With no one knowing where it came from, it shook the world. After several hundred decades, the power that emerged gave humans the ability to do what would have been impossible possible. These powers could not be measured. The strength of each one depended on how it was used. Power over gravity, power over the elements, the power to create. Of course, these powers came with a price as well. Whether it was someone's life force or small things like limiting a person's diet, the power used was priceless and no 2 people had the same powers. This power was called Stelles. Stelles became something that people became dependent on. They used it to help people, take advantage of people, and sometimes to kill. The minute someone was born, they would receive a power that was unique to them. The power would be unstable and as the person trains over time, they would have more control over it and it would become more powerful. The only record of a person having no power was one from 200 years after the Stelles was discovered. Although that person had no power, it is said that they had another way of gaining power, another method that they kept to themselves making them known to the world as Lylle, an entity that betrayed the world's system. The power they used could potentially destroy the world and for years, people lived in fear. They were afraid of what powers the Lylle held and yet there was no reason to be afraid. The Lylle never used their power for evil and they always tried to help the people. Even so, humans were afraid and chased away the Lylle. Having been scorned and turned away from the world, the Lylle locked themself in isolation and it seemed as though they had disappeared for good. After the Lylle vanished, society returned to normal and it had seemed that the after-effects of the Lylle's power were diminishing. For centuries, humans feared that the power of the Lylle may appear again, however, children without power were rare and only appeared within 0.0000000001% of the population so no one was able to find out the secret of the person who called themself a Lylle. The mystery of the Lylle brought forth many different kinds of groups. One group in particular called Konal, kept themselves hidden in the shadows while trying to find out what kind of power the Lylle held and how they could obtain it themselves in order to fix what they thought was a cruel world. But people still had questions concerning the Lylle. Where did they come from? Who was it? Did their power come with a price? What was the power? The Konal had many different answers and all the roads were dead ends. They were unable to uncover the Lylle's past or find the power. However, it is said that someday in the future, the Lylle's power would emerge once again. Either to save or destroy the world.

A small house on the outskirts of the city. An empty road. The calendar read April 13, 2295. The clock chimed as the hour hand reached the 7. The mother looked at the clock and turned off the burner. She washed her hands and took off her apron while taking off the bun in her black hair as it trailed down her back. She looked out the windows and thought she saw some movement. She walked over and opened it. There was nothing. It must have been a cat. There was no one someone could come to this area unless they were able to get past the barriers she had a friend set up. The only people allowed in and out were her family and people she knew. The barrier would disappear once she was dead but that was unlikely. She closed the window and walked back to the kitchen. She grabbed some plates and set the table. Looking satisfied she looked over at the living room and sighed.

    "Will! It's time for dinner!"

The 5-year-old looked up. He was playing with his father. They had stacked up his cubes until they had a miniature castle with a bridge made of ice and snow around it. His father was creating and spreading the snow around the castle walls. Some of the snow had gotten on his brown hair and the child's black hair was speckled with white. The child's mother peeked around the corner and laughed.

    "Honestly, Dave. Clean that up and bring Will over here. The food will get cold. And get rid of all the ice. The floor will get wet."

    "But I wanna play more mom!"

    "Coming Liz! Come on Will. Your mom says it's time for dinner."

    "Can't we eat later?"

    "William, listen to me. When your mother is angry, she is really scary."

    "Like when she caught you sneaking some of her tea?"

Times like these were when Dave realized how perceptive his son was. That event had happened 2 years ago when William was 3 and sitting in the living room. Ever since he was a child, his sight and understanding of things were better than the average child.

    "Yes just like that. So let's go before she gets mad."

With a wave of his hand, the snow disappeared and he walked the child over to the table. They sat down and Liz put the food out on the table. Potato salad, steak, and miso soup with tofu. The family was about to dig in when the doorbell rang.

    "I'll get it. You go on and eat Elizabeth."

Dave stood up and headed for the door. Worried, she stood up and carried Will with her and stood at the corner of the hall. Was it a friend?

    "Who is it, Dave?"

He looked in the eyehole and took a sharp breath. Stepping back, he stared at the door and slowly raised his hand. Ice started forming around the edges of the door until it was completely blocked off with several layers of ice. He spun around and ran towards them. His face was pale and he seemed scared, his black eyes alert and worried.

    "We have to run. They're here."

    "Is it them? But I never told them anything. How could they come here? The barrier should still be activated."

    "I don't know. We need to hide Will before they-"

There was a fizzing sound and smoke started to rise. The ice slowly melted until there was a puddle of water left on the floor. The door smashed open as 2 men came in. Both wearing black and covering their faces. Dave turned around and faced them.

    "Man, I can't believe how many barriers you put up in this area. Even illusion barriers? Good thing we had some tools to dispel them."

Dave shot a bullet of ice at their face but the man melted it in his palm.

    "You really shouldn't do that. My flames will burn the whole building down if I'm not careful you know."

The blood drained from Dave's face. He put up some more distance between them and built up several layers of ice as well as making the floor cold and slippery.

    "Hurry Liz! We don't have time! I'll do my best to distract them! Hide William! Make sure he's safe!"

    "What about you David? You can't take them on your own. His fire will melt your ice."

He said nothing and shook his head. He kissed her and pushed her backward. He ****** his hands up and made a wall of ice separating the 3 of them just as the ice melted and the knife was thrown and hit the wall. Elizabeth turned around and ran into the room. From the hall, she could hear the men taunting her husband. Dave wouldn't be able to hold them back. She quickly opened up the closet and pressed some numbers into a keypad embedded into the wall. It made a sound and hissed open. She looked behind her and then pushed Will into the hidden room.

    "Will stay inside. Do not come out. Just remember this. Your father and I love you from the bottoms of our hearts. Wait in here until someone comes to help. Remember what I said."

    "No mom! Stay with me!"

    "I can't Will. At the least, you need to survive. Don't worry. I won't let them hurt you."

    "Hey~! Where are you hiding? Why don't you come and join your husband?"

The steps were getting louder and there was a smell of blood in the air. Then the sounds stopped.

    "Here you are."

The 2 men were standing at the door, one of them dragging a blood-stained hand with them. Elizabeth shut the door and faced them with tears in her eyes. Will, confused and scared, banged on the door trying to open it. There was a small crack and he peered through trying to see.

    "Hand over the child or die trying to save him."

    "I won't give him to you. Especially not to them."

    "Oh come on Miss Master of Blood. It won't do for you to die like this. After all, you're our precious leader."

    "I'm not your leader anymore. Tell the council to stop coming after me. I never did anything to make the council angry."

    "Keeping your kid all the way out here and you're still acting ignorantly. Going as far as to hide here and put barriers up. Fine. Suit yourself. Go see your husband."

Within a second, Elizabeth was engulfed in flames. Her screams echoed throughout the house. Her legs were slowly being charred away but before her body disintegrated, she lifted up her hands and a knife appeared in their bodies stabbing them straight through the heart.

    "You-how dare-."

They fell to the floor as her ashes fell. The room was silent. The smell of smoke and blood lingered in the room and the pool of blood near the door grew larger. The child in the closet was in tears. He was screaming and crying. He sobbed for his mother and father until he grew so tired he fell asleep. He didn't know how many hours passed by but when he woke up, he was wrapped in a blanket inside of a car. He thought of his parents and started crying again.

    "Hey, it's okay. It's okay. Don't worry. You're okay."

He looked up. It was a female officer. She looked younger than his mother but kind. She was patting his head and trying to calm him down. She sang a lullaby. It soothed him and he fell asleep again. Again he woke up and this time he was lying on an unfamiliar bed. The lady officer was talking to someone.

    "-can't just leave him alone. He just lost his parents. I'll take him to my house."

    "Well, what can we do about it? How will you take care of him if he went to your house."

    "We can't just drop him off at the orphanage."

Will rubbed his eyes and sat up.

    "Who are you? Where am I?"

The two officers turned towards him. The female officer walked over to him and kneeled down..

    "Hey there. Did we wake you?"

He shook his head and stared at her.

    "What's your name?"

He gripped the blanket.

    "William. I'm William Haris. But mom and dad call me Will."

    "Well, then can I call you Will too?"

He nodded.

    "So Will, do you know what happened to your mom and dad?"

    "Dad was trying to protect me and mom from the bad men who came in and mom-"

He started crying again. The officer hugged him to her chest and stroked his hair until he calmed down. She propped him back up again and sat down next to him.

    "It's okay Will. From now on you'll live with me. You don't need to think about that anymore."

She glared at the man. They seemed to be having a silent argument with their eyes. Then the other officer sighed.

    "Fine he can stay with you but you better take responsibility. I don't want the higher-ups coming after my head. Make something up when you write the report but don't mention me in it."

He left the room and closed the door behind him.

    "You can call me Emma. I'm going to ask you a question, Will. Please answer me honestly. Do your parents have a Stelles? What about you? Do you have one?"

    "I don't know. I don't have any power. Mom and dad said that I didn't need one and that they'd protect me."

Emma gasped and looked at him in surprise. She sensed the building around her. Empty. She turned back to Will and took a shaky breath.

    "Will. Promise me that you'll never tell anyone about that. Only the ones you really trust but don't tell anyone else. Okay, Will?"

He nodded. She sighed and stood up. This had to be kept a secret. If the Konal knew they would try anything to capture. Then it hit her. They must have already known. Why else would Will's family be attacked? The possibility was there but she couldn't think about it now. She couldn't make rash decisions. She rubbed her temple and picked up the bag sitting next to the bed.

    "Let's go then. Oh and here. I found this at your house."

She handed it to him. Inside the bag was a cracked picture frame of his mother, father and him and a small bear his parents had gotten him for his birthday. In the image, his mother was slapping his father's back as he was carrying William upside down. He hugged it close to him as more tears flowed and he followed Emma out the door. It was dark outside. They walked to the car and William sat in the back seat. She turned on the heating system and closed the door. Emma began driving while thinking. She needed to find a different place to stay. If the group coming after Will was trying to capture him, they would be able to find him quickly. She didn't know if it was the Konal or the Tyls but she knew he was in danger. For now, she would try to let him live a normal life. She would have to think of a Stelles for him in case anyone was suspicious. She looked at her mirror. William had fallen asleep again while holding onto the fragmented picture. She sighed and rested her head on the headrest. Such a small boy having to go through all of this. She reached a hotel and asked for a room. She opened the back seat door and was about to wake William up when he moved.

    "Where are we?"

    "Somewhere you can rest for the night."

    "Is this a hotel? Mom said that hotels are only for when there is an emergency."

She was surprised. No child could be this weary. And how did he know what a hotel was? His house was far from the city, about 30 miles away. Who in the world was his mom and why would they only sleep in hotels if there was an emergency?

    "That's right. It's a hotel but, don't worry Will, we're just sleeping here for tonight until I can get us a place to stay."

    "Will, the bad men come after us?"

    "It's fine. They won't come here."

He rubbed his eyes and grabbed her hand. They walked in and went up the elevator. She opened up the door and walked William straight to the bed.

    "Sleep for now. You must be tired."

He nodded off and fell asleep. She lay next to him and stroked his hair. Tomorrow was going to be a rough day for her.

Emma decided to move to a house closer to the city and live with William whiling protecting him. After watching and taking care of William, Emma found out many things. For one, the event had traumatized him and he was afraid of fire. Every time he saw flames, he would faint or feel light-headed. Even if it was as small as fire from a lighter. The same thing would happen if he saw human blood. At first, Emma thought of trying to get him used to flames but it didn't work out. He also had nightmares when he slept. He would cry and call for his mother. It pained Emma to see him like this but she did not know what she could do. But she tried to give him an ordinary life. She enrolled him in school and took care of him. She bought him toys and snacks and tried to get him used to his new life. She thought it would be troubling to take care of such a young boy but William was an obedient child. He did what she asked of him and he did well in school. The only thing she found unsettling was that he was too quiet. Even for a shy child. He never spoke and he didn't have friends in school. It was as though he had completely blocked off everyone.

She also found out that animals liked him. Not just dogs and cats but all types of animals. For some reason, they would gather to him while he was outside. However, because of this, she found a way to lie about his Stelles. She told him that from then on if someone were to ask him what his Stelles was, he should tell them it was to attract animals. Of course, he did what he was told to do but he was like a body without a brain. He could move and he did what he was told but he didn't have any opinions of his own and his emotions did not show on his face. He rarely smiled. And he got injured more than the average child. He would come home with a bump on his head or scrapes on his knees and he would get fever due to the sight of the blood. Even so, he didn't show it on his face. It was if he was dead inside, an empty shell, his eyes beady and hard to read. The only times his emotions were shown were when he was staring at the photo of his family. Tears would come out and he would cry but nothing else.

As he grew older, she taught him to cook and do chores to the point where his food was better than hers and the chores were perfectly done. They had an electric stovetop so he was able to cook without being afraid. Emma did her best to make him feel safe. And slowly, he started to open up to her.

When she saw him trying to smile, she felt happy. Of course, William knew that he was unlike other kids. He understood more and was quick to read the mood. When Willaim finally felt that maybe he was safe, he tried to be happy. He made his first friend when he was 8 and he was the only one that William could trust other than Emma. But he never told his friend that he had no Stelles. He was afraid that he might be abandoned because he had no Stelles. Just like how his parents had tried to protect him from people trying to kidnap him. He didn't know why they were going after him but he was a smart child and knew it was connected to him not having any power. He never forgot what his mother had told him but there were days he wished he could see his parents again. Every night, the images of that night burned itself into his brain and he would wake up crying. And every day he would tell himself that those men wouldn't come anymore. That he was safe.

February 2, 2307

"Emma. Get up, Emma. I'm going to be late if you don't wake up."

    "What do you mean you'll be late? It's only 6."

He pulled off her cover and started to fold it.

    "Ah! It's so cold!"

    "Then get dressed and go eat breakfast. It's already past 7. I'm going to go to school."

    "Oh? Did you make me breakfast? Since when did I raise a kid this well mannered?"

He blushed. That was true. It was unlike him to do something without being asked but he felt like he should. It was embarrassing when Emma pointed it out though. He didn't say anything and instead threw a pillow at Emma's face.

    "Will! What are you doing?"

He turned around.

    "You better finish it all and go to work. I'm leaving."

He walked out of the room and closed the door.

    "Thanks, Will!"

He smiled then walked to the front door and put on his shoes. He opened the door. Noah was standing at the front of the gate waiting.

    "Miss Willows stayed up late again?"

    "Yeah. You can call her Emma you know."

    "No way. She's older than both of us. And she's your mom. Not mine, so I'll stick with Miss Willows."

Will knew that Noah was joking when he called Emma his mom but he bit his lips. It was uncomfortable to call Emma his mother since he lost his own mother. When they were young, William had told Noah that his parents were killed in an accident but didn't go through any details. Noah was a good friend and William trusted him but he wasn't ready to tell Noah about his family.

    "Anyways, did you finish the homework? It's due today."

    "It is? Let me see yours."

    "Why don't you ever do it?"

    "Cause I have the top guy in class as my friend."

He laughed. William didn't think of himself as smart nor did he think of himself as popular. And yet many people praised him. He didn't feel like he deserved their praise. The world was hell-bent on making people think that Stelles were important but because he didn't have one, it only made him tense. It made him think that one day, people would find out his secret and avoid him even though he was trying to avoid them. He knew it was hypocritical of him but he didn't hate anyone. He just didn't trust them.

    "Come on Noah. We're gonna be late."

They ran to school, barely making it in time and sat in their seats. The day droned on as the clock slowly spun and by the time lunch started, William was too tired to do anything. The girls were whispering to each other as usual and stealing glimpses at him. He didn't know if they hated him or not but their stares were uncomfortable. He left the classroom and walked outside to the back of the school and sat underneath the maple tree. At some point he fell asleep and once again he was in his old house, locked inside the closet. His mother standing before the two men who were dragging his father behind them. She burst into flames and the two men were killed. The pool of blood getting bigger and bigger. It trailed towards him and his breathing turned rugged. He tried to get further away but there was something against his back.

    "Will! William!"

He opened his eyes and gasped for air. He composed himself and looked up.

    "Are you ok? Class is gonna start soon."

Noah was looking at him, worried. William's hands were drenched in sweat and he was pale.

    "I'm fine. We should probably head back now."

He tried to stand up but fell on his knees, his legs were shaking making him unsteady.

    "Sorry. I'm fine."

Noah sighed. He ran his hand through his blonde hair, thinking.

    "Mason! Haris! What are you two doing? Class is about to start!"

They looked up following the voice. Their teacher was standing at the corner of the building staring at them.

    "Will, you stay here. I'll go talk to him."

He walked towards the teacher and started talking to him. Then they went back into the building. William was alone again and rested on the maple tree's trunk. It has been 12 years already and he was 16 and yet he still couldn't forget that night. It haunted him whenever it could. He put his head in his knees and closed his eyes. After a moment, he heard some movement around him. He looked up. There were birds gathering on top of the tree and squirrels were running up to him. Even some cats were able to get onto the school campus and they were all surrounding him. William always thought it was strange that animals would be attracted to him. He knew it wasn't his Stelles since Stelles were controllable but he didn't hate it. Then, a blue jay landed on his shoulder and dropped something in his hand. It nuzzled him and sat down comfortably. He held up the object. It was a stone. It felt to him like it was glowing but when he looked again, it was just a clear stone. It was perfectly rounded and bright blue. He didn't know why but the stone felt dangerous, like something that should be kept hidden.

    "Will!"

In a panic, he put the stone away in his pocket.

    "Popular as usual I see."

He looked around and realized that the amounts of animals that had gathered around him doubled in numbers. He stood up and the and the animals began to leave, a few bumping their heads against his body.

    "Just with the animals though."

    "Pfft. Sure. Let's go. I grabbed your stuff and the teacher excused the both of us."

Will didn't notice but many girls were staring out their classroom windows and taking pictures of him and the animals. Since William didn't care much about them, Noah never mentioned it to him and because of that, the number of female fans would increase. They began walking home and Noah passed William a bottle. It was cold but it didn't surprise him.

    "Your Stelles is really useful isn't it?"

    "Careful or I'll make that water burning hot."

Noah's Stelles was control over the temperature of water rather than control over water but he didn't know how it could be useful for anything other than heating water up or cooling it down. He wasn't restricted by distance though and he was able to control water from different areas. Once, he felt so cold when first took a step in the water at the beach, he had accidentally heated up all the water that was within 11 yards of him. This didn't cause a lot of trouble but it didn't help that it was the middle of summer. His family was rich and he had a private beach but he told them he would rather go somewhere where there were people. He lived alone because his parents often traveled for work so he usually stayed over at William's house in a separate room.

    "Are you staying over today?"

    "I'll pass. Tonight, I'll be playing some horror games till morning so I don't want to bother you guys."

They split up and walked home but their houses were across from each other so it wasn't too far. William entered the house and left his things in his room. He went back downstairs and looked around. There was a note on the table.

I'll be home late so eat dinner without me.- Emma

He threw the note away and went back up to his room. He was too tired to make anything so he lay on his bed. He took out the blue rock and examined it again. It wasn't dirty and it had no scratches on it which was odd. He put it on his stand beside him and looked at the photo of his parents. He flipped it down. It was still painful for him to look at it especially after he had that dream again. At some point, he fell asleep and for the first time in 12 years, he had no dreams. When he woke up, it was morning again but he remembered that it was a weekend. He looked over at the table. The stone was gone. He got up and frantically looked around the room. Nothing. He sighed and sat back down on his bed.

    "Damn it."

He didn't know why but he felt frustrated. Maybe because he lost something one of the animals gave or maybe because he felt he shouldn't have lost it, but William was mad at himself for losing it. He lay back on the bed thinking about the stone and didn't notice that there were a pair of eyes staring at him from afar.