FSE

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formerly SoFurry search engine

-L-

After some explaining to my teacher, I continued on with class, but would be considered tardy. It was unavoidable so I could understand. Throughout the school day, I held my head up with more confidence and pride, feeling better than I've ever been in my life. People around me looked at me strangely with my new personality shift like I was a completely different person, but I was still good old me with only more confidence in myself. Trek was supposed to be in a two more of my classes, but I could only presume that he was still in the nurse's office with his hand injury. I still was curious on how he had broken his hand. Many times before did he punch me in my snout and I was left with the injury, but now it was the complete opposite. It was something I would have to ask Silnis or look up on my own.

When school let out, I was greeted outside by Silnis, waiting for me by the small garden area we had on the side of the school entrance. He wore a bright smile and I could see an aura of light around him, making things brighter and more colorful than usual. The light he radiated around him wasn't the harsh, eye-burning light when he was in battle, but rather a warm soft glow.

"So, are you busy today? If not, then I'll introduce you to everyone else and get you up to speed on everything I know," he asked me.

"No, I'm free for today," I simply replied. He nodded his head before taking my hand, making my body tingle at the pleasant sensation his touch always brought me. I wondered why?

"All right then. You might want to close your eyes for the first few times I do this. You might go blind for a few minutes. Or if you're lucky, a few seconds!" he warned me.

"What!?" I questioned too late before my eyes screamed at a sudden flash of painful bright light. The next thing I knew was that we were standing outside on top of a skyscraper looking down at a vast city. My eyes adjusted for a few seconds before I realized that we were on top the Empire State Building, looking down at New York City.

"Enjoying the view? Don't worry. You'll get used to the height after a few times. And you seem to be all right after my transportation. Most people go blind for a few minutes as an after effect for their first few times, but you look fine," Silnis said, walking over to a particular spot of the observation deck and holding his hand out. A portal swirled open, Silnis gesturing for me to follow him as he walked in without care. Cautiously, I reached my hand through it and followed through with the rest my body when I felt that nothing bad would happen to me. When I reached the other end of the portal, my jaw dropped as I saw the most spectacular foyer before me. The entire place was made of reflective brown marble, and a massive crystal chandelier floated on its own without any support above my head. Works of art from every period of history added to the room's beauty, making me think I was in some high-class museum.

"What is all this?" I asked, forgetting that Silnis was there in front of me.

"This...is our sacred sanctuary. It is also Pacema's dwelling. All the champions and warriors spend their time here whenever they want to. Everyone has their own room here, so it's like a place to crash for a night or two if you think of it that way. Come one, I'll give you a tour!" he explained, waving me over to the right room. It was a large living space equipped with a huge plasma TV, multiple sofas, entertainment systems, and almost anything you could imagine. The floor was carpeted and had another floating chandelier to light the room. There were several people here using the TV, lounging on the sofas and talking, playing some video games, and just...hanging out.

"I think you can figure out what this room is," Silnis presumed right as I took in the amount of stuff this one room had, "Come on, I still have a lot of other rooms to show you!" For about a good hour or so, Silnis walked me through the exquisite dwelling that never ceased to amaze me. Room after room my jaw hung open to the point where it got sore from all the astonishing things this place had. I could tell we were coming to the end of our tour when Silnis stopped at a particular wing and introduced it as the Private Quarters. He led me through the maze-like halls, climbing some stairs, until we stopped at one specific door.

"This floor, in particular, is reserved only for champions like us. We each have our own rooms and have the freedom to personalize them to our hearts content. This one is your room. We gave you the basics like a bed, desk, lamp, and all that stuff, but you can do whatever you want with it. Just ask and you'll probably have it in your room within an hour or two," he clarified, opening the wood door for me to reveal a good-sized room that was a bit bigger in space than mine at my house. I saw the bed and basic furniture that Silnis had described. They weren't anything fancy, but I felt an overwhelming sense of love for the kindness and compassion my new friends held for me. My heart choked at these feelings and I started to cry a little bit.

"T-Thank you.... You guys are amazing friends!" I said to Silnis, giving him a tight hug. He returned the feeling and wrapped his arms around me, rubbing my back gently.

"No need to thank us. We're all friends here. No one here has to be alone. We do everything together," he said, patting my back. I pulled away from the hug and wiped away a tear, smiling at him with my sharp teeth.

"Thanks though.... I've never had friends before so I just felt so happy that I finally had some. You have no idea what it was like being alone without any friends and being bullied. It was hard...really hard," I reminisced, recalling all those times I returned home with fresh bruises and a bleeding nose. I would often cry myself to sleep, knowing just how worthless I was to the world and wake up with my eyes red.

"Don't dwell in the past Lance," Silnis told me, holding his small hands in mine, "but instead look towards the future. You have us as friends and I guarantee you that you'll have a blast with us!" His words were so reassuring that I believed him, believing that everything was going to turn out all right for my future. Well...except for one thing.

"That's true...but what about the fighting, magic, and all that stuff at Liberty Island? I'm still going to need an explanation on all that," I demanded, wanting the answers to my long-delayed questions. Silnis just chuckled, brightening the area with his light.

"Yes...that we'll have to discuss with you once the rest of the champions get here. But don't worry, we'll make sure you're fully informed by tonight!" he said cheerfully, "Well...feel free to do as you please around here. I've got some business to take care of, chao!" He walked just a few doors away before opening one and heading in, giving me one last glance before shutting the door. That must be his room. I wonder what it's like in there?

I made my way back to the main floor of the huge establishment, feeling kind of hungry for a snack and headed to the kitchen. Silnis had said that since everyone came at different times and days, they never had a proper meal together so everyone ate when they pleased. I saw a few people chowing down on some delicious looking food as I headed towards the double doors that lead to the kitchen. Upon entering, it was surprisingly quiet. I expected the hustle and bustle of a real kitchen with staff running around, but there was only one person, a jaguar girl sitting on a stool reading the latest edition of some magazine I couldn't identify. Her eyes left the page for a second, glancing up at me, before she whipped the magazine down and asked me in a nonchalant and serious tone.

"You need something?" she asked, her expression looking like she had better things to do than talk to me.

"Um...I just came to get something to snack on," I told her.

"Snack room is over there. Get what you want and leave," she firmly said to me, pointing with her head to a steel door and returning back to her magazine. Ok...either she was having a bad day or she was just normally like this. I'd have to ask about her when Silnis or the other champions were free.

When I entered the snack room, I swore that almost every snack was in there. The room was about the size of a small bedroom and held shelves of snack foods. I could probably think of a snack in my head right now and it'd be somewhere in this room. Browsing through the selection, not really sure what I was looking for, I was looking at a box of oat cookies before I spotted in the back of one shelf several loaves of bread wrapped in plastic for freshness. Grabbing one of them, I noted a sweet scent coming from the loaf of bread. The loaf was easily the size of my hand and also smelled freshly baked. It must be sweet bread. Unwrapping it, I took a small bite of the bread and actually liked the flavor. The sweetness wasn't too overpowering, but just enough to bring a pleasing taste to my tongue. This would be my snack for today. As I was munching it down, exiting the kitchen, the jaguar just shook her head at me, obviously disapproving of my snack choice for some odd reason. Whatever...she could think what she wanted.

Admiring some Ancient Greek art in the foyer, I heard another familiar voice behind me and saw Kia bound through the portal, wearing a cute school uniform like a Japanese school girl. Jace followed calmly behind her, wearing a pair of blue jeans, a white t-shirt, and a green-brown plaid shirt over it. His muscles were clearly defined through his clothes, intimidating even me with his potential strength.

"Lance! Hey!" Kia shouted though we were only about ten feet away from each other. She ran up to me and tackled me in a hug, almost knocking me over. Like Silnis, she had her own aura around her. It felt cool and icy, kind of like mint gum in your mouth. It felt more of like that sensation.

""Hey Lance. How you've been? Did Silnis bring you here?" Jace asked me, almost like we hadn't seen each other in a while. He shook my hand and I could feel the power behind the muscles at work. Man...Jace was a powerhouse.

"I'm good, but yeah. Silnis brought me here after The Trial. He's in his room right now," I explained, munching on my sweet bread. Both Kia and Jace gave me a look of doom when they saw me eating the bread like it was poisoned or something.

"Umm...Lance.... That's not sweet bread is it?" Jace asked me, holding his hands out like the bread was going to explode at any minute.

"Yeah...why do you ask?" I questioned; kind of curious about this bread myself.

"Lance...you shouldn't be eating that...," Kia warned me.

"Why?" I inquired.

"Because...that's Silnis'-," Jace didn't get to finish as I unexpectedly felt myself being constricted tightly, the air in my lungs being squeezed out. Hearing a hiss, I turned my eyes to see one huge snake! It was about the size of a python for crying out loud! The odd thing was that it was...rainbow-colored? It hissed at me, staring into my eyes with irises that changed colors every second. Its fangs were deadly sharp and dripped with colorful venom. I thought I was going to die from the rainbow snake, but luckily Silnis' voice stopped it.

"Iris!" he shouted, stopping the snake immediately. The serpent turned its head towards Silnis and looked like it bowed its head in shame, "Get over here right now!" The snake released its death grip on me, slithering back to Silnis and nuzzling his hand, "You naughty boy. No sweet bread for you tonight." The snake looked disappointed at this and wrapped itself around Silnis, accepting its punishment.

"-pet's favorite treat...," Jace finished. I dropped my bread when the snake had "attacked" me and didn't bother picking it up as I knew what it would mean for me. For all I cared, the snake could have it.

"W-What is that?" I had to ask Silnis, pointing at the serpent coiled around him.

"Oh, this is Iris. He's my pet rainbow snake. I forgot to mention when we were in the kitchen to not grab the sweet bread as its Iris' favorite snack. He doesn't like it when others are eating it so I apologize for not warning you earlier," he explained, gesturing his pet with a hand to move away. The snake hissed before slithering away towards the Private Quarters, grabbing my dropped bread along the way back to Silnis' room no doubt. More voices entered the foyer as I saw more people stream in through the portal. They all had their own unique, individual auras around them and I had to guess that they were all champions.

"Hey! Everyone else is here!" Kia cheered, clapping her hands together excitedly. Kia, Jace, and Silnis all greeted the other champions while I felt a little uncomfortable being the new guy. How would I say hi? Did I look okay? What would they think of me?

"Hey there," I heard, seeing a midnight-scaled dragon greet me, appearing right next to me out of nowhere. I jumped back a bit, surprised by his sudden appearance. I was also intimidated by his stature and physique. I could easily judge that he was a little bit bigger than Jace, which unsettled me even more, "Whoa...easy there! I'm not gonna hurt you."

"O-Oh...sorry...you just scared me," I admitted, feeling embarrassed now.

"It's cool. I'm Necross, Champion of Agravitas. That's gravity if you didn't know. So, what's your name?" he introduced himself, turning it over to me now.

"Umm...I'm Lance...Champion of Ignis...that's fire...right?" I said, freaking out so much that I couldn't think straight. Idiot! Ignis is fire! Why are you so unsure!? Get yourself back in order!

"Hey...do I make you that nervous? I know I'm big and all, but I'm not a bully or anything," he reassured me, opening his arms out as a way of showing that he wasn't of any harm to me. That calmed my mind and I felt more at ease.

"S-Sorry...I'm just new at meeting people. Plus you're just so...big and that kind of brought back some bad memories...," I told him. He chuckled at this, patting my back in a friendly manner.

"Well don't worry. I'm no brute. Jace told me about that rhino jerk at your school and that guy has no dignity. He serves himself nothing by making others feel insignificant. I despise people like him, but there's very little I can do to stop them. It is something I wish I could have the power to do, but no such power exists," he said, looking deep in thought.

"You would have changed my life if you were at my school. I wouldn't have been the weak and meaningless dragon I was back then. I could have had a better life, but...," I was about to say before Necross finished my sentence for me.

"...you wouldn't met all of us then. You would miss out on making us your friends. The adventure...the friends...you wouldn't have the chance to experience it all...," he said, smiling at me.

"Yeah...I would have missed it all...," I softly spoke to myself, smiling.

"Necross! Lance! It's time!" Silnis called out to us, gesturing us over to the dining hall. We followed after him and sat ourselves down in an available seat. This gave me the chance to see all the other champions. One human guy, about the age of 19, had an aura of electricity around him, his hair spiked up to match his element. A raccoon male with glasses and a lab coat was busy tinkering with a laptop, muttering to himself as he "dissected" the machine and studied its parts. There was also a fox female sitting quietly a few chairs away, a strange instrument that was wooden, stringed, and long in the shape of a box. I've never seen an instrument like that before, but the fox plucked at its strings and I could of sworn that I saw one of the flowers in the vases being cut clean off like some ghost did it. There were many other champions in the room, all of them with their own element and some adorning their own armor.

"Welcome everyone! I'm glad you could make it! As some of you may know, the attack on Ignis was repelled and he is now reawakened and safe. The lives we lost will be forever remembered in our hearts. They're souls now rest in salvation, able to find peace, but we will not forget their heroic deeds they have done for the balance of the world. May they rest in peace...," Silnis said, everyone repeating the last few words in soft voices before Silnis continued, "A majority of you may not know this, but we have received a new champion when Ignis was reawakened. Lance Farrow, could you please stand?"

I took the cue and stood from my seat, averting everyone's gaze towards me. I didn't plan it or anything, but my body burst into flames before flickering away to my armor. The champions nearest me backed away a bit as they shielded themselves from the intense heat I was giving off from my aura. Everyone clapped for me before Silnis gestured for me to take my seat again. My armor burnt away in flames before my butt hit the seat, leaving me back in my regular clothes.

"Thank you Lance," Silnis said, smiling at me before going back to his announcements, "Lance has passed the Trials and is an official champion welcomed into our ranks. Give him your welcomes when you have the time. Now...I've had reports from the other sanctuaries that several other attacks had been made on The Elements. So far, no damage has been inflicted on The Elements, but the attacks grow stronger and more in frequency. I ask all of you to be more alert and call for aid when needed. And I also expect any of you answer the call for help immediately. Every second you waste in not answering will result in the probable deaths of more warriors and champions, or The Elements themselves. Understood?" Everyone nodded their head in agreement. "Then you are dismissed. Have a good day."

The dining hall quickly emptied, everyone leaving back for their homes, but a few of the unfamiliar champions stayed back to greet me personally. The fox girl with the instrument walked over to me, surprising me with a unique physical feature she had. Instead of one tail, she had nine! Just like the nine-tailed foxes I would always hear about every once in a while, but they were rare! She stood in front of me, her instrument mysteriously floating in mid-air beside her, and bowed respectfully, not saying a word of hello. An aura of symphonic sounds surrounded her, entering my ears and confused at the many noises I was hearing.

"Umm...hi...," I replied, not sure if she was really shy to talk to me.

"Hey, you're Lance right?" I heard, seeing the spiky-hair human guy walk over to me. I nodded and shook his hand, feeling a slight shock of electricity when he made contact with my hand, "The name's Cody. As you might have guessed, I'm the Champion of Fulman, Elemental of Lightning. And this is Sandra, Champion of Tonua, Elemental of Sound. And if you're wondering why she's so quiet; she was born mute. It's kind of ironic huh?"

"Oh...I'm so sorry," I said to the fox girl, bowing my head. She smiled, not minding at all, but had her instrument whack Cody on the head.

"Ow! What was that for!?" he questioned, rubbing his head. She rolled her eyes and shook her head at Cody, unable to say anything, but getting the message across.

"What kind of instrument is that anyway?" I asked, curious.

"It's a guqin. Some instrument from China or something. Sandra has lots of weird instruments in her room here," Cody commented, receiving another whack from her instrument. She brought her instrument in front of her before placing her fingers on the strings, about to pluck one before Cody freaked out and zapped away in a bolt of lightning, disappearing. Sandra stomped the ground with her paws before going to search for Cody, waving me goodbye before heading towards the Private Quarters. I chuckled to myself, seeing the two of them act like a love-hate couple.

"Ah, you must be Lance Farrow. From my analysis of your body, you're fit and healthy! A little more dental hygiene and some trimming of your claws would make you perfect!" I heard, seeing the raccoon in the lab coat walk up to me. He took my hand and shook it, pinching my pressure points and nerves all in one second, "Hmm...good reflexes based on my observation. A little more training should do it."

"Umm...nice to meet you too?" I said, unsure and uncomfortable.

"Oh, my apologies, I'm Tec, Champion of Scientis, Elemental of Science and Technology!" he clarified, looking quite proud of his title. Like all the other champions I've met, he had his own unique aura. His was an aura of numbers, letters, facts, and all things knowledge. It kind of hurt my brain just looking at him. "Well, I must be off! I'm designing a new security computer software that will entirely block off any malicious programs and bugs! Wonderful isn't it?!" He walked towards the swirling portal before disappearing through it, leaving me puzzled.

"Having a good time?" Silnis asked me, walking up to me and watching as the last of the other champions left.

"I guess you can say that," I told him, getting that pleasant from him even when he wasn't touching me.

"Tec may not look like champion material, but his mechanical machines are devastating to the enemy. He was able to defend Scientis single-handedly with only a few warriors at his side so don't misjudge him," Silnis explained, making me sort of fear the geeky raccoon now.

"Hey, since you mentioned it, what is the difference between a warrior and champion? You've mentioned it multiple times before," I asked.

"Warriors are similar to champions in a way, but the difference is that each Element can only have one champion. An Element can have as many warriors as they wish, but warriors do not have auras like we do and are limited in magical ability unlike we champions are. They may be slightly inferior to us, but we still treat them as they were champions. Everyone here has the power to stop our enemy," Silnis informed me, making some sense now.

"And who is our enemy?" I had to ask since my main questions were being answered.

"Chaos...the Element of Destruction and Discord...," Silnis grimly told me, a distant but firm look in his eyes.