House of Cards

Old-world and New-world Abilities

After the battle between Rain and Lucio’s gang we were left with nothing but doubt in our heads and by the time we are back to our senses, the staff and other teachers are already making their way to the scene along with some guards carrying batons hanging on their hips. I even heard some of the students yelling at each other to leave the premises the moment they saw the staff rushing towards the area but as for me and Freya, we could not move a muscle after seeing what unfolded before us. Well, some of the students who were watching was able to leave right before the staff and the teachers arrived but there are a few of us who chose to stay. ‘How can that be? Is he someone from a powerful family?’ I thought to myself as I gaze at the bodies of Lucio and his gang laying on the ground as his underling drag their bodies on a flat surface.

               ‘What the hell was that? I thought that guy was would be taken care of the moment Lucio decided to step in but- what the hell was that?! I have never heard of someone having the ability to summon lightning on his own will even with the sun is completely up. According to the research about the Pandora’s Box’s abilities, an ability cannot be wielded properly or completely if the requirement is met. Lucio’s special ability for example, he cannot use his special ability if he did not receive a beating since his strength will still be the same from when his ability has not been activated and that goes for all of the special ability users.’ Lucio’s underling was lost in thought as he drags Lucio’s body to a safer place not even noticing that the staff and the teachers are watching him intensely with their confused expression.

               ‘Ugh- just as I thought, he could have been a little gentle with them.’ I thought to myself after expecting something to end like this but not to this extend. ‘Just by looking at their injuries- I can tell some of them have a broken bone or two but not as bad as that girl and what is his name again? Uhm- Lucio- yes that’s it. Poor guy- uncle did not even hesitate to use his special ability.’ I thought as I stare at Lucio’s unconscious body, still producing a faint smoke coming from his zapped body. “Is that guy alright?” one of the new staffs asked as he inspects and concluded that Lucio had the worst and terrible condition. I and the guards are just staring at him with a blank expression after hearing what he said as he tries to apply first aid to Lucio’s body. “I’m sure that guy has the worst injury alright, nobody would come out unscathed after being struck by lightning right?” one of the guards said as they immediately lift Lucio and put him in a stretcher when Olympus’ nurse arrived and told them to put him down so that she can heal him immediately. The staff wanted to retaliate to the guard but then retreated when he remembered that the guard has been here longer than he has.

                I turned my head and saw the number of students still present in the area so I decided to approach them and tell them to leave immediately. “Students, can you please leave the area immediately? We will take care of this.” I said calmly while trying not to add to their fear. The students were quite obedient as they nodded their head and left but the surprised look in their faces remained when I met some of their gazes before they left. ‘They must be really shocked after seeing a single student took down a few number of students with strong special abilities without any difficulty.’ I thought to myself as I sigh in relief. “Well, I guess this outcome is acceptable since they don’t look like they are in grave danger.”

               We were back in the dorms and heard a couple of excited voices coming from various rooms talking about what happened earlier. ‘They seemed really pumped up.’ I thought to myself as Hannah and I walk through the noise filled hallway of the dorm with the voices of the girls inside their rooms exclaim in excitement. We were already in front of our room’s door when we heard a noise that came from a phone and as we enter the room we saw our roommates watching the video of what happened earlier on the television. “Ouch!” they exclaimed in pain as if they were the one taking the hit after Rain knocked down Lucio’s underling with a heavy punch to the gut knocking him immediately unconscious.

               They all stopped watching the television after they saw us enter the door and looked at the both of us excitedly like children who saw their parents expecting for a bed time story before going to bed. “We are watching the video- was it incredible seeing it in real life?” they jumped on us as soon as we took off our shoes. “I can’t believe that a student like that exist- like how was he able to do those things? It felt he was using some kind of martial arts and the part when he grabbed Lucio’s neck and arm was breathe taking except for the part where he was about to bend Lucio’s arm on the opposite side.” They all share the same expression in their faces as they offered us a seat. “So how did it feel seeing it personally?” one of them asked after they settled down waiting for our response. “Honestly it felt surreal.” Hannah replied immediately with an uncomfortable expression. “I thought the same thing as well.” I supported as I rub my hands in uneasiness. “It felt like there was something wrong about it- don’t get me wrong. I was happy that that guy did not get injured because of us but something did not feel right when he showed us his ability.” I added as I continue to rub my hands.

               “I know, there have not been recorded a person in the entire history after the House of Cards showed up where a person received two abilities right? And from what I saw, he was possessing great strength and lastly when he summoned that lightning.” One of them said as she analyzes the things that she have seen on television. After not arriving in a conclusion, she gave up and handed the floor to the others who showered us with so many questions that we did not even remember where to begin.

               “Hello father, there is someone I want you to investigate.” I said as I sat on my bed talking to the phone. “Hello my dear, who is it that you want to look into?” he instantly replied as soon as he heard my request. “I want you to investigate a person named Rain Ambro.” I said as I await for my father’s reply but he went silent all of the sudden. “………..-I’m afraid that I cannot fulfill that request my dear.” He said with a disheartened tone. I was surprised when I heard that my father could not look into the person that I want to investigate, this was a first time for me to have my request declined from the very start. “But why?” I tried to indulge even further but my father brushed me off with a fearful tone. “There is no use my dear, it looks like he is backed by someone powerful. That is all that I could tell you, it is better for you to drop that off. Be careful, we love you.”

               *BEEP!* *BEEP!* *BEEP!*

               And after that the call ended leaving me clueless of what his real identity really is. Unable to satisfy my curiosity, I dived into my phone once more and searched, ‘Types of special abilities’ and found a thread. “Two types of special abilities from the House of Cards” I read aloud in surprise then after that I immediately started reading the thread that was dated a twenty years ago by someone who claimed to be a graduate of Olympus on the prior year when the thread was published. “As you all know there are only a few number of individuals receiving special abilities from Olympus but do you know that the said special abilities are divided into two kinds, the ‘Old-world’ and the ‘New-world’ abilities. I was the head of my class in this year so I was scouted by some group of scientist studying the very thing that caught our interest, the abilities that Pandora’s Box had given to us.  My special ability, the ability to make anything that I touch age on how long I wanted. I know my ability sounds crazy and powerful and all but it’s not, the thing is my ability has its limits. It can only affect things that can age and crumble to dust. There is a requirement for my ability to work, you must be wondering why I am telling you what my ability is and what is the point in dividing special abilities from ‘Old-world’ to ‘New-world’ and the thing is ‘New-world’ abilities have requirements. Yes- you read that right, ‘New-world’ abilities have restrictions and requirements just like my ability, there are wind-manipulating abilities and it requires air or wind in order to work. Any ability that requires something to be able to work is considered as ‘New-world’ ability.” I read the thread as I bit the tip of my nails after reading something that was not clearly known by the world.

“‘Then what is the ‘Old-world’ ability’ you ask? Those abilities are considered nothing but a” my eyes widen after seeing a word that is only used in games  “‘cheat’” those abilities are given to the very first generations of individuals who reached adolescence and it does not require any requirement whatsoever.” I dropped my phone the moment I realized something as I remember something similar happened earlier. My hands trembled as I picked my phone and closed the thread after taking a screenshot of what I just read and sat on my bed wondering why such a powerful individual is laying low then all of the sudden I remember what my father said to me on the phone. So I decided to lay on my bed wondering how to react to the things that I have learned and slowly I begun to feel sleepy after staring at the ceiling for quite some time.