A New Dawn

Acquired

Anna

This must be a joke, it has to be a joke, it is a joke, right? This can’t be hell. It’s all black and white and gray, and well, dull. Isn’t it supposed to be fiery and something? And what’s this thing about being a broken angel? Who’s this Dante kid and how does he know my name? My head hurts from all this questions and I don’t think I can handle it at the moment. “Your shadows name is the Broken Angel, you’re quite known here” what did he say now? “I’m known? What am I a street attraction here now? One moment everything I know gets thrown away and I’m stuck here in your so called Hell. How can I even trust you?” I better be ready for some whooping because I see more kids coming. “You know who my brother is and that’s all I can say” brother? I just met him and I know his brother? I’m so confused at the moment. Maybe If I close my eyes it’ll all go away. No, sadly it will not go away. We’re both stuck here so deal with it kid. Did I just lecture my own self? Hey, brain, no one asked you to think. And who said I was your brain? It must be my conscience, am I being punished for thinking so much bad things about other people? No you’re just plain ignorant and I’m coming out. The instant my brain said that, I was engulfed in black flames. I was scared of burning myself so I screamed like a little girl, everyone scattered, but not Dante. I panicked, why am I burning? Why doesn’t it hurt is much like I want to ask. I stopped panicking but still alert. The flames are dispersing away from me and forming a big black shadow in front of me, then It scattered as if it was leaves in fall. A girl, she’s tall, bulky. She’s probably really strong, behind her. A black wing, she only has one, what happened to the other? She’s beautiful, really angelic face. An angel, but all black and shadowy like a silhouette. A shadow. “the Broken Angel” Dante said in awe. Are you alright kid? You looked shocked? How about you Anna? Impressed? Impressed yeah, but what the hell is going on? She’s like a warrior with her black shield and sword; everything shines even though they’re black. Her wings aren’t feathery, they’re more like metal, and they’re small daggers. Hello, Anna, it’s very nice to meet my conjurer. She bowed with poise and she spread her right wing at its full length. She raises her head and steps closer to me. I don’t move, I’m her conjurer, I can control her. “SIT!” why did I just treat her like she’s a pet? She laughed manically holding her stomach and bending her body backwards. I think I broke her. I’m a shadow not a pet dimwit. DID SHE JUST CALL ME A DIMWIT?! “Hey! I own you so you can’t call me name!” Says who? I still have the privilege of killing my own conjurer. Want to find out how I’ll kill you? She’s serious, she’s dead serious. I can’t play jokes with this woman but I just can’t let her have her own way. Here I come little Anna. She draws her sword and raises her shield in a defensive stance. Why bother being so defensive? I don’t even have any weapons. “Prove to her that you’re her owner! If not she’ll kill you and go feral!” She’ll kill me. I think that’s better than being a homeless kid here. I don’t budge, I stand still. She walks closer, closer, closer. She’s in front of me and she’s smiling like a psycho. I’ll die here and my dad won’t know I’m dead.

Get ready little Anna, here. I. go. Just do it and be done with it. I’m useless and I can’t find Harvey here, what more can I do against a strong shadow, a strong shadow. My own strong shadow, shadows come from people right? She came from me. Good night little Anna. She brings down the sword but before she hits me I grab her at the waist and hug her tight, my sign of affection. She stopped. “I don’t want to sleep yet, but please, can you protect me and be my Angel?” Her sword and shield disappears and she hugs me back. Now, that’s my little Anna. I’ll protect you at all cost; of course I would do that. If you die, I die too stupid. So I won’t let anything bad happen to you. “Thank you” a stray tear escaped my left eye. I controlled my own shadow. “Nice way to deal with your shadow Anna” before he can step even closer, my shadow raised her sword and pointed it directly at his heart. Don’t think of getting any closer. I can see your shadow poised and ready to strike. Mind telling me why he’s like that? Or he just likes to play innocent? The Trickster. The shadow behind Dante wavers and dances around me and my shadow, then stops at Dante’s side. A strange looking clown comes out of the shadow. It’s the kind of clown you would really get nightmares from. He has hollow eyes, four extra arms, and a big hole on his chest. “I guess playing isn’t really going to get your attention so I’ll let you know my intention. I want you to join our team. The strays, we’re entering a kind of contest in an arena near here. If we win we get our lives back, that’s for sure, well that’s what they tell us but we don’t know if it’s real” they’re taking a risk of joining something they don’t know if real or not. “What’s in it for me? I don’t even know you and I’m ill-experienced with my shadow. Heck, I just know she’s mine I don’t know what goes after that.” Well it is true; I’m clueless of what I can do to help out. “Determine your talent so you can help her out, a talent is a skill you and your shadow have.” A talent, so I’m not useless after all. “I guess I’m stuck with you and your crew, or whatever you call yourselves. Please take care of both me and my shadow”

                Months have passed and I’m well trained with my shadow, I called her Annie now. It’s not fair if I classify her as just something when she’s also a part of me. We have a strange talent that we both found out recently, we were in the games when the guards let in ferals, shadows who devoured their owners. Four ferals managed to corner me, and well, when I touch ferals a black light shots out of the part that I touch and their owner comes out unscathed. First one I touched was a girl; she has a shadow that turns to a large hammer. Before I can turn to the other ferals, Annie was there turning them back to their normal selves. Now, the games have a new contender. A lone kid with some strange shadow said Dante. And he’s not to be messed with, once his shadow strikes, both the owner and the shadow loses control of themselves and turn against their allies. Really a formidable talent, all seven of us against one kid. What can go wrong right?

AU: Really, what can go wrong?