Orion's Rise: From Zero to Hero in Two Worlds
Silence.
That's all I ever wanted.
But here's the thing about silence. It comes in different flavors. There's the peaceful kind, when you're alone in your room at 2 AM.
Then there's the suffocating kind I got at school.
High school was already a special kind of hell for me. Empty wallet, empty lunch tray, empty seat next to me in every class. The usual stuff. Emily was the only one who made it bearable - until she wasn't.
*Snap.*
That's how quick it happened. One moment she's my best friend, the next? She's telling people things.. embarrassing things I trusted her with. Things I'd never told anyone else.
She even lied!
God, I can still hear the whispers. See the smirks. Feel the stares burning into my back.
I went from being invisible to being a walking target. And it's funny how being ignored starts to feel like a luxury when you're dodging spit balls and "accidentally" dropped lunch trays.
But then... *something* changed.
You ever get that feeling? Like there's this... I dunno, this *presence* in your head? Not like voices or anything crazy. More like... you know when you're playing a video game and suddenly unlock a new ability? Yup. It's that kind of feeling.
It started small. Just little things at first. But now?
*tap tap tap*
My fingers drum on the desk while I write. The tapping makes little shakes in the wood. Each tap feels like a small promise.
I used to think rock bottom was a place. Well ladies and gentlemen, it turns out.. that it's more like a launch pad.
And yeah, maybe I don't have everything figured out yet. Maybe I'm still piecing together what this... *thing* inside me is. But I do know one thing:
They're gonna wish they'd left me invisible.
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Chapter: Chapter 34You know that moment when you realize you've been played? Yeah, that feeling was creeping up on me like a bad sunburn.The jungle around us was alive with sound, but all I could hear was my own heartbeat matching the rhythm of the energy pulsing through my fingers. Bzzt. Bzzt. Each spark felt stronger than the last.Njusa stood there, watching me with those eyes that seemed to see right through you. "Tell me about Orion," he said, like he was asking about the weather."Nothing to tell." I tried to focus on maintaining the energy field around my hand. It flickered like a bad TV signal."No?" His voice had this way of getting under your skin. "The way I hear it, he must quite remarkable. He must have mastered advanced techniques in days. Natural talent."The energy spiked. A nearby branch crackled and burst into blue flames."That's nice," I muttered, but my throat felt tight. Like someone was squeezing it."Nice?" Njusa l
Last Updated: 2025-01-19
Chapter: Chapter 33My face was buried so deep in the sand, I could probably taste yesterday's beach party. Getting out was like trying to unstick your hand from a jar of peanut butter - technically possible, but way more effort than it should be.Something tapped against my skull.Tap. Tap."Ow!" I jerked upward, spraying sand everywhere. A seagull hopped back, tilting its head like I was the weirdest thing it had seen all day. "Really? You had to peck me?"The bird just stared, probably wondering if I was edible."Shoo!" I waved my arms, which only made it take two casual steps backward. "What? What are you looking at?"Every muscle screamed as I tried to stand. Note to self: hitting sand at terminal velocity? Not recommended. My right arm was definitely not supposed to bend that way, and I'm pretty sure I had about six new joints in places joints shouldn't be.I brushed sand from my clothes, which was kind of pointless since they were basically rags now. "Where am I?"The seagull - my new best friend,
Last Updated: 2025-01-18
Chapter: Chapter 32Wind whistled past Jared's ears as he plummeted through cloud after cloud, each one soaking him with icy moisture. His stomach had left him somewhere around ten thousand feet ago, and his throat was raw from screaming.Where was Njusa? The mysterious warrior had simply... vanished.Oh god, is this because I mentally made fun of his name? Did he read my mind? Is this how I die - because I couldn't keep my thoughts to myself about somebody's weird name?The clouds broke beneath him, exposing a vast expanse of ocean that sparkled like broken glass in the sunlight.It would have been beautiful if it wasn't about to become his final resting place.Voooom!Something dark cut through the air beside him, trailing ribbons of pure energy. The figure moved like a missile, cutting through the sky at an impossible angle.Jared's eyes widened as he caught glimpses of Njusa through the vapor trail. The warrior's dark skin gleamed with sweat, muscles tensed as he manipulated the energy around him lik
Last Updated: 2024-12-22
Chapter: Chapter 31The hallways felt different after lunch period. Emptier, somehow. The air had gotten thinner. Jared's footsteps echoed wrong, each tap-tap-tap bouncing back at odd angles.Something was off.The energy under his skin noticed it too, humming like a tuning fork struck against glass. He flexed his fingers, trying to shake off the sensation.A shadow moved at the corner of his vision."Aunt Moira?" The words slipped out before he could stop them. But no - she wouldn't play games like this. Would she?The fluorescent lights overhead flickered. Once. Quick enough that anyone else might have missed it.But Jared wasn't exactly anyone else. Not anymore.I should go to class, he thought. But his feet carried him toward the shadow instead. Down the science wing, past rows of locked classroom doors with their little windows dark.Something brushed against his consciousness. Like fingers trailing through water, leaving ripples in their wake."Okay, this is getting weird." His voice sounded a bit
Last Updated: 2024-12-19
Chapter: Chapter 30Water trickled from the fountain's spout, each drop catching sunlight before joining the pool below. Jared stared at his reflection, distorted by the ripples.The same face that had watched Orion's sketchbook sink beneath these waters, pages bleeding ink like dying butterflies.Why did I do that?The question echoed in his head, bouncing off memories he'd rather forget. The look on Orion's face. The way his hands had trembled as he fished out the ruined pages. All that talent, all those careful lines, destroyed because... because what? Because Jared could?"You wanted to see me?""Jesus-" He spun around, nearly losing his balance. Emily stood there, still wearing that oversized sweater despite the warm afternoon.Pull it together. Bad guy. Remember?He straightened up, forcing his face into its familiar smirk. "It's like eighty degrees out. What's with the sweater?""What do you want, Jared?""Take it off."Her eyes widened."The sweater," he clarified, already hating how the words ca
Last Updated: 2024-12-13
Chapter: Chapter 29The microwave hummed. Jared watched the plate spin, somehow finding the monotonous motion calming after everything that had happened.His mind wandered back to his Aunt. Orion. That name kept echoing in his head, like a song he couldn't shake off.Of all the people in the world, why did out Orion? Why did just thinking about him make reality feel... thinner?The pizza rotated another quarter turn when it happened. Just a stray thought, really - wondering if Orion could see him right now - and suddenly the microwave wasn't just heating his food.The display flickered, showing symbols he'd never seen before. The hum changed pitch, rising to a whine that made his teeth itch."No, no, no-" Jared reached for the stop button, but his fingers never made it.Energy. Pure, raw energy erupted from the microwave door. Not heat or radiation - something else. Something that shouldn't exist in his mom's kitchen on a Tuesday afternoon.And Jared... caught it.The energy felt alive in his hands, like
Last Updated: 2024-12-11
