Hologram's question hangs in the air for a moment. The panel continues to glow green until Jerome takes his hand off of it.
"Well, I guess it's totally possible. Funny how there were three of us all playing Minecraft together", Seto laughs, getting over the shock. He's been living through all kinds of surprises since he became Blaze in the White Room.
"But I don't have a Shadow", Jerome argues. How can he be like Ty with his 13 copies?
"We usually can't find Casters until they have their Shadow, which also means the Hunters get to them half of the time. But we do have a few Casters living here who haven't unlocked their Shadows", Seto goes into explanation mode. I which he would do that more often for my questions. "Ty and I had our Shadows forcefully unlocked in the White Room. Naturally, they're unlocked by an emotional experience. If you have a Shadow, then you haven't experienced the correct feeling or scenario to unlock it".
"Kinda like me", Ender mumbles. I had loved a dragon plushy so much when I was little, that it unlocked him from my mind. Kinda weird to think that I could have had unlocked someone else first if given a different birthday toy.
"That's kinda cool. Good thing that you begged to ride with me", Mitch smiles. I can tell that he's trying his best to be supportive. Mitch was raised to hate people like me, even if he doesn't want to. It'll take time for him to adjust. I doubt that he'll go back to his father now. Seeing Beat cower behind me in the ally really changed his perspective.
"He could never see us, though? Shadow Casters without Shadows can't see others?", Squid looks to Seto, confused.
"That's right. Jerome still has to wear the bracelets", Seto nods. Mitch had abandoned his goggles in the car that Adam and Jason took. They'd be recognized as belonging to a hunter. The other two gave their bracelets back.
"What are we waiting for? The voices want to see this place", Insanelox speaks up for the first time in a while, partially talking to himself. Seto complies, leaving the panel behind.
The painted tunnel gives way into strong sunlight. I have to squint for a while before I realize that we're in a valley between two cliff sides. Shear rock walls rise up on either side of the valley. It's kinda like a smaller version of the Grand Canyon. The first thing I notice are the bridges. Bridges span across the ledges chiseled into the walls. Stairs lead up to the various levels with a lift on either wall near the entrance. Doorways are excavated from the rock and lead to what I assume are peoples' rooms. The canyon floor is a mess of markets and crowds of people. Seeing so many people all over the base is what shocks me the most. I thought that it would be smaller. It's not too hard to pick out the Shadow Casters from humans. There's far less of them, but before last week, I thought that I was the only one.
All my Shadows and I watch in a bit of a daze as a two girls pass us. One has bright purple hair and her clothes are all bright colors that make my eyes bleed. The other seems perfectly normal, looking at us with her own shock. Two boys watch us from a balcony. One has a leather jacket and what looks to be a cat tail wrapped around one leg. They whisper and point at Ender's wings. Seto was surprised at my number of Shadows. Are we really so strange even in a town of our own kind?
"No way! There's free WiFi!", Beatlox breaks me out my trace, fiddling with his phone. Well, my old phone.
"This architecture is incredible. Some of it looks really old on the lower levels", Brine looks around in wonder at the canyon.
"A Shadow Caster first found this place hundreds of years ago. It's been a secret haven ever since, but there's been some upgrades, of corse", Seto explains.
"I'm really glad that this place is so far off the radar.....", Mitch's eyes are wide open, "Hunters would demolish this all in hours.....". Yeah, I probably need to tell Seto about Mitch's family history at some point. Everyone here would take it badly if it slipped out on accident. By this time, I've told most of my Shadows. We don't really keep secrets from each other. Jerome only knows that Mitch was suppose to find me, rather then stick a bullet through my skull.
"So what now? Do we meet the president or something?", Demon looks around, expecting someone to pounce on his words. That's what usually happens when you talk about a higher up. They appear out of nowhere just to make you jump. It doesn't happen.
"We have more of a council. Two Casters, four with their Shadows, and three humans. One of them might come to meet you tomorrow. You all could use some sleep", Seto says the last part to Jerome and Mitch as well as my Shadows. Some time to think things through really does sound good right now. I have not had a break since before getting stuffed back in it the white room. It'll be nice to just relax with my other selves. I'm even stating to miss morning breakfast disasters.
"What is that!?", Siren speaks up, his voice rising an octave. I turn to see that he's wandered a little ways off and closer to the canyon wall. There's a small alcove there, lined with gray stone and contrasting horribly with the rest of the sun tanned rock. Small tiles cover the wall in a large mosaic. There's a yellow background with the silhouette of a figure put together with cubes. It looks like a woman, maybe wearing a dress? A set of dark butterfly wings tips me off that she's not human. I can't really make out any other features with how there's no color.
"There's a few books in our library that mentions this mosaic, but none of them say who made it", Seto comes up to stand next to Siren, "She's been there for as long as this place was a base. The words on the bottom are Latin. They translate to 'Hero'. Pretty fitting".
"Shouldn't her....... Caster? Yeah, Caster. Shouldn't her Caster be painted on there, too", Mitch cocks his head.
"You might think I know a lot about this place, but I have no idea. Equal rights for human, Caster, and Shadow are one of the key foundations the base was built on", Seto gives Blaze a small smile. The Phoenix nods back. It's gotta be annoying to be silent all the time. Seto and Blaze seem to understand each other perfectly even without it. I'd probably be a lot more difficult and annoying if I couldn't talk. Pig doesn't count since he's not as...... sentient, as the rest of us. I feel like a bit of a jerk for admitting that.
"Sleep sounds great, honestly, even if it is a little early. It'll be nice to have a bit of down time", Jerome says, looking all around the canyon. This'll be a big change for all of us. There's been almost no time to sit down and talk about it with my Shadows.
I know something's up when Squid suddenly grips my arm. Tightly. He's halfway turned around and looking behind me. All my Shadows tense up in an instant. I don't turn around.
"Seto, why didn't you tell me you were back?", a woman's voice speaks up, and I can hear her scribbling on a clip board, "The Council was starting to worry. You were..... suppose to......". She quickly trails off, probably after seeing my Shadows. Ender growls in a frightened tone and steps halfway behind me. Only one person has ever made him growl like that. I slowly turn my head to look.
"Tyler......"
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See Me
Fanfiction(Insert epic description here) So, Yeah, that's about it. Ty is basically the only one that can see all of them, and they have to stay near him, blah blah blah. Here's a character list because I forget things easily. None belong to me, and I only kn...
