The Stelter City Saga: Ultranatural

by Stefany Valentine Ramirez

  Ace only gaped at her with his feet feeling as if they were made of cinderblocks.

  “Now Mason.” Ithaca persisted as she climbed to her feet. “What could possibly be so important that you would give up this opportunity to find out anything you want?”

  Lee. She was only thing on this planet that could make him rethink anything. But Ithaca had what he wanted; answers. Again his feet remained glued to the ground. He couldn’t just leave Lee when they were already on bad terms. Perhaps Ithaca could spare a few seconds for him to write a note…?

  “Well?” Ithaca interrupted.

  “Alright fine.” Ace snapped turning back to the gym. “I’ll be right back.”

  As Ace fumbled around the gym for a pair of swim trunks, his eyes couldn’t stop wondering around for a pen and some paper. Even after he found a folded pair of swim shorts, he couldn’t stop searching. Time continued to tick as he spun in a slow circle around the gym equipment and in the back of his mind, Ithaca tapped her toe impatiently. Finally when Ace returned ripping off the tag of Kasper’s swim trunks, Ithaca was still wearing the same smile he had left her with. “Where are we going?” he asked forcing himself not to be frustrated.

  Ithaca replied without a word. Instead her eyes locked to his as she swung her arms around his hips. Before Ace could fully comprehend how close their bodies where, the world was spinning and his feet where whipped out from beneath him. All the air sucked from his lungs, and just as he gasped for breath, he was slammed back down on damp sand.

  The sudden impact sent him tumbling to the coarse beach. But as he rolled back onto his feet, Ace managed to glance around. As the sun continued into the sky, the cotton candy colored clouds parted the rays as if some angelic being where about to descend. Ace covered his eyes with one hand and with the other wiped away the taste of fishy sand stuck to his lips. Though the day was still young, he could make out the sight of eager swimmers hurrying to the water line with surfboards over their heads. Over their excited hoops and whistles, the roar of enormous crashing waves hammered its way to his ears.

  “Where are we?” asked Ace glancing inland. Upon first glance, the distant mountains seemed to have more of a horizontal incline and the vegetation was less tropical. A long stretch of sand separated the thick forest bushes from the grey-blue waters. Regardless of the pastel colored sky, this sliver of beach seemed darker, and defiantly not as much of a paradise as Sunset Beach.

  “North Shore,” replied Ithaca, “It’s to the north of Oahu if you haven’t already guessed it. In the winter time, this place is perfect for surfing.”

  Ace glanced back at the swells just as a surfer emerged from a white tube of crashing water. He had never seen waves so enormous before even when Tarrillian City shared the same ocean as Hawaii. With the sun rising higher into the sky, the morning pinks had begun fading to the familiar pastel blue. As Ace continued to scan the ocean, more and more bobbing bodies seemed to litter the dark water reminding him of the candles in the pool at Rose and DH’s wedding.

  “Why here?” he asked.

  Ithaca shrugged as she sat down in the sand. “It’s public, the weather is lovely, and I needed to work on my tan.”

  For a moment all Ace could do was stand there and stare down at her giant woven hat as it covered her shoulders until finally she glanced up. “Well take a seat Mason. Did you need an invitation?”

  Without a response, Ace flopped down on the sand beside her. He stared at his own reflection in her sunglasses for a while before finally asking. “What were you planning on doing?”

  “Whatever you want me to do.” She replied with a smirk. “Mason ask me anything and I will answer to the best of my ability. What do you want to know?”

  Her words surprised him. He knew she had all the answers- or at least claimed to. But when given all free reign, he couldn’t even decide where to begin. “What are you?” he finally asked, “Who are you? How am I supposed to know that what you say is even credible?”

  Ithaca’s smirk didn’t wane as she laid back on her elbows. “All this time you have been wondering who you are, but the first thing you want to know is who I am?” They held eyes for a moment as Ithaca analyzed him in secret. “I can’t put my finger on it Mason, but there is something about you. I’m not sure if you’ve changed or grown, but there is something about you.”

  Ace sighed, “Just answer me.”

  “Alright, alright,” continued Ithaca, “I am Ithaca Iglesias. We were friends as children, but childhood is something you’re clearly not interested in at the moment so we shall skip that. I am his Majesty’s discipliner. In other words, my job is to punish those that threaten our existence. Oh, and I’m an ultranatural which is something that should interest you very much.”

  Ace narrowed his eyes, “Ultranatural? I’ve never even hear of that.”

  “Well aren’t you in for a treat then?” Ithaca snickered eagerly. “Normally, supernatual just have one phenomenal ability. Ultranatural have several. Mirage for example, she could look into peoples souls, dive into dreams, use telekinesis, foresight, yadah- yadah, whatever. With her though, her base ability is to copy. If she has seen someone do something, she too can then replicate, thus giving her several abilities. Is that clear Mason?”

  The boy nodded after taking in her words, “So this base ability-?”

  “It’s like with me for example,” Ithaca cut in, “I’m just like you. Intangible.”

  “What?” sputtered Ace, “But the teleporting…?”

  “If you can move through solid objects, you can move through space as well; it’s as simple as that. Mason, you’re an ultranatural and you didn’t even know it.”

  Ace recoiled in surprise and stared at her for a long moment. This was impossible. He didn’t even know her. He had only met her yesterday, and she was telling him he was more than he knew he was? All this information was eating into his mind. It was hard to remember Ithaca had pulled him away from Lee when he was so excited to hear more. “If I’m what you think is an ultranatural, then how come I’ve never teleported before?”

  Ithaca scoffed, “Have you ever tried to? I didn’t think so.”

  “What about Michael?”

  Again Ithaca scoffed, “Oh, please. Michael? The only reason he’s the King is because he hides in plain sight. And no, he’s not ultra. You can’t branch off from teleportation. Think of it like a tree. You have to grow the stem before you can grow the leaves. In this case intangibility is the stem and teleportation is the leaf. You have to have one before the other. Yes?”

  “Yeah,” Ace agreed recognizing the excitement in his own voice. “So teach me how to teleport.”

  “It’s just like going intangible…” Ithaca muttered with a roll of the eyes as if Ace were incompetent. “You can figure that out in your own time. What more do you want to know?”

  Ithaca had now opened his mind to the immeasurable amount of questions. Questions he never realized he had, tumbled their way to the front of his mind and his tongue tied as he tried to figure what he wanted answered most. There were questions about his past, the fire, how he knew the Stelters as well as contemplations about the Legend and the race of supernatural. Mirage had told him about supernatural blood healing other people and the physics behind an intangible object. Ace’s mind was spinning and his heart racing with excitement, he knew for sure that if he had been standing up, he would have needed a seat.

  “Oh, there is another ability I have. I should tell you now before we get side tracked.” stated Ithaca as she climbed to her feet. She offered her hand and for the first time with his free will, Ace touched her.

  “Come,” she said turning around and strutting toward the foamy waterline. “I would rather show you than tell you.”

  Ace followed closely behind watching the way her long dark hair swayed until she stopped on the beach at the point where the dry sand met the wet. When she whirled around, her big sunglasses had been pulled off and the golden glow to her hazel eyes literally took
the breath from Ace’s lungs.

  Ithaca smiled when their eyes met. Normally her smiles turned her beautiful almond eyes in vicious glares, but not this time. When she smiled, she was legitimately happy. “I know there is a lot to take in but prepare yourself! Your mind is about to be blown. Sit, sit! I have to show you.”

  Before Ithaca could tug his arm down, Ace had already flopped on the warm sand. “What now?” he asked as casually as possible.

  From her cross-legged seat beside him, Ithaca turned to look out at the ocean, “Do you see that boy? He’s wearing red swim trunks and he’s on a yellow surfboard.”

  It took a moment for Ace to change gears. He had been so focused on Ithaca that the beach was practically invisible to him. When his eyes finally adjusted to the swirling dark water, he did notice the young child hardly a tennis court away from the shore line. His arms flailed franticly as he tried to paddle out to sea. Ace nodded silently at Ithaca but kept his eyes locked onto the kid. “What about him?”

  The moment the words left his lips, a swell had lifted the boy and the board until it was near vertical before throwing him backwards into the water. A wave crashed on top of him just as he reappeared on the surface. Ace cringed as he watched the water pummel him, but up shore a pair of older high school looking boys had thrown their heads back with laughter.

  “Nice going Justin!” one of them hollered. Ace and Ithaca didn’t need supernatural hearing to follow their shouting.

  “Oh, hush up!” they heard as their mother slapped a shoe against the trunks of her shouting boys. Then she turned back to her younger son still flopping about the surf. “Take a break Justin! You can try again later!”

  Ithaca and Ace both turned back to see the kid drag his board into waist high water with his head hung in embarrassment.

  “What was the point of all that?” Ace asked still watching the boy.

  Though Ace wasn’t looking at her, he could still feel Ithaca smiling as she replied, “I’m going to make him surf.”

  “What?” sputtered Ace.

  Ithaca held up and hand to silence him then pointed back at the boy who had now turned back around and was paddling his board back out to the open ocean. “My third ability is mind control. Well, it’s more like extreme persuasion- mind control nonetheless.”

  Ace was still speechless as he watched the boy bob up and down as he paddled furiously. “Ithaca, what are you doing?!”

  Ithaca’s next words were firm, “Just watch, Mason.”

  So Ace did. He watched as the boy continued to hurry out to sea as if he were a professional. When a wave threatened to topple him over like the first one, the boy simply dove under the wave and let it roll over him. When he reappeared on the other side, he would continue swimming back out to the ocean. Ace watched silently as the boy dove under wave after wave. It wasn’t until the fourth or fifth wave that a horrified scream split through the populated beach.

  “JUSTIN!!” It was the mother up shore and when Ace turned back to glance at her, she was already sprinting to the ocean with her face as white as paper. “Justin!!” she screamed again, “JUSTIN!!!”

  By the time she was knee deep in the ocean and screaming franticly, most heads had turned to her direction. “Somebody help, please!!” she wailed, “My son!! My son!!”

  It wasn’t until her reaction that Ace noticed how far out the boy had swam. Amongst the throng of other surfers bobbing around in the ocean, the child’s small yellow surfboard seemed only to be a speck in the dark vast ocean. The mother’s horrified crying didn’t stop even when older men who were clearly wonderful swimmers, rushed to her side to offer his retrieval. She had only begun to describe him when a dark shadow began to roll out on the horizon in the waves. Again her screaming split through the beach and some of the sun bathing tourists stood up to have a better look at the commotion.

  Even Ace stood up as Ithaca joined him to get a closer inspection at her work. Against the horizon a wave was beginning to form. Ithaca smiled as she commanded the boy to flip around on his board and paddle to shore. She seemed to be the only one smiling as the entire beach watched a wall of water grow from behind the small little boy. Other woman in the crowd gasped as they saw the imminent danger this child had just put himself into. Already, built surfer boys had begun hurrying out to him. By now the wave had lifted him up to the crest. But just before the wave crashed, the boy pushed himself to standing on the board. Everyone on the beach seemed to hold their breath as the boy seemed to be swallowed up by the falling water. Then in the next instant, he was gliding down the smooth surface created by the crashing wave. With his knees bent, and his arms outstretched, the boy looked like a professional. He seemed to be leaving a trail of white water as he swerved in the pattern of a snake against the flawless rising water.

  Instantly, the entire beach roared in applause. The men that had offered to retrieve the boy, sat still as they watched him whip the board around just as he was about to be swept over the wave. The boy did this again, and again, the stampede of falling water pushing him to the side of the shoreline. By the time he had reached the shallower part of the beach, he had hopped off his board and began swimming back to shore. Crowds of complete strangers that had watched the whole thing hurried to congratulate him. For a moment Ithaca had turned him into a super star surrounded by paparazzi and they all worked together in bringing the boy back to his mother.

  As the crowds died off, the mother was marching her son back up to where they had set up on the beach. “… It was like something took control of me I swear!” he was exclaiming as they walked past Ace and Ithaca still standing up on the sand.

  “I don’t care what you say.” the mother huffed, “You are never doing that again and that is final!”

  The last of their conversation drowned out as Ithaca turned around back to Ace. “What do you think?” she asked as one eyebrow rose in curiosity.

  Bafflement loomed on Ace’s face as he stared at her.

  “Oh, enough with the staring!” she exclaimed. “Fine, even if you don’t think it’s cool, I love my third ability. I can make anyone do anything they can’t do alone. I can make them think anything, feel anything; I can even make them see what I want them to see, and that one comes in handy.”

  “You almost killed that boy.” Ace finally said as if he hadn’t heard a word from her.

  “Please,” scoffed Ithaca, “I’m a great surfer. Do you really think I would make someone do something I can’t do? Especially with an innocent child?”

  “You can surf?” Ace asked.

  Ithaca continued to smile, “Yeah, well I’m no professional, but I’m not bad. Being an ultra helps with the normal human things.”

  “So can I do that?” Ace asked eagerly.

  “Surf? Well I didn’t bring a board…”

  “No, mind control- persuasion, whatever that is.” Said Ace, “You said intangibility is my base and teleportation branches from that. So what’s the next step? Mind control?”

  Ithaca studied him in the sunlight. The climbing morning sun sent the shadows from his hair into his eyes making the top part of his iris darker than the bottom. “Sit back down.” She said laying on the sand once more. “There is more to being an ultra than you know.” She began. “But let me save that topic for another occasion. Mason, now that you know who I am, don’t you want to know who you are?”

  “Yes!” he exclaimed rolling on his side beside her. He didn’t even have to think twice.

  Ithaca continued to grin as she took off her hat and laid the sunglasses beside it. “Well you know your name is Mason. Have you figured out your last name yet?”

  Honestly Ace never even thought about that. He had been too busy wondering what he was opposed to who.

  “I’ll give you a hint.” Began Ithaca noting his silence, “You hale from a huge corporate family just like the Stelters.”

  Then it hit him like a train. “Diachi!” he exclaimed before going into utter confusion. “I’m a Diachi?”
/>   Ithaca nodded.

  Ace cocked his head to the side. Lee was a Stelter and he was a Diachi, which seemed to make sense. How could he have not seen it all along? “Cool…” muttered Ace half dazed. As his voice trailed, so did his focus and he was once more gazing out at the ocean full of surfers.

  “Does someone need a back story?” asked Ithaca sitting up only to tie her long hair in a bun behind her head.

  Ace sat up along with her and brushed some of the sand from his elbow as he nodded. “I want to know everything.”

  Ithaca frowned, “Everything?”

  Ace nodded, “From the very beginning. Who are my parents? What about this fire? What happened to DiAchi Tech? Do I have siblings-?”

  “Whoa, whoa, whoa, slow your roll fussy-pants.” Insisted Ithaca, “I was planning on telling you everything, but just know it’s going to be a long story… and you might not like the outcome.” The grave way she spoke the last several words not only put a frown on her face, but put a frown on Ace’s. For a moment he considered telling Ithaca not to tell him. Maybe not knowing was better. What if the life he had now was plenty happy and Ithaca was about to dive into a dark deep secret?

  “Are you ready?” she asked.

  Ace swallowed, “Yeah, tell me everything.”

  Ithaca nodded and with a quick breath began speaking about the past Ace had never known. “It was roughly 1835 in America. This was America during that whole ‘wild, wild west’ phase so I imagine there are railroads, cowboys and Indians, and lots of dirt and tumbleweeds-”

  “Wait,” Ace butted in, “You’re joking right? It’s like hundreds of years ago and this is the beginning?”

  Ithaca made a thoughtful face though she didn’t have to think about it, “Uh, yeah. Just hear me out alright. So it’s 1835 in America and our story starts in New Orleans Louisiana and young Derik Diareux hears about adventure in the west. Oh, by the way Mace you’re ancestors are French.”