Interesting as a Noun

Prologue

"Interesting..." he said. "Unfortunately, 'interesting' on its own isn't going to get you very far in this world." 

"And whose fault is that?" Sherwin asked sarcastically. 

"It's his." Cronus answered, completely serious. The others sighed to their confusion. 

"No, Cronus, it was a rhetorical question." Oriana explained, rubbing her temples. 

"No, they're correct. It is my fault. You could've continued living as outcasts at home, unable to use your abilities freely because of the fear it would cause, but instead I brought you out of hiding and showed you just how much better life is when you don't have to worry about being accepted by the people around you." 

"Because we were living in fear of what you would do to us." Winona spat. 

"I have only ever wanted to help you. You were born for a reason much greater than yourselves." 

"And chasing us across the country for two years was the perfect way to convey that." Theo said. 

Cronus looked between the two of them, "Per- oh, right." 

"I'll admit that my methods have been a bit... forceful. But it was for your own good. And now that you're here, you can fulfill your purpose and finally have some meaning in your lives!" 

"Our lives had meaning before this." Akay squeaked. 

The man let out an exasperated sigh. "They will be even better now."  

"We had homes." Melanie said. 

"We had families." Farah added. 

"Why don't you get it?" The man snarled, his voice raising. "Why can't you see that you will have all those things and more? So many other, less useful, people seemed to understand. But of course it's you eight who refuse to see the light!" 

He took a deep breath and collected himself. "Do you want to stay in the closet? Hoping that one day everyone will magically wake up accepting you?" He began circling the group, their eyes followed his movements carefully. "Do you enjoy the treatment you receive from others? The bullying, the ostracization, the fear and injustice that you've faced because of factors that you can't control?" 

"Those are a lot of questions." Cronus stated. 

The man glared at them. "I am offering you a paradise." 

"But you're not fixing the underlying issues." Oriana said. "You were right about one thing, we have realized that we don't want to hide who we are. Your way won't make them accept us, they'll just be too scared to go against us." 

"But isn't that better? Fear is the ultimate protection." 

"For you, maybe. But our well-being would be completely dependent on our profitability to you. That's not 'protection.'" Winona grimaced. 

Suddenly, a noise like a gunshot echoed through the room. In the same second, metal spikes flew at the man from all sides only to be blocked by a conjured barrier. The would-be assassination weapons crashed to the ground along with Cronus who clenched their teeth in pain. 

The man nodded once and the guard behind Cronus forced their head up by their hair, shanking them in the side and letting their unconscious body fall into Winona's lap. The man smirked. 

"You may have been gifted with supernatural abilities, but you're still only human."