It's Incredible How Weak Magic Makes You, Isn't it?

Rage and Consequence

I won't bore you with what it was like, going to school whilst hiding my other identity from my classmates and my Tamer. If you want to read a story like that, go find a Superman comic where he is primarily Clark Kent. Or Spiderman if you prefer Marvel.

I'll fast forward a couple weeks from the press conference where Valiance revealed his identity to the world. I was sitting in class, Media and Marketing, and trying not to doze off. Since I had become a Monarch, school had honestly stopped being fun. Math? Pssht. I could do college level calculus in my head like it was simple addition. I had ridiculously improved mental faculties, though I had to be careful not to show off too much. But, I digress. It all started in that class. I had gotten there a bit early and was waiting for the bell. The focus of this class was to debate goings ons in the world. Naturally, with the state of things, Monarchs and Tamers took on most of the topics. Occasionally some other news story would pop up and have nothing to do with that particular subject, but that was rare. When the class had finally finished filtering in, the teacher rushed in. Ms. Harper was a very old woman, so this already was off character for her. She, almost inevitably, was there waiting for us. But, that day, she dashed through the door, loaded up the digital screen that was her black board. She pulled up some article on her computer, and my heart sank to my feet. I'm sure she began to speak about the article, but I didn't hear her. The article's title read: United Nations Calls for Monarch 'Shade' to Reveal Identity. A sub-heading below it stated: "Council of Eight requested to convene at United Nations' headquarters in Switzerland."

I shouldn't have been surprised. Not really. But I was. If the UN, the governing body we had been dealing with so as to not show favoritism, had gone public with this declaration then they were dead serious about it. That was bad for me.

True enough, only a few minutes after I read this article, a vibration went off in my pocket. Valiance had given the council members each a small pager of sorts. It was untraceable and the world didn't know we had them. They thought that we communicate through magical means exclusively. I can tell you now that isn't true. We do, sometimes, but not all the time. Moving on, the message requested for the Council to meet at the UN building immediately.

In hindsight, I shouldn't have gone. No one knew who I was. Not even the other Council members. If I hadn't gone, none of this story would have happened. They wouldn't have been able to do anything about it. But I was angry. I had fought to protect the world, had nearly died fighting in the Monarch War, and they thought that they could order me around? Not hardly.

I abruptly got up and affected a sick expression, excusing myself from the class. I didn't bother going to the nurse's office. I walked right out of the school and back home. Once there I went up to my room and locked the door. With a deep breath, I assumed my Monarch form. Before I continue, I am going to briefly operate under the assumption that you have been living under a rock for the best several years and have no idea what I look like as a Monarch. First off, nothing like my human form. Not even a little bit.

My clothes in Monarch form were jet black, and made from some weird shadowy stuff that constantly moved. They covered most of my body, save for my arms and my throat. That was how I knew my skin was gray. Dark veins ran up and down my arms giving me something of a sickly appearance. Now, my face was the real secret. Typically, it was hidden from the world in a cowl that obscured it entirely. But, when my cowl was thrown back, it revealed startlingly white hair and red eyes. The skin was still gray, and the lines of my face were much sharper. In addition, I was about six inches taller in Monarch form. Altogether, I wasn't all that impressed with it. Not when compared to the resplendent armor that Valiance and Break had. But I had them beat, in my opinion, when it came to my weapon. Now, earlier, I mentioned that I had a sword. I do. But it isn't the weapon that appears in my hand when I assume my Monarch form. That would be my bow. It was made of some sort of dark colored wood, and the limbs seemed to stretch from a single piece of wood. What looked like roots jutted from the end, and the bowstring was some sort of silver thread. The arrows matched the bow. It was, in a word, magnificent. Altogether, I looked to be the perfect assassin.