Welcome to the Order of the Phoenix

In Chapter one this story kicks off being in Serenity's point of view. Just an introduction to most of the important cast and the central issue that arises.

Chapter 1

Welcome to the Order of the Phoenix

The best part about being a sophomore is that you're too old to be treated as if you're entirely incompetent and unable to function without adult supervision but too young to deal with college and be expected to present yourself as an adult would. It's that nice middle ground between childhood and adulthood. The part where you start finding yourself in the little cracks in life. The worst part was dealing with moronic and disgusting filth known as human beings who walking around and swaggering in pride of their own idiocy. This is what Serenity Starr decided at least. Her views were cynical, even she could admit that, but she did find some people who she wouldn't like to sterilize herself after being touched by.

She had the perfect opportunity to be around them that morning as she sat in the library. The library was a huge building separate from their actual school. It was originally a gym but the school converted it the year before Serenity arrived as a freshman. An excellent use of funding if you asked her. Serenity was in her favorite spot, behind a bookshelf at the very back of the library. She was curled up into a near fetal position reading a book about European history. Most people took it as studying, but she'd had a love for European history ever since she was six and pronounced it as Your-Oh-Pian.

"Yo, what's happening in the life of such a giant star as you?" A male approached her. Serenity frowned at the pun on her last name. It seemed so cruelly ironic to have a last name like star when she couldn't call to order a pizza in fear she'd be ridiculed. Jamie didn't notice the frown, or he took it the wrong way. Either way he let out a giant bellowing laugh that rang through the library like a church bell. Serenity had to pull a small smile out of her frowning face at the sound. 

"Call me that again and I'll murder you slowly." is what Serenity wanted to say, instead she held her tongue. She very well knew she could make the rather dark joke and he'd laugh all the same but she was afraid he'd hate her for it. Actually she was already quite convinced he hated her in secret but that's another story for another time.

A pair of footsteps approached and Jamie turned, when he faced Serenity again she knew the approaching individual was Danial Smith by the look of disgust on Jamie's round face. Serenity had been head over heels for him freshman year and when she built up all her courage to ask him out he let her down kindly. Something along the lines of being honored she'd waste her time thinking about someone like him but he simply didn't want a relationship at the moment. It was a load of bullshit, but after it the two became friends.... in a sense of the word. Their entire relationship comprised of Danial thinking she was still mad about him and Serenity putting on the airs of being disgusted by him and only referring to him by last name to prove him otherwise. Functional? No. Interesting? Yes.

"You disgust me entirely, why do I have to see you so early in the morning?" is what Serenity wanted to say, instead she didn't speak. That seemed to be becoming quite a habit this morning.

"Something's happening in the church building, Serenity you need to come." Danial, who was referred to as Dan, grabbed her hand to offer to help her up. Serenity let out a huge gasp and drew her hand away. Danial simply gave her a raised eyebrow. Dan, you see, didn't believe in mental disorders. It was of his opinion Serenity was simply over dramatic. On various occasions where social interaction prohibited her from doing things he'd called her dramatic. Serenity had also once gotten suspended for throwing an Algebra 2 textbook at a male's head. Those stories are related but we'll save them for another day.

Serenity nodded a goodbye to Jamie and rushed off with Dan. They had a church building on the grounds of their large boarding school. This is because they went to a religious academy. It was generally for anyone who had a belief system that fell in line with the fact Jesus was the son of God and died for our sins. Often, atheists feigned religious belief simply to get accepted. The school itself is one of the best in the nation and allows the student to specialize in their career ahead of time.

"I-I..." A senior sniffled, her eyes puffy and red and her make-up hopelessly smeared. "I've received a message from the divine one." she said softly. She was on her knees in the entrance of the building, her face buried in her hands before she looked up to address the two. She was student council president and as such was said to have direct contact with God. This belief was very common in God's Chosen Academy.

"Oh great, more bullshit." Serenity turned, spotting her friend Ash enter after her. His name was Ashleigh but he'd crucify you if you ever called him that. He was the owner of the voice, a hacker extraordinaire but officially he was on the Tech route. A route being the specialization of your career path. Serenity was on the medicinal sciences route and Dan was in business. Jamie was a junior but he still hadn't specialized.

"It's not-!" The senior insisted but Ash cut her off.

"Oh look, it's about time to go." Ash grabbed her hand and began leading her off. She wordlessly followed, she was strongly christian but she and Ash tended to get along rather well. This was shown by the simple action of Ash touching her. If it had been someone else who abruptly grabbed her she would of puked then and there. He ended up trying to semi-drag her all the way to the library again. He took the longer but less crowded route to accommodate Serenity.

Serenity pulled her arm back, pulling her phone out of her back pocket and showing Ash the time. "I'm gonna be late for first hour you dumb w***e. My locker is on the other side of the school." She said, the vulgarity simply a running joke between them. They had started calling each other dumb w***e a couple months back. It's purpose was to teach Serenity how to insult people back, but it didn't really work that way.

"No you're not, don't worry about it!" Ash sad nonchalantly.

"Unlike you I can't just hack into the school's server and erase all of my attendance records." Serenity fired back at him without missing a beat.

"You're wasting your privileges of having the magnificent I as your friend." 

"You're gonna waste your tuition when you get thrown out of God's Chosen."

"Scholarship." Ash smirked cockily.

Suddenly, a black shadow like figure stood before them. To most people it would be invisible, but for those chosen by God it was a demon. Ash believed there was a scientific phenomena to account for why only people who went to God's Chosen Academies around the world could see them. Serenity knew it was an act of God.

"This area of the school is in a barrier, how could that get in?" Serenity said softly, eying the figure. It was a pretty low level demon, but neither of them were equipped to fight it. The way fighting worked was that you had to do it in pairs. There was the dominant person without powers then the individual with the powers who were united by a contract (A person without magical ability could have many partners and vice versa). Previously, Serenity was Dan's partner. This arrangement was made mostly because of the girl's affection and Dan's love of power. After Dan realized she liked him he ended the contract. Because everybody with powers needed a partner to graduate (though every person without powers didn't need a partner) she contracted with Alessio.

The problem lied there. She could only use her abilities with Alessio around, and the homicidal maniac was nowhere to be found. "Running sounds like a good idea." Ash said slowly and Serenity nodded in agreement. Demons had no eyes or ears, how they attacked people was smelling their fear. This made it incredibly difficult to run from them, because why would you run if you weren't afraid.

This situation was soon avoided with the sudden appearance of Alessio next to them. "Make this quick or we'll be late." he said, snapping his fingers. His tone was beyond bored, as if he didn't see the problem looming in the demons appearance. Alessio's thought propelled Serenity's actions, words weren't necessary. Weaker partners often relied on them because their power of thought wasn't strong enough. 

Serenity dashed at the creature, holding out her hand and a scythe appearing in it. The blade's length was annoyingly probably as long as Serenity herself, Alessio could change this but he thought it looked cooler that way. With one swift motion she propelled herself off the ground and in to the air, her body turning into a back-flip so landed rather gracefully behind the demon. She swung her scythe at it but the demon simply disappeared and materialized in the same place once the blade had passed. A ball of dark energy soon impacted with Serenity's stomach, sending her crashing back into a brick wall. 

Usually such a demon would be easy, but nobody was prepared to encounter one. Serenity's hair was in a mass of curls falling from her head and just past her shoulders with an ornate bow topping it and her clothing of choice included skinny jeans- usually out of uniform, but today bore the title of jeans day. Her shoes of choice were boots with a small heel which kept her a bit off balance. She definitely had a disadvantage.

"Alessio you're getting her killed out there." Ash said, a tinge of concern evident in his voice.

"Her sense of fashion is getting her killed out there." Alessio said, with absolutely no concern in his voice. Alessio and Serenity were friends so Serenity was sure he cared if she died, he just didn't show it.

The girl soon stood to her feet, gasping to reclaim the air she'd lost in the impact. This time when dark energy was shot at her she deflected it with a flick of her wrist, the scythe's blade deflecting the attack. Soon she was charging full speed at the creature of darkness. She feigned an attack but pulled back her blade at the last minute, doing a full 360 as she swung in the opposite direction with her blade which sliced evenly through the creature.

When it had dissolved Serenity slumped onto the ground, catching her breath. "You could have..... helped... you know?" Serenity panted out, the comment directed towards Ash. He'd also formed a contract with Alessio who had two other partners besides them. It was usually rare to see someone with more than one partner but Alessio was unusually capable and had unusual friends.

"Did it leave anything?" Alessio asked, referring to treasures demons tend to leave behind once they dissolve. Serenity had once found pure lapis lazuli dropped by a demon. Alessio said they should sell it but Serenity, out of sentiment, had it fashioned into necklaces- the jewel embedded in a cross hanging from a silver chain. She then gave one to Alessio along with his other partners. Alessio was pissed he wasn't getting the money but he still wore the cross to this day.

"Not really." Serenity stood, feeling atop her head to see if her bow was still in place. She wasn't satisfied with her findings so she took it out and carefully re applied it.

"Anywho, we aren't even going to class. Don't you remember? We're going to help out with a city overrun by demons." Alessio said, he had a tendency of accepting missions and not telling anyone until the day of. Serenity just scowled at him, her expression was intended to be stormy but really only looked mildly irritated.

"Don't blame me. This assignment is for all of OP, not just us. It was announced at the last meeting." Alessio said, by OP he was clearly referring to The Order of the Phoenix. That was the team they were affiliated with. Teams basically were groups of different pairs of partners. Their purposes varied from higher rate of completion of assignments to simple clubs to discuss topics. Some were formed for PVP purposes- whether doing it among themselves or challenging others. Phoenix was created for PVP and assignment completion but the team was close so they often ended up discussing other topics as well.

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Cynthia pulled her wrist up to her sights in hopes of having a watch. When she didn't find one she let out a heavily irritated sigh. "Time!" She demanded and it was quickly given to her. Serenity watched in awe, Cynthia was ranked 3rd in her grade, 9th in the school and 23rd in the world as far as dominant partners went. So, she definitely commanded a lot of respect. That and she was the leader of The Order of the Phoenix- ranked 1st in the school and 5th in the world.

"Okay, we're heading out now. If any of you gets killed I have to file paperwork and all of you know how I feel about filing paperwork." Cynthia asserted firmly, receiving complaint responses. "Good then." She gave a small smile, clearly pleased at the obedience. She then turned to Serenity who was sitting on the floor beside her. "Keep an eye on Alessio and make sure he minimizes civilian casualties this time would you?" Cynthia said to her.

Serenity grinned and nodded but added, "You watch over The Creator." and Cynthia groaned in response. The Creator's real name was Wesley. The pyromaniac had a tendency of burning down entire buildings as an effective way of getting rid of demons- even when there were civilians inside. He was also one of Cynthia's many partners. She had to have at least sixteen of them by now.

Serenity joined up with Alessio, Ash, Jamie and Sarah- the five heading towards the bus. Serenity was in a plain white collared shirt, a dark blue uniform blazer, a uniform skirt with tights tucked into converse. Her hair was in two ponytails adorned by bows. She also wore a cape, she insisted it made her look cooler but she knew someone would dispose of it before long. She ran through at least twenty or so capes just because of her teammates destroying them.

As she walked up the stairs onto the bus Alessio blatantly ripped off the cape and threw it in a nearby trashcan. "WH-WHAT?" Serenity exclaimed, swiveling around to look at him incredulously.

He replied simply: "Someone was going to do it anyways- might as well have been me. I don't mean to alarm you but we're sharing this bus."

At his last three words Serenity turned, it seemed they were sharing the bus as he said. A few people who didn't seem familiar sat in the first rows of the bus. They looked young so they had to be freshman. Serenity forgot it was that time of year freshmen accompanied teams they planned to apply to.

The girl averted her eyes downward and quietly proceeded to the back of the bus, Ash and Alessio slid in the seat next to her. Jamie and Sarah took the seating in front of them. Sarah pulled out a worn book from her bag, she'd clearly read it a million times. As she began to read it Alessio pulled out his own novel, Ash his laptop and Jamie tried desperately to make conversation with them. Though, he was kind enough not to bother Serenity. The few freshman at the front of the bus were enough to have her mouth zipped off.

The ride was bumpy and probably lasted about two hours but finally they arrived. When Serenity stepped out of the bus and realized just what city they were in she staggered backwards, nearly falling over onto someone. "This city has a barrier!" she exclaimed loudly- forgetting the freshmen who stood in close proximity to her.

"Quite the predicament. First a demon enters the school grounds then completely overruns a protected city. We'll have to investigate this further." Alessio pushed up his glasses as he led his partners closer to the city.

"It has something to do with this morning- I know it!" Serenity muttered under her breath, referring to the student council president.

"She's always crying. Probably just got rejected- again. Sometime's I forget you're a girl because you're not PMS-ing every five seconds. When Dan broke his contract with you, you didn't-" Ash stopped mid-sentence. He was careful not to make eye contact with Serenity because if looks could kill he'd be int he seventh layer of hell by now. 

"Smith aside, we should talk to the principal after we get back home." Serenity averted the sensitive topic. 

"Why do you call Dan by his last name anyways?" Jamie asked, rather insensitively but it was simply in his nature to talk before thinking. Serenity performed a high-kick, impacting his cheek and sending him to the ground. It didn't hurt, nothing ever hurt Jamie. Still, she felt satisfaction in the action.

"I call him Smith because his name is Smith." She hissed with venom in her voice. The truth (or lack thereof) in that statement was entirely irrelevant. Jamie quickly realized his error as he stood up and began to apologize. Serenity couldn't ever hold a grudge against him because Jamie would simply apologize in funny ways until he got a laugh out of her. She gave in quickly and forgave him.

"Now, if we're done with that topic. We're on offensive troops. Let's head in." Alessio said, leading them into the city. Serenity looked on in awe, the entire city was monochrome. That's what happened when things became demonic- they lost all color. Higher leveled demons looked like people but were simply monochrome.

It didn't take a long venture into the city for demons to target them. Though, the fact they were targeted was strange within itself. Serenity certainly wasn't afraid, and she didn't think Alessio could even comprehend an emotion like fear. Ash was much to cocky for fear, Jamie was too reckless and Sarah was too focused on her novel.

One of the demon's was of a higher level and looked like a human (though if you talked with one they would insist they were there first and humans simply looked like demons). The three accompanying demons were low levels, and simply shadowy creatures. The dominant demon chilled Serenity to the bone, because it was looking straight at her. The demons were targeting her.

But, I'm not afraid to face them... I have confidence in Alessio and everyone else to keep me safe. How could they possibly be targeting me?

Higher level demon's had mild telepathic powers. This demon obviously sensed her thoughts and gave a wicked grin, "Death isn't the only thing to be afraid of" it said before rushing towards the group and lighting fast speeds.

Serenity was equipped with her scythe soon but that left no time for offensive action. She simply held it in a defensive position to brace herself for impact. After hearing a loud crash she opened her eyes which she hadn't realized were closed and found that Jamie had struck it with his giant war hammer. The demon was hurt but backed away slowly, it's eyes still eerily connected with Serenity's. She was obviously radiating fear, but she had no idea what she could be afraid of.

I'm not afraid.... what did he mean death isn't the only thing to be afraid of? In this situation what else could I be afraid of?

"Take it out before it has a chance to heal. Damned vermin." Alessio muttered. Serenity began rushing towards the dominant demon, now determined to slaughter it because of it's insistence that she was afraid when she wasn't. The lower demons came towards her but Ash got to one first, putting a bullet in it's head and Jamie getting one with his hammer.

Serenity used her Scythe to launch her into the air and came down on the demon to strike it. Her anger cost her accuracy and she didn't hit a lethal spot. The demons skin simply hardened and he took the impact. It knocked him to the side and Jamie was there less than a second later, smashing his hammer down onto it but less than a second was too late. The demon vanished into thin air, re-appearing only after Jamie removed the hammer. It then tripped Jamie with a swift movement of it's leg.

"Get focused." Alessio scolded her.

I'm not afraid. Serenity thought to herself hopelessly. She couldn't imagine what this demon was sensing on her. This was soon answered. Demons, you see, have the ability to transform into what you're afraid of. Usually people are afraid of the demons themselves so the demons keep their shape, but sometimes when people are scared of something other than the demon it can change into it. This began to happen before Serenity's very eyes. 

This cost the demon with it's life because Serenity was infuriated. More than that she was determined she wouldn't let a single person see what the demon had turned into. Her anger overpowered Alessio's control over her and she moved freely. She dropped her scythe and kicked the demon, much as how she'd done to Jamie but harder. The demon flew backwards and Serenity retrieved her scythe, rushing towards it and jumping- striking it down mid-air. Her cost was crashing. Her irrational movements meant she crashed into the gravel. Hard. 

"The demon was transforming- what was it?" Jamie asked when Serenity slowly limped back. 

"ARE YOU AN ABSOLUTE IDIOT?" Alessio demanded harshly, glaring at Serenity. "I saw. I saw what it was but that gives you no excuse to go recklessly into battle. That's why I'm in charge and not you. Nobody would have judged you for what it turned into." Alessio's tone became more gentle and understanding but still firm.

"EVERYONE WOULD HAVE-" Serenity stopped, taking a deep breath. "I apologize for yelling at you. I won't apologize for what I did because I'll do it again. I'll do it again every single time." She said in a low voice.

Sarah was busy healing her, Alessio, Jamie and Ash forming a triangle around them to keep them guarded. Healing her was time consuming, it took at least ten minutes. Thankfully all the while, only lesser demons were attracted to them and they were easily defeated. When Serenity was fixed Alessio suggested he wait in the bus because her fear was attracting demons, Serenity suggested he shoved that idea elsewhere.

"Are you sure you're okay? You can tell me what that demon became.." Jamie assured her.

"Don't worry about it, son." Serenity gave a large fake smile. It was realistic enough Jamie bought it and dropped the subject.

The five headed farther into the city, coming upon a crowded building packed with civilians. The civilians were clearly scared to death, causing demons to circle around the building looking for an entrance. Plenty of Phoenix members were already fighting there and seemed overwhelmed. In particular Dan Smith. He and his partner were entirely surrounded and looked completely exhausted. Upon this sight every single one of the people with her turned to her.

"Absolutely not." Serenity said harshly.

"That's irrational." Alessio remarked.

"And I'm caring." Serenity retorted sarcastically.

"I agree with 'rinity." Jamie said.

"Thank you!" Serenity sung.

"You know we do have to go help him right?" Ash asked rhetorically.

"You guys do that, I'm staying right here." Serenity crossed her arms stubbornly.

"You can't just let him be, you know as well as I do he can't handle that." Sarah looked up from her book.

"Watch me." Serenity turned her head away from the scene. She knew very well she was being unreasonable. She just wasn't going to put herself through what she would need to in order to save him.

"It's too bad, I had this vanilla pudding prepared for you on the ride back home but... I guess I'll just have to eat it instead." Alessio sighed dramatically.

Only seconds later she was slicing down demons next to Dan like no-one had ever seen. They were all lesser demons, they should have been easy to handle but Dan took a severe power decrease as far as partners went. 

Without any warning, a large bolt of lightning cracked and hit the ground. It hit the building and fully electrocuted it. The ensuing smell of burning flesh let Serenity know that everyone touching something metal just died.

A booming voice came from above, the voice in an incomprehensible language. Honestly, it couldn't even be called language. It wasn't heard, it was felt. It still came across as a form of language however. Anyone with a magical ability could translate it (with difficulty). It was God, he'd declared this world one corrupted by sin and announced he was removing his grace and dropping any and all barriers. The only way, he explained, to have his favor returned was to purge the traitor to humankind.

Overwhelming didn't describe the feelings that washed over Serenity. It was a lot to take in at once. Alessio couldn't understand the language but could see the emotions on everyone else. He shook his partners wildly- asking for a translation. 

"Traitor to humankind?" Someone yelled the question up at the sky, leaving Alessio even more frantic to get the translation. God simply replied: "I am the one who exists and three, and he is one who seeks existence in two."

His presence was soon gone and Cynthia's replaced it. "WE'RE FALLING BACK! EVERYONE INTO THE BUS RIGHT NOW!" she yelled. Everyone began running or halfheartedly jogging back to the bus. In their seats, Ash explained what was said to Alessio. Other than that, the ride was silent. In fact, the next week of school was silent. Teachers, if bothering to attend school, simply sat in their chairs and did nothing. Students simply drifted by in  a daze. Some recovered faster than others and by the following Monday things were close to some sort of normality. Serenity herself still hadn't uttered a single word.

 

Reviews

[Crazed Flame]

Alessio is probably really a huge jerk and that's what I love about him. I am not very sure about this but did I read something about him killing civilians? Did he cuss? I am worried about this character who is supposed to be christian. Yet i like him sooooooo much

[Meat of Dog]

I feel like you did a good job opening this chapter and describing Serenity in a way that was very relatable. You went into her personal feelings but not too much so. She admitted her own thoughts were a might pretentious and so she appears flawed and acknowledges her flaws which prevents the writing itself from feeling pretentious. There's a certain anxious invisibility to Serenity also that makes me feel bad for her and root for her. She seems to never be able to say what she wants to say, or show the expression she wants to show. She seems to have so many friends and yet is isolated from them and others. Then, albeit being so quiet and nice she gets bullied by her own friends who like to steal her capes. Is the partners thing a play on religious polyamory? If so that's pretty clever.

Grammatical edits:

“she'd had a love for European history every since she was six” Ever since.

“textbook at a males head” Male's.

“Serenity said softly, eyeing the figure” Eying.

“She run through at least twenty or so capes” Ran through.

"WH-WHAT!?!" There is no actual, grammatical use for multiple punctuation. We know how she is responding by the tone of the circumstance. You can use a question mark and we still know she's startled and or yelling. Using multiple punctuation marks looks very tacky and unprofessional. Sorry if that comes off a little harsh but it's a major pet peeve of mine (I say the same thing to everyone).

Opinion:

*I really like your unique spelling of the name 'Daniel'. That's actually my brother's name. It took me until the second usage to catch it. Also, you may or may not have realized this but it's similar to the word 'denial' which makes it even more interesting being he denied Serenity's advances.

*You should go into describing the use of magic a little more when it's first introduced into the story. What kind if magic is it? Where did it come from? I could see how it might be a 'gift from god' or something of that ilk but you've also introduced the concept of science and atheism. Can atheists use magic? If not, then it would be impossible to be an atheist in this world as that would be very straight forward proof of a god.

[Broken Serenity]

Eek, I really love your review. Your advice was really helpful actually (and I was so happy you picked up on the little jokes I'd thrown in there). You don't know how much I love it when I see long critiques like this as it helps me develop my writing. I'll definitely take your advice in consideration for chapter two. So, thank you very much!

[Meat of Dog]

I'm the same way! I go ga-ga for the long ones. I'm glad my review was helpful, and you're quite welcome! I'll add it to my reading list so I can check out the second chapter.