In a crumbling city, filled with the shadows of forgotten dreams, Kael Lucien, a 16-year-old boy, walked alone. His footsteps echoed against the cracked streets, the remnants of what was once a thriving neighborhood. The city had once been alive with energy, but now it felt like a ghost of its former self.
Kael had always felt disconnected. Since his mother's death, he had been alone, carrying a burden he couldn't explain. His mother had passed when he was young, and his father? A mystery—a ghost who vanished without a trace. Raised in a cold, indifferent world, Kael was forced to grow up too fast, becoming a loner by necessity. He lived with questions about his past and his family's history, but no answers ever came.
The world around him was broken, and Kael was just another child trying to survive in it. In a society where people were born with powers—some with Lumen Essence and others with Umbre Essence—Kael had none. He was different, powerless. And for that reason, he was often laughed at, bullied, and treated as an outsider.
One night, as Kael searched the streets for food, he was ambushed by a group of kids around his age. They tried to take everything he had, beating him mercilessly. Bruised and battered, Kael fled, but he was cornered in an alley. When he looked up, he realized he was standing in front of his own house.
He rushed inside, retreating to a place he had never noticed before—a hidden room, tucked away behind a forgotten wall. The kids eventually left, and Kael, still reeling from the attack, began to explore the house. That was when he found it.
A secret room, full of old books and dull weapons. And something else. Something strange.
In the center of the room, encased in a glass case, was an orb. Pure white, it glowed softly, casting strange shadows across the walls. Kael's heart raced, confusion and curiosity flooding his mind.
What the hell is this? he thought. I've never seen this before. And this room… I didn't even know it existed.
Without thinking, his fingers brushed the orb.
The moment he touched it, a surge of energy shot through him. His body went rigid, and his right hand began to glow, casting a soft, ethereal light.
Kael gasped in pain. "Gahhhhhh!" His body trembled as the light spread up his arm, something inside him awakening. Something powerful. Something angelic.
Panicking, he jerked his hand back, but the glow remained.
"Help! Someone help!!!"
The orb's energy surged, flowing into his very soul. As the power settled, Kael felt a change. His right arm still glowed faintly, and his heart raced.
"What's this?"
Staring at his palm, Kael watched in disbelief as the scrape on his hand healed in seconds, the skin knitting itself back together. The power felt alien, yet strangely comforting. But it terrified him.
Then, something stranger happened. His arm—stopped time.
"WHAT THE HELL IS GOING ON?!"
The world around him froze. Time itself seemed to stand still. Kael moved through the frozen scene, unable to comprehend what was happening.
He could pause reality.
In his panic, he accidentally triggered something else—telekinesis.
"Huh? Not only healing and stopping time... but lifting things up with my mind? Telekinesis?!"
Books, shelves, and weapons around him lifted off the ground, spinning in the air, jagged edges slicing through the silence. Kael, horrified, dropped them all, the chaos crashing back into place.
Overwhelmed, terrified, and completely lost, Kael ran from the wreckage he had caused. The realization settled in—he was no longer just a regular kid. Something inside him had changed. But how could he control it?
Days passed as Kael hid, confused and desperate to understand his new abilities. His mind spun in a whirlwind of uncertainty. Who was he now? Why had he been chosen for this?
One day, Kael went out again, searching for food. That's when he met her.
Yuna.
A girl, cute but stubborn, with no parents of her own, struggling to survive in the same broken world as Kael.
At first, she attacked him. Despite his newfound abilities—his power to stop time—Kael couldn't bring himself to fight her. Instead, he raised his glowing hand, not to strike, but to defend.
"Please wait, how about we talk things through?"
Kael dropped to one knee, panting, his arm extended outward. "Please... I don't want to fight you."
Yuna hesitated, her power flaring as dust swirled around them. She could have finished him right then and there, but something in his eyes stopped her—the pain, the loneliness.
She lowered her stance slightly, keeping her distance. "No funny business, got it?"
Kael, exhausted but relieved, nodded. "Sure, that's fine by me."
It was in that moment that they truly saw each other. Not as enemies, but as two lost souls, bound together in a world that feared power more than it understood it.