Beyond Midnight

Chapter I - The Spark Wars

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"Please... take your time to read through these pages... This... This may be my last chance... My last chance to set things right. This is my story, this is my begining and this is... This is the part where you're supposed to write me a Happy Ending. The happy ending everyone is supposed to have but so few have access to it. Just... Just take your time for now we sink in the night, Beyond Midnight, and into the daylight."

                                                                                                                                        ~Narodot Niros Suiram

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     Araosimit, the place where the Gods of old slumber peacefully through the ages. Somewhere in the sky, hidden from the human's curious eyes, always moving, always concealed, protected by magics long lost in the flow of time. The mighty golden gates to the Lardehtac, the palace where the High Lord sits, oppened slowly as a woman, glowing with infinite beauty, stepped through them, passing through the long hallways and into the throne room.

"Ah, my beloved queen, I have been expecting you." a voice echoed through the empty chamber. A single silver throne rested on the marble floor and behind it, a large oppening in the wall, revealing the infinite sky and the setting sun. With his back turned towards the female entity, gazing out in the distance stood the High Lord, the king of the gods of old and the Herald Of Midnight, Nixs. He looked somewhat troubled a fitting appearance for such troubled times.

"Milord..." the female entity whispered as she bowed deeply.

"It's ending, is it not? The Twilight of the Gods is approaching..." the High Lord said, calmly, without turning towards his consort.

"Yes... It is. It's been so long since we have closed our eyes, falling into the Slumber, the humans down there forgot about us and of the ancient magics that they once praised. We are fading away. Their belief is not enough... Not strong enough. The few that believe are simply children that grow up losing the Spark that kept us alive. The few that get to believe in the Ancestral Arts get hunted down..." she whispered, her voice trembeling.

"What of the other beings that walked the earth in ancient times?" The High Lord asked.

"Also hunted down by the human's so called Secret Services. The few that are left are either living in small colonies in the forests, protected by their ancient barriers or living among the humans, mating and dieing with them. Milord... You must do something..." She whispered once more, for this female entity was Aneles, The Goddess Of Whispers.

A sour smile spread on the male's lips as he continued gazing into the distance, the sun only minutes away from setting "How the mighty have fallen..." he stated.

"Milord..." she whispered, with a pleading tone.

"So be it, send word to the council. Send word to the leaders of the creatures left below and send word to the leaders of the humans. The Herald Of Midnight has spoken. The Trials shall begin, the first chapter of the Spark Wars." he boomed, his voice echoing through the halls of the mighty Lardehtac.

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"The Spark Wars... The Spark Wars" the words echoed through a young male's dream "The Herald Of Midnight has spoken..." were the last thing he remembered, before he woke up in his cold bed, bathed in sweat. His gaze shifted to the clock that laid on the bedside table "5:58AM" he whispered,  throwing the sheets off his half undressed body. "Bleh... The stupid bitch didn't even wake up yet..."he mumbled as he walked into the kitchen, gazing through the darkness that a winter night brought. He turned around, going back into the hallway of his appartment and stopped in front of a door which had a 'No Entry' sign on it, but he ignored it as he walked in "Oi! Artemis, wake the hell up. We're going to be late again!" his voice was heard from the room, seconds before he got flinged out of the room. "Can't you freegin read "NO ENTRY"?" a female voice, with a Australian accent, boomed as he stood up from the place he landed in the hallway. The female was Artemis, the male's best friend and the one he lived with, although her temper was not something you'd like to mess with, specially not in the morning. Standing at 1,73 meters tall, waist long black hair, dark green eyes and a figure that could make anyone want her.

"Crazy bitch" the male mumbled as he walked into the kitchen, begining to prepare their lunch.

Several moments later, while the male sat over the stove, cooking Artemis walked in, all dressed up in a uniform that was clearly a number smaller than the limit set by common sense, but it was just her way of dressing so no use arguing with her. "I thought it was my turn to cook lunch today." she stated as she sat at the table, after serving herself with a cup of coffee. "Well, if you weren't a lazy drunken bitch maybe you would've gotten to cook today." the male said as he rolled his eyes when he felt the smell of alcohol that still remained on the woman's breath. Drinking was her hobby and passion as she said it.

"Go screw yourself." she responded with a light giggle before she raised her brow at the male "You look tired Niros." she added, seriously, this time as she spoke to the male. Narodot Niros Suiram, for that was his name, standing at 1,75 meters tall, short black hair and greenish brown eyes.

"It's nothing, just a bad dream." he mumbled as he eventually finished lunch, packing it for school.

"There, that should be about it. We still have ten minutes left." he said as he grabbed a cup of coffee and went to his own room, getting dressed.

"Spark Wars" a soft whisper echoed through the male's room as he got dressed, making him freeze in his place, gazing around. "Who's there?" he asked, his eyes quicky gazing through the room only to see nothing there. "It starts...." the same voice whispered, echoing through the room once again, soon followed by a knock at the door. "Oh no..."

"Who the fuck is knocking at this hour?!" Artemis' voice could be heard from the kitchen as she walked into the hallway and reached to open the door.

Niros rushed out of his room "Artemis! Don't!" but it was too late, she oppened it, only to be thrown across the hallway by a yellow light, landing on the kitchen table, unconscious.

"Now..." the whisper was heard through the appartment, echoing in Niros' ears, closely followed by a chuckle, coming from the one who knocked at the door. He was a male, slightly taller than Niros, shoulder long black hair and the same eyes as Niros. He was grinning as he stepped in, raising his hand, which began glowing with a yellow light. "Hello little brother." the male said as he threw the light towards Niros, the teenager, jumping to the side into his room, avoided the blast. "Damn it!" he yelled as he began looking through the room for something. "Where the hell are they?!" he yelled as he reached under the bed, the door to his room oppening slowly. "Come out little brother~" the unknown male said, with a mockingly happy tone.

Niros managed to get what he looked for under the bed, it was a deck of silver poker cards. The male looked at him as he laughed "Do you really think that some cards can help you now~?" he asked as he watched Niros stand up and pull out a card from the deck. "Joker Arts..." he said as he turned the card around, so the male can see it "What?!" the unknown male yelled as he looked at him "Ace of Spades, Stun!" Niros yelled as several lights began dancing around his form, the lights spinning and twisting began gaining the shape of broadswords, which flied across the room, towards the unknown male, hitting him in the chest and throwing him in the wall, pinning him there.

"Tsk! You're no fun, little brother..."

"God fucking damn it Udar! I fucking told you I don't want to be part of this... I don't want to be part of these games! I don't want to be part of the Spark Wars." Niros yelled at the male.

"It's too late for that~ You saw it didn't you ? Without them we all die and only the humans will stay alive. We are the last of the Silver Dragons, Niros... We can't live without the Spark either. Plus you used magic, so you're in already. Although I'm a bit disappointed you still didn't manage to learn propper magic. You still use the power of ancient items. " Udar babbled as he moved a bit, the blades that were pinning him to the wall shattering. "And you've also been marked by the Ancients." he said as he laughed "Bastard." Niros answered "Go and help your friend. I totally smashed her, but she should be alright in a few moments." Udar said as he laughed, his form being surrounded by the male's own shadow. Soon he began sinking in it, disappearing from sight "We'll meet again~ The first round of the Spark Wars are one week from now, midnight. The Ancients will tell you more." were his last words as he faded away.

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In the mighty Araosimit, the Herald Of Midgnight was pleased. He watched the entire scene from his throne high up in the skies, a soft smile on his lips. "And so it begins, this will be interesting indeed. Do you not agree my love? " he asked as he turned his head towards his beloved consort, which nodded. "And so it begins..." she whispered.