One dozen. Twelve of the strongest magicians of their time, all sitting in the same room. They each sat in separate chairs, surrounded by a heavy silence. No movement, no talking, just like still image. These were the Paladins.

Over a crimson rugged floor, the twelve chairs were aligned in a circle.

The silence held the room with intensity. A man dressed in blue robes broke the silence by clearing his throat. He opened his mouth but quickly retracted his thoughts.

Another one pushed up his glasses. He appeared to be in his sixties, with grey blond hair. "Well, then. It's time. They've begun."

Everyone immediately turned to him, his words sending chills through their spines.

The man in blue swallowed his dry saliva, beginning to anxiously bounce his legs. "Are you sure? Please tell me you're not completely sure."

A woman sitting beside him burst into laughter. "What are you getting nervous for? We'll be fine. We're the Paladins!" she said, nudging his arm. "Nothing we can't handle, right, Archibald?"

Archibald smiled, pushing up his glasses again. "Of course. We'll handle it. But keep in mind, Azulite, fear is perfectly normal."

"I'm not scared!" Azulite interjected. "It's just... This is pretty much a war now. And now with the demons... None of us have fought anything of this caliber. We're talking possibly more than a dozen High-Grades, plus millennia-old demons that are basically gods, and-"

Archibald let out a light chuckle. "You don't need to worry about the demons. If anything, none of us will have to fight them."

The room once again fell into silence.

A man in a dark scarlet jacket spat out a sigh. He was sitting across from Archibald. "Really, Archibald? Really?" he said, annoyed.

"What?"

"Please, please, please don't tell me you're talking about that?"

"I am."

He scoffed. "Dammit, Archibald, we've talked about this. You can't just use this to solve all your problems."

"Not all problems. Just this one."

"When did we even decide on them?"

"I chose them myself. Your son, my nephew, all of them have talent and potential. Just trust me on this one, Eldar. It'll be fine."

Eldar scoffed again.

"Are you sure we're authorized for this?" asked a baritone voice, hidden behind a mask.

Archibald nodded.

Again, silence enveloped the room.

Azulite broke it once again as he steadied his glasses. "So... The Seven Heavenly Virtues, is it? The virtues versus the sins." He sighed. "Can't really say it's a good thing that we're not fighting."

"Well, then," the masked man said, standing up. "Guess this meeting is over now." He walked out of the room, the others beginning to follow suit.

Eldar and Archibald remained behind. "Archibald..." he began. "You're really putting that guy's kid as one of the seven?"

Archibald smirked. He got up, turning to the window behind him. "Of course, I am," he muttered. "His lineage doesn't matter. What matters is power and potential, right?"

"You better know what you're doing," Eldar said, standing from his seat.

Archibald nodded. "Yeah."

As soon as Eldar left, Archibald spat out an exasperated sigh. He stared down the window at the people and buildings below. He tiredly rubbed his face with his hands, muttering, "This is going to work. I know it is. Because I don't what I'm going to do if it doesn't."

- - - - -

March 2022

“There’s a Gateway…”

“Huh?”

Alexander’s head was raised high as he stared at the darkening sky. That single storm cloud blocked out all sunlight, leaving just glimmers of the sky’s original pale blue.

No. That was no storm cloud.

Alexander’s surroundings were emptied. The roads were cleared and practically no one stood or walked around. That dark mass that loomed over them was not a storm cloud.

“It’s a Gateway,” he told Emilia, raising and pointing a single finger at that massive shadow.

She stared at him before raising her head at the supposed Gateway. “It’s just a cloud, dude.”

“What? No, that’s a Gateway. They’re manifesting more quickly nowadays. I read that somewhere.”

“Yeah, but… That’s just a raincloud.”

Alexander spat out a sigh. He couldn't even begin to describe the feeling he felt in his gut. Some kind of energy was emanating from that mass of shadow. He clenched his jaw and gently placed his hand atop Emilia’s head.

“Either way, we gotta hurry up. If it starts raining, we’re screwed.”

It wasn't long before they arrived at their home. But as they arrived, Alexander noticed the black van sitting across the street. He squinted before he noticed the man standing at their doorstep, knocking on their door.

"Emilia, get behind me," he muttered as he took in a deep breath.

"Excuse me, who the hell are you?" he asked.

The man turned to them.

He wore a long trenchcoat, with a raggedy and wrinkled pale blue suit and a crooked tie underneath. Around his neck was a bronze badge. He had brown, shaggy hair with his face covered in stubble. He was more than half a foot taller than Alexander. He smiled as his blue eyes met Alexander's.

"Looks like I arrived right on time," he said, knocking on the door once more.

Alexander didn't know who this guy was or why he was there. And so, he tried to keep his distance, and tried to keep Emilia behind him. Still, if his mom decided to open the door, that would be a different story.

"Oh. It seems I didn't answer your question," he said, chuckling. "My name is Officer Raymond Matthews."

Alexander furrowed his eyebrows. "...Yeah. You're not with the IRS, are you?"

The man laughed. "No, we're with the Department of Homeland Security," tapping at the badge that dangled around his neck. "I'd like to ask you and your parent a couple of questions."

Parent. Singular. Alexander stared at him as he understood what the man said. And, well... That wasn't exactly something most people would know.

Alexander took in a deep breath, struggling to calm his nerves.

"Homeland Security of the country?"

"The Union," he said with a smile, continuing to knock.

The door swung open. "Alexander, if you lost your key again, I-" The woman behind the door paused as she stared at the man standing before her.

She was Carmen Cortés. She was a short, dark-skinned woman, with just a few gray streaks mixed in with her long, brown hair.

The man smiled. "Hi, I'm Officer Raymond Matthews. I'm with the Department of Homeland Security. Can I come in to ask a few questions?"

Carmen furrowed her eyebrows, confused. That man had spoken those sentences within a matter of seconds.

She stared past him, over his shoulder at Alexander and Emilia.

She squinted as she took in a deep breath. "Sure. Come in."

Alexander and Emilia entered after the officer.

Carmen grabbed Alexander's arm. "Who the hell is this?!" she whispered to him.

"I don't know!" he whispered back.

"Emilia, you should go to your room," she said.

Emilia stared at her. Her eyes turned to Alexander, and then to Raymond Matthews. She silently clenched her jaw and began to walk off.

"I'd prefer if you all stayed here," Matthews interjected. "Y'know, for each of you to give your answers to the questions I'll ask."

"But you're in your own home, you should be comfortable. Please, please, sit."

Emilia turned back to her mother. She turned to Alexander.

Alexander and Emilia sat down beside Carmen. The officer remained standing.

"It's a nice house," he muttered, his eyes scanning over the walls and ceiling. "Perfect for a family of three or four."

Carmen swallowed her saliva. "You know, if you're from the IRS, you legally have to tell us, right?"

"Again, not with the IRS."

He pointed at Alexander. "How old are you, kid? Fourteen?"

"Fifteen," Alexander corrected.

"Perfect. So you're Alexander Lane." A thin smile crawled onto his lips. "Perfect," he repeated.

Alexander furrowed his eyebrows.

He spat out a sigh, followed by a few coughs. "So I know you're all wondering why I'm here. I'm just here for inspection. Simple routine. Y'see... The world is garbage," he said, his eyes scanning over Alexander.

The officer remained standing and motionless as he rambled on and on about the world and its systems and the problems within them. His ranting was no more than ten minutes, but each word he spoke with filled with passion, or rather, contempt.

As he discussed how the Norteon Union has ruined the world, and how humanity has grown soft and weak, Carmen spat out a heavy sigh to interrupt him.

"You said you came here to ask questions, but everything you've just said is irrelevant."

The officer smiled.

"If you're done, I think it's time for you to leave," Carmen muttered.

"Yes, of course. But, yeah, like you said, I have to ask questions."

"Do me a favor and stand up, please," he said, pointing at Alexander.

Carmen gripped Alexander's hand. She stared at him, almost telling him not to.

Matthews spat out another heavy sigh. "Come on, y'all. This'll be quick. After this, I'm gone and you can go on with your lives."

"Uh, sure," Alexander said, standing up in confusion.

"Step forward a bit?"

Alexander took a few steps forward.

"Perfect." Matthews reached into his pocket, pulling out a rectangular device.

It looked like nothing more than a cell phone. But that expectation changed as soon as it let out a light beeping.

And that was just how it started. The device began to blare with rapid and high-pitched bells and chimes, its screen quickly brightening with pale light. “Well, damn,” Matthews said, his eyes fixed on the screen. “That’s a lot of magic energy. Way too much for someone like you,” he said, his eyes glaring as he looked up at Alexander.

Alexander's obsidian eyes met the officer's. “...What?”

Matthews’ lips were cracked apart by a thin smile as he tossed that device to the side. “Essentially…. You’re a Demon-Born.”

"...What?" Alexander repeated.

Matthews drove his fist into Alexander’s gut. And as Alexander collapsed to his knees, coughing and spewing saliva, Matthews’ face remained plastered with that thin, crooked smile.

“Wait!” Carmen cried out as she burst up from her seat.

"Restrain him!" he shouted.

The door burst open and nearly half a dozen armed men charged into the room in riot gear. "Restrain the woman, too," he ordered.

He smiled, before slamming the side of his fist across Alexander's head.

Alexander struggled to raise his head before Matthews could do anything else. But the man grabbed Alexander by his shirt, slamming his knee into Alexander's stomach.

Matthews grabbed Alexander by his hair, lifting his head and staring into Alexander's fearful eyes. He smiled. "I don't have pity for you. I have no empathy for beasts like you. You're not human."

He raised Alexander's head to his eye level. "You're a filthy being that never should've existed. Soon, you'll be where you belong. Hell," he said, letting go of Alexander.

Matthews reached into his coat, pulling out a crumpled pack of cigarettes. "Not literally, though," he said, igniting the cigarette between his fingers. "The Union has some... how do you say... Misgivings about executing living creatures for no reason. They say it's 'inhumane'," he said, pocketing his lighter.

"But frankly, that doesn't make any sense. If something's not human, then why do we have to treat them as humans? We shouldn't. You-" he said, pointing at Alexander. "-aren't human. Therefore, you don't deserve to live like one."

Alexander's head turned to his family.

"You can't!" Carmen shouted. She was already being restrained by two armored officers, grabbing her by each of her arms.

Emilia was frozen. Whether it was by fear, shock, or confusion, Alexander didn't know.

Two officers grabbed Alexander's by both his arms, propping him up and keeping him at his knees.

Matthews reached into his coat and pulled out a thin file. Still smiling, he puffed out smoke and cleared his throat before he opened the file and read.

Right beside a picture of a teenage boy sat the name ‘Alexander Lane’. No older than fifteen years old, he had pale brown skin and jet black hair, with eyes just as dark.

“Name: Alexander Lane,” Matthews said, staring at Alexander. “Oh, and you turned fifteen last week. That’s nice. Happy birthday, kid.”

He quickly continued. "Mother: Maria Cortés." He quickly glanced at Carmen and asked: Your sister right? Cause of death: childbirth.” That smile didn’t just remain on his face as he spoke, it grew. “Look at that… The first thing,” he uttered as he stared at Alexander. “The very first thing you do with your life is bring death into this world.”

Alexander’s eyes began to tremble. But Matthews didn’t stop. “How does it feel to be a murderer?” he asked.

The officer’s eyes once again fixed themselves on the file. “And as for your father…”

Raymond Matthews paused, his smile soon fading from his face. “Get ready to get the kid out of here,” he ordered. “If he puts up a fight… You already know what to do, either way.”

Clenching his jaw, he walked over to Emilia, flipping the pages as he moved.

Emilia was still surrounded by four of those officers. She was still, but far from calm, her hands trembling on her knees, her eyes stained with fear and distress as she looked up at the approaching Matthews.

Blood was dripping from Alexander’s forehead and into his eyes as he turned to his sister.

“Emilia Barnes,” Matthews read. “Age: 13 Oh. And your father’s dead,” he said to her. “So you’re both bastard children!” Once again, the same smile he wore earlier was plastered onto his face.

“Now who’s fault is that?” he asked, aiming a single finger at Alexander as he bled.

Continuing, he exhaled a cloud of smoke before walking towards Carmen.

“So to get the story straight…. The Demon-Born’s mom dies. Father disappears. You, the aunt, take him in with your husband. But in the end, his existence alone is why your husband’s dead. Probably not the best choice, right?”

He continued approaching her. “You know… Harboring Demon-Borns is a serious crime. All over the Union.”

“So allow me to explain the situation to you all,” he said. "You're gonna go to court and probably be tried for treason," he said, pointing at Carmen. "The kid's gonna spend his life in some kind of prison. And as for the girl... Well, we might as well just say she's a Demon-Born, too."

"Don't!" Alexander cried, his voice echoing through the room.

Every head in that room turned to Alexander.

They gazed at darkness and the darkness gazed back. Alexander had slowly raised his head. His jaw was clenched, and his eyes were glowing with pale light.

An officer slammed the stock of his rifle into the side of Alexander's head. Alexander slumped over, blood dripping from his forehead. "Looks like that's even more proof, isn't it, sir?" the officer said, a smile growing on his face.

Matthews nodded. "Get them out of here," he ordered, with a smile. "Definitely getting a raise after this," he mumbled to himself, letting out another stream of smoke from his mouth.

"None of that will be necessary," a voice said.

Alexander slowly raised his head, his vision blurry, his breaths labored. There stood a man shrouded by the sun's light. As his vision focused, he stared at the slowly approaching man.

It was a spectacled man wearing a white double-breasted jacket, with golden trims throughout his sleeves and shoulders, as well as a golden aiguillette below his neck. His face was wrinkly, his hair grey, and appeared to be in his sixties.

"Is that..." an officer gasped.

"Goddammit," another muttered.

Matthews clenched his jaw. "Charles Archibald. What are you doing here?"

The Paladin smiled. "I'm just here to make sure nothing goes wrong. You see, none of these people are Demon-Borns. There's no harboring, no hiding. Just ordinary citizens. Nothing more, nothing less. That's all."

Matthews glared. "Really?" He scoffed. "That's nonsense. Just because you're a Paladin doesn't mean-"

Charles Archibald took a single step forward. "There are no Demon-Borns here. And as such, there is no reason for your being here. Do you understand what I'm saying?"

"Are you threatening me, Charles Archibald?" he asked.

"I'm simply telling you what's the situation and what's not," he said with a smile.

They stared at each other in silence. Before long, Raymond Matthews let out a deep exhale, a puff of smoke along with his sigh. "Alright, everyone! Let's pack it up! Leave the kid!"

"But, sir-"

"I said, we're leaving."

The two men dropped Alexander to the ground, before walking along towards the door. Carmen and Emilia rushed over to him.

Matthews remained standing beside Archibald, his back facing Alexander. "You owe me one. Remember that."

Archibald glared. "I don't owe you anything. Get out."

Matthews' face grew in contempt, as he placed his hand on the gun on his hip.

The Paladin smiled. "Are you serious? Go ahead," he laughed. "Draw that gun. See what happens."

Matthews tossed his cigarette to the floor.

"That's just rude, man," Archibald said as he sighed.

All the officers and soldiers had left and their trucks began to drive away.

Archibald reached into the bag at his side as he walked towards Alexander. His hand rifled through its contents as he muttered, "Where is it? I thought I brought one."

"Ah," he said, pulling out a bottle of crimson liquid. The bottle was made of thick glass, topped with a cork. "Here," he said, passing it to Alexander.

Alexander stared at the bottle. He squinted, his eyebrows furrowed, blood still dripping down the side of his face.

"Don't worry, it's not blood," Archibald said, laughing to himself, shaking the bottle. "Just drink a bit and your injuries will be healed."

And with that, Alexander uncorked it and took a whiff of the crimson fluid. He winced, before raising it to his lips.

His vision buzzed and the inside of his mouth burned up as soon as he drank it. But the wound on the side of his forehead stopped pounding. And the bleeding cut on his cheekbone dried up almost instantly.

Alexander gently grazed his fingertips against his face, touching where he was hurt. He was as good as new. Even the pain from the officers' grip on his arms disappeared.

Alexander gagged, before swallowing what remained in his mouth. "Tastes like grapefruit juice," he mumbled.

"Grape juice?" she asked.

"Grapefruit," Alexander repeated.

Carmen let out what seemed like a disappointed sigh. "Just drink it," he said, handing her the bottle.

"This is pretty unsanitary," she mumbled as she took in a deep breath.

He immediately dashed to where Emilia was. Alexander gripped her by her shoulders as he asked if she was okay.

Emilia nodded as she tried to steady her breaths. They were stifled and labored as she tried to blink her tears away.

Archibald cleared his throat. "Don't drink all of it," he said to Carmen. "Well... Yeah, go ahead."

As Carmen finished drinking some of the fluid, she placed the glass bottle on a nearby table. She wiped her mouth with her sleeve, her eyes distressed as he stared at Archibald.

"Why... are you here?" she asked, gritting her teeth and extending her arm over Alexander. "You're not gonna hurt him, are you?"

"Of course not," he said. "You have my word on that." Still, Archibald paused and stared at her. "What would you have done if I would hurt him?"

"I don't know. Something, probably."

He smiled. "I like that. But why would I hurt someone I helped heal?"

Carmen's glare remained, just as her arm still stuck out over Alexander.

Archibald nodded. "Must've been a very frightening twenty-something minutes. Sorry for not arriving sooner."

Carmen finally lowered her arm as she spat out a sigh. "I don't even know what you're doing here."

The Paladin smiled. "Just to talk to your son."

Archibald took in a sharp breath as he walked over to the sofa. He sat down with a smile.

He motioned to Alexander. Archibald patted the side of the sofa to his side, as if he was telling Alexander to sit beside him.

Alexander clenched his jaw as he walked over and sat down in the seat in front of the Paladin.

Charles Archibald clapped his hands. "So. Alexander."

His phone suddenly buzzed. He reached into his pocket, pulling out his phone. "Hm. Excuse me," he said, staring at the screen.

"Ooh, look at that. It actually passed. Took those idiots long enough."

"What?"

"Eh, just some bureaucratic stuff. You see, they just passed a bill granting civil and human rights for demi-humans. Cool, huh?"

"...What?"

"Nothing much. But congrats, you have rights now."

"Wait, you're telling me I didn't have rights until now?"

Archibald laughed. "Yeah. Crazy, right?" He cleared his throat. "Same goes for all other kinds of demi-humans. Y'know, demigods, Angel Spawn, Spirit Possessed, Curse Bearers, and Demon-Borns, just like you," he said, pointing at Alexander. "But I digress."

"Wait but if I have rights now then why'd those people just... Y'know?..."

Archibald sighed. "Technically, the whole demi-human civility thing, I think that's what it's called, doesn't actually count until a few months from now. Basically, a bunch of countries in the Union are trying to get rid of people like you. So, pretty much, they're cracking down on all kinds of people. Y'know, trying to get as many people sentenced and/or executed as they can before it goes into effect. It's weird how things don't go into effect until much after they're signed, isn't it? But, I guess that's just government work for ya."

Alexander grit his teeth as soon as he heard the word 'executed'.

Archibald's manner of speaking didn't match his appearance at all. Alexander expected him to be formal, almost regal, instead of talking like a normal young adult.

"Still surprising they found out about you, considering everything Adam did to hide you," he muttered. Again, he clapped his hands. "So. Alexander," he repeated. "I have a few questions for you."

"Are you satisfied with life? Not just your current life, but life overall. Are you fine with normalcy?"

"What do you mean?"

"Think about what's normal in life. You graduate high school, go to college, graduate college, get a job, leave that job, then get another job and you stay there until you're sixty. Then you do nothing for a decade or two. And then... you die. Pretty boring, huh? Are okay with that?"

A lump formed in Alexander's throat. "No," he muttered.

"Which brings me to my next point," he continued. "The world is ending. Well, the worlds. Plural. All of them. So even if you did accept normalcy, you wouldn't live long enough to see it."

"...What?"

"Unless, of course, we stop it."

"What?" Alexander repeated, his confusion growing with each passing second.

"Basically speaking," Archibald said, his eyes meeting Alexander's. "What I'm offering you... is a chance to become something more."

"Are you familiar with mythology?"

Alexander fought his urge to respond with "What?" once more.

"Ragnarok. Great Chaos. The Apocalypse. The Age of Tribulation. All of these lead to death and destruction. For our world and the others. So, let's say... it's begun. The destruction. Chaos. Death, pain, and suffering. That type of stuff. The logical choice would be to stop it, right? At the very least, for our world. Midgard. That's why I'm here. I have personally chosen a group of seven to protect-"

Alexander took in a sharp breath.

"I'm gonna stop you right there," he said as he spat out an exasperated sigh.

"Dude, you're a Paladin. There are twelve Paladins. 150 Knights. And that's just in the Union. Why would you get seven people to save the world when you could probably do it in a couple of days? And me. Why me? I don't even know magic! I'm not a magician or a sorcerer or whatever! So-"

"Well, look. You're not gonna be preventing universal destruction, per se. Paladins like me will probably handle that. But you, and the other six Virtues... That's what you're called, by the way. The Virtues will handle the demons. I... I can't exactly say much. This is technically classified by the Magecraft Association."

"The destruction isn't something you can stop with force. You can't kill it. But you can kill monsters. That's gonna be your job. If you accept it."

Alexander sat still, confounded and stricken in disbelief. Now, there were demons, all of sudden. None of this story tracked logical ground, Alexander thought.

"I can tell you're thinking about this," Archibald said, letting out a light chuckle.

He sucked in air through his teeth, before sighing. "Fate is complicated, to say the least. People have tried to change fate. It never really works. But I can at least try. Because, you see, if fate's always in control, then do we even have free will? It's a question I'm constantly asking myself."

Archibald shook his head. "Nope. This is getting off-topic. And philosophical. But listen. What I believe is... We control our choices and our actions. Nothing more. Not the effects. Not the world. Just ourselves."

"So, when you make that first choice... When you take that first step... Everything changes. Your whole view of life changes. Maybe what you see is hope. Maybe you see despair. There's no real way of knowing. But if you keep moving forward, you'll have your answer. And I intend, with every fiber of my being, on finding out. But what about you? Are you willing to take control of your destiny?"

Alexander rubbed his chin. "So from my understanding..." he muttered. He continued, "The world, well, the nine realms are gonna be destroyed. So you chose me and six other people to... fight demons? Is that right?"

Archibald nodded. "I understand you have no experience with magic... But I won't simply send you to your death."

"Well..." Alexander said, as his stomach churned. Fear and nervousness settled in the pits of his stomach.

"So... What choice will you make? Will you fulfill your purpose?"