Split Souls Swindax

In the town of Fernalia, Land of Fernis, there lies a strange tower, made entirely of stone. It was about 150metres tall. There were four floors inside it. All the townspeople of Fernalia knew it was a school, called Academy of Mides. The academy was also special, not all people could enroll in it. Only people of royal origins and people with special abilities or of special origins could study there. They are called "S". Even amazing was that the students not only study normal subjects like all others in town, they also studied magic.

The students were hence separated into three categories, the "S" class, whereby the students were found to have magic abilities, the "A" class, whereby the students were all from royal origins but with no magic abilities, and the "R" class, whereby students of special origins but with little or no magic abilities. In each categories, there were classes for different range of ages.

The "S" class was therefore the "top" class, in which everyone had to respect them or they might face serious consequences. The "R" class was in the lowest position as expected and the students there often got bullied. However, beyond the tower, even the students in "R" class were admired and respected by the other townspeople. The Academy of Mides was an established place, its position high above the rest of the schools.

The students in different classes also wore different colours of clothes too. "S" class students wore clothes in black colour, "A" class students in red colour and "R" class students in blue. "S" class students also had benefits like one day rest on weekdays, whereas "R" class students had none. This was because releasing magic power took out a lot of energy. "S" class students had a scholarship and needed not pay any school fees. Most of the "R" class students, who came from poor family or from an orphanage, had to work part-time to pay the school fee.

On a sunny morning, the students were walking towards the tower and their classrooms as per usual.

There was a forest behind the tower. Almost nobody would go there because it was dark and quite creepy. It is like a maze too. Man-eating plants even existed there. Normally, only the "S" class would go there, and even then, only a small part would dare to enter it.

Inside the forest, just a few steps away to walk out from the forest, a girl in a ponytail, and a man, wearing a full-body black cloak, with his face hidden inside the hood, seemed to be whispering. The girl was wearing the academy uniform in blue. There was a logo "AOM", printed in gold, on the top left corner of the uniform.

"The books were gone?" the girl in ponytail asked.

The man nodded.

"Jeez, what was Jason doing? I thought he was supposed to guard them?" the girl shook her head.

"It seemed that the culprit knew instant transportation magic. This magic is convenient but it makes me shiver. No one ever knows where we would land on exactly. Jason had the same feeling too. He didn't even bother chasing after the thief."

"Just the thought of letting Swindax out makes me shiver."

"Sorry," the man said insincerely.

The girl looked at the man and then at the tower. "Tell Jason and the rest to find the books. They are cursed so remind them to be careful in handling them. It's time for me to go."

She walked off. The man stared at her back. "Why do she enroll in the academy? Didn't she dislike school?" he thought.


************************************
Dinax ambled into a classroom. She sat on a table at the windowside.

"Hey, Dinax, you looked upset, did something bad happen again?" A girl behind her tapped her on the shoulder lightly.

Dinax looked back and whispered, "I looked upset? It's nothing, actually. Just that the cursed books were stolen."

"Just? Just nothing? Dinax, that's just horrible! If they fell onto the wrong hands, the world could go into chaos!"

Dinax shrugged and looked forward again. "Jason and the others will find them."

The other girl sighed. "You won't help them?"

Dinax glanced back. "How do I help them? I don't have any powers, remember?"

Pauline, sitting next to Dinax, spoke, "Shhh, the teacher is coming."

All of them fell silent, as do the rest of the classmates, as the teacher of "R" class, Miss Waj, came in. Miss Waj instructed everyone to open up their books and lessons began.

The clock on the wall struck twelve. It's lunch time.

Lunch time at the Academy of Mides was a special time. The "S" and "A" classes had their lunch delivered to them by magic. The students in "R" class either took out their own lunches or they went to the hall to get their free lunches, created by magic.

Dinax, Pauline and Jose tok out their lunch box from their bags and set them on their desks. They never bothered to get the lunches from the hall since the hall was very far away from the classroom.

"So you really think Jason and the others are able to get back the books?" Pauline asked while munching on her sandwich, full of ham and cheese, her favourite food.

Jose, a neat person by heart, cringed at the mustard seeping out between the breads as Pauline bit the sandwich. "Swindax will definitely be able to help, even if you can't." She gently sipped her milk.

Dinax opened up her lunchbox, revealing a row of sushi inside. She grabbed one and put an entire sushi inside her mouth. She chewed it for a while and swallowed it before replying. "You know I hated it when Swindax appeared. She does not give mercy to enemies and might even harm the innocent."

Suddenly, Dinax winced. "Ouch! Stop that, Swindax! I didn't accuse you and you know that. So stop pinching my head!"

Pauline finished the rest of her sandwich in one whole bite. "Be careful in what you say. The last time you say her bad words, she makes your stomach cramped up."

"Thank goodness I don't have another soul inside me," Jose nodded serenly and took out a biscuit from her box. She daintily bit into it.

"Don't say sarcastic words, dear," Dinax grumbled.

Pauline and Jose both smiled.

Only the two of them knew that Dinax had two souls. These two souls were originally one. Dinax's souls had split into two three years ago. The other soul was named Swindax, and she was a very powerful mage. Dinax had no powers herself, and no skills whatsoever. However, Swindax was bound to Dinax and so Swindax could not control the body at will. She could only appear when Dinax was in great danger.

Pauline and Jose were also the only one in the academy who knew about Dinax's secret identity, the protector of the magic force surrounding Fernalia. They knew about the seven cursed books as well.

"Even if you can't help them to fight the enemies, you could have helped by finding the locations of the books. You have an affinity bond with them, don't you?" Pauline opened up her soft drink can.

Dinax finally finished her sushi. She ripped open the cap of her bottle of peach juice. "I thought you'd say that. I think of that too....I am going to do that later on and transmit the information to them through Tike." Tike was a mini magical computer, commonly used in the academy as it was convenient to carry. It was also very expensive. Normal people would not be able to get it easily.

Jose spoke, "It's amazing whenever I remember that your soul split because of the book. I certainly hoped I would never touch one by accident."

Dinax winced at that memory. It was painful to have one's soul split. Due to that incident, Dinax was able to sense where the books were, when she concentrated, for some strange reason.

"Who would ever know a book with title "The mystery of the the disappearing emerald stone" was cursed? I thought it was a ordinary mystery novel!" Dinax rolled her eyes in frustration.

"I wonder why the seven books were cursed in the first place? Their titles seemed so ordinary," Pauline scratched her head.

Dinax drank her peach juice in one gulp. "Beats me. If I ever find out who do that, I'd hit him with a hammer!"

"Does every books had different effects? Or does it depend on the person involved?" Jose asked in curiousity.

"I guess it's related to the person who opened them. Jason and Kylie opened the same book and one had an eye blinded while the other one had a red glowing eye," Dinax answered.

"It must be awful for them to lose the books. They have to search for them again. It took them much time to find and gather the cursed books together, guarding them in a remote place, so that no innocent can be harmed by them. Who would want those damned books anyway?" Pauline shook her head.

Jose wiped her mouth daintily with a handkerchief. "Those books were magical. They must have contained a lot of magical force inside them. That's why I say it would be dangerous if they fell onto the wrong hands."

Pauline was a bit annoyed. "You seem to think you know a lot. You don't even have any magic powers, so how do you know that?"

"You have a little protective magic and you can't even guess that, didn't you?" Jose said calmly.

Dinax sensed the tension in the air and quickly changed the subject. "Come on, don't talk about those books during lunch. How's your project going along, Jose?"

"I keep getting failed results in my experiment," Jose sighed as she folded up her handkerchief and put inside the lunch box, putting it into her bag.

Pauline snorted, "Me too. I wonder if whether it's because of the appartus."

"Oh, you two too? I thought it was because I keep adding in the wrong amount of things."

Jose was about to speak when suddenly a boy in black colour uniform and jacket barged into the classroom.

"Sis! Sis!" the boy shouted, waving his hand even as he walked over to them.

"Peter?" Pauline was shocked to see her younger brother. Peter had much more powerful magic power than Pauline, especially in terms of attack power, and hence was assigned to "S" class. "What's wrong, Peter?"

Peter was breathing hard when he finally spoke, "Sis, we need your protective magic! The academy is getting out of control!"

"Huh? But my protective magic is weak! And what do you mean, out of control? It seems perfectly normal here." Pauline waved her hand over the classroom.

Peter said anxiously, "But you are the only one here who knew how to use a barrier against curse, right? The teachers have discovered a curse is spreading throughout the school and many are affected by it. I think it's coming here soon. Please get a barrier up as soon as possible on this side of the tower."

"Curse?" Dinax had a bad feeling.

Pauline looked nervous. "I will try my best but there's no guarantee that it will work. My magic power is weak."

Peter encouraged her. "Try your best, sis! Everyone here needs you."

Dinax tapped her shoulder. "Let me help you then. Hold my hand. Swindax will transfer some of her power to you."

Jose cheered, "You go, girls!"

Pauline was relieved to get help. Dinax and Pauline held hands and a small yellow glow surrounded them. Slowly, it enlarged until it filled up the classroom and then it went beyond the classroom to the rest of the tower. Every students in the class watched it in amazement.

"Wow! I never feel so much energy flowing through me before," Pauline was shocked.

"You rock, sis! Now the unaffected ones over here would be protected," Peter said happily.

"Why can't the teachers evacute the students?" Dinax asked.

"We don't know why but the gate entrance was blocked by some strong force. It was so strong that none of them could force through it. Putting together several students' and teachers' magic energy together could not even crack it," Peter said. "The teachers are now busy finding a solution and subducing the affected students who had gone out of control."

As if to confirm his thought, a shout for help was heard on the corridor. Everyone's eyes turned towards the corridor. Dinax, Pauline, Peter and Jose looked at each other and then hurried to the corridor.

At the corridor, a girl in red colour uniform and jacket was rushing in the direction of their classroom. Behind her was a group of boys in black and red colour uniforms chasing after her. Their eyes were glowing green and looked crazy.

Peter bravely stood forward and held out his hand. A magic force blasted out at the group of boys. Meanwhile, the girl had stopped and was gasping in fear and anxiety. Jose went to comfort her while Pauline used her weak protective magic to surround the girl.

The group of crazed boys used their magic as well and the strength of it blew Peter away, nearly blowing the girl, Pauline and Jose away as well. Luckily, the protective barrier still held. Dinax was attacked by the magic force, which awakened Swindax. Her eyes glowed red and a purple aura surrounded her body. Swindax immediately held out a hand and whipped up a big gale of wind that blew everyone down, including Peter, who was about to stand up, the girl, Pauline and Jose. The stronger crazed boys, who had used protective magic, were about to retaliate, when Swindax waved a hand. Lightening striked down and hit the boys, who fell down, burned and unconscious.

Inside Dinax's body, Dinax admonished Swindax. "What the heck do you think you are doing? The lightening could kill them! It is only supposed to use on monsters, not humans, Swindax!"

"No worry, no worry. If they survive, that means they have the ability and are qualified to live...if they die, well, consolences to them. Haha," Swindax laughed.

Dinax cringed at the somewhat evil laugh. "Alright, they are down now. Let me out!"

Swindax smiled. "No chance in hell. There are still people out of control, right? Which means my body is still in danger. I will remove all danger before returning to my shell." With that, Swindex ran off to search for enemies.

"Hey! Swindax, wait!!" Dinax called out.

Swindax ignored her.

Pauline, Jose, Peter and the girl, stared at the fading Swindex's backside.

"Where's she going? And how does she do all that? I thought that the students in "R" class had little or no power? How come she's so powerful?" Peter asked, shaking his head in puzzlement.

Pauline and Jose looked at each other. "Swindax," they spoke in unison.

"Huh?" Peter and the girl looked at them strangely.

"Secret," Pauline said simply. "Jose, you think we should chase after her?"

Jose nodded. "If she goes crazy, we better go and make sure Dinax comes out."

Jose and Pauline went after Swindax, leaving a bizzare Peter and the girl behind.

Pauline and Jose followed a group of unconsious people laying on the ground in Swindax's trail.

Finally, they reached Swindax at the great hall on the first floor. Their classroom was on the fourth floor. Swindax was standing motionless, eyes closed, admist a pile of students in various colours and some teachers around her. The hall wall was cracked in several places, the portraits on the wall damaged and the floors were all broken up.

Another group of teachers were standing on one side, mouths agape.

"What are you doing?! You even attacked teachers??!! Who are you?" One of the teacher shook out of his reverie and shouted angrily.

"Oh no! What do we do now, Jose? What if Swindax attacked the rest of the teachers too?" Pauline said anxiously.

Jose calmly surveyed the surrounding. "The headmaster is here."

Pauline whirled around to see the headmaster behind her.

"There is no need to panic, right, Dinax?" The headmaster, Ms Poppy spoke. "She only helped to return the students affected by the curse to normal. Since these teachers attacked her, she tried to defend herself. She is harmless. Don't attack her and you'll be fine."

Dinax opened her eyes. "Yes, Ms Poppy."

The rest of the teachers looked at her cautiously. "Yes, headmaster."

Jose and Pauline heaved a big sigh of relief. "Thank goodness Dinax is back."

"Thank you for helping out, Dinax," Ms Poppy nodded her head in approval.

Dinax nearly winced at the compliment. Swindax did not wipe out the affected people for the sake of helping the school.

"Dinax, will you help me out? There's some complications," Ms Poppy asked sincerely.

Dinax nodded. Jose and Pauline glanced at Dinax and then at Ms Poppy. "May we help too, Ms Poppy?"

"Certainly, come along," Ms Poppy walked off, with the girls and teachers in toll.

They walked to the headmaster's office, situated at the end of the first floor of the tower. The headmaster's office door was in blue colour with a white sign in front. The interior was in dull purple colour. There was something that looked like stars floating at the ceiling, making it look like it was a sky in night time. There was a huge empty table that stretched from one end to the other end right in front of the door. There was no space to enter to the other side of the table. Some distance away from behind the table, there was another yellow door, marked "Staff Office".

The headmaster stood in front of the long table. In a blink of an eye, she transported herself to the other side of the table. The teachers all transported themselves to the other side too. Ms Poppy waved a hand and the girls floated and landed on the other side.

"Now that we are here, let's us address the issue. I shall speak directly to the point, the tower seemed to be under a strong curse. We cannot transport ourselves out of the tower and we cannot leave the tower literally nor can we contact the outside world due to some disturbance of signal. I do not believe that someone is strong enough to cast a curse over the whole tower and the students, especially students with their own strong magic power. There must be a reason or source of the curse inside the tower. I ask everyone here to suggest what could be the reason. Dinax, you are well versed in curses, I hope you know the source," Ms Poppy asked.

Everyone was silent for some moment. Finally, one of the teachers, Mr Kingsey said, "maybe it's from some kind of cursed quipment like a cursed sword."

"But with a curse so strong that it can envelop the tower?" Another teacher agrued.

Dinax was uncertain whether to view out her thought. Ms Poopy, ever sensitive to people's mood, saw that Dinax looked uncomfortable.

"Do you have any idea, Dinax?" Ms Poppy asked.

Dinax stood straighter and said, "I just got the the news that the seven cursed books were stolen in the land of Acagi. I fear-"

"How do you know that?" Ms Fuy, a teacher, asked suspiciously.

Ms Poppy waved away her suspicions. "I know why, continue, Dinax."

"-that one of the book is brought into this tower and opened up to spread the curse. The curse inside the books was ancient old. It is definitely possible that its curse could affect the tower and the students."

Ms Poppy pondered the possibility, while the others looked either confused or uncertain. Jose and Pauline looked like they believed that was the case.

"Is there any way of confirming this? And if it's really from the book, how do we find it and remove the curse?"

"I could sense the location of the books and see if one of them is here. For its exact location, it might take some time. Even if we find the book, there's no guarantee that the curse can be lifted. Some steps and items from the outside world are necessary to lift it completely," Dinax said politely.

"Outside world? But we are blocked from the outside world!" Mr Kingsey said agitatedly.

"Wait a minute, curses can't cause disturbances to signals. There must be a reason we cannot contact the outside world. Like something inside the tower," Mr Daw, one of the teachers, said.

Ms Poppy clapped her hands together. "I believe that's the case. If we find that thing, we can break it and contact the outside world. Although we can't leave, the others outside might be able to enter the tower. Let's search the tower thoroughly and find that thing. Dinax, you and the girls shall remain here and concentrate on finding the cursed book. I will contact you again to see what are the things we needed once we destroy the thing that disturbs our signal." Then, she waved a hand and the girls floated to the other side of the table.

The teachers left through the staff door. The staff door led to a spiral staircase that led to the staff office on the second floor of the tower and was nearer to the classrooms and corridors. Ms Poppy transported herself to the hall.

"Dinax, go!" Pauline encouraged her.

Jose nodded. "Let's find that book before they come back."

Dinax closed her eyes and gathered her energy. Swindax merged with her in their energy and magical force. Dinax could sense the location of the seven cursed books gradually. One was in the Land of Grou, two in the Land of Uypto, two in the Land of Tixa, one back under the barrier in the Land of Acagi and one in the tower.

Dinax tried harder to concentrate on the exact location of the book in the tower. Beads of cold sweat popped out on her forehead. Some black aura started to surround her and she was frowning.

"Is she going to be alright?" Pauline asked anxiously.

Jose whispered, "It's tough to sense the books, I guess. The book is cursed so the nearer you get to it, the more it affect you in more than one way."


After several minutes goes by, Dinax was still frowning with her eyes closed. The aura was also getting darker and darker. The office was starting to waver into a different shape. Jose and Pauline grabbed each other in fear.

"What's happening to the room?" Pauline asked in shock and fear.

"How do I know?" Jose said in anxiety.

Suddenly, Dinax's eyes opened and shone bright red. Jose and Pauline yelped in surprise. The aura thickened and surrounded the entire room, including the girls. It creeped upwards and began to choke Jose and Pauline.

"Stop! Dinax! Stop!" Jose said hoarsely as she closed her eyes in pain.

"What are you...doing! Dinax!" Pauline shouted for help as she grimaced in pain.

Dinax shivered. Slowly, her eyes turned to her normal black eyes. The aura slowly disappeared. Jose and Pauline grasped the chance and breathed in deep breaths.

"Are you two alright?" Dinax asked anxiously and gulity.

"What on earth happened?" Pauline asked between breaths.

"If that happens everytime you sense the books, I will go outside and wait for you," Jose said, feeling quite upset.

"I guess I never really tried to sense the exact location of the books before. The nearer I get to it mentally, Swindax get drawn to the dark force of the books and become more evil, pushing me back spiritually and tried to destroy the space dimension over here. Thankfully, I struggled hard and finally freed myself from the dark forces and Swindax's power. I apologise to you two. I am really sorry."

Pauline waved a hand. "Oh, well, it's over."

Jose took a deep breath. "At least, it's finally over. So, did you find the book?"

"Yes. It seemed to be located at the top of the tower."

"Let's go to the four floor now!" Pauline said.

They all set off.


At the same time, in another land, Tixa, a man, his head hooded and wearing black shirt and jeans, was standing outside a shop selling weapons. A lady, wearing pink frilly lacy dress with a purple parasol, came out.

"Are you sure you're not going in?" The lady came over to the man and asked.

"My weapon is suitable enough. There is no need for another one." The man said quietly.

That lady clucked her tongue. "So protective of her weapon, is it?"

That man stared at her intently. Finally he just say, "Let's go. There are work to do."

The lady held out a book from her bag. "Right, we have to hand this to Werq."

They ambled off.


On the top of the tower, Jose, Pauline and Dinax were searching for the cursed book. The fourth floor was small compared to the other floors and yet big to search for something. It was often used as a big attic to store something.

"There is nothing here, Dinax! Are you sure it is over here?" Pauline said in frustration, as her clothes was covered in dust.

Jose coughed daintily as a dust came near her. "I see nothing but dust and boxes of old school books."

Dinax felt a strange feeling inside the tower top. She was sure the book was in here. She suddenly felt a tug on her right side. Swindax seemed to be leading her to the book.

"Over here!" Dinax shouted as she went in the direction of the tug. She ran as the feeling became stronger. Finally, she went across the "hallway" to reach the end of the floor. On instinct, she touched the wall and felt a bulge at the bottom left corner. "Bingo!" Dinax wrapped her hands over the bulge, which turned out to be a brick that was bulging out, and pulled it out. There was a hole inside where the brick was bulging out. A book was clearly seen inside. It had a green cover with the words "Journey to the Seven Lands" on it.

"Yes! There the book is!" Pauline said excitedly.

"Thank goodness. Now we can leave this dusty place," Jose took out a handkerchief and wiped her nose daintily.

Dinax took out the book and said, "We have the book now. Let's go."

In Acagi, Jason was speaking to a man, who was obviously a man of great importance, judging from his authoritative mannerism.

"I have gotten one book back and it is placed back under the stronger barrier," Jason said.

"Have you gotten the name of the group stealing the books from that thief?" the man asked.

"He was tight-lipped but we had someone slipped under his mind. Unfortunately, we only get the clue "Werq". Apparently, someone was cautious enough to only tell him the word "Werq" and order him to steal the book. I'm afraid the books are now in other lands too since he was originally supposed to transport the book to the land of Xcadia."

The man was silent but from his thoughtful expression, he seemed to know what Werq was.

"Have you contacted Dinax?" the man asked.

"I tried but there seemed to be some disturbance of signal. I cannot get through to her Tike."

"Try again until you reach her. We will need her assistance on the location of the books."

"Yes, sir."

"And tell her what you gather from that thief. She will find it informative and interesting."

"Yes, sir," Jason said puzzledly.

Back to the tower, Jose, Pauline and Dinax were heading back to the headmaster's office.

"There they are," Ms Poppy said on seeing them. "Have you got the book?"

Dinax held out the book. Ms Poppy took the book from her hand.

"So this is the cursed book. Good job, girls. Now, it's time to do our job," the headmaster clapped her hands together loudly.

"I have destroyed the equipment interfering with the signal and have sent a message for help to the outside world," Mr Daw, a teacher, said. "I just got a message from Tike that someone is bringing the things we need here."

"It will be time to tackle the curse soon. Prepare yourselves for a battle with the force at the front door. Gather the sane magical students on standby just in case too," Ms Poppy ordered.

Ten minutes later, everyone were at the front door.

"Sis, I heard that you got the cursed book!" Peter said excitedly.

Pauline turned her head to see him. "Oh, you are here. I am not the one who find it. Dinax finds it." She pointed at Dinax.

Peter turned his head to Dinax. "Wow, how do you get it?"

Dinax was unsure how to say it. Jose helped her out.

"Dinax had some connection to the books so she could instinctively find it," Jose said calmly.

Dinax nodded in relief that Swindax was not mentioned.

"Connection? What connection?" Peter asked puzzedly.

At this moment, a whistle was blown.

"The items have reached here. It's time to remove this force hindering us from leaving here. Dinax, can you help us out? You seem to be the only one who knows how to remove it." Ms Poppy came over to Dinax and asked. She then handed the book to her.

Dinax nodded. "Can everyone transfer some magical energy to me? I will need it to break the curse. Please put the items needed on the Five Star Location in front of the door."

Ms Poppy went to order the teachers and students on what to do. By this time, Peter was having a befuddled expression on what was going on.

Dinax took a deep breath and closed her eyes. Swindax, who clearly saw that she was needed, took the chance to come out. She held out the book and gather the magical forces. She then threw it onto the force at the front door. There was a huge tremble in the tower and a loud crackling sound. Some walls and floors cracked. The force at the front door was now a visible red aura, which was swirling. The book was glowing a bright green and was growing hot. Swindax did not feel anything but Dinax's hands were in pain. She almost let go of the book. Dinax grimaced.

Finally Swindax made a huge force and threw it at the red aura and the book simultaneously. A huge wind started blowing around Dinax and blew all around the others. Some students' and teachers' hairs were messed up by the wind. Everything blew down and the wind and red aura were finally gone. The book was restored to normal.

Everyone cheered in joy. They could finally leave the tower.

Dinax opened her eyes and felt tired. She was so tired that she just took one step and then fainted.

"Dinax!"

"Dinax!"

Dinax heard her friends before she slipped into unconsciousness.

"Aren't you sleeping yet?" The lady seen before asked. She stood at a garden in a house and yawned.

"I'm not tired yet. Go and sleep if you want," the man was sitting on a bench placed in the garden.

"Scared of having nightmare, huh?" the lady asked insincerely.

"None of your business."

"You are so rude. No wonder you have no friends." She huffed and walked back into the house.

The man was silent and looked up to the moon. The light from the moon fell onto his face. His expression showed nothing but his inside was whirling in turmoil.

"Esmeralda, I swore I will revive you." Esmeralda was his sister.




End of chapter one.