2018
"Emilio hurry up! We're gonna be late!" Ivan called out his brother hurrying outside into their brand new car they finally bought midsummer, which they baptized as "Black Panther" just as he ignited the car, Emilio came running out of the house with a single strap of his backpack placed upon his shoulder.
"Don't you dare to leave me like last time!" He exclaimed at his twin, who just laughed mischievously, the mother of the twins followed them outside
"Emilio!" The boy turned around encountering his mother "Your mittens" she handed her the fingerless black leather gloves with a smile, he hugged his mother, thanking her before getting in the car. His brother going at full speed, the boy taken by surprise.
The engineers of the car roaring wildly as they went through the road "Woah, Ivan slow down"
"Oh don't be such a kid bro. It's just a little speed and besides is on you" Emilio shook his head chuckling as he decided to put the mittens on adjusting them perfectly to his hands. Ivan could not help but look at them and grimace, if there was something he couldn't stand was the fact that his brother had to hide part of who he was, since for Ivan it did not make the slightest difference. Emilio would always be his brother and he loved him no matter what.
Emilio caught the younger's twin glance and smiled "Ivan..." he taunted playfully
"I just don't get it, you don't need those, you're not an animal"
"They're to protect all of you. You know that better than anyone" he pointed out making a reference to the small marks at the side of Ivan's forehead.
He huffed while looking straight to the road "That was an accident! You shouldn't be hiding who you are cause of it! We all screw up, Imperium or not"
Emilio could not help the smile that flashed upon his lips as his younger brother spoke, in times like this he was grateful to have someone like him. It simply made it seem like nothing could ever be that bad, and in some ways Ivan had always been the hope, he always managed to believe in the best part of people.
He was the type of person that would believe in you when no one else would.
So he looked over at his brother with a wide smile upon his face, and he simply chuckled
"What's so funny?" Ivan questioned
"Nothing, I just wish the rest of the world was like you"
Both twins parked and ran inside the school, luckily for them there wasn't any teacher at the time. The pair found this strange as they shared a glance.
"Why isn't the teacher here?"
"He's not coming" a boy with glasses and military like shortcut said.
"I'm out then" Ivan shrugged simply, turning around and calmly leaving the classroom, his twin clumsily following a few steps behind
"Hey! Ivan wait!" He called his brother out, who finally slowed down the pace so Emilio could caught up with him. He teasingly smiled as his twin glared annoyingly at him
"Aren't you supposed to be the one in best shape? You know, with the royal thing and all?" He mocked, making emphasis on the word "royal" even when he knew the mistake was obvious, he simply did it cause he found somewhat amusing to get under Emilio's skin.
"Imperial you dumbass" he retorted quite bothered with that old joke "and you're lucky I'm wearing the mittens and can't kick your ass" Ivan scoffed
"Please" he rolled his eyes and Emilio took a firm and purposely loud step, flashing for minute, the natural tangerine shade of his orbs, that shined brightly causing his younger brother to twitch as he got caught off guard. "God, I hate when you do that" he breathed out and Emilio responded with a simple laugh.
The two boys decided to go outside, walking by the yard they could see at the distance the track time, that was a curious thing Emilio found in the school, the main sport was track running and the competitions were mixed so the team, included an equal quantity of members of both genders. He knew that they would always go to state and even national championships but he wasn't all too familiar with the activity.
He simply wasn't interested but he did find amusing watching the team practice, it was impressive in his opinion how do people could run that fast with such obstacles. Mainly because most of this talents he had already been born with.
He could run faster than any human, his senses were quite sharper, he could hear at tremendous high distances, even right now. He could perfectly distinguish the bustle from across the road into the highway.
His inferno nature provided him with infrared radiation, he could know if people were close to him, and what was their exact location with his infrared vision, even blindfolded. The infrared vision allowed him also to know the emotions of people around him; with this specific skill he developed better reflexes, he wasn't the fighting time, but he knew how to defend himself.
Regardless, he tried to remain with the profile of the nice kid that always greets you whenever you walk through the halls, that face you never seem to quite remember.
That way, he avoided all types of conflict, because he knew that he could lose control over certain strong emotions, if he managed to burn his twin's forehead over a something as simple and childish as a kid tantrum. What would he be capable of doing if he was invaded by rage?
Conclusion for the Spaniard was that it would be better if he never had to find out.
"Yo" the boy said stopping in the middle of the bleachers, his brother looked back at him "I'm staying here for a little" he said and his brother nodded
"Okay I'm gonna see Camille" Emilio smiled
"Just make sure that you don't get caught making out, you can't always count on me to burn your reports so mom doesn't find out" Ivan laughed guilty as in charge as he walked away
"Can't make any promises!" He exclaimed with a devilish smirk plastered upon his fleshy lips and winking teasingly, Emilio could only laugh it off as he scaled the metal bleachers and sat at the top, having a perfect view of everything. Looking to the sides he made sure people didn't notice anything strange in his behavior but luckily everybody was too busy minding their own business.
Without being able to help himself, and he used his infrared vision to see the world around him, every time he used his vision he felt as if he was more aware of everything, people, places and even time itself, it was hard to explain, because no one truly understood his feelings.
Although it was true, he was thankfully blessed with a family that loved him unconditionally and not only did they accept his imperial nature but they were also trying for Emilio to embrace what he was; to never be afraid of who he was.
Nevertheless, that's always easier said than done.
Specially taking into consideration what society thought of the Imperiums and that is, without adding the factor of what the government had done and most likely was still doing to eradicate the race. Just thinking about it made a chill run down his spine, Emilio hated the feeling of contradiction that always seemed to rise on him.
For one part, there was the side of him that wanted to stop hiding, he wanted to truly understand his potential and not feel anxious whenever he walked by a policeman, in some way he dreamed of people being in awe with his skills not fear them. Whereas, the other part, the more responsible... no, the survivor side of him, urged to hide from the world so he could live in peace, low profile was better in the sake of the greater good, which was represented by his family.
His parents, Ivan and Rebeca... they would all be persecuted and god knows what they would do to them only for being blood related to a "mutant" like him.
"Hi" a female voice said, he turned to the girl and noticed the infrared silhouette, mentally scolding himself for being so forgetful he blinked a few times restoring his everyday vision.
Despite of that, he remained silent as he became startled with the girl who completely took his breath away. Her skin was pale, her cheeks were rosy and even when her hair was perfectly pulled back on a ponytail he could distinguish a few baby curls at the sides of her cheeks, glued to her face due to the sweat that made her face look as shiny as ever.
The locks of her hair were an dark tangerine shade that beneath the UV rays of the sun it transformed to a far more brilliant shade of orange, having certain resemblance to the young flames of a bonfire in the middle of a forest in an icy cold night.
Mesmerized by her dark walnut eyes he barely managed to greet her back, she sat beside him and gave him a friendly look before stretching out her hand which he soon enough held in his. As weird as it felt, Emilio was caught off guard by the sensation of shivers running down his spine and how his palmed tingled at the warm touch.
"I'm Emilio" he introduced himself, never breaking eye contact with the girl who smiled at the nervousness she detected in him
"Athena" She replied sweetly, he was surprised to hear the gooey Australian accent she possessed "So what are you doing here? Looking for some peace and quiet?" She inquired playfully while he tried his best to hold back on his smile
"You could say that, yeah" he chuckled "I just... I don't know. I feel like I never fit in" he sinceres himself with the readhead who listened intently "I sometimes wish I was normal"
She took a deep breath "Normal's boring, you don't look boring to me"
For a moment, he looked at her something in her was completely new to him, she managed to speak so fluently and care-free... the boy could not quite figure out if he envied or admired her. To a certain extent, it was a mix of both.
There was a moment of silence-maybe ten minutes or so-but it was somehow a comfortable one, it was the type of silence that makes you appreciate the company and world around you, where you feel like you belong. Until Emilio heard the sound of footsteps beside him, when looking to the side, the girl was standing once again.
"Can you wait here for a little? I'm gonna go change, please don't go anywhere" she pleaded with both hands and he simply nodded, it could be fun spending time with someone outside his family, he loved them, and owned them far too much but sometimes he just wanted to be a normal teenager like his brother.
Soon enough, the girl showed up again, and Emilio let out a sigh in relief as he for a minute thought she had left him hanging, her clothing was casual, perfect for the summer and her gorgeous red hair fell loosely all the way down to her waist, the smile she gave him was genuinely heartwarming "Shall we go?"
"Uh yeah" he muttered nervously following the girl around school, the conversation flowed rather easily which was something that he profoundly appreciated since he was never all too good talking with someone that wasn't his brother, but with Athena it seemed pretty simple, she was the type of person who you see and you instantly wanna talk with. There was a moment Athena looked at the boy's leather mittens, she had never seen someone wearing such item at school and innocently she decided to ask.
"So what's up with the leather are you like a bad boy?" She asked teasingly and Emilio smiled even though the question made him feel a little self-conscious and slightly panic since he did not really knew how to answer, because no one really cared about the boy with leather gloves because he didn't allow himself to be as close with anyone. Athena noticed this and frowned "Did I say something wrong?" She wondered instantly feeling guilty
"No, no" he blurted out immediately as he figured out something to say "I just had some scars from when I was a kid and I got used to hiding my hands" Whilst that wasn't entirely a lie, he still did not felt comfortable saying that.
Years ago, when people were still quite more serious about Imperiums, he remembered fooling around with fireballs of his own making in school, he hid on a corner an started busting the young flames. Being only 9 years old, last thing that went through his mind was that he was causing any type of harm. A middle aged teacher walked by an stopped at the scene; horrified with what he saw he inevitably decided to take matter on his own hands as he drag the innocent boy to his office and started hitting his hands over and over with a metal ruler.
Cries echoed through the room as he pleaded for mercy, but the old man's heart never softened as he continued to educate the boy into thinking he was wrong. After he was done, the grey man called the mother to come pick up "her beast" as he referred to the kid contemptuously. Sadly, the expression on her mother's face was something he would never forget, when looking at her precious son in such perennial manner, with both hands dripping blood and sobbing she was simply amazed with the brutality her son was treated.
Afterwards, the young mother felt an intense rage within her hard, he vaguely remembered looking over inside the classroom and looking at her mother discussing fiercely with the teacher and later on being picked up from the floor and hurrying to the emergency room as she held Ivan's hand in hers.
"You should be comfortable, you have no reason to hide anymore" he was surprised with her optimism, then again she made his problems sound so small, he looked at the mittens and a little carried out by her words he took them of, the wind sweetly grazing his heated skin, the feeling was oddly reassuring in a sense.
Excitement ran through his veins, suddenly he felt free, and his heart started beating loudly, his body wasn't used to the environment without the safety of the leather, inevitability, a combustion took place in his body in urge to release an exothermal reaction of some sort; Emilio did his best to hold it in, his anatomy resented it as his corporal temperature began to rise. Anxiety filled the boy, and his companion noticed as he put the gloves back on.
His face was burning, she could tell by his rosy cheeks and when touching his skin it was warmer than it normally should "You're burning..." she whispered a little confused, the closeness of their faces did not help the Spainard in the slightest bit.
"I-I'm okay I should head b-back to class" he clumsily stutters running back inside the school, Athena had no time to reply or stop him at all, so she just watched him go. At that time, Emilio was so desperate he ran without really been conscious, the only thing in his mind was to be quick enough to get to the bathroom and pour cold water in his hands so he could stop the exothermic reactions that occurred in his palms.
Even as he ran he could smell the sense of burning leather, if he did not hurry there will be a lot of trouble, he crashed into someone and quickly he noticed it was his twin. Seeing him was relieving to him
"Where were you? I was looking for you all over school" he said worriedly, panic came over him and he hurried to the bathroom, with his brother behind him screaming. Once he managed to get inside the bathroom, he swiftly removed the mittens and threw them across the floor, he rolled the faucet and the ice cold water fell violently against his skin, causing a huge amount of smoke to fill the room.
The younger sibling stood there, panicking a little but when he saw Emilio lose his balance he instinctively came to his rescue and held his body with a firm grip, slowly sitting him down at the wall.
Emilio covered his face in his hands and began to sob, Ivan's heart shirked as he hugged his brother, he wasn't really an affectionate person, but he knew his brother needed such comfort, specially when he realized he was sobbing due to the rhythm his chest moved and not so long after he heard the harsh way he pulled air inside his lungs through his mouth.
"I hate this. Why can't I be normal like you?" He cried out and Ivan held him tighter
"You're normal for me" he said soothingly rubbing his back while he embraced his twin who continued to cry "It's okay Emilio. We'll figure something out, I promise"
Deep down, Ivan knew making such promises was wrong, he had no experience or real concept of Imperiums, much less the true force within his brother's powers, he was just a normal guy, but there was one thing he was damn sure of: He would do anything for his brother and yes, while Imperiums were a total mystery and far unknown field of knowledge he wanted Emilio to not feel alone and maybe, just maybe... if he managed to help him in any way Emilio would be more confident in his own flesh. Truth being told, Emilio was the more charismatic one, it was so easy to keep a conversation with him and he was far too noble, always putting everyone before him.
Sometimes he tried to imagine how it would be if Emilio was as chill as he was at home, it would be better and he could stop feeling like an outsider all the time; he thought. So, that day Ivan promised himself he would never let his brother down, it would be undoubtedly difficult to help him and to a certain extent it could cost his own life but Emilio deserved to be himself without that shell of coyness that surrounded him.