Chapter Text
(The first chapter will be a little short since it’s kind of like a prologue)
Brock Gaius, son of Mother Nature, Mother Earth and whatever other names people gave her, sat on a speeding train. His mother sent him to this school called Elementia High to manifest his special powers inherited from her.
The scenery passed by tediously, putting him into a trance, and to be honest, made him kinda dizzy. Many other kids sat around him, all parents probably having the same goal as his. Brock stared at his lap, half expecting a hole to burn through his legs because of how long he was staring at them. He lost track of time that way. Muffled chatter kept him from completely zoning out, but also made him want to. Everyone seemed to have someone to talk to, someone to be close to, except him. He sat alone with empty seats surrounding him, too shy to get up and sit next to someone. Even when they stopped to pick up more kids, no one even bothered to look his way.
Brock’s head sadly bumped into the window, a vibration resounding through his body with the rumbling of the train. The train was at the last stop of the day before finally heading to the school. There were at least twenty stops, but who’s counting? The new kids filed onto the train cars chattering like squirrels fighting over nuts for the winter. Brock groaned quietly and pressed his face further into the window. It was now dusk and the sky was slowly turning it’s midnight blues with the bright colors of the sun disappearing under the horizon. He just hoped these people would be quiet by the time it was dark. He drummed his fingers on his thighs, waiting for the train to go. Then some random kid came and sat next to him along with someone else who sat across from Brock. He was both confused and slightly happy.
“Hi. My name is Lui and this is Delirious,” The first boy said. He was wearing a red jacket and his dark brown hair was tied up in a bun with the sides shaved off. When he smiled, dimples were prominent on his caramel cheeks. The one across from Brock waved. He had on a light blue hoodie and a hockey mask, piercing blue eyes staring at him through the eye holes. Black hair peeked up from above the mask, while pale skin poked from the sides. Black gauges sat snugly in his earlobes, looking extremely uncomfortable.“What’s your name?”
“Uh… my name is Moo or Brock, whatever you choose,” He mumbled shyly. “Nice to meet you…”
“Nice to meet you too!” Lui’s voice turned high pitched and made the other boy, Delirious, laugh a maniacal sounding laugh. Brock smiled, chuckling quietly. People could be so weird sometimes.
“Anyway, what’s your power?” Lui asked enthusiastically. Moo was stunned for a second.
“Uh, it’s the power of nature and healing,” Brock said, twiddling his thumbs nervously. He was always like this around new people. “Pretty boring if you ask me.”
“That’s not boring at all! My power is controlling water,” Delirious exclaimed. “My powers are boring-er than yours!”
“Boring-er?” Moo questioned. The train lurched into its forward march again.
“Excuse his illiterate ass,” Lui sighed. “He really needs to take an English class.”
“Hey! I speak perfect engrish.” Delirious pouted and his mistake made Brock laugh out loud. Lui laughed along with me, high pitched and loud. Delirious seemed to realize what he just said because he too burst out laughing with wheezes sprinkled through. They must’ve looked like crazy people seeing how long and loud we were laughing.
“Hey, Lui, what’s your power?” Brock asked breathlessly, wiping a tear from the corner of his eye.
“Oh, it’s the power of the wild.” He answered.
“Power of the wild?” Moo tilted his head like a puppy.
“It’s where you can control animals and stuff.”
“Wow! That’s cool.”
“Yeah, but it gets kinda boring after a while.” He turned and zipped open the bag on his back. Immediately, a little head poked out from the hole and squeaked at Brock.
“Oh my gosh, it’s adorable!” He squealed. The little animal looked like it was smiling at him, brown and furry. It looked fluffy, like the world's happiest pillow.
“It’s a quokka. Th-the happiest creature alive.” Delirious patted the quokka’s head and it squeaked again. Brock giggled and rubbed its head. He opened my mouth, thinking of what to say. He had always been able to talk to animals ever since he was born. It’s come in handy whenever he got upset about something. They’ve always been there to comfort him.
“Hey there. How’re you doing?” Brock cooed.
“I’m doing fine,” It’s high pitched voice answered back. He could immediately guess it was a female. “That bag is really cramped though.” Brock laughed.
“Yeah, I can see how that would get uncomfortable.” The guys looked at him like he was crazy. Delirious looked from the quokka to Brock, then back to the quokka. His crystal blue eyes were widened under the mask. Lui was just staring at the quokka like it just said the strangest thing.
“You seem to be nervous sir. Is everything alright?” She asked. He nodded his head.
“Yeah, I’m fine. Just nervous about the new school I’m going to.”
“Ah, new school jitters I see,” She climbed out of the bag and onto the seat next to Lui. “Well, there’s nothing to worry about. Look, you’ve already made some new friends!”
Brock smiled sweetly at her. “You’re right. Thank you, miss.”
“No problem sir.” She went back into Lui’s bag and he zipped it up. He turned to him with this incredulous look on his face, like he couldn’t believe what had just happened.
“What-what in the world just happened?” Delirious asked, seeming to read his mind. “I thought only Lui could talk to animals.”
“I guess that’s a perk to being the son of Mother Nature.” Brock said quietly, rubbing the back of his neck while yawning. He leaned back in his seat and closed his eyes.
“Wait, what?” Came a muffled question. He didn’t answer because he was already half asleep. His body went limp and he fell into a deep slumber.
(~-~)
Someone shook Brock's shoulder vigorously, yelling his name.
“Brock, come on! We’re going to be late!” One last shove and he jolted awake. His head hit the window with a painful thud. He rubbed his head and glared at the person responsible for the rude awakening. Lui stood there with his hands on his hips, looking peeved.
“Seriously, we gotta go! The Orientation is starting soon.” Brock groaned and slowly moved to grab his bag from next to him. Lui gripped his wrist and haphazardly pulled him off the seat, just as he grabbed his bag. He dragged him at full speed off the train and into the crowded station.
“Where’s Delirious?” Brock huffed unhappily, leaning over to catch his breath. Lui craned his neck to see over the crowd. Brock did the same and spotted an already familiar blue hoodie. Pulling Lui along behind him, they swam through the sea of bodies to try and reach him. They eventually bumped into him by accident.
“Oh, hey guys,” He said. “Where were you?”
“Sleeping beauty over here was still on the train. I had to go get him.” Lui grumbled, pointing to Brock with his thumb. Brock just blushed and rubbed the back of his neck.
“Let’s go then. We don’t wanna be late.” Brock picked up his bag again and followed Delirious through the thinning crowd. They entered through a doorway and into a long, winding hallway. It seemed to go on forever.
They finally exited the hallway and somehow entered a giant auditorium filled with people. Brock hoped they weren’t too obvious as they walked through the isles to find a seat. Lui somehow found three empty seats right next to each other and placed them right there.
“So what’s gonna happen now?” Brock asked Lui after they sat down.
“Well once the Orientation starts, the leader person will say a speech and then everyone will introduce themselves with a nickname. I’m pretty sure the majority of the parents wanted to keep their children’s identities safe so they suggested this.” Lui informed. Brock gulped nervously. Stand in front of all those people to say a silly nickname? No thanks.
“How do you know so much about this?”
“Cuz his dad is like, a damn-the damn principal or something.” Delirious pouted.
“Not the principal, the vice-principal.”
“Like that’s any less important, Lui.” Brock gently punched him on the shoulder.
“Ah, whatever. Now shut up it’s starting.” They turned their attention towards the velvet curtains that were slowly opening as the lights dimmed. A woman stood regally in the middle of the stage, wearing a dark turquoise dress with a violet wool jacket. Her hair was a dark brown tied up in a short ponytail, slick and shiny in the light. Her smile was soft and sweet, like a warm glow of the sunlight at sunset basking over a beach. Her face was just the right amount of rounded, with high cheekbones and a small dimple on her left cheek.
“Welcome one and all to Elementia High!” Her voice, sweet as honey, resounded through the auditorium causing a chorus of voices to rise along with hers. They quieted down after she raised a hand.
“My name is Desdemona-Aonani, but to you, I’ll settle for Desdemona or Mrs. Desdemona. I am so glad you all were able to make it here. I think your teachers and I will all have a wonderful time teaching you how to use your powers and unlock new ones,”
“Of course, we’re going to have to get to know you first! So on that note, will each row please come up, introduce yourselves with a nickname and tell us some of your powers!” She gestured to the first row and they stood as if commanded too. Brock gulped as he realized they were in the fourth row, right smack dab in the middle. A pang of fear coursed through his body and he felt a tendril wrap around his forearm. What he didn’t realize was that the tendril, was in fact, a vine slowly crawling up his arm.
“Uh, Brock? You have a vine stuck to your arm.” Lui snapped him out of his trance and he looked down to see a light green baby grapevine wrap around his bicep. He pressed a finger against it and thumb to it, slowly rubbing up and down. It was a habit that calmed him down, even if he couldn’t control it sometimes. Now was one of those times.
Brock looked back up to see a very interesting boy stand up to the mic. His left eye was exposed and showed a red robotic eye, wires, and doodads. His Even so, the rest of his face would be considered handsome. He had dark auburn hair and bright cloudy blue eyes that could pierce through steel. Brock found himself just blushing at the sight of him.
“Hello everyone. M’names Terroriser and I am part robot. I can do lots of amazin’ things, like shoot lasers, see-through walls an stuff like that.” Brock admired Terroriser's confidence and the Irish accent that tinged his words. He could never stand in front of all those people and give a half-assed introduction like it was nothing. Brock didn’t realize he was staring until Terroriser caught his eye and smirked. Brock blushed and quickly looked down. The last two people came up to the mic and gave their introductions, which Lui and Delirious seemed very intent on listening to.
The dreaded moment finally came when Brock’s row walked up to the stage. Brock quickly shook the vine off of his arm to stand, only for it to wrap around his leg tightly. He sucked in a quick breath as he almost tripped. He pulled up his leg harshly, accidentally ripping the vine out of the ground. A short moment of regret came into his mind as a wave of sharp pain came and went through his chest. Another side of being the son of Mother Nature. You could feel the plant's pain. That’s why he hated accidentally walking near logging companies as they mercilessly cut down trees. For weeks on end, all he could feel was immeasurable pain coursing through as they made their way past, passing out from pain at times. Exactly why they moved far away into the country.
As they stepped up onto the stage another tendril, this time figuratively, wrapped tightly around his heart, squeezing until he had no breath. A dark pit opened in his stomach, making Brock feel hollow inside. He nearly stopped a quiet whine that escaped from his throat. A claustrophobic, stage frightened, nervous teenager had no place in a school where you had to show off everything you could to everyone.
Which now everyone would know because it was his turn at the mic. He gulped and carefully stepped up to the mic, making sure not to touch it, which would cause feedback. No need for an extra embarrassing moment to top it all off. He took in a deep breath, decided what to say, then spoke.
“Um, hello. My name is Moo,” A chorus of quiet giggles made him pause. “And I can control nature and heal people. Just small stuff like that.” He lurched and stepped away from the mic, somehow catching another smirk from Terroriser. His face must look like a tomato right now.
The rest of the people did their introductions and they sat back down in their row. The next few rows went and the three musketeers giggled at names like ‘Wildcat’ and ‘Basicallyidowrk’. Once the last person went, Desdemona-Aonani stepped back up to the microphone and dismissed them. Her sweet honey voice followed them out of the auditorium.
“If you need any help finding a room, just ask me or one of the teachers for assistance. Your schedules will be given to you at the door by Mrs. Bluebell. If you have any questions or concerns, you can stop by my office. Thank you all for coming and have a good night!”