Arcbound: Tale of The Guardians

---

Henry didn't even like basketball.

He was just killing time.

But when someone tossed him the ball, he figured—what the hell. Might as well prove he could make one shot in his life.

He dribbled once. Squinted toward the net. Squared his shoulders like he'd seen in a video once. "Henry James Carter, ladies and gentlemen," he muttered with mock confidence.

Then—launched the ball.

It sailed... way higher than he expected.

Way higher.

"Whoa!" someone shouted.

Thunk!

The ball smacked into a banner above the court—Welcome Freshmen—which ripped with a painful RIIIIIP, the fabric tumbling downward like a sleepy ghost.

Right below it, a girl in a varsity jacket had just walked beneath.

Without thinking, Henry moved.

Not ran. Not leapt.

Just—moved.

And suddenly he wasn't where he had been—he was standing a good five meters forward, holding the startled girl in his arms as the banner hit the ground behind them with a dull whump.

Someone clapped.

Others gasped.

"You okay?" he asked the girl, blinking fast.

"I—I think?" she said, staring at him like he'd just teleported.

He helped her to her feet. A few students murmured in amazement.

"Yo," one of the basketball guys stepped forward, slapping Henry on the back. "Dude, you've got some serious reflexes. You should totally join the team!"

"I—uh—I'll think about it."

He turned and left the court fast, trying not to look like he was fleeing. His heart raced, not just from adrenaline—but from the math.

He'd been at least four meters away.

There was no way he could've gotten to her that fast.

Was there?

---

He plugged in his headphones, trying to shake off the weirdness. Music would help. Music always helped.

🎶 "If I can't have you / I don't want nobody, baby…" 🎶

He crossed the road in front of the court, swaying to the beat like he was in a music video.

Then—

Thud.

His wallet hit the ground.

"C'mon, man..." he groaned, bending to pick it up.

And then—HONNNNK!

A speeding black car barreled toward him.

His head whipped around.

Too close.

Too fast.

He did the only thing his body allowed—threw his arm up in front of his face.

And waited.

But...

Nothing.

No sound. No wind. No impact.

Just... stillness.

He opened one eye.

The car—frozen mid-motion.

Wheels suspended. Driver mid-scream. A pigeon frozen mid-air like a paused cartoon.

Everything was stuck.

Except for him.

"What the hell...?"

He slowly stood up.

The world around him was a painting. A paused frame. He was the only thing moving.

Even his music had stopped.

Henry backed away from the frozen car. Looked at his hands. Then up at the sky. "Nope. Nope, nope, nope. This is not caffeine withdrawal."

Then—

WHOOSH.

Time snapped back like a rubber band. The car swerved, honked again, and screeched past him. Henry stood on the sidewalk, jaw slack.

This wasn't coincidence.

It wasn't luck.

It wasn't normal.

Not after what happened last night.

Not after the book.

Not after the shigami.

He spun on his heel, muttering, "Okay, nope. I need Nora. Or Kai. Or somebody before I lose my damn mind."

He sprinted off down the sidewalk, one headphone dangling, the other still blasting pop music into a world that just got a little weirder.

---

The five of them sat tucked away in a quiet corner of the old library lounge. A round wooden table sat in the center, surrounded by mismatched chairs—some creaky, some dusty, all a little too dramatic for their age. Henry had called them there.

Nora, arms crossed. Kai, hunched forward. Carl, leaning with all the confidence of a man who had nowhere better to be. Natasha sat back, silent, unreadable.

Henry cleared his throat. "Okay. I know this is gonna sound crazy… but something weird's been happening. To all of us."

Nora nodded. "This morning… I froze my drink. Literally. Like, solid ice. I just muttered that I wished it was cold and—boom."

Kai leaned in. "I pressed on a car and dented it. Then I panicked and shoved it away like it was made of paper. No one saw me, but… that's not normal."

Henry added, "I saved someone from a falling banner—thought I just ran fast. But then later…" He hesitated. "A speeding car was about to hit me. Time… stopped. Or slowed. I don't even know. I moved through it."

Carl snorted, barely holding in a laugh. "You guys sure you weren't hallucinating? Did someone spike the juice at orientation?"

Kai glared at him. "Carl, we're serious—"

"Oh, I know," Carl said, chuckling. "Nora's drink turned into Elsa. Henry's out here living in The Matrix. And you—" he pointed at Kai, "—bench pressing Toyotas now?"

Henry rubbed his temples. "Carl…"

Carl leaned further back in his chair, grinning. "Come on. Next thing you'll say Natasha burst into flames or something."

Natasha, who had been silently watching, finally spoke. "I did."

Carl's smirk froze. "You what?"

She glanced down. "My hands caught fire yesterday. No burn marks. No pain. Just… fire. Then gone."

A tense beat passed.

Carl blinked. "Okay. This is either the worst prank in school history... or we've all been selected for the next season of Greek Gods: Campus Edition."

He burst out laughing again, tossing his head back as he leaned dangerously far in his chair.

"I swear, the next thing I'll do is grow wings or—"

FWUMP.

The chair didn't fall.

It didn't even tilt.

Carl was now levitating. The back legs of the chair no longer touched the floor.

Everyone stared.

He froze mid-laugh, wobbling slightly. "...Uh."

The chair began to slowly spin in place like it was caught in an invisible breeze. Carl's eyes darted to the others. "Okay. Okay what the hell is going on."

Kai choked back a laugh. "Dude—are you… floating?!"

"I noticed!" Carl shrieked. "Get me down! I'm not emotionally prepared to be airborne!"

The chair spun again. Nora ducked just in case. Natasha simply raised an eyebrow.

"Think calm thoughts!" Henry said, half-panicked, half-amused. "You're controlling air, right? So… breathe or something!"

"I am breathing! Hyperventilating is still breathing!" Carl flailed dramatically.

Just then, the chair dropped—bam—back onto the floor with a loud creak. Carl stayed frozen in position, arms out like a frozen ballet dancer.

No one spoke for a second.

Then Henry muttered, "Guess you're not exempt after all."

Carl slowly adjusted his collar. "Okay. So maybe... something is happening."

Nora sipped her drink. "You think?"

Natasha stood, arms folded. "Now can we all agree this isn't some prank?"

Kai looked around. "Yeah. We're definitely not imagining things."

Carl slumped in his chair. "Great. First week of school and we're already in a mythological group chat."

Why just us?"

"We were all in the same room… but why did Leo and Caleb forget?" Asked Nora

---

As laughter slowly faded in the library lounge and the group settled into an uneasy silence, a faint hum stirred in a forgotten corridor beneath the oldest wing of the school—a place sealed off decades ago after "structural collapse," or so the plaque claimed.

Dust danced in the stale air. The hallway walls were cracked, ancient symbols half-faded beneath peeling paint and ivy.

Then—

A tear appeared.

Not a door. Not a hole.

A rift.

The air itself split, like fabric being pulled open from the seams of reality. Light—if it could be called that—poured through: not bright, but sickly and colorless, as if the stars on the other side had been drained.

From that rift, something stepped through.

It was tall. Twisted. Shadow-born.

Its body was smoke and sinew—barely solid—yet its eyes burned with an unnatural blue fire.

The creature turned its head, as if listening to something distant. Sniffed the air.

And growled.

A low, guttural sound that made the stone beneath it tremble.

Then, with a flicker, the creature vanished—melting into the shadows like ink in water.

The rift sealed behind it. Silence returned.

But in the dust where it stood, something remained.

A blackened footprint, still smoldering.

---