-New Atlantis Academy, 2070-
An 18-year-old boy with short brown hair was hitting a punching bag in one of the academy's many training rooms. He had been physically training himself for 8 years now. His strength was only a bit weaker than an F rank strength enhanced awakened. He was still unawakened. Kids born after the awakening are rarely born with their powers. The older you get the more likely you are to awaken. Most kids develop their powers around 15. There has yet to be a kid who hasn't awakened at least one ability before the age of 19.
*BAM* *BAM* *BAM*
"A....Ast...."
*BAM* *BAM* *BAM* *BAM*
"ASTRA"
*BAM*
"Huff..huff.....oh, hey Harper. What brought you here? Don't you have training?" Astra answered still huffing and puffing from hitting the punching bang. He looked at the clock and realized he had been there for three hours. "Oh.....I forgot to pick you up again." Astra's sister Harper stood across from him stunned. "This is the third fucking time this week. I don't care if you pick me up, just don't tell me you will. I waited for thirty minutes. I don't even need to walk and I still waited for you! I know you're distracted right now but there are other people around you. Just text me next time, it's not that hard."
Harper had red curly hair that went a little past her shoulders. Her face was pretty similar to Astra except she had a birthmark under her right eye. It was about the size of a quarter and wasn't very noticeable. She awakened three abilities when she was 14. Spatial manipulation allowed her to create portals that could teleport her or other people. Phase Shifting allowed her to enter the ethereal realm making her practically invulnerable to attacks at the cost of not being able to attack herself. Her strongest ability was gravity control. She could increase or decrease gravity in a localized area. She could make herself lighter while making opponents heavier. She was one of the youngest D ranks and was highly valued by the academy.
"Yeah, I know. I'm sorry. I'm turning 19 in two days and I still feel the same as ever. Am I really going to be the first unawakened human adult?" Astra stared at his hands as he flexed his forearm, moving it like a snake. He was 6'0 and 180 pounds with barely any body fat. He's constantly asked if he's on growth hormones or received enhancements from another awakened.
"I understand but you don't have to worry. You will awaken. I have no doubt about that. You ready to go?" Harper asked as she began forming a portal in front of both of them. "Let me get my shirt and we can go." Astra grabbed his sweaty shirt off the floor and walked through the portal with his sister. As he stepped through he appeared in his living room.
"Oh, somebody is late. And you didn't walk this time? What did you do Astra?" Astra's mom Cecilia, asked from the kitchen. "I'm being accused as soon as I walk in. What kind of world do we live in?" Astra said as he plopped onto the couch. "Haha. It's fine mom, he was just a little late and I didn't want to walk after waiting so long." Harper said as she sat comfortably on her chair. Both of them immediately started using their phones.
"I don't even get a 'Hi mom, how are you, we love you!' I do all this cooking just to be hated." Cecilia jokingly said as she began setting the dinner table. "Come on now, wash your hands we're about to eat. ADRIAN!" Cecilia yelled up the stairs. "What?" Adrian said as he quickly ran to the bottom. "Dinner's ready." She said as she kissed him. "You can yell at me all you want as long as you do that after."
"Ew, why can't you guys do that at the top of the stairs where we can't see you!" Harper said as she began walking toward the dinner table. "Are you jealous?" Cecilia said as she took her seat at the table. "Oh my god." Harper shook her head as she sunk her face into her hands. "Harper gets plenty of attention she's fine." Astra joked as he sat across from his sister. "Oh really? Someone is trying to steal our sweet girl away from us?" Adrian sighed as he began eating dinner.
"Really Astra? You're just mad that your friend Ethan was hitting on me." Harper nonchalantly said as she brought a piece of steak up to her mouth. Astra glared at his sister. "Yeah. Bros before hoes especially when the hoe is the bro's sister."
"Watch your language at the dinner table young man." Adrian said as he finished his steak. "How did you finish your steak already?" Astra asked trying to avoid the question. "Damn Dad, you inhaled that." Harper joked.
*cough* *cough* Adrian choked as he was drinking from his water. "Language Harp!" *cough* "You almost killed dad." Astra joked. "No, I didn't." harper coldly responded. "Yes, you did." "NO" "YES" "No" "Yes" "No" "Yes"
"Stop! Can you kids stop arguing so much? At least do it somewhere I can't hear it." Cecilia covered her ears dramatically. "Sorry Mom" Harper apologized. "Yeah sorry about Harper." Astra started eating his food as fast as he could. "Shut up, Astra. Don't make me do it for you." Harper stood up from her seat as she glared at Astra. "I would love to see you try. I needed a warmup." Astra began cracking his knuckles. "I raised two animals." Cecilia sighed as she took a sip of wine.
-Two Days Later-
*BEEP* *BEEP* *BEEP*
Astra begrudgingly woke up as he smacked the snooze button. It's his 19th birthday today and there was no sign of his awakening. He tried to see if he felt any different but everything seemed the same.
*SIGH*
Astra stood up from his bed and opened his blinds. He used to love looking out at the central district. They lived in the medium-density zone. His room had a direct view of the bustling capital. A constant flow of flying cars made their way in and out of the central district. He would be graduating high school soon and was expected to start using his powers.
The academy had an advanced training program for graduated awakened that would find what job suited best for everyone. Some awakened like Harper were scouted ahead of time because of their high potential. Scouted students got special accommodations at the advanced training center. Harper already knew what room she would get and who her professors would be. She got recruited by the UEDF a year ago. She still has a year until she graduates.
Many branches of the UEDF and OTCAI used to check in with Astra to see if he had the same potential as his sister. They eventually gave up and told him to apply on his own when his powers developed. Astra got ready for school as usual. He walked downstairs and was surprised by his family. They wished him a happy birthday and gave him his presents. His sister got him a plain colored blue t-shirt because Astra liked simple clothes. His Dad got him a pair of new boxing gloves. His mom got him a necklace that had a sparkling royal purple gem at the center of it.
"Wow Mom, this is beautiful where did you get it? Why did you give it to Astra?" Harper held the necklace inspecting it closely. "Hey, that's rude. I'm giving Astra this because it's very special to me. It was a gift from your grandma to me when I was around Astra's age. She told me no matter what happens that she would always be next to me whenever I wore it. She told me it would protect me from any danger. It helped me get through a lot of tough times without her. I'm not dead yet but Astra needs far more protection than you right now."
Astra sighed again. "Let's not talk about that right now please." Cecilia walked over to Astra and gave him a big hug. "You're right. Today is a happy day. My son is turning 19! How can you so be old already? I still remember the day you came out of me." "What the hell Mom! Could you make this any more uncomfortable?" Astra struggled to respond as he was being squeezed by his mom. "I could but it's getting late and you guys need to go to school. Harper, please get the portal ready soon so you guys can leave." "Kay." They would usually walk to school but they took more time to celebrate Astra's birthday instead.
Harper and Astra walked through the portal appearing in front of the New Atlantis Academy. The left side was for high school and below. The right side had all the advanced training facilities. The right side was far bigger than the left. The UEF wanted to refine awakened abilities to be used for good. They had training areas for all kinds of power development. The advanced facilities also assigned awakened to low-level missions for field training. "See you later Astra. Hope your birthday is fun!" Harper waved goodbye as she began walking to her class. 'I hope it is too' Astra said to himself as he walked to his class on the top floor.