When a human is born, what is the first thing they do?

They cry uncontrollably. But they usually calm down, not by their own will though. They need reassurance, a soothing feeling. Then their bodies begin to move but unintentionally. They then go about their new age life running on autopilot until suddenly, their consciousness wakes up.

All those things happen to share a common factor that is missing though.

What is that factor…Control.

They don't have complete control of their bodies, their emotions, or their thoughts, they just react.

But Mark was special.

When he was born, he cried like every other baby but when his eyes saw his mother, he calmed himself down and reached for her. Doctors and nurses of course thought of it as just a cute moment but it didn’t stop there.

Mark at an infant age would actively point to what he wants or what would bother him. If he was hungry he would point to stomach, when he was tired he would point to his bed.

It only took a year for his parents to notice the boy's exceptional mental growth rate and after consulting professionals they figured out he had already unlocked his consciousness.

When Mark was one he was already able to maintain balance as he ran at full sprint on first try. By three, he was reading at a first-grade level, astonishing his parents and tutors alike. At five, he accomplished something no one in his family had ever done at such a young age, he conjured his first spell as a mage.

He was the youngest in his family’s history to achieve such a feat.

But then, his rapid growth began to slow. By the time he reached fourth grade, his classmates had started to catch up to him in both academics and skills. And by the time he entered middle school, everything began to unravel.

He managed to keep his grades in a respectable spot, but his skills—while impressive compared to the average person—were quickly overshadowed by his classmates, many of whom were also born with powers.

As he grew older, the gap only widened. His peers began mastering advanced techniques and excelling in their studies, while Mark struggled to keep pace. The brilliance that had once set him apart were now buried under the weight of unmet expectations.

Even though things were hanging low for Mark, there was one thing that never changed for him.

Ants.

As a child, Mark had always been fascinated by ants. He loved to watch the ants on the ant hills he found outside, watching them closely as they scurried about. But he didn’t just observe them, he controlled them in a way. He dictated their paths, decided what food they would pick up, and subtlety bend their world to his will.

Sometimes, he would orchestrate “wars” between ant colonies, pitting one against another just to see what would happen. And if they dared to attack him, he would “punish” them.

Destroying their mounds, flooding their tunnels, or burning their nests.

Yet, there were some colonies that never harmed him, even when he plunged his hand directly into their hills. Those ants never once bit him.

Through these experiments, Mark began to understand the feeling of control.

The feeling was intoxicating, a small taste of power in a world where his own abilities were starting to pale in comparison to others.

Control was what made him feel powerful, but he knew, in the end, they were nothing more than just ants. Controlling them was fun at first, but it didn’t help him grow. To him, they were nothing but toys. But what did the ants see him as? A giant? A monster? No, he believed, they saw him as a God.

And to Mark, there was one thing above all that defined a God. It was Control.

To Mark, control wasn’t just about ruling others though. It was about controlling one's own reality. It was the ability to shape your path, to decide who or what you would become and he hated that he couldn’t do that.

He hated how his peers surpassed him. He despised his inability to master the advanced skills. He loathed his own inadequacy, the feeling that something was holding him back from becoming more, but why did these things anger him so? At first, he thought it was jealousy, but that felt too petty. Then, he thought it was basic human competitiveness, but that too felt pathetic. What was it really?

It was the fact he had no control.

He hated that he had lost control over his own development as time seemed to slip away from him. It made him sick. His anger over his lack of control grew, and he could feel it—not just as the boy he once was, but as the young man who was watching all these memories unfold.

He watched as his younger self grew in size but not in power. It was a painful sight, a miserable show. He didn’t want to watch anymore. He tried to turn away, but something compelled him to keep watching. He couldn't look away from the boy he used to be.

The boy stood in front of him, his back turned. Mark didn’t say a word, simply watching. Then, the boy slowly turned his head to meet Mark's gaze. The sudden eye contact caught Mark off guard for a moment, but he didn’t look away. They just stared at each other.

This story has been stolen from Royal Road. If you read it on Amazon, please report it

The boy’s mouth moved, but no sound came out.

“...What?” Mark asked.

The boy’s lips moved again, as if he were trying to speak louder, but still, no words could be heard.

“...I can’t hear you.”

The boy turned fully around, and in an instant, Mark sunk into the ground, meeting the boy at eye level. Before Mark could react, the boy grabbed his face. With a scream that seemed to shake Mark to his core…

“TAKE! BACK! CONTROL!!!”

Mark suddenly woke up back in the garden, his body and head still woozy from the dangerous fumes. He shook his head trying to come to his senses but it proved difficult. He knew there was no time to waste though. He struggled up to his feet and grabbed both Ray and Aveys arm and started to slowly drag them back the way they came. It wouldn’t be an issue dragging Avey but Ray's large build was giving him the most trouble.

“Ugh Ray…you owe me big time… for not leaving your heavy ass here…”

He was beginning to lose strength as he dragged them and his eyes were growing heavy. His legs were shaking and he was beginning to lose his grip. He shook his head as hard as he could to keep himself awake but it was not helping.

“C’mon Mark…Just…keep…walking…”

The garden began to grow darker… and darker…and darker…

“MARK!!!”

Suddenly a vicious slap came across Mark's face, which woke him back up. His eyes snapped open. He turned to look at what slapped him and he saw Vincent standing in front of him.

“...Vincent?”

“Hey I need you to stay awake and focus on moving! Give me the caveman and follow me! You better keep up!” He ordered.

He took Ray from Mark and threw him over his shoulder. He started to jog in front of Mark.

“C’mon, you’re gonna drop again if you just stay there!”

Mark shook his head one last time and picked up Avey with both his arms now. He followed behind Vincent as best as he could.

Mark and Vincent managed to make their way out of the garden by getting out the same way they got in. Ray and Avey were sitting up on a wall still sleeping. Mark was crouching in front of them.

“How you feeling?” Vincent asked

“I’m starting to come around. I can feel my strength coming back a little bit.”

Mark turned to Avey who was sitting next to him. He tried gently shaking her awake but it wasn’t working. He slapped Ray as hard as he could but that also proved useless. He tried again for good measure but still nothing. Mark sighed out of concern for them.

“Don’t worry,” Vincent said, “Y'all didn’t stay in there long enough for it to have the severe side effect to take effect. They should just wake up by the morning.”

Mark froze. Slowly, he turned to Vincent with a sharp look in his eye. He shot up to his feet and closed the distance between them, getting in his face. His expression was angry and dark.

“...How the hell do you know about the “side effects”?”

Vincent didn’t say a word. Mark grew even more furious with his sudden silence.

“You knew what the hell was going on, didn't you?!” Mark screamed, “Spill it! Who the hell-”

Before Mark could get another word out, Vincent slapped his hand over Mark's mouth, cutting him off.

Vincent returned the sharp look Mark gave him by giving him an even more colder look.

“You need to lower your fucking volume. We are still trespassing on these Jackasses territory.” He said low and coldly.

Mark tried to remove his hand from his mouth but was shocked when he noticed how difficult it was because of his strength. No matter how much he tried it wouldn’t budge. After a few seconds, Mark forced himself to calm down and only then did Vincent remove his hand.

“The only reason I know about the side effects is because I know it came from a flower in the garden.”

Vincent dug into his pocket and pulled out a flower with white petals that had a hint of purple towards the end of the tips. Mark had never seen that flower before.

“This is a unicorn flower. These are rare flowers native only in the amazon. They start out as purple and people mistake them as alpine betony flowers.”

He paused to point at the faint purple tip on the flower.

“But when they start to lose their purple, that's when they start to release an aroma that can act as a high potent knock out gas. The process can last for days and if you’re unlucky enough to drop while still being in range of its aroma, the side effects will begin to take effect.”

Mark's eyebrows furrowed as he looked at the flower.

“How and why was that flower in the garden?”

“Best guest is someone planted the seeds in the garden.” Vincent puts the flower back in his pocket as he continues. “As soon as you cut the flower from the stem the flower dies and no smell comes out, so someone has been taking care of these flowers for a while.”

Everything Vincent was saying made sense to Mark. Though it left a rather uneasy feeling.

“I guess that's probably why the Monarchs condemned this place.” Mark suggested.

“Highly doubt that.” Vincent said, shaking his head.

“What?”

“Those asshats probably knew about the flower. They got way too many people on their payroll for them not to have someone who can figure that out.”

Mark's thoughts began to race again. First the map this morning, now Vincent is accusing them of negligence.

“Why would they just leave it though, it doesn’t make sense.”

Vincent shrugged his shoulders, “Probably in cahoots with the cult, but that's a mystery for another day.”

Without waiting for a response, Vincent turned and began to walk away from the group. Mark stared at him, baffled as he was walking.

“Hey, where are you going? You can’t just accuse something like that and walk off.”

“Trust me, I would love to stay and figure this out with you but I’ve already got other stuff to do and this seems like a hell of a headache to figure out. See ya.”

All Mark did was just watch as he was leaving. He couldn’t blame him though, this day was a mess from beginning to end and he was also really tired. All he wanted to do was take Avey and Ray back to the dorms and rest.

He started to turn to Ray and Avey but suddenly remembered their earlier conversation.

“Hey!” Mark screamed out, trying not to be too loud.

Vincent stopped and turned around to see what he wanted. Mark's eyes were filled with conviction and Vincent could feel it even from afar.

“Earlier you were talking as if you knew what it took to be a God.”

Vincent's eyes narrowed as he listened to Mark. His face became unreadable again.

“Finish what you were finna say earlier, when it comes to being a God, what does it all come down to?” Mark asked with his fist clenched.

Vincent didn’t say a word, the boys simply just stared at each other in silence. Eventually, Vincent sighed to break tension.

“I’ll tell you tomorrow.” He answered flatly as he turned back around.

“What? Tomorrow? Why tomorrow? Hold up, what makes you think we’ll be meeting tomorrow?”

“Don’t worry. We’ll see each other.”

As he was walking away he turned his head back to Mark to flash a sly grin.

“You're going to the showcasing right?”

“Showcasing?”

Mark thought to himself and suddenly remembered about the showcasing that was happening tomorrow. Before he could reply back to Vincent, he was already gone as if he vanished into thin air.

Mark was surprised how quickly he disappeared but didn’t think much of it. He rubbed his eyes in exhaustion from the long day he had. He turned around to his unconscious companions, carefully hoisting Avey over his shoulder and not so carefully grabbing Ray by the back of his shirt collar and began his walk to the academy dorms.