A World Of Decree: And The Seven Laws

Another week had gone by. More strange occurrences involving Osris were mentioned between Mooks and Calvin, only to be forgotten the following day. Classes started to pick up the pace, slowly trimming the hours of sleep the students pridefully nourished.

Far away from Princewood in the open valleys near the Tetrad Mountains, a small formation of rock and stone was beginning to form. Only a mere foundation to hold up the shallow feet or broken cobblestone arranging itself to form a small place of rest. Every day it would get larger, but it was only about the span of a normal house as of now.

In the middle of the old rocky architecture building itself, two men were met face to face at the morning dawn. One was slightly taller than the other, had a head full of scarlett red hair and eyes of pure blackness: Alastor Hellsgate. The other was painfully sickening to look at. His skin was filled with abnormal colors, crevices in all sorts of sizes, and large bumps of built up fluid from anonymous reasons. His mouth was filled with missing teeth and cracked lips, only leaving his bald head the only somewhat normal feature about him.

"My, my. You are alive!" Alstor seemed quite surprised, even in his uncanny cool voice.

The man cleared his throat multiple times before speaking in a crusty old voice, "Alastor- HUGH!" He coughed up a strange liquid that was lodged in his throat before continuing. "I'm alive… But I look like shit. I need power to be restored back to my old self."

"Hmm, I can tell. Your power levels are drastically low."

"Shut it!" He coughed again. "I already have plans to regain my strength… I used the last of it to free Oryx." He grinned, revealing his absurdly disgusting mouth.

Alastor squinted his eyes in excitement, "So it is true then. Oryx awakens once more?"

"Yes. Although even with Oryx I won't be able to defeat the sins." The man stared at Alastor with a horrific galre, "I'm going for the Laws."

*THUD

Atlas' door swung open at the speed of light, nearly making a dent in the hollow walls of his dorm. Cartuja burst in without a sound, grabbing Atlas and dragging him out of bed. He threw him in the bathroom and yelled, "You got 5 minutes sweet cheeks! Missions are up today, and I ain't missin no mo!"

Atlas was still fazed by his sudden intruder waking him at 5:55 am. However, Cartuja did this quite often so Atlas was pretty used to it by now. It took him roughly four minutes to brush his teeth, fix his hair and get dressed before arriving at the headquarters only 3 minutes late.

It was just the way he remembered it from last year. A small inn-like room, almost like a bar. Dozens of wooden tables and stools circled the main board of missions. The same woman from last year was attending to the students, handing out bordered mission to the orderly line in front of her.

The morning smell of coffee and mint occupied the air within the headquarters to a calmful state of peace. Most students were either falling over of sleep deprivation or jittering in place from the morning coffee overdose.

Atlas and Cartuja spotted Rina, Faibel and Leo in the line, waving to grab their attention. They were at the back of the line, noticing the two after a few seconds of awkward staring.

"What mission would you like?" The woman behind the counter said in a blissfully calm voice.

The three of them hesitated for a moment when one of the uniformed boys brought out a borderless mission just in time from the back room. Atlas and Cartuja walked over to them, looking at how much the new mission would be worth.

This mission was much larger in size, occupying nearly a quarter of the board behind the counter. A faint drawing of some sort of dragon was painted on it, and the reward of 2,000,000 points for the prize.

Everyone that noticed the mission being put up in the headquarters nearly fainted out of shock. A 2,000,000 prize pool was the highest a mission has ever been in the history of Princewood. This not only caught the attention of the students, but professors as well.

"What is that mission?" Faibel pointed at the obvious answer.

"I'm afraid that mission cannot be given out. However, it can be completed if you so d.e.s.i.r.e on your own time. And yes we will know if you complete it or not." The woman smiled.

"What do we have to do to complete it?" Faibel asked in a decisive tone.

"The only information I am aloud to say is to kill Oryx. That is all."

The group suddenly backed away from the counter, taking a seat at a nearby table to discuss what they've just learned.

"So uh, does anyone know who Oryx is?" Leo began with a slight chuckle.

It suddenly got quiet around the table as everyone aimlessly stared at one another for an answer.

"Should we ask Calvin?" Atlas shrugged his shoulders.

Faibel let out a big sigh, "Seems like we have no choice." He got up and left the table. Cartuja followed him, but only because he was getting bored and didn't feel like doing a mission anyway.

That left Leo, Rina and Atlas sitting alone at the table. Leo offered to take a mission, but most of the good ones were gone already. The only ones that were left were green and red, not offering too much of a commitment to accomplish.

"So… What now?" Atlas said cluelessly.

"Don't know, the others left to go see Calvin most likely." She got up from the stool, "I got some time to kill if you wanna go hangout at the lounge?"

Atlas formed a slight grin on his face, "Yeah, I'd be down."

Rina smiled, leading the way to their lounge area across the dorm halls. They arrived in no time, plopping themselves down on the luxurious sofas made of heaven. They were far too comfortable to ever pass down on the offer.

Atlas noticed Rina's necklace pop out from under her shirt as she sat, glaring at it's beauty from afar. The dark willowed crystal gave off a faint white light in the dim lounge. Rina noticed him staring, unbuckling it from the back of her neck and examining it closely.

"It's quite beautiful isn't it." Rina said without the hopes for a reply, "I look at it every day before bed. Hoping one day I find a way to bring her back."

Atlas walked over to her, grasping her hand gently with his. An abundance of confidence overflowed him, hoping it wasn't too much.

"You will. We will. We'll all bring her back together." Atlas' voice was as calm as ever, taking Rina by a sudden surprise.

She stood up, still holding the necklace between the soft confinement of her hands. They stood close to each other, only about a foot apart. Her soft cheeks seemed to brighten a bit, raising Atlas's heartbeats with every second. He could almost hear his c.h.e.s.t thundering like gunfire, but he could hear hers as well.

Atlas stared deep into every ripple of color in her eyes. Losing himself within the split moment where no other noises occupied the lounge, but the pounding of two hearts beating against the thin walls of their c.h.e.s.t.

Unfortunately, that's all it was, nothing but a split moment. Broken by the sudden creek from the large lounge doors being opened from the hall. The sudden noise broke the peaceful silence in the lounge, tearing Atlas and Rina apart once again.

They gave each other a quick awkward look, and hopped back on the sofas to see who the infamous intruder was. To their surprise, Paris walked in looking a bit more fl.u.s.tered than usual.

Paris glanced at Rina, remembering she was looking for her anyway, "Hey water girl! Did you take my ribbon again?"

"Watergirl?! Excuse me?!" Rina jumped up furiously, staring at Paris like prey for her meal. The confidence in Paris's face quickly went away as she stared deep into Rina's eyes of terror.

The girls chased each other down to their dorms, leaving Atlas alone in the lounge. He could see the sun in the distant horizon finally making it's way up from the darkness, giving light to another day.

Atlas decided to go up to Calvin's office, in hopes of finding the rest of his friends there. While walking down the hall to the elevator, he could see a group of students walking his way from the elevator. He could hear their faint voices becoming louder, finally able to put a face on each one of them.

Trey and his group of friends noticed Atlas in an instant, circling him in the hall like bugs. "Well if it isn't Catpiss himself. Been a while since I've seen this smallfry." Trey began with a sea of laughter coming from his posse.

Atlas tried to ignore him, but when Trey suddenly put his arm up to cast a spell, Atlas quickly went on the defensive. However, his change of stance soon relaxed when Trey yelled, "Detect!"

Atlas's slight excitement for a possible duel were abolished, especially when Trey started laughing hysterically. "0! 0! 0! How is your power level.." He laughed a bit more before finishing the sentence, "So laughably low!" The group of kids around him started laughing even louder.

They started sliding down the walls, unable to control their horrible sense of humor. Atlas sighed, walking past them in a hurry. However, he decided to turn around in the heat of the moment, using "Detect," on Trey. To his surprise, his power level was only 309, making Atlas leave with a smirk on his face.

In Calvin's office, Faibel and CartuJa were standing by his closet. Laena and Leo were seated in the two open chairs around his desk, and Mooks was sitting firmly on one of the large cabinet drawers. He seemed to tower over everyone as his eyes glared around the room like streetlights.

A sudden knock on the door quickly shifted their attention to the back of the room. Atlas came in, apologizing for possibly disturbing their meeting.

"Atlas, please, sit down." Calvin gestured to the boy. "Although we're missing Rina and Paris, there is no point in hiding things from you. Therefore, I will tell you everything I know."

Their attention peaked, and Calvin began explaining the current situation. Oryx is a dragon, one that was awakened from the depths of the Pacific Ocean not too long ago. Osiris managed to seduce him with his magic, gaining an incredibly powerful ally. Osiris can fully control any living creature he manages to corrupt with his magic, making him a very dangerous foe.

So far, Calvin only knows that he is getting stronger as time goes on. Only time will tell what he's planning with his return, and what awaits for the Laws. Mooks believes that Osiris will most likely attempt to corrupt the Laws in an effort to make himself stronger. However, Calvin left off at making sure the students don't worry about such nonsense and attribute their focus on school work. This was a matter for not only professors to deal with, but the Bureau as well.

Everyone seemed puzzled in the hollow walls of Calvin's office. Faibel was processing the information steadily while the others either seemed confused or worried. Laena got up from her chair and motioned for the door, "I can, go find the other girls and let them know.."

"Don't sweat it," Calvin motioned her to take a seat, "I'll make sure to fill them in myself. "The main reason I'm even letting you all know is because one of the Bureau's men was killed last night by Osiris. His body was found in his home, stripped of all his human features." Calvin sighed before continuing, seeing everyone's faces stare at him for more details, "He was cursed. Cursed by that son of a-" He stopped himself short with a slam on the table from Mooks' paw. "That's enough for today. Don't frighten the poor kids."

Atlas, Cartuja, Faibel and Laena have never seen Calvin this angry before. They've never even seen him raise his voice for that matter. Seeing him like this sent goosebumps down their spines like a stampede of small bugs.

Calvin reached into his drawer, pulling out a small blue looking triangle from it. It seemed to glow once in his hand, radiating a navy miasma from it. The edges of the triangle seemed impossible, almost like an illusion.

"This is a spirit star. A star that's cast away in the spirit world, left to be taken by those who seek its divine powers." Calvin gave it a quick toss towards the ceiling, catching back in his hand like a ball. "It can heal the most critical injuries in a living human in the most dire situations. I swear on my life, if any of you are on the brink of death. I will make sure to use it on the seven of you. I have lost too many in my short life in this world, and I do not plan to lose anymore." Calvin's squinted the shallow wrinkles on his forehead, making him look as serious as ever.

Before another word was spoken, Rina and Paris finally came, arguing as they barged through the door. The room was staring at them like modern art, making them save their argument for later, and figure out what they've missed.