Kara watched the wheel spin, finally stopping. She held her breath to see where it landed. The pink bunny bounced, "Sorry, Host, not a winner! Good luck next time, start singing."
Kara took a deep breath and closed her eyes. Damn system…
Be calm. Calm like water, be water. She remembered the countless times she had been on stage, before everyone had to flee. When she was part of a girl group, she was now by herself. This was her stage! And her voice was her only weapon.
"Host, would you like to select an instrument?" The bunny asked.
"Yes." She whispered.
"Equip Bell. Host, remember, bells can help aid in purification, good luck."
She stared at a wand with bells attached to it. Kara gave it a shake, and they chimed. She could see a faint glow coming from the bells. She started to sing.
Moonlight through the trees,
Water glistening in the light,
I'm a small child of the Old
Blue planet, here!
Atmosphere, Hemisphere…
Air, water, earth, fire-
cleansing the land of demonic
energy.
I'm a small child of the Old
Blue planet, here!
Fire, fire, fire- burning so
brightly illuminate my
path, show me the way,
clear the demons from
my path.
Water, water, water-
purify my path, keep the
Demons, far from me!
Earth, earth, earth-
sanctify this ground,
make me a sanctuary!
Her voice pure and airy. She sang using the bell wand at each stance, a chime. A ripple of energy circulated through the forest, with each lyrical stance growing stronger and stronger.
The demons looked around, and they started to back away as the pure energy swept through the forest. With each bell chime, the leaves on the trees seemed to glow. The demons tried to roar and disrupt the song, but it ended up being purified. Letting out a shrill cry, the demons tried to retreat.
The forest started to resonate with Kara's song, and with each chime of the bell, a purifying light energy would ripple out. It started small, but it was getting larger and larger.
In desperation, the demons tried to flee, but it was too late. The forest echoed Kara's song, the rocks, the trees, the water, and even the air was singing back. There was nowhere they could run. She watched as they disintegrated into purified light. The demons were gone… Kara had won!
Mrs. Kale and Grey looked at each other. They never got to call the rescue team. How? What? … What had destroyed the demons? They watched as the demons disintegrated into purified light particles of energy. The deadly miasma demons usually leave behind was not present. Instead, the air was cleaner.
"What just happened?!" They looked at each other. Grey yelled into his phone, "Get me surveillance footage of the last twenty minutes from the orbital satellite! What? Who had saved them?
Her classmates had survived and were just as relieved to see the demons disintegrate.
"Congratulations, Host! YOU DID IT! You received points for demon annihilation. High score for purification! You received points for clearing the deadly miasma! The forest thanks you. You received points for rescuing fleeing classmates, and received points for protecting and sanctifying the planet… The first safe zone has been created."
"Calculating Reward…"
"Calculating Reward…"
"CALCULATING REWARD!!!"
"REWARD- ONE BILLION POINTS FOR FIRST PLANETARY RESCUE CONGRATULATIONS HOST!" The pink bunny cheered.
"How would you like to allocate your points, enhance your physique, mental abilities, psychic abilities, magic, endurance, and agility?"
"Hmmm. System, show status window." Kara looked thoughtful.
"ERROR! ERROR! ERROR!!! Status locked! Sorry, Host." The pink bunny said, looking sad.
"System max out stats abilities, do I have enough points?"
"Yes, Host! You have successfully upgraded your stat abilities."-
"YOU'VE UNLOCKED HEALING ABILITY THROUGH MUSIC."-
"YOU'VE UNLOCKED PURIFICATION THROUGH MUSIC."-
"YOU'VE USED A SONG WITH THE LYRICS MOONLIGHT, UNLOCKED ETHEREAL LUNAR PHYSIQUE. Can use Chi from the sun and moon to evolve physique." System.
"System, can I learn a martial art? I need defense abilities."
"You have enough points to redeem several martial art techniques. Do you know what area you would like to focus on, lightning kick, shadow jump, or how about the moon and sun sword technique?"
"Ok, let's try the moon and sun sword technique."
"Uploading…"-
"UPLOADING!"-
"UPLOADING… SUCCESS… TRANSFER TO HOST! YOU STILL HAVE ENOUGH POINTS FOR EMERGENCY AND INSTRUMENTS." System.
A light went into Kara's mind, showing her the different stances and forms; it reminded her of a dance routine. It was strangely easy to follow. She practiced some of the stances using a branch as a sword. At her stomach's grumble, she remembered it was almost dinner time. She didn't even know where she was in this forest. She wondered if she was a hidden class.
"HOST!!!! HIDDEN BLOODLINE DETECTED. WOULD YOU LIKE TO ACTIVATE BLOODLINE?!" System.
"Yes!" Kara replied…
"ANGELIC BLOODLINE ACTIVATED."-
"1…"-
"2…"-
"3…"-
"COMMENCE ACTIVATION."—
Kara was surrounded by a beam of light, and a weird eclipse with the moon and sun occurred during the night. Several falling stars streaked by. She was enveloped by a warm light. She could feel a slight itchiness on her back, and then it grew warm. Kara felt something slide out of her back, wings. She had wings! The light and wings disappeared into her body. She had an angelic bloodline. What did this mean? Did she just evolve into an angel?
A group of lightning bugs gathered around her head. They formed a line and led her back to camp. She looked around, but no one was there. "Hello?! Anyone here?" Kara called. Did the demons attack the camp too? Did they evacuate somewhere else? She gulped, but found no one outside the camp. Venturing further inside. She heard a voice.
"Hey, Kid! What are you doing here?" A middle-aged man in uniform asked her walking over.
"I just got back."… She stammered. "From the woods, am I the first one back? Is Mrs. Kale here and Mr. Grey? Am I last?"
"You came from the woods? How did you get away from the enemy?" He asked her.
"Host caution!"
"The enemy? I got lost from the group." She stammered.
The man nodded. I'll take you to quarantine. If you have no contaminates you can go to your dorm and sleep."
"Oh… I'm hungry too."
"We'll see about getting you something to eat." He said, leading her to a tented area. "This is just standard procedure." People in hazmat suits walked around. "A survivor, she came from the woods." He said bring her over.
"Hello, little one." They brought out a square device, it slowly beeped - "No contaminants detected, purified area, holy. Safe area detected, sanctuary one!"
"Did I just hear that right? The device said holy?!" A man watching behind a plastic screen asked.
"I just got chills… Did the device say sanctuary? Are we finally safe?" A woman beside him read from her computer.
"The computer just listed this planet as Sanctuary One with a purification area of 100 percent. No contaminants detected."
"How did this happen?"
"I don't know?"
"Quick, check the satellite feed!"
"On it, Sir."
"What is that?"
"Is that a light?!
"It's purifying the forest. Look at how high the contamination levels were."
"There's something else?"
"There's a transmission…"
"Enhance sound… "
"It's a song."
"A song?"
"Yes, someone was singing in the forest with a bell."
"Are you telling me that all those demons were defeated with a song and a bell!"
"YES!"
"Let's hear this song…"
"Yes, Sir."
"Enhancing sound."
"Moonlight through the trees, water glistening in the light. I'm a small child of the Old Blue planet, here!"
"Can we get any visuals?"
"No, Sir! There's too much vegetation from the forest. We can only get heat imaging." A man with sandy hair said.
"Look at the trees there, glowing. And someone started singing back?" A woman pointed at the screen.
"There's only one person there, the singer. Who's singing back?" The General asked.
"I think it's the forest!" A man with brown hair and brown eyes said.
"You've got to be kidding me right now."The General yelled.
"The forest. You're telling me that a music battle took place, with one singer, rocks, trees, water, and air joining in the fight. I need another coffee. Absurd!"
"Sir, something came out on the feed, look a second light."
"Use the heat signature."
"The light is obscuring the form."
"Damn it."
"It's not too far from the purification area."
"Do a sweep."
"There are a lot of people still in the forest."
"Did anyone see anything?"
"I was able to get a hold of Grey and Mrs. Kale. They're still in the forest looking for students."
"And one of their students made it back to camp. They're in quarantine; no contamination was detected."
"Interesting…"
"Someone in that group is the one who took out all the demons. Finally, I have something to tell those higher-ups: things are looking up. We finally have a way to fight those demons. Get me a recording of the complete song. We'll run some experiments to see if purification can happen with a copy of that track. I want the whole thing with the singer and the forest singing back."
"Yes, Sir."
"Cross-reference everyone with a singing background or dance in that group."
"Yes, Sir."
"Here's a sandwich."
"Thanks, I was starved." Kara bit into her sandwich. "Can I go to the dorm, or am I staying here for the night?"
"You can go back to the dorm."
"Everything is good. Your test was contamination-free."
"You are assigned to the J dorm. I'll have someone bring you there shortly."
"Thanks."
"You're welcome."
A young woman came in with a high ponytail. "Hello, I'm here for Kara?"
"Very good."
"Hi. I'm Kara." Kara walked over and smiled.
"Come with me. This is your key; she handed her a strange fob. Just hold it before your door scan, and it will let you in."
"I heard that you used to be a minor celebrity. You were part of that girl group… What was their name again? Starlight! I heard they're regrouping. Why didn't they call you back?" She asked her.
"I didn't know, I lost contact."
"That's too bad. What do they have you doing here?"
"I'm testing to be a pilot for one of the RWS- Robotic War Suits."
"They're still with that project, you must be assigned to Mrs. Kale and Mr Grey. Wait until you see Valkyrie one. That suit is killer."
"Really?"
"Yeah, it's the red one. You'll understand when you see it. Well, here you are, try the fob."
The door lifted, revealing a cozy room with two beds. She guessed her roommate was still in the forest.
"Not bad, right?"
"You're right." They both laughed.
"Well, I'm off. If you get lost, use the fob. It will direct you where you need to go. On the plus side, use the fob, and the AI inside will evolve. Pretty cool, right? This is mine. She showed her a pink fob, which opened up, revealing a small robot. It waved. Cute, right?
"Wow, how did you change the color?"
"As it evolves, you'll be able to change the color."
"Nice."
"Welcome to the base, Kara."
"Thank you."