Dark Turn (Book One In War Of The Magi)

Chapter 1 - Justice isn't always pretty

The alarm clock beeped loudly on my hears as I got up from my bed. It marked 7:00 am in it's bright red digital number.

"Guess it's time for me to get ready..." I said to myself as I left my comfortable bed. Looking around my room I realized something, this would be the last day I would spend a night here. I was going to miss the familiar feel of my room, the memories that it brought to me, I would miss it all. Sadness ran over me at the thought of it. Keeping those emotions aside I decided to get ready for my departure.

I looked at my wardrobe in search of my new uniform. It stood out as a sore thumb. It was a white blazer with black lines marking along creating various shapes, the most obvious one being the dark insignia it portrayed on its shoulders, with a white vortex in its middle, representing the Torynus Empire. The rest of the uniform was followed up with white pants with a single black line in each leg, going from the waist to the feet, and a simple pair of black shoes. I knew not to get used to this color, for it would change.

Checking myself on the mirror, I noticed that my midnight black hair was quite messy. Using my hands to straighten it I headed downstairs to my kitchen.

"Morning honey!!" I heard a soft female voice say. My mom had her golden hair tied up into pony tail as she served pancakes to me and my father who was already reading the morning news paper.

Her pale blue eyes, which were the same color as mine, started to scan me from head to toe, checking my new attire.

"You look so mature in your uniform!" She gushed as she pulled me into a tight hug.

"She's right son, you look important in that." I heard my dad say as he lifted his eyes from the newspaper.

My dad had always been the embodiment of respect. His midnight black hair was combed back and his bright green eyes were shining with happiness. He was wearing his perfectly measured black suit with a white button up shirt and black tie. A self-made gentleman.

"Thank you mom, dad..." I said, my voice giving away a bit of my sadness built up inside me. "It means a lot that you support me on this..."

"Of course we would!" My mom said cupping my cheeks. "It's what you wanted, your choice. We would never separate you from your desire."

"That's right," I turned my head to watch my dad standing up and putting an arm on my mom's shoulders. "but don't you forget, justice isn't always pretty, it will never be black and white so..."

"I know, watch out for the grey ones..." I said in a monotone voice. My grandfather always used to say that. He was a veteran in the Great War of Three, defending the Aleson Empire. A pert of me knew that he had influenced my choice on joining the War Academy, but an even bigger part of me knew it had been someone else influencing me.

The Holo-Clock on the wall indicated 7:35 am and I knew I had to get going or I would miss the train.

Kissing my Mom goodbye and shaking my dad's hand, I left my house in a slightly hurried pace.

*

Arriving to the station, I noticed the train hadn't come yet. I sighed in relief as I looked around watching for the other students with a uniform equal to mine. It wasn't that hard, seeing that most of the people around my age, which was sixteen, had that uniform.

The sound of the train's hydraulics made me snap back out of my daze. I was mesmerized at the amount of parents that came to watch their sons and daughters leave for the Academy. It had never been this big amount. Parents usually didn't want to see their kids going to a school of violence and blood. My family had already come to matters with my absence of three years.