Xavier read the letters aloud for Aria’s benefit, “Xavier Malkov, you are hereby summoned by The One to discuss Operation: Last Hope. Aria Malkov, you are hereby summoned by the Armed Committee of Eternia to be assessed for occupational standing in Operation: Last Hope.”

Aria ran up to him and gave him a big hug, but Xavier quickly ushered them out of their room. They quickly separated and were guided to their respective areas. Xavier entered a council room and found only a handful of people sitting at a long, runed wooden table. The One sat with her feet propped up on the table and flicked through several holographic images.

The closer Xavier looked, the more he realized that they were images of real-time events from across all the cities. She flickered through a lot of them, stopping only when she saw the rubble of many with their city number above, and did so quickly. Her eye stalks stared at every participant in the room, and he let a bit of his aura lose to protect him from the pressure he felt as one turned towards him.

“Resist,” he spoke aloud in the language of magic.

“Oh really now? You know the language? This is… peculiar. You’re from Horland, right?” The One looked at him with all her eyes, closing them one by one as his mana began to rage again.

The true magic of the world, not the magic of the Games, was something mysterious and only grew with usage and time. He could see the years in her eyes, but her physical appearance was still no older than her mid-twenties.

She had won a lot of years and had seen even more. Her magic felt ancient and he had seen damn near every race out there.

“What are you?” he brazenly asked her. A few gasps escaped surprised lips and even more of the attendee’s eyes went wide in disbelief.

Her eyes crinkled in amusement, and raised out of her seat and approached him. He felt like a predator had set its eyes on him and currently threatened his entire existence.

“You’re not like most people, I can tell.” She walked around him, her aura easily engulfing his. Runes began to appear in the air, pushing back her aura away from him. He felt a headache coming over him, but he kept pushing back until his nose bled. His vision started to fade, but an intense energizing rush passed through him and his mana felt as though it would overflow. His discomfort faded and he looked around, his eyes more clear than ever before.

“What the fu-.”

“Watch your language,” she whispered from over his shoulders. “Your parents, Markus and Wanda. Where are they now?”

Her tone held a hint of a threat, but he didn’t back down. “I don’t have to tell you anything.”

Her cackling laughter filled the room and she suddenly walked away. “You asked me what I am? I am a calamity.”

Silence filled the room and they all started taking their distance from her. None dared to breathe too loud, let alone speak their fear.

“Do relax and take your seats.” She sat in her seat and began flickering through the cities again. “Everything you know is rather- oh, how do I put this?”

“It’s all a lie,” Xavier whispered out. He looked into her eyes with a hint of steel and walked to the chair closest to her and took his seat. “I want to know. Too much has been lost to history and I hate feeling ignorant.”

She looked around the room at the wide eyes and fearful expressions, “I’ve been waiting for this day and the looks... Everyone else out. I’ll send you all a brochure. You’ll be joining the rest of the Committee.”

They waited for the rest of the occupants to realize that she was serious, and didn’t get moving until many of the stalks started focusing on individuals. Once one moved, they all ran like cattle being scared off by the big bad wolf.

“Now,” she started and Xavier adjusted his focus on her, going as far as scooting closer so that he could hear even clearer. “Long ago, humans ruled all the lands. These domed cities were environments where they tested many things. Each city is placed on a mana vein that could eternally power the domes using the energy of the world itself.”

He nodded and began to write in the air with, etching runes with his hand. A piece of paper appeared with a stylus and he created bullet points for each piece of information she gave. His mind was purely focused on comprehending what she had to say, and his emotional reactions were turned off as he listened.

“One of these facilities, what we Xenos call Homeground, tested on the mana vein itself. They unknowingly corrupted the energy of the veins and the people began to change. They didn’t know what was going on and fled, a lot of the growth issue and mutations stopping completely once they left. Their physiology had been completely altered though, and many of their bodies were closer to pure mana than they were to flesh, bone, and blood.”

His stylus was the only other sound in the room, scritching and scratching against the page quickly. Anytime he ran out of space, he’d write another rune in the air and manifest another piece of paper.

“A lot of the Xenos are sentient and secluded themselves away, some even going as far as venturing into the void of space itself. However, there are still many that gave their sentience for power or were too warped by the corruption and blossomed into the monstrosities that just hunger for nihilism. I have been actively reinforcing the runes for centuries, gaining longevity from the Games, but I lack the power to fight against these beasts. My kind has worked for a long time to divert their attention, but...”

His stylus stopped moving across the pages as she stopped speaking. He looked at her and backed away as a fiery red aura emanated off of her, her eyestalks glazed over with an inky blackness.

“What the fu-.”

“Language,” her voice echoed about the room, gaining an ethereal quality to it. She closed her stalks and let out a long sigh. “We were betrayed by some of our finest, and I am all that remains of the sympathizers.”

His skin tingled as the energy in the room vibrated, everything in a sphere around her was dilapidated. When the energy faded, he walked forward and sat next to her.

“I’m sorry to hear that,” he reached over and rested his hand on her arm. They stayed that way until she opened her eyes and began talking again.

“You may not know it, but you are also what is known as a calamity. You’re just a young one. Don’t you find it strange how you can use magic so effortlessly compared to those around you and can understand the tongue? You are Xenos.”

He removed his hand from her arm and used the manifest rune twice. He stuck a cigarette to his mouth and lit it, sighing and he blew the smoke out.

“I’ve always wondered…”

“There’s no record of your parents anywhere and you’re not in any official database. Your unusual power registers as enigmatic in all records, your comprehension of complex ideas on such an accelerated time means your intelligence is far above what most are ever capable of, and I’d be willing to bet your body is only a subconscious projection of your parents’ will.”