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The Crystals of Ethria

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Chapter 1-Rai’s Problem

The world of Ethria was a relatively simple place. Kings ruled their countries, technology was reasonably useful, and there were very few wars.

And every single person possessed a crystal. These crystals were very special; they weren’t ordinary gems. Inside of each, there was a spirit. Nobody knew the origin of these spirits. Some said that the person created them subconsciously, others thought they were ancient beings who chose to appear to each person, and a few very vocal people claimed they were aliens.

Regardless of how they came around, these spirits came and went as asked or as they wished, and granted some sort of power to their owners. Some could use the elements, like fire and lightning, others were incredible athletes. Almost any power could appear in a person, but it had been shown to correspond to the owner’s personality.

Every single person had a crystal, and a spirit. That is, everybody except for a boy named Rai. Most crystals were a sky blue in color, and unfaceted. Rai’s was not only violet and faceted, but in the middle it narrowed to form a shape rather like a Mobius Strip (or a sideways figure 8), except that it was solid and not curved; it only had straight lines.

This upset Rai, though he didn’t show it. Everybody else always had a companion that helped them with things, and guarded them from danger. He had nothing. In the entire world of Ethria, Rai was the only one truly alone.

Ninth Yor, 2193

Seraph City

Ruvian High School

“Hey, wimp!” a bully called. Rai ignored him and continued working on the essay he was writing. “Aaw, is the runt trying to ignore me?” Rai continued working, not even bothering to look up. The bully walked over and slammed his hand down on Rai’s desk. “I’m talkin’ to you, wimp!”

“Go away.” Rai replied, continuing to work. He still hadn’t looked up. The bully snarled and scattered Rai’s papers onto the floor. The boy calmly began to pick them up, when a foot slammed him into the ground. The boy didn’t make a sound.

“You sicken me. Acting like you’re so much better then everybody else all the time. You’re worse then everybody else!” the bully said, slamming his foot down again. Unexpectedly, Rai flipped over, grabbed the bully’s foot, and used the combined momentum to not only slam the bully into the ground, but get himself upright.

“Sorry.” Rai said. “But I’m not that easy to beat.”

“SHUT UP!!” the bully yelled, scrambling to get up. A swift axe kick from Rai gave the bully quite a bit of pain, but not nearly enough to stop him from charging.

Hours later, Rai came home with quite a few bruises on his face. His mother quickly noticed.

“Rai! Did those bullies pick on you again!?” she shrieked.

“It’s nothing.” Rai replied. “I’m going to my room.”

“No, you are not.” His mother replied. “Get back here right now, young man.” Sighing, Rai did as he was told. After a moment, he sat down on the large couch in the family room, leaving his backpack by the door. “Rai, when will you just ask the administrators for help!? You can’t just let them keep hitting you! At least fight back!”

“I did.” Rai replied, looking to the side. His mother sighed.

“Did you hurt him?” she asked.

“Well, the nurse says he might be out of Critical Condition in two weeks…” Rai muttered, completely lying. His mother smiled slightly.

“Good to see you’re sticking up for yourself.” She said fondly. “I did get a call, I must admit, but they said that they were going to forego disciplining you because a few dozen other boys reported also being bullied by the boy you hurt.” Rai smiled.

“Fighting’s something I’m good at. I’m not good at much else, after all.” The boy said. “I’m going upstairs now.” With that, he calmly got up and went to his room. As soon as he was inside, though, he quickly took off his shirt and looked at the mass of bruises that were all over his torso. “…I hate being the target.” The boy said. He slammed a fist into a mounted punching bag, sending it slamming into the wall. The dent got a little bigger, and Rai put his shirt back on and flopped onto his bed. “I wish I had a Spirit…” he muttered. “Maybe then I could just be normal.” He sighed, turned over, and found himself face-to-face with a girl. “WAAAAAH!!” the boy yelled, jumping backwards.

“Nyow?” the girl said. Rai’s heart was beating about as fast as it had ever gone before. It took a lot to surprise Rai, but turning over and seeing a girl in his bed when there hadn’t been one ten seconds before was definitely enough. The boy worked to calm down, and looked carefully at the girl. She had long, white hair, a nice and modestly covered body, a tail, cat-like ears, paws, and claws the length of his forearm where fingers would normally be. The claws went straight out.

“Um… W-who are you?” Rai asked. The girl blinked, and thought for a moment.

“Nyar!” she said decisively. She used one of her claws to carve four letters onto a piece of paper. Her control was remarkable.

“Shri?” Rai read aloud. The girl nodded. “You’re a spirit?” the girl nodded again. “Wow… My wish came true.” He said. The girl nodded a third time, then tackled him from the bed and managed to get him onto the floor. Her claws had turned into human-like fingers, and she happily started nuzzling Rai. She was also purring. “Heh heh heh…”

“Nyow!” Shri said brightly. She got off of him a moment later and let him stand. Her claws reappeared.

“I feel a lot better.” Rai said, patting her on the head. She was walking on all fours, so it was rather like petting a dog.

“Nyaaaa.” Shri said, sounding very pleased. She jumped onto the bed and curled up, still looking pleased. After a few minutes, she seemed to be asleep, so Rai quickly headed downstairs. The idea was to tell his mother, so that she didn’t freak when she saw Shri, which would happen sooner or later.

“Mom!” Rai called.

“Yes, dear?” his mother replied, looking out into the hall.

“Um… I think my wish just came true.” Rai said. His mother blinked, and Shri walked into plain sight. She had obviously been listening, and hadn’t been sleeping after all.

“OH, HOW CUTE!!” Rai’s mother exclaimed.

“Nyow!?”

“This is excellent, Rai! You’re finally like everybody else! And I should have known your Spirit would be like that!” Rai’s mom continued.

“Huh?” Rai asked, completely and utterly confused. He had no idea what in the world she was talking about, so this was quite understandable.

“Well, humanoid spirits only appear with the strongest people. Your spirit, whatever her name is, is most definitely of the S Rank.”

“Nyaa!” Shri said emphatically. Rai looked down at her, blinking.

“S Rank?”

“Yes, Rai. I’m surprised you haven’t already studied all of this. The length of time it takes a Spirit to appear is usually a factor in their rank. The lowest and weakest spirits, Rank F, are usually with their owner from birth. Rank S spirits, who are by far the strongest, usually show up around ten years after their owner’s birth. Also, only S Rank spirits are humanoid. So your spirit must be phenomenally powerful, or she wouldn’t have taken so long.” Rai’s mother explained. Rai blinked and nodded, still confused.

“Nya…” Shri said, rubbing her head against Rai’s leg. The boy pat her on the head a few times to placate her. It worked quite well.

“So… You’re saying that Shri is exceptionally strong.” Rai said. His mother nodded. “And that she’s of the highest rank.” His mother nodded again. “Um… I’ll be in my room now, okay?” And with that, Rai hurried off to his room, breathing heavily. Shri followed.

“Nyow.” Shri said, sitting down on the floor. Rai jumped onto his bed, and looked at her. “Nya?”

“…Thanks.” Rai said. Shri nodded, smiling. “By the way… You enjoy fighting, right?” Shri nodded again. “Do you hate bullies?”

“Nyar!” Shri said emphatically, smiling.

“Want to help me teach one a lesson?” Rai inquired. Shri quickly nodded, jumped onto the bed, and curled up. “Heh heh heh… Thanks. Again.”

“Nyaa.” Shri replied, sounding content.

The next day, Rai headed off to school fairly early. Shri had temporarily returned to the Crystal Rai had, mostly to make it look like Rai still didn’t have her. The idea was to make it a surprise, and chances were extremely high it would work.

“Well, here we are.” Rai said quietly. His Crystal glowed in a friendly manner for a moment. “Heh…”

“Hey, brat.” A cold voice said. Rai half-turned and looked over. A very annoyed boy was standing there. To be specific, the bully, Jarrett, that Rai had fought the day before. “I hope you’re ready for a pummeling.”

“Oh, I wouldn’t be worried about me. I’d be worried about you, except for the small fact that I hate you. And your guts.” Rai replied.

“What was that?” Jarrett snarled. “Do you want me to send you to the hospital or something?” He started laughing. “You’ve officially gone crazy! But since you’re asking, I’d be glad to beat the snot out of you!” With that, he charged.

“Shri!” Rai yelled. Shri appeared by Jarrett’s feet, and easily tripped the boy. Jarrett fell flat on his face, and Shri padded over to Rai, looking very smug.

“Nyow.” She said. Rai scratched her head a few times.

“Ugh… What the heck was that?” Jarrett asked, getting back up. He noticed Shri after about five seconds. “Wait…” He said, putting two and two together. “No… That’s ridiculous!”

“What is?” Rai asked, raising an eyebrow. Jarrett glared at him.

“I see now. You’re just borrowing that Spirit to fool me into thinking you have one.” The bully spat out. “It ain’t gonna work, I’m way too smart for that sort of thing.”

“Well… You know, you shouldn’t say you’re smart for deducing that, because that’s a load of baloney. Shri is my spirit.” Rai replied. Shri nodded vigorously. “And I’d say we’re quite capable of kicking your butt. Badly.”

“Enough talking!” Jarrett said. He held out his hand, and his own spirit appeared. His was a large bear/orc combination creature, Rank A. “Come on, let’s get him!”

“Shri?” Rai asked. Smiling, Shri shot forward. Nobody except Shri herself knew precisely what happened next, but Jarrett’s spirit fell to the ground in several dozen pieces, and vanished shortly after. Both Rai and Jarrett stared. “Wow…”

“What the… This is nuts!” Jarrett said. “My spirit’s at Rank A, there’s no way a wimp like you could have a spirit that could do that!”

“Well… Apparently, Shri is Rank S.” Rai said, patting Shri when she returned to his side. “Face it, your butt has been soundly kicked. Just like I told you.” Jarrett glared at the boy.

“I’m gonna get you for this. Just you wait.” Jarrett said. Rai rolled his eyes. “Humph.” The bully stalked off, and Rai calmly headed to class. He had a feeling that today would be a very good day.

It was a shame that he didn’t know how wrong he would be.

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