Waking(2)

The Evolution.

An event that changed the course of the planet's history.

A massive shockwave of energy passed through the solar system. This shockwave, called The Cosmic Radiance, brought massive changes to our planet. Every creature felt something change inside them, suddenly, humans weren't the only creatures capable of complex thinking. This period was termed The Evolution.

Animals gained sentience along with changes to their physical states. Bigger claws, bigger teeth, stronger bodies. The animal kingdom and its food chain was now completely flipped on its head. All of a sudden the deer weren't the prey, the lions were.

The sea took a turn for the worse however, with sea creatures being incredibly powerful and highly agressive. The seas could not be traversed by anyone, they were their own rulers.

Air travel however was still relatively safe, due to avian creatures being relatively friendly and peaceful.

But that was the least of humanity's worries. With the waking, followed an intense power struggle. Those with powers believed themselves as chosen holy ones and took it upon themselves to either kill or lead the rest. A new religion was established around the Evolution. And like many times prior, the world erupted in war. Humanity, itself being no exception to its list of enemies.

But as time went on, the truly strong emerged. They all led their own factions, with their own goals and took control of parts of the world.

I lived in the Filliurge Empire. Founded by Ray Everfield. The Cataclysm.

His family rules now. It had been a couple decades since his passing.

People of the same bloodline often received the same type of power, usually with minor dissimilarities. 

No one would try to overthrow the Everfield. Fear of the Cataclysm's power kept them at bay.

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Powers. Everyone recieved them. Weak or strong, everyone had access to powers, but the age at which they awakend them made all the difference. The age at which you woke, signified your talent.

And I could be considered extremely talented, but being a Physical invalidates the talent entirely.

We gathered the children to the courtyard behind the orphanage, joining the waking did not just make you powerful, it just made it so you could eventually become powerful.

We needed practice, we needed to grow into our powers.

We would get stronger as we age naturally but training hastened the process.

"J watch Gen train for a while and then try to control your wings", I say as I point to Gen.

I then pulled the only other Physical in the orphanage with me. Stark was seven. He had to get used to the instant changes in his body as he used his powers. Underestimating the increase in power hurt.

"Just do what I do okay?"

I do some light stretching and then start doing sets of exercise.

Mama Kemp told me that a Physical needed to do 'workouts' and keep their bodies in top condition. These would also help us grow into our bodies.

This however did not stop me getting bouts of headache. Physicals would think faster. The mind also underwent development alongside the body.

Stark followed my training. Though I am sure he didn't know why he needed to.

He did not talk much. Didn't cry much either. I felt like he just accepted everything coming his way and didn't question anything at all. He was excited however.

I envied his situation. I wanted to be as carefree as him.

I look toward James and the three children with him. 

Barrier.

That's what James's power was.

He created barriers between things. Its pretty strong as well. The only time it broke was when it faced Mama's ladle.

However, I couldn't see anything stopping that ladle.

It did not hurt much, but it always found you. There was no escape from that. It did not miss. 

IT WOULD HIT.

James practiced deploying the barrier. He had gotten a lot faster than before. We did try to be creative with tha barrier though. It didn't need to be connected to him and he could just put it up close to him. It also moved with him if he wanted it to. We found out that he could create multiple small barriers and create makeshift stairs. He could also ride the barrier around if he wanted to, though he would be considerably less tired if he just walked the distance. He would just get better as he got older.

His ability was useful. I could see it being indispensible in a lot of situations and it being a defensive tool on of that was just the icing on the cake.

He could just put a barrier under me, lift it high and just remove it.

High enough.... and the fall would kill me.

My powers could do nothing there and even if I somehow lived, he can't be touched.

The three kids with him also had similar powers.

One could raise the ground high. The height incresed as the amount of ground she lifted decreased. I could see that being useful in a lot of situations.

One could make the ground around him slippery. Again useful in both fights and practical situations.

And arguably the best among us, Shen. He could manipulate heat. He made things hot and better than that, he made things cold. If he pushed himself he could make water turn to ice.

Central has already noticed him. He would leave in a year, on his tenth birthday. Ten years since he arrived at the orphanage. He would grow up to be the most influential person from the orphanage after receiving training from the masters in the central cities.

The most I see myself becoming is a labourer. I could become a scientist, if I managed to put everything into learning but that would still be very difficult. No scientist came from Filliurge. Melica was the nation of science and technology, they had every kind of book there. Our orphange couldn't compare to that.

Being Materialization types made the lives of these four easy. Mats were accepted everywhere for their flexibility.

I look toward the Mods. Modification type powers were useful but they had the potential to be worse than a Physical.

Jeana's crystal wings let her fly. Flight was great. They also looked sturdy, and could be used as a defense tool. It might have other abilities to it. 

Mods usually had sub-abilities. Side effects to their main ability. Fang or stinger type Mods could possibly have poison as a sub-ability.

Ignoring any other power, her wings were beautiful. She could end up as an entertainer.

The other Mod was someone that left me confused. He had a tail. I had not seen it do anything special. I hoped it would change though, it needed to have a useful side-effect.

I did not want him suffering the same way as me.

Now, Gen was an anomaly. He was the most powerful type of Mod. His power affected his entire body.

Full body Mods were rare. And Gen belonged to a rarer group among them.

"Chimera", Mama called him.

The books said chimeras were an amalgam of creatures. A random mix of different animals.

Gen should have had it good.

But he couldn't control a full transformation.

An arm was the most he could transform. Anymore and he would be needed to be put to sleep. Mama could do that. I did not understand how. But she could.

After training, the three of us shared the spoils of our earlier expedition with the others. Reminding them to not let it slip to Mama. Everyone happily agreed. We stuck together. No one would intentionally tell Mama anyway, the fruits and sweets were too enticing.

Then came playtime. All the kids ran about. I kept training. Stark remained watching. He'd been doing that for a week now. 

Watching.

Observing.

I did not mind it. We were in the same boat after all.

As the night fell, we all walked back into the orphanage for our daily roll call. Those who weren't left here as babies often wanted to run away. 

Some of them managed to run away.

They did not make it far.

The creatures in the wild would get them.

Even if they survived them, they couldn't truly escape.

They still had to face the sun.

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I walked up the stairs carrying Spiel.

James and Gen were too busy reading the others story books.

Everyone was excited.

Mama had told us that we would have visitors in a week.

No one came to the orphanage for a tour.

Visitors came for the children.

Some of us would get adopted.

On the other hand, none of us might catch their fancy.

A warm home and family was something I wanted deperately. I forcefully tried to crub that excitement. I was a Waking, yes, but I was a Physical. There was no way I could get picked. They probably would come for Jeana. Her Waking would have caught some Mod's family. Even if they took multiple children, it would probably be from the Mods.

I had to accept the eventual dissapointment.

Sitting in my usual spot on the terrace, I stare at the moon this time.

It didn't hurt my eyes. It was cooling.

Spiel sat on my lap cooing and playing with my clothes.

I liked Spiel.

He looked like me.

We had matching black hair and brown eyes.

Spiel could barely crawl and he cried a lot. I still loved him. I could tell that he loved me too. He gripped my clothes too hard to prove otherwise.

I heard footsteps behind me as I played with Spiel.

Turning around I found Stark watching me and Spiel. I pat the ground beside me, motioning him to sit. He gingerly sat next to me. We didn't speak to each other. The only sounds came from Spiel.

"Do you think I can get adopted?", Stark eked out. I turned to face him. He was excited too. No. He was hopeful. He wanted the same as me. And his hopes would probably be higher considering that he awakened between now and the previous adoption.

"Lets hope you do.", I chose not to crush his hopes. He would stay happier for longer this way.

He watched me stare at the moon and followed suit.

A few seconds later, I felt him lean against me.

I didn't mind it.

I had two brothers now.

One looked like me.

And the other had the same powers as me.

We stayed like that for a few hours till Spiel started crying.

Babies needed to eat many times a day and Spiel was quite vocal about it.

I left Speil with Mama and walked to my room. James and Gen had already fallen asleep. I slid into the bed without waking them up.

I closed my eyes and fell asleep.

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It was the same dream.

I feel myself in the darkness hounded by the noise.

Incessant chittering. Like a hundred insects in your ear. It hurt. I knew it was a dream. The books said if one realised they were in a dream, they would almost always wake up.

The sound did not fade away. 

Eventually, it would not hurt as much. It would barely matter. What came after was worse.

I flail around in the dark. I tried to find a wall or any structure. I had gone a different direction everytime. This time was no different.

The dream always ended the same way. As I felt the sound slowly fade into the back of my head, I looked up.

Then a white line cut through the darkness, arrving from the horizon far away.

The darkness was split in two. The light slowly increasing in intensity, slowly blinding me.

BANG

The loudest noise I had ever heard rang out.

Everything returned to darkness.