Dark Meridian: Chapter 3

That night, Willow found herself caught within a dream once again.

She was in a dark area, which by now she was getting used to. She looked around, when finally her eyes settled on the only source of light. Out of the darkness came a light blue flicker, and she curiously headed towards it.

As she approached it, she finally realized that it was a small blue flame. It was quite pathetic to tell the truth, no larger than the flame you'd find on a house candle. Oddly, she found herself feeling sorry for the thing. It was just so small, it seemed almost helpless. She was happy it was here though. Any change to the dramatic nightmare she kept having was welcome.

The little ball of light almost had her hypnotized. She snapped out of her trance when she heard a disembodied voice. It was unintelligible, and it wasn't really like a voice at all. It was almost like someone was putting thoughts into her mind.

"Hello? Is someone there?" She looked around, trying to locate the voice. She didn't know whether to be scared or happy if someone was there. If someone was, then that would prove at the moment she was not going crazy. She was almost surprised when she heard more mumbling, this time understandable.

"Hello." The voice whispered weakly in her head. She jumped slightly, not expecting a response.

"Who are you?" Willow asked.

"I guess you could say… A friend." Willow shuddered, a chill going up her spine. The last part didn't feel so heartwarming as it usually implies. Willow noticed the fire flicker and waver a bit as the voice spoke. 'I think it's coming from the fire… Man, I think I'm going insane.'

"A friend, huh?" Willow wondered aloud.

"More or less. Tell me, would you help a friend in need?"

"Yes, I'd help anyone who needs it." Willow replied, not really knowing where this was heading.

"Well then, would you help me? I need someone to be with me."

"Are you lonely?" Willow asked.

"You could say that. Please, I need you. If you help me, when the time comes I'm sure I can repay the favor." The voice begged. Willow again found herself feeling sorry for it. It sounded like every word was a strain, and that it wouldn't last long.  Willow felt she had no other choice but to agree.

"I guess I can help you." Willow replied. The flame floated closer, and Willow found it odd that despite it being a flame, it was cold. The cold feeling spread as the flame merged into her chest, and suddenly changed to a warm, cozy feeling. She found herself becoming drowsy, and soon her eyes wouldn't stay open.

"Thanks." Willow heard the voice, sounding almost like a hiss as her eyes closed shut.

She fell backwards as her dream disappeared into blackness.


Willow rolled out of bed the next morning feeling slightly better than the previous. She went through her normal routine, then made her way down to the kitchen. In the small room she was surprised to see Ramona awake and preparing coffee for herself.

Ramona was a white and red Hero Strength Chao. She's what you could call the 'tough woman'. A lot of the Chao in the orphanage were very well behaved for this specific reason. It doesn't end well for those who disrespect her. Willow appreciated Ramona and what she had done for her, but she didn't exactly love her either.

"Hey Willow, I didn't see you yesterday. I'm guessing school went well, yes?" Ramona asked from the counter. Willow poured herself a bowl of cereal as she answered.

"Yeah, I made a bunch of friends. It wasn't exactly what I expected it to be though." Ramona simply nodded, not really bothering to pry any further. The Hero Chao poured her coffee into a mug, then slumped into a seat next to Willow who hurriedly munched her cereal.

"Could you chew any louder or more obnoxiously?" The adult Chao asked. Willow then made it within her best interest to chew as loudly as possible, successfully annoying her caretaker. Ramona rolled her eyes at the teen and turned her attention to a newspaper sitting on the table. Once Willow was finished she quickly stood up from the table and put her bowl in the sink.

"See you after school." Willow said. Ramona simply grunted in response. She was never one of many words.

Willow looked down at her schedule for the day and wasn't looking forward to her next class. The bold text that read 'PE' seemed to threaten her in a way. Now, don't get her wrong she's fine in physical education. She was actually pretty fit for an orphan that had only been to a playground a few times in her entire life. Usually though PE meant running, and running meant pain for her.

She was never very fast on her feet, but this was mostly due to the fact that she was a bit clumsy on her long feet. They were great for swimming, not for stepping. She sighed as she made her way to the gym. When she walked inside she was happy to find some friends already there.

"Willow!" The familiar voice of Raki called, and a second later she was being tackled with a hug.

"Hi, Raki." Willow laughed.

"Geeze, let the girl breathe!" Her sister said. Raki unwrapped her arms from around Willow's neck and smiled. Willow then saw another familiar face too.

"Jasc!" Willow waved to the orange Chao. He turned towards her, and a smile lit up on his face. He walked over to join the small group.

"Hi." He greeted. Willow could tell he was in a far better mood than when she first saw him, and that made her smile.

"Alright everyone, listen up!" The teens heard the teacher shout. "Today, we're going to be doing an introduction class. I am Mr. Mick. This year, gym is going to be a bit different than in elementary school. We will also be focusing on controlling our specific abilities." Willow's eyes widened in surprise. She didn't think that they would do something like this over the year. This made her far more interested.

Every Chao has a certain elemental ability, which usually corresponds with their typing, though this isn't always the case. The more common ones were fire, water, and air, but from time to time you got odd balls that could control lighting and such. Willow wasn't very familiar with abilities since she never really figured out what hers was.

"I do realize not all of you know what your special skill is yet, so that's why I have this." He pulled out a large, glass jar that held a bit of soil. "This is called a Magic Jar. We use this by touching it with our hands and focusing energy on it. Your ability should manifest itself in some form in this jar, and that is how we can tell what you are. If you already know your element, please stand off to the side while we do this. Now, for this to work we need to be outside, so let's get going." The teacher lead them out the doors and into the open air. They were off to the side of the building, and in front of them was a long field with a few hills. Mr. Mick situated himself at the bottom of the hill. "Alright, so come up as you need to. It may take a few minutes for some to get theirs, so please be patient and do not wander far."

Willow decided to wait to test herself. She didn't feel like being first up. She turned to Raki.

"Are you going up?" She asked.

"Nope! I already knew mine." Raki smiled. In response she proceeded to hold out her arms and create two balls of flame in each palm.

"Don't show off. I can do the same." Zi also procured fire from thin air. Willow thought her friends had awesome powers, and she felt a tad bit jealous. She knew whatever she got wouldn't be half as cool. She then noticed that a member of their group was now missing. Willow looked around until she spotted her orange friend. She saw that Jasc had gone over to sit at the top of the hill by himself, so Willow decided to follow. She took a seat next to him in the grass.

"So, are you going up?" Willow asked.

"No, I already have mine." Jasc replied.

"Oh, I don't know mine yet. So, what's yours?" Willow asked. In response, Jasc brought his tail forward and with a little tap on the grass a blooming flower grew. Willow looked at the flower in amazement. "That's so cool! It's not often that you find a Chao, let alone a boy, that has skills like that." Jasc blushed at her comment.

"Thanks, I guess. Sometimes it's a habit that when I sit on the grass I'll just subconsciously grow flowers." He chuckled a bit.

"Such a pretty power. I wonder what mine will be…" Willow was a bit worried, to tell the truth.

"Hey, you'll be fine." Jasc reassured her as if he read her mind.

"I hope so." She replied.

"Well, I think you better go now, looks like the last Chao is up." Jasc said to her. Willow nodded and got at the end of the small line to Mr. Mick. She was a bit nervous for her turn, and didn't know what to expect. She watched nervously as the Chao in front of her walked up to the teacher and placed their hands on the glass. The Chao closed his eyes and suddenly the jar began to fog as the air blew around inside.

"Nice, looks like you can control wind." Mr. Mick said. The Chao smiled and then left to be with his friends. Willow took in a breath and apprehensively walked forward. She held her hands up against the glass and felt an odd hum from beneath her palm. She began to focus intensively on the jar until she saw movement within the container. Water began to condense within and make a large sphere in center. Willow smiled and thought to herself 'Now that wasn't so hard,' but that's when things got strange.

The water from within the container began to spark with purple lightning, and shock waves ricocheted off the glass. Suddenly the glass shattered apart, and she jumped in surprise and horror. Everyone stopped what they were doing and turned to look at the two. Glass had scattered everywhere, and Willow felt a few cuts start to sting where the glass had hit her as it flew away. Her hands took the worst damage, now covered in cuts that were welling up with blood. She looked up into her teacher's face, horrified with what just happened.

Mr. Mick looked utterly shocked. He began to stutter before forming actual words. "Wh-What the hell just happened? Well, until I can find a suitable explanation, you are to go to the nurse's office to clean up those cuts." He instructed. "Would someone like to go with her?" Everyone seemed to take a step back and stare awkwardly at one another.

"I'll take her." Willow turned to see Jasc step forward.

"Alright then. Off you go." Mr. Mick said. Willow and Jasc headed back to the building, but though it was a quiet walk Willow's mind was racing at one hundred miles an hour. 'What is wrong with me? What the hell did I just do? Is that normal? No, it can't be… Everyone must think I'm really weird now. Do normal Chao have powers like that? Am I just some odd exception?' Willow didn't what to think, but judging from the surprised look Mr. Mick gave her and the exploding glass, it wasn't normal.