(Valin's POV)
"You're the youngest. The final born of our chosen, do you know what that means?" Tana asked while braiding my waist-length hair.
"It means... I survived longer than the others in my past life," I answered.
She giggled.
"Precisely! You're sharp! All the other chosen were killed in battle on the same day, yet your previous incarnation stood his ground and fought for years on his own before falling."
She finished with my hair, tying the braids with a ribbon into a high ponytail, and then she turned me around to face her.
"That means we have great hope for you! Also, your powers manifested very early. You're possibly the most remarkable Chosen on any planet," Tana added.
I was taken to the palace at a young age.
My grasp of the Earth element was astounding and my identity as a chosen one was obvious even when I was only one year old.
How that was discovered is... a painful memory that plagues me to this day.
When I activated my powers, it crushed everyone within a five-mile radius.
I had no idea what I was capable of. I was the only person standing in the wreckage, crying over my dead relatives.
The authorities found me and dragged me before King Vetro.
He praised me, then welcomed me to the palace with open arms, saying,
"I am your father now, and this is your home, Prince Valin."
After that I was forced into the palace with three other brothers, who were older than me. Netalai, Rytem and Raijian.
We aren't blood but are bonded by the roles we share.
Netalai is the mist, Rytem is the sound, and Raijian is the fire.
None of us are allowed to step outside, until we mastered our powers and gained Vetro's approval.
For years it was just us, studying under a strange woman Tana.
One day we were going over my lessons.
She tried to explain concepts to me but I made it clear they were already obvious to me.
I even reworked some formulas to make them more efficient.
Initially, I was excited to share what I was working on, but then she suddenly started shouting,
"BORING! You're too smart I hate it! I hate it! hate it!"
I was startled by the sound of her screaming.
She bit down on her thumbnail and scrunched her broken face then turned back to me and smiled.
"I guess we can move on to your next lesson then," Tana said in a strained tone.
That's when she took me away from the others, into a large stone cell with another boy. He looked dirty and tired and I could feel it when he looked at me, his fear... and sadness.
He must have been locked up for days, but why?
"Fight him" Tana whispered and I turned to her and asked,
"Why?"
She grinned.
"It's time to put what you learned into action."
I glanced at the boy who was trembling slightly but put his guard up as if this wasn't his first match.
"Go on... why are you hesitating?" she urged.
"He... doesn't want to fight me," I remarked.
She tilted her head in confusion.
"So?"
What can I say to get through to her?
"I don't want to fight someone so weak... he should eat a meal first. A balanced meal, and get some sleep. I'll fight him after that," I answered.
She pouted.
"Oh... How about I just kill him and bring you back someone healthier?"
She raised her hand towards him and I shouted no, but saw her charging up to attack him anyway, so I manipulated the minerals in her bones causing the offending arm to snap in several places.
"F**K!" she screeched and guards rushed inside.
At first, they turned their weapons towards me but quickly realized they couldn't get close enough to attack me because the gravitational pressure around my body was too immense.
So they gave up and decided to just take her away.
The boy was crying then so as soon as we were alone I rushed over to him.
"I can help you get out of here... they'll track me down no matter what, but you can escape," I assured.
I patted his head, then he embraced me and said,
"No... they have my mom... I can't go anywhere."
Then he cried harder so I patted his back to comfort him and ease the awkwardness of the situation.
I managed to tolerate the hug for around two seconds before pushing him off of me and leaving.
I'll have to figure out where his mom is... hopefully, she's not in the King's harem because I hate going there.
Tana came to my room in a cast later.
It seems the way I shattered her bone was taking a long time to heal and she looked angry at first, but instead of lashing out at me, she kissed my forehead and said,
"You did well... I had the boy fed... he's sleeping now so you'll fight him tomorrow."
After she was gone I wiped the kiss away and pulled out the book I had stolen from the library yesterday.
It was an astronomy book... I wish I could see the stars in real life... or travel to another world to count all the lights in the sky.
I finished the book quickly and then hid it in the tunnel I created under my floor so no one could find it, with other books I've collected.
"Hey Valin! What are you doing?!" Rytem asked, barging into my room.
"Are your eyes working?" I asked, holding my arms open showing off an empty room, aside from a bed and my empty hands.
He laughed as if I was joking and sat beside me on the floor.
"I heard that if we behave well we can get a bookshelf in our room," he confessed.
"Why would they tell you that?"
"No one has to tell me... I have very good hearing," he gave me a smug grin so I responded with a disgusted look saying,
"That's creepy."
"For example, I heard you reading," I stared at him to see if he had a point. "You'd probably enjoy a bookshelf more than the rest of us... so you should start behaving."
"I haven't done anything wrong," I corrected and he scoffed.
"You hold back. I heard the whispers about you before you came. How you're able to control the minerals in blood and bones, can generate your own gravitational force field five miles in diameter. I heard how when you first discovered your powers, you killed over five thousand people."
I was struck silent.
The memory shook me and I started hyperventilating, why is he bringing this up?
"You haven't shown even a fraction of that here," Rytem noted with a hint of annoyance.
"I don't want to hurt anyone!"
When I yelled this he frowned and replied,
"Now you're the one being creepy. Anyway, I'm going to find Nelly, bye."
After that, he left me to my dark thoughts and self-loathing.
Over the next few weeks, people arrived at the palace to gawk at me and whisper amongst themselves.
Things like:
"He's so beautiful, are we sure he's a prince and not a princess?"
"The last Earth incarnation stood his ground in the war alone for three years without the other chosen!"
"This Chosen is more remarkable than the last."
"I just want to take him home, and cuddle him."
"He took out a whole neighborhood by accident! Just imagine what he could do on purpose!"
The whispers grew daily.
More and more people came to see me and watch me, comment on me, and praise me for my deepest regret, every day since I got here and one day I finally snapped.
"F**K ALL OF YOU! SHUT UP! YOU THINK YOUR STUPID F**KING COMPLIMENTS MAKE ME HAPPY?! YOU'RE ALL TRASH! PEOPLE DIED! WHAT IS WRONG WITH YOU?!" The force of my anger knocked the three people who arrived today back into the wall and it cracked on impact.
After being stunned they all got up limped or crawled away.
Tana immediately rushed and hugged me.
"There there. It's okay, I guess you got overstimulated. I tell them to reduce the visito-"
I thrust her away.
"Get your disgusting hands off me! I struggle not to puke every time I look at you! How dare you touch me!"
She stopped smiling for once and frowned.
"... It's time for your fight, now isn't it?" Tana said to change the subject.
Her voice wavered and if I didn't know any better, I'd have sworn she was crying.
She led me to the same cell as yesterday.
I could tell she kept her word and fed my opponent.
"Now... fight him... and do well. If I feel like you're holding back too much, I'll kill him myself." Her voice sounded cold as if she had finally lost patience with me.
"Is it just hand-to-hand combat?" I asked...
I hope it is, I don't see how I'd avoid killing him if I had to go at full power.
"No... test it, your theories on Isolated Increased Gravity. Not on us, just on him, then attempt Isolated Decrease to cause him to lose his footing.
After that, turn his body into a magnet.
I want to see how practical the things you've learned will be in combat," she explained.
I reluctantly increased the gravity around the boy across from me.
He fell onto his hands and knees and grunted.
His body shook as he struggled to keep his face from slamming into the floor.
So I stopped there.
Even if Tana claims she'll punish me for holding back, she has no real way of knowing when I am, if I don't show her my full strength.
Once it looked like he couldn't hold himself up anymore, I lowered the gravity until he slowly floated to the ceiling.
He began slowly descending to the floor, that's when I turned him into a powerful magnet.
Everything metal, all the weapons the guards carried flew out of their sheaths, and the keys hanging around Tana's wrist floated upward, pointing in the boy's direction as well.
"Wow... I can see the possibilities... that's good enough, you can kill him now," she declared with a smile.
"No," I replied.
She stared at me in shock.
"I don't want to hurt anyone anymore," I said while demagnetizing the boy and lowering my arm.
"Except you... I have no qualms about hurting you," I added coldly.
Her face was still full of surprise then she pouted and stomped out of the training room. I approached the boy on the floor and leaned down to ask,
"What's your name?"
Instead of answering, he reached up to hug me again.
When I saw his face inching toward mine, I punched him in the jaw out of reflex
I then regrettably watched his body bounce off the wall, twist upward hitting the ceiling and flop back down onto the floor with a loud SMACK.
Damn, I meant to hold back.
"Ow..." he groaned.
Oh good he's alive.
I moved over and began healing him then he smiled and said,
"My name is Noah..."
"Sorry for hitting you, Noah... I don't like being touched."
Especially kissed but I'll leave that part out.
"I just... wanted to see if you spared me because you thought I was cute or something... You're very beautiful by the way. I had no idea princesses lived in the Chosen Wing of the palace," I glared at him.
He was blushing and oozing unearned confidence.
"I'm not in love with you... I'm not a girl and I'm not gay," I replied.
He looked like he was hit with a double whammy, then stared at me blankly for the next few seconds, as I finished healing him. "I just... don't like killing people," I admitted.
"I'm not gay either but I'll make an exception for you!" he declared boldly.
I was stunned for a moment, then I rolled my eyes and got on my feet.
"Too bad for you, to me, you're not exceptional."
My rejection stunned him all over again, then he mumbled something about me not loving him at all so I interrupted by saying,
"Do you know where your family is kept? I'm getting you all out of here today."
To which he replied to me with tears in his eyes,
"You're so cruel, doing so much for me. I'm just gonna fall deeper in love with you now."
"Get over it!" I yelled in response.
He's still dwelling on that?!
The heck?
He's annoying but I don't regret saving him.
That night I helped him and his family escape.
There was a short investigation into his disappearance but once my involvement was discovered, the case was dropped.