Ancient Forces (2018 Reboot)

Chapter 8 - Training the Future

It had been another normal evening after the events of last night. Ver and Keith both left for work, then came back at around nine in the evening. Zayne and Damien had just been playing games the whole time and talked about what happened at school. No discussion on Forces came up. Zayne resolved to speak carefully about that stuff around his cousin now. That evening ended after a very late dinner and a very tired discussion about what Ver and Keith had done. Zayne was openly let in on enough already to now be trusted with information on government workings too, without every little detail being revealed. Ver and Keith worked for the MRaCD, a government group that Zayne had heard about but never really understood until now. His biggest question had always been what the initials stood for. Now he knew.

Mythic Research and Containment Division. It made sense now. Zayne had stewed and elaborated over that for a while until Ver and Keith finally started explaining what they'd had to do. Damien went to bed early right after the conversation started. Everyone knew why, and no one tried to stop him. Right afterward Zayne got plunged headfirst into the shallow water of information with all sorts of government and job details.

"Several weeks ago one of our dozens of research facilities found a strange pod dropped from space. It was dormant and presumed empty until we did some more advanced scans on it. Apparently, there was something inside. We studied and tested our several methods of determining what exactly it was until finally, it became active on its own," Keith had explained.

"Several people were... injured... and the thing inside broke out. Currently, we have no clue where it's at, but that's why we got called into work. We found a trail of incidents and reports from locals that matched the description of the escaped individual," Ver had elaborated.

Time had passed since last night and now Zayne was at school again, it was the end of the day, waiting for Ver to pick him up. He had was rethinking and replaying the conversation in his head to try and find every little detail he could. Yesterday around now had been a roller coaster of emotions for both of them. Zayne hoped his attempt to comfort her had worked. If it hadn't then Zayne's emotional roller coaster was just starting. He hated roller coasters.

The honk of a car horn zapped Zayne from his mind once more. He looked up and saw Ver waving at him from inside her vehicle, a bright smile on her face. Zayne mirrored her face and jumped up, making a hasty dash over to the car. He practically jumped in and buckled himself up. Ver quickly hit the gas and took off out of the school lot. She was in a hurry.

"What's the rush?" Zayne asked, fairly certain that he already knew the answer.

"We need as much time in the day as possible to train. We've got a long way ahead of us," Ver replied, reassuring Zayne's thoughts.

"Honestly, I have to admit, I'm nervous," Zayne spoke up.

"That's fine. I was too when I started training, and I'd learned about my powers from birth. You've got a lot to catch up on," Ver answered, still rushing through as many shortcuts as she could to get home quickly.

"What kind of training am I going to be doing?" Zayne asked curiously.

"You'll see," Ver replied with a welling of anticipation.

Zayne looked out the window of the practically flying car as they zoomed past trees, homes, other cars, and people. His aunt and uncle's home was located in a highly rural area of Joplin, almost on the border in a very open space of land. The woods surrounded that home for a few miles, but his family only owned a small portion of it compared to the full land. The sky was beautiful today. It was a very light blue, appealing to the eyes, dotted with small and large cloud formations across its large blue canvas. The sight seemed like a painting, or perhaps a picture modified in an editor to look more appealing. The passing trees of vibrant colors only made the scene more surreal. It was relaxing honestly.