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Description
"Reaching the sky, you seem to say

That all things must start this way

And when the world turns around

And I find myself here

It will be the beginning of the end

The end that is so near"

End by Songlyrics

"DAVID!"

"Huh?" Said person asked, removing his earphones from their place.

"Dude, I've been calling you for decades, centuries, millenniums!" Kris extended his hands to show just how big an issue that was.

David made a face "C'mon, it wasn't that bad"

"Ha! Well, OK. So it wasn't a millennium, but it was a pretty long ten minutes"

"Sorry"

"Yeah, yeah; anyways, you gonna give that to me?" Kris motioned to the food "or am I gonna have to distract you and steal it from you?"

David smiled and passed on the school food that was supposed to be a pizza. No one really believed it was though and different theories of where it came from ranged from it being left-overs from the sixties to being experiments left behind in a toxic wasteland. Only a guy like Kris would want to eat more.

"Sho, what're you lishening to thish time" Kris' mouth was full.

"I felt like listening to some soft rock right now"

"Man, don't you ever get tired of listening to music?"

"If I did, I'd probably go crazy in my own house. My sister and her violin, my parents the composers…"

"You, with your crazy music addiction…"

"Shut up!" David laughed and pushed his best friend, almost making him fall. Kris did the same thing beginning the game, and it kept going until the bell to class rang, signifying the end of lunch.

Personally, David hated going to class. It was one of the few times he couldn't hear his beloved MP3; it really killed him to not listen to some kind of music. Fortunately, where there was paper, pen, and a boring lecture, there was inspiration for writing music.

The days would pass this way. He would go to classes where he never paid attention. He would write music, listen to music, listen to some more music, some whiles in between he would talk with his friend Kris, and then listen to even more music. Then he'd go home, and he would go straight to his computer and download some CDs or single songs, and listen to them until he knew every word. He never got tired of it, or annoyed, it was just who he was.

The classes came and went; already the bell had rung for the last period to finish. David walked with his friend who was talking something about monkeys and the color red… He wasn't really listening though. Daydreaming was his second favorite past time and it happened mostly involuntarily. Kris knew that, but he didn't care.

He really was the only one he could ever be friends with. To Kris, it was enough that he was right there at least pretending to listen. Both of them were outcasts when it came to having friends. With David, everyone got annoyed at his daydreaming, music hearing, never listen type of attitude. With Kris, everyone just simply got annoyed with his randomness and craziness. They had somehow found each other in the isolation, and had somehow become the best of friends.

CRACK

"Ssss! Ah! That hurts!" Kris exclaimed

David noticed him reaching for his foot "You OK?"

"…Yeah, I mean, besides dying from infection it's not like it's that bad"

David rolled his eyes with a smile and looked down to see what had caused the injury. There was a piece of glass on the floor which looked to be an imitation of emerald. It was tied to what looked like a flyer with the words "IT IS TIME" written on it. David picked it up and looked at it more closely. There was nothing really especial about the paper, or the phony gem. For some reason though, he had the impulse of putting it in his pocket.

Kris gave a fake hurt look "David… you're going to take the object of my hurting home with you? How could you?!"

"Calm down, I'm only making sure no one else gets hurt with this. But then again…" he looked down to Kris' feet "no one else comes to school with home-made paper sandals"

"Hey! Do not criticize the sensitive artist"

Two seconds of silence passed and then they both burst out laughing. Then they hurried up since there was only one minute left for the late bell to ring.

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David got home at the usual time. He put his backpack on the floor upon entering (which annoyed his mother to no end). Then quickly went upstairs to his room and turned on the computer. He turned off the MP3 which had been playing ever since he got out of school. He connected it to his computer to charge it; he had to do this more than once a day since he almost never stopped using it.

Then he went to the bathroom in his room (a fact that annoyed his sister to no end) and changed into comfortable clothes. As he did this, he felt in his pocket the trinket he had picked up in school.

David took it out and looked at it again. Why had he brought it home anyways? There was nothing special about it. He looked at it more closely, nope, nothing special at all. He looked at the wannabe emerald, it was pretty enough, he guessed. Maybe he could use it as a gift for his sister when she was in one of her moods, which was actually pretty oft-

Yei

The black hair boy shook his head. Yei? That was a strange turn of thoughts. What was Yei anyways? Why would he think that right in the middle of thinking about his sister? He shrugged mentally. Maybe it was just his weirdness coming out again.

The word, however, wouldn't leave him behind. He finally changed into more comfortable clothes, and he had changed his shoes for some comfortable sandals. He strutted out of the bathroom, the gem, still clutched in his hand, and sat down in front of his computer. He opened his downloading program, The Flash XT, and clicked on the search box. He was about to type in a new band he had heard of, but then he felt the gem in his hand.

David looked at it, his brows furrowed. Then, out of impulse, he typed in the word "Yei" and hit enter. Amazingly, there was one result.

It Is Time by Yei

David's brows shot up this time and he looked at the paper connected to the gem, the words "IT IS TIME" still written there. A strange sensation came over David, like something about this situation wasn't right. He debated for a second whether he should download the song or not. Nevertheless, his curiosity won out and he clicked the download button, unsure of what would happen.

The song downloaded pretty fast, and soon it had reached an hundred percent. David hovered the mouse over the play button. He hesitated just a bit, but then...

"DAVID!"

Said person almost jumped out of his skin. He turned around to see his sister behind him smirking. 'What is it with people yelling my name?' he thought, but nevertheless smirked back.

"Well, if it isn't my precious ogre of a sister!" he said in fake sweet voice "To what do I own this incredibly unpleasant visit?"

Leena just rolled her eyes "Duh! The Winter Show is today! Don't you remember mom said you were supposed to take me?"

"She did?" David said, putting a finger to his chin as if trying to jog his memory.

His sister just growled "Yes, she did! Now will you put on something that looks remotely stylish and hurry up!"

"But what's wrong with this?" He said showing his shorts and sandals

"Just CHANGE!" Leena yelled and stomped out of his room.

David smiled. With that attitude his sister was always fun to bother. He just shook his head in amusement and went to change into something more presentable. Then he sat down in his chair again, he was about to disconnect his MP3, but then he saw that the mouse was still over the "Play" button. His curiosity peaked again; he looked at his door where his sister had been, he shrugged, he could make her wait a few more minutes, and pressed play.

The song started on a very high note, on the flute it seems, with drums playing on the second time around. It sounded primal, like it wanted your adrenaline to run through your body and make you do things. Then the voices started; a group of men and women singing in a different language. All of them singing the same words "Shalo hi, Shalo weh, quehtej shotem qi steh!"

David didn't know why, but he had stopped moving, a small part of him noticed that from the reflection in his monitor. "Shalo hi, Shalo weh, quehtej shotem qi steh!" The drums became louder in his ears, the flute rose and dove with more speed, and the singing became faster. "Shalo hi, Shalo weh, quehtej shotem qi steh!"

David started seeing light in front of his eyes. Blue, red, yellow, green, purple, orange, pink, and all the colors he had ever seen in his life, mixing and swirling and revolving and changing. "Shalo hi, Shalo weh, quehtej shotem qi steh!"

A bright white light swallowed all of the colors, and David felt as if he had been blinded.

"Shalo hi, Shalo weh, quehtej shotem qi steh!"

A sense of falling overcame him and he screamed with fear.

"Shalo hi, Shalo weh, quehtej shotem qi steh!"

Back, white, black, white, that was all he could make out.

"SHALO HI, SHALO WEH, QUEHTEJ SHOTEM QI STEH!"

David grunted as he landed hard. He winced trying to get up and rubbed his sore bottom. The teen looked around to see where he was. Except… there was nothing to see. Everything was black, the blackest black he had ever seen. His shadow, which would normally not be seen in this surrounding, was actually seen as it was pure white. It was like the place had reversed the color.

A yellow light shone and then a man appeared in front of him. He seemed to be well past his prime time, although his presence still radiated strength, dark skinned, as if he had spent all of his years under the sun. He was dressed all in earth colors, his eyes, which were black, spoke of wisdom and experience, his hair was long and in a braid, black like his eyes. He was tall too, making David look up as he was looking at his face.

The man looked down at him, and stared for some time.

David was speechless, literally. He had no idea what was going on. His throat felt dryer than the Sahara desert, his mouth opened and closed, but absolutely no sound came from it. The man looking down then gave a wry smile.

"So it is you" he said, his voice sounded like a whisper even though he was speaking in a normal tone "I have often wondered whether they would choose a good one this time. Now, do not just stand there, speak!"

His throat seemed to open at that moment "I, um, w-what?" Well, that sounded pretty smart, he thought.

The man, however, merely chuckled "Maybe I should do the speaking for now. My name is Shatlhmexuwihg-"

"Huh?"

"But… you may call me Shatl, for short" The man sighed, as if this was a problem he had encountered many times before. "I will guide you in your new life-"

"Wait, what new life? Where am I? What is th-"

"Do not interrupt me, young boy" Shatl sounded dead serious "I will explain everything. Just be patient and you shall have all the answers you need"

"As I said, I will be your guide for this new life. This life that I'm talking about is one full of excitement, and wonderful meetings, but… let's leave that for later. You will understand better if I explain some other things first"

"Um…" David raised his hand, not wanting to anger the very daunting man.

He raised an eyebrow "Yes?"

"Uh…" David swallowed "I'm sort of confused right now, so f you could just go by steps that would help a lot" He smiled nervously, but stopped when he saw the man as serious as ever.

"I will try to explain as much as I can. Unfortunately, you will be overwhelmed by it. I have explained this to many others, and all find it very hard to believe at first. Simply try to go along with it." He paused and David nodded, Shatl then continued.

"This world which you have been living in has existed for a few millennia now. It is fairly new compared to the other worlds that have existed for millennia of millennia. Yes, David, there are many other worlds out there, much older. But back before this world existed, before even many of the other older ones existed; back when there were only three worlds in this whole dimension, a war took place. The first war in the universe"

"This fight was incredible with all three worlds trying to outdo the others with their own primitive weapons, but there was so much bloodshed that the kings then decided that they would stop the war that had been going on. That did not mean their rivalry was over though. They all agreed that they would send forth their best warrior and that their fight would decide who was finally the winner for their quest to conquer the rest"

Shatl looked at David meaningfully "I am compressing this story for you to understand, but the truth is the war lasted for many decades, and the people who died were many; the wars your world has seen do not even compare"

"Now, the three warriors they chose were impressive. They were the best of the best, no one in their own world could defeat them, and the pressure of what was at stake was only fuel to their already high battle lust."

"A small planet, really, too small to be of any interest to the kings was the place chosen for such a battle. The planet had never claimed alliance to neither king and was neutral which made it the perfect place for such an event and also made it the perfect judge for a battle that would decide the fate of millions of people"

"The kings, the highest of the royal family, a few soldiers, and the servants who attended them all were the only ones to be present at the battle."

At this moment Shatl looked down, as if wishing he didn't have to say this "It was… an impressive battle, I guess. The three warriors fought like no other, each with their respective fighting style. But as time went on, it seemed more as if they were dying right in front of the ones present"

"But… none of them really died. Did they?" David asked nervously

Shatl only continued "Rage gave way to frustration, frustration gave way to desperation, and desperation gave way exhaustion. Soon the three combatants were barely giving blows or dodging them for lack of energy. It was sad in a way"

"The kings were impatient though and neither would allow their warrior to lose and so each announced what they would do to them should they lose. Now, remember, David, these may have been warriors, but they still had families, still had friends, and people they cared about. Once the kings had declared a threat against them… It was the epitome of a lose-lose situation."

"But that's unfair!" David exclaimed, he realized he was getting really drawn into the story.

"You're not the only one who thought that" Shatl said

"At hearing this, the warriors all looked to each other. Anyone could see that they felt cheated. And, of course, they had been fighting for their kingdom, their kings! How could they just dismiss their effort by simply saying that if they lost they would still be killed?! And not only them, but their families too! It was beyond what they thought of fair, and beyond what they could handle"

"And so they did something no one could have expected at the beginning of the battle… They… turned on their kings, tried to attack them. The other soldiers fend them off; the warriors who were already fatigued were able to kill many of them, but not all"

Shatl looked at David with a look of such sadness that David felt compelled to say something reassuring "They were killed" He said "So were their families."

Then the old man straightened up and sighed to continue on with the story "The kings were angry at the turn of events. It never was decided who would be the one to rule. So they decided they would try again, after all, three warriors lost were a lot better than most of their soldiers"

"But then, Queen Genowa, a very intelligent queen actually, had the idea to ask something the other kings had not thought of"

"Is it really fair to be ruled by one king for centuries to come?"

"Once she had asked this, her husband could not help but agree with her. And when he mentioned this to the other kings, they too, thought the same. And so it was decreed that every three-hundred years, new warriors would be chosen to battle, and for whoever won, the ruler of that kingdom would then rule all others for the next tricenta."

"A next set of warriors were chosen and one won as it should have happened in the first battle. He was a hero for his people. The first supreme ruler, which was Queen Genowa's husband, decided that such a fighter should be awarded with some kind of honor. And so the title "Siren" was invented and given to the champion."

Shatl sighed "That was a long time ago. And many battles have passed since then, bringing different rulers into command. But now…"

David once again had that weird feeling, and by the way Shatl was now looking at him with some intensity, he knew it wasn't for something good.

"This is where you come in"

He knew it.

"David, today marks the one hundred nine thousand four hundred eightieth day of the current ruler, do you know what that means?"

"That… He is really old?" David said, instantly wincing at his wrong answer.

Luckily, Shatl only shook his head and sighed "No, it means that his time to rule is at its end. He only has fifteen more days left in his calendar. This means that in fifteen days, another ruler has to take his place."

"And today, dear David, marks the first day of battle for the chosen few"

"Heh, heh, y-you don't mean… that I…" David stuttered.

Shatl remained silent.

"Whoa, whoa, whoa!" Davis shook his hands in the air "No way, dude! You are not about to tell me I'm one of those, those… warriors!"

The old man smirked "How smart of you"

"No, no, NO! Look at me! I'm not a warrior; can you see me as a warrior? 'Cause I certainly can't" David shook his head vigorously "I want to go back. I want to back and just forget about this."

This time Shatl chuckled "You cannot go back"

David stopped "What?!"

"You cannot go back unless you accept this challenge. You have been chosen to battle, David, and you must, you are the only one battling for this kingdom-"

"What kingdom?" David interrupted "I live on Earth! Earth, as in, the place that was supposed to be the only one to have an intelligent population! And how the heck am I supposed to battle?! I'm not a warrior, I don't even know how to throw a punch! I'm the kind of guy who gets beat up at school, not the other way around!"

The teen looked scared "You just told me that those warriors got a lose-lose situation. I don't want to be in that position!"

Shatl held up his hand to silence him "I know that this is a scary thing to be involved in, but you have a fair chance of winning, just like everyone else. Having great strength is not the only way to fight a battle, besides, whoever said you were supposed to throw a punch for this battle?"

Now it was David's turn to chuckle "Come on, what are you going to tell me? Are we going to play a big checkers game and that's how everything is going to be decided?"

"No, not a checkers game, something you are much more familiar with" The old man smiled "music"

The young man, however, just looked at him incredulously "Music" he stated.

Shatl nodded "Music. You were not chosen in vain David. There is a reason you are here now, and you must trust in that reason."

David sighed "Just how is it that I'm supposed to fight with music?"

"That, I cannot tell you, you must find out by yourself"

"What? Why?!"

"Rules, but now, I have answered enough questions, it is time for you to find your own answers" Shatl made as if to leave.

"Wait, you can't leave! You haven't answered any questions. I don't even know who I'm supposed to fight!"

Shatl half turned "You will not have a problem with that, trust me"

"But, no… Hold up a second, you can't just go! Hey!" Shatl was disappearing; Davis started running after him "Wait! Shatl, wait!" That was the moment when Davis tripped on something, something green… like an emerald…

xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

THAK!

"Ow!" Davis shot up from his bed rubbing his nose which was sore from the violently used pillow his sister had thrown "What was that for?!"

"For you being so LAZY" His sister looked positively dangerous "It's been ten minutes! How could you have fallen asleep like that?"

David looked confused "Sleep?"

And while on normal situations he would fake this curiosity, it was not so now. Unfortunately, his sister didn't know that. She threw a hard punch to his arm.

"TAKE ME TO THE WINTER SHOW!"

xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

Davis finally did take his sister to the winter show. She played beautifully, like always. Then they came back home. Davis ate dinner with his family, he talked small talk with them, and he bothered his sister more. He went to sleep, and woke up the next day, got ready for school, had breakfast, and then left earlier than usual, the only thing different was there that instead of taking the bus, he walked home.

That was the moment David took to finally think about what he had experienced just yesterday. 'What the HELL had happened?!' That was his first thought.

His sister had said he had been asleep, right? So that meant that he must have dreamed the whole thing. Then again, it was only logical he had dreamed it. Come on, an old guy says you are chosen to battle a war? That's just stupid. It's something that only happens in movies, in books, in comics! It's not like it could happen to him.

But on the other hand… it had felt so real. He really felt as if he had been there, as if he had gone to that empty place, met that old man, and heard that old song…

Wait a minute, the song! He could just hear the song and he would know if at least some of it was true. David took out his MP3; barely realizing he had not heard it since he woke up, something he normally did as soon as he got out of bed. He went to the playlists and chose the one where the most recently added were. There was only one, and he did not remember having put that there.

Within You by Yei

'Within you'? Wasn't the song by Yei supposed to be 'It Is Time'? Davis shook his head; this was getting just weirder and weirder by the second. The teen put on his earphones and pressed play on the song.

David slowed his walk ready for anything weird that might happen. After a minute of no sound and no event though, he fully stopped. He checked the time in his MP3, there was only two minutes in the song, and it was quickly ending, was all he remembered really a dream then?

"Get down"

David jumped at the sudden voice and turned to see if there was someone around him, there was no one.

"Get down"

He looked at his MP3; the voice was coming from there? But why 'get down'?

"Get down NOW!"

David got a horrible feeling then and his legs suddenly collapsed under him. Out of the corner of his eye he saw blue fire and suddenly he felt pain on his back. "Augh!" he grunted in pain.

He looked up and saw a shadow standing on a roof in a nearby house before disappearing behind it. David looked to where the fire was expecting to see a burned spot, but there was nothing there.

'What-' A very faint beautiful sound reached his ear and suddenly a second fire came at him, this time from another direction. David dodged as quickly as he could. He looked to that place and saw the shadow again. By some kind of impulse David ran toward the shadow, the part of him that told him to move away from danger being ignored completely.

The shadow started running, David followed. The beautiful sound was heard again, a bit different this time, and a rain of small blue fires came at him. David jumped hiding behind a trashcan, but then moved away as soon as it exploded.

"Sing"

David had almost forgotten about the voice.

"Sing!"

David was confused. Sing? What was it talking about? This wasn't the time to sing!

He heard that sound once again and more blue fire came making David run into the next good hiding place which was behind a dumpster. Hold up a second, that sound, it came before any of the attacks. So then, does that mean…

"Sing…"

No way, it couldn't be…

"Something you are much more familiar with" The old man had said.

The old man had been right? David dodged another fireball and rolled to his side, this was getting really dangerous. He ran for another kind of cover, but the fire started to surround him. The sound kept going, almost as if guiding the fire. He shook his head, there was no other choice, he had to try it.

Davis took a deep breath and then held it for a second. What was he supposed to sing anyways? But as he heard that song again, trying to drive the fire to him, he knew he had to do something. So he sang the first thing that came to his mind.

"Reaching the sky, you seem to say

That all things must start this way

And when the world turns around

And I find myself here

It will be the beginning of the end

The end that is so near"

David felt something move from within him. It was as if a part of him had finally clicked into the position it was supposed to have been in all his life! Then that something started to move from his center. It moved from there, to his shoulders, to his arms, and finally to his hands.

They started feeling hot, burning, actually. It was almost as if they should have been on fire, but they didn't. David felt the need to point that feeling toward the shadow. As soon as he had done that, the heat passed through his hands into the outside. A bluish light gathered up and before David had time to amaze at what he was doing, lightning shot out. David was sent backwards by the force and the shadow was sent backwards by the attack. David felt his world grow dark.

A few minutes later, David woke up again. His first thought was 'What the hell had happened?!' David laid there for a second, stunned at what had taken place. Then he sat down and looked at his MP3 on the ground, he quickly reached for it and put on the earphones, he pressed play on the song again, waited for two minutes again, but there was no voice. Who had been that anyway? How did it know to warn him on time? Who was that shadow? And how the hell had he done a freaking lightning attack?!

A hand touched his shoulder.

"AAAH!"

"GAAAH! Yo, dude! What the Sixties? You want to give me a heart attack or something?!" Kris had a hand on his heart as if it would beat out of his chest.

David had never felt more relieved to see his friend "S-sorry, Kris. It's just… I had a rough night… and morning"

"A rough night, eh?" Kris said, moving his eyebrows up and down in a meaningful manner.

David didn't listen; he turned to where he had seen the shadow. He wanted answers, but it seemed as if all he was getting was more and more questions.

Kris saw that his friend seemed to be really shaken up by something "Hey, David. You OK, man?"

"Mmh?" David turned back around.

"I said, are you OK? You seem to be out of it, dude" Kris paused "Well, more than usual. And you're not even wearing you earphones!"

"Well… it's just…" David thought for a bit, but then seemed to decide for something "Kris, you believe in incredible stories, right?" David asked.

Kris saw the way David had taken on a serious, almost desperate, look, and answered truthfully "Yeah, most of them"

"And what of I told you that I'm starting to believe in some of them?"

"What?"

The music lover gave a deep sigh "I'm going to tell you a story, and I want you to honestly say if I'm going crazy or not, okay?"

Kris nodded, a bit confused by the way David was acting. And as they walked to school, David started telling his friend what had happened after they had found that supposedly fake emerald on the floor.

And David began to wonder, when and how he would get all the answers that he needed.

Description
"Reaching the sky, you seem to say

That all things must start this way

And when the world turns around

And I find myself here

It will be the beginning of the end

The end that is so near"

End by Songlyrics

"DAVID!"

"Huh?" Said person asked, removing his earphones from their place.

"Dude, I've been calling you for decades, centuries, millenniums!" Kris extended his hands to show just how big an issue that was.

David made a face "C'mon, it wasn't that bad"

"Ha! Well, OK. So it wasn't a millennium, but it was a pretty long ten minutes"

"Sorry"

"Yeah, yeah; anyways, you gonna give that to me?" Kris motioned to the food "or am I gonna have to distract you and steal it from you?"

David smiled and passed on the school food that was supposed to be a pizza. No one really believed it was though and different theories of where it came from ranged from it being left-overs from the sixties to being experiments left behind in a toxic wasteland. Only a guy like Kris would want to eat more.

"Sho, what're you lishening to thish time" Kris' mouth was full.

"I felt like listening to some soft rock right now"

"Man, don't you ever get tired of listening to music?"

"If I did, I'd probably go crazy in my own house. My sister and her violin, my parents the composers…"

"You, with your crazy music addiction…"

"Shut up!" David laughed and pushed his best friend, almost making him fall. Kris did the same thing beginning the game, and it kept going until the bell to class rang, signifying the end of lunch.

Personally, David hated going to class. It was one of the few times he couldn't hear his beloved MP3; it really killed him to not listen to some kind of music. Fortunately, where there was paper, pen, and a boring lecture, there was inspiration for writing music.

The days would pass this way. He would go to classes where he never paid attention. He would write music, listen to music, listen to some more music, some whiles in between he would talk with his friend Kris, and then listen to even more music. Then he'd go home, and he would go straight to his computer and download some CDs or single songs, and listen to them until he knew every word. He never got tired of it, or annoyed, it was just who he was.

The classes came and went; already the bell had rung for the last period to finish. David walked with his friend who was talking something about monkeys and the color red… He wasn't really listening though. Daydreaming was his second favorite past time and it happened mostly involuntarily. Kris knew that, but he didn't care.

He really was the only one he could ever be friends with. To Kris, it was enough that he was right there at least pretending to listen. Both of them were outcasts when it came to having friends. With David, everyone got annoyed at his daydreaming, music hearing, never listen type of attitude. With Kris, everyone just simply got annoyed with his randomness and craziness. They had somehow found each other in the isolation, and had somehow become the best of friends.

CRACK

"Ssss! Ah! That hurts!" Kris exclaimed

David noticed him reaching for his foot "You OK?"

"…Yeah, I mean, besides dying from infection it's not like it's that bad"

David rolled his eyes with a smile and looked down to see what had caused the injury. There was a piece of glass on the floor which looked to be an imitation of emerald. It was tied to what looked like a flyer with the words "IT IS TIME" written on it. David picked it up and looked at it more closely. There was nothing really especial about the paper, or the phony gem. For some reason though, he had the impulse of putting it in his pocket.

Kris gave a fake hurt look "David… you're going to take the object of my hurting home with you? How could you?!"

"Calm down, I'm only making sure no one else gets hurt with this. But then again…" he looked down to Kris' feet "no one else comes to school with home-made paper sandals"

"Hey! Do not criticize the sensitive artist"

Two seconds of silence passed and then they both burst out laughing. Then they hurried up since there was only one minute left for the late bell to ring.

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David got home at the usual time. He put his backpack on the floor upon entering (which annoyed his mother to no end). Then quickly went upstairs to his room and turned on the computer. He turned off the MP3 which had been playing ever since he got out of school. He connected it to his computer to charge it; he had to do this more than once a day since he almost never stopped using it.

Then he went to the bathroom in his room (a fact that annoyed his sister to no end) and changed into comfortable clothes. As he did this, he felt in his pocket the trinket he had picked up in school.

David took it out and looked at it again. Why had he brought it home anyways? There was nothing special about it. He looked at it more closely, nope, nothing special at all. He looked at the wannabe emerald, it was pretty enough, he guessed. Maybe he could use it as a gift for his sister when she was in one of her moods, which was actually pretty oft-

Yei

The black hair boy shook his head. Yei? That was a strange turn of thoughts. What was Yei anyways? Why would he think that right in the middle of thinking about his sister? He shrugged mentally. Maybe it was just his weirdness coming out again.

The word, however, wouldn't leave him behind. He finally changed into more comfortable clothes, and he had changed his shoes for some comfortable sandals. He strutted out of the bathroom, the gem, still clutched in his hand, and sat down in front of his computer. He opened his downloading program, The Flash XT, and clicked on the search box. He was about to type in a new band he had heard of, but then he felt the gem in his hand.

David looked at it, his brows furrowed. Then, out of impulse, he typed in the word "Yei" and hit enter. Amazingly, there was one result.

It Is Time by Yei

David's brows shot up this time and he looked at the paper connected to the gem, the words "IT IS TIME" still written there. A strange sensation came over David, like something about this situation wasn't right. He debated for a second whether he should download the song or not. Nevertheless, his curiosity won out and he clicked the download button, unsure of what would happen.

The song downloaded pretty fast, and soon it had reached an hundred percent. David hovered the mouse over the play button. He hesitated just a bit, but then...

"DAVID!"

Said person almost jumped out of his skin. He turned around to see his sister behind him smirking. 'What is it with people yelling my name?' he thought, but nevertheless smirked back.

"Well, if it isn't my precious ogre of a sister!" he said in fake sweet voice "To what do I own this incredibly unpleasant visit?"

Leena just rolled her eyes "Duh! The Winter Show is today! Don't you remember mom said you were supposed to take me?"

"She did?" David said, putting a finger to his chin as if trying to jog his memory.

His sister just growled "Yes, she did! Now will you put on something that looks remotely stylish and hurry up!"

"But what's wrong with this?" He said showing his shorts and sandals

"Just CHANGE!" Leena yelled and stomped out of his room.

David smiled. With that attitude his sister was always fun to bother. He just shook his head in amusement and went to change into something more presentable. Then he sat down in his chair again, he was about to disconnect his MP3, but then he saw that the mouse was still over the "Play" button. His curiosity peaked again; he looked at his door where his sister had been, he shrugged, he could make her wait a few more minutes, and pressed play.

The song started on a very high note, on the flute it seems, with drums playing on the second time around. It sounded primal, like it wanted your adrenaline to run through your body and make you do things. Then the voices started; a group of men and women singing in a different language. All of them singing the same words "Shalo hi, Shalo weh, quehtej shotem qi steh!"

David didn't know why, but he had stopped moving, a small part of him noticed that from the reflection in his monitor. "Shalo hi, Shalo weh, quehtej shotem qi steh!" The drums became louder in his ears, the flute rose and dove with more speed, and the singing became faster. "Shalo hi, Shalo weh, quehtej shotem qi steh!"

David started seeing light in front of his eyes. Blue, red, yellow, green, purple, orange, pink, and all the colors he had ever seen in his life, mixing and swirling and revolving and changing. "Shalo hi, Shalo weh, quehtej shotem qi steh!"

A bright white light swallowed all of the colors, and David felt as if he had been blinded.

"Shalo hi, Shalo weh, quehtej shotem qi steh!"

A sense of falling overcame him and he screamed with fear.

"Shalo hi, Shalo weh, quehtej shotem qi steh!"

Back, white, black, white, that was all he could make out.

"SHALO HI, SHALO WEH, QUEHTEJ SHOTEM QI STEH!"

David grunted as he landed hard. He winced trying to get up and rubbed his sore bottom. The teen looked around to see where he was. Except… there was nothing to see. Everything was black, the blackest black he had ever seen. His shadow, which would normally not be seen in this surrounding, was actually seen as it was pure white. It was like the place had reversed the color.

A yellow light shone and then a man appeared in front of him. He seemed to be well past his prime time, although his presence still radiated strength, dark skinned, as if he had spent all of his years under the sun. He was dressed all in earth colors, his eyes, which were black, spoke of wisdom and experience, his hair was long and in a braid, black like his eyes. He was tall too, making David look up as he was looking at his face.

The man looked down at him, and stared for some time.

David was speechless, literally. He had no idea what was going on. His throat felt dryer than the Sahara desert, his mouth opened and closed, but absolutely no sound came from it. The man looking down then gave a wry smile.

"So it is you" he said, his voice sounded like a whisper even though he was speaking in a normal tone "I have often wondered whether they would choose a good one this time. Now, do not just stand there, speak!"

His throat seemed to open at that moment "I, um, w-what?" Well, that sounded pretty smart, he thought.

The man, however, merely chuckled "Maybe I should do the speaking for now. My name is Shatlhmexuwihg-"

"Huh?"

"But… you may call me Shatl, for short" The man sighed, as if this was a problem he had encountered many times before. "I will guide you in your new life-"

"Wait, what new life? Where am I? What is th-"

"Do not interrupt me, young boy" Shatl sounded dead serious "I will explain everything. Just be patient and you shall have all the answers you need"

"As I said, I will be your guide for this new life. This life that I'm talking about is one full of excitement, and wonderful meetings, but… let's leave that for later. You will understand better if I explain some other things first"

"Um…" David raised his hand, not wanting to anger the very daunting man.

He raised an eyebrow "Yes?"

"Uh…" David swallowed "I'm sort of confused right now, so f you could just go by steps that would help a lot" He smiled nervously, but stopped when he saw the man as serious as ever.

"I will try to explain as much as I can. Unfortunately, you will be overwhelmed by it. I have explained this to many others, and all find it very hard to believe at first. Simply try to go along with it." He paused and David nodded, Shatl then continued.

"This world which you have been living in has existed for a few millennia now. It is fairly new compared to the other worlds that have existed for millennia of millennia. Yes, David, there are many other worlds out there, much older. But back before this world existed, before even many of the other older ones existed; back when there were only three worlds in this whole dimension, a war took place. The first war in the universe"

"This fight was incredible with all three worlds trying to outdo the others with their own primitive weapons, but there was so much bloodshed that the kings then decided that they would stop the war that had been going on. That did not mean their rivalry was over though. They all agreed that they would send forth their best warrior and that their fight would decide who was finally the winner for their quest to conquer the rest"

Shatl looked at David meaningfully "I am compressing this story for you to understand, but the truth is the war lasted for many decades, and the people who died were many; the wars your world has seen do not even compare"

"Now, the three warriors they chose were impressive. They were the best of the best, no one in their own world could defeat them, and the pressure of what was at stake was only fuel to their already high battle lust."

"A small planet, really, too small to be of any interest to the kings was the place chosen for such a battle. The planet had never claimed alliance to neither king and was neutral which made it the perfect place for such an event and also made it the perfect judge for a battle that would decide the fate of millions of people"

"The kings, the highest of the royal family, a few soldiers, and the servants who attended them all were the only ones to be present at the battle."

At this moment Shatl looked down, as if wishing he didn't have to say this "It was… an impressive battle, I guess. The three warriors fought like no other, each with their respective fighting style. But as time went on, it seemed more as if they were dying right in front of the ones present"

"But… none of them really died. Did they?" David asked nervously

Shatl only continued "Rage gave way to frustration, frustration gave way to desperation, and desperation gave way exhaustion. Soon the three combatants were barely giving blows or dodging them for lack of energy. It was sad in a way"

"The kings were impatient though and neither would allow their warrior to lose and so each announced what they would do to them should they lose. Now, remember, David, these may have been warriors, but they still had families, still had friends, and people they cared about. Once the kings had declared a threat against them… It was the epitome of a lose-lose situation."

"But that's unfair!" David exclaimed, he realized he was getting really drawn into the story.

"You're not the only one who thought that" Shatl said

"At hearing this, the warriors all looked to each other. Anyone could see that they felt cheated. And, of course, they had been fighting for their kingdom, their kings! How could they just dismiss their effort by simply saying that if they lost they would still be killed?! And not only them, but their families too! It was beyond what they thought of fair, and beyond what they could handle"

"And so they did something no one could have expected at the beginning of the battle… They… turned on their kings, tried to attack them. The other soldiers fend them off; the warriors who were already fatigued were able to kill many of them, but not all"

Shatl looked at David with a look of such sadness that David felt compelled to say something reassuring "They were killed" He said "So were their families."

Then the old man straightened up and sighed to continue on with the story "The kings were angry at the turn of events. It never was decided who would be the one to rule. So they decided they would try again, after all, three warriors lost were a lot better than most of their soldiers"

"But then, Queen Genowa, a very intelligent queen actually, had the idea to ask something the other kings had not thought of"

"Is it really fair to be ruled by one king for centuries to come?"

"Once she had asked this, her husband could not help but agree with her. And when he mentioned this to the other kings, they too, thought the same. And so it was decreed that every three-hundred years, new warriors would be chosen to battle, and for whoever won, the ruler of that kingdom would then rule all others for the next tricenta."

"A next set of warriors were chosen and one won as it should have happened in the first battle. He was a hero for his people. The first supreme ruler, which was Queen Genowa's husband, decided that such a fighter should be awarded with some kind of honor. And so the title "Siren" was invented and given to the champion."

Shatl sighed "That was a long time ago. And many battles have passed since then, bringing different rulers into command. But now…"

David once again had that weird feeling, and by the way Shatl was now looking at him with some intensity, he knew it wasn't for something good.

"This is where you come in"

He knew it.

"David, today marks the one hundred nine thousand four hundred eightieth day of the current ruler, do you know what that means?"

"That… He is really old?" David said, instantly wincing at his wrong answer.

Luckily, Shatl only shook his head and sighed "No, it means that his time to rule is at its end. He only has fifteen more days left in his calendar. This means that in fifteen days, another ruler has to take his place."

"And today, dear David, marks the first day of battle for the chosen few"

"Heh, heh, y-you don't mean… that I…" David stuttered.

Shatl remained silent.

"Whoa, whoa, whoa!" Davis shook his hands in the air "No way, dude! You are not about to tell me I'm one of those, those… warriors!"

The old man smirked "How smart of you"

"No, no, NO! Look at me! I'm not a warrior; can you see me as a warrior? 'Cause I certainly can't" David shook his head vigorously "I want to go back. I want to back and just forget about this."

This time Shatl chuckled "You cannot go back"

David stopped "What?!"

"You cannot go back unless you accept this challenge. You have been chosen to battle, David, and you must, you are the only one battling for this kingdom-"

"What kingdom?" David interrupted "I live on Earth! Earth, as in, the place that was supposed to be the only one to have an intelligent population! And how the heck am I supposed to battle?! I'm not a warrior, I don't even know how to throw a punch! I'm the kind of guy who gets beat up at school, not the other way around!"

The teen looked scared "You just told me that those warriors got a lose-lose situation. I don't want to be in that position!"

Shatl held up his hand to silence him "I know that this is a scary thing to be involved in, but you have a fair chance of winning, just like everyone else. Having great strength is not the only way to fight a battle, besides, whoever said you were supposed to throw a punch for this battle?"

Now it was David's turn to chuckle "Come on, what are you going to tell me? Are we going to play a big checkers game and that's how everything is going to be decided?"

"No, not a checkers game, something you are much more familiar with" The old man smiled "music"

The young man, however, just looked at him incredulously "Music" he stated.

Shatl nodded "Music. You were not chosen in vain David. There is a reason you are here now, and you must trust in that reason."

David sighed "Just how is it that I'm supposed to fight with music?"

"That, I cannot tell you, you must find out by yourself"

"What? Why?!"

"Rules, but now, I have answered enough questions, it is time for you to find your own answers" Shatl made as if to leave.

"Wait, you can't leave! You haven't answered any questions. I don't even know who I'm supposed to fight!"

Shatl half turned "You will not have a problem with that, trust me"

"But, no… Hold up a second, you can't just go! Hey!" Shatl was disappearing; Davis started running after him "Wait! Shatl, wait!" That was the moment when Davis tripped on something, something green… like an emerald…

xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

THAK!

"Ow!" Davis shot up from his bed rubbing his nose which was sore from the violently used pillow his sister had thrown "What was that for?!"

"For you being so LAZY" His sister looked positively dangerous "It's been ten minutes! How could you have fallen asleep like that?"

David looked confused "Sleep?"

And while on normal situations he would fake this curiosity, it was not so now. Unfortunately, his sister didn't know that. She threw a hard punch to his arm.

"TAKE ME TO THE WINTER SHOW!"

xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

Davis finally did take his sister to the winter show. She played beautifully, like always. Then they came back home. Davis ate dinner with his family, he talked small talk with them, and he bothered his sister more. He went to sleep, and woke up the next day, got ready for school, had breakfast, and then left earlier than usual, the only thing different was there that instead of taking the bus, he walked home.

That was the moment David took to finally think about what he had experienced just yesterday. 'What the HELL had happened?!' That was his first thought.

His sister had said he had been asleep, right? So that meant that he must have dreamed the whole thing. Then again, it was only logical he had dreamed it. Come on, an old guy says you are chosen to battle a war? That's just stupid. It's something that only happens in movies, in books, in comics! It's not like it could happen to him.

But on the other hand… it had felt so real. He really felt as if he had been there, as if he had gone to that empty place, met that old man, and heard that old song…

Wait a minute, the song! He could just hear the song and he would know if at least some of it was true. David took out his MP3; barely realizing he had not heard it since he woke up, something he normally did as soon as he got out of bed. He went to the playlists and chose the one where the most recently added were. There was only one, and he did not remember having put that there.

Within You by Yei

'Within you'? Wasn't the song by Yei supposed to be 'It Is Time'? Davis shook his head; this was getting just weirder and weirder by the second. The teen put on his earphones and pressed play on the song.

David slowed his walk ready for anything weird that might happen. After a minute of no sound and no event though, he fully stopped. He checked the time in his MP3, there was only two minutes in the song, and it was quickly ending, was all he remembered really a dream then?

"Get down"

David jumped at the sudden voice and turned to see if there was someone around him, there was no one.

"Get down"

He looked at his MP3; the voice was coming from there? But why 'get down'?

"Get down NOW!"

David got a horrible feeling then and his legs suddenly collapsed under him. Out of the corner of his eye he saw blue fire and suddenly he felt pain on his back. "Augh!" he grunted in pain.

He looked up and saw a shadow standing on a roof in a nearby house before disappearing behind it. David looked to where the fire was expecting to see a burned spot, but there was nothing there.

'What-' A very faint beautiful sound reached his ear and suddenly a second fire came at him, this time from another direction. David dodged as quickly as he could. He looked to that place and saw the shadow again. By some kind of impulse David ran toward the shadow, the part of him that told him to move away from danger being ignored completely.

The shadow started running, David followed. The beautiful sound was heard again, a bit different this time, and a rain of small blue fires came at him. David jumped hiding behind a trashcan, but then moved away as soon as it exploded.

"Sing"

David had almost forgotten about the voice.

"Sing!"

David was confused. Sing? What was it talking about? This wasn't the time to sing!

He heard that sound once again and more blue fire came making David run into the next good hiding place which was behind a dumpster. Hold up a second, that sound, it came before any of the attacks. So then, does that mean…

"Sing…"

No way, it couldn't be…

"Something you are much more familiar with" The old man had said.

The old man had been right? David dodged another fireball and rolled to his side, this was getting really dangerous. He ran for another kind of cover, but the fire started to surround him. The sound kept going, almost as if guiding the fire. He shook his head, there was no other choice, he had to try it.

Davis took a deep breath and then held it for a second. What was he supposed to sing anyways? But as he heard that song again, trying to drive the fire to him, he knew he had to do something. So he sang the first thing that came to his mind.

"Reaching the sky, you seem to say

That all things must start this way

And when the world turns around

And I find myself here

It will be the beginning of the end

The end that is so near"

David felt something move from within him. It was as if a part of him had finally clicked into the position it was supposed to have been in all his life! Then that something started to move from his center. It moved from there, to his shoulders, to his arms, and finally to his hands.

They started feeling hot, burning, actually. It was almost as if they should have been on fire, but they didn't. David felt the need to point that feeling toward the shadow. As soon as he had done that, the heat passed through his hands into the outside. A bluish light gathered up and before David had time to amaze at what he was doing, lightning shot out. David was sent backwards by the force and the shadow was sent backwards by the attack. David felt his world grow dark.

A few minutes later, David woke up again. His first thought was 'What the hell had happened?!' David laid there for a second, stunned at what had taken place. Then he sat down and looked at his MP3 on the ground, he quickly reached for it and put on the earphones, he pressed play on the song again, waited for two minutes again, but there was no voice. Who had been that anyway? How did it know to warn him on time? Who was that shadow? And how the hell had he done a freaking lightning attack?!

A hand touched his shoulder.

"AAAH!"

"GAAAH! Yo, dude! What the Sixties? You want to give me a heart attack or something?!" Kris had a hand on his heart as if it would beat out of his chest.

David had never felt more relieved to see his friend "S-sorry, Kris. It's just… I had a rough night… and morning"

"A rough night, eh?" Kris said, moving his eyebrows up and down in a meaningful manner.

David didn't listen; he turned to where he had seen the shadow. He wanted answers, but it seemed as if all he was getting was more and more questions.

Kris saw that his friend seemed to be really shaken up by something "Hey, David. You OK, man?"

"Mmh?" David turned back around.

"I said, are you OK? You seem to be out of it, dude" Kris paused "Well, more than usual. And you're not even wearing you earphones!"

"Well… it's just…" David thought for a bit, but then seemed to decide for something "Kris, you believe in incredible stories, right?" David asked.

Kris saw the way David had taken on a serious, almost desperate, look, and answered truthfully "Yeah, most of them"

"And what of I told you that I'm starting to believe in some of them?"

"What?"

The music lover gave a deep sigh "I'm going to tell you a story, and I want you to honestly say if I'm going crazy or not, okay?"

Kris nodded, a bit confused by the way David was acting. And as they walked to school, David started telling his friend what had happened after they had found that supposedly fake emerald on the floor.

And David began to wonder, when and how he would get all the answers that he needed.