Destiny's Marked: Chosen (Book 1)

The Soldier: Marked

     Kai blinked his emerald eyes open to see darkness but sensed a sort of sleeping warmth from the ground below him. As soon as he sat up, the dark layer that covered the ground began peeling off the circular plate in disfigured shapes, revealing a glowing underneath. Kai flinched and covered his eyes before he could be blinded. He slowly removed his arms as his eyes adjusted to the light to see the glass circle with a green frame. A large picture of himself lying on his side asleep and in an unfamiliar attire was etched into its surface. In the background was a scene of the beach, the sun halfway down and reflecting on the surface of the calm waters of the ocean. His gaze softened as he stared at it, it being obviously a touchy memory for him. He broke his stare to see a smaller circle hold smaller pictures of his friends, Ryoko's face grinning at the top near 'his' head, Aria with a confident smirk below hers, and Luxus with a silly look on his below Aria's. The middle circle was blank with the exception of the paopu fruit with a single leaf.

     This made him curious and soon his face flushed as he thought of Ryoko. He shook his head as if to shake off the red on his face and stood up, finally taking in his appearance. His outfit was the same as the one on his glass heart, with his brown hair still messily arranged on top of his head and his mostly green outfit. He wore a black vest shirt under a green vest that was unzipped. A darker green stripe lined the zipper line and the pockets over his chest were the same dark green.

     A voice interrupted his self-examination, "Your destiny is an important one, warrior." He looked up as he tried to identify where the voice was coming from and the voice continued, "There will be sacrifices, danger, and difficulty. But such is the path of a Wielder of Light. Or are you a Wielder of the Darkness?" Kai's face turned to one of confusion at those statements and opened his mouth to question the mysterious voice before pain flared from his collar. He vainly tried to inspect where the pain was increasing from but it was out of his line of sight. He hunched over as light nearly blinded his left eye and swirls of black licked the right side of his face. He gritted his teeth as he grunted to keep him from yelling out in pain. It finally receded, Kai sweating from his effort to not fall to his knees or scream. His body protested as he righted himself, breathing heavily and eyes holding a ghost of pain.

     A lavish mirror framed in shining gold lowered itself silently and floated at his height, his emerald green eyes staring at his exhausted form as he returned his breathing to normal. Black on his collar bone caught his eyes though, causing him to near the mirror curiously as he pulled both sides of his vest down. He pulled at the tank top underneath to reveal two identical black tattoo-like marks of the Kingdom Key on it's side and loosely wrapped in ribbon. In the center of the ribbon on each of the mirrored marks, the word "Light" was etched on the left mark and the word "Darkness" etched on the right. He rubbed a hand over his left mark in curiosity only to flinch in pain.

     He looked up as the voice continued, "Your paths have been laid before you. Which will you choose?" The mirror faded into nothing and two paths of multi-colored stain glass slabs appeared on either side of him. Heartless by the name of shadows came out of every other slab on the left and the right remained clear of any obstacle. The voice spoke once more, "Will you choose a life of safety? A life that guarantees a happy life where you will not have to make sacrifices or experience any difficulty? Or will you walk on the path exact opposite of it with near-death experiences and pain but adventures to other worlds often? Would you lay your own existence for the others you would soon call friends? What will your heart choose?" Kai shook his head as his mind swam in all the questions being thrown at him. Kai looked down both paths carefully, A path with no struggle... Or a path full memories to last a lifetime... Ryoko... What do I choose? Kai's eyes widened in realization before asking the mysterious voice, "Which path holds my friends?" He could feel the voice smile at his question before transparent versions of Ryoko, Luxus, and Aria appeared on the left path, plowing through the hordes of Shadows, Neoshadows, and Soldiers that had appeared during his indecision. He chuckled with a small smile as he muttered and ran a hand through his messy brown hair, "Of course." He sighed and looked up again, "Hey, Voice! Don't know if you got a name, but my path will always be with my friends." He grinned and ran to the left, "Always."