Dark central City - 2030
Inside Dark central Academy
Class 10 stayed perfectly still as the smartboard projected the final lines of notes in a soft blue shimmer. The quiet hum of the device filled the room. When Mrs. Grace set down her stylus and exhaled, the entire class loosened with her, sharing a slow breath as if the academy itself had told them to stand down.
"And that is all for today." She folded her hands on the desk and gave them a warm smile. "Now then, who is excited for this weekend's Talent Awakening Ceremony?"
It was like someone had flipped a switch.
Chairs shifted, the students straightened up. Excited murmurs bounced from desk to desk. A few students even sat on the edges of their seats, unable to contain themselves.
The Talent Awakening Ceremony happened only once each year. It was the moment every student in Class 10 awakened the power sleeping inside them. Fire, lightning, telekinesis, superhuman strength. Every student dreamed of something bright and powerful. Something they could brag about for the rest of their lives.
"Oh, me. I can't wait." A boy raised his hand eagerly. "What do you think I'll get? Element Talent? Sense Talent? Physical? Maybe even ESP."
"I can already imagine myself with an Element Talent," a girl said with full confidence as her eyes glittered.
The girl beside her crossed her arms. "You only say that because everyone in your family has one. What if you get something different?"
"It has to be Element." She lifted her chin. "My family's bloodline always awakens it. So I should too."
Around them, the class filled with dreams and wild guesses. Students imagined themselves throwing fireballs during combat training, or running faster than a car, or hearing a monster breathing from a mile away.
Mrs. Grace listened with a soft smile. Her students were always loud when they were hopeful. She loved moments like this. Then she noticed one girl looking slightly too confident, almost arrogant. Her eyes narrowed a little.
"And what," she asked gently, "if you awaken no talent at all, Miss Keys?"
The classroom died instantly.
Like someone had cut the sound out of the world.
Everyone knew what she meant. In the academy's entire history, only one girl had ever awakened nothing. It happened the year before. She remained stuck in Class 10 while everyone else moved forward. Her classmates drifted away from her. Teachers stopped calling on her, even family turned their backs.
The world had only one name for her, the Talentless One.
"Never." Kimberly Keys sat up straight. "I will never be like that girl. My family is full of talents. Influential and powerful people in Dark central city. I refuse to accept anything less."
Her confidence cracked only slightly at the edge. She tried to hide it by looking toward the window.
There, with her head on her arms, Rose Flowers slept like the world's worries never touched her.
"Miss Flowers. Miss Flowers," Mrs. Grace called softly.
No reaction, only a few students snickering quietly as Mrs. Grace tried again, louder, "Miss Flowers," yet still nothing.
She frowned and walked over. The sunlight from the window framed Rose's still form. A tiny strand of her black hair glowed faintly in the light. Mrs. Grace reached out and gently shook her shoulder.
"Miss Flowers, wake up. Are you feeling..." She stopped as she felt nothing, no breath, no heartbeat, no warmth.
Mrs. Grace's eyes widened. Panic rushed into her chest. She placed her palm on Rose's sternum and leaned closer. Nothing. Not even the faintest movement.
"Miss Flowers." Her voice broke.
She acted before anyone else could react. She lifted the girl into her arms, holding her as carefully as she could, and hurried out of the classroom with shaky footsteps. The students watched in stunned silence.
Some exchanged confused glances, while others whispered.
Kimberly stared at the empty seat Rose left behind and said nothing at all.
School Clinic
The clinic smelled faintly of herbs and clean linen. Cool air hummed from the purifier near the wall, mixing with the soft rustle of curtains. Mrs. Grace stood near the bed, anxiety filling every inch of her posture.
Healer Faith examined Rose with quiet precision. Her fingers pressed lightly on the girl's wrist, then her neck, then her chest. She stayed silent for several seconds, long enough for Mrs. Grace to feel her heartbeat rise into her throat.
Finally, Faith straightened. "I do not think she is ever going to wake up. Her heart is not beating. No pulse and no sign of breath."
Mrs. Grace's voice turned thin. "I cannot hear anything either. Poor girl. She worked so hard this year. The ceremony is only a few days away. I wonder how her family will take this."
"Her family will not care." Healer Faith's voice held no hesitation. "Who would care about someone with no talent. She is useless to the community. If anything, dying saves her and everyone from trouble."
"Healer Faith." Mrs. Grace stepped back, shocked. "You should not say something like that. Everyone's destiny is different. Just because she did not awaken a talent yet does not mean she is worthless. I always believed she was different from the other students. That is why I never gave up on her."
Faith shrugged as if the matter did not concern her.
Then something faint reached her ears, a tiny beat followed by another. "Healer Faith," she whispered, "did you hear that?"
Faith paused. "If she could not awaken a talent last year, the world does not expect much from her this year."
Mrs. Grace turned sharply toward the bed and froze.
Rose Flowers was sitting up. Her eyes were open, staring directly at them.
Mrs Grace gasped. Relief flooded her so quickly her knees almost weakened. She rushed forward. "Miss Flowers, you are awake. Thank goodness. I thought we lost you. I truly thought you were dead."
Even Healer Faith took a step back. Her expression twisted from disbelief to fear. Rose had been cold. She had been still, dead. Yet she now sat upright like she had just woken from a short nap.
Rose blinked at them. She looked lost.
"Who the fuck are you?" she asked.
Mrs Grace blinked. "I am your teacher, Mrs. Grace. And you are my student, Miss Flowers."
"Why are you calling me Miss?" Rose asked. Her brows pulled together. Her head throbbed faintly as memories clashed with each other. She saw another room, another body, a hotel bed, and a woman with a seductive smile. She remembered her husband bursting inside with a gun. She remembered shouting, then pain before everything turned dark.
"This does not make sense," Mrs. Grace whispered. "Healer Faith, why is Miss Flowers acting like this?"
Faith did not respond. She had no explanation.
Rose stood unsteadily. Her eyes drifted to the glass door, and the breath left her chest.
"Who the hell is that? And why is she wearing my face?" she said.
She moved and the reflection moved.
She touched her cheek. The girl in the reflection copied her.
"No fucking way," she whispered. Panic tightened around his ribs. "What happened to my handsome face? Who is this bitch?"
Mrs. Grace and Healer Faith exchanged looks of confusion.
"What kind of psycho did some transgender shit on me," she muttered, her gaze dropping to the boobs area as she cupped them lightly out of instinct, soft and warm beneath her hands, perfectly cuppy.
"Not bad…" she murmured, then yelped softly as reality hit. She grabbed the hem of the clinic gown and lifted it slightly.
The horror struck her like a truck.
"My rifle, my banana, it's gone." Her voice cracked. "At least they could have kept my precious rifle."
Before panic could swallow her, a clear ding echoed in the air.
A glowing screen appeared before her eyes.
[Congratulations. You have awakened your Talent]
Rose stared at it.
And then everything went dark as she fainted.