The Pheonix (On Hold)

Chapter 1~I Hate Myself

Hello loves! I am so sorry for being extremely late fir this story! A lot of things have been going on and I just haven't had time to post anything. To make up for it, I will also post the second chapter for you all!

According to legend, the people who have strange powers were once normal like my family. I suppose that I should be used to the fact that there are Skilled all around us, heck, even my best friend is one of them. He respects that I want nothing to do with those who are Skilled. Its bad enough that the king is Skilled, and we all know why. He has the power to kill whom ever he wishes, and my father and sister were on his kill list.

Jonathon, a.k.a. Sword, has an amzing Skill. I know I should be angered by it, but it is too amazing not to hate. He is able to control water, including the rain, and he is able to fly. Pretty amazing, right? I have never heard of someone who could fly before, so its pretty sweet, especially since he uses his power to sneak into my room when my brother is around. To Sword, it's like a game. SInce I am homeschooled, I haven't been able to see many of my friends from primary school, Sword lives next door, so we see each other on the weekends.

He goes to a school for the Skilled. Princeton Secondary School. The nicest school in the kingdom. The best. I envy those who are able to go there. And it has the one thing I have always wanted to do. Fencing.

That's where Sword's nickname comes from. He is one of the kingdom's best fencers. Known throughout the world for his skills. He is the team captain and is the best the school has known. Even the king has heard of him. (scary, right?) I once challenged him to a duel, but I was destroyed in less than 10 seconds. I was ten at the time.

But currently, I am seventeen, he, being only a year older than me, is eighteen. He lives right next door, except during the weekdays, which then he is at school. Princeton High is about an hour's journey by train, which is why he only comes home during the weekends. Apparently, his school requires uniforms, which sounds pretty cool to me, considering that I usually show up to my "school" in pajamas. He says that the clothes are alright, but they can become extremely uncomfortable, especially if you are in a fencing competition.

Sword is also the reason I want to go to a real high school. I often hear what he does during the weekends he doesn't come home for, and being the social outcast I am, I want to be part of the parties and social activities he does. When he brags about the latest party he had, I yell at him to leave; he only brags just to push my buttons.

The car shuttered to a halt in front of Wanda's, my favorite diner. I sighed. This was going to get interesting, Sword had called me and "asked" me to lunch, meaning I will most likely pay for it. That boy can surely push my buttons, I swear!

"Come on lazy bones!" I can hear him from inside the diner, at our favorite booth next to the window. I hopped out of the car. After he gave me a bear-hug, we sat down to huge plates of garlic fries and double bacon cheeseburgers with extra bacon and cheese.

We talked about everything, from our school lives to the newest movie at the cinemas. But he brought up the subject that pissed me off. The subject of Skills. I don't even know why it bugs me so much. I mean, Sword is Skilled and I have never had a problem with him. So what could be driving me insane?

After about five, ten minutes of him talking about his Skill, I walked out of the diner. He was no doubt eating my fries.

But I just cant keep my mind straight anymore. I try to understand the world of men, but of course, me being a woman, I cant figure them out. and I get a headache too. So, instead of thinking of men, I think of Skills instead. It is perfectly clear in my mind.

The ancestors, the original Skilled, were simple people who studied stars. When the meteor fell to the earth, the powers of the gods came with it. Once the ancestors touched the fallen star, the Skills became part of them, and thus, the world falling into a caste society.

However, there is one part of the tale is never told, for it explains things that no person would like to hear of. Those who were Skilled were always, and I do mean always, killed by their Skill. Say a fire user, he would have gotten burned alive. A water user, drowning. So on, and so forth. The original Skilled were also called the "Cursed Ones" for this reason.

Might... might I be Skilled? Could that be why I never feel like I never belong? Why every person in my family (except for my brother) has deserted me?

If so, then... I hate myself.