Photis :Blinded by light

Chapter 1

I'm not sure when it started. This admiration I felt for them. Was it really just admiration? Yes, I know it was, it was just a pure, innocent feeling. So why...how did it come to this."
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"Brotherrrrr! Wake up, you have to go to the academ- mmmmfm!“ I was only four at the time, they all said I was quite smart for my age."Lior," my brother took a deep breath" It's too damn early in the morning for this, it's only—" I interrupted him." Actually it's too damn late, now go get ready for the academy you bozo, or else maman will hit  you  with the laddle again!“ My brother looked pissed and got out of bed. I always snitched on him because if I didn't who  would? That was always my reasoning, as if it was my job exclusively, it wasn't. "LIOR, IS ARIN AWAKE?" My  brother started to murmur curse words under his breath as he started to cover his ears. "YES MAMAN HE'S AWAKE NOW!" I screamed back louder than I needed to, I  liked annoying my brother. Speaking off my brother, "Lior, shouldn't you get ready too? Isn't Mrs. Levi coming to get you today, and you know how she hates-" I started to interrupt him, saying Mrs. Levi's catchphrase mockingly, " untidiness, especially when there's so much clutter around, look! The whole room is in disarray and it's all in shambles— it's pure chaos, and everything feels like a muddle" Arin looked at me smirking, cause he had to go through the same thing once, he started again. "Anyway get out Lior, I need to get ready for academy" he then throws me, literally, out the door. "Ugh, why does he always throw me!? I never did anything wrong!" I started to tear up, I was only four afterall. "Why, Arin hates me for no reason—hic, hic" I started wailing, and I ran down the stairs, "Maman, mamannn!" I didn't usually cry when Arin would kick me out of his room, it was an every day thing afterall. Maybe I was emotional that day, or maybe I was in a bad mood or maybe... I knew that something was different that day. "Lior!? What's wrong why are you crying?" my mother comforted me, she always did, and I wished she always would. "Arin, hic, throw, hic, waaaaaaaah!" I couldn't get my words out, that's not a first and not a last either. "Shhh, Lior my baby, my light don't cry my little star. I'm sure Arin was just being his usual self right? Arin would never hurt you on purpose"... Yeah, never. "Come now Lior, put on a smile for me, I made your favourite," my mother smiled at me, I smiled back, though it looked pathetic, and fake. She then put me on the high chair. Father made it for me, it was always so uncomfortable but even more so that day. Arin walked down the stairs," What's all the commotion, why are you crying?" I wiped my eyes, it didn't help. "I'm not crying, there was just something in my eye so.." my mother and brother exchanged a look, that wasn't the first time, why do they always? "So Arin," my mother started as she dished breakfast for us, "you have your written tests to become a hero today don't you?" That's right, my brother didn't go to just any normal academy. He went to Sovrasllis academy, the top school that have produced the top heroes in the world. Only a select few can get in. The tests, lessons, everything is on a different level compared to other  academies. And my brother was going to start on his final exams, deciding if he will finally become a hero.
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Heroes... what are they. Heroes were once the last line of defense to protect the world, now they are the first. It started almost a hundred years ago. 1930, in the Black Forest in Germany. In that forest, many weird things were sighted, Germany was already suffering, with the political instability, economic crisis and other stuff... so with these weird sightings everyone or mostly Germany, people were on edge. What were these sightings exactly? Fairy tales, that's what the people described them as. At first nobody believed them, fairy tales coming to life? How would that even be possible!? But when a giant beanstalk burst through the ground in Freiburg one day, for all to see, and hear, you can't really ignore such a sign.  Most people know of fairy tales to be story's made for children, lighthearted and always lessons to be learnt. Perhaps the fairy tales became tired of being  distorted in lighthearted way, because Jack didn't stop at stealing from the poor Giant who fell to his death because of him. Maybe Jack became greedy after finding the rich life and that's why he started stealing from the townsfolk. With their already crumbling economy, Germany couldn't really fight back. And the fairy tales began to spread all over Germany, causing chaos there. The other countries said it was "well deserved" , while others said they need to help the civilians, the world was in turmoil, fighting each other while what they were meant to fight was those monsters we called fairy tales. The thing about them was that bullets didn't work, hell, bombs didn't even work! People thought it was just Germany under attack, how wrong they were. It wasn't just fairy tales, it was folklore altogether, from myths to fables to superstitions, they all started appearing everywhere. From 1930 to 1949 the global population from around 2.5 billion people, plummeted to only 1.2 billion people. Humans were no longer at the top of the food chain the world was no longer fighting among themselves as they all had a common enemy. Folklore. Probably one of the most unexpected... actually, with how many superstitions are created every day it's not really unexpected. Humans all became one, no longer fighting because of race or gender or wealth, they all just wanted to survive.( At least after 1945, we don't talk about WW2) Anyway in 1950 was the first appearance of Heroes, when the world finally aligned for a single cause a miracle happened. People started gaining powers when they used certain weapons, weapons that were popular back in the midieval times or the Viking Age. The weapons could be newly made, but the significance of the weapon from the olden times made it more powerful. The power was called "Lira". This power had the ability to destroy the folklore monsters. And the people who gained these powers were called Heroes.
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And now were in 2024 our population has increased to 4.2 billion people, our technology has increased to the point where we can travel the world in a second and right now there are no wars taking place. You would think that the world would be a eutopia of sorts, but that's not the case. Now that people know and believe folklore actually exist, people can't help create more. And with the increase in population, that means more people believe in them, increasing their power. The only way to get rid of them for all is probably to destroy the humans race all together, not that anyone would be crazy enough to do such a thing though.
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Anyways back to the story, where were we? "So Arin, you have your written tests to become a hero today don't you?" oh right. "Yeah," Arins mouth was full from breakfast. "I pretty much got this in the bag, those tales are cooked" I looked at him with a deadpanned expression, though with my puffy face it probably looked more funny than anything. My four year self replied to him, "your tails is what's gonna be cooked, your way too dumb to pass the written tests of Sovrallis Academy!" My brother gave his ugly smug smile, "The fact that I got into the academy at all means I'm smarter than 8 million peuoplww dear brother" "... hmpf" I replied, crossing my tiny arms. "Anyways," our mother started "I'm sure you'll do well Arin, just as always and Lior, you need to go get ready after you finish breakfast. Mrs. Levi's coming and you know how she hates-" "UGH, YES I KNOW!" I jumped out of the high seat, hit my head on the floor, got up and ran upstairs to get ready. My mother sighed, "Hai, that boy, so smart for his age yet just as immature as his father" and Arin continued "and just as loud as his mother" It's safe to say that Arin got hit with the ladle that morning.