The television quickly shut off, and Sergei could hear his father placing the remote down as he walked in. "Aww, come on dad! I don't want to go to the stupid ritual today!" Sergei cried out to his father while sitting on the couch still. His father, Gregory B. Wender, looked at him with a raised brow. "Now don't give me that son. And it is not stupid. It is a part of our lives, and I would have hoped that by now you would of gone to one to see if you had a mark." Gregory then walked towards the door as Sergei stood up, wearing a suit given to him by his oh so lovely father, while his own father wore a standard Justice Police outfit. "Come on dad, just this once? I don't want to have to go... I just want to go writing today!" He pleaded towards Gregory. "Son, I am not repeating myself. If we do not even go to watch, it will be considered rude to most citizens. Besides, don't you want to know ahead of time what you are going to be?" Gregory told him. "Oh come on! You were lucky to get a Turtle Symbol! Besides, you couldn't of stayed in the Justice Police without one! It's like a requirement these days." Sergei pointed out to his father. "I know... But maybe if you get one too, you can actually consider joining up in our ranks! We could use more younger recruits these days! The others are all off trying to lead normal lives or going for a higher education. Now let's stop this discussion for now and go already!" Sergei rolled his eyes and sighed out. "Fine!"

Out of the apartment door the two came, the day was as usual. If one cared to look around, they could see the many odd structures that had been made. Televisions were lucky to have been reformatted into the current day world, but cars were one of the many things that could not be brought into the new world, and so, they adapted. Even though they looked half completed, transportation vehicles were one of the few methods Grand City had for fast transportation. Although they were rare in numbers, so people had to wait at certain spots that resembled bus stops in order to get on one. It was said that the Justice Police had their own custom designed transportation vehicles, called the Justice Rides. The Justice Rides were said to resemble how police cars use to look, and had a few personal weapons designed into them so that they could stun wanted criminals. Around the two were the buildings that made up a majority of how Grand City looked. Buildings people used for living were generally small home sized, while the taller buildings were used for people to work in. In the center of Grand City was the Grand Tower, where the Grand Council currently resided at and held meetings in and other things the council did. The two walked down a set of stairs before walking over to the nearest transportation stop, which was about at least two to three miles away. After the walk, Sergei stopped by his father's side gasping for breath a little as they waited. "T-tell me why we don't live closer...?" He asked his father. "Because then you wouldn't get your daily exercise!" Gregory told Sergei, before they both saw the transportation vehicle come over and stop by them. Next destination - The Ritual!

Sinta screeched as the soft, warm bed she had been sleeping on disappeared from under her. The sounds of loud guffaws reached her ears, and she struggled to untangle herself from the things that were wrapped around her and obscured her vision. Finally she threw the object off of her, realizing that it was a blanket, and stood up, her face positively livid. Two of her older brothers were laughing in front of her. As far as she could tell, they had pulled the sheets out from under her so that she was rudely awakened by the unforgiving floor.
One of the brothers, Sebastian, Looked up, finally ceasing his laughter and wiped tears from his eyes.
"Never fails, does it?" he asked, ignoring Sinta's anger.
The second one, Krory, scarcely had time to answer before Sinta threw herself at them, chasing them from the room.
"Sinta! Boys! What in blazes are you doing?!" the voice of their mother called angrily from down the narrow staircase of the house.
"Nothing, mom." Krory and Sebastian answered in unison, smiling at Sinta. She just huffed. It wasn't worth the effort of telling their mother about it anyways.
"Sinta, I hope you're ready for the Ritual today. You've slept late enough, anyways. Get a move on!" her mother's voice called again as Sinta's two older brothers slinked off, shooting one more grin at her before going back to whatever they had been doing before. Sinta sighed. She knew that she wouldn't get out of doing it, so she went into her room and pulled on the clothes she normally wore when going out. She wasn't going to treat this stupid ritual as an important event. Pulling on her favorite hat, she walked out of her room and trudged down the stairs, meeting her waiting mother at the door.
Sighing again, she said good morning and followed her out to the street to go to the stupid "Ritual"...

Aiwaiwa woke up with a sigh; it was an average day… besides for the mentioning of that dumbass ritual. He already knew his parents were going to make him go. He ran a hand through his shaggy blue hair as he took a shower and got dressed. He looked in the broken mirror in the room, why was it broken? Simple he was angry one day and broke it himself. The shattered reflection showed a thin looking man with pale skin, blue hair and light grayish blue eyes. His left eye though is the oddity, it is glazed over. He couldn’t really see out of it anymore, and though they had means to fix it in the Grand City, he had stubbornly refused their help.

He got dressed in a simple black shirt and loose black pants, as well as his comfy shoes. He knew his parents would want him to dress up more, but frankly he didn’t care.

He walked out of the room and to the kitchen where his dad looked at him before going back to his food, his mom then sighed, “Wai… you need to get dressed more…” she whispered softly to him in concern. “Why? We are just going to go to the ritual I am getting my mark read, then I will go home and read, who knows may just go somewhere else afterwards.” He commented calmly as he sat down and poured himself some juice. “Son this ritual is important, you want to look your best.” His dad informed him. “Not really, probably going to have the dragon mark anyway.” He stated flatly as he sipped his juice. “You don’t know that!” his mother informed him. “I am just remarking that statistically it is more likely than say the question mark, which is from what I heard of rare. And I highly doubt I am a turtle.” He flatly explained. “Don’t speak to your mother like that!” his dad scolded him. Aiwaiwa shrugged, “Can we go now?” he asked with a fake yawn. “If we don’t leave now we are going to be late.” He remarked coolly as he got up, and put on a decent button down jacket, to appease his mom, before walking out the door.

His family lived on the outskirts of town. His parents had the same mark after all. Dragon, they weren’t bad people, just… had different ideas than most others in the city, and they were both outcasts… but had done nothing wrong. He found it stupid that the marks decided the fate of how people will interact with someone. Then again Aiwaiwa was never the social person… He and his family headed into the city towards the very thing that would decide how he was treated… and the very thing he did not want to go to.

Sergei wished it had gone on for a little longer, for sitting next to his father was not always the best thing. His father would time and again bring up how strong Sergei could become, how important he was to the city, how great a hero he could become. He rolled his eyes as his father was speaking with some civilians, everyone seemingly getting along with another. He detested the idea that he would have to one day probably do something with his life other then just wait for something bit to happen. For some yeas now, his mother had been missing and neither Sergei nor his father knew the reason why. It wasn't because of a divorce, his father would at least confirm that to him, but it was just so strange for her to walk out on them one day. Sergei kept himself from getting depressed, he didn't want to make himself look weak while he was out with one of the Justice Police's elites! Travelling on a Transportation Vehicle always made Sergei think he was in another realm of sorts. When you looked at the sites going by, everything was so blurred that it was a miracle that no accidents happened unless one of these were hijacked or something of the sort.

Ten minutes had gone by since Sergei and his father had left before the Transportation Vehicle finally slowed down and stopped, settling down as it lowered itself to just hovering inches above the ground. Sergei and Gregory got off as they walked past the people who stared in awe at the sight of Gregory being around. Walking towards the crowds of people, both made way through them as people stepped out of the way to let Gregory and his son pass. "M-mister Gregory...? We-we weren't expecting you for at least another hour, s-sir...." A young man stammered as he watched Gregory and Sergei stop before him. The man appeared to be one of the more 'newer' attendants for Madam Sight. "Ah, Edward. Glad to see you've finally gotten the job." Gregory told him. This made Edward shake a little as a nervous smile came up at this. "T-thank you sir! T-that really means a lot..." He bowed his head a little at this, standing behind him as an unusual looking tent that seemed to just sit in the middle of the area. No one could tell what was going on inside of it, it was the biggest tent they ever got to see. For good reasons too, probably. Lifting his head up, Edward looked back at Gregory at this, Edward looked a lot like a businessman with his stupid looking glasses and stupid-looking red tie and suit. "I -- I will have to inform the Madam of this right away... I'll b-be back..." And then, Edward went inside the tent, leaving everyone to continue to stare in awe at Gregory.

"Looking forward to finally getting this done with, son?" Gregory asked Sergei, who looked back at his father with a risen brow. "But what if it turns out I'm not at the right age...?" He asked his father. "Nonsense, you are at a perfect age by now. I have no doubt that you will get a symbol." His father responded to him, both looking up to watch Gregory come out of the tent. "Come inside sir, the Madam will see you..." He said, as Sergei nodded and went inside. "Sir, w-we have a bit of a problem..." Edward admitted. "What is it Edward?" Gregory asked with caution. "Well... The other appointments -- it seems we have have to send in two others at the same time with him. Nothing personal and all, it's just... The Madam thinks it would be best this way." This made Gregory confused... "So all three will get a symbol then?" "Not quite... They all might, they all might not. It's one of the new methods the Madam has decided to try out this year... It may mean they all will get the same symbol, they all might get a different symbol. This new method isn't exactly positive, you know..." Gregory looked around at this. "... Very well. If anything happens though, I'm going in. Who are these other two she wants to see?" He asked. "We don't know... They haven't arrived yet. Daniel and James are keeping an eye out for them as we speak... Just have a seat for now mister Gregory." Gregory sighed out as he sat down on a chair and looked up at the sky...



Inside the tent was something Sergei had not expected... For inside, it seemed to be a room on it's own. Books were lying around in organized rows, a desk with a strange old woman sitting on one end, the other having three chairs, smoke passed out one of the ends of the tent and other materials Sergei found unusual. "Sit, my boy." An old voice called out to him, making Sergei flinch slightly before calming himself down and walking over to a chair. Sitting down in the right end chair, he looked at the elderly woman in front of him. She remained silent for a few, looking down at her crystal ball as if in a daze. Then, she looked up at him so suddenly it made him nearly fall out of his chair! "What do you call yourself?" She asked him as he regained his balance on the chair. "M-my name is --" "Speak up..." She interrupted. "I can't understand you with all that stammering." Sergei gulped a bit as he blinked a little. "My name i-is --" "There you go again... Let's try this one more time. Name?" She asked him. "Sergei Wender!" He managed to get out, taking in quick breaths as she nodded slowly. "A Wender... What an unusual last name I keep meeting." She stated, looking down at the crystal ball again. Two minutes passed by with utter silence before she rose her head up quickly again, nearly spooking Sergei again. "Alright then... I am Madam Sight. This seems to be your first time at the ritual. Why don't we wait patiently while the other two get here?" She said, looking down at the ball as Sergei blinked. "Other two?" He asked, but with no response. He worried... Was he imagining all this?

Aiwaiwa walked through the city in between his parents; most people avoided him and his family. Again making him hate the ritual, who were they to judge his parents?! As far as he knew they had done absolutely nothing wrong! Besides having the mark of the Dragon of course, “and so what? If you get to know them they are the nicest people… and they still believe in this stupid ritual even after it made them outcasts…” he thought to himself bitterly. “ "As we move forward towards a better future, so too does the time for when the people outside this city will come to understand perfect harmony. Smaller Grand City's will be made across this country, enough so that our race can grow to what it once use to be. I speak from the heart when I say I can see this future becoming reality. For far too long, multiple times over, humanity has always fought against itself. We have always considered another country's people to be savage, unworthy and so on. But look at what we've been able to do with this city! Everyone has united to stand against death and destruction themselves! What does that tell us?!? It says how strong we have become, it tells the world we are ready to become it's saviors! We shall finally meet the expectations of what our fair mother nature intended from us and make her, once again, a happy and green planet! I thank you for listening in today and we hope that you can help make a difference with the world!"

They had just arrived at the end of the speech, Aiwaiwa stayed near the back of the room eyeing the justice police a bit warily as he rubbed his left eye. “…bunch of bull…” he muttered to himself. He found it all… pretentious. It sounded so planned and fake… at least he felt it did. His mother nudged him, “Come alone Wai… we need to get you to Madam Sight.” She whispered as she led him away. He shrugged, “Great let’s get this over with as fast as possible.” He muttered to her.

He was led to a tent and he rolled his eyes, “You gotta be kidding me…” he muttered as he pushed open the flap and saw a kid inside, he looked about his age… still had a bit of a baby face though. “Welcome my child, sit and tell us what you call yourself.” The woman behind the crystal ball whispered softly. “…really? A crystal ball?” he muttered, as he sat casually in a chair, “…Aiwaiwa Konoshi. Ai or Wai for short.” He remarked with a yawn, “Can we get this over with?” he asked in a disrespectful ton as he rested his head on his hand, his glassy eye facing the other boy, he didn’t ask his name. After all what would be the point of that? They’d never see each other again.

Sinta sprinted down the street, afraid that she was late. She had left her parents behind a short while ago, because by then she had already been late, and now, she didn't even know if she was still able to find anything out about what mark she had.
Finally, she reached the area where the readings were being held. Panting, she asked a justice police where she was to go, and, after telling him her name, was directed to a tent that she nigh on threw herself into in her haste to get into it. She silently cursed herself for her attitude in the mornings, mainly because she was too tired to think that anything that interrupted her sleep was worth any of her time. When she looked up inside the tent while trying to recover from the constant sprinting, her breath caught. It was a rather interesting room, with books piled around it and odds and ends of things she couldnt make sense of scattered around the room. Two boys were sitting down already, with an old woman across from them. Sinta raised her hand to wave while smiling happily, trying to catch her breath.
" Sinta... Gails..." she panted. "I'm... Not late... Right?"

((insert a breath into each one of the elipses. She's not talking like that because she usually does, she's just tired, if I didn't make that clear.))

Madam Sight motioned her hand towards the empty chair, to which she directed Sinta towards and had her sit down in. "So you are all here at last. Good. Now... We can begin." The Madam spoke out, spreading out her arms as she closed her eyes. She remained in this state for quite some time, not moving as everything within the tent grew quiet at this... Then, all the light mysteriously began to dim out. The books suddenly opened as page after page was flipped through, strong wings suddenly pushing into the three as all but the Madam's hair remained unmoved. Then, her arms slowly moved up above her head as her hands touched and she tilted her head down, the crystal ball beginning to glow brightly in front of them. The tent itself began to move slightly, and then... Everything went dark.



Gregory continued to sit, waiting... He was a bit impatient, he had to find out. He had to know which symbol his son was, his life may very well depend on it. Just around this time though, out of the blue, an alarm near by went off. "Someone stop that man!" "Come back here thief! How dare you do such a heinous crime on a nice day!" "Someone get the Justice Police!" Gregory closed his eyes as he stood up slowly from his spot, opening his eyes as he walked forward at a steady pace at first. "Leave it to me..." Gregory said, and then quickly went off in a sprint, following the direction of the running man easily as soon, Gregory was gone from sight. Edward felt himself sweat a bit as he looked to the other two who had just come. "He's gone... The Ritual can now begin." Edward told them, to which they nodded towards him in acknowledgement, walking back to they're spots as they could only wait now.



Sight soon returned to the room and everything had returned back to normal. Madam Sight slowly lowered her arms as she took in a deep breath before releasing it through her nostrils. "... I see I was correct in having you three come here at once. Today is a good day, yes, it is..." She began to mutter silently, although it didn't sound like she was no longer talking to them any more. She placed her hands on the crystal ball as she closed her eyes again. "O' spirits above, O' ancestors watching, please show me... What the future holds. Will it bring peace, will it bring destruction... Guide me.... Guide me now! Guide me to the holy place! Guide me...." She stopped as she tilted her head down again. Sergei blinked as he went to poke her hand, when her head suddenly shot upward to look at the top of the tent, making him nearly jump once more as she looked towards them. "... Now I need you to turn around for me. On the back of the neck, it will be there. Turn those seats around, and I will tell you each what you possess..." Sergei rose a brow at this. "What's the catch?" He asked, as she slowly looked at him, which made him extremely nervous. "... I cannot tell you what you are until each of you shows me that spot. Only after I've looked at all three... Will I be ready to determine." Sergei shook a little, he figured she meant that freaky-stuff again. So he quickly stood up and turned his chair around, sitting down with his back to her as he waited now patiently... He really wished she wouldn't go all weird-mumbo jumbo on him again.

Aiwaiwa only glanced at the girl who entered before returning his eyes back to the crack pot Madam Sight. When the pages began to flip and the lights dim he glanced around, “wow, they are really milking this…” he thought to himself as the strong winds began to blow making him squint his eyes. “they should really have that turned down a bit… fan is too strong, looks like Sight used too much hair gel too.” he had just fully opened his eyes when the crystal ball started glowing brightly making him cover his eyes a bit. “God Damn it!” he was a bit sensitive to the light.

The tent started moving until it soon plunge into darkness, leaving Aiwaiwa partially blind as he tried to rub the spots out of his right eye, not bothering with the left. Soon the room was at a bearable glow as he removed his hand from his eye. He let out an almost inaudible sigh as she started speaking the gibber jabber. “Here we go the thing that is supposed to make us be all giddy and excited…” he thought to himself as he saw her head shoot up and ask them to turn around to her, their necks facing her. He quirked an eyebrow when the boy on his left spoke. “good question…” he was thinking the same thing as well. He could tell the boy was nervous from all this, maybe that stuff had actually gotten to him. “and what happens if we just walk out of here without showing you our necks?” Aiwaiwa asked her, his eyes half closed.