It was my 10th birthday.

I don't remember much about what happened before noon, what I do remember is losing consciousness and waking up. To find my whole town brought down to ashes of the buildings, houses and trees that stood there.

I woke up on the ground and looked around. I saw no buildings nothing. I was so confused. The ground was littered with mutilated corpses. I stumbled back, terrified.

This is just a dream....yeah...it has to be.

Then I saw my mom lying dead near me.

I screamed. It was the most horrifying sight I had ever seen.Her face was almost unrecognisable, her beautiful brown hair had turned ash grey. Her skin had melted and her raw flesh was visible. Her whole body was covered from head to toe in third degree burns, and her eyes were full of horror and hatred.

I was still in denial, but this felt too real for a dream.

"Mom! mom, please just wake up...!"

I shook her, crying and begging for her to wake up and say that this was all just a joke.

"M - mom...who..? what's going on? Who did this...?! Mom....!"

My whole body shook from my sobs. Why ? why?! I walked around aimlessly seeing my dad, my family, my best friend, all the people I ever knew, dead!

I crumpled to the ground and cried in shock and pain and anger. I cried until no more tears would come and I had no energy left and the only sound in the air were my sobs.

Then I thought,

I hadn't seen Lily. I hadn't seen Lily! Could she be alive?

Part of me didn't even want to look for her. My little sister was just a newborn baby then.

I don't think I could have recovered after seeing her mutilated corpse. Who am I kidding? I've never recovered. Not really. Even today the memories of that day haunt me.

But another part of me wanted to cling on to that last shred of hope that she could be alive, that not everything in this world had gone to hell. So I got myself up and walked and walked.

The radius of destruction was so big! Who in their right mind would do this? What had I done to deserve this?!

I tried so hard to remember what had happened but nothing came up. The last thing I remembered was my body being engulfed in scorching heat. Maybe it was a good thing I didn't remember.

As I saw more and more people, children dead, my grief merged into anger. My whole life!

I didn't even care how tired and hungry I was, I just kept walking. And I'm glad I did. Because then I heard a baby's cry.

I ran towards it as fast as I could and I saw a baby in a basket. She was wearing the same blue blanket as Lily.It was Lily! I had no idea how we survived from what happened or how she got here but I almost didn't care. I picked up my crying sister, hugged her tightly and cried out in joy.

"Lily! Lily, thank god you're alive!"

I soothed her, and walked further. Help would be arriving soon... someone had to have seen this much damage.But what would I even do after this? My parents were dead. I was just a healer.I had no future.

I wish all of this was just a nightmare. Wouldn't that be nice? I would wake up any second now, back in my bed in my home, with mom and dad. It was the wishful thinking on my part.

Only if that were true.

I laid down on the ground with Lily and fell asleep. Shortly after, the rescue team arrived and took us out of there. Me and Lily were taken to an orphanage. That was 5 years ago. Now I was 15 and she was 5.I hated the orphanage. 

That day, I swore to make the person who ruined my life pay. Maybe its wrong,but I want to cause them the same amount of pain that they had caused me. Next year I would turn 16 and Lily and I could get out of here.

And the first thing I would do was to find the bastard who killed my family.

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I freakin' hated this class. Just 10 more minutes... And I would be out of here. Thank god this was the last class. My eyelids were so heavy that I felt like falling asleep everytime I blinked. I tried to focus. What were we even learning about...?

Just then, our teacher, Mr Smith calls my name.

"Rita Scarlett, Please stand up." Great. I stood up, and he immediately asked me a question.

"What is the name of the process by which magic from runes is used?"

"Uh..."

I tried my best to remember, but nothing came up. So I decided to make a wild guess.

"It's Runemagation, sir," I blurted out. I regretted it as soon as I said it. Really, how did I make up these words?

The students around me sniggered at my answer. Mr.smith looked at me disapprovingly.

"Please come to my office after school, Rita."

Just what I needed.

"As for the rest of the class, you can have the last 5 minutes free." He walked out of the class.

As soon as he was out of earshot , Amy mimicked me,

"It's Runemagation, sir." Everyone laughed.

"C'mon, Amy, it's not like she can help it. She's a healer, of course she'd be dumb!"

Someone said. Pretty soon everyone had something to say.

In my planet Galaxia, where everyone had powers healers were considered useless.

But it wasn't always like this. A couple of decades ago healers were actually respected because they were so essential to society. Rich and powerful people hired them and gave them protection and huge sums of money in return for healing them.

But then a magical plant called Terra was discovered. It could heal many times more effectively and faster than healers. It was really cheap,too as it grew abundant and fast. It quickly became the bane of healers.

One by one, healers were discarded like used toys. Everyone switched to Terra. Healers had no use, no purpose to their lives. Jobless, defenseless, healers became easy targets.

I couldn't stand 5 more minutes of jeers and insults so I began to walk out of the class. I had barely reached the door when Amy blocked my way.

"Why are you leaving? We were just joking around...!"

"Joking around my foot! Move out of my way, Amy."

"What did you say?"

She punched my stomach.

Her power was strength amplification.

It hurt so much my eyes watered. She was power drunk. I curled up on the floor in pain. She grabbed me by my hair and pulled my head up. I cried out in pain.

"I asked, what did you just say you pathetic healer scum!"

"I said move out of my -"

I was cut off as she slapped me across the cheek. Hard. Again. And again. She was taking her anger towards someone else on me. My cheek was bleeding.

"Amy please, just for once,leave me alone!"

I cried.

I looked up to see her face flushed with anger.

"You...you of all people, goddammit,why?! You're just a healer,an orphan! What makes you better than me?"

What was she even talking about?

She kicked me in the ribs fracturing them, and stormed off, leaving me on the floor crying in pain.

The bell rang and everyone walked out. I winced as some of them stepped over me just for fun.

Fun. Was that what this was to them? For Amy? What the hell did I ever do to them?! Was it too much to ask for them to just leave me alone?

I lifted myself up, and cried out in pain as my broken ribs shifted. I limped over to a bench in the now empty classroom and healed myself, sobbing.

I hated my life. I hated everyone.

A few years ago, there was a time when I wanted to get stronger, so I worked out, I increased my strength so that I could defend myself. But physical strength without any other powers was useless against people like Amy.

What was the point? Why did I even try...?

I walked out of the class, going down the stairs, back to the orphanage. The people there couldn't care less if I ran away. Maybe Lily would. That brought a faint smile on my face. She was the one person who cared about me. The one person I cared about. I increased my pace adjusting my heavy bag on my shoulders.

I reached my house, the orphanage. It was always just a building, a house to me.

Never a home. I went to my dorm, kept my bag on the floor and flopped onto my bed. I closed my eyes. I was so exhausted. I'd totally forgotten about Mr Smith. Whatever. I'd deal with him tomorrow.

"Rita! You're back!"

Lily's voice.

I sat up and grinned at her.

"You know, today at school, a boy told 'I love you' to me!" Seriously? They were just in kindergarten!

"Pfft!"

I laughed. She frowned.

"Don't laugh! So I said..."

She gushed on.

But really,it was no wonder. She was so cute and pretty, in contrast to me. She had bright wavy light blue hair which were tied into pigtails,rosy cheeks and blue eyes that twinkled when smiled. Her features were perfect.

I, on the other hand had no particularly striking features. With brown hair and black eyes, I was a splitting image of mom.

I nodded as Lily continued with her story over dinner.

"Rita, when will I get my powers...?"

"Hmm? Well, it depends...most people get theirs around 8 or 9 years of age. So yeah, you aren't likely to get your powers soon,"

I replied.

"But, Rita... I... Today morning something happened. I- I cut myself and it reeally hurt, and when I touched it it glowed and the wound was gone! Just like that! Do I have powers?"

"Wait...what?!"

I was shocked. I looked at her. She was so excited and bursting with joy... I almost didn't want to spoil it for her. I quickly looked around us to see if anyone had heard us.

"Lily," I whispered,"You have to keep this a secret, okay?"

"But why?"

"Umm.."

What should I tell her?

"Because if people know that you have powers, they'll be jealous and take you away!"

I felt silly, trying to fool a kid. But I had to.

Her eyes widened with fear.

"Really?! Oh no Rita, what do I do?"

"Try to not use your powers, and don't tell anyone else, okay?"

"But.. what if I can't control it?"

That was true. It was highly unusual for kids as young as her to get powers. She wouldn't be able to control it.

But I had to keep this a secret as long as I could.

"You have to suppress it, Lily. Or they will take you away. Promise me?"

"Alright... I'll try." She intertwined her little finger with mine, and said,

"Pinky promise."

I hugged her.

I had to protect her. I couldn't let her suffer like me. I couldn't let anyone know that she was a healer.

Author's note: some pretty major events are gonna take place in the next few chapters, so stay tuned! Also, please give this chapter a vote as it really helps the story to get discovered. :)

Fire. So much of it. Rage, grief, mixed emotions swirling within me.

I was burning.

Heat engulfed my body. I heard screams, crying for help, people dying all around me. My mom crying,"No! Please spare her! No...! Aaah! What's wrong with you?! You monster!"

He was there. The person who killed my family was there. And I was hearing him kill my mom. I couldn't see anything. Then the screams stopped. Darkness. All around me, suffocating me.

I woke up from the nightmare, panting and covered in sweat. It was early morning. I looked at the clock. It was 6am and I could hear the birds chirping.

What the hell was that dream?

Was I getting my memories back? Would I finally see his face?

I got up from the bed. I wasn't a morning person, but there wasnt much sleep left in me.

I washed my face first to clear my thoughts. I looked at myself in the mirror by my side and combed my straight,short hair.

Then trying not to wake anyone else, I took the book I was reading and lay down on the bed with my legs crossed. I tried to read the book but I just couldn't concentrate. Finally I gave up and closed the book, then stared at the ceiling.

When I was small, I used to pretend that I was still at our home, with mom and dad. That everything was fine. But after a while it just got too painful to slip back into reality, so I stopped. Of course I had had nightmares before, but none so vivid. This one brought back the very memories I'd been trying to suppress. Maybe I was getting my memories back. But the real question was, did I actually want them back?

I went to school after reminding Lily of her promise again. I was so upset for her. I still couldn't believe she was a healer. She didn't know it yet, but after a few years, she'd probably have to suffer like me.

On the way to school, a tv in a shop was on. The news reporter was saying, "This just coming in, citizens in Atlanta are in panic as perilanter sightings have been reported! The government has declared a state of emergency in Atlanta. The perilanters have already claimed the lives of many innocent civilians."

Then they switched to blurred footage of mauled bodies of brutally killed people.

What on Galaxia was going on!? Perilanters...oh god.

They were monsters.

Hundreds of years ago,there were two extraordinarily powerful people. They were Slantin and Liang. Liang misused his powers, wreaking destruction all over. Slantin tried to stop him, but it lead to a huge war which lasted for years.

Liang turned innocent people into monsters using sacrificial magic to build his army. They were called perilanters. They were immortal, and couldn't die. They could be temporarily stunned, sure, but not killed. They were each unique. Everyone of them was a different type of monstrosity. They also spread diseases, which were incurable.

Slantin used guerrilla warfare, retreating and attacking. He captured the perilanters group by group. Then he trapped all of them in a cave and sealed them with his magic, and won the war. Or at least, that's how the story goes. He spent the rest of his life trying to find a way to turn the perilanters back to their original selves. But he never did.

But what she said next was even worse. "Along with this, unknown diseases with no known cure have also been breaking out. The most common a disease now being called sleeping sickness which puts people into a coma like stage.

Who could have been so powerful to actually have opened the cave sealed by Slantin's magic?

Not to mention no one really knew where it was.

"According to the health department, the diseases only spread from perilanters to humans and not between humans.

"All of this has led to people protesting for their safety and for the amendment of Article 205 on the Healer's touch. As of now institutions in Arinata will continue working as usual till further notice...."

I didn't hear what she said next because I froze in shock. If the healer's touch was made legal, Lily and I would be dead.

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