7 years later

“-Are you even listening, mister!”

I took my earphones out as the song I was listening to reached the chorus: “Of course I’m listening. I respect what you say as much as you respect me.”

The lady who was driving me to my next orphanage after chucking me out of the previous one choked on her rage, “We wouldn’t have had to have this conversation if you had just behaved yourself.”

“I’m insulted that after all this time, you don’t even know my name.” I replied with mock insult, “I’m a Tom, not a doorMATT.”

I wasn’t typically this antagonistic with people, but it's just too tempting when you get blamed for something out of your control, especially when this was likely the last time I had to interact with them.

She continued ignoring me, “Just because you lost people in the Black-”

I put my earphones back in and looked out the window. I watched the different buildings we passed by. I think she had done her research, as this particular hellhole seemed to be closer to the kingdom walls than most, which was slightly unusual as the orphanages were typically closer to the centre for relatively obvious reasons. I just needed to wait out the ride.

I mostly didn’t have too much of a gripe for the orphanages, as they were a necessary evil. What I did have a gripe with, however, was the people who were in them. They say hell is other people, and I’m sure this new one won’t be any different.

We pulled up at the new orphanage, same as the old. It was a rather large building with a weapons range, reasonably large windows, which I think I could fit through if need be, and only two floors. It seemed to be a somewhat new building, a normal design for the area, based on the other houses we passed on the way here. With it having been made from wood from the forest nearby, which likely wouldn’t be too difficult to hide in.

The outside of the building was a bland excuse of a garden with only some bushes, a couple windows on the ground floor which looked easy enough to escape through, if need be, and next to the door, there was a dent where it looked almost as if someone had been launched into the wall, with there being a dip in the ground leading up to the dent. To me, it looked like an easy fix, but clearly, there were more important things to spend the budget on than fixing the aesthetics. It at least had some maintenance funding, considering the wood didn't have anything growing on it yet, so it was less run down than the last one.

I climbed out of the car, and they drove off as soon as I closed the door; it was nice to know they liked me enough to walk me to the door. Luckily for me, I had my stuff with me from the back already. I dragged my things to the rather fancy metal and glass door, which was in contrast to the front garden, which was even more boring up close. I could hear a dog barking when I rang the bell. A fairly pretty woman answered the door, restraining the dog by its collar as it tried to escape. Her eyes were storm grey, and she looked about twenty-five.

“Ah, you must be Thomas, come in, come in, before Drei escapes.” She ushered me in and closed the door while keeping the dog inside. “My name is Miss Rose, and I’m the one who's looking after you lot. But before I can let you settle into your room, just yet, which is up the stairs on the left in case I forget, there are a few things we need to get out of the way. As I’m sure you’re aware.”

I rolled my eyes involuntarily as I knew where this was going. Just like every other orphanage before, I just need to go through the formalities before I’m inevitably moved to another for no real reason.

Miss Rose took me to what I imagine was the dining room after leaving my stuff by the door for the moment and asked me to take a seat, and I complied.

“Let’s talk about why Miss Take thought it was best for you to come here rather than stay under her care.”

I definitely know where this was going.

“What’s there to talk about,” I replied nonchalantly. “I’m sure it was just a Miss Take.”

“I’m sure she loved that joke.” Miss Rose mumbled under her breath. “The main thing I’m talking about is how you broke someone’s hand. And, how you somehow put chewing gum into that same someone’s shoes, despite them being inside his locked room.”

“First of all, dodging out of the way of a punch so they hit the wall instead of my face should not count as ‘breaking someone’s hand’.” I replied, generally annoyed that of all the things to get in trouble for, the main thing was something that just wasn’t actually my fault; I’d blame favouritism, “Second of all, the door was locked as you said; maybe he put the gum in his own shoe? Maybe as karmic justice, it just accidentally fell in there?”

After a look that said she clearly didn’t believe me, she sighed and continued, “Karmic justice, huh? Why would accidentally getting gum in his shoes be ‘karmic justice’?”

“Well, he did steal my money.”

“And let me guess, you stole it back?”

I grinned, “How could I? The door was locked.”

“Ok, let's leave that then, I hope you don’t have to resort to petty revenge while you are here. Most people here are a bit older and keep to themselves.” Her eyes looked back at me with a hint of sadness. “There was another part that I need to cover about your mother.”

This narrative has been unlawfully taken from Royal Road. If you see it on Amazon, please report it.

My face felt warm, my face fell flat, and my eyes started to sting. “What about her? She was just one of the unlucky ones during the Blackout.”

“I just wanted to let you know that I am here if you need to talk about it. I've had a few of the kids whose parents died that day.”

“She was a Mythic; she shouldn’t have died in a car crash. If I didn’t exist, then she probably would have been fine actually fighting the Shades rather than ferrying me to safety. Then someone had the audacity to save me instead of her, the useless kid who can’t even get into a weapons school.”

Miss Rose looked at me sternly in the eyes as I tried to avoid hers, “Thomas, it wasn’t your fault; it wasn’t anyone’s fault. The Blackout was unprecedented. No one could have predicted it.” I scoffed slightly to myself at the redundant sentence, in a way to ignore the actual topic, as I’d heard it all over the years, “‘Ifs’ don’t change anything, only make you feel worse about yourself. Everything was chaotic that night. You don’t know what changing one thing or another would do, so it's best to take it how it actually happened. You were seven, emotions were rampant that day, and with that many Shades, things were bound to go wrong.”

“And I mock her memory by failing to be a Mythic like her.”

“Don’t say that! Besides, if she were anything like the Mythics, she would probably prefer you living the mundane life,” She had a look of knowing in her eyes, “the work isn’t as glamorous as they make it out on TV.”

She paused on that heavy note and got up, “Ok, lets lighten the mood, do you want a tea before I show you to your room? That always helps me keep my mind off things. Then we can-”

I closed the door behind me.

***

After the door closed, I took a moment to calm down. Then, I grabbed my bags and went up the stairs to my new room.

As I went up, I realised one of those door things to stop babies from getting through blocked my way; it was likely there to stop the dog from getting up to the rooms. The only problem being that I, a person who could pick a lock with only a paperclip, could not work out how to open the damn thing. The damn thing just increased my frustration. Miss Rose did appear to try and help me but apparently deemed that it’d be best to let me vent my frustration on the door.

I don’t know how long it took for a boy around my age with blondish hair and a tired expression to come out of his room, annoyed, open it without saying a word, and then return to the book in his hand. He was wearing a graphic t-shirt with one of the local Mythic’s symbols on the front and shorts, he seemed slightly shorter than me with grape purple eyes. He looked like the type who could read a new book in one day and then reread it to make notes. I opened my mouth to say something and then thought better of it; I decided to pretend that nothing had happened and went to my room.

The said room was mediocre at best. It was split into two; one half had posters of planets, famous Mythics, and diagrams of Shades with weak points highlighted. There was also a bookshelf with some comics and books stacked on it and some daggers. The other side was empty, with only a bed and wardrobe to decorate it. I put my stuff on that half’s bed. My roommate, it turned out, was the annoyed boy. He was reading a book with a photo of a bald man in a cloak in the middle of a spell circle for the cover. He looked up.

“So,” the boy said finally, “the person who can’t open a simple baby door after five minutes is my new roommate. That rattling was really distracting.” He looked up briefly from his book. “My name’s Matthew, by the way, Matthew Hunter.”

“Well, mine is Thomas… Walker, Thomas Walker,” I replied, then decided I was going to be annoying. “Nice to meet you, Mathew By The Way Mathew Hunter.”

Mathew gave me a flat look as I grinned back before adding, “And those doors are harder than you make it look; show off. Cool posters, by the way. I didn’t think that Lucky Charm did signings.”

I attempted to forget how I had made myself look like a fool and unpacked my books and clothes onto the bed.

If I was going to be sharing a room with this guy, I might as well make an attempt to be friends with him, as being standoffish would only make my life more difficult. I have learned that through experience.

“So, what’s that book you’re reading? Is it good?”

“It’s alright, though I guess I’m the one who is meant to show you around,” Matthew stated matter-of-factly, looking up from his book again. “Miss Rose usually puts that on the roommate. Dinner’s at seven, breakfast at eight, and lunch at twelve. The living room is to the right of the stairs and the kitchen is to the left. We go to bed at around ten, but Miss Rose is relatively lenient with the rules. That’s about it; you’ll get used to it.”

***

After I ate dinner, I went into the living room, a relatively cramped space with a clearly well-worn sofa that took up most of the room and a relatively old, blocky TV. Everybody was watching the news with great interest. There was an update on the newly infamous bank robber Mythic, Reacher. He had held a bank up and stole all the money in a matter of minutes. This was made even more impressive as he had done this without triggering any alarms, and this wasn’t even the first bank he had robbed.

Reacher, like all Mythics, had unique powers, known as a legacy, which he gained by awakening his soul. His power was some kind of super speed, though, and unlike most Mythics, Reacher used his power for his own needs rather than the people’s. The majority of Mythics are hired by the kingdoms as a sort of elite force against the Shades, though they use them for other protection needs like as a deterrent to other kingdoms.

I hung out in the living room for a short while before leaving as the news played older stories I had already heard so many times; honestly, it's a talent how they make Mythics fighting a herd of elemental griffins boring.

I went back up the stairs with other people to make sure I didn’t have to mess with the dog door, as I still wasn’t completely certain of my ability to open it. By the time I went into my new room, Matthew was already asleep, so I dived into my own to do the same. Then I realised that past-me was a lazy arse, as I still was yet to put my bedding on my bed.

Even with the bedding, it was uncomfortable and lumpy. It took me ages to fall asleep, and when I did, I awoke again to a bright purple light. I opened my eyes to see that it was coming from Matthew. Strangely, the light made his skin look kind of weird as if it were covered in strange markings. Plus, his eyes looked completely purple with seemingly no pupils. In fact, he looked a bit like he could be…

“YOU’VE UNLOCKED YOUR LEGACY!”

“Scream a bit louder, will you,” Matthew whispered loudly after flinching from the sudden noise. “The rest of Turgida didn’t hear you the first time!”

My mind boggled. This was massive. Only around half of those who even get chosen for the fighting schools even manage to unlock theirs and they typically have the right resources to have that high of a success rate. And my roommate was apparently one of them. But I was tired. It was probably about four in the morning. Wouldn’t that make it early? I was not awake enough to do brain stuff. I guess I must have short-circuited because I fell back asleep almost instantly.

Without purple light glaring into my retinas this time.