A World Of Decree: And The Seven Laws

After the match was called, Grandmaster Selvis sat alongside Professor Hellsgate, and professor Zelle. Selvis was clapping along with a few of the other professors, but his curiosity couldn't be masked. "Alastor." He kept his voice down, "How do you think that such a young student can come about such a spell?"

Alastor grinned delightfully, "Perhaps the boy has been training. Perhaps he read some books. Perhaps, someone taught him." He paused for a brief moment, letting Selvis eat up his choice of words. "There is a professor here who can use the 'Sixth Sense' as well.

"Even so," Selvis stopped his clapping, "You don't learn a spell like that overnight."

The numerous amounts of students and faculty slowly began to leave the Arena. Some stayed to congratulate the winning Guild, but most decided it wasn't necessary. Cartuja was asked multiple times to go treat his wounds in the medical department, however, he declined all of the requests to do so.

Calvin and the rest of Endless Sun joined him on the Arena as everything was getting cleaned up, greeting Cartuja with a friendly round of applause. "Bravo, Mr. Purgis!" Calvin clapped with a slightly more joyful expression.

Out of all people, Paris rushed over to Cartuja faster than anyone, "What were you thinking!" She said, masking her nervousness with an angered tone, "Do you know how worried I-, We were?!"

Cartuja laughed, "Since when do you care?" he smirked.

"I-I don't," She stuttered, "But you shouldn't only care about yourself…" Her cheeks blushed a slight shade of red, followed by a slightly higher-pitched tone in her elegant voice. However, her icy-platinum hair got along so well with her flushed skin that Cartuja couldn't believe what he was seeing. For the first time, Cartuja felt something strange within him, but he couldn't quite explain to himself what it was.

"And wash up your face," Paris regained her self control again, wiping a smudge of dry blood off Cartuja's chin, "You look like a creeper."

"Ha! You're welcom' for the win. M'lady," Cartuja chuckled sarcastically.

Calvin finally approached with everyone else behind him, and all he could do was smile and nod. "I'm proud of you Cartuja. I truly am."

"Don't sweat it boss man." Cartuja sighed, "Let's go grab some grub, I'm starvin' over here."

Everyone laughed, heading over to the plaza for a delightful plate of spicy curry and steamed greens. Atlas and Leo couldn't stop praising Cartuja for his performance, while Faibel and the rest were more focused on what's to come and how to deal with it.

As everyone started to dig into their meals, jokes were told, stories were shared, and an overall friendly experience was to be remembered. However, as Calvin finished his meal, he made sure no one walking around could hear what he was about to say.

He cleared his throat and sighed, "There's something I should tell the lot of you."

"Here we go again…" Cartuja mumbled under his breath.

Leo raised an eyebrow, gargling down his share of food, "Like what? How awesome the battle was?"

A few chuckles were heard, followed by a high-five from all the guys, but Calvin's face remained serious, unchanged by the laughter. "It's about my past."

The laughter died down, replaced by a few final swallows of food and everyone's full attention.

"I'm quite surprised honestly," Calvin began. "Not once have any of you questioned me about the Zodiacs, or how I became one."

Faibel adjusted his glasses as they were slipping off, "I had my theories, but left them aside. I, however, wasn't aware you became one."

"If 7 teenagers can withstand a metaphysical burden of having Universal Laws placed within them, I'm sure the Zodiacs don't seem to be far fetched either."

"Agreed," Faibel smirked.

Calvin cleared his throat once more and began to tell the story that took place a long time ago.

…

200 years ago, a group of scientists discovered a sequence of spells that opened a path to another dimension. Or at least that's what they thought. In reality, they discovered a pathway to another world: The Spirit Realm. This world was filled with empty souls, broken dreams, and corrupted minds.

There were 14 scientists who all worked together to create the pathway, all prepared to see what lies ahead. Lots of planning and expectations were prepared, and without disclosing this information to anyone else, they entered.

Calvin was one of the 14 who made it, being the first to step onto the white surface of the new world in front of him. The feeling of temperature, emotions and any sort of influential memories seemed to have no effect on the scientists. It almost felt like they were dead, along with the souls trapped inside this neverending realm of helplessness.

There was no air, but there was no reason to breathe either. There was no sky, no architecture, nothing to look at except endless hills of grey matter and a dull sky filled with lost souls. The only feeling they felt was emptiness.

They wondered for days throughout the infinite landscape, until finally, another life was found. It was a man, clearly shown by his features and soothing voice. He seemed old, but his face said otherwise. No signs of any hair were seen on his body, but wrinkles and veins seemed to be seen just fine through the n.a.k.e.d eye. He wore a grey suit, however, the colors of grey blended together so perfectly it's as if he was wearing a blanket rather than high fashion.

Calvin was the first to approach him out of the group, asking who he was, and what this place is.

"This is Purgatory. You may call it the spirit world if you like, it makes no difference." The man said, calm and intrigued.

"Purgatory?" Calvin questioned, "Does that mean…"

"Yes," The man interrupted. "You are all dead."

Looks of dread, concern, fear, and shock stared back at him like a horde of sheep glaring at a wolf.

"THIS IS BULLSHIT!" One of the scientists yelled, "After all the research and planning, you're telling me we walked into our own graves? Who do you think you are?!"

"Calm down!" One of the scientists barked at him. She wore glasses, had precious long hair, and a short temper for misbehavior. Her name was Sadrina Henzy.

The man stared back with a slight grin appearing on the corner of his mouth, "I am the Gatekeeper. I am one of the few who gets to choose who stays, enters, and leaves this forgotten land of souls." His eyes danced around the 14 scientists around him. "What led you here was none of my doing, but I can assure you it was for a reason."

"And what reason might that be?" Another scientist cried out, angered.

"Don't you find it curious?" The man started, "How do ordinary people with little to no magical abilities come across their own demise? How do untalented people perform a talented performance? One of you hasn't told the complete truth to their own comrades." The man locked eyes with Calvin, making him nervous in his own shoes.

The rest of the scientists looked at Calvin as he realized his one and only regret.

"There was a spell I added to the sequence." Calvin looked down, afraid of making eye contact with any of his friends. "It fit too perfectly for what we were doing, and was the only spell that would make this work." Guilt and shame filled him too quickly for him to keep up with.

"What are you talking about?" Calvin's brother called out to him, worried for what's to come.

"This spell… It separates the human soul from the physical body." Calvin looked at his older brother, but made sure everyone else could hear him as well. "I swear I had no idea this would happen, It was never my intention to-"

Calvin was blindly interrupted by a sudden pain on the right side of his face. The tingles of pain quickly rushed around inside him, making his jaw slightly numb from the impact. Before he even realized it, a punch struck him on the cheek, like a ball being thrown in the net of a goal. To no surprise, by the same scientist who cried out earlier. The sound of his knuckles cracking against the softness of Calvin's adipose tissue echoed throughout Purgatory like howls in a cave, leaving everyone paused with utter silence.

"YOU DID THIS!" The scientist cried out once more, "YOU KILLED US ALL."

Before Calvin could regain his posture, the Gatekeeper snapped his fingers, instantly making the scientist disappear from sight. "There is no need for violence here. Only calm, relaxed minds have full control of who they are.

The rest of the scientists shared a look as if a knife just dug into their hearts, sinking deeper and deeper into them. No one dared to say a word, and no one dared to ask what happened. Only silence dared to speak, but even then it was too hard to hear.

"What did you do to him," Calvin calmed himself, looking more furious at the Gatekeeper rather than the man that attacked him.

The Gatekeeper twitched his head towards Calvin, releasing a slightly deeper voice than before. "His soul was not at rest. His heart was filled with anger. There was no reason for his actions, and no reason for him to act the way he chose to." The Gatekeeper then twitched his head at another scientist, "You as well."

The dark-haired scientist the Gatekeeper shifted his gaze to suddenly froze. He started shaking, answering like he was giving a presentation on a subject he didn't know about. "M-Me?! W-what did I d-do?!"

The Gatekeeper snapped his fingers once more, echoing the sound briefly, and sharply. The scientist then disappeared like the previous one, leaving no trace of his existence at all. The Gatekeeper glanced at the remaining 12 once again, and proceeded to talk when no one else would.

"I'm assuming you are all familiar with Astrology."

A few scientists nodded, while some remained motionless out of fear and possible regret.

"Astrology guides our personas, our personalities, and the limitless possibilities of how they are created. Without speaking on broader terms like the lining of planets and relations to our orbit around the mighty sun, there are 12 zodiac signs that guide our intuition and soul into the path we choose to follow." The Gatekeeper pointed towards Calvin with a straightened hand, "This young man has taken the leadership role out of all of you, without trying to do so, and with no objections. Well, there was one, but the rest didn't follow."

"Your precious world is ruled by nothing but chaos and destruction. Violence on every corner and street, crime on every block and ally you find. There is no order of human guidance to help balance what is right and what is wrong."

"The 12 of you remaining are the first ever humans to discover a man-made portal to this realm of… Well, you get the jist of things here."

Calvin seemed unfazed by any of this, only worried as to what will happen next. "What are you implying?"

The Gatekeeper grinned, but making it seem like he wasn't trying to. "You have two choices. The first: You stay here, rot away and join the rest of the lost souls traveling this land in hopes of finding peace for them to move on. The second: You go back to your world representing your true self. Each of you possess something crucial to your personalities, making every possible outcome a reality with how you are today. It will not be perfect, there will still be chaos to say the least, but you will be there to control it."

"Doesn't seem like we have a choice," Calvin's brother muttered quietly.

"There are potential side effects of course." The Gatekeeper started. "Entering Purgatory is the easy part, it's what happens after you leave."

"What do you mean by that?" Another scientist cried out.

"Means you might not necessarily stay a human. You most likely won't age for eternity, leaving you immortal in the hands of a spirit star. You might acquire a certain branch of magic you currently don't have. And a few others of course." He paused for a moment, letting everyone sink in the information given. "So.. What will it be?"

Calvin looked at the rest of his team, getting the quiet responses he needed.

…

"Then he snapped his fingers again, and the next thing I knew I was laying in bed with a symbol on my c.h.e.s.t." Calvin finished, taking a sip from a glass of water.

He expected everyone to be silent as he finished his story, but the same question was thrown at him by everyone at the table. "You have a brother!?"

Calvin laughed, nearly choking on the water going down his throat. "Guess I never told you. My brother's name is Mooks."