Memories

- Fort Blood Raven, Supreme Commander's Office -

The Supreme Commander, Bianca Hawthorne, watched as the bright light suddenly disappeared and everything went back to normal. She sighed, 'It seems it was just a strange phenomenon in the Universe. It probably had nothing to do with our small planet.' She was about to start reviewing some documents when the door suddenly opened.

"Supreme Commander, we have a problem!" Jericho shouted, cold sweat running down his face.

Bianca looked up from her work to see a man with blazing, red hair and a... horn? She contemptuously glared at her Chief Aide due to the interruption, but replied, "I saw the light disappear, but felt no other anomalies. What is the problem, Jericho?"

Jericho realized his error, but the direness of the situation caused him to forget himself. He straightened up his position and explained everything that transpired to Bianca. "... and that's what happened. I'm sure Commander Boone will bring a whirlwind of destruction to the base because of this situation."

As he finished his explanation, he saw a tiny snowflake. His pupils shrunk as he hurriedly dodged to the side. A spear of ice impaled the door behind him turning it into scrap metal, cold sweat once again pouring down his face. 'I just want this day to end,' he begged.

"You imbecile! Like I don't have enough to do already." Bianca felt a headache coming. Rhea Boone was a handful and a very troublesome opponent. 'Why couldn't it have been any other soldier...'

Both the Supreme Commander and Chief Aide wallowed in their own pity.

_____

The next day, Aesyn felt refreshed. He started the morning with his usual ritual, reading. He reached his hand out and a book flew toward him, as he plopped in his favorite reading chair. "Ahh, nothing like a good book in the morning. Let's see 'Fundamentals of Essence Manipulation' should be a good read before I teach those brats."

After reading a few chapters, he prepared himself for the day and left the Boone Family Estate toward the school.

______

- Dreme City, Talon Elementary School -

Today is the first day of school for newly awakened children, so there were many cars lined up outside. There were many schools within the city, but this one was reserved for the children of military members, mainly mid- to high-ranking officers.

The school was just about to open when an aircraft zoomed in from a distance and hovered over the school. If you looked closely, you could see a woman with a little boy standing in the door. The woman looked over at the kid and said, "It's your first day of school, of course, I need to make sure everyone understands that you are my son."

The boy looked up at his mother and nodded his head, "Yes, mother. A Hawthorne's pride can never be trampled."

Bianca looked at her son closely before grabbing ahold of him and jumping from the aircraft.

"Look at that aircraft! I thought only the military could sanction air travel within the city."

"It must be a high-ranking officer to be able to do that. Otherwise, you're just asking for trouble."

"Someone just jumped! Do they have a death wish?!"

The crowd was discussing the excitement from seeing the aircraft. Everyone started yelling when they say a shadow jump, but that soon changed from worry to disbelief.

"Are they flying?! I thought only Celestials could do that!"

"They are the only ones, maybe it's just a military prototype."

"No, that's the Supreme Commander!"

As realization set in, all officers and soldiers stood at attention and urged their children to do so as well. They never expected to see the Supreme Commander at a school, let alone with a child in tow. No one dared to say anything out loud, but it would definitely be a topic to discuss later.

"Supreme Commander!" All personnel saluted, as Bianca and her son landed.

The school doors opened and everyone stepped aside to allow her and the little boy to go first, while they followed behind.

Meanwhile, Aesyn was already at the school. He was preparing to teach the newly awakened kids. He sighed sadly as he recalled his own awakening.

_____

- Dreme City, Boone Family Manor , 13 years ago -

Everyone was located in the large courtyard in the middle of the grand estate watching a little curly-haired boy with a innocent eyes and a big smile. He was listening intently to a man, whom he resembled closely.

"Aesyn, listen well, you've just turned five. This is a happy day for everyone, especially, you. Now, close your eyes and feel the Essence around you, just like we practiced."

"Yes, Daddy! I remember." Aesyn exclaimed, then closed his eyes and breathed in just like he normally did when he meditated with his parents.

As he breathed in deeply, he felt a warm feeling come over him. He felt comfortable, like he was in his mother's embrace. Inside of his body, not far below his heart was a transparent rainbow-colored heart symbol, like the ones he drew for his mother and grandmother. The difference was that this heart was not whole, it was split into three sections - left, right, and middle.

This was his Transcendent Heart!

His Transcendent Heart had existed since birth, it just remained in a passive transparent state slowly gathering Essence through the channels in his body. Now, he could actively guide Essence directly to his Transcendent Heart as it went from transparent to translucent, the color became more pronounced.

The awakening process was automatic, but what people really paid attention to was the Essence absorption rate. This determined a person's aptitude. Ordinarily, awakened children would have to wait until school to see their aptitude, as the tool used was monopolized by the military and only distributed to schools, but this wasn't an ordinary family.

Aesyn's father took out a small, bright blue crystal and put it inside of a scanner-like device. "Aesyn place your hand on the device and carefully move the Essence you feel to your Transcendent Heart. Remember just like we practiced, breathe slowly."

Normally, children practiced from the age of 4 until it was time for them to enter school, but more prominent families taught their children, breathing techniques from a very young age.

Aesyn nodded, placed his hand on the device and took a deep breath. As he inhaled, he felt a surge of Essence flow inside his body. He remembered his breathing practice and took a few breaths as he channelled the Essence to his Transcendent Heart.

As he was absorbing the Essence, there were gasps and cries heard all around. "My baby is a prodigy!" exclaimed Aesyn's mother, as tears rolled down her sun-kissed face.

______

Aesyn could only smile as he recalled his mother's happy expression, sadly, they never made it to see his current predicament.

He shook his head to dispel the sad thoughts and prepared himself mentally as the children would arrive soon. He straightened up a chair, as he walked toward the door to greet the bright faces.

When Aesyn opened the door, he was greeted not by bright, shining faces, but the ugly, smirking mug of his nemesis, Taleel Roarke. "What are you doing here, Taleel?" Aesyn said with disgust. This guy was the first to turn on him when everyone learned he couldn't use an element.

"I heard they allowed a famous Boone to teach the new generation of awakened, so I came to check who they picked. I thought it would be your brother, but it turned out to be some Paper. You aren't ashamed to taint the youth, Mr. Prodigy? Hahaha!" Taleel said smugly, then roared with laughter.

Aesyn clenched his fist, he wanted to crush this guy, but he knew what the outcome would be, plus the kids will be here any second.

"I'm sorry, I'm not your man-crush, Taleel. Why don't you go to the fields to see if he'll sign an autograph? I'm busy here, so hurry along." Aesyn retorted while waving his hand.

Taleel hated Aesyn's dismissive attitude towards him. He always believed that he could best this Paper Prodigy in everything, especially after they knew he couldn't use an element and he could destroy him here, but he knew parents and kids would be here soon.

He clicked his teeth and turned around, "You're lucky this time, Paper. Wait until school is out, I'll remind you of our roles." He left the room.

Aesyn watched Taleel leave and heaved a sigh of relief. He was not prepared to deal with him, especially today. As he calmed himself, the parents and children arrived.

"Welcome, children! I'll be you instructor, Aesyn Boone."

Some of the parents were surprised to see such a young instructor, but when they heard his last name understood what family he was from. Other more learned parents looked at Aesyn with mockery in their eyes.

"Are you sure you're in the right classroom, boy?" said a Lieutenant Colonel escorting his daughter. "I know you're a Boone, but that doesn't mean you, who can't use an element, are qualified to teach."

When the other parents, who weren't aware, heard this, they all frowned. They wanted to present their concerns as well, when they heard an intimidating voice.

"Oh! So, it's Lieutenant Colonel Stryson stirring up trouble. I was wondering who had the gall to run their mouth at my grandson," Rhea was standing behind the crowd of parents.