Paladin's Path

A girl sat in a shadowed alcove of the library, her silhouette elegant against the backdrop of ancient books. She was dressed in all black- a fitted turtleneck that clung to her form, black jeans that moulded to her slender legs and a beret, perched atop her long flowing dark hair with a fringe covering her forehead.

She looked like a figure sketched in monochrome, beautiful in a way that felt distant and untouchable.

Her deep red eyes, framed by dark circles, the only thing that made her seem real still only heightened her allure, danced over the poem in front of her. Words on the page mirrored the thoughts she believes she wants to feel, feel to express.

As her lips formed the words silently in her own corner, she recited them with a dethatched grace, her voice only for herself.

"I want to know if you will be my partner in the dance

of the living and the dying.

I want to know if you will be with me

when the world falls apart

and everything shatters."

'Does this resonate with me?' She asked herself. She wanted to stir an ache she didn't know she had. Each line of the poem signified longing for connection, understanding, echoing feelings she wants to believe she had once upon a time.

But Renata knew better.

"That was captivating." a husky voice spoke from behind her accompanied by a slow clapping. The sound echoed in the stillness of the library, as though mocking the silence that had just been previously cocooning Renata.

She turned around to see someone she had gotten to know the last few weeks that she has been spending in this town. His name was Jackson... she couldn't remember his last name since she didn't really care for it.

Jackson was a tall man who was the typical kind of handsome, the typical kind of smart and from what she seen, the typical kind of guy who she had noticed taking glances at her from the moment his eyes had seen her.

Even though his girlfriend is standing right next to him.

"Hi Renata. It's nice to see you again." The animated girl beside him was kind, her name was Sophie. She was a little dumb in Renata's opinion.

Sophie was a girl that could get anyone she wanted but somehow she would still always be the second choice, if that made any sense...

"It's nice to see you too." But Renata didn't have much of an opinion on them, she kept her appearance as she should.

"I heard you got a scholarship to study in New York Jackson." Renata asked while staring up to his yearning eyes. Everyone knew that he was smart, he was smart, charming and athletic. The dream man for most.

"Yeah I want to see more than just this Cedar Peak you know."

Cedar Peak wasn't one of those small towns, it had a sizeable landmass and the population was in the five digits.

"That's great to hear. What about you Sophie." Renata looked to the blonde at his side who shrugged for some unknown reason.

"Well, I'll have to join him a year later, but it'll fly by." She said with a smile on her honest face.

Renata looked at Jackson and held her gaze while keeping her face neutral.

"So that means you guys will be long distance then. Make sure he doesn't cheat on you Sophie."

There was a laugh coming from Jackson before he gave an answer, a bad answer.

"Maybe she'll cheat first."

Sophie puffed her cheeks and softly hit him in the shoulder as he kept on laughing. She was playing it off as unbothered but Renata could see that she didn't like how that was brought up.

She smiled, and played the part of a normal teenage girl who was back in town to visit family.

The two of them then left the library, Renata stared at their backs before seeing Jacksons head turn to look at her, her eyes seemed so indifferent to everyone she stared at. But that didn't matter, her face, framed by her dark hair was nothing short of breath-taking.

She met Jackson's eyes, she smiles... and he smiles back.

Later that night Jackson asks her out.

This is not strange, just as Jackson was typical smart and typical handsome, he was also just a typical guy with a big ego born with anything he could ask for.

That's fine though. Renata doesn't judge him because it's just in his nature.

Jackson asked her out via chat, not even a call or build up leading into it. But Renata still doesn't care, she replies; *sure. see u at 8 tomorrow. we can chill at mine?*

Of course he agreed. Renata doesn't have parents, not anymore.

Not after she came home from Grid.

___

Renata kept her parents place clean, there wasn't much in there anymore to clean up other. Jackson sat on the couch beside her eating from the box of pizza that he had brought over, eating like it was going to run away from him.

'I guess you could call that something weird.'

"You not hungry Renata?" He asked with a voice full of concern.

"No, I ate before you got here." she lied, she hadn't been hungry but she didn't want the continuous concern for nothing.

"Alright, when did you start reading poetry?"

"In school with everyone else, I just stuck with it for some reason." She answered back quickly.

"Do you ever think about reading poetry publicly or even privately, pretty sure people pay for that and like I said yesterday, you have a captivating voice."

"Maybe." Renata replied. "I don't really care much for poems though."

Jackson raised his eyebrow, intrigued. "Could have fooled me."

Renata kept a comforting smile on her face as she thought. 'I'm good at that.'

"Where are you from by the way? I've never seen you here."

No one has. She has been gone for the last five years and before that she didn't have anyone she would call friend.

"I was actually born in Dunkirk, north of France but I was sent here a couple months ago for studies." she lied again.

Her parents were from Dunkirk but she had never been there and they had moved to the states in fear after the fiends attack throughout the south.

"Cool." he had stopped munching on his food, there was still half a pizza left but he was full. "So you live on your own then?" The question didn't sound like a question but more so confirmation.

"Yes."

He fiddled around with his things before getting up. "Can I use the bathroom please?"

"Yes. There's one down the hall but the flush doesn't work, my landlord said he'll get someone to fix it but you can use the one upstairs, its the first door on the left." Another lie.

She sent him up to the second floor so he would take his time. As soon as he was upstairs and out of sight she took his phone that he had laid down on the couch, she got in easily since he didn't seem to care much for who saw him put in his passcode.

Renata checks his photos section and scrolls to find many flicks of what she was looking for, then she looks at his chats, group chats with friends and takes pictures of that too.

After he comes back he downs a whole bottle of water, she dimmed her lighting which was previously brightened.

Jackson was sitting much closer to her then before, close enough to actually start touching her. Invading her space and placing his hand on her exposed knee.

"Jackson, what kind of man do you want to be?" Renata asked a question seemingly out of the blue.

He brought himself out of his trance and thought on the question for a moment.

"I kind of want to be like my father. Also becoming a mayor like he is for the city would be cool."

"So you would stay here then, I'm sure Sophie would like that."

A weird look flashes across his face when Renata brought up his girlfriend. He didn't like that, but he also played it off well.

"That would be nice. But I want to explore more of the world first and see what it has to offer. Maybe with all those new experiences I'll be even better than my dad."

"That's nice." Renata says absentmindedly. "Why though?"

He looks confused so she clarifies.

"Why do you want to be a mayor?"

He pauses and sighs. "Didn't think you'd be up for deep talks Renata." he gave a low laugh.

"Is there anything else you would have wanted to be."

He smiles, a big smile that seemed more genuine than he had given before.

"Noa Godwin." Renata raised her eyebrows. "He's someone at the top. He's the strongest paladin in the world and all awakened, paladin or not look inspired by him in one way or another." he said, Renata noticed the dimples on his face. "Plus it would be really cool to fly around blowing up chimera like... like a God."

"It also looks cool to save people that way too. Paladins are truly heroes. If I could be like that then that would be cool."

"Oh. Like how you want to save me then?" Renata asked with a smile that looked so innocent that Jackson truly didn't understand what was going on.

He laughed and tilted his head back.

"You need saving Renata? Already."

"You tell me, that's what I read from your messages in the group chat with your friends."

The sound of wind chimes was heard outside from the cool Autumn wind. The background sound of the cartoon playing on tv sounded so loud now in the silence.

Jackson's hands immediately reached to his pockets and his eyes widened. He remembers where he left his phone and turned to grab it, the handsome face that wore a solid pristine mask looked so pathetic now.

Jackson stilled before looking back to Renata, the typical smile that would charm anyone around was gone and in it's place were pursed lips, dilated pupils and wrinkles on his forehead from creasing as he tried to make himself look convincing.

Renata stared intently at his face. She had got him, and now she was going for more.

"You've helped a lot of girls too haven't you. Like your current girlfriend Sophie, telling her you deleted all the pics you got her to send only to have them all stored up in your boy's group chat." Renata smiles at him and she started to see sweat building up on his forehead. "I don't think someone who think's of being a paladin would be stuck in such behaviour."

He doesn't smile back, but being the son of a mayor he kept his guard up. "You're acting weird Renata, I don't know what you're talking about."

Renata picks up her phone and shows her screen to him. "No need to lie. I already took photos of your phone screen-"

Like anyone would he makes an effort to grab the phone out of her hand. Stretching his body over to her hands only for her to throw the phone behind her under one of her cushions and latch onto his outstretched right hand and push him back with ease.

"Fuck...." Jackson groaned, clutching his arm as he stumbled backward, panic creeping into his voice. The moment Renata's fingers left his skin he felt strange, an unsettling shift. He felt the absence of something that should have been there that made the world around him feel light.

Renata was an awakened. And as an awakened she has a power. The doctors at Grid named it [Disjunction].

Renata understands her power, she understands it better than even most paladins. Her understanding of her Disjunction goes like this- 'Gravity binds everything together, forming the very foundation of existence. My touch disrupts this fundamental force. Every physical object is made up of countless atoms, whether it be a phone, a house, or even a human. When I reach out, I sever the invisible ties that hold these atoms in place, dismantling the structure of whatever I touch. In that moment, as gravity relinquishes its hold, the very essence of that object begins to unravel,

Jackson didn't understand what was going on, he could just feel his skin begin to tingle, a sensation he couldn't shake off. He looked down to see the skin on his cuff area ...loosen?

"W...what?..."

He was struggling to speak, that was just the disorienting feeling hitting him. Even if he were to form spit it would just feel unnatural and oddly heavy.

"Stop... just stop..."

"Say please," Renata says, she doesn't mean it. She was just seeing how far he would go, his reactions to her every slight.

"God... fuck sake... please Renata please stop...!"

Renata stops as she now looks down on him fallen to his knees gasping and shaking like a dog that had been rescued from drowning.

"It's not like I care for hurting you," Renata told him as she crouched down to try and be on his level. She was telling the truth too. She had no want to hurt Jackson, he meant nothing, he was nothing. But more than that, she just doesn't really derive any pleasure from it, from anything.

"I just want to understand something-"

He tries to go on the offensive, now the soft and charming look was fully lost as he only had a look of pure animosity and intent to harm toward Renata.

It was pointless though, Renata still had a hold of him since she had only let go of him a couple seconds ago. She pulls at his edges causing his body to pull backwards, the growing form looked like pizza dough being flipped up into the air.

Jackson stopped as soon as he could feel it.

"I told you I don't want to hurt you so stop. Let's just talk."

"I'll delete... the pictures I swear to God."

The pictures? Pictures of not only his girlfriend but random girls from the town, from his school, badminton club and other extra-curricular activities. Renata doesn't care about that.

"I just want to talk more. I want to know why you do things like this yet want to be there for the people like a paladin." Renata says. "It just makes no sense to me. If you want to hurt people, then hurt them."

He seemed nauseous. "Oh." Renata realized she was still pulling at his gravity which was probably making him sick so she stopped letting his blood flow back to normal.

It was like he just snapped, his head clears and he looks up at Renata with spittle covering the edges of his lips. "You psycho bitch." he spat out, "I'm going to report you, you paranormal monsters aren't allowed to use your powers on humans, my father's the mayor of this town!"

Renata sighed, she noticed that was what people do when they get tired of monotone conversation or people bringing up bad topics that won't move them forward.

"Then I'll just have to kill him then."

His face twisted into a blank and shocked look.

"What did you say?" he was truly surprised.

"I'll kill the mayor, your father. And if you go to police I'll kill all that come after me, same with any friends you tell, teachers... oh, and even paladin." Renata looked at him with her cold and indifferent ruby jewels. "I'll kill everyone until it's just you and me."

Jackson's pupils got smaller, he then craned his neck and gave a broken laugh. "Y...you, you can't do that." He said it like it was fact like a child defending his favourite cartoon character. "You'd meet your match and die you crazy bitch. It doesn't even have to be the monarch, you wouldn't even get past someone like the **Unbreakable**,"

Renata had no clue who he was talking about, and she didn't care. The loss of his gravity locked him in place so he couldn't back away when she started to walk to him and crouch down.

Renata held the sides of his head.

"Maybe I can, Maybe I can't."

"You're mad." he says with nothing but fear in his eyes.

"Everyone's mad, the world is filled with madness and were all puppets dancing to it's string."

Renata could see it in his eyes, he so badly wanted to back away but the invisible grip she held wouldn't allow it.

"You don't get it, you can't just kill, there are consequences." he screeched out.

Renata was feeling it now, something in her chest was bubbling. She smirked as she enjoyed the tremor in his voice. "Do you think I'd be afraid of consequence? You haven't experienced what I have Jackson, the world is built on the fragile threads of life and death, hope and despair. The stronger the bonds, the easier they are to shatter." She paused letting her words sink in before going again.

"That might be cool though. What you were saying." Renata was smiling now, not a big toothy grin but still a smile that only promised danger and damnation. "You said I should fear consequence because of the strong, I think I'll test that out then. What happens when those bonds are severed and I take the life of the strongest."

Jackson scoffed, though the tremor in his voice betrayed the fear. "You don't seriously think you can take on someone like him... Noa Godwin has held on to the title for monarch for the last three decades. He is-"

"-the strongest man in the world." Renata finished, her voice dropping into a whisper. "That's why I want to kill him. Imagine the chaos. The uproar. What would happen to the country, or even the world if the greatest of them all was brought down by someone like me? Just a girl, with a touch that can unravel everything."

She tightened her grip on Jackson's head. "Who would mourn? Who would celebrate? How many would die? How fragile is our society if that pillar disintegrates?"

Jackson's eyes widened, a mix of disbelief and terror swirling inside of him. "You can't-"

"-Can't? Oh, I can. And I will." She leaned closer, her voice lowering to a conspiratorial whisper. "I'll show them all, I'll make them see a truth that lies under delusions of safety."

The intensity in her gaze sent shivers down Jackson's spine, and for a moment, he seemed lost in her words, entranced and terrified all at once. "You're insane!" the bravado faded away from his voice.

"No, I'm just an awakened. Someone who see's more to the world than you ever could."

Renata can't remember the last time she felt so excited, not even when Charlie had come to set her free from Grid.

'Charlie...'

Renata remembers why she's in this town now. Charlie had left her here because she made a little mistake and hurt too many people so she was supposed to cool off here until he came to collect her again.

She looked at the son of the mayor. 'Well this isn't helping.'

She couldn't just let him go.

'Oh well. Consequences be damned.' She laughed.

"Thank you for giving me my goal Jackson."

As she spoke she felt the familiar hum of her power rumbling within. Disjunction-this word resonated within her as her touch began to unravel him.

The moment she activated her power, Jackson's body convulsed. It was as if an unseen force sliced through the very fabric of the world around him. A split-second shockwave rippled through his frame, causing his muscles to twitch violently. The gravity that once held him together began to falter, each atom of his being trembling as the connections that kept him whole, began to unravel.

He gasped, his mouth opening in a silent scream, but that sound was lost. A wave of nausea crashed over him, swirling in his gut as his very essence started to disintegrate. Every nerve in his body ignited with pain, a burning sensation as if he was being torn apart from the inside out.

The air around him grew thick and suffocating as if the world was closing in on him. As the disintegration progressed, she watched with a morbid fascination as his body began to ripple, the very structure of his being unravelling layer by layer. His skin lost its cohesion, flesh began peeling away to reveal a grotesque dance of atoms that to her sparkled like distant stars. It was beautiful in its horror.

With one final pull, she severed the final strands binding his being and watched as it crumbled to dust in her grasp. Very much so like Chimera turning to ashes in the wind.

Jackson Miller was now dead.

As the days went on, news broadcasts reported the disappearance of the mayors son. And this tragedy caused for the mayor of Cedar Peak to call for some assistance.