Astoundingly Outcasted

Chapter #3; Ryeon Revamped

“Hey, Sakin! Guess what I found on the street…”

Both teens were kneeling over this unique device.

It was quite peculiar.

It had a weird barbed and zigzag design and the handle was multicoloured and ugly with a blue gem near the end. It almost looked like it belonged to a child.

But that couldn’t be it, could it?

Surely no one would hand a child a weapon, right?

Both were pondering over this but didn’t say it out loud.

To each their own, I guess.

“Do you think the design adds to the pain while stabbing or is it just a design feature?”

“Where did you even find it?”

Sakin had a lot of other questions, though.

“I found it under the old apartment complex, the one which was on fire this week.”

“The one where the mini-witch lives? This is probably hers. She’ll curse us if we don’t give it back.”

“Please, have you seen those ears? She’s not a witch, she’s a monster! She’s going to suck the blood out of us…”

“Don’t mess around. We best go return it before she comes to us…”

“I’ll go alone. That way, even if she does curse me, only I’ll get affected.”

“Someone’s wimping.”

“You’re welcome…”

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.

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His heart was pounding, his chest screaming.

Ryeon had to admit; he was a little scared.

Most kids from the neighbourhood would be. After all, the rumours behind apartment 786 could very well be true. He trembled as he weakly knocked on the witch’s door.

“Who is it?”

A voice from behind the door inquired.

“Rye—Ryeon, Ma’am.”

“Where did Rye bread come from?”

He breathed a sigh of both relief and anger. Even if this witch was bad news, she wasn’t mad for now.

“No, Rye-on. I have something that might belong to you.”

The door crept open, and he braced for impact.

He was caught off guard when instead of a boiling monster, a fair but burnt face was seen behind the door. She seemed low on energy at the moment but was immediately trying to hold back the tears flowing down her cheeks.

“You...you can keep it.”

“But it’s—”

“I said KEEP IT. You don’t want the witch around the block to curse you…”

Ryeon was caught off guard once more. He felt that she was well aware and even offended by the lies flying around about her. He admittedly felt guilty about it as well since even he was involved in the local garbling.

He trekked home with a mixed array of guilt, confusion, and relief bubbling in his stomach.

Arriving home he was suddenly overcome with a wave of exhaust. He didn’t remember dosing off though...

He woke up in his bed, a deep blue and black blocking his vision.

Maybe he was just dreaming?

Nope.

The stinging pain in his eyes said otherwise. He begged for help as loud as he could. At first, he expected to find either of his parents on their way. Unfortunately, someone else heard it in their absence.

His sweet, paranoid twin.

“Ryeon? What’s going on— oh my goodness! What’s up with you? You look like you’ve gone through puberty again but worse!”

Apparently, his features had changed quite a bit. His face was now plastered with freckles, hair bright teal, and, at the moment, his eyes were dark Prussian blue and seemingly bleeding in that colour.

As Ammara took a step towards him, the weight of her trembling steps shocked Ryeon a bit.

A glass of water tipped over as Ammara was suddenly hit with a jet of water. The new changes brought new mysteries.

“Did you control that? What is actually going on with you? Are you a water bender now?”

She bombarded him with questions like Sakin that afternoon. But Ryeon still couldn’t see anything, and that had to be dealt with first.

“Detain that explosive imagination of yours and help me out!”

He was clearly panicking at the moment, his hands trembling with black liquid smeared across them. Ammara was rather oblivious at times, but knew she wasn’t up to the task of calming him down.

Someone across the street certainly was.

Upon seeing Ryeon’s state, Sakin himself started internally panicking.

Almost as if he knew something…

Nonetheless, he managed to calm down, and Ryeon’s blindness and bleeding eventually wore off. The other changes, though, were here to stay.

Sakin then carefully started to approach the topic of the hydrokinectivity as narrated by Ammara.

“Did... anything else change, or was it just your appearance? Did you get some sort of elemental manipulation?”

Ryeon was dumbfounded, not knowing if he could trust his best friend at the moment.

Would they see him as any different if he had any powers?

He was unsure, but spilled the beans nonetheless. When he was done with the little narration, he was able to see the discomfort on Sakin’s face. The cogs were clearly turning in there.

“That dagger…”

“What?”

“We have to return that dagger.”

“I tried to. The witch said she didn’t want it back.”

“We still have to. And she’s not a witch…”

Sakin was trembling because of the added fear that comes with the abundance of knowledge. Ryeon was still unaware of what they were signing up for.

“Ayo Natheren, open the door! I know you’re not a witch…”

This sudden burst of emotion was unexpected for Sakin. There was clearly something left unaddressed here.

The door to flat number 786 crept open once again.

“Who’s there and how do you—”

The face behind it stopped mid-sentence once her eyes saw Sakin. For the first time ever there was persistence and confidence on the face she saw, though.

“Was that dagger really yours?”

“No. It was my sister’s.”

“What happened to her?”

“She’s... in Kaputt.”

“Aha! I knew it! Please take the dagger back.”

“Why? I don’t need it…”

“You still have to. Just look at Ryeon. That dagger was not simply just a dagger.”

A smirk spreads across a burnt face.

“You mean Rye-bread? What happened to him?”

Someone started to get annoyed by how lightly she was taking this.

“Listen here. Raat. It’s not common that a human gets a natheren’s powers.”

“How are you so well-versed on this topic?”

Lips were bitten.

“I have my ways…”

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Back at home, Ammara was freaking out in front of the mirror. Freckles plastered her face and her hair was a bright teal blue.

“Wait. Ryeon can control water now. Can I as well?”

She tried it out on a glass of water in the kitchen.

“Aww…”

She was merely disappointed, but not surprised.

26th March 2021, Friday.

Ryeon;

So apparently... I have some girl’s dead sister’s dagger now who had powers so now I have those powers and since I’m human it changes my and Ammara’s appearance but only I get powers. Or at least that’s what I can understand so far. But hey! At least I know flat 786 doesn’t host a vampire. She does have a weird face though. Like, it’s normal but has a lightning bolt across it.

He still won’t tell me how they know so much about this topic though...

Ammara;

RYEON GOT POWERS. LITERAL FICTION POWERS. His hair changed colour and he got these freckles all over his face. I also got pretty hair and freckles. THAT’S RIGHT POPULAR GIRLS WATCH OUT! I didn’t get any powers though. Buuut... he also started crying black tears and he said it hurt, so I don’t know. Maybe it’s not that bad not having literal TV powers. Just saying. Could have been the main character in a movie or TV show. Or maybe even a play or drama. I could get even with all those bullies saying I’m an i***t who’s not special.

Also Ryeon said that he’s going to join me and go to the next recontre. BUT I can’t go to the next recontre since Iris says it’s not quote unquote ‘lady-like’ and that I ‘should listen to my best friend who gives the bester advice in the whole entire school.’ If anything she should improve her grammar and not stick her nose in other people’s business, especially with those she fakes being a friend with.

I still won’t go though. Iris has tennis the day of the recontre and I don’t wanna deal with the ‘best captain the school has ever had’. She’s going to be Ryeon’s problem.

Also, speaking of Ryeon, Iris just loves getting on his nerves. And I mean LOVES. To the point that if we’re going to be free, it used to be that she started rambling about how ‘pretty’ she is and how ‘every boy’ something something, but now it’s like ‘where’s your brother I wanna get on his nerves, it’s funny how short his fuse is.’ Something’s telling me that it’s more than just that...

Leila;

Random boys showing up at my doorstep? Strange. Returning a lost item they thought belonged to me since they’re afraid of the witch of the block? Makes total sense. One of them claims to know that I’m a Natheren. (?) One of them had fangs, but his ears were normal though. The kid was bearing his teeth like a feral cat. The same one Aibek lives with.

Something’s up and I want to get in on the tea...