Free Web NovelChapter 90: Chapter 89 - Backstory
Point-of-View: Dietrich Engel
———————————————————————————
"Not too bad, kid. You’ve all but completed your basic training, you’re fully in control of your Aura, and you’ve got a solid grasp over your output control too," Remarked Neo with a nod of approval.
"No, this...this took me way too long," I responded with a grimace.
Today’s the 26th of February, pretty much a month and a half since I got here. I’ve been working on the basic training as much as I possibly could, but it still took this long?
"Actually, considering that you possess the Space Skill, this is pretty amazing. Normally, Meta-Humans with the Space Skill practice output control using one of their other Skills and then using that as a reference to master output over their Space Skill. But you didn’t have that...and you still managed to master the most difficult Skill to get the hang of, and in little over a month at that. That’s nothing to sneeze at," He assured me with a smile.
"W-well...if you say so, I guess."
"Okay, now you need to take a couple of days off. And hear me out before you start to complain...your areas of focus now will be physical combat training and mastering Space Skill techniques. You’ll be a given a book that contains details of various Space Skill techniques, including the name, effect and how to use it. But you need to give yourself a chance to recover mentally from the basic training...otherwise, you’ll only end up struggling," He advised me.
I really don’t want to just wait around doing nothing for a couple of days, but whenever he’s given me advice, it’s always been pretty helpful.
At this point, I have to accept the fact that I probably won’t be seeing my sister again anytime soon. All I can do is believe that she’s still alive...the people that took her, Eden, they want her power, so they won’t kill her...they won’t.
"Fine, I’ll take two days off, but that’s it. What am I even supposed to do for two whole days?" I sighed with a grimace.
"Well, you could try hanging out with the other Outliers. You haven’t really interacted with them all that much, have you?" He asked me.
"No, I haven’t. I mean, they’re all older than me, right, they probably don’t want a kid hanging around them," I shrugged in response.
"Hm? Well, one of them’s less than two years older than you, and another one’s less than four years older. The other two are a bit older, yes, but they all get along just fine. You’re just overthinking it, try talking to them and you’ll see."
Well...I’ve been so focused on my training that I didn’t really even consider befriending them or whatever, but I have to admit, whenever I see them all hanging out together, it does look they’re having fun.
Since my sister and I were the youngest in that traveling circus but were still one of the most popular acts, a lot of the other performers harassed and condescended us pretty often.
There were a handful that were nice to us, but even they started avoiding us after they were harassed for being friendly towards us. So, for the most part, we’ve only ever had each other...and now, we’re apart from each other for the first time in our lives.
Our mother was an acrobat in the circus, and trained both my sister and I, teaching us everything she knew. But she died when we were ten.
There wasn’t anyone else even close to our age in the circus, so I’ve never really had any friends. My twin sister, Petra, was my only real companion.
"Okay, I suppose it won’t hurt to go talk to them," I relented with a sigh.
"Great! Good luck, kid."
"Sure, whatever."
...
Okay, uh, this is harder than I thought. I was in the area where all the rooms were, and I could hear voices coming from inside one of them...and now that I was here, I was feeling really nervous.
I nervously raised my hand to the door, but I just couldn’t bring myself to knock on it...y-you know what, I think I’ll try again later, yeah-...suddenly, the door swung open, startling me and making me stumble back a couple of steps...
"Huh? Oh, it’s you...hey there, did you need something?"
I glanced up at the person who’d stepped out...it’s the guy with the black hair and scruffy chin. Wait, what’s his name? Actually, what are any of their names? Oh, right...I have absolutely no idea.
"U-uh, no, I don’t need anything or anything!" I blurted out in response...crap, I said ’anything’ twice, how embarrassing!
Oh, no, the others are peeking out now too, they’re all staring at me. This is bad, my mind is starting to blank out...
"Hey, uh, relax, there’s no need to be so anxious," Remarked the black haired guy awkwardly.
"I could be wrong, but...did you want to join us? You’re more than welcome if so," Chimed in the brown haired guy.
Huh? Oh...they’re nicer than I thought...
"Y-yeah, I, um...I-I finished my basic training and was told to take a couple of days off, a-and I didn’t really know how to spend that time, s-so...," I trailed off.
"Seriously, kid, chill out. Feel free to join in, uh...your name’s Dietrich, right?" Asked the black haired guy.
"Yes, th-that’s right. I’m sorry, I don’t know any of your names," I replied apologetically.
"Don’t worry about it, it’s only natural considering that we’ve all hardly spoken with you," Spoke up the blonde-haired girl with light blue eyes, "I’m Alexis Tucker, nice to meet you."
"Inoka Fonseka here, how’s it going?" Greeted the black haired guy.
"My name’s Zoraiz Rafayet," Added the brown haired guy.
"I’m Aurora Pretorius," Remarked the other blonde girl with the cool-looking eyes...the whites of her eyes are black, and her irises are sharp like a cat’s...it looks so freaking awesome, I want eyes like that...
I feel a lot calmer now...they all seem nice, I guess I really was just overthinking it...
"Nice to meet all of you, I’m Dietrich Engel, but you can call me Dieter," I introduced myself.
They then invited me in, which I accepted and joined them. There was a slightly big cat sprawled on the bed, fast asleep, with spots on its body...is it a leopard or cheetah? It looks too small though...
Anyway, the four of them had been playing a game of cards before I showed up, and they added me to the game.
I’ve never actually played any card games before, though I’ve seen the other people in that circus play them, so I sort of know how some of them work.
"Hey, if you don’t mind, can I ask you about your life before this? You lived in a circus right? What was that like?" Asked the younger blonde girl curiously...she said her name was, uh...Alexis, right?
"Come on, don’t put him on the spot like that, he still barely knows us," Responded Zoraiz, the brown haired guy. ƒrēewebnovel.com
Actually, I really don’t mind...
"Oh, sorry, my curiosity got the better of me. I guess it’s only fair that we tell you about how we ended up here first, huh?" She apologized sheepishly.
"Well, um...I really don’t mind talking about my past, so it’s fine. But I guess I’m curious about how you all got your powers too," I admitted in reply.
"Alright, then, backstory time! Alexis, since you brought it up, you go first," Grinned Inoka, the black haired guy.
And the other girl’s name is...Aurora. Great, I remember all their names!
"Sure, I’ll start us off. Okay, so it all started when I ran away from home and my abusive, cunt-ass parents...," She began, before explaining what she went through.
Once she finished, Zoraiz went next, followed by Inoka and then Aurora. And by the time they were done, I was kinda speechless...they’ve all lived difficult but fascinating lives, especially Aurora.
Living with cheetahs sounds amazing...the other three, though, their lives before ending up here were definitely not what I’d call desirable. Aurora had it rough too, but she also made it sound like she genuinely enjoyed that life.
"Wow, it’s almost like the Meta-Orbs ended up landing near people who had less than fortunate lives, huh?" I remarked, after they all finished.
"Yeah, I’ve thought about that too...but there are some exceptions. The pop star, Astra, was a fairly famous celebrity. The clips that went viral from New Zealand, with that young girl in a supermarket, she looked like she had a decent life...though I’m only basing that on her outfit and hairstyle, so I could be wrong. Then there’s the creepy fat guy from Wales, the clips of him probably went the most viral out of all of us...though, well, a lot of the videos of him got taken down because they were so graphic," Recalled Inoka thoughtfully.
Oh, right, I remember seeing those videos...my sister and I shared a cheap smartphone between us, and we used social media often. That circus was the only world we’d ever known, so naturally, we were fascinated by stuff that happened around the rest of the world.
"Okay, I guess it’s my turn...," I remarked, before telling them about my life before this.
I started by explaining how our mother had been a long-time performer at that circus, and that we had no idea who our father was. Our mother always dodged the question whenever we asked.
I told them about how she trained us, and then died in a freak accident when the tightrope she was walking on snapped, resulting in her falling to her death, breaking her neck as she landed.
Some of the other acrobats then took over training my sister and I, before we were included as an act once we were skilled enough.
We did pretty well, but things were rough in the circus, it wasn’t long before we were basically shunned by everyone else in the circus. Of course, since we were valuable to the ringleader and helped bring in more money, they never physically harassed or assaulted us, but it was still depressing.
I then got to how we came across the Meta-Orb, and how we ended up splitting its power between the two of us without realizing what was happening. And about a month later, we found the circus in flames, before we were each kidnapped and now, here I am...
"Wow...that must have been rough," Remarked Alexis sympathetically, after a brief silence following my explanation.
"I can kinda understand how you felt...the trailer park I lived in, I was the only non-white person there after my mother died, and the other residents all ignored me for the most part, and often gave me dirty looks for no reason," Added Zoraiz with a slight grimace.
"I mean, I guess it wasn’t that bad for me, at least my sister and I had each other. So I never really felt lonely, I always had her company by my side...but yeah, there were times where we’d both feel helpless over the fact that we had no one else whom we could rely on. The only comfort we really had was the warm embrace of each other’s bodies," I recalled, my shoulders slumping as I found myself missing my sister all the more.
"Wait, what?" Responded Inoka with a slightly bemused tone.
"Hey, get your mind out of the gutter for once, he just worded it poorly," Whispered Zoraiz, giving him a sharp nudge.
Huh? What are they talking about?
"Hmph, look at you, acting all mature. Someone’s getting cocky as the only non-virgin here," Inoka replied with a strained smile.
"Heh, are you still salty about that? Just go get laid instead of moping," Scoffed Alexis cuttingly.
"Quiet, brat, the adults are talking."
"Oh, I’m sorry, mister virgin adult."
"Guys, let’s talk about something else, this is awkward," Spoke up Aurora, her face kinda red.
"Aww, you’re so cute and innocent!" Grinned Alexis teasingly.
"Sorry about this, you probably aren’t interested in talking about this stuff, huh?" Zoraiz said to me apologetically.
"Well, I mean, I’m as interested as the next person, I guess," I shrugged in response, before asking curiously, "Is it really true that you’re the only one among you four who isn’t a virgin?"
"He sure is...I didn’t exactly get to meet a lot of people while I was living a shut-in’s life," Remarked Inoka dryly.
"And I was way too busy with my part-time jobs for any real social interaction with people my age," Sighed Alexis wistfully.
"O-oh, uh, and I’ve n-never done anything l-like that either," Stuttered Aurora awkwardly.
Wow, seriously? Huh, I feel kinda good about myself now...
"Hey, what’s with that smug look, kid? It’s not like you’ve ever gotten laid, have you?" Inquired Inoka jokingly.
"Hm?"
"...wait, you have!?"
"Well, I, uh...I thought I made that clear."
"I’m pretty sure you didn’t...when and where did this happen?" Asked Alexis with a look of intrigue.
"Let me think...almost every day for...four years, if I’m not mistaken?" I answered uncertainly.
Okay, why do they look even more bemused now?
"Wait a second, I thought you didn’t get along with anyone besides your sister?" Frowned Zoraiz in confusion.
"Yeah, that’s right."
"Oh...ohhh," Inoka’s eyes widened.
"Huh? I don’t get it...," Remarked Alexis with a confused tilt of her head...
"Uh, if I’m wrong, then I’m sorry, but...are you talking about your sister?" Inquired Inoka with a strange expression on his face.
"Eh?" Blurted out Aurora.
Ohh, I see, they really didn’t get it when I mentioned it earlier, guess I should’ve been more clear...
"Mhm, yup, that’s right," I answered Inoka with a nod.
_____________________________________________
Thank you for reading, I hope you enjoyed this Chapter! Don’t forget to vote, and feel free to leave a comment, I appreciate any and all feedback and criticism!
Also, check out my Instagram account @aimdaqs for posts relating to this book.
Join the Discord server, I plan to tease upcoming Chapters and future story arcs here, and you can also discuss or ask me any questions about the story and characters. Use the invite link to join:
https://discord.gg/sRbx9VbTVP
