Oops!... I Did It Again

Chapter 1. - The first time

The first undeniable truth of the world was, that there were people born unlucky. People, the more they wanted something to work out, the less it tended to do so. The downtrodden. The cursed. The losers of the game of life. Whatever you called them, their existence was undisputable.

The second undeniable truth of the world was, that some on the other hand, were born lucky. Favored by the gods, revered by many, and envied by more. They were the blessed ones. The golden children. The winners. People, who everyone wished they could be, even for a day.

The third undeniable truth of the world was, however, that every unlucky person had something lucky, and every lucky person had something unlucky in their life. A hidden detail, a secret treasure, a concealed curse.

Let's look at John and Seraphina, for example.

John was born unlucky, living in a humble household on his cripple father's earnings, with no mother in sight, and seemingly no ability of his own, only to get one from said missing mother but be doomed to destroy his own life with it, among other things. He was still blessed with a doting father, unwilling to give up on him even at his darkest time.

Seraphina was the complete opposite. Born into wealth and luxury, inheriting and training one of the strongest abilities in the country from a very young age, with a sharp, academically gifted mind. She was set on the path of success even before the moment she graced this world with her presence. But as everything was meant to be balanced, her sister ran off leaving her behind, her parents were cold and unloving, and she had no joy in life, only responsibilities.

But here came the fourth truth of this world. People who had darkness and light at opposite parts of their lives were either each other's dearest loves or worst enemies. And it was like that with those two as well. From ticking each other off the moment they met to becoming inseparable friends, the balance of the scale kept moving, still undecided where their relationship would fall in the end. Soulmates of love or soulmates of war.

Things seemed to be relatively calm for now, but this was, like always, temporary, as things were about to get more complicated for them.

Because the fifth and final undeniable truth of this world was, that you could swap abilities between soulmates or people who you could sync with. With specific restrictions, of course.

This was something John was reminded about during an awfully uncomfortable conversation he had that day with Sera in the infirmary, as they were trying and failing to forget about their troubles and grievances.

"I hate this," she grumbled, uncharacteristically to her. "I wish I could just give you my ability from time to time, so you could beat some decency into those idiots."

Her indignance was understandable. He got a particularly bad beating this time: a black eye, three bruised ribs and a broken arm. He wished he could chalk it up to his own carelessness; it was probably partially the reason. He was good at pissing off people. It wasn't like that right now, but it didn't change how things went. Whether it was something he did or his mere existence, people targeted him, but sometimes, they couldn't go after him immediately. Mainly when Sera was there.

So, what to do then? Go for the next best option. Stalk him for a time, and then, when he was both away from her, and away from possible eye-witnesses, attack. Use speed to get to him before he could get a good look at them and knock him out.

In the past, they used to put a bag on his head, but apparently that didn't work, as he could still recognize them somehow. Probably due to their voices, they thought. Because he could still detect their aura, he huffed inwardly.

Then he was all beaten up, making Sera pester him until he would give her an answer and she would go to straighten out the issue.

By now they had given up on the enjoyment of watching him feel the pain in favor of getting any type of retribution for his sassy remarks, or the perceived slight his presence in the school was apparently. Even in face of this, he didn't stop being a smartass and doing what he did best: pissing people off.