Don the Hero

"And that is all for today. Don't forget today is moon day so, you better finish up on your readings quickly so that you won't miss the Awakening ceremony." Most of the kids whined in agony as they saw the massive pile of papers on their desks. Miss Spencer is not usually this cruel, in fact she could sometimes be seen as a push over but whenever Don shows off she does this. Everyone glared at the scrawny kid in the front. 'I could probably break that twig in half' many of his classmates thought. Don could only smile awkwardly as he packed his bag and made a run for it.

"Hold on there ya little squirtle!" Before Don could escape in time, his neck was grabbed from behind by a almost too muscular 15 year old. He struggled to turn his head only to see a 6 foot tall teen with brown hair and eyes. He looked annoyed and slightly scary but his eyes betrayed his face and showed a tinge of warmth.

"You just had to pick today of all days to be a smart ass huh? Not only do I have to see that little twerp's awakening but now i have to deal with this!" The 15 year old roughed up Don's hair while complaining about how much of a smart ass Don was. If it was anyone else doing this Don would be shocked but this was his older brother, Elijah. Don was already used to his temperament so when Elijah started talking harshly, he could not help but smile warmly at his brother.

"Nice to see you in a good mood today. Now that Maryline is getting her powers, you won't be forced to hold back anymore."

"Even with her powers that twerp is still a 100 years too early to fight with me hmph. I am just glad she won't have an excuse anymore when I beat her tomorrow" Don sighed as he knew his siblings will cause the village another headache. Maryline was his older sister by 1 year. After Elijah had awaken his fire affinity, she had decided that all her loses were due to his strength boost.

The two brothers headed home in a slow manner, they were not in a rush to get home as they can only imagine how Maryline was acting now. As they stood in front of their door, they hesitated to open it in fear of what they would behold. Elijah finally thought 'To hell with it' and open the door in expectation. To their shock, Maryline was nowhere to be found and so was their mom. The only one at home was their father, Alfred Finch who was reading a book in the living room.

"Oh, you're already home? how was school?" said their father as he calmly read his book. The brothers were confused, surely their sister must have gotten home by now.

" Oh are you looking for your sister? well she went shopping with mom. It is her big day after all." Their dad chuckled as he said this. The brothers kept staring at their father suspiciously. Sweat started to form on their father's face as he tried to smile at them.

"W-what are you guys staring at me for. I-I mean I know nothing!" Their dad was now soaked in sweat, his children's gaze tore through his weak facade in an instant.

"AHHHHHHHH" Before their father could say anymore, Maryline jumped out from behind as she targeted a heavy punch towards Elijah. Don quickly stepped to the aside to avoid any miss fires between the two. As Maryline was about to land a punch to Elijah's stomach, he moved to the side and evaded the attack. Maryline landed on her feet and took a ready stance. Elijah then went in for a double kick while Maryline went side to side to evade Elijah's explosive kicks. Maryline then ducked under his long legs and went in for a jab. Elijah blocked her fist with his hand and winched. He slowly backed off as he prepared to take her down quick. Maryline could guess what he was planning to do and quickly sprinted towards him with a chair as a shield. Before she could get close enough, he started to spin in circles as he kicked his feet in the air.

" Its brothers signature move, the tornado leg!" Don gasp in shocked. His brother's technique seemed to have moved up a level since last time.

Maryline tried to evade the flying kicks but at a moment of laps judgment she was punched in the side by a sneak attack. She fell down. As she realized that she was on the ground, she became very annoyed.

" That was a dirty trick! you used your stupid long frog legs to distract me!" Maryline yelled in anger.

" In the real world, this would be called a technique as well. The art of being smarter than your opponent. You can't be this simple minded if you ever want to be an Adventurer" Elijah could only sigh at his sister's shamelessness. 'Wasn't she the one that tried to use a sneak attack just a second ago?'

Don looked around at the mess they made and could only sigh in relief. 'Nothing is broken at least' he thought. It was very common for his siblings to have these competitions. Whoever fell first lost, that was the only constant rule in the game. Don never took part in these competitions, instead he liked to fix things. Whenever his siblings broke anything, he gladly volunteered to fix any furniture or hole in the walls. His parents were very grateful for this, if it had not been for Don, they would be crying every time their kids had a match.

It was an hour later when their mother came back with a stack full of clothes and makeup. Today was the awakening ceremony and so she used this opportunity to finally play dress up with her daughter to Maryline's dismay. After a little back and forth, Maryline finally succumbed to her mother's idea and dressed up for the annual ceremony.

late at night just before the moon aligned with the red moon, every 13 year old in the village had already gathered together in the city hall. There were about 50 kids gathered in the middle of a circular disc. Although this disc was made of ordinary copper, when the moon aligns with the red moon on moon day, a beam of light ascends from the sky and catalyzes a reaction that causes children 13 and up to awaken.

Before this was known, people would have to meditate and work really hard to awaken their powers. The rate of power users to non power users at that time was 1:8000. After alchemists discovered this odd phenomenon, many civilizations, small or big started to build these copper discs. By the time the dark ages ended, the ratio of power users to non power user changed to 1:10 people.

As the moons were about to align, many children started to close their eyes and hope they could be awaken their powers. There was 50 kids this year so about 5 of them would awaken. Not only were the kids serious but so were their parents. Powers tended to pass down from generation to generation. The parents with powers hoped their children would not be a blip in the family tree and many non power parents hoped some descendant from the past had powers and their child would be lucky enough to awaken them.

Why did they want their children to have powers? This was because a power user was a status symbol. Even though, awakening a power is much more possible due to magic studies, it was no lie to say that a power user was much more useful than a non power user.

After waiting impatiently, the moons finally shone a red light toward the children. As the light shone and created an array surrounding the disc, the children gazed in awe as they saw the sky dye red. They had of course seen this scene many times on the side lines before but being right in the middle of it was a different experience.

"Please let me awaken so I can become a super cool adventurer!" said a snotty nosed kid almost. "come on, come on I can totally beat the odds" said another kid. " I better get a power. How else will I beat that frog leg brother of mine!?" said Maryline. As soon as Maryline said that, she suddenly felt a warmth in her chest. She began to feel hotter and hotter before finally screaming in shock. Ms. and Mr. Finch were surprised and gasped in fear but they could not enter the disc yet.

"what's happening chief?" said Alfred in confusion and worry to a short middle aged man.

"I-I don't know Alfred this has never happened before..." Chief Mayweather started sweating at the thought that something might happen to Maryline. Not only would it have an effect on his relationship with the Finches, but he might also lose his position as chief.

" I had our blacksmith check the disc for any crack or deformities and he said it was fine. there should be no problem so I don't understand why this is happening to Maryline." Chief Mayweather quickly explained. Alfred even more confused. 'What's happening to my dear child?' His wife, Betty took his hand and tried to calm him down.

" It will be fine. It is just an awakening right?" Although she tried to calm her husband, her hands could not stop shaking it worry.

Suddenly, Maryline fell to her knees and began to burst in flames. The surrounding crowd was shocked at the spectacle. 2 children started to form earth on their hands and another boy had started to condense a flame but compared to Maryline their awakening was little less than a joke.

While the crowd was staring in awe at Maryline's flame show, Don took both his parents hands and said,

" Don't worry she will be fine...". Although, they were still worried, they seemed to calm down when they heard their son. He had a way of saying words so softly and confidently that it made them relax a little.

After a few minutes, the array disappeared and the 2 moons moved away from each other. Maryline's body stopped burning instantly and she collapsed to the ground.