Hahaha… Was she right? Has it been shit? Was my world shit? Was being an outcast in everything so shitty in the end?
Would you rather be an outcast, or live in a world where life is just like a match—a little bit of wind and boom, it's gone forever?
Hahaha. Looking over at the girl named Lia, I speak.
"You say it was shit even before. You say that like it was that way for everyone. You say it like it's a justification for what's happening to us right now."
I point at the blood dripping from the cracks in the ceiling.
"Was my world shit before this? No, no, no, it wasn't. It wasn't so bad. No one liked me, but I had someone. I had people in the end. But now? No family."
As I speak, a smile starts to plaster itself onto my face.
"No, no… they are all dead. In the end, Mother was eaten before my eyes. She used the last air in her lungs, not caring how her bones were being crushed into dust—"
CRASH. The sound of glass shattering echoed from above. A chorus of growls began to fill the room, sounding like a pack of vicious dogs mauling a victim, hungering for flesh and blood. Then came the wails.
The screams were suffocating. The thumps and the echoes following them felt like a sea of death.
Cries. That was all they could hear. In the end, they were the lucky ones indeed. My rant couldn't even reach its finish. Heavy footsteps ignited overhead, plunging everyone into a cold silence before they finally ceased.
"What do you want, huh? Pity? Tsk."
Elijah's voice broke the quiet. "So you're saying we have to be on the edge of life just to get power?"
"…Ah. Um, yes," Abid replied.
"Explain what happened to you. How did you get that power?"
Everyone wanted to know. They wanted to know how deep they had to tread for a drop of power. But that's not what they got.
"You want me to spill my secrets to you?" Abid's yellow eyes ignited with a murkier hue. "Like you said yourself, this world was shit even before this. Why would I trust you?"
It was a reminder that in this world, they were alone. You would have to strive for yourself. How could they put their lives in someone else's hands when everything around them wanted to kill them?
But Lia didn't back down.
"Why? Because we need food. We need water. We need to live. And the only way to live is with power—and you have the key to it."
You could see it; he wanted to speak, but the words were caught in his throat. In the end, she was right. If they wanted to live, he would have to give up something dear to him. One person's power wasn't enough. The only way humans won wars in the past was through numbers. They needed everyone at their strongest.
"Tsk. I'm not telling you how I got mine," Abid hissed. "But I will say what happens when you do."
Everyone held their breath, waiting for the words that would carve the path for their future.
"At first, there will be words echoing in your mind. These words are yours alone. I don't know why, but it feels like a part of me, so I won't say what they are. But once you hear them… you will know."
He drifted off, his eyes losing focus.
"Something will appear before your eyes. It's not like it was given to you. It feels like it was in your very soul since birth."
"You will see words like Residue and Dross. And the word Trace. Trace is what I think the powers we awaken are called."
"That makes no sense," Elijah barked. "Residue? Dross? What the fuck… is it calling us scum?"
Hahaha… Lia began to laugh. "Dross. The waste matter that floats to the surface of molten metal during smelting. The impurities."
"Yeah," Abid said, his tone deep. "We are the impurities that are skimmed off and thrown away. So that only the pure remains."
Abid looked up at the cracks in the ceiling. "Haha… humans truly are weak."
"We have always been weak," I muttered.
As they started to chatter, I finally spoke up. "This doesn't make sense."
Everyone looked at me with pity.
"Tsk. Whatever. Why hasn't that thing you were talking about happened to me?"
Some looked at me with laughter in their eyes; others had piercing gazes.
"Haha! It didn't come before your eyes because you have no power, duh. Are you stupid?" Elijah said, scoffing.
"There should be words," Abid said, ignoring Elijah and looking into my eyes. "You have to repeat them in your mind at least ten times. At least, that was my experience."
I didn't speak another word. Walking back to my corner, I started to think.
Words…
Memories flooded my mind. Hahaha. A dream—that's what I thought it was when I finally woke up.
CRACK. RIP. AHHH!
The screams were mine. Endless pain. That was what I had felt over and over again. My legs were broken into thousands of pieces, only to be rebuilt from nothing. I felt my organs rupture.
My teeth started to tremble from the trauma; they would shatter and then rebuild. My fingers hung from the bone by mere strips of skin. I suffered all of it, only for the flesh to crawl back and heal.
Was it seconds? Was it years? I don't even know. In the end, all I could do was laugh.
I saw myself standing over a broken boy.
I watched as his knees hit the floor. I watched as he felt over his own blood, looking for something that would remind him of his pain. I watched as he grabbed his hand, realizing with horror that his body was perfect.
Not a single blemish on his skin.
He screamed and cried. Not even scars wanted to follow him. But then he looked at me. I could see the endless pit of loneliness in his eyes.
As both our mouths opened to speak, our voices sounded like a rhythmic echo.
"Not even death wants us."
As we spoke, a smile ignited. In the end, nothing will follow us. Not even our own scars.
As the smile reached our eyes, we said the words:
"A body that will never scar."