"Metal Specialized Earth Magic. Next."
Silence.
My parents look slightly sad.
What? Is that it?
Where is the screaming audience? The harem? Where are the goth girlfriends?
Am I....I gulp. Am I....a normie? I feel like puking.
I'm in shock. I guess I shouldn't have expected anything, eh?
My mom carries me, and my dad takes my trolley. Rosa says "I'm so sorry for laughing. But Earth Magic isn't THAT bad. And he's Metal Specialized, so-"
"Wait." Dr Moe interrupts us. "I'm sorry. I forgot to tell you your son's output, though I'm sorry to say, it's probably sub 100, since he's got Earth magic."
My mom speaks,
"No, that won't be necessary. Thank-"
My dad interrupts, "We've waited for so long. Might as well spend a few extra minutes knowing his Output, how much ever low it might be."
Rosa says, "I hope it's above 70!"
We walk back, and I place my hands again. The worms show up again. So, do the worms not represent power? Then-
Dr Moe looks confused. He squints his eyes, rubs them, and looks again.
"What?"
His machine has a white liquid that is covered with glass. And the color of the liquid pulses from brown-gold to black.
"That other monster kid probably broke my machine. If the liquid changes color, it means that the patient has an extra Inclination." He explains to my parents. "But it's not changing from brown-gold to any other color.....Wait, It's – it is changing color. From brown to….black. Wait a minute. Why is his Output so…."
My parents look shocked.
The crowd is watching this like it's a soap opera.
He pauses.
"I had this same problem about ninety years ago, but if that's true that would mean that your son..I didn't think I would have found another person with that Inclination…but it's probably not true. My machine is probably busted. Let me get a new one."
He gets a new machine and I put my hand on it. He watches it intently. The light flashes brown-gold. Then stays brown-gold.
"See? I told you that it was a fals-"
The color changes to black, then back to brown-gold, and it start flashing between colors again.
Dr Moe looks shocked. He stays silent for a bit.
My parents jolt and then their eyes widen. What's going on? Both of them just as quickly regain their composure and my mom reaches out, touches Dr Moe's right arm and says, "I'm ready to hear the truth."
Dr Moe says, "False alarm, sorry. Your kid's got only Metal Specialized Earth Magic, and an Output of 80."
My heart sinks. I really am not special after all. The glass worms didn't mean anything then.
Dr Moe shouts, "Next!"
We leave.
Then it hits me. Why do I even care about any of this? I don't even want to be a soldier or anything. I don't care. I shouldn't care. I shouldn't…..I just want to be special. I just want to be good at something. I make up my mind. If it's not magic, then there are a million different things in life I could be good at. I won't die wasting my life, I'll get good at something other than magic, then.
But I still feel like shit.
As we are walking to our home, I see them.
The white tattooed twins. They come up to me. The man says, "Stop pretending, boy."
and the woman says, "I know you can understand us speaking. " while staring at me. I look confused, at my mom.
"Umm, excuse me." My mom interrupts the girl.
"Hi, ma'am. You're going to die because of your child."
Woah. Wait. You don't just start off a conversation like that.
"Excuse me?" My dad interrupts.
"You too, sir. You're going to die an especially terrible death. Because of this boy." They point at me.
The man says, "This kid is going to cause so much suffering, just for one girl."
The Girl From My Dreams? She's really real?
The woman says, "The child is dangerous. He's going to betray his own race by joining the beast-people. "
"And he knows what we're talking about. Don't you, boy?" The man looks at me, grinning. He then says, "You're going to kill everyone that loves you, for someone who doesn't even love you back."
"What a pathetic piece of trash. Ma'am, you should just chuck him into the snow. Best for the entire human race. He's an ally of the demons."
I'm in shock. She does love me, doesn't she? I don't even know these people. They do know about me, my dreams and the girl I want to visit, but how can I be sure that these people aren't lying?
The air becomes uncomfortably cold, and I can see an extra layer of frost forming on the ground.
My mom steps forward, left arm covered in thin ice. "Leave." Her eyes burn with rage. The glass worms spiral ferociously around a white orb in my mom's left hand. My mom is serious.
Her pressure is scaring me. I thought my mother was the Queen of Idiots. I have never seen this side of her.
"Woah, scary." The man puts his hand up and grins. "Alright, fine, we get it."
He grabs his sister's arm. "We're leaving, Lachesis."
His sister's name sounds like a parasite that sticks to your bum and sucks your blood out.
"Noooooo, I wanted to stay a bit longer!" Lachesis pouts but obliges.
While walking away, Lachesis turns back and says, "Don't say I didn't warn you! That boy is bad news."
Her brother says, "Enjoy these happy days, kid. They won't last for very long."
We reach home. My parents throw me on the sofa like a water bottle and they sit down with me.
"Who were those people?" my dad asks no one in particular.
"Damn I want to try the drugs they were taking." My mom replies.
"Just junkies then." My dad concludes.
No, dad. I'm afraid they were unfortunately, completely sober.
Then my dad lights up. "But imagine if they were actually saying the truth. If our child really can understand our words, what do you think he would have learned from us?"
"Probably just bad words." My mom replies, and they both look sad.
"We really are terrible parents, aren't we?" My dad says.
Thank god, you finally figured it out.
I think about what the siblings said.
Will I kill people, just for that girl?
I know that when it comes to it, I'll shit my pants and pee in fear because killing people isn't exactly something that you do on a normal Friday night out with the boys.
I've had exactly zero experience with killing people. To be honest, anything more than zero should be concerning.
The idea of killing doesn't scare me. I've been faced with disgust from women all my life. I just want to be liked by someone. My parents do love me, but that's not the love I'm looking for. I'd literally kill for love. Then proceed to cry and puke like a little bitch.
And I know, blah blah, people have lives, blah blah, what is this, a Disney movie? I would prefer not to kill anyone, but if I have to, I think I will. I'm more desperate than those psycho coffee addicts who wake up in the morning looking like they're five minutes away from taking their Glock 19 to the local preschool if they don't get their daily caffeine.
Will I kill the first neighbour we met-Mobu- for the girl? Yep. If the consequences aren't too bad and if I can get away with it.
Will I kill my parents for the girl? If they become terrible parents in the future, then I might. But for now, I really don't want to kill them.
Almost thirty years. I haven't felt love.
Holy shit, imagine cuddling. I'll probably die of happiness. Imagine that you're cold as hell, freezing your ass off sitting on the sofa, wishing for a blanket. Then your cute girl just nonchalantly walking to you while you're sitting, then she just sits on your lap and lays her head on your chest, and she smells so good. Like cotton candy, or something. And she's so warm, like a heated blanket. She snuggles up to you even more, complains that you aren't reciprocating, and she demands you hold her. You can feel her heart beat, her breathing. You know that she actually loves you, and wants to be around you. She thinks you're worth being around, that you're worth talking to, that you're an actual human. She wants to get physical with you, and she shows how much she loves you by small acts of physical contact, like holding your hand, or hugging you. You both just enjoy each other's company.
Then imagine you make out and have sex for like 19 hours straight.
Yep, glad to know I still think like a mega virgin.
There's no hope for me, is there? I just ruined a cute, wholesome moment.
"Mama, why do I feel something poking out of our son?" My dad asks, confused.
Shit, I got a baby-boner just from thinking about it.
"Hmmm. Feels kind of...uhhh..hard, yet soft." He says, poking at my boner covered by layers of fabric. "Feels familiar." He starts poking harder. "Wonder if I can squish it."
STOP YOU'RE GOING TO PUT AN END TO YOUR DESCENDENTS IF YOU SUCCEED.
Thankfully, my dad stops playing with a child's penis and decides to do something less incriminating.
"Anyways, what the hell was that doctor's power? Whispering in our ear like that." My dad asks.
"Probably telepathy." My mom replies.
Wait. What is going on?
"I'm hoping we chose the right option."
"We won't gain anything if the entire tribe knows about our son's true powers, whatever it is. Besides, he offered to come to our house by himself."
True powers? What?
Does that mean....I still have hope? Is Dr Moe Lester coming here?
A few hours pass. It's nighttime now, and I hear a knock on the door.
"Coming!" My parents hurry towards the door and open it.
Dr Moe is standing outside, fully covered in thick clothes due to the cold. "May I come in?"