IT WAS A DEATHLY HOT summer and being inside the cabins was not an option. They were saunas at this point and not worth the risk of heat stroke. Casseum found himself settling outside in a hammock that was set up between two trees on the north side of camp Exodus. The branches blocked the sky, but a few sparkling stars poked through in between the gaps. He was beside himself as the other campers settled closer together around the fire, rolling out sleeping bags and fluffing up flattened pillows before placing them on the hard ground. It wasn't ideal, but as mentioned, it was better than getting heat stroke.

Jurian had decided on it. The leader of Exodus didn't want anyone's safety at risk and although being outside was safer, Casseum still preferred the cabin. His freckled face scrunched up in annoyance and disgust as bugs zipped around him. He waved his hand lazily in the air for a while before giving up and carefully rolling over and onto his side, finding a way to shield his face.

He hated being here. He hated the way his fellow campers looked at him behind his back. Casseum knew they were afraid. He knew their thoughts about him and he hated it. It wasn't his fault that his father had turned for the worse. Casseum just inherited the power. It didn't mean he would ever use it.

"What are you doing over here all alone?" Paisley piped up and Casseum held back a disgruntled groan. He loved Paisley with his whole heart, but she was like his little sister and of course that meant she was annoying from time to time. He just wanted to be alone right now.

Paisley was the youngest member of Exodus as she was only 14. Casseum had found her running through the forest one day and immediately took her under his wing. She was only 9 when that happened. Some of the Disciples were still alive and resided in Lyra's Valley with the descendants, but if anyone was found running through the forest, it was quickly understood that a Disciple had been killed.

"Sleeping," he mumbled as Paisley bent to his level to stare at his face. Her dark brown eyes were barely visible in the night as the fire glowed faintly in the background. Casseum stared straight back, hoping she'd take it as a sign to leave him alone.

"Will Jurian allow it?" Paisley asked as her lips turned upward into a small smirk. Casseum just rolled his eyes and swatted Paisley away with a gentle slap to her head. "He doesn't mind," Casseum grumbled and rolled his eyes as Paisley rubbed her head.

Overdramatics in 3...2...1...

"You almost split my head open! Watch where you're waving those death grenades!" Paisley whined and Casseum's smirk fell. The insult didn't hurt, but he didn't like it. Paisley grumbled something else before stomping away and leaving Casseum all by himself. He watched her complain to a few of her friends once she reached the campsite and chuckled at the fact that all their faces seemed to show that they didn't really care about her brotherly issues.

Casseum's gaze lingered elsewhere and fell onto Rowan. She was sitting on a log by herself, scanning all the other campers and probably taking in all of their emotions. If there was anybody in this world who was the literal definition of "emotional trash can", it was Rowan. She could sense and manipulate all emotions given off from other people, including herself. This allowed her to channel that emotion to create or destroy things. It was honestly the coolest thing Casseum had ever witnessed and he could never comprehend how she could undergo the constant pressure of dealing with everyone's emotions and problems. In Rowan's words, "Negative emotions are way more abundant than positive emotions."

These powers they had were incredible. It wasn't something any of them could describe accurately in words. It was just a gift too worthy to be given, yet here they all were. The way receiving these powers was a mystery. A scion could marry a descendant, but the child would always have the scion gift. If two scions married and had a child, the child wouldn't have the scion gift and would just be a normal descendant, or in rare cases, a hybrid. It was a strange thing and Jurian had explained it many times to Casseum. But it just never made much sense to him.

With a sigh, Casseum looked down at his hands and studied them, moving his fingers around and clenching them into fists time and time again. Paisley was right. His hands were death grenades.

Casseum had heard the stories from Jurian about the things his father had done during the uprising. It scared him and he was nowhere near using his power any time soon. Casseum was afraid he wouldn't be able to control it and not being in control was something he couldn't handle. Casseum had to control things, not in the sense of being a control freak, but in the sense of having a grip on reality and his life. He needed to understand the differences between good and bad. He couldn't risk compromising his morality and sanity for the sake of an entire people. As awful as that sounded, to Casseum it just made sense. The end never justified the means.

"Casseum," he flinched at Jurian's voice. While he was lost in wonderland, he hadn't heard Jurian walk up.

"Yes?" Casseum drawled and put on a smile as he sat up and faced Jurian. With his angry look and crossed arms, Casseum could quickly realize that Jurian was not happy with where he had decided to camp out. It was meant to be intimidating, but in all honesty, it wasn't.

"When you asked to sleep in the hammock, I thought you meant using the trees closest to the campsite," Jurian jutted a thumb behind him and Casseum's face flushed with heat from the embarrassment that everybody was now staring at him getting scolded.

"You never specified the trees," Casseum responded as he returned his gaze back to Jurian. Casseum was rather humorous and by Lyra he knew he shouldn't be like that right now.

"Move. I won't ask you again."

"Yessir," Casseum quickly obliged and struggled to get out of the hammock. He let out a defeated sigh and removed his beloved hammock from his beloved trees that offered him privacy. "It was good while it lasted," he whispered and carried his hammock and pillow over to the other set of trees.

Casseum could feel a faint warmth from the fire, the crackles and snaps now able to be heard. He could hear faint whispers of chit chat and laughs from the others, but didn't bother to get involved himself. He wondered if some of it was about him getting yelled at just now. But Casseum quickly shrugged the thought off and set up his hammock.

Once settled inside, he started to drift off. Casseum's eyelids were heavy and they started to flutter shut. The whispering voices, the crackling fire, the chirping crickets, and the occasional hoot of an owl mixed together to form an abnormal lullaby. It wasn't too hard for him to drift asleep.

Casseum

He opened his eyes, only be greeted by complete and utter darkness. Casseum turned in a circle and realized he was all alone. He wasn't in the forest anymore. There was nothing around him.

Casseum

His heart was pounding. It felt as if it was about to break free from his ribcage. It hurt. Casseum felt a buzz in his hands and looked down to see a dark, purple energy oozing out. His eyes grew wide in fear. He wasn't controlling it. He wasn't in control. He couldn't get it to stop no matter how hard he tried. It wouldn't listen.

Casseum, why do you hurt me? You're wasting a perfect gift.

"Stop it! For Lyra's sake, stop it!" He cried out.

His voice reverberated in the nothingness and it sent chills down his spine. What was this? Some sort of dream?

Oh Casseum, this is not a dream.
This is you.

"No. It's not me," Casseum replied.

Are you sure?

His breath hitched in his throat as a reflection of himself appeared out of thin air. No, not a reflection, but another and very real Casseum.

Why are you so shocked? You know this is who you're meant to be.

Casseum studied his other version in astonishment and stunned silence. This Casseum was as pale as snow and sickly. He was frail and skinny, his bones thin enough to be snapped like a twig. His eyes were pitch black with purple irises, and the skin around had black veins that stretched out like a million fractures. This Casseum was corrupted.

"What do you want?" Casseum asked and tried hard to keep his voice from trembling. He didn't know what he was dealing with here.

What do I want? I want you to be me! I want you to accept your fate! You are supposed to be this, but you refuse to use your gift. You're ungrateful— worthless.

"Don't say that," Casseum snapped. He had always been insecure that he was never enough, but didn't need his own self to remind him of that.

Don't say what? That you're worthless? It's only the honest truth. You should be like your father, following in his footsteps.

"And what? Kill thousands of innocent and defenseless people? I would rather die than do that," Casseum argued and clenched his hands, feeling the buzz growing into a burning sensation.

You better watch your temper.

Casseum suddenly felt a fierce rage surge throughout his whole body, burning every part of him. He doubled over in pain and screamed in agony as it felt like he was being thrown into an inferno. Abruptly, the ground disappeared and Casseum was left falling into a bottomless pit. Cackles filled his ears and he tried to cover them, but it was no use.

You can't avoid me forever Casseum. I'll be here waiting.

"Casseum!" A hand grabbed his arm and in a flash he struck out, struggling to fight whoever just touched him.

"Casseum, it's me! Sybil! Calm down!" She hissed and grabbed his shoulders, trying to hold him down. Worry was written all over her face as she stared down at him and his panicked gaze. It was almost as if he was in a different world.

Casseum blinked his eyes a couple of times before realizing he was awake. His body was covered in a sweat and he was shivering like a leaf. His breathing was ragged and uncontrollable, almost sending him into a panic attack. He looked at Sybil wildly and wondered what was going through her mind. She probably thought he was crazy or that he was on the brink of exploding. Sybil had always been a good friend of his, but he had never been this vulnerable or scared in front of her. Ever.

"Casseum, breathe. You're safe," Sybil whispered and lowered to his level, keeping her gaze locked with his. Whatever he was going through, he wasn't going through alone.

Sybil helped him calm his breathing by doing a couple of exercises with him. She got him water, food, and a blanket, hoping it would do some good. But Casseum remained silent, and every time Sybil tried to leave, he would grab her wrist.

"Casseum, what happened?" Sybil was more than worried, she was concerned. Casseum had never been like this before and it was scaring her.

Though he never said a word. Casseum stayed silent about his troubling dream. He didn't want anyone to know about it, for it would only scare the others, and he couldn't risk losing the little trust he shared with them.

After a while, Sybil started to get up and Casseum grabbed her wrist again. His eyes begged her not to leave his side. "Relax, I'm just going to get my sleeping bag. I'll sleep next to you for the rest of the night, okay?" Casseum reluctantly nodded his head and let her go, watching her intently.

But Sybil was quick, and no sooner than she had left his side, she was back. After fluffing her pillow for a while, she watched Casseum get out of his hammock and take it down. He laid it on the ground and then placed the blanket she gave him down as padding. Casseum then fluffed his pillow and laid his head down, staring up at the night sky. It hit Sybil right then how much Casseum didn't want to be alone, no matter how close she was, he didn't want to be too far away from her that he couldn't reach her.

They were silent for a while and Casseum refused to go back to sleep. He did not want to close his eyes, so instead, he studied the stars. He made pretend constellations in his head to occupy his mind for a while. He wanted to stay distracted.

It was like this for some time when out of the blue, Sybil took his hand and held it. He flinched at her touch but turned to look at her and was greeted by her warm gaze. It was a comfort and he squeezed her hand gently before mumbling a thank you. Sybil smiled softly and watched as Casseum slowly and gradually went back to sleep.

She would never know what happened that night as the next morning Casseum was gone from her side. She found him in the mess hall eating breakfast and when she sat next to him he acted as if last night never happened. Sybil never said a word and kept his secret as an unspoken agreement.

a/n: hey everyone! chapter one! what do you think? leave some feedback or constructive criticism. i'm not sure how to go about this story and i've worked on outlines and different ideas. i'm not too sure about this chapter but i tried to use it as an introduction to some things and to help explain some things. other than that, thanks for reading!