Another chance.

The familiar ceiling of his room was the first thing he saw when he opened his eyes, wait…

"Uh?"

He sat up straight, 'wasn't i on the ground in the woods, how did i get home… wait could it all have been just a dream', then heard something that made him realize the truth

*If you can hear me now, it means you're awake now so listen up… things have changed around and within you, and will keep on changing, it might be different and sudden for you but that's why we're here, come back to the woods by yourself if you want to understand more…*

'Change? What does he mean? I sh…"

"Oh you're finally up, what happened to you?"

He heard someone speaking to him so he turned his head and he saw the person he respected the most after his father, "Mom…"

With less worried eyes, she strided over to his bedside and hugged him, she was totally scared when she saw him being carried back unconscious, so she felt much better seeing him okay after waking up.

"Mom…" he got the mixed scent of a homely kitchen and roses that was the signature of his mother, he realized how much he missed her after she hugged happily, at that moment he felt sad making her worry about him, he hoped it won't happen again.

"I was really worried when you were-…"

"I'm sorry mom, won't happen again, I just got a little strained from all the table-tennis and all"

"*sniff*, That's what Gale said when he carried you back, he said to tell you not to come over for the next two days"

"*sigh* alright"

"Since you're awake now why don't you come downstairs to eat instead, there's someone downstairs I want you to meet"

"… who is it?"

"You'll know when you get down", she said while she grabbed the tray she kept aside earlier and walking past the door.

*sigh*

'What the hell happened yesterday', the ordeal he went through wasn't his normal lifestyle, starting from the chase into the woods, to the voices in his head, to the point where he fainted, it was an usual day of happenings

'I'll get the answers as soon as possible I hope', and he stood up, walked to the door on his left and walked into the bathroom, he was curious who the visitor downstairs was…

"I'm curious about what could have happened to him in the forest but I can't jump to conclusions since he seemed fine when I talked to him now-"

"Don't worry much about it, I'm sure he's fine, he is his father's son you know?"

"Yeah he is…"

Coming down he was able to hear two voices coming from the living room downstairs, he was able to recognize his mother's voice but the other one was actually an unfamiliar one, when the living room came into his line of view, he saw two figures, his mother's and that of a muscled man with blonde hair, that was when he became shocked but he didn't want to jump to conclusions just yet. "Jaden, you've grown into a fine youngster, this is the face of a heart stealer, now I realize that the looks run in the blood, haha!...". He was confused, the man reacted very warmly to seeing him, maybe a little too warmly even but he still refused to conclude on anything, so he looked to his mom who he was happy to see was smiling slightly, she found what the guy said amusing but didn't reply to it, instead she spoke to Jaden, "he's Matthew Lombardo, one of your dad's closet friends and colleagues in battle", "so that's who he is…" now Jaden was excited, he was right, but he didn't expect a visit, he was very aware of how busy warriors on his level were so it's a big visit, a very big one. "Haha, yes, that I am, and this time I came to meet you in person, had to see the child Xander and Kate gave life to "

"*sigh*, what he means to say is, he came with a surprise for you"

" A surprise?!", Now he felt kinda awkward and confused.

"I heard about your efforts kid, made me proud and amazed at the same time, never seen someone who passed out at the test center due to overstressing, haha , so when I heard of it from your mother, I came with an advantage for you, normally it's a one in ten million of a chance to be given this advantage, but I worked something out with those geezers"

" What advantage are you talking about?"

"Jaden what he's talking about is a chance to take the test again, with zero repercussions, you can calm down and take the test properly this time"

*thump, thump*

At first he thought what happened previously was acting up again, but then he became aware that it just his heart beating out strong he was dumbfounded, until he snapped out of it with extreme joy and happiness, it was unbelievable to him, but his mother was the one talking so he believe it was true, although he wondered if this was just a dream, but he immediately erased that possibility…it was really happening!!, he was so happy he could dance to the skies

The academies of this time were much different compared to the ones in the days before the attacks, there was only five academies on earth at the present moment, all of them with prestigious achievements and glory due to the graduates it produced to fight against the threat of the powerful monsters, getting into any one of them is the same as passing out as a valuable asset to humanity, strength was mattered in the society now, and the academies were the one known places you could gain it.

"Yeah so since that was what I came to tell you and I've nothing else to say, I'll be on my way, I'd have loved to stay some more but I have some important to attend to, I'll contact your mother soon to let you know when it's time, just get ready till then and stay safe, it was nice seeing the both of you."

He couldn't reply to Matthew properly as excited as he was, so he just had to thank him again while he followed him out to the backyard to get into his car, he wondered for a bit why the car was parked at the back of the house until the sleek view of a very beautiful car came into his sight "isn't that a wingman limited edition floater", he mumbled under his breath, ever since the time they managed to push back the abominations to gain valuable breathing space, breakthroughs had been made in all aspects of life, and most of them were in the area of technology and one of them was the floaters, they were basically known as flying cars, yes the dream of humanity to drive a car through the skies had finally been achieved and it was quickly the favorite of the then emerging fighters and high class people, although jets and airplanes were still in use, the jets they made now were battle purpose jets and the airplanes were made for mass transportation of those who couldn't afford the cars. It was his first time seeing a floater , it was metallic red color with white stripes, 'I've gotta ride one of those', it was no surprise that he was already in love with car at first sight,, it was every warrior and their aspirants dream ride, who wouldn't such a gallant view in their garage.

As Matthew got into the car, he sighed emotionally looking out back at the legacy his best friend left behind in the world and the woman he choose to carry it, he knew things they didn't, more than he let Kate in on, but he couldn't come out with such allegations yet, the least he could at the moment was to help out as much as he could and make sure his son rose to gain what was rightfully his… "Hector, phone in at the academy, tell them I have a candidate to fill in the spot I have reserved, tell them to make sure his name is in the list of participants, and after that ring up the phoenix and master gunslinger, tell them it's a code blonde", =Request acknowledged, executing command…=, a monotonous voice rang out in the car, but he was the only one there…, he looked out again at the fair skinned lad with blonde air and smiled in a mischievous manner, "this is gonna be fun, things are getting spiced up, it's been a while since I've witnessed an uproar in the capitals, they won't even know what hit them". Outside the white lines on the car lit up like a refiling Hp bar starting from the front of the car, and when the lights reached the tires, the tires popped out of the space under the car with the car levitating up already, and then with a smooth motion the tires moved into an horizontal position and then started spinning, with that the car rose even more and the front tires moved back into a vertical position but this time with the rims facing forward and like that wasn't enough a slot at the back of the car opened up and formed a circular opening, you would expect fire to pop out right?, but it wasn't fire, instead it was a kind of formless energy that seemed to be blue in color but it was exerting tangible force on the car as the car began moving forward at a breakneck speed, it was already high up in the sky at this point and disappeared into the horizon quickly enough, it was a marvel of science that Jaden couldn't get his thoughts off

"Jaden, he's gone already, let's go back inside"

His mother was the one who brought him back to reality and then he realized something he had overlooked, "Mom…"

"Hm- ah?"

"Thank you for everything you have done for me, I'm sorry I ever made you worry and I promise I'll make up for the disappointment"

She was caught off guard by his words and hug, so she couldn't say anything, but nevertheless a smile still crept it's way to her face, she had a feeling that something changed, it was a good feeling, things would be getting better from today onwards…

"Okay so the voice said to come as soon as possible, so I have to go there quickly as I will soon be leaving for the capital…" mumbling to himself Jaden knew today was the only time he could be chanced to go, it took a little bit of convincing, to calm his mother's mind on the idea of him going to the woods but he had to tell her, he didn't want her worrying like yesterday…