Life never goes according to plan. I always wanted to be a hero; Something you'd see in those cartoons as a kid. Though I doubt I'd ever become like the heroes. The world would reject me if they knew what I really was... Demonic. When I was young, my life changed for the worse.
All my senses were attacked, my vision distorted, my ears bleeding... Gaia, why did this have to happen? My mind is blanking out. All my cognitive feelings are being drained by every breath I take. Every step I make. Every sound I hear. Collapsing from everything that's transpired is imminent and soon... I gave up. What happened after that was unknown to me. I had to be told what transpired next by a close friend.
The last few moments before my consciousness blanked out were spent on how cold I was. The sharp daggers of rain hit all the injured areas; at least it washed away all the blood on me. After a major confrontation earlier, I thought about my parents and how they were doing. Maybe this is my punishment. I've angered the gods somehow. Perhaps my birth did something for that.
Sorry, you all must be confused about what's happening. So let me take you back to the beginning of that day.
It was a partially cloudy day on the outskirts of the New Boston area. Humlide Inizio was a tiny town with about 150 residents. This was mainly human territory. Not many demi-humans dwell around this area, but that doesn't mean we don't have any here. The town wasn't as technologically advanced as the city, but we still had simple, convenient tech like phones. Humlide Inizio was pretty medieval...mostly.
Remembering the date, it was a couple of years back. The day was August 25th, 2135. I was eleven years old. It was early morning. I was getting ready for the first day of middle school. I had to wear a flimsy plastic tag on my uniform. The label had my name encrusted in it: Daniel Reyes.′ Before leaving, I said my goodbyes to my parents and took my usual scenic route. Along the way, I greeted neighbors and such.
It was common courtesy for students to greet neighbors as they headed to school. The board says it is to discipline and shape students into good public servants. It seemed like a load of crap to me. Upon seeing me greet them, the neighbors hesitated before either returning the gesture or pretending not to hear me. My parents haven't spoken to me about why, but I knew, and I think they understand that I knew, too.
When I was born, it was determined that I had only one element—the source of my superhuman power. Elements are given abilities at birth based on the table of elements. Some elements can shape a person, turning them into demi-humans. Having one element is relatively standard, and mine was the most common of them all. I had the element of fire. However, something entirely unexpected happened. An event that completely turned my life over. Five years later, an eye appeared on both my palms. I was also cursed with the elements of Dark and Demon. I now had three elements.
This was an extremely scarce situation. It's said that only five out of twenty-five kids are born with two elements. That ratio doubles to five out of fifty when a kid is born with three elements. Finally, there's only a one-in-a-hundred chance that a kid is born with four elements. In my situation, things are different. I wasn't born with three elements. There was only one element of fire. How did I suddenly gain two other elements? And why were the elements chosen, two sinister ones usually given to the hands of demon-folk and monsters? Those answers remain unsolved to this day. I could only ponder... but I'm getting off track here, so let's continue.
Because of this event, people started to treat me differently. I vaguely remember people greeting me with wholehearted smiles and hugging me. Now, I'd be lucky if I even got to see their eyes lock with mine and give me a friendly gesture. I tried not to let it bother me too much because I get bummed out a lot when I start thinking about it. Befofe I was cursed, I used to be an outgoing kid. Now, I've become more of those quiet kids you'd see in the back of the classroom; Staring at the outside world behind the windows, pretending to be like some mysterious cliche main protagonist you see in those Saturday morning cartoons.
I became the last person you'd want to approach. Not all was lost, though. I still had two friends. These were my only two friends in my eleven years of living. Their names were Cynthia and Adrien. Both were initially skeptical of me, but Cynthia opened up to me more quickly than Adrien. I never knew what that girl was thinking. Even when I felt I was saying the right things to please her, she hit me on the head. Adrien was calm and collected, while she was more bombastic but still kept her head.
I was undoubtedly the wilder type around them. Walking around the corner, I neared the local playground two minutes from the school. I noticed four kids. Three were around my age, maybe a year or so older, picking on a much younger kid. The one in the middle picked on the girl while the others laughed. The kid in the middle was quite large for his age, and the rest were reasonably skinny. All of them wore their school uniforms. The little girl has blonde twin-tailed hair and a cute blue dress with dandelions. She once wore a lovely white dress and loafers, but now she is dirty and soiled from all the jumping and trashing. She tried to grab her stuffed bear from the bullies who had captured the poor toy. "Pwease stop! Give it back!"
The young girl whimpered as she tried to jump and grab a stuffed animal that the three bullies hoisted over their heads, taking turns with it. Not a chance! One of the boys retorts after throwing it in the air and catching it just as the little girl barely touches it. The other two laugh while waiting their turn to do the same. The young girl began to shed tears as she dropped to the ground. The girl seemed determined to grab her beloved stuffed animal, but lost her will after attempting so many times.
Typically, in situations like this, I do nothing about it. Like, who cares if I help? Nobody would care if I were in trouble and would support me. My thoughts stayed the same till I looked once more at the child. She was in dire need of help. Then I thought about how I would love it if someone came to my rescue. How happy I would be. My mind was made up after that. I began to approach the scene.
"Hey! Knock it off and give her stuffed animal back!"I yelled as I went into my hero stance and pointed at the group of bullies.
"Hey... It's that Danny kid."
"Only my friends can call me 'Danny.'"
"Whatever, loser. We can do what we want!"
"Yeah! We're older than you, so get out of here if you know what's good for you!"
The kids all held a front. The little girl behind them looks at me, terrified. She had most likely been told about me and my situation. Probably to never stay close to me and run away. I glanced at her, which caused her to flinch and look away from me. I only gave her a light smile and looked back at the bullies. "You'll give her the teddy bear and leave her alone. I'm not asking again."I flare my flames. The dark purple flames emerge from my arm and dissipate just as fast. The scare tactic worked, and the three stepped back, a single bead of sweat sliding down their faces.
They, unfortunately, quickly reassure themselves as they flare their powers. Your tactics won't work on us, devil! One of them shouts as they raise their right arm and swing to their right. I smirked as I got ready to go into a fighting stance. I bring my left foot and right arm out and lean forward. They prepare for battle with poses of their own. For a moment, it felt like the world paused. Something inside me began to ignite. As I saw one of them throw the stuffed bear into the air, I lunged forward and prepared a big wallop for the big guy in front. Urk! The big fellow yelped as he took a big haymaker from yours truly. The other two tried to pincer me.
You won't get away from this! Said the boy on my left as he lunged toward me, trying to pin me to the ground. I quickly avoided him and helped him reach the ground faster. I shoved him down by the top of his head, using my flames to boost my inertia. Yowch! Yells the boy who fell to the ground. The kid on my right went for a leg kick using his speed from his element. Due to how fast he was, I couldn't break away and connected his foot with my face. The rate pulled most of the weight of that attack and sent me reeling back.
The guy in front went on the offensive and used his earth element to create a stone pillar that hit me below my chin. That caused me to yelp in pain and stagger. The boy who gobbled dirt got up and used his sludge ability to throw it at my feet, which slowed my movements. I was in a tight spot, but I'd sooner be in an even tighter one. I sent a firebolt towards the stooges. I missed it. That's when I felt my hand begin to sting. It was happening again. The edges of my eyes started to darken like a vignette. My breathing was rapidly increasing as I tried to cover my face. I had an uncontrollable desire to bathe in blood. The boys noticed this and quickly began to panic. So, too, did the little girl.
My primary concern was figuring out how to stop myself from 'raging,' so to speak. This increased my problem, which, in turn, increased my desire to rage. Calm down, Danny. I repeated to myself as I tried to hold everything in. It's excruciating. Feeling I would turn soon, I began to cave in till I heard the voice I knew well. This voice would be one of my most lavish comforts and greatest regrets.
"Stop huwting him-!"
"Leave him alone!"
One came from the young girl in front of me. The other came from behind. I turned to see it was my childhood friend, Cynthia, and behind her was my other long-term friend, Adrien. I felt relieved to see them. So much so that I slowly began to calm down and eventually lose my rage. I took a good, long look at both of them. Cynthia wore a stylish maroon-and-purple rope braid with a large bob on the right side and her sailor uniform to school. Adrien had a medium brown fade hairstyle and wore his school uniform.
She took one good look at me and saw how beat up I was. I knew I was in trouble, and so were these guys. Their faces turned pale as they saw Cynthia, and they all stopped attacking me and stepped back. "Uhh... Cynthia! We thought you were away on vacation...!?"The big kid blurted out as he took steps back, and she took steps forward. Adrien stayed back, only folding his hands, and sighed.
"Yeah, I came back. Ya know...? School?" Cynthia deadpanned as she also folded her arms.
The whole situation became tense. The young girl was looking back at the bullies, looking at Cynthia, then looking back at me. She repeated this a couple of times throughout the tense showdown. Cynthia looked at me and clicked her tongue several times to show disapproval. It did work on me, though. I tried to hide my sadness and smiled awkwardly at her. "Can you help me out here...? Please...?"I pleaded as I was still stuck to the ground by the sludge the bully on the right threw. Cynthia looked at the bullies and gestured to the sludge to release the bind. The kid on the right nodded rapidly before letting go of the element. The sludge rapidly liquified, and I was able to move again.
I sighed in relief. I shook my feet to wake them up as they began to numb. After waking up at my feet, I looked at Cynthia. She clears her throat and then stops on the ground. The whole area turned dark instantly, encapsulating the bullies and me with her. Cynthia has a Super Rare element. That being Aura. The chances of getting a Rare element or higher are low. The chances of getting a rare element are 15 percent. That chance lessens to ten percent for Super Rare, four percent for Ultra Rare elements, and finally, one percent for Legendary elements—the other seventy percent factors from three other rarities. Uncommon is twenty-five percent, common is thirty-five percent, and the final ten percent is for people who don't get elements. Those people are called the Elementalless.
The bullies became severely frightened, and we were encased in this dark purple dome. I glanced at Cynthia, who was fuming but trying not to let it show. She seemed just irritated.
"We're sorry, okay, Cynthia!"
"Yeah! We were only messing around!"
"Only messing around, huh?"Cynthia was exasperated as she clenched her right fist. "I keep telling you boys to knock it off every time, and you lot continue to harass little kids..."Cynthia paused before beginning again. "This time, I'll make sure this is your last..."
All three bullies yelped as they tried to run away. They all use their elements to try to break the aura that is imprisoning them. However, Cynthia thought she understood her element well and had previously reinforced her barrier. They were no match for her seemingly indestructible aura. "Please! NO!"They yelled in terror before Cynthia gave them all a good thrashing. It only took mere minutes before all the boys were unconscious. She turned off her aura, and the barrier rapidly dissipated.