User:Hedgehogsonic11/M6

 PROLOGUE

 His sweat mixes with the rain and drips down his broken nose. His scarred feet are caked with blood. His head is covered with dirt. His cloak is tattered, torn and packed with mud. He had tried sewing it back up, but the peeling patches reveal his lack of skill. His dirty blonde hair is sprawling and overgrown. His walking stick is the only thing within his possession.

 He limps over to a tree to catch his breath. He has lost track of the passing time. He doesn't know where he is, or where he is going. He doesn’t even care at this point. He has to find him. He has to find his brother. That is the only thing keeping him out in this wilderness.

 He stumbles around the forest until it gets too dark to see. He erects his usual bedding, a propped up rock, a small indent in the dirt, and a few fallen leaves. After eating his “dinner” of stale bread crusts and dew off of tree leaves, he goes to sleep.

 The chill of a strong wind wakes him up in the middle of the night. He opens his eyes to see a beam of green light penetrating the clouds.

 He doesn’t know why or how, but he suddenly feels drawn to it. He starts violently powering his way through the forest, towards the light. He finds himself in a grassy field, a gale still blowing from the beam. He runs out towards the beam. He gets there and sees six weapons laying before him. A shield. A boomerang. A hammer. A  pickaxe. A bow. A scepter. The light seemed to generate off of the shiny surface of each weapon.

 He sticks his hand into the ray of light. His cuts and bruises start to heal. He stares at his hand. The flesh was new and complete. This is just a dream, he tells himself. Get a grip on yourself. He disregards his fear and walks through the light. Blood stops flowing from his gashes. His body is clean. His hair is neat and orderly. His walking stick is smooth and full. Even his cloak is patched up.

 Now he turns to the weapons that lay before him. He picks up each one, one by one, until only the scepter remains, and puts them down. He can't really say why, but each one felt, well, odd. He picks up the scepter. The beam seems to get brighter. He sees his reflection in the clear strobe head of the staff. He sees his usually brown eyes glowing the same green as the illuminating ray before him. This is too unreal to be a dream. I wouldn't be able to think this up, he thinks. The staff seems to fit him. It feels like an extension of himself. Something deep inside of him feels different and new. He feels the strange material of the staff. His fingers run across a few words etched into its hilt. He reads the words aloud. Then he vanishes, staff and all.

 �

 CHAPTER 1

 Max looked out of the window of the SUV at the street. Large houses zoomed by, barely visible by streetlight, all bearing some form of similarity, but yet a small bit of aesthetic identity found in each one. He turned back to face his mother and father, at the front of the car. Tired after the long ride, he only listened halfheartedly until his mom mentioned them. “And this time, we’ll be living right next door to the Coopers,” she said, her weariness overshadowing her excitement. The driver of the car shifted his eyes to the seats behind him when he heard no response. “You hear that, kids?” he asked. “I suppose that that'll make things a lot more convenient for the both of us,” his voice still managed to bellow. As the driver, Max’s father had to deal with the most stress and exhaustion inducing events during the family's moves. And yet, the man’s unbridled energy never seemed to drain, an ability Max wished he had inherited.That energy's likely how he advanced to CEO of his company, with Mrs. Cooper as president, and both Max’s mother and Mr. Cooper as vice-presidents. Due to the demands of their jobs, the family had to move often and couldn't spend much time with the kids. He turned his head back further to see his children entirely. Max could only utter a sarcastic “Yay,” raising his left fist in mock victory. The Twins were snoring on top of each other, and Michael was sleeping soundly on his shoulder.

 Mary and Martha, the two sisters sleeping on each other, weren't actually twins, but were two identical triplets. Their bond were as close as twins, however, so that’s what Max and Michael called them. Martha’s long wavy brown hair meshed with Mary’s, as Mary rested on her phone, which was looping a lullaby playlist. Martha, lying on top of Mary, had one earbud in her ear to listen in too. Martha’s drool was beginning to pose a risk to Mary’s painstakingly chosen dress, but Max was too tired, or perhaps just didn’t care enough, to right the snoring girls.

 The other triplet, Michael was silently sleeping slack jawed on his shoulder. Michael originally started out looking similar to the Twins, but overtime, he grew darker than the freckled, fair skinned girls, and his curly black hair was cut short. Max’s trench coat was draped over his polyester shirt and soccer shorts. He looks a lot like Dad, Max noted on further observation. Granted, this wasn’t the first time he’d realized this, he was just so tired that he couldn’t come up with an original thought. He lowered his arm down onto his sweater and sighed. For some odd reason, he’s never been able to really nap. It was almost dawn at this point, and he still couldn’t fall asleep. HIs mother was miraculously somehow still awake and his father never ran out of energy. Martha’s pixelated cat-eared hoodie served as a pillow for her, and Mary could sleep literally anywhere. Michael always found his head on Max’s shoulders (though Mr Tough Guy would hate to admit it), and Max was left in the middle with nowhere to rest.

 He stared through the houses into the trees and the faint light behind them as his dad laughed. The only real bonding his parents could ever have with him were during these road trips, yet unfortunately, the move would tire him out every time, and he’d never get the chance to. Granted, he had an opportunity now, but his dad was so...unapproachable most of the time, and his mother was past the point of comprehensibility. After a few more minutes of driving, they arrived.

 “Wake up, Sleeping Beauty,” Max chuckled, throwing his brother’s head off of him. Mike mumbled something unintelligible before lifting his heavy head and righted his body.

<p dir="ltr" style="line-height:1.2;margin-top:0pt;margin-bottom:0pt;text-indent:36pt;"> “You wanna wake up the Twins? Or are we gonna have to write a prophecy about their revival?” Michael joked. Max reached out to Martha’s shoulder, hesitant, but stopped and grinned.

<p dir="ltr" style="line-height:1.2;margin-top:0pt;margin-bottom:0pt;text-indent:36pt;"> “No, they deserve more sleep than you do,” Max replied. Mike grumbled something, but Max could tell that he wasn’t angry. His brother had a tendency to go off on the smallest things. He reached over and threw Martha’s hoodie over her face. She jumped up shouting, and that in turn, woke up Mary, who took another half minute to get upright. Max recalled all the times that they’ve had to wake her up before they ran late for school. On the way to their new home, he saw the area’s schools are within walking distance, so that shouldn’t be a problem (at least for the next year or so).

<p dir="ltr" style="line-height:1.2;margin-top:0pt;margin-bottom:0pt;text-indent:36pt;"> Max’s father was first out of the car, of course he was, and his dazed mother was in tow. It’s amazing how awake she can act when she has to. Max then climbed over the drowsy sisters and stepped onto the road. The house was silhouetted by the oncoming sunrise. He doubted that they’d be given an opportunity to sleep. Even though the house was draped within the shadows of dawn, he could tell that it looked similar to the other houses, but was...older, to put it delicately. Oh, who was he kidding, the building was run down, quite a few things were falling apart. While it wasn’t the the type of creepy you’d use to describe a haunted house, it was certainly eerie. He looked over at what must have been the Cooper’s house. It certainly was a work in progress, but they’ve revamped the place within the month or so they were there. Max noticed a light was on in one of the bedrooms. That's probably her, Max thought, his skin flushing a bit. And true to character, she's probably going to wake him up too. His suspicions were confirmed when the light in the adjacent room turned on. He looked to ground, snickering. He turned to his father, who quickly announced the plan.

<p dir="ltr" style="line-height:1.2;margin-top:0pt;margin-bottom:0pt;text-indent:36pt;"> “OK, so I know that you're all very tired, so I’ll allow you all some well deserved rest. So go in and find your rooms, bring your sleeping bags, and get some shut-eye as your mother and I empty the car.”

<p dir="ltr" style="line-height:1.2;margin-top:0pt;margin-bottom:0pt;text-indent:36pt;"> “We're gonna wha-?” his mother drowsily interjected before his father continued.

<p dir="ltr" style="line-height:1.2;margin-top:0pt;margin-bottom:0pt;text-indent:36pt;"> “Don't worry, it's safe to sleep in, the movers took care of that for us. Speaking of, don't get into too deep a sleep, because tomorrow morni-,er, today, we’re going to unpack everything else, no objections, you hear me?”

<p dir="ltr" style="line-height:1.2;margin-top:0pt;margin-bottom:0pt;text-indent:36pt;"> “I, uh, I was wondering,” Mary stammered, “When are we going to get our sleeping stuff?” She looked around at the confused eyes. Her face quickly went scarlet. “You know, I-I mean toiletries and sl-sleepwear? I'm sorry for any confusion I caused,” she clarified, practically whispering. She looked on the verge of tears. Martha rubbed her older sister’s head.

<p dir="ltr" style="line-height:1.2;margin-top:0pt;margin-bottom:0pt;text-indent:36pt;"> “You didn't need ‘em in the car, you won't need them now,” she reassured her. Max and Mike simply nodded.

<p dir="ltr" style="line-height:1.2;margin-top:0pt;margin-bottom:0pt;text-indent:36pt;"> “You can sleep anywhere, I’m sure you'll be fine,” Mike said snidely, “Now, before we get in, I’d like to discuss room-choosing authority. ” Mary backed away wordlessly.

<p dir="ltr" style="line-height:1.2;margin-top:0pt;margin-bottom:0pt;text-indent:36pt;"> “I did the most work during this move, I deserve first pick!” Martha testified.

<p dir="ltr" style="line-height:1.2;margin-top:0pt;margin-bottom:0pt;text-indent:36pt;"> “That may be so, but you're also the youngest,” Mike grinned.

<p dir="ltr" style="line-height:1.2;margin-top:0pt;margin-bottom:0pt;text-indent:36pt;"> “If we're going the age route,” Max interjected, “May I also remind you that I’m ten months older than the three of you.”

<p dir="ltr" style="line-height:1.2;margin-top:0pt;margin-bottom:0pt;text-indent:36pt;"> Mary chimed in, “He does raise a good point,” before shrinking away from her older triplet’s stare. Anyone would be scared of him right now, regardless of insecurities, he's outraged. Max thought.

<p dir="ltr" style="line-height:1.2;margin-top:0pt;margin-bottom:0pt;text-indent:36pt;"> “Why does <span style="font-size:18.6667px;font-family:'DroidSans';font-weight:700;font-style:italic;text-decoration:underline;white-space:pre-wrap;">Max always get whatever he wants?!” Mike yelled before stalking away from the door. Max could feel his brother's cold aura just walking by him, eyes locked, shoulders brushing. Max’s father tossed him the keys (the man could always go into baseball if all else fails) and Max opened the door to his new world.

<p dir="ltr" style="line-height:1.2;margin-top:0pt;margin-bottom:0pt;text-align:center;"> CHAPTER 2

<p dir="ltr" style="line-height:1.2;margin-top:0pt;margin-bottom:0pt;text-indent:36pt;"> Max opened his eyes to his sister looming above him. They had identical sleepwear, and his eyes hadn’t cleared up enough to see the obvious differences. Or was he seeing double? He blinked, wiped his eyes, and looked up. No, the both of them were standing there. They held up a sign that said “ Guess ”. Their voices would give it away. He pointed to the Twin on the left.

<p dir="ltr" style="line-height:1.2;margin-top:0pt;margin-bottom:0pt;text-indent:36pt;"> “Mary,” he smirked, and turned to the girl on his right. “Martha”. They groaned a bit, meaning that he was right.

<p dir="ltr" style="line-height:1.2;margin-top:0pt;margin-bottom:0pt;text-indent:36pt;"> “How can you tell?” Martha asked.

<p dir="ltr" style="line-height:1.2;margin-top:0pt;margin-bottom:0pt;text-indent:36pt;"> “What, you think after all these years, I wouldn’t know the difference off the bat?” He was lying actually, he's used their noses as cheat sheets every time they've played this game. They’ll keep playing it until he messes up, probably, then never let him live it down. They could never trick Mike, he was incredibly perceptive, but as long as Max had that tell, he’d be fine. He lowered his gaze from their freckled noses and down to their torsos. They were clad in teal tank tops and pink sweatpants, their basic pajamas. “Wait, wait, wait, wait, wait, how, no, why, did you change into your-” Max started to ask, before he was cut off.

<p dir="ltr" style="line-height:1.2;margin-top:0pt;margin-bottom:0pt;text-indent:36pt;"> “We had finally picked our room out and I was finally about to settle down and sleep, when Princess over here,” she said, pointing to Mary, who was staring intently at her feet, cheeks flushed. “Started begging for her sleepwear, her toothbrush and stuff like that. I told her that she didn't need them, y’know, again, but she started crying.” Mary looked like she was about to start crying now. “And of course, I couldn't resist a face that beautiful,” Martha continued, soliciting a giggle from her sister. “So in turn, we emptied the car and unpacked literally everything to find her PJ’s. So you don't have to do any unpacking today.” She paused. “You're welcome,” she said sarcastically.

<p dir="ltr" style="line-height:1.2;margin-top:0pt;margin-bottom:0pt;text-indent:36pt;"> “Oh yeah, thanks, sorry, I was lost in thought,” Max said. No unpacking today, huh? “Does that mean…?”

<p dir="ltr" style="line-height:1.2;margin-top:0pt;margin-bottom:0pt;text-indent:36pt;"> Mary nodded enthusiastically. “Yep, Exploration Day!” A day or two after the move, Max and the triplets would always be given a free day to explore anything in walking distance, be it the town or the house. It’s probably the most entertaining part of the move.

<p dir="ltr" style="line-height:1.2;margin-top:0pt;margin-bottom:0pt;text-indent:36pt;"> “I’ll take the house,” Max offered.

<p dir="ltr" style="line-height:1.2;margin-top:0pt;margin-bottom:0pt;text-indent:36pt;"> “Mike’s got the neighborhood,” Martha said. “So I guess that leaves us with the town.” They always worked together. If he wasn’t their brother, he’d think that they were twins and their brothers were born at separate times. Max sighed and got out of bed.

<p dir="ltr" style="line-height:1.2;margin-top:0pt;margin-bottom:0pt;text-indent:36pt;"> He didn’t really get an opportunity to get a good look  around the house last night, but as the sunlight streamed through a high window behind him, if there was only one word he could use to describe this place, it’d be “oaken”. The floors, the walls, the roof, the bars around the window, everything was made of hardwood planks. It had a similar feel to a cabin. The sunlight shining through the yellowed windows gave everything a sepia tone. He looked out into the hallway and downstairs. The ceilings were incredibly high (most of the living room didn’t have a ceiling) and laced the living room, which had a large stone fireplace. From the giant living room, he saw doors that he could only assume lead to the laundry room, the bathroom, and such. Behind the gigantic fireplace, which stretched to the ceiling of the second floor was a room he could only assume were the kitchen and dining room. The second floor ceiling was similar to the top of a triangular prism, and from across the hallway, he could see the other rooms. The entire hallway was simply a balcony surrounding the top of the first floor, with stairs against the wall across from him. He looked back at the sisters, who smiled like the Cheshire Cat at him at the same time.

<p dir="ltr" style="line-height:1.2;margin-top:0pt;margin-bottom:0pt;text-indent:36pt;"> “Well, what are you still doing here?” Max asked. “We need to change, right?” The two girls laughed and left his room.

<p dir="ltr" style="line-height:1.2;margin-top:0pt;margin-bottom:0pt;text-indent:36pt;"> Max threw on a red sweater, with a zipper running from the neck to the chest, navy blue jeans, and his black trenchcoat.

<p dir="ltr" style="line-height:1.2;margin-top:0pt;margin-bottom:0pt;text-indent:36pt;"> He met his siblings in the spacious living room, which had three couches surrounding the center table, similar to the ceiling layout. Mike was wearing a long sleeved shirt and khakis. Martha, wore her hoodie with the pixelated cat face and little ears to match, along with a striped skirt. Mary was wearing a cream colored shawl, a hot pink tank top, and black yoga pants.

<p dir="ltr" style="line-height:1.2;margin-top:0pt;margin-bottom:0pt;text-indent:36pt;"> “So, we already know where to go and what to do, why are we meeting up here?”, Mike asked