Rex's eyes fluttered open in the middle of the night. He could feel something warm flowing through his body. He quickly stood up from the bed and noticed the stone on his hand pulsating with a subtle blue energy. As if noticing that Rex was staring at it, it started shaking vigorously and the glow it emitted wasn't subtle anymore, it was now glowing brightly.
"What the?!" Rex muttered in confusion as the glow started getting brighter and brighter and brighter until the whole room was covered in its light. Rex, still holding the stone suddenly smiled "Hmm, so it seems you aren't just a normal stone hmm?" Rex questioned.
Suddenly, as if to reply to Rex's question, the light started dying down, and the stone stopped shaking as it took its form as an inanimate object again. "Wait, That's it?" Rex muttered, his frustration palpable. He had been thinking that the stone would suddenly grant him an ability but to his disappointment, nothing happened or did it....?
"Ignite!" Rex opened out his palms but no effect. "Blizzard!" Again, nothing happened, "kinetic push!" Nothing again. He tried again and again, calling out different forms of ability he knew about but nothing happened. "Hmm, but at least, I know you're not just an ordinary stone," Rex said as he rubbed the surface of the stone with his index finger.
"But still, can't you give me something?!" he pleaded, as if expecting the stone to respond. It didn't. The room stayed silent, the stone stubbornly unremarkable.
Rex sighed, tossing the stone onto his bed. "Great, I have a magic rock with stage fright."
"You better not start glowing when I'm in the shower" Rex sighed again as he climbed the bed again to start sleeping but surprisingly, he couldn't sleep anymore. Sleep wasn't coming "I hope your ability isn't to steal sleep" Rex yelled as he pointed at the stone next to him but the stone just remained silent.
"I can't believe I didn't sleep throughout the night!" Rex sighed and quickly got up from the bed, it was 5 am already. He rushed to the bathroom and soaked himself in the bath. "Dammit!" He cursed out after discovering there was no soap. "Well, it's not like I had a bath yesterday," he sighed.
"I better not go late!" He yelled as he ran to the kitchen to take his makeshift breakfast of bread and milk. "Okay, all set!" He said. "I hope they fix the awakening stone now! I'll blow their minds when I awaken a super cool ability!" He smiled and started hurrying to school. "Oh wait! I forgot my shy stone!" He yelled and rushed back inside to pick it up from his bed.
*******
Rex arrived at the academy's courtyard and noticed that a few students were already there, perhaps they were the orphans living in the school dorm, but then there was another man there, standing beside Miss Layla who was addressing the students. "General Silas?" Rex mused as he started walking to meet them.
"I think Miss Layla told him about me, ah ah ah! I'll shock them now when I awaken!" Rex smiled excitedly and quickened his steps.
"Morning Miss Layla! Morning General" Rex greeted as he took his position amongst the students standing in the courtyard. "Come to think of it, why are we the only ones in the courtyard?" Someone whispered. "It's because one of us hasn't awakened yet" Another replied. "Oh, that boy right?" Yeah.
Rex heard all their whispers but he just ignored them. After all, he was gonna shock them when he awakened his super duper cool ability. Although he'd love to awaken fire or lightning! He still didn't wanna awaken an elemental ability, he needed something unique like telekinesis or shadow ability. "Hehe" He mused
"That's the kid right?" General Silas pointed at Rex.
"Yes sir" Miss Layla replied.
"Hmm, for a 16-year-old, he has quite the physique!" General Silas mused as he examined Rex's muscular build. "Let's just hope his ability isn't something like… I don't know, super-speed knitting."
Rex overheard the General and thought "Damn you general! Aren't you supposed to be encouraging the kids!! I swear if I get telekinesis, I'll practice on the furniture in your office every day"
"Okay, Kid! I heard you failed the previous awakening" General Silas called out to Rex
"No sir, the awakening stone was faulty!" Rex replied. He didn't want to buy the thought that he failed to awaken which was unheard of.
"Whatever, I've brought a new awakening stone," General Silas said as he held out the obsidian stone in front of Rex. He released it and as usual, it suspended in the air. An awakening stone was worth over 100 million dollars. It was the product of research by scientists who had dedicated their time to inventing new technologies from the crystals left behind by monsters.
"Now, walk forward and place your hand on it!" General Silas ordered.
"You don't have to tell me that y'know," Rex thought as he started walking toward the stone
Rex inhaled deeply as he stepped closer to the floating obsidian stone. The tension was high and he could feel the eyes of the other students on him, the whispers now replaced by silence. His heart raced in his chest but he had to control himself and not panic. This was his moment. It was a stone and it was emitting a dim light; he stretched his hand and touched the stone; it was hard and cold.
For a moment there was no movement. Rex had many questions in his mind and he began to doubt. What if it failed again? What if he was just an ordinary boy, who was fated to spend his life in the world of people with abilities?
But then, he sensed it, a low buzz of power, a thrum that appeared to emanate from the very core of the rock. The hum increased in volume, resonating in his arm and then throughout his whole body. It was as if the stone was alive and wanted to tell him something, to open a door to a part of him.
The stone began to emit a light and the light grew brighter and brighter until it was almost unbearable. Rex felt a glimmer of hope in his heart. This was it! His time had arrived at last.
The light around the stone flickered and then there was nothing. The light faded as fast as it came and the stone was again cold and dark as it had been before. The courtyard was quiet, the tension dissipating as if it had been absorbed by the early morning dew.
Rex blinked, his hand still on the stone. He tried to say something but he was unable to utter a single word. He felt as if he had been drained of all his strength, as if the stone had sucked out his energy instead of giving him strength.
General Silas moved forward and his face was a mask of neutrality. 'Anything?' he asked, his tone steady but with a hint of irritation
Rex hesitated. He had felt something, but it wasn't what he had expected. There were no flames, no bolts of lightning, no sudden surge of strength. Just…nothing. He shook his head slowly. "I don't know," he said, his voice barely above a whisper. "It felt like something was there, but then it just…stopped."
Usually, when someone awakens, the element or ability will manifest itself. Either lightning will surround the person's body or if the person gains super speed, he will start running around uncontrollably, If it is super strength, then the surrounding smashable things will be smashed as the person would be uncontrolled but none of this was happening to Rex.
Miss Layla looked at General Silas and the two exchanged a worried look. "Perhaps the stone was not flawed at all," she whispered. 'It could be something else entirely.'
General Silas scowled, his face creasing with concern. "This is unprecedented," he grumbled. 'The stone responded but no energy emerged, it is like there is something that is preventing it.'
Rex tightened his fists, anger rising in him. 'But I felt it! I know I did!' he said, his voice rising to a crescendo of desperation and anger. "It was there, and then it just…disappeared. "
General Silas looked at Rex with a calculating stare, as if he was trying to decide what to do next. 'We will have to look into this further,' he said after a while. "This is not something that we can afford to turn a blind eye to."
Rex felt the pressure of his failure in his chest and he gulped hard. The enthusiasm and eagerness that had been in him only a few minutes ago were now drowned in despair. But deep down, there was still a spark of rebellion. He could not allow this to be the finality of it all.
Miss Layla moved closer to him and put her hand on his shoulder, 'It's okay,' she said softly. "Do not despair, Rex," she said softly. 'It is not as simple as that, there is more to this than what we can see, we will find a way.'
Rex only nodded, but his thoughts were still spinning. What had gone wrong? Why had the stone reacted but given him nothing