The Girl with the Light Blue Hair

The girl with the light blue hair, Frida, ran through the halls, not in a rush for a class, but from a mix of anguish and confusion. Her mind buzzed with a single question.

"Why was that boy looking at me?" she thought, stopping dead against a wall. "Did he see something? Kleif?"

Beside her, a diaphanous, floating entity named Kleif peered out, his figure barely perceptible as a heat wave distorting the air. Although he didn’t seem tired, the curiosity in his voice was palpable.

Kleif—"Hey, Frida, do you think that boy just now saw me? He stared at me. I don't know, I felt... exposed."

Frida leaned against the wall and let out a sigh of resignation. She had been dealing with this conversation for months.

Frida—"Kleif… do you seriously still believe someone else can see you? The world is already full of people with weird powers; I don't think people are seeing ghosts."

Kleif—"Of course! You never know what abilities people have. 'But don't forget what I asked you to help me find,' he exclaimed, his tone changing from intrigue to urgency. 'It's important, it’s our only chance. There's only one book, and we haven't found it!'"

Frida sighed. "I know. Nothing is easy to find," her voice sounding even more tired. "I'll help you, but give me time." She reminded Kleif that the academy library didn't have enough information on what he was looking for, so their only option was to seek external sources. Thus, outside the academy, they both headed to the Great Library of Praxis.

The vast library building looked more like a cathedral of knowledge, with shelves that rose to a glass ceiling. The air smelled of old paper and a subtle scent of candle wax. Despite the immense space, the silence was almost palpable, a calm that contrasted with Kleif’s constant hum beside her.

Frida—"Well… we're here. I find it hard to believe I’m with a… ghost."

Memories of how she got into this suddenly flooded her, returning to a not-so-distant past, on an ordinary day at the academy.

Frida was in the gym, practicing. It wasn’t an intense session, so she wasn’t using the special training room. Her ability, Cryotasis, allowed her to generate small fragments of ice. At that time, her power was limited: she could only create tiny offensive shards and a shield the size of her forearm. She was focused, forming an ice needle in the palm of her hand, when a strange sensation came over her. Her vision blurred, an intense pressure squeezed her head, and a distant voice, like an echo in her mind, began to speak.

Kleif, with difficulty—"H-hey… can you hear me? Can you… hear… my… voice?"

Frida let go of the ice needle, which dissolved on the floor. She put her hands to her head, confused and scared.

Frida—"Who are you? What are you? What do you want from me?"

Kleif, with growing enthusiasm—"Great! You can hear me! This is incredible! My name is Kleif, and we are all in danger. Please, help me find something."

Frida, regaining her composure, though still disoriented—"Who… who are you in the first place? My help?"

Gradually, her vision cleared. That’s when she saw him: Kleif, an ethereal figure. He wasn't translucent, but he barely floated; his form was fuzzy and shifting, like the steam from a teapot. Kleif explained that he didn’t know why he was there, or why no one else could see him until he met her. He revealed that he was incredibly ancient, and that, although he didn’t remember his past life, one mission was clear: his presence there meant that an ancient artifact had been stolen from the tomb of the First King.

Kleif, with seriousness—"That artifact could cause serious problems in the future. It is imperative to recover it. But the crucial thing is this: I need you to help me find history books. We need to know more about who the current Pillars might be. If the one who stole the crystal manages to unite it with them and absorb their powers… disaster will be imminent."

Frida was overwhelmed. She didn't expect so much information at once. It felt as if she had been dragged into the plot of a comic book overnight. After a long conversation, she managed to grasp the basics of the situation. The scene returns to the present.

Frida, now immersed again in the immense library, browsed the shelves with renewed determination. Her finger stopped on the spine of a book that looked centuries old.

Frida, excitedly—"Look, Kleif, I found something! It's called: 'Stories of the First King and the Origin of Powers: An Ancient... and Long History!'"

Kleif floated over her shoulder as he read the crucial passage.

The book narrated the history of the First King, the first in history to possess Powers. His kingdom, Aratzzi, was an example of peace until human ambition unleashed tragedy. The King, his family, and his personal guardians, the legendary Eight Pillars, fell victim to a mysterious disease. In his most vulnerable state, a strange individual—possessing a sinister ability to snatch the powers of others—stabbed the King. However, his attempt to flee with the stolen ability was foiled by the intervention of the Eight Pillars.

The attacker, with no escape, sacrificed himself. He activated the stolen ability and transformed into a mineral. This relic contained not only the King's original power but also a fusion of multiple abilities, an object of immense power. It was no longer a person, but an inert crystal, charged with energy.

The King died that same night, and his son inherited the throne and was left in charge of this formidable artifact, which was given the name Dark Heart.

The Eight Pillars were:

Saman, Bearer of the First FireRia, Bearer of the EarthEsther, Bearer of the WaterGraxio, Bearer of the AirGauss, Bearer of FertilityBreims, Bearer of LightningHeim, Bearer of the SoulSerena, Bearer of the ExtractWhen the second King died, his last breath was a definitive order: to hide the crystal. The guardians, faithful to their duty, hid the Dark Heart in a place so remote and secret that it became virtually impossible to find, even for themselves. Once their mission was complete, the Pillars returned to their daily lives, dissolving into history.

Frida—"Is that all? The book seemed longer. It’s a shame it doesn't say who has the crystal now."

Kleif, his voice filled with urgency—"You already know who the Pillars are. Now listen to me: I know who stole the crystal… I saw it!"

Frida, naively—"So what are we waiting for? This is so easy!"

Kleif, sorrowfully— "It’s not that simple. I'm not a Pillar, but the one who took it had the same uniform as you and was your age. And this happened almost forty-five years ago…"

Frida, with growing astonishment—"They had the same uniform as me? Wait, something doesn't fit. If it was forty-five years ago… are you talking about the Atzal Academy?"

Kleif nodded. He told her everything he remembered: he simply woke up in the midst of the chaos, just as a girl took the crystal. Then, some heroes arrived and stopped her. The academy was left in ruins, there were many dead, but the crystal remained in the crevice where it had been hidden. However, amidst all the pandemonium, a boy who was somewhat wounded took the crystal, and it melted into his chest, disappearing.

Kleif—"My reason for existing is to recover that crystal. If we do, I can finally disappear."

Frida, perplexed—"And that's it? Just take the crystal and disappear? I thought it would require a ritual or destroying the crystal."

They left the library, the afternoon sun beginning to tint the sky orange. Frida headed home, exhausted and with a whirlwind of thoughts. The image of that boy in her own academy’s hallways came back to her. The look on his face, the way he had looked at her... had he seen Kleif? Was he the one who had something to do with all this? No, that was impossible, right? She wondered what would happen now. With Fera and his thermal vision ability and Alex with his flying bubble. Could this be the beginning of something much bigger?

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