Awakening

As the sun rose above the horizon, signs of life and activity started to appear on the Small Meadow family house. Then came the morning bell.

"Children, it's time to wake up." exclaimed the mother of the house, charged with taking care of the 40 kids residing within the abode. The first person to wake was a small boy, at most 6 years old, running down the stairs for breakfast.

"XO87324, before you have breakfast, will you please wake up SPX82?"

"But mother, he never listens to me! You know how emotionless and mean he is. He never plays with anyone else!"

"Dear, that's because he is... special. Go wake him up."The little boy grudgingly walked up the stairs. He approached a golden door adorned with beautiful jewels, from diamonds to rubies.

"Why does he get such a nice room while the rest of us have to get cramped together?" the little boy grumbled quietly and knocked.

"Hello? Are you there?" There was dead silence.

"Mom wants us to go downstairs to eat breakfast! Can you please come out?" Again, no response. What is this idiot doing? The boy thought SPX82 was going through another one of his phases where he shuts everyone else out. The boy sighed deeply; this kid was almost 10 years older than him and was still this immature?

"Okay, if you're not coming out, I'll force you out!" The boy tried to open the door, but it was locked shut.

"Mother, SPX84 locked his door again!"

"What?" the mother exclaimed and rushed up the stairs immediately. The headquarters clearly instructed her to keep an eye on the unique child at all times, and so every time the child locked himself in caused endless worries for her. She tried to calm herself down as the child had done this many times before, but she still always had the premonition that something would go wrong. Quickly, she unlocked the door.

There was no one there.

In fact, the child had left the house 10 hours ago and was currently miles away.

--------------------------------------------------------

Eve wouldn't stop running. Nothing could stop his legs from running forward, and he repeated the cycle of gasping for air and moving his legs. He had finally escaped that hellhole, the place that had trapped him for so long. He couldn't stop grinning at the realization of his future ahead of him.

Eve was a smart kid, and it didn't take long for him to realize that he was just an object to his "dear" mother. He was always labeled as a unique child but had no idea why. For the first eight years of his life, he was isolated from everyone else in a colorful room filled with toys and dolls. Occasionally, women would come into his room, bring him food, change his diapers, and care for him. Every day, there was a new face, and he couldn't escape from this prison. After he turned 8, he was brought to the Small Meadow house, where he met kids his age, but he could never interact with any of them. They actively avoided Eve, and he was always a social outcast. The only thing to keep him company was the plethora of books that described fantasies of worlds he could never imagine. He found comfort in these books and eventually found a particular story that resonated with him.

One book described the story of Adam and Eve, an ancient story about the first two human beings. Eve felt that he was trapped inside an endless paradise and wanted to leave the place desperately. So, he took the name of Eve, the girl who ate the forbidden fruit and was forever banished from the Garden of Eden.

When Eve was 12, he overheard a conversation his mother had with a "keeper," the special nurses of the Sanctuary that were tasked with looking after special children. They mentioned how since Eve was exceptional, they would delay his "Selection" by a couple of years to grow his talent.

To Eve, the "Selection" was the forbidden fruit, his opportunity to leave the Sanctuary. Every year, millions of children who turn 15 are expelled from the Sanctuary, the floating continent in the air, to the underworld, the main landmass of the planet. Everything was possible in the underworld, and Eve wanted so desperately to explore the world.

After a few more hours of running, Eve arrived at Stellar City.