Chapter 5

Tessa was sitting in a field full of beautiful flowers. Her tiny hands pulling off petals as her mother worked. The scene was strange, as though the colors were off somehow. Her mother was an air elemental whose job was to pollinate the flowers and plants. 

Suddenly, Tessalin realized that this was a dream. Her mother was no longer alive. She was dreaming of a memory. 

Tessa's body moved on its own, rushing to meet her mother in a warm embrace. Despite realizing that it was a dream, she savored this moment. 

Tessa wore her favorite pink dress. She remembered this memory very clearly, so she knew this was the last time she would ever wear a dress. 

"Tessa. My sweet Tessa. " Her mother said quietly. 

"Yes ,Mommy. What is it? What's wrong?" Tessa felt herself say. She was unable to speak or move, a mere passenger on one of her most painful memories. 

Tessa pulled back to look at her mother when movement caught the corner of her eye. Flowers were flying all around them in a gorgeous display. 

"MOMMY! It's beautiful! You are so talented! " 

Her mother held a grim smile as she crouched next to her and watched the display of floating flowers. 

"Tessa. It is time. They are coming. You must be brave and strong. " Her mother said with tears in her eyes. 

Tessa clutched her mother, "Why!? Why can't I stay with you! I'm only six! It's not fair!" 

They both broke down and began to cry as her mother tried to soothe her. "Medo will be there, you won't be alone. Promise me you will remember me. " 

"I promise! But...but...I will become an amazing hunter and one day I'll return and we will be a family again!" 

Her mother smiled at this, "I know you will. They are almost here. Remember these words. " Don't believe everything you see. " 

The flowers had blocked the view of the men approaching. Before she could respond she felt arms grab her and pull her away from her mother. 

"NOO! LET ME STAY! NOOOO! MOMMY!" Tessa yelled as they carried her away. 

*********

Tessa woke with a start. Looking around, she saw that she was in her room. 

"How did I get here...? " She thought as her eyes fell upon her bedside table. Laying on top were two bright red envelopes. 

Her stomach dropped. Every hunter knew exactly what the red envelope meant. Someone she knew had passed away. 

Memories assaulted her as she reached for the envelope. The pain of the dream was brought back in full force as she remembered what happened a mere month after she had been taken all those years ago. 

According to her teachers in school our society was at war with the monsters outside the wall. Our wartime status led to the drafting of any child who has a core into the school for hunters. This status also led to the creation of the red envelope. Many people die in war, sometimes a great many in one day. If someone dies, there is no funeral, no remorse, no crying. They only send a red envelope that simply contains the name of the person who perished. 

A month after she had been brought to the school Tessa recieved two red envelopes. Inside were the names of her parents. Nothing about what happened or anything. Tessa remembered how angry Stella was at the lack of details. Stella spent the next two years trying to find out what happened. 

That was when Tessa recieved the red envelope for Stella. 

Tessa was so confused. Did everything with Odade really happen? Was it all just a dream? 

Her hands were shaking as she opened the first envelope. 

Inside were the words she feared the most. 

 MEDO FLAMESTRIKE

She knew it was a lie. Medo was now working with Odade....right? Her mind told her that what happened was real, but her body felt differently. For the first time in her life she could not sense her brother at all. 

Quickly she opened the second envelope. It was no surprise that is was the name of her groups compressor. 

ODADE REEVEN 

She felt her emotions begin to spin out of control when she heard a knock on the door to her room. 

Composing herself she answered the door. Standing outside was the other three members of her and Medo's group. They wore expressions of sadness as they greeted her with hands clasped before them in the gesture of respect. 

Tessa returned the gesture. 

Sadly, she didn't know these three that well. Tessa and Medo had been transfered to Odades group a few months ago. Due to the continual "Wartime" status, the Star Hunter school was a military outfit. After the age of 12, school consisted of training and working in the field. Hunters were rated and ranked as they progressed. Compressors were also ranked and rated which led to a simple but effective competitive environment. 

The higher rank hunters were assigned to the higher ranked compressors. 

Tessa and Medo had worked really hard and had finally broken through the ranks to be able to join the highest rated group. Despite the name calling, everyone in Zone C had secretly desired to be in Odade's group. Odade boasted the highest numbers but also had helped culture some of the most famous and powerful hunters. 

Zita was the most ambitious of the three. A tall humorless brunette who appeared as tough as the elemental core she wielded, earth. Zita was never to far from her best friend ,Markan, an average height black haired boy with an air core. Markan wasn't incredibly powerful by himself but he boasted strong support abilities which made him a great ally. 

The last member had a fire core, which had cause her to hate Medo when they had first joined Odades group. A flaming redhead with a temper, Jules was eventually won over by Medo's kindness and charm. A week ago Jules had confided in Tessa that she had a crush on Medo which made the current circumstance that much more awkward. 

Each one of them had worked so hard to get to the number 1 group and now they had lost not only their compressor but a member as well. 

The four of them stood in awkward silence for a minute when a siren began to go off. They looked at each other confused. None of them had ever heard a siren go off. What was going on? 

BRRRRING! BZZT! 

A strange sound emanated from Tessalin's arm which brought back a recent memory from school. The government had created an upgraded defense communication system that was embedded in the suits. They told us that we would probably never see it used. Due to the intense power drain, the new system was only to be activated in times of serious distress. 

A floating hologram of Zone C's general appeared over her arm. General Zo was a bald, short tempered man who was now glaring at her from a foot away. 

"Tessalin. Due to the recent loss of your groups compressor, I have given you temporary control of your unit. Zita, Jules, and Markan. You have been assigned to Tessalins unit, follow her orders as though she is a compressor. As you can see we have activated the UDC, use the system to find and contain as many Stars as possible. Mark the location and a compressor will come after to absorb the star. Tessalin. We need your speed. Good luck. " 

With his last words the hologram of the general faded away, but was replaced by a new hologram. A detailed depiction of Zone C appeared. A robotic woman's voice spoke in Tandum with hologram as it changed. 

"Warning! Scanners indicate large starfall. Calculating trajectories. " 

Tessalin and her group stood there in shock at the sight before them. More than 12 stars had come over the barrier all at once. One of them was at least stage 2 in size. Each of them had a digital path that showed where they should have landed on the mini-map. 

Tessa's heart sunk. She felt it deep in her gut. Odade was behind this. Such a star fall had never happened in any of the zones...ever. He had Medo and his freedom so what was he after? Was this part of the revenge he was talking about? Regardless, Tessa knew that she was alone in this. No one would believe her and it was best to keep it to herself for now. 

The school had given a brief overview of how the UDC system worked, but this was years ago and Tessa hadn't really been paying attention. Thankfully, the interface was user friendly and easy to operate. It only took her a moment to access the situation but was torn on what to do. There were 12 stars all split up roughly the same distance apart. Only one of them was large enough to produce a 'Chu'. This star was the furthest away so it would stand to reason that it would be the best choice for her to take on. Tessa was the hunter with the highest rank and the greatest speed. Yet she felt like it was a trap. The distribution of the stars was so perfect that she knew it was Odade. He wanted her to go there....but why? 

If she went against what Odade was forcing her into then there was a chance the 'Chu' could power up before she could stop it. She knew first hand how powerful an Oki could be, and this time Odade wouldn't be there to save her. 

Looking up she saw three pairs of eyes waiting for her orders. Tessa touched two stars on the map. 

" I will take on the 'Chu' by myself. You three get to this star as fast as possible. If I am in trouble you may have to break off and come help me. If I get done first I will come to you. Let's move out! " Tessa said with authority. 

The others nodded in agreement but Tessa was already gone. She had transformed and sped into the sky like a bolt of lightning. 

Tessa had made her decision. If this was Odade, then she couldn't drag anyone else into it.