One shot book

Ghosts:

Xavier sat on his parents bench swing holding an ice pack to his lower jaw. How dare that half-breed do this to him. His friends must've read his mind because Ethan and Jessica started complaining about how said half-breed had no right to act like such a rabid beast.

"You'd think that as a 3 she'd know better than to behave like that but I guess that's what you get from being a half-breed and having a 1 as a friend." Jessica said giving him a new pack of ice once the old one started to melt.

Xavier thanked Jessica and agreed with her. "What do you think Ethan?" He asked.

"Well she couldn't have gotten it from Melody, at least she's not as feral as the half-breed." Ethan noted.

"Are you taking the side of a 1?" Jessica questioned/accused.

Jessica could be jealous sometimes, after all she was Ethan's girlfriend and didn't like anyone getting close to him besides their friend group and his family.

"No, I'm merely stating facts. Do you have any idea why she could've attacked you Xavier?" Ethan asked turning to face him.

"Maybe it's because you called her a half-breed and her friend a 'flea infested  1.' " said a strange voice from behind them.

They all spun around to see a tall man, over 6ft with electric blue eyes and curly, messy chocolate brown hair that went down to slightly below his shoulders. He also wore typical 2 clothing but for some reason both the clothing and the man just seemed older and out of place. The feeling was given clarity when they looked down at his left hand only to see a lilac tattoo... he was an Ancient One... and from the oldest group.

All three of them suddenly felt nervous before Ethan gathered up the courage to talk to such a being. "Who are you, and how did you get here and what do you know about anything."

"Y-Yeah," Xavier spoke gaining confidence, "How do you know what the reason is? You weren't there, besides, our parents said it was fine to call people that and they can't be wrong." He told the man.

"I don't have to answer those questions and have you ever considered that maybe people don't like being called names and that your parents may be wrong." He said before tucking back a loose strand of hair.

Now Xavier was confused and he could tell Ethan was too. On one hand those were their parents, they couldn't be wrong right? They always knew what was right and wrong, right? If they said it was fine then it was fine right? And on the other hand this was an Ancient One, a Selodine nonetheless so he must be wise and knowledgeable.

Jessica got angry at the accusation. "How dare you accuse our parents of being wrong, what could you possibly know?!"

The strange man, Xavier decided to just nickname him as Selodine because he didn't know his true name let out an unsettling laugh,  one that made you cringe away as what felt like insects crawled under your skin, before speaking "Your parents know next to nothing, they are young and only know what lies the Ranking system feeds them."

"Besides, loyalty, especially when it comes to family and friends are a very... fickle thing." He said his voice and atmosphere suddenly taking a dark turn making him even more intimidating to be around.

"What do you mean?" Xavier asked.

"Many things can happen in the heat of the moment, when passion runs high, many people do things they may regret later on," for a split second Xavier thought he saw blood on the Selodine's shirt collar but it was gone by the time he blinked, "in fact, you boy, Xavier, might want to be careful, you'll experience betrayals from both friends and family members and will find unlikely allies in all sorts of places." The Selodine said pointing at him with an intensity Xavier had never felt before. He felt like a high expectation had been placed on his shoulders and he didn't even know exactly what it even was yet.

"What are you talking about, and how do you know my name?" Xavier asked.

"Young boy, I know many things... Many, many, many things." He said but this time he sounded almost sad and meloncoly, reminiscent of old times. It was weird how quickly he could change his emotions in a conversation, a skill only gained with age.

"You know what, we don't have to listen to you! We're of higher Rank you old geezer!" Jessica yelled at him.

The Selodine's eyes seemed to darken and he spat a weird language under his tongue. It sounded like English but it was different somehow, older, ancient, more mysterious. There were a couple words that Xavier thought sounded similar to modern English but for the most part he was stumped.

The Selodine sighed before speaking modern English again "Just listen to what I tell you, Xavier and try to not call people a half-breed next time dumbass."

Then the Selodine seemed to disappear into a mist like thing and he was gone. Xavier felt unsettled so he and his friends decided to just go inside. Maybe he would take the strange man's advice and try to be nicer to the half-breed.
•••••••
"Do you think that was a ghost?" Ethan said nervously.

Jessica slapped him on the back of the head and told him that ghosts weren't real and to not scare Xavier.

————————————————————–

The "ghost" then rematerialized as the trio walked to the house. Another "ghost" behind him. This one wore a magenta hijab that somehow complemented her white clothing. She rested her hand on his arm before speaking. "—–––—, my love, what's wrong?"

"Are you sure that those two are going to be the ones to help overturn the system, not to doubt your capabilities but they're kind of little shits."

The woman giggled before picking up his left hand and tracing the lines in his palm while talking. "Yes dear I'm sure. They just need to be shown the correct path. Which is where we come in whether it be physical or an unseen push."

"If you say so... but I don't trust that girl, she's no good." The man said.

The woman leaned into the man. "I know, those two are redeemable, but I'm afraid she is not. She'll try to corrupt them, we'll have to separate those two from her."

"Why does everything got to be so complicated?" The man complained leaning into the woman's soothing touch.

The woman leaned up to kiss the man on his cheek. "I know darling but it'll be for the better in the end of things. In the meantime we should probably return to our realm... this one is no longer ours."

"Okay –––—–," the man said, "let's go home."

1157 words.