Chapter 1 - Collapse

I hope it's not going to rain. Raiden lay thinking to himself under the autumn red leaves of the massive oak tree. The sky was filled with gray clouds after he had finished his part-time shift at Zalmart.

Finally Friday, nothing ever changes. His pay for the week was $495. Just barely enough to cover my part of the bills and afford a treat for Ash. On his way home, he felt the droplets strike his pearl-white hair and the water roll down his cheek. It's raining, again.

*RUMBLE*

The sounds of thunder resounded through southern Dalia, a dense and vast city consisting of four main towns, it was also Raiden's hometown. The thunder caused no fright to Raiden who remained steadily approaching his family's modest apartment. When he arrived home, he was immediately greeted by his younger sister.

"Brother! Welcome back home, dinner won't be ready for another hour or so." Ashlee said simply, welcoming her big brother home.

"Hey Ash, thanks for preparing dinner, where's dad?" Raiden responded.

"Dad's still at work so he won't be back in time to eat, for now you should go take a bath, you're all wet from the rain!" Ashlee insisted.

"Again?" Raiden asked with a tired sigh. "Alright, I get it, I'll go run the bath." Before Raiden made his way to their cramped bathroom to run the water, he admired his younger sister's matter control for a while. She warmed the pot from the other side of the kitchen. Controlling the flame steadily with her affinity for fire matter, keeping tonight's beef stew at the perfect simmer.

*crackle*

She gets better with each coming week... Fire matter was an element almost purely focused on offensive power and power alone, and yet it was also the most beautiful matter type, at least according to Raiden's beliefs.

Raiden's own matter affinity lay in lightning, an element focused primarily on speed and then power. While neither of his family members actively engaged in combat, both Raiden and Ashlee received matter training to utilize and activate their abilities in case of emergency, courtesy of Raiden's father; Marcus.

Their father is an ex-Frontline, the unit that protects the walls and hunts the beasts that lurk past them. He was of the fire element, the very same as Raiden's sister. When he was injured by a unique tier beast while protecting the city walls, he was forced to retire. Losing his hearing and sight in his left side, Marcus Sullivan was forced into labor work to care for his children; Raiden, and Ashlee Sullivan.

Raiden's sixteenth birthday had just passed the day before, and he worked that day anyways. They didn't have time nor money to celebrate. Rain was paying for one-quarter of the bills as well as for the extra education of his sister, who was three and a half years younger than him, making her nearly thirteen.

When Raiden's bath had finished running, he entered the steaming hot water with a relaxed sigh.

"Ahhh..." he moaned in pleasure as water rippled from the electric sparks around him. "Nothing better than a hot bath after work." He mumbled to no one in particular.

While Raiden relaxed in the bath, he heard the familiar 'Ker-Klink' of the front door opening and he looked in the direction of the sound with a curious glance.

"I'm Hooome!" a masculine voice shouted from Raiden's south.

As Raiden dried his silver hair with a towel and he dressed himself comfortably, he admired his piercing forest green eyes in the mirror. It was supposedly a trait he and Ashlee inherited from their mother. The only good thing she left them... He came out of the bathroom to see his father soaked in rain, standing on the doormat.

"You're early!" Raiden said aloud. "And wet" he added.

"Surprise!" his father said giddily, "They sent me home early because of the rain." Marcus ruffled his children's hair.

"Haha! Stop that!" Raiden exclaimed sarcastically, smiling.

Both men looked over at Ashlee, who was now making her way over to the table with a delicious-looking beef stew. Glistening chops of Roast littered the darkened creamy broth. Potatoes that you could tell just by looking would practically melt in your mouth filled the empty spaces between the sweet carrots and flavorful radishes that added another source of mellowed out and earthy sweetness.

"Divine..." Raiden's father cried out, drooling.

"By the elements!" Raiden added, constantly exasperated as to how his sister crafted such amazing-looking dishes from the simple ingredients they provided.

"Dig in!" His sister said, face flushed and covered with a smug smirk.

After they had finished their meal, Raiden once again recognized how incredible a cook his sister was.

"That recipe was new, yeah?" Raiden said, completely sated.

"Sure was, I hope you both enjoyed it" Ashlee responded, still smiling. She knew how good she was, her temperature control especially. Being a fire affinity let her feel heat and temperature more intimately.

"Well I, unfortunately, didn't make enough today to buy you a gift Raiden, my pay got cut because we stopped early today." Her father hesitated, "But I promise I'll have enough soon!" He continued desperately, forcing a smile.

"I really don't need anything dad, were strapped enough for cash as is." Raiden waved him off, "Just taking care of daily expenses is more than enough for us, right Ash?" He asked, turning to his sister with a genuine smile.

*RUMBLE*

"Sure is!" She beamed, ignoring the distant thunder and smiling at her father warmly before turning back to Raiden.

"Besides, with meals like these every few days, I don't think I could ask for any more!" Raiden said to cheer on his dad.

Marcus Sullivan worked an average of 3 jobs at a time, getting home late often was the norm, and he also worked weekends, leaving Raiden to man the house. Because of the constant stress of taking care of his family, he was left with next to no room to breathe. Leading to poor mental health and low self-esteem. This, however, did not dissuade him from working. After Marcus's wife left him and their kids behind 12 years ago due to his lack of a job, Marcus began working tirelessly to provide for his family. All the money he saved until that point as a Pathfinder for frontline went into a trust fund for his children's education. He made do with what he could manage. Thanks to Raiden, they managed the monthly payments on their small 3 bedroom apartment while also scraping enough together for food and the occasional luxury.

Ashlee and Marcus worked their fire matter to provide heat and fire where it was needed to cut costs and Raiden would charge the vehicle and other electronic accessories with lightning matter to reduce the electricity bill.

When Raiden finally made it to his bed to retire for the night, he fell asleep to the piercing sounds of thunderclaps and the soft muttering of rain outside.

Raiden awoke to birds chirping and cool dry air in the early morning. When he dressed and left his room, he immediately noticed the grim atmosphere surrounding his sister and father. The local news station was being broadcasted on the television.

"-plete annihilation of northern Dalia's population and infrastructure occurred last night, lightning and water matter-wielders caused a storm that decimated many buildings along the northern coast," the announcer said in a defeated manner. "Western Dalia has also seemingly been targeted by the Deviants, they've destro--" the announcer trailed off.

"Then, the thunder last night..." Raiden started, shaken.

"That's right, those damn outlawed terrorists are targeting Dalia now too, you two are gonna stay inside this weekend until this whole thing passes." His father said sternly.

"But my--" Ashlee shouted, quickly shut down again by her father.

"Period." He yelled back. "I won't put you in danger just so you can go to your matter classes!" He finished.

Ashlee has been taking civilian courses on matter-wielding. It includes in-depth but basic uses for all 5 primary elements as well as a gloss over the 2 superior elements. Her element being fire, the courses veered heavily into cooking and other miscellaneous uses.

"Ash--!" She stormed off back into her bedroom. Damn outlaws... Raiden thought to himself. It was bad enough that Dalia was constantly in peril due to the beasts outside the walls, but the Deviants constantly targeted the general populace to strike fear into the minds of the public. Their end goal was to take this continent under their reign. Intending to overthrow the government, and gain their hunting grounds.

Raiden also tried to return to his room to take in what he'd learned before his dad interrupted.

"Take good care of Ashlee while I'm at work" he sighed, looking almost defeated. "And let her know I'm sorry for shouting at her, I just don't want her to get hurt..." He finished, turning away from Raiden to look at the door.

"I get it, dad." Raiden said, alleviating part of his father's burden. Raiden returned to his room and threw himself into his bed.

Dad frequently tells stories of the time before the collapse. Raiden reminisced, Of when the dark matter was a mere concept and evolved and mutated beasts were fiction and nothing more. Hard to imagine a world so peaceful, the year today is 2041, and nowadays beasts and monsters are commonplace. All humans wield their own affinity for dark matter, and a select few are even 'Superiors'. Humans who wield two elements, even more rarely, some wield elements of Dark and Light matter.

The story I've learned in school describes that in the year 2023, the world of Coranth went through unbelievable changes, humans became attuned to elements, and fantastical powers awakened in nearly every sentient being. This lead to revolutionary discoveries that changed the world as they knew it. But it also lead to dangerous beasts and monsters. Criminal syndicates such as the Deviants had goals varying from world domination to just wanting to watch the world burn.

However, the collapse also invoked the new government, the world of Coranth united to create Frontline. Frontline was an association that aimed to protect the population from beasts and outlaws alike. They gathered members who acted as guards to protect the walls, soldiers who acted according to administrators, who gather and organize the Frontline's forces. And finally, the Pathfinders, who set out on expeditions to hunt and protect civilization from the dangers opposing it before they can reach the walls.

That's what dad was... "A Pathfinder."

Raiden fell into a daze pondering the aftermath of attacks just north of his home.