CHAPTER 1: WHERE STORIES BEGIN.

Your story began just like any other really, the light from the morning sun cascading down the town in it's ever fluorescent lights, the yelling of neighbours and the barking of guard dogs fill the streets in it's angelic Melody.

The sun fills the town one apartment at a time eventually reaching an apartment down a particularly well known street which houses a boy who never knew that at that moment his story had begun...

The sunlight fills the air with its warm and blinding ray, it shines brightly on a window as it evades into the space it protects and shines down on the occupant who in protest buries himself in his blanket.

The light does not relent, settling for a battle of attrition it knew it would surely win.

You squirm in your blanket thankful for the cover it provides, you decide to take a few moments to enjoy the relaxing warmth your comfy bed provides, but it doesn't take long before the shade of blankets shielding you from the lights is pulled off to reveal all your pale skin to the horny lights to do with as it pleases.

At first you feel...

Confused, and then something else bubbles up inside you..

Annoyance..

Then Anger,

Hatred.

Rage.

Madness...

...

...

And then the world exploded.

You sit up on the bed, anger clear In your eyes, you look beside you and find your little sister beaming a smile at you. Her name, you ask, is seraphina.

You wear a frown and feign mock anger but you can't help the smile that plays on your lips.

"You know what happens when you disturb my sleep right?" You raise both your hands and wiggle your fingers "Then the tickle monster comes to get you."

You jump at her with a series of armpit and belly tickles while she giggles and laughs, running all over in a futile attempt to evade your fingers. When you feel she has learnt her lesson (though I personally don't see what lesson is to be learnt here) you both collapse on the bed taking in deep breaths.

"Why did you come to wake me up so early though" you asks her as you glance up at the ceiling, your favourite player's poster is plastered up there with a big lettering that reads 'You can do it'

"Oh!" She stands on the bed as she remembers something. "Mum says you should hurry up and come down for breakfast or else you won't go to the finals"

"What!!" You jack up from your bed and turn to see your sister bolting through the room and out the door.

"You'd better come down quick or I'll eat your breakfast" she shouted as she went.

'Damn, that girl really knows how to get on my nerves' you shake your head from the annoying thought.

'no, no….no time to think about that right now, just focus on getting ready.'

Taking a deep breath you head into the bathroom and turn on the shower. Cool water drizzles down your pale skin washing away any lingering anger from earlier. You step out of the shower and after a few more minutes find yourself in front of the bathroom mirror.

Staring back at you is a fourteen year old guy with a toothbrush hanging down the corner of his mouth.

You run your hands messily through your wet brown hair, some of them drooping in front of your eyes. Your eyes, you note, are still as green as the luscious evergreen forest.

You hear your name being called from downstairs, it's your mischievous little sister again.

(What is your name by the way? Nah, never mind I'll just give you one for now.)

"EEETTTHHHAAAANNNN!"

Whelp that's your queue. You brush up on the rest of the preparation and head downstairs for some briefing for your mission by Agent Mom.

Your sister sees you coming from a mile away, you can guess because she's currently holding out a seat for you.

"Hey Ethan, sit next to me!" She yelps happily.

"Uh-huh" you eye her suspiciously

'my mischievous little sister is trying to pull one on ol' me' you smile internally 'well you're six years short of pulling it off'

Just as you sit she pulls the chair from under you with obvious glee waiting to see you fall before she belts out a laugh, she instead freezes, her whole demeanour contorts into one of pure horror. Why? Cause you just sat on pure air.(Heh.. I've been doing squats since before you were born)

You act oblivious to what is happening, after all that's also part of the trick and when you hear a scream, you turn around and your face tears into a grin which turns into an outright laugh as soon as you look at her.

Seraphina's face twists in confusion when she sees you laughing and not long after her eyes widen in realisation and then she makes a cute pout.

"Mo~~~m Ethan is pranking me again"

"Ethan, stop pranking your sister" your mom's voice rings out from the kitchen just as she comes out of it.

"Yay, pancakes!" Your si- Seraphina yelps out in delight as she goes to her own seat, forgetting everything that happened a few moments ago.

You grab the actual chair to sit and your mom fills up your plate and you dig in.

"Oh, um.. Ethan?" Your mom looks at you, worry painting her features. "Your coach called me recently, he told me you've been having some trouble with your friends at school." She tells you but you can see she wants to say something else, she's thinking really hard.. About dropping you out!

"So maybe I think you shouldn't go to th-"

"No Mom?!" You blurt out.

"Huh??"

"I mean, nothing has been going on.. I'm fine, nothing bad is happening to me, it's just a little competition to get the main spot in the team, nothing unusual" she lets out a relieved sigh.

You stand as you empty your plates, you don't want to show them the uncertainty and fear that eats at you.

"Just...be careful okay? I have a lot of things I'm dealing with right now, at least wait till we've settled down here before doing anything crazy" you look at your specialist agent, like really look at her.

You see the weariness and tiredness hidden behind the reassurance she always shows, after all that is what motivates you the most, to help out your family.

"I'll be off then, we've got a big match today. I'll be back on time for dinner" you wave as you go.

"You can do it!" Your sister.. I mean Seraphina makes a fist and pumps it in the air grinning as she stands on her chair. You might've been angry that she stole her words directly from the poster up in your room, but right now you need every support you can get so instead you smile at her, a small but meaningful smile filled with warmth.

Your apartment building resides in the slums of your city, the cracked parchment makes a tired groan at your passage and men adorned in business suits of different colours pass by in waves, flurrying to their various workplaces. The cold wind that passes by has you tugging at your short sleeved jersey, the autumn might have just passed a few weeks back but with the cold winter approaching, sooner or later you'll not be allowed to leave home without a coat.

You reach the bus stop and wait for the bus to arrive, and though a little bit late it arrives nonetheless. You and many others with you all pour in to fill up the space and also like many others already in, stand as you hold on to the...

Headrest of a bench (Average height)

The journey ahead is pretty uneventful with the only noticeable change being the slamming of your heart on your ribcage as you draw closer to the F&B stadium.

You head down the bus and hear a "good luck kid, make sure to give 'em hell" from Rico the bus driver. (He likes to think of himself as your mentor even though all he does is say a few words of encouragement.)

"Yeah, I'll do my best." He nods at your reply as the door closes and the bus scurries down the road.

You take a deep breath and head towards the stadium.