Creaks in the Veil

Time flies, and eventually it's time for lunch. Stella hurries out of her class and heads toward the cafeteria. She scans the room and spots Theo sitting at a table alone, quietly eating his lunch.

She walks over and sits across from him.

"Do you really have nothing to say?" she asks.

"What is there to say?" Theo replies without looking up.

"Make sure you're ready," she mimics him. "What does that even mean?"

Theo sighs, sets down his sandwich, and finally meets her eyes.

"I was planning on telling you more once I confirmed whether that book was useful," he says. "But I guess it doesn't hurt to give you some common sense about the world you're stepping into. Ask what you want—but nothing too important."

Stella pauses, then asks:

"Are there other races besides humans?"

"Yes."

Just like that, her mind reels.

"How many?"

"How am I supposed to know? I only know about the five races the Creator made, and the other five on the top-ten ranking list. A few others exist because of unique statuses or abilities."

"Where are they all? Why haven't I ever seen them?"

"You have—kind of. They live in myths and legends. Not elves or dragons exactly, but faint traces. They'd be disgusted to set foot in this plane. At most, you've seen a part-elf from an extremely thin bloodline. As for why you haven't noticed them? There's an organization that regulates all outer-plane activity here."

Stella leans in.

"Last question for now. How come you know all this but I was kept hidden away for years?"

"That's a specific question," Theo says, smirking. "But I can answer it. You're a High Human. I'm not human at all."

Stella blinks. "What? You look pretty human to me."

Theo scoffs and raises his hand, revealing ten rings.

"Each ring serves a function," he explains, pointing to one. "This one hides all my non-human traits. Plus, I've been trained since childhood to suppress my aura. Otherwise—"

He glances toward a table of students. With nothing but a look, they collapse face-first into their food, unconscious.

"Such weak beings," he sneers.

"How come I can't do that?" Stella asks, eyes wide.

"I thought you said that was your last question."

"Come on," she pleads, "just one more."

Theo sighs, holding out his hand. "Give me your hand."

Stella hesitates, then places her hand in his. A cold energy enters her body, but almost immediately, the burning sensation on her back flares, drawing the energy away.

"That's why," Theo says. "You have a seal on your back. It blocks mana from entering or existing in your body. You can't awaken your bloodline until it's removed."

He thinks, Unless you're under extreme duress.

"Who would do that to me?"

As the words leave her lips, she realizes the answer.

"My parents..."

"Correct. More specifically, my father. Only a Rank 5 practitioner could draw a seal that powerful on someone like you."

"Your father? What does he have to do with this?"

"Remember that organization I mentioned? He runs it."

"Your dad..." she says, sinking into her seat.

"Don't look so sad. He likely gave your parents a key to control or unlock the seal. You still have hope."

Theo stands up, grabbing his tray.

"Digest that for now. I have things to do. See you tomorrow."

"Wait! The period doesn't end for twenty more minutes. Can't you tell me more?"

Theo glances back with a sly smile.

"You'll figure out more in time. Be patient, Twinklebug."

"Twinklebug? Who the hell is a Twinklebug?" she mutters.

Stella huffs and crosses her arms. She soon gets over it and heads over to the editor's office, where she finds Rachel typing away behind a desk.

"Wow, I didn't expect you to get a desk right from the start."

"And you would be right. This isn't my desk, it's a communal table. You know, there are a lot more editors than you think. Well, did you find out that boy's last name? Theo, was it?"

Stella smacks her head. "I completely forgot about that. We were just talking about—"

Stella pauses but doesn't finish her sentence. Rachel stops typing and looks up at her.

"You'll tell me when you can. Don't worry about it."

Stella smiles at her and whispers, "Thanks."

Rachel begins to type again and resumes the conversation. "What I can tell you though is that what happened in that forest isn't the first time something like this has happened. Come look at this."

Stella walks around the table and sees on Rachel's computer tweets online about damage found in woods, mysterious potholes, and damage on structures.

"What is all this?"

"This is a possible lead. We said there's no way that these battles could exist on the news, as they would probably have control over that, but they can't have control over everyone's social media."

"That may be true, but what do these images prove?"

"They prove nothing by themselves. Maybe it's just people making up stories to fill the gaps in their knowledge. But if you follow the trend of their frequency and the areas they're happening in, then you get something impressive."

Rachel rolls her seat back to an evidence board. As she flips to the other side, we see a map, and there are clusters of pins in green areas.

"This is the result of all my hard work. The green areas on the map represent wooded areas, forests, parks, and reserves. Each pin is a tweet of unexplained damage or destruction. You'll see that these incidents are clustered in the green areas. What I'm trying to figure out is why."

Stella looks at all of this in awe.

"What happens when we do? There is no one we can go to with this information, and there is nothing we can do to stop these incidents. What's more alarming is that we don't know why this is happening, who these people are, what their purpose is—we know nothing."

"We know more than we did yesterday. And you know more than me."

Rachel looks at her, her face straight like a statue but her eyes still beaming with curiosity.

"You know more than me, but I stand here still looking for more answers. I'm not unafraid of what I will find or the harm that may come to me, but I'm more afraid of living in ignorance. Of knowing there may be a whole other world out there with people with mysterious powers and abilities—but I hide and cower away simply because I'm afraid of what I don't know."

Rachel lets out a heavy sigh. "You should go."

"Rachel," Stella says as she reaches her hand out.

Rachel turns around and stares at her board. Stella's hand drops, and she walks away.

In the shadows, Amelia watches all of this.

I knew there was something special about her. Maybe I should bring her into the fold. Maybe.