A mirror. And within it, a boy. Lightning filled the air, lashing the sky with whips of fire, lacing the air with tension. Thunder exploded into being, drowning out the sound of the racing wind. The boy stood in the midst of it all, his feet planted firmly on the ground. His hands were shaking, his legs were trembling. His head was down, his eyes were closed. Blood dripped down his face.

Then he raised his shaking head.

His eyes burned with ferocity, as if he could stare down the world itself.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Moving sucks. I'm telling you right now, it's terrible. I've had more than my fair share of it, too.

The first time I moved, I was too young to get it. I was 2 years old, and I was moving from India to the U.S. A. Yes, I was born in India. But I grew up in Oregon. Then, when I was 7, we moved to Michigan.

Now, I'm 13, and we just moved to North Carolina.

Biggest shock? People here don't have southern accents (in the cities at least). I know, right? Never saw it coming. My mom told me southerners were like, normal people, but I didn't really believe her.

But that's not really important. I only spent about a week there. And that was mostly during spring break.

My last day in North Carolina was also my first day at my new school.

Worst. First. Day. Ever.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

It all started with the front office. My mom had to take my little sister Aasha to school, so I was on my own. I walked up to the front desk of Fisher Middle School where a blonde woman was typing half heartedly. I guess first day back from break gets to everyone.

I cleared my throat. "Um, hey, I'm a new student."

She looked up. "Name?"

I shifted my weight. "Ravi Jindal."

She wrote my name down on a piece of paper, spelling it wrong, naturally. "Alright, Ravi, you can sit over there until a counselor comes to work out your schedule."

"Ok," I said walking over to the chair.

I tried to relax, but I couldn't. The room was such an uncomfortable space. Every corner was sharp, all the seat cushions decrepit and stiff. I just wanted the counselor to come get me.

Finally--FINALLY--a slightly overweight woman walked into the room. "Ravi Jindal?" she called. I started to stand up, picking up my backpack.

Then some girl walked in. She smiled. "Hey Mrs. Rayford."

Mrs. Rayford looked up and shrieked. "Sierra! Oh my goodness!"

I sat back down, running my hand through my hair in frustration. I knew from having two sisters and a mom for experience: this was gonna take a while.

Mrs. Rayford crushed the Sierra girl in a hug. Sierra laughed. "It's good to see you too."

"I haven't seen you in forever!" Mrs. Rayford gushed. I rolled my eyes. Girls. This might take longer than I thought. They began to chat about random stuff. I resisted the urge to get out my phone and text my old friend, Daniel.

"How's the new...school?" Suddenly Mrs. Rayford looked a bit uncomfortable.

But Sierra laughed. "It's wonderful," she assured. "The treatment is amazing."

I frowned. Treatment? Suddenly I felt awkward, like this wasn't a conversation I wasn't really meant to hear.

"Well I'm glad to hear it," Mrs. Rayford said with a relieved smile.

Just then, the bell rang. Mrs. Rayford gasped. "Oh my goodness, is it that time already? Alright I have to go, Sierra, but it was nice to see you! When do you go back?"

"Tomorrow," Sierra said with a smile. Who am I kidding? This girl didn't STOP smiling.

Mrs. Rayford gave her one last hug and Sierra walked away, breezing out the door as if I wasn't there.

Mrs. Rayford turned to me, traces of tears in her eyes. "Well, Ravi, is it? Let's get your schedule sorted out."

We began walking back to her office. After a moment, I cleared my throat. "Mrs, uh, Rayford? Who was that girl you were talking to?"

"Oh, one of our former students, Sierra Claget!" Mrs. Rayford said. "She was so kind. I never had a complaint about her in my office, no sir."

"But...she moved?"

Mrs. Rayford's smile lost its authenticity. "Oh. Um. Not exactly."

We entered her office, and I decided not to press the issue any further.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Homeroom had passed by the time we were done, so I went straight to my first class: science with Ms. Alford.

I walked in, awkwardly of course. Everything is awkward on the first day. Heck, I'm awkward all the time. Me and first day together? Not a good combination.

Ms. Alford, who was nice enough, put me at a table with a girl named Olivia and a boy named Austin. Olivia smiled at me once I sat down. "I'm so glad you're here. With Gina absent, I'm not sure I could survive an entire period with this guy." She jerked her thumb at Austin.

"Welcome to the table bro," Austin said, holding up his fist. I bumped it tentatively.

Class began with a worksheet. Ms. Alford told me to try, and I could ask my table mates for help if I needed to. I bent my head down, trying to finish as quickly as possible.

Olivia was humming softly as she worked. Austin looked annoyed. Her humming steadily grew louder. Finally, he put down his pencil and turned to her. "Would you shut up? Why on earth are you so happy today?"

She smiled slyly. "Oh, I got to spend the weekend with Sierra, that's all."

Austin almost fell out of his chair. "What?!" he shouted.

"Austin!" Ms. Alford said sharply. He apologized but quickly turned back to Olivia. "Sierra was in town this weekend?" he hissed.

"All break," Olivia said smugly.

Austin slumped back in his chair. "Oh. Well, I don't care anyways."

Olivia snorted.

I finished the worksheet and put my pencil down. Olivia looked over in surprise. "Wow, that was fast. You're smart."

I squirmed uncomfortably. I don't like it when people call me smart. Even if it is true.

Then I froze.

Every molecule in my body was completely and utterly petrified.

I had time to think: what the crud?

Then the pain hit.

Every muscle in my body cramped up, like red hot ropes were snaking up my arms and legs, tightening with every second. It felt like someone was stabbing my bones. I gasped in agony. Someone in the distance screamed.

Then everything went black.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Warmth. Warmth and light. Light is what I treasure, warmth is what it fills me with. There was darkness, but glittering, gleaming, like stars in the sky through the darkness, was light. I need to share that light, bring it within me and spread to all those who live in the dark. I was strong, sturdy, and my heart beat with the ground under my feet. I live in the strength, so solid that light from above can't pass through.

Which is why I treasure the light within the strength.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

I heard the voices before I really understood what was going on.

"Hey! Hey new kid? You ok?"

"Hey dude, get up!"

"Everyone back away from him, give him some space!"

"Is he ok?"

Slowly, my eyes flickered open. People were crowded around me, leaning over in my face.

"He's awake!"

The teacher came forward, ushering students out of the way. "I called the nurse, she'll be here in a moment. Just try to stay calm."

"I'm ok..." I said quietly. I moved into a sitting position. I felt myself turn red under the stares. I don't like being the center of attention. Especially by a bunch of kids I didn't know.

Whoa, wait. Did I just faint? I'd never fainted before. My face flushed even hotter. Way to go, Ravi. This first time you faint, it's the first impression of an entire classroom and maybe a school. Everyone is going to think you're a sissy. Smooth going.

Olivia knelt down beside me, looking concerned. Ms. Alford was pacing her classroom, muttering, "Why is it always my class?"

Olivia looked at me strangely. "Tell me...do you have any...symptoms? Headache? Nausea?"

Now that I thought about it..."No," I said, troubled. That didn't make any sense at all. I began to push her away and stand up. I didn't need a girl helping me. That would look pathetic. I understood she had good intentions, but I needed to preserve my reputation as much as possible.

The nurse rushed in. "Hello, dear, I'm Ms. Pinelis." She knelt down and took temperature with her hand. "Let's get you up to the office."

"Ok," I said. Anything to get away from the stares.

She hesitated, for a moment, then spoke. "This is kind of a strange question, but humor me. Were you...in a river?"

"No," I said immediately. She smiled, relieved, patted me on the shoulder, and helped me up.

My mind was whirring. I hadn't seen a river (what the heck Ms. Pinelis) ...but I had seen something. And now I felt fine. After fainting. Which didn't make any scientific sense. I like my world to make sense.

I walked down the blank hallways plastered with posters too happy for their own good. Usually I like to read them and make fun of them...but not today. Today I was too wrapped up in my own brain. I fought to remember what I had seen. There was mostly darkness...like a cave or something. But somehow...there was light.

And I had wanted to share it. My sole ambition was to share that light.

What the heck?

That was sounding was too deep. My older sister, Shreya, loved that sort of stuff, the deep philosophical things that left you questioning life. I hate that. It makes my life feel like it's not attached to anything. Like I said, I want my world to make sense.

Well...the light thingy wasn't really philosophy. More like a really strange dream. Where I had really strange life ambitions. I breathed. I could deal with a dream.

But it still didn't explain the fainting-with-no-symptoms.

I got to her office, which was very, very blue. She took my temperature again, but with a thermometer. It was one of those old ones, the glass ones with the mercury inside. I didn't even know they sold those anymore. They freak me out a little bit. What if the glass breaks while it's in your mouth? You would die!

When she was done, she gave me a protein bar. Everything she did, she did warily. She seemed to be expecting something from me, as if she had seen it happen before and was nervous it might happen again. I was tempted to yell, "boo!" but restrained myself.

Huh. Now that I thought about it, EVERYONE had been like that after I fainted.

I swallowed the bit of the protein bar I was chewing. "Ms. Pinelis?"

She jumped and whirled around, terror in her eyes. "Yes?"

I blinked. "Um, why is everyone so freaked out? I just fainted. That's pretty normal, right?"

She released a breath and smiled. "Oh." She giggled nervously. "I suppose I am being a little paranoid. It's just...this isn't the first time it's happened, you see. People fainted and had no symptoms when they woke up."

I stared at her. What the heck? I cleared my throat. "Uh, really? So, um, who did this happen to before?" She shifted uncomfortably. I inwardly cursed myself. I'm terrible at conversation. I was trying to make this sound natural, but in all reality, I was probably making it worse.

"Well...it happened to a girl about your age." She looked at me nervously. "Her name is Sierra Claget."

At that, I just about lost my mind.

Could I not go ten minutes without hearing about this girl??? Seriously! This was ridiculous! How kind she was, how jealous someone was they didn't get to see her, how she left the school and how sad everyone was. I was at the end of my rope. This Sierra person really couldn't be THAT great.

Well, this wasn't about how great she was. But still. It was like her memory was stalking my life.

I stood up, finishing the protein bar. "Well, thanks for everything Ms. Pinelis, but I really should be going. I feel fine, and staying here will only detract from my educational experience." She began to protest, but I picked up my backpack and began to walk out. By the doorway, I stopped. "Um, can you tell me the directions to Ms. Alford's classroom?"

Just then, I froze.

I had time to think: wait...again?

And then the pain came.

Bitter cold swords bit into my arms and legs, creating bursts of burning agony. Exhaustion dripped through my muscles, and they ached with such intensity I felt like crying. A hot, sharp, knife stabbed me in the chest, and I made a strange choking noise.

And then everything went black.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

I was a point, one single point in the universe, and everything around me was white space. I held the entire world on my shoulders, and held it strong. I could see everything in the white space with incredible accuracy, as if there was more there, within nothing, than what most people could see. All this strength, all this power, because of the single point I had become, the single point that overflowed with all things that exist in the world.

I opened my eyes, and the power was unleashed.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Author's Note

THIS IS A SEQUEL. If you haven't read my first story, Myths, much of this will not make sense to you. I mean, you CAN read it, in fact I would like you to, but you should probably read Myths first. ;-)

Enjoy!
~Paint_splatt