Chapter 40: CH40: SECRETS

The sun rose on yet another day on this new, shifting, ever changing planet called Earth. The night beasts sought for shelter while those that roamed during the day woke up to hunt and survive in this now harsh and unforgiving planet.

The sun's rays bunred even hotter, thanks to the new shifts in global climate. Some of the creatures that couldn't handle it either sought shelter in shade or forced themselves to quickly and rapidly evolve ways to cope.

As the sun came up, its brightness forced two teenagers that took rest in the forest to wake up. Ace and Sky, who were resting on the forest floors, woke up as they found themselves resting on each other.

They both blushed gently but then, something peculiar happened. Ace and Sky felt buzzing sounds coming from their hands and when they looked at them, they found their bracelets beeping repeatedly as the words "MAN HUNT" showed on them. They both got nervous, scared and wondered if the military had finally found them so they could be taken back into their safety.

"What do you think this could be?" Sky asked as she gazed at her bracelet's screen.

"I-I'm not sure," He replied. "Maybe it's a warning or….or a…"

"A message." She interrupted. They both pressed their screens and immediately a blue hologram screen popped up right in front of their faces. They starred at each other, then at their bracelets before pressing the screen which said *PRESS PLAY*

Once they pressed play, the holograms showed and image of a certain alien General and Ace quickly frowned deeply.

"Greeting humans. Do not deceive yourselves. Today's short, miniscule victory over us may seem good to you, but it just spells doom for you. We had what we came here for in our grasp but thanks to this on," A picture of Jason showed on their screens. "We'll be staying here much longer."

The alien's face turned from anger into one of calmness as he said, Brace yourselves, you meaningless excuses for intelligent life forms. Each day that passes by will start with completely unexpected and random attacks and until these two are brought to me, alive," Ace and Sky gasped after they saw their pictures being presented, "We will not stop attacking this planet and draining it of every good thing it has. You've been warned." The video ended and Ace immediately took his bracelet off and smashed it to pieces.

He then turned to Sky and said, "Quick, take that thing off and destroy it."

"Why, I don't even…."

"JUST TAKE IT OFF." He shouted and she hurriedly did as he commanded. Sky then looked at Ace with a confused face and asked, "Why did you tell me to do that? Why did that alien show our faces? Why does it want you and me?" She begun to panic as her hands grew fur on them. Her eyes slowly glistened into a bright yellow color while her muscles bulged.

Ace noticed this so he got closer to her and placed his arms on her shoulder as he calmly said, "It's gonna be alright, Sky. I'll explain everything as you get moving. It's not safe being here right now." He said while his eyes darted all over the forest.

"Why're you in a rush?" Sky asked. Ace looked over and said, "Our bracelets. They could have used them to track us down. We have to get moving before they show up at any given time."

Just before Ace and Sky left, he remembered something the system mentioned earlier. Something about beast cores.

He looked over at the decaying corpses and rushed over to them while he formed a blood dagger in his right hand. He first got the green core for the plant and held it as he went to the moose like beast. Using his dagger, he dissected its chest open and removed a blood red core that had boney antlers coming out of it. Its center had a red, hovering glow that pulsated like a heartbeat.

Ace looked with astonishment at both cores and admired how different they both looked but he quickly snapped out of it, made a small pouch to carry them and left the forest with Sky following close behind.

With the human settlement not too far away, they both set out on a journey to it but with the temperaures gradually rising, they had to rush there as quick as possible before it became too hot to move. Luckily, their special military suits came with an option to help them with that.

They slowly changed from coffee brown suits into milky white suits that would deflect away the sun's hot rays. This way, they'd be able to walk without losing much moisture from their bodies. While walking, Sky took the opportunity to make small talk and ask a question that was bothering her deeply.

"Before you say anything, Sky." Ace said while he used the same dagger and shaved off the sides of Sky's hair. He then trimmed off the sides of his head and took off a little from the top. "Don't get mad but this message has probably been spread to everyone across the world. We're now targets so we must do everything to make us unnoticeable. So, what was it that you were going to say?"

"How did you do that?" She asked. "You literally removed the blood from those ground hogs and made weapons out of them. How did you do that? Is it some rare form for elementals? Are you even an elemental to begin with?"

"No, Sky," He replied as he tried to switch the subject. "It was…just the uniform. I'm a weak level two character who can only drain oil from machines."

"Then explain that." She pointed at his blood dagger which he quickly dissolved into his skin. "What are you hiding, Ace? Is this why the aliens are after you? Did you steal this power from them?"

"Listen, Cherry. It's very complicated. I…I can't explain everything now."

"Who's Cherry?" Sky asked, making Ace feel highly uncomfortable and awkward.

[Be mindful who you tell your secrets to.]

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