The Boy Who Burned the World-02

Chester took up his place as the old teacher's apprentice. Once he saw that the old man dealt in real power, power not tied to things or people that he could not control and power held wholly within himself, Chester threw himself into the work- and kept a sharp eye and a keen ear out for where this old man got this power. Chester soon found himself accompanying the old man, often under the guise of a grandson or nephew, to meeting with important people around town. As with the fiction and speculations so often spread, Chester did indeed find himself delving into a shadowy world of hidden connections and equally-hidden sources of power.

But what cemented Chester on this path was the first time that he participated in one of the rituals that his patron's association conducted on a regular--if infrequent--basis. His was not an important role, that time, but the combination of awe, desire, and ambition caught the attention of his patron's patron. This alien entity, a demon if you must, noticed Chester due to that combination of traits and--unknown to the old man--made contact with Chester one night in the boy's most recent foster home.

"Why do you come to me?"

"The others seek power for vain and petty reasons. They achieve vain and petty results. They do not have the burning ambition that you possess."

"I want it to burn. I want it all to burn."

"Prove it, my boy, and I will show you how."

In that night, Chester burned down that house and all of the people within it. Before the fires died down, he fled to his patron's home and burned it--and him--to ash. He then went to the school, broke in, and lit as many fires as he could in as many ways as he knew. As he paid attention in his science classes, that was a lot. By the last hour before dawn, his world was chaos and destruction as he then lit as many houses of his peers aflame as he could. Ambulances, fire trucks, police cruisers- all of them going all over the neighborhood, all working to put down the flames and rescue the people, and then encountering difficulties unexpected due to Chester being smarter than the average young arsonist that would tie them down and delay them further.

Chester watched from the top of a nearby hill. "I call upon you, oh Hidden Master. Are you satisfied by my demonstration?"

A heavy, dark presence settled about him that felt wrong and yet burned brightly. "I am very pleased, my boy."

Out of the ground arose an arch and within it shimmered a sickly-green energy. "Step through the portal, my boy, and embrace your true nature."

Chester did, without hesitation.