"Out of billions of people in this world, I never thought you would be able to become his shadow." These words echoed in Darion's head like a nightmare.
Iris turned his head towards Lucien, fear and anger sharpening his eyes. "How did this happen? How could YOU let this happen? I thought that place was locked up with a barrier provided by the Valnerian soil."
Darion then opened his mouth with a slight tremble, but attempted to keep his cool.
"I don't know. I was out making deliveries when I passed the shrine; I started hearing whispers and seeing things, too. There was this man across the street, barely there, with these sad excuses for eyes. Then the whispers got clearer. Most of it was gibberish, except a few things."
He then swallowed.
"4B. And… 'You were made for this.' That's all. I swear!"
Iris's eyes widened with realization. "It's the apotheosis for a band, similar to what these guys had to go through..."
The Valnera defense force consists of the ordinary police and military, but what separates it from other countries is the powerband users at the top.
Although powerful, they don't have the most authority since they are often composed of teens or young adults.
This is all due to the apotheosis experienced by Valnerian children, which indicates whether they are worthy of a certain powerband; each one has different effects, often tied to the band's power.
"Apotheosis? Ohh, is it when Rex has that killer fever, until he wore the fireband?" Darion said curiously.
"Exactly, people who are worthy, specifically on the younger side, get similar effects you experienced but are tied to the band, an example is when we had to play a game of hot and cold with Rex, the closer he would be to the fireband, the colder he would be until it disappeared completely when he wore the fireband."
"Or when I had the feeling I was drowning when I was little, until I wore the waterband," Cael said in a serious tone.
"Yeah, okay, bro, we get it, you like to mention that a lot. " Silas replied.
"Pfft, at least it wasn't as bad as yours, you got your ass blown off the roof by strong winds."
"At least I landed gracefully, like I was falling through water."
"HEY, THAT'S MY THING!" Cael and Silas began arguing before Tarin broke his silence.
"I remember when it felt like a mountain was on my chest, and it got lighter as I got closer towards the earthband."
Darion stared at them.
For a second, all he could think was that his friends had survived this strange, terrifying ritual years ago, and somehow still found a way to argue about it like idiots.
Iris then said, "Are you guys seriously gonna talk about your life story-"
"Man, for me, it was probably the closest to Darion. The lights around me in a building would flicker when I got near them, and it felt as though I could see the light everywhere I went. Then I had a talk with Solas in my dream. After approval, I was able to wear the lightband, changing my life forever."
"That's nice, sweetheart. You want a cookie?" Iris said sarcastically after being cut off.
"On it!" Mirei said from the depths of the cafe.
Iris facepalmed and then resumed the task at hand.
"Now, even if you did undergo an apotheosis, that still doesn't explain how the hell you managed to bypass the barrier protecting the shrine; only the lightband can control the barrier."
"Which also explains how we managed to get in despite that," Tarin replied.
"I have no idea, it felt like sleepwalking, but if you were still conscious, unable to do anything about it, maybe like a sleep paralysis, maybe? I dunno."
Darion held his hands together and breathed deeply.
"Then, the next thing I know, I just walked into the shrine easily, and was in front of the darkband, then almost like it transformed, turned into a piece of shadow that flew and wrapped itself around my head."
"Interesting." Iris then got a pen and paper from the storage room, found next to the coffee bar, and began noting down Darion's 'apotheosis'.
"What is this 4B thing? 4 bands? 4 buddies?" Iris said sarcastically as he wrote down the details provided by Darion.
"I have no idea, but I think what was weird was what happened after Kurai took over my body-"
Iris looked at Darion with fear and anger, before shifting his head towards the nonchalant-looking Lucien, who had finished his flat white.
"HE WHAT?"
"What? What are you looking at me for? I beat him, pretty easily too." Lucien replied with a smirk.
"You didn't bother to mention that the incarnation of darkness and evil took over Darion Veil's body, and let alone can do that?"
"Well, I can sense the darkband since it has a strong link with the lightband, and Kurai, although pretty powerful, is incomplete and doesn't have the power to overthrow Darion's control of his body; it only happened when Darion was vulnerable thanks to the apotheosis."
"4B? I've heard of that before."
Mirei came from behind the counter and handed Lucien a chocolate chip cookie.
"Wait, you actually got him a cookie-"
"I remember hearing a story of a building along the outskirts of Valnera that's been haunted by an evil spirit. Ever since then, it has been abandoned all the way back in the age of Earth." Mirei said with a cheerful expression.
"That old, huh? Maybe we should check it out someday." Lucien then proceeded to devour the cookie in 3 bites,
"Fatass," Cael said with a smug expression on his face.
"Anyway, after the fight, there was a giant stone monolith that appeared out of nowhere, talking about some fragments."
Lucien and Iris' eyes widened as they tried to hide any visible reactions. Following that, Iris clenched his crystal blue pendant as he sighed deeply.
"So, what I've learned is Darion had an apotheosis, he had Kurai take over his body, lost to Lucien, and now he won't be able to take over his body again?"
"Pretty much, I'm planning on taking Darion to the center of Valnera in the tower of light, where I'll try to learn more about his current situation and try to teach Darion how to use his Darkband," Lucien replied to Iris.
Mirei then looked at Darion, then at the darkband, "But I remember seeing rumors that go all the way back to the age of fire that said, the one who is worthy of the darkband is of pure evil in his heart, but Darion is too much of a sweet and innocent guy to do that, I mean, I've known the man for a decent while, he is anything but that."
Iris and the powerband users all look at Mirei with a worrysome look on their faces, "You have clearly not played a single video game with this man; this is coming from someone who's known him since we were in kindergarten." Rex replied.
Iris sighed deeply as it was almost time to clock out. "I think I got the full picture now, y'all can go to the light tower, and have Darion learn baseline while he's at it."
"Baseline?"
Iris then went back to the counter and disabled the lockdowns. He then proceeded to turn off the neon lighting and close up early, as Darion and the others began to leave Iris, then yelled.
"Where do you think you're going? Without paying your bill."
Lucien, confused, said, "I thought the drinks were on the house?"
"The drink, yes, but not the cookie."
"Alright, how much is it again?"
"5 Vals but for you, 9."
Lucien, with a disgusted expression, then yelled, "The hell?! That's daylight robbery!"
"It's almost night, man, and I just simply felt like it for no reason at all."
Lucien mumbled to himself as he pulled a 5 Val note alongside 4 1 Val coins.
Mirei then shouted from the back, "Thanks, hope to see y'all again, and I'll be sure to ask my history professor for any clues around the darkband, bye!"
Darion and the band users began walking towards the train station to take them to the heart of Valnera, the light tower. It was a giant skyscraper that could be seen anywhere within Valnera, cementing itself as a real tourist attraction of the city. It rose almost 800 meters into the sky, making it comparable to the burj khalifa found within Dubai.
They then all pulled out their phones, and each scanned their train passes, and got onto the train. Darion sat next to both Lucien and Rex. They had an estimated time of 10 minutes, so Darion proceeded to open his phone to check if he got any notifications, then looked at the window opposite him.
The train then entered a tunnel, making the outside pitch black, whilst the light allowed him to view his own reflection. It showed a sixteen-year-old boy with light skin, dark brown curls, and a face ordinary enough to disappear in a crowd. But then, as he slowly dozed off from exhaustion, he looked back towards his reflection and saw himself.
The reflection was smiling, but Darion wasn't. Its grin stretched from ear to ear. Its eyes were empty of color, and black veins pulsed across its face like dark cracks beneath the skin. It tilted its head.
Well, hello there, Darion Veil...