Why can't you? Don't you like her?" That statement suddenly came out of Angela's mouth.

Clementine stumbled on the road, it seemed like he was shot straight to the heart

"What are you saying?" Clementine feigned ignorance.

"It's clear to me that you like her. You should give her something, like this bracelet I've made, maybe she'll like you too."

"I hope the world is as simple as that little sis. But anyways, give me that piece of unique art and I'll try to give it to her if I have the chance."

His little sister surely knows how to hit him where it hurts.

That big sister she was referring to was Ava, the governor's daughter. They were childhood friends but time, distance and a few circumstances had brought them distant from one another. He can't deny the fact that he harboured feelings for her for a very long time but he can't also change the fact that he was inferior to her in every way.

He was a coward to the bone with a severe inferiority complex and that was why he chose to go as far as he can in hope to let time erase what is meant to be erased.

The two had met again coincidentally yesterday when he was taking her sister home from school. It seems that Ava's little brother was also enrolled in the same grade school as Angela. The two kids became friends in the short time they interacted with each other and Ava and Clementine chatted for a little while in a long time. He noticed that she was not the Ava that he used to know, she had turned colder as winter ice and she never smiled that day, maintaining that aloof and calm face throughout the conversation.

Clementine hypothesized that maybe she was just on her period at that time, or maybe she really did changed. Many things in life happens within blinks of the eyes, he wondered what did she experienced over the course of time they were apart.

School had just started and Clementine is now on his first year of senior high and his little sister Angela had transferred to another school due to achieving a scholarship grant so he had to be there to take her home every day, thankfully it was just nearby his school.

But damn! How acute was his sister's senses, it seems like she had an extrasensory sense one that can sense the heart. With only a few words and actions, she had discovered the hidden truth. I want one, hey author where can I get one?

Well, no time dwelling in the past, it's time to focus on the present. That's the essence of life, moving on. Moving onwards, and adapting with change.

Clementine's school was one of the most prestigious schools in the region. It was named Ortahonga City National High School. It was a prestigious public school yet most of the surrounding private school can't even hold a candle to its splendor. And with its prestigious reputation comes strict rules. For example, being late has a corresponding punishment that will surely take a layer, if not your grades, then of your skin away.

Clementine was running through one of the corridors of the school building. The sun was shining through the squeaky cleaned windows and the hallway was devoid of people, clearly showing that class has already started or will start in a few more minutes. Clementine was starting to get nervous. Clementine then noticed another set of brisk footsteps at his back. After he turned around, he saw Michel, a long time friend which happens to be also his neighbour.

"Hey Michel good morning. I did not expect a straight A student to be running late from school." Clementine waved his hand and also slowed his pace to match Michel's.

"Good morning Clementine. I just got too carried away and lost track of time while studying yesterday for the test today." Michel replied while panting due to his running.

Michel can be described as a hardworking genius. Raised by a single father and with his 2 younger siblings, he strived hard to get a scholarship in this prestigious educational institution, same as Clementine, hoping that he can change his family's straits after he graduate. Even though his IQ goes over the top, his EQ is a bit on the problematic side. He is as dense as a wooden block over the emotions of the people around him. On the upside, he is quite a good and frank person that often opts for direct ways other than scheming.

Michel's main motto is facts are better than assumptions.

They talked for a few more seconds and the both of them arrived at Clementine's classroom.

"See ya later Clementine." Michel bid a little farewell as his classroom is a little further down on the hallway.

"Well, I'll be going." Clementine nodded and opened the door to his respective room.

He was already panting when he arrived at the classroom. The bespectacled teacher with a head of silver hair signalling old age is currently calling in the attendance. He hurried to his seat but he never expected that a foot will trip him, causing him to stumble. He was almost knocked down to the floor, but luckily he regained his balance in the nick of time.

A tongue clicked behind him. When he glanced back, Clementine saw a sneering face of his classmate, Mark. Mark is your typical rich second generation, an arrogant and overbearing student which had lackeys of students in the class which boot-licks and suck up to him. While the rest fears and hate this self-important person. Bullying had been part of the norm and even the principal explicitly advocates the segregation of castes, though not overtly. This school had too many of this kind of jerks and Clementine had long grown accustomed to this kind of scenes. He had even prepared a lot of countermeasures to avoid being in that situation, and what to do if ever he'll got into one.

Clementine went to look at the teacher but found out that he didn't even have an ounce of reaction to the commotion and just turned a blind eye to it. A perk of having a good background and influence, this just illustrates how unbalanced and unfair the world is to those in power and to those in not.

He sat down in resignation and just waited for his name to be called.

"Good balance. I thought you'd kiss the floor for a moment there." A voice full of teasing was heard at the side.

This voice is of Marivick, a friend Clementine made on his first year of high school. They've been classmates for over three years and you could say they went through thick and thin together.

"Heh! Just my luck and I don't really love the floor, why the heck would I kiss it." Clementine said with a grin while arranging the things in his desk.

"Yeah right, you only love Ava." Marivick snickered.

"You..!"Clementine did his utmost to portray a fierce glare but Marivick still continued snickering. Noticing that the fear tactic didn't work, Clementine just shrugged his shoulders while smiling bitterly.

"By the way you look like a zombie with that eye bag of yours." Marivick pointed to Clementine's panda eyes due to lack of sleep. But Clementine glanced on the other party's eyes seeing eyebags much worse than his.

"Look who's talking, the anime addict. I'm much fortunate that I sleep, It seems you do not even know how to." Marivick jeered

They laughed but soon stopped when they saw the teacher glaring at them.

Time passed quickly and the morning classes have finished. Clementine hadn't really made real friends in this class other than Marivick, which is also a bit of an introvert. Marivick happens to be a self-proclaimed otaku and a wielder of mystical powers, in short a Chuni. Clementine wondered how that mental disease meant for 6th graders got carried till high school. And it's not that Clementine has no friends, in fact he was quite the man of the people in elementary school, it's just that there were only few of his classmates that enrolled in Ortahonga National High School, and this few moreover are on other sections, like Michel.

Clementine whimsically glanced at the window and saw an angel flew by. Err... Correction, he saw Ava walk by and his fickle heart skipped a beat, his mind was messed with mixed emotions. Admiration, sadness, happiness, anger and many more that he felt like he is going crazy. That was just a moment of a glance, and that was how Clementine usually overthinks. Clementine quickly closed his eyes and fell into his own created meditation. He had devised this just to cope with bad memories. Unlike those state of emptiness written in fantasy novels, his meditation is just simple, as most meditation oft to be. Sometimes he keep solving mathematical operations in his head till he feel like puking blood, and sometimes he consolidates his knowledge by remembering them, as simple as that. It was just a form of distraction and self hypnosis for Clementine. And surprisingly, it was very effective.

That passing angel was soon forgotten and he continued in silence at the corner of the room while reading books. Or so he convinced himself.

"Another anime finished. Hmm... What should this king watch next?" Marivick stretched his flabby arms while taking off the cyan earphones stuck to his ears.

"You should take a break. With that fat body of yours, I'm afraid that you will soon meet the king of hell." Clementine retorted with his eyes still glued to his phone screen.

"I don't want to get advice from a stick man. And being fat isn't too bad; at least I got a huge energy reserve."

The two continued bickering for a while and then attended back to their own phones. Clementine was immersed in his reading when he felt that the surrounding got noisier to the point where it is interrupting his inner peace. He was annoyed and glanced around. Then he saw Mark and a bunch of his friends teasing or more like bullying a petite brown haired boy.

The boy's face clearly expressed stubbornness as he was tossed around by Mark.

"F*ck you. If I said get the f*ck out of here then you should just scram! Or I, your father, will make you!" Mark grabbed the boy's collar and raised it causing the boy to have difficulties.

"What the hell is your problem?! You do not own the school what right do you have to make me scram." The boy gripped the hand holding his collar hoping to release it.

Hmm... If Clementine's memory serves him right, then this boy was a student like him that availed the scholarship program of the school, too bad he's too stubborn and still naive about the truth in the equality of human beings. Not that it is bad to be one, but ignorance may be a blessing or a curse. He just felt a slight pity on the boy's plight. Then he went back to reading his novel, though he still kept track of the situation at his peripheral vision.

"I may not own the school but my father is one of its stakeholders. It looks like being polite isn't effective with you. I guess you need to taste my fist to learn your lesson. Boys, hold him!" As the boy struggled more, the grip of Mark and his goons didn't even loosen, clearly expressing his strong and fit body. Mark is a member of the Basketball club, in fact he was the captain of their varsity team, though he is usually arrogant, few people his age can match him in the ring.

"Arghhh!!!" the boy ate a few punches on his stomach. The result was his lunch being discharged from his stomach through his mouth which in turn showered Mark. This caused Mark's grip to loosen from the boy's collar and the dispersing of his goons.

Even though dizzy from the recent vomiting, the petite boy stood still and immediately fiercely kicked at Mark. What was hit was neither head nor chest nor leg. What was hit by that kick were the two golden balls on Mark's midsection.

"It's crushed! Heavens, it's crushed!" Mark's screams filled the entire room and every boy seeing that scene felt a chill from down under which caused them to close their legs, some student even went to the point of instinctively protecting their jewels with their hands.

"You!" Crawling on the floor, clearly still feeling the torturous event earlier, Mark pointed at the heroic boy, his underlings were on tacit understanding with their boss and proceeded with the beating. With his hands covering his head, the boy didn't resist, or did not have the capability to resist anymore as he was teamed up by five students. A burly student, seeing an opening on the brown-haired boy as he lowered his beaten arms, quickly thrown in a deadly right job straight to the boy's cheeks causing him to be thrown back and collapse.

The brown haired boy lost consciousness afterwards as he hit the floor. Seeing the arrogant mark in agony while covered in vomit at the floor, the whole class laughed at the funny site but soon turned silent with a glare from Mark's vomit stained face.

"Bleeaaaaruhge" Unable to control his nausea anymore, the scene concluded with the puking of Mark into the floor. He was assisted by his henchmen as he left the room in shame to have a change of clothes and to check what has been crushed, leaving the half conscious student lying on the floor.

'Sigh, teenagers with too much energy in their hands.' Clementine thought in his head, unaware that he is also one of those teenagers.

"What a good play!"Remarked Marivick after the group left

"Yeah, it sure is." Clementine nonchalantly replied. And after saying that, Clementine stood up and went to the fainted boy on the floor. He crouched down, put a bottle of water at the side and tapped the teen's face a few times, being careful not to get vomit on him.

"I know you were not truly knocked down. So I suggest you stop pretending."

The boy soon regained consciousness and a confused expression appeared on his face.

"How did you know?"

"It doesn't matter. But I do have a bit of advice for you. The mango tree shall break in face of greater storms living its short-lived glory while a bamboo shall bend and endure to prosper in the nearby future. It is up to you what you will become. Here I have some aspirin at hand, take it with the water, it will help ease the pain and I suggest you take the infirmary at the left wing, the right wing is where Mark and his goons went to check on the two jewels you crushed." Clementine said with a snicker while remembering that horrifying and at the same time satisfying event earlier.

"Why are you helping me? Aren't you afraid of offending Mark?" The haggard boy stared at Clementine's eyes with confusion.

"Help? I just woke you up and said a few words, nothing more and nothing less. By the way you really are some tough kid, so my kudus to you." Clementine stood up and went back to his desk.

"No matter what, I, Carlson, am in your debt. You've given me a drop of water when I'm burnt by the sun, I'll repay you ten times that in time." Carlson said with seriousness.

Without looking back, Clementine just waved his hand to the Carlson who is now limping a bit towards the infirmary in the left wing of the school.

"Is wise man Clementine a busybody now? What great news!" Marivick teased

"Busybody your ass! What will the world become without kindness and goodwill?" Clementine glared at Michel.

"That will be called hell, am I right?" And Michel continued his playful tone and smiled.

"Yeah, that would be... hell." Clementine murmured while thinking about his forgotten dream this morning. Are dreams really meant to be forgotten? He asked himself. What was it all about... some kind of war... or is it something else.

"Arghh!" He scrunched his brows in frustration. It was so hard for him to remember an ounce of the whole thing, not even bits and pieces were remembered. Sigh, no use remembering the forgotten.

After that Clementine returned back to reading his favourite web novel about a superstar in a parallel world, clearly oblivious to the unforeseen, dreadful, and soon to come future.