Shards of the Truth

Chapter 1: To Capture a Dream

Sequel to Memory Swing

The silence was deadly. It closed in, smothered her, like a pillow pressed over her face. It choked her, made her gasp. Some found silence to be comforting. For Jade, silence brought fear and terror. Perhaps it was the belief that, like so many times in her past, she would be lost in the silent void, for no one cared about her. She opened her eyes unwillingly to allow the light from the window to filter in her room. Yet there was no busy noise in the hallway, no sounds of people awakening. Only the never-ending silence.

"What is going on?" she muttered, quietly, from the irrational and inexplicable fear one has of breaking the quiet. Pulling her feet out from under the covers, she called out silently in her mind for Chris. Chris?> No reply. Jade clamoured out of bed frantically and yanked on some jeans. Tripping, she fell onto her night table and cut her cheek. Grunting in pain, she threw open her door, wincing from the sudden breach of ear-ringing silence. No one was in the hall. The glowing red lights of her digital clock conveyed the time and it only deepened her fear. The school was bustling with people and energy at nine o'clock in the morning. She turned to her right and saw movement at the end of the hall. Breaking into a jog, she turned the corner and came face to face with….

A man she didn't know. A face hidden by a black cloak. "Sordin…" she whispered. The man moved in pleasure. "You've never met me, yet you know of me? I'm flattered." Jade backed away in horror. "Where is everyone?" she whispered. The man pulled off his cloak, and when he met her eyes, she was shocked to see his face was that of Orion's. "What the-?"

"Jade."

"Orion? You're Sordin…?"

"JADE! Wake up, girl, we're going to be late for class."

Jade was brought back to reality with a thud. "What a weird dream," she muttered. Tally peered into her face. "No offence, but I don't want to hear about your dream at the moment. Ms. Flinton is going to have a fit! And I don't need to look at the future to know that our punishment will be severe." Jade groaned and threw off her covers. "Are you okay?" asked Tally, her brow furrowed in consternation. "What do you mean?" asked Jade in confusion as she quickly changed. "Your cheek," said Tally, pointing at Jade's right cheek. Jade put her hand to her cheek and quickly pulled it away as her fingers met the slippery, cold surface of blood.

Her dream… "Must've scratched myself in the night," said Jade casually, wiping away the blood with Kleenex. Tossing aside the Kleenex along with her thoughts behind the strange coincidence, she seized her books and rushed alongside Tally to class. Entering history, she ducked behind the people at the back, hoping against hope that Ms. Flinton wouldn't notice them. Looking around for a seat, she groaned as she saw that the only seats left were in the front and beside Elly.

The girl who used to be her best friend had rushed out on her at the time she needed her most. Elina had been shy since that fateful day and had shied away from Jade whenever she saw her coming. At the times when she was forced to speak to Jade, she would not meet her eyes and kept them fixed on her shoes. Jade was acting equally different. Her voice was so cold when she talked to Elina it made her shiver. She refused to forgive her, despite Taliana's comment that it was pretty hard to promise to travel to the end of the universe to defeat Sordin and stop a mass war.

That was their plan. After a long talk with Orion and her friends, it was decided they were going to travel to Sonirus to face Sordin. Orion had promised to go with them. It was not near as dangerous a journey as their trip to get the prophecy, but the final "showdown" as Chris liked to put it could be deadly. Jade was brought back to her current problem with a jolt as her name was called out in a shrill and unforgiving voice that belonged to her "favourite" teacher, Ms. Flinton. "Kyliana!" Sighing, she rose. Tally put her hands in the air mockingly and said, "I guess the jig is up. Go ahead, take me. I'll go willingly." Jade laughed and fixed her teacher with a level stare. "Like I've said for the last hundred times, Ms. Flinton, my name is Jade." The teacher looked back equally as unemotional and said sweetly, "Is Jade the name you were given at birth?"

Jade mimicked her voice. "No, but it's the one I've been using for ten years of my life by the only parents I can remember." That always got the teachers off her case.

Not Ms. Flinton, apparently.

"Sit DOWN, Kyliana, or I will be forced to punish you."

"Do you see anyone named Kyliana?" asked Tally, looking at Jade questioningly. "Nope, must've missed her," said Jade with a straight face. "Boy, I'd hate to be her, getting punished by Ms. Flinton," said Tally in a stage whisper. The teacher's face turned red. Long ago, Chris had gotten the teacher to blow with emotion. The class quite enjoyed this and tried to provoke her every day. Today, it seemed, it was Jade and Tally's turn. "At least I am not an insolent little brat," said Ms. Flinton, starting to get childish in her rebuttal. Tally elbowed Jade in the side and said only to her, Watch this> She shook her hair (in braids) away from her face.

"Well, at least we don't have voices so high that bats can hear them," said Tally. They would never have dared provoke Ms. Flinton this much two years ago when they were 17. Now, as Jade was 19 and Taliana 21, they were full of newfound confidence. The teacher's face turned white, always a warning sign. "Oh, wait," said Tally, looking thoughtful. "You ARE an old bat."

"I will talk to you later," said Ms. Flinton. Her voice was so high and pinched with rage that the glass in front of her cracked. "Are you sure you'll be able to talk within our hearing range?" asked Jade, a smile twitching at her mouth. The teacher pointed with a shaking finger at the desk. "Sit. Down. Now." Finally bored with annoying their teacher, Jade dropped into the seat beside Elly. Elina quivered and looked at her book, and Jade lifted her chin coldly. Ms. Flinton took a sip of water (pretending not to notice that it was spilling down her shirt from the crack she had made in it) and calmed herself, beginning to do what she liked to do best: talk.

"Today, class," she said happily, "we are going to talk about Children of the Moon." Jade looked up in surprise. This was the first topic they had ever discussed in history that actually interested her. "Now. We have a couple "children of the moon" in this class," said Ms. Flinton. She purposely refused to look at Jade. "Do any of them want to tell me what they are?" Jade raised her hand, and Ms. Flinton smiled at her. Jade knew the teacher knew that despite her provocations Jade really meant no harm and was actually a good kid. "Yes, Ky- Jade," said the teacher, correcting herself before Jade could. "Descendants of Mistorose Moonshard, a man who had the power to change the fabric of time."

"Correct, Jade. And what is so special about these children?" Ms. Flinton looked around in delighted surprise. For the first time, the class looked interested and three people had their hands raised to answer her question. Tally, two years Jade's elder, was called upon to answer the question. "They have special gifts… not like telekinesis or anything… but in dire danger they can do special things…"

"Vague, but right. What can you?"

"Emit a burst of fire that kills ALL those in my immediate surroundings."

Going around the class, Ms. Flinton questioned all of the endowed children. Finally, she came to Jade. "And you, Jade?" Jade laughed and drew in a deep breath. "Well, I can really do anything my familiar tells me to do, but-"

Cries of "wow, you know your familiar?!" echoed around the room. "But as of now, I know how to make myself invisible, change my body temperature-" the class laughed at that- "teleport, unlock doors, and… in dire danger… emit a burst of power to kill my assailant… but that nearly kills me." The class grewquiet at her last statement. All had heard of their danger ridden story to Earth. Jade herself had told the story many, many times. Ms. Flinton nodded, and dismissed the class. Jade got up-

"Except Kyliana and Taliana." Elly got up and bumped shoulders with Jade. Jade frostily brushed off the shoulder where they had made contact and moved up to Ms. Flinton's desk with Taliana. Their teacher waited until the classroom was empty and then cleared her throat. Tally and Jade exchanged glances, knowing they were in for a terribly long speech, as Ms. Flinton set her timer.

"Now girls, I don't think its appropriate that…." Jade tuned out as Ms. Flinton began talking and stared at the clock, willing it to go faster. Suddenly an idea struck her and she grinned.

"and I don't think its funny, Kyliana, and-"

She stared at the hand on the "punishment speech timer" and pushed with her mind. The hand spun around twice as fast. Tally, noticing, his her face in her hands to cover a smile and to muffle a laugh.

" yes you should hide your face in shame, Taliana, because-"

Suddenly the timer went off with a ding, cutting Ms. Flinton off mid-sentence. She looked at the clock in surprise, saying, "Goodness, have I been talking at you this long? Go on, girls, go on." Jade and Tally hurried out of class, bursting into laughter as they went into the hall.

"Want to tell me what's so funny?" Tally froze as a deep voice sounded behind them, sounding oddly unlike the voice of Orion. Jade, instead of freezing, laughed, turning, and flung her arms around the neck of 'Orion.' Tally turned and flushed as she realized it was Chris, who put his arm around Jade's waist and they started walking to the cafeteria. Exit, stage right> said Tally mischievously in her mind and then said in odd tone Gotta go talk to Stoek.>

That doesn't sound good> said Jade in concern.

It's not> said Tally in an oddly final voice and left. Chris looked after her and then said, "Did I miss something?"

"Don't worry, I did too." Jade began telling him of their caper with Ms. Flinton as they walked along to the mess hall. Suddenly her stomach grumbled loudly. "I'm so hungry." Chris laughed. "Aren't you always? Okay, we'll hurry." They quickened their pace.

"Pizza," said Jade thankfully. The one meal on the school menu that actually tasted good. "Yummy," said Chris, getting a slice for himself and Jade. They sat at a table and hungrily began devouring their lunch. Suddenly Jade looked up as Stoek rushed past them, his face grey. "What's the matter?" she called out, concerned. He wordlessly shook his head at her, his eyes troubled and haunted. Chris looked after him in confusion, and, being a boy, missing the aptitude to see that he was upset. He looked questioningly at Jade.

"Something's wrong."

AN: And so, the saga of Jade begins yet again. But what is my plan for this time? To a new reader that doesn't understand the story, its because this is the SEQUEL to my story Memory Swing, which is posted too, so you might want to read that first. Ok? Ok. Comments and constructive criticism is appreciated, so please r&R!

Shadow: Seems like you've turned into a it of a troublemaker ;o) Oh well, this is your 19 year old self :P Hope you like the start of the sequel

Jesuslives890: Hey, I started the sequel soon as possible1

Snowyfeather: Thanks for your reviews on Memory Swing!