Shadows of Atlas

7- Infiltration

All was lost, the Coran base was being invaded by a massive armada of StriveCo. employees. Everybody was dead, except for one. "I'll give you all a show you'll never forget," Eto yelled at the top of his longs as he summoned shooting stars that decimated a lot of the enemy forces. He proceeded to hack and slash his way through enemy lines, trying to take down as many employees as he could... and then he heard it. The roar that made his skin crawl. Suddenly, the world went black and he saw The Phantom standing just a few feet away from him. "W-why are you here?," he asked as he blindly punched the mask off the Phantom, only to reveal nothing behind it. Eto fell down as he was startled by the abscence of a face and the Phantom picked up its mask, putting it on. "S-stay b-back!," Eto warned in a scared manner. It lunged and Eto tried his best to fend him off, but The Phantom laughed at his desperate attempts and slashed Eto's neck.

Eto woke up with both hands around his neck, reassuring himself that his head was attached to the body. This was the 5th nightmare he has had after meeting the Phantom face to face for the first time. "It was all a dream, all a dream," he said out loud in an effort to calm himself down. The morning afterwards, he met up with the rest of the members and received a shocking announcement. "Our sources indicate that StriveCo. is going to sponsor a ball in the main building. This is the perfect chance to infiltrate since their security will be reduced," Andrew announced. "I've already assigned the infiltration team members: Abner, Eto, and Christian," Ernie added.

"Woah what? Aren't I an initiate?!" Eto asked in shock. "Not many initiates prove themselves to be excellent fighters with strong transformations in this amount of time and Christian is an initiate too. Plus, your graceful battle style doesn't make much noise, if you don't speak to that imaginary audience like you usually do," Andrew replied. "Curse my natural gifts for hurting people in a beautiful way," Eto said. "Eto, this is a great oportunity to get ahead of StriveCo., why are you scared?," Christian asked. Eto flashed back to the dream he had, but decided to agree on taking on the mission.

The main building was crowded by prominent figures like businessmen and politicians, meanwhile Eto's team snuck through the back of the building. "Alright everybody, this mission is of grave importance. We cannot afford to get caught or else it'll be the end of the Corans and StriveCo. will rule Atlas, please don't mess up," Abner said. "So how do we get in?," Christian asked. "Eto plays the most important part here, use your water magic to move the locking mechanism and that will unlock the door, quietly," Abner explained. "Alright, let's do this," Eto said as he did everything Abner said and unlocked the door. They put on masks for stealth and proceeded to sneak through the building.

"Hey, I can hear a conversation going on from behind the walls," Eto whispered and he put his ear on the wall to listen. "Your highness, it's been 12 weeks already. You should give up the search for prince Elvin, he is probably... dare I say it... dead," A stern, but shady voice said. "Lucius, old friend, my son is missing and you still have yours. You don't know the pain and anguish that I feel of losing my son. I know he is out there and I know he is alive...," a person replied with a tone of grief and despair.

"That's the king of Atlas, king Rufus. Eto, what's wrong with you?," Abner quietly asked as he saw a stream of tears fall from Eto's face. "I don't know... I just feel sad all of a sudden," Eto replied. "Shhh they're coming," Christian alarmed them and they hid in the closest room. "Rufus, please enjoy the party at least. I threw it with the purpose of cheering you up," Lucius Braxstone said as he walked away. Suddenly a wave of strong emotions hit Eto: anger, hatred, and sadness. 'This is the man responsible for many of our woes, especially Christian's. He will pay, but I have to remain calm,' Eto thought.

They waited until both men left and snuck into Lucius's office. "Okay guys, look for anything that looks important," Abner commanded. As they searched, Eto stumbled upon some folders. "Guys look!," he whispered. "Nice job kid," Abner said as he opened the folder revealing a schematic for a kind of weapon. "The Pseudo Chaos Project, capable of granting powers similar to that of the Guardian of Chaos. The Zyth Crystals mined from the Forbidden Ruins contain extraordinary power that can "power up" the consumer's natural abilities. The Grand Zyth Crystals, crystals that contain even more power than normal crystals exist in one per main element, we believe that they are meant to be wielded by 9 chosen people just like the Chaos Stars," Abner read.

"I knew I smelled filth coming from the main office," a man said as he caught the three...