The Astral soul system

Iris ran as fast as she could, making as many turns as she could, trying to shake off what she hoped was no longer behind her.

She made another quick turn, grabbing onto a ladder that was against a building and quickly climbing up. Making it to the top, she looked around, making sure she was alone before grabbing a plank and laying it down as a makeshift bridge to the next roof. Once she was on the other side she took it off, laying it on the ground. She repeated this a few times before climbing down to a secluded alley.

She walked towards what looked like a dead end, pushing away a rock and revealing a crack that spread all the way to the other side and was just the right size for her to squeeze through.

Once she got to the other side she finally slowed down but was still breathing heavily.

She took a cautious look around before walking in a familiar direction, trying her best to look normal.

She turned a corner and suddenly bumped into something, looking up, she backed away, recognizing the familiar face.

A shrill sounding voice followed

"Well what do we have here. It’s the brat"

She took a step back

"What do you want,axe?"

She looked back but noticed there were already people there.

"Us? Nothing much. Just to collect what I’m owed"

Axe said, stepping forward.

For someone named axe,he had a rather fragile build . He was thin with a cunning air around him, his eyes wide and the smile on his lips manic.

"The big guys don’t like being left waiting"

"We’re working on it"

"Well that’s not good enough. Where’s that idiot you’re always following around? Ditched you already?"

"That’s -"

"Shut up!"

She flinched, now openly looking for an out, but the only place left open was running directly into the street.

He suddenly reached and grabbed her wrist

"Now be a good girl and don’t fight. You don’t want to end up like your parents"

Hearing that,her eyes suddenly became the size of pins and her panic evaporated

"Screw you"

She said, suddenly biting his hand as hard as she could.

Screaming, he let her go and she immediately ran right into the road .

She had only made it halfway when she suddenly she heard a truck honk.

She turned around to see one barreling towards her. Her feet locked up in place, and even if they hadn’t it was too late.

On the other side Axe and his crew watched the truck rush by, convinced the girl was dead but strangely there was no blood on the ground,no body. It was probably knocked away.

"Alright, let’s go"

He said about to leave when he touched his wrist.

His face suddenly scrunched up in anger

"That bitch took my watch!"

*******

Iris opened her eyes, wondering why she wasn’t yet crushed. Looking around she suddenly realized she was no longer on the road, though she still recognized this place.

Though she wad still confused she didn’t have time to waste. She took a quick look around before she kept running. A quick look down would have let her see her a pair of glowing eyes in her shadow, watching her every move

What would have been a few minutes trip was stretched by the constant twists and turns she made, probably to avoid being followed. Eventually she made it to a small slightly dilapidated building on the outskirts.

She made her way inside making sure to lock the door before falling onto her messy ripped up couch, closing her eyes.

A few minutes of peace and silence lasted before she suddenly felt the air in the room get a bit colder.

She suddenly opened her eyes and looking up the first thing she saw was the guy she’d left with Igor’s men

She immediately fell out of the couch, backing away as fast as she could.

"How did you get in here?"

"..."

She reached into her pocket and took out the silver looking watch she’d grabbed .

"Here, just take it and leave"

He looked down at the watch. Palladium. It was useless to him. Still he took it examining it closely

"So..."

She was a bit confused. He wasn’t saying anything. In fact he felt like a completely different person from who she met before.

Zen dropped the watch. He’d taken a quick examination of this place while she had her eyes closed and there was nothing of note here,also it seemed she lived alone.

He suddenly took a seat on the ground, closing his eyes as he began to meditate.

His hands had mostly healed by now but since he was using the energy as it came,it was difficult

Iris watched this random stranger she tried to steal from just sit on her floor and close his eyes. She stood there for a few minutes, unsure of what to do. Eventually she sat down in front of him, watching closely.

Zen noted her presence but didn’t react to it. The only reason he was here and not yet leaving was because he’d found out what part of the city this was. An area called the verge. It was right next to the boundary of the city. Basically the slums of sentinel city. It was a lawless broken land with broken people that was frequented with beast attacks. Though the inner city also faced beast attacks, sentinel academy’s forces could easily be deployed there. Due to the recently ended millennia long war,the resources required to protect or provide the outer rim were unavailable . That’s one of the reasons this years recruits were about ten times more than usual from so many more planets than usual.

The only defense these people had were underground shelters. The government ignored them as well and left them to be run by the gangs that arose in these areas.

Sentinel academy was located at the very center of the city. Even if he flew whenever he could at full speed he wasn’t going to get there in time for classes so he might as well stay here and rest.

He doubted Aurora would pursue the matter too much, and the dean,or,gramps seemed to like them so no rush.

Perhaps he should consider getting a vehicle. He knew how to ride most land,air and space vehicles so... maybe a bike?

She looked at him curiously, brushing her auburn hair aside.

"What’s your name?"

"..."

"How’d you find me?"

She finally stopped with the

After a while he opened his eyes and noticed a bowl in front of him. Inside it was some cheap low grade food paste.

Across from him,he could see her eating the same thing.

"It’s all I’ve got"

She said,her voice shrinking.

He looked at the bowl but didn’t move to touch it.

"Bet you’ve never eaten anything this bad before"

Hearing that, Zen’s mind went back to a specific memory.

Cold,dark wet.

The only sensations he could still name. Everything else was numb, except for the taste of blood and the rat that was still struggling to get out of his teeth, clawing his face and squeaking in pain.

An involuntary breath escaped the body’s nose and he came back to himself.

Seeing that he still didn’t touch the food, she put down her bowl, looking at the watch.

"You’re strong, right?"

"..."

She hesitated, intimidated by his lack of response or facial expression before clenching her fist.

"I know where you can get one more of those cores"

"..."

"I know a guy named Axe. He works for the head of one of the gangs on the south side. He takes care of the warehouse. Take him down and you can take whatever you want from there"

"..."

This girl was clever. She was once again using him to get rid of her enemies so she could benefit from it all.

Though that was what it took to survive in this place.

"Some of them have abilities"

She looked closely at his face as she said that, trying to gauge his reaction. When she got none, she continued.

"Will that be a problem?"

"..."

"So... should we?"

Theia asked, only visible to him.

"I promise it’ll be worth your while so..."

"..."

She sighed, looking like she was loosing hope.

"Please?"

"..."

She looked like she was contemplating something,her eyes darting from side to side. After a few seconds, she finally couldn’t hold it anymore.

"I didn’t always use to live here"

"..."

"My family used to live on the inside,I could see the big glowing tower from there."

"..."

"I used to sit on the balcony every sundown and wait for it to blast that huge light into the sky, outside the bubble, and I used to love riding the big ferris wheel next to the apples and chocolate bananas. I can still remember that funny smell on the way there. It was really close to our house so i wanted to go every day"

"..."

"Then one day my parents disappeared, and some guys in suits said they borrowed money and didn’t pay. I know really know what happened next. After a while i had to live here,by myself. Axe’s boss is one of the people my parents owe money. And they won’t let me go until I pay up. I’m sorry I stole your crystal "

Zen didn’t say or do anything. He believed her story, at least some of it. For one he knew about the place she was talking about,as well as the "Funny" smell on that road.

It was asphalt from the bike park behind it

It wasn’t just inside the city, it was almost to the center, visible from the academy. The big glowing tower was the central teleport station Which connected to other cities and even other planets.

The so called blast of lightwas the trandponder activating to restart the cycle. And the"Bubble " was earth’s artificial atmosphere that doubled as a forcefield and its first line of defense. Though its intended purpose was no longer necessary.

If she really did live close enough to see it, and even describe it then that meant her family had to be at least somewhat well off, even if not really rich before whatever happened. There’s no way a family like that just runs away leaving a huge debt for their child to face alone .

Though there were some things he didn’t believe her on

He looked down at the girl that was clenching her fist as hard as she could.

"Maybe we should look more into this"