Category : Books-Fiction

Sub Category : Fantasy

This is my first story it is unfinished and not polished so please help me make it a good one I would also like to know if I should finish it. I am a freshmen in high school, This is meant to be a fictional narrative about 3 pages long but I went a little overboard. This story is based off of a light novel and anime so I do not take credit over the plot. 

Mathew N Ramsey

Ms. Williams

English I (Per 4)

3 October 2017


The 73 Islands


Chapter 1: The Friends I Never Had

 In a world that was once bright and lively, humans created Creatures that terrorized the surface. No one knows how they were made or how they spread so far so fast, but everyone knows that they destroyed the surface causing one person from legends to come out from hiding and create 73 floating islands to rise up from the ground and save the human race. But with the destruction from the Creatures, there are now less than 3 million people left on the earth and also less than 1 thousand animals. 

 The Capital is on the first island. They are people who started off as a small group, but as they grew, they wanted to have more power, causing them to overthrow all of the sky islands and with their amount of people, no one could even get close to taking out the Capital, not even the main army that used to protect the islands from people like that. But, a small group of people were able to solve everything.

 This is the story of how one boy was able to find friends, destroy the capital, learn the truth behind the floating islands and himself.

 A 9th grader named Zach Terranova who lived on island 9 had no parents, is weak and he regretted not being able to save them from the brutal slaughter that occurred in his town four years ago. He won't stand for it, but he didn’t have the strength to fight the capital himself. He had a lot of intelligence. Some thought that his intelligence was a power but others thought of it as something to laugh at, and because of this, he had a lot of enemies and got bullied often. Eventually, he had enough of the bullying, so he decided to switch to a school on Island 16. The school was called Airea High School in the city of Airea. There Zach is able to start as a blank slate. At this school he held back from being smart because he thought that was the problem that he had at his old school.

 One week had passed since Zach’s transfer. So far, he had kept his grades at an average level. The only bad thing was that he had no friends yet, “Why can’t I ever find friends?” Zach whispered to himself. 

 But the Monday, three weeks after his transfer, a thin figure walked up to him. The figure seemed it should be able to maneuver quickly and quietly. The figure was a bit smaller than a average person Zach was scared he thought that the figure came up to him just to pick on him, just like the students at his old school. But the first words that came from the figures mouth were, “Are you okay?” 

“Yes, why?” Zach answered with a surprised look.

“Because you seem scared of everyone. people think that you like to be alone. Is that true?”

“No, I’ve wanted to be friends with people but was always scared to.”

“Then how about we be friends?”

“What’s your name and how old are you?” Zach said as he looked up to the Figure.

“Emily, Emily Enriquez, and i’m 14.” she said with a grin.

 Emily was a girl that had hair that was a very dark brown and her eyes were nearly as dark as her hair.

One month passed since Zach met Emily.

He found out that she was in all his classes, and that she only lived one block down from his street. They walked to and from school every day, but something seemed off, Zach thought. So he decided to ask, “What have you been through?”

She looked at him with a surprised face, “How could you tell?”

“You look like me before my transfer.”

Emily sighed, “My parents were taken captive by the capital.”

“Then we have nearly the same problem.” Zach replied.

“How?”

“My parents were not taken captive like yours, but what I saw was much worse.”

“What happened?” Emily asked with a curious face.

“They killed them, in front of my eyes.” 

“Why were you not killed?”

“My mother shoved me into a closet and closed the door before the capital infiltrated our house.”

“Let’s work together to take my parents back and get revenge on the capital for you!” Emily screamed with excitement and fear.

“Ok but first we need more firepower!”

Zach and Emily asked their favorite teacher Mrs. Williams if they could check the student records and see if there is anything they can’t find out about the students of the school.

“Of course, but we need to find a way past the principle first.”

“Don’t worry I got that covered already.” Zach says with confidence.

She asked the principal if she could read the records because she was curious about a certain student, but that was a lie. The principal believed her and handed her the key. She snuck the students into the storage room where the records were. As soon as they entered they saw a student record on the ground. They decided to pick it up, and what they found was exactly what they needed.

 The student’s name was Trevor Lee Davison. His birthday was on May 6th, 2025, meaning that he was only two months younger than Zach. He originally lived on Island 3. His parents were killed by the guard of Capital because they were attempting a rebellion but were discovered.

 Now that Zach had the record, he needed to somehow get out without being noticed by the principal. The way in is not going to work the same way out because Mrs. Williams left them while they were reading the record, and to make it worse, she also locked the door.

“I guess there is no such thing as a person only being nice.” Emily mentioned.

“Yea, I guess so.” Zach mumbled.

“How are we going to get out?”

“First, let’s see what we have to work with. I have always wanted to say that in a dire situation!”

There was a small window too high for Zach and Emily to get to, and even if they could, it would be too small to fit them. If they backed up, they are able to see a red alarm button that would call the guard to their area, but that would be too dangerous for them. There was also a ladder and some left over pipes from when there was a leak in the office two weeks ago.

“I have a idea, but we are only going to have one chance.” Zach said with excitement. 

Zach reached for a rock and threw it at the alarm.

“It hit!” Zach said with thrill in his voice.

“Hit what?” Emily said in a furious voice.

“The alarm.” 

“Are you crazy!”

“Of course.”

Zach ran over to the pipes, picked two up and threw Emily one.

“When they get here, there should only be two, and there is two of us.” Zach mentioned.

“So?” Emily said with a screaming voice.

“We hit them and knock them out.”

“What!”

“Shhh, they're here.”

 Once the guards entered, Zach and Emily hit them both from the side without them noticing them. Once they knocked the guards out, they made a run for the halls. Luckily, they got out of the room ~30 seconds before the bell for lunch rang.

*Beep...*

“We made it, and I doubt anyone saw us.” Zach said with a happy expression.

“We got the record, but now, we need to find Trevor.” Emily said with a sigh of relief.

“Right!” 

Zach and Emily jogged through the halls looking for someone who matched the photo of him.

“Tan skin, black hair, tall, buff…” Zach kept repeating.

“I think I found him?” Emily said with a scared voice.

“Where?” 

“Over there.” as Emily pointed to two guards handcuffing a person that matched the description.

“We have to save him!”

“We?!”

“Come on. let’s go!”

“Wait!” Emily yelled as Zach ignored her.

Zach and Emily ran over to the guards.

“What is he in handcuffs for?” Zach asked.

“He wanted to see what it felt like to be in handcuffs, so I let him” one of the guards replied.

“That’s a relief.” Zach said with the little breath he still had.

“What’s your name?” Emily asked the person who fits the description.

“Trevor, why?”

“We found him!” Zach said as he got up off the ground, as if he just wanted attention.

“Follow us!” Emily said with excitement.

Chapter 2: Another Addition 

 Zach and Emily finally had a good enough group to run down the Capital at least a bit. They had the Brains, the Stealth, and the Strength. Zach, Emily and Trevor made their way to the Library. On their way there, Trevor asked “Where are we going and why?”

“We are going to the Library, and I can’t answer that quite yet.” Zach replied with a grin.

“Why not?”

“You’ll know when we are in a place with fewer people.”

 While they were talking, they had not noticed that they made it to the Library already.

“That is one big Library.” Trevor said with a surprised look.

“Its one of the biggest on all the 73 islands.”

“Why is it in the school?”

“I don’t know. Maybe they thought that our education is more important.”

“That’s one of the only good things that the capital did.” Trevor whispered under his breath.

“What was that?” Zach said with a curious voice.

“Nothing!”

“Ok?”

As Zach, Emily and Trevor make their way into the Library, they smelt a horrible scent coming from the Librarian's Office. As they made their way into the room, the smell got stronger. Once they got into the office, they saw a bloody knife on the ground.

“Was this the Capital’s work?” Emily said.

“They are known to leave their corpses after they kill them, so…” 

“They will pay.” Trevor says with an angry look on his face.

 Zach, Emily, and Trevor called a teacher over to help with the body, but when the teacher arrived, he didn’t think that there would actually be a body. so when he did get there, he threw up in his mouth. 

“How did this get here?” The teacher asked with a look of disgust.

“Most likely the Capital killed her.” Emily replied with concern.

“Why is it always me?”

“What do you mean?”

“Everyone I get close to gets killed.”

“Have you done anything to upset them?”

“No, but my parents did.”

“What did they do?”

“They were in a rebellion against the Capital.”

“Oh. Do you want to join us?”

“join what exactly?”

“Our rebellion, what else?”

“What!?” Trevor said with concern.

“Oh, right. I forgot we didn't tell you yet.” Zach said with an awkward smile.

“Sorry but I don't want to be caught up in that.”The teacher said with a sad look.

“Too bad for you but I definitely will join.”

“Thanks. And I hope you don't get killed because of us.” Zach said with concern.

“It's all right. I think I will be fine.” The teacher responded.

 Zach never thought that he would have friends let alone a girl, and strong male. Zach was wondering if anyone had connections with the main army. Everyone said “no” but Trevor. Trevor just sat still without saying a word. But then ~30 seconds later, he said something, he said,

“My Brother.”

“What about your brother?”

“He was in the main army.”

“Where is he now.”

“He is now a Surface Scavenger. he lives on island 65.”

“A Surface Scavenger! That is worse than a member of the main army!”

“Yes, but it pays more.”

“Let’s go find him!”

“Problem.”

“What?”

“He was on a major mission to recover artifacts that his crew found in a small town that used to be one of the biggest cities in the United States. The city was called L.A. But that mission started 3 weeks ago.”

“And he hasn't come back right?”

“Yes.”

“Can’t you ask the one who sent them on the mission?”

“We are only allowed in the building he is in if we are part of the Scavengers.”

“Then let’s become Scavengers!” Zach yelled with excitement.

Chapter 3: The Surface

 Zach, Emily and Trevor made their way to Island 12. Island 12 is the island that holds most of the artifacts from the surface and is also the place where people can sign up to be a Scavenger.

 This was the first time Zach, Emily and Trevor had ever been to Island 12, and they had no idea where to start looking. As they were wandering around, a stranger walked up to them. 

“What are you doing on this island without a guardian.” The stranger asked.

“We wish to become Scavengers!” Zach said in a deep voice to hide his high pitched voice.

“You! Scavengers!” The mysterious person said laughing as if he were being tickled by a thousand feathers.

“Alright, I guess you aren't afraid of the dangers that lie ahead on that path.”

“Dangers!?” Emily said with a nervous voice.

“Yes. Dangers and lots of them.”

“Like what!?”

“The Insects, or as some call them, The Creatures.”

“Some!? That's all I ever heard them called.”

“Oh, I nearly forgot, what’s your age?”

“Zach and Trevor are 13, and I’m 14.”

“Then you all are just barely able to become a Scavenger. follow me.”

 The mysterious person lead Zach, Emily, and Trevor to a big hanger on the west side of the Island. The walls were made of thick sheets of steel, and it seemed to have a Cargo Hovership inside.

“Where are we?” Zach said with curiosity.

“We are at the launch port for the Surface.”

 Zach, Emily, and Trevor made their way in the launch port not knowing what they got themselves into. When they made it in the stranger lead them to a small room in the corner of the launch port. When they entered they saw three chairs as if he knew they were coming. 

“Take a seat. What's your business here?”

“We wish to become Scavengers.” Zach said with confidence.

“Are you ready?”

“We believe we are.”

“Alright, we will send you down with one of our best fighters on a rescue mission!”

“Fighter!? Rescue mission!? What?!”

“The Insects cannot be killed using normal weapons. They have to be killed by weapons that are said to be crafted by the one who created the islands just before he passed away.”

“How many are there?”

“There are only 6 known so far, and they can only be wielded by the person it chooses. So far the people who got to use the weapons are only girls.”

“That's one sexist weapon.”

“I know, I wanted one but then my mom told me about that.”

“How does it choose you?”

“You will know if it ever happens. Now that you are informed about the weapons, let me tell you about the rescue mission. There is a group of Scavengers that left the island a few days ago, but as they were loading artifacts onto the ship, one of the Insects attacked it and broke the main engine.”

“And we will be going on the rescue ship to help get the people and the artifacts on board, right?”

“You catch on fast kid.”

“Now the ship is going to leave soon so hurry and get on!”

 Zach, Emily and Trevor quickly made their way to room 16 which was where they stayed for a few hours until they got to the camp site. As they entered, they saw a person with a cloth wrapped item on her lap. 

“Is this the wrong room?” Zach asks with curiosity.

“Nope, you are the three I will be protecting today.”

Chapter 4: The Insects

“What's your name?”

“My name is Emilia.”

 Zach looked confused but introduced their group to Emilia. Everyone fell to the ground as the engines of the Hover Ship started up. 

“Looks like there's no going back now.” Emily said with a sad look in her eyes.

“Yup!” Zach screamed with excitement.

 Three days after the launch they finally made it to the surface. The first thing they noticed was big hole and in it was what looked like city ruins. Next to the ruins on top of the hole is the ship that broke down. 

 Zach was curious what was in the city so they decided to head down to a small cabin or at least what used to be a cabin. There they found the Commander of the surface scavengers. 

“What are you doing here? I thought you were up in the camp with the other scavengers.” Zach said looking confused.

“One of my scavengers found something of interest.”

“What is it?”

“Come see for yourself”

 The Commander lead them to a small opening in the floor too small for someone to get into, but on the other side was a huge opening.

 The Commander reached to his side and grabbed a pickaxe that was sitting on a table and hits the stone that was blocking his path. 

“Was that really necessary?” Trevor says with a look of seriousness in his eyes

“Yup!” The Commander screams with joy

 As the group steps in Zach stopped, looked down the cave and said. “The one with the bright red hair. The one with the eyes as black as night. The one who kills all.” Then started to run down the cave as if he knew where he was going.

“Wait! We haven’t explored down there yet!” The Commander screamed with fear.

 The rest of their group decided to chase after Zach without a second thought.

“Zach!” everyone screamed.

 As they start to lose sight of him he slowed down and started to glow. Emilia gasped, as if she knew what was happening. 

“What!” Emily screamed at Emilia.

“He, no, Zach is turning into a Fa...Fa...” 

 The ground started to shake knocking everyone but Zach onto their knees.

“The cave is collapsing!” Trevor screamed in fear.

 They attempted to get up but got knocked right back down. While emily was trying to think what Zach would do, she looked over at him and saw the ground beneath him cracking. She did everything she could but couldn’t get up. 

 Emilia screamed as a rock fell and crushed the bottom half of her body.

“Emilia!” Trevor screamed.

“Leave me behind!”

 The earthquake gets more extreme as time went on and the ground below Zach crumbled, but before they knew it, the ground below them crumbled as well.

 The group woke up at the bottom of a huge cave. As they looked around they didn't see Zach anywhere.

“Over here!” The Commander shouted as he pointed out a dim light coming from a small section of the cave.

 Emily stood up and ran over to the light. What she saw was a huge chunk of ice with pillars around it. On each of the pillars was a creature with wings in different positions, but on the biggest pillar it said “The one with hair as good as day. The one with the eyes as blue as the sea. The one who saves all.”

“That sounded like what Zach said earlier doesn’t it?” Trevor said.

“Yea, But who is it describing?” Emily said with concern.

“Maby its...”

“Zach!” They both scream.

 The glow that is surrounding Zach was slowly turning a bright blue from a bright red. Zach said “I accept” and when he did the light got absorbed into him, a few seconds later bright wings came out from his back and a sword emerged from the ice. Zach pulled it out of the ice then fell to the ground wondering where he was.

“You are in a cave under the ruins” The Commander said with a confused look.

“What did you accept?” Emily asked curiously.

“It was a girl, she said she would give me power as long as I promise to protect and save anyone that I saw in danger.”

“Thats a lot of responsibility, are you sure you can handle it?”

“What? You think I can’t?”

“No...” 

“You do don’t you? I thought we were friends”

 Trevor and the Commander both looked at them and laughed as if they weren’t in any danger.

“So how do we get out of here?” Trevor asked.

“Leave that to me!” The Commander said with confidence.

 As the group made their way to the entrance another earthquake shook the ground immensely, causing the group to fall to their knees again. But this time something was different. As the earthquake calmed down the roof started to crack over Trevor.

“Watch out!” Emily yelled in fear.

 But the shaking was so immense that he wasn’t able to move. That's when the wings that Zach had when he accepted the contract burst out of his back, then he flew at what seemed like mock speed over to Trevor and hit him out of the way. But got hit with a rock scratching his back. 

“Ow, ow, ow!” Zach says in pain.

“Are you ok Trevor?!” Emily screams.

“Yea, I'm ok. But what about Zach?” 

“Ye…Yea I think I'm ok.”

 As Zach tries to get up, He falls back to the ground.

“You are not ok! You need to rest.” Emily screamed.

“But I can’t, Everyone is in danger”

“What do you mean?!”

“When I accepted my contract she also told me that everyone in the ruins were going to die if i don’t save them.”

“What! That is important information! Why didn’t you tell us?!”

“Because I didn’t think you needed to know.”

“Of course we need to know!”

“Well...more like I didn’t want you to know.”

“Why wouldn’t you want us to know?!”

“Because I thought you would be too scared to leave your life in my hands.”

“Of course I would leave my life in your hands! Because I...”

“Because you what?”

“Because I...I Love you! Ok!”

“What’s that?”

“Well..love is…”

“No! What’s that!” Zach screamed as he pointed down the dark cave.

 A dark green creature with four arms and half a head is running straight for Zach and his group. Everyone started to run to the exit but Zach stays behind.

“What are you doing?! Run for the entrance!” Emily screamed in fear.

“I said I would protect everyone in danger, and I will keep my promise!”

“No! Don't do this! You do that know what that thing is capable of!” Trevor screamed.

“It's…It's…A Insect!” The commander screamed.

“I will not run from danger.”

 Zach took one slash with his sword.

“It got cut in half. Wow.” Trevor said.

“But even the strongest Fairy's can't cut through one that easily.” The commander screamed.

“Really? In my opinion that was too easy.”

“Can we please get out of here already?” Emily said with fear.

“Sure.” Zach said with a smile.

 They finally made it to the entrance but as they exited the cave, they heard screams coming from outside the shed.

“Zach. Open the door.” Trevor said with a scared look in his eyes.

“So what you are saying is you want me dead?”

“No you are the only one with a weapon.”

“So shouldn't I be standing back and waiting for you to open the door?”

“Just one of you open the door!” Emily screamed.

“Ok. I’ll do it.” Trevor said with a scared look.

 As the door opened a bloody body got thrown into the shed with its head and one of its legs missing.

“What...is...this…” The commander said with a scary face.

“What is happening out there?!” Trevor said.

 Zach walked up to the door and looked outside.

“There's thousands of them.”

“Thousands of what?!” Emily questioned. 

“The Insects.”

Chapter 5: A Close Call

“What do we do!?” Emily yelled

“I have to save them” Zach said

“There's no way you can kill that many”

“Maybe I can't. But I can try.”