The Evil ~ YouTuber Fanfiction ~ (Book 1 of the Arcane Powers)

[15] storytime

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- Max's POV -

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Max was glad he had made friends with Cory and Nick.

They were funny, courageous, and protective of each other (and Shelby, wink, wink).

When Max waved to them from the breakfast/meeting table, Cory didn't glare at him with the force of a million armies, and Nick didn't flinch and look away. They didn't smile either.

Oh well, it was a first.

After the breakfast meeting, Okward told everyone to meet in the main room.

"Before we continue with training," he said, "there's something I was thinking about last night. In order to truly work together as a team, you will need to learn a little more about each other. Bond a little more. So, we will tell everyone our backstories. Or, a short version, if you prefer. After that, we can play a game. Then we will continue with training. How's that sound?"

Everyone nodded, obviously glad they got to relax a little.

"Would anyone like to go first?" Okward asked.

Jin shrugged. "I'll go. You all know that I'm the Lord's son. He was paranoid about me. Not because I was his son, but because I was his heir. He was worried that I would die, and then he would have to give up the throne to some power-hungry maniac. He wouldn't let me travel around without a personal bodyguard until I was seven. He wouldn't let me travel outside the castle grounds until I was nine."

"That's where I came in," Sky said smugly.

Jin rolled his eyes. "I was young and impressionable."

"You wanted to kick your dad where it hurt at the age of nine!" Sky shouted.

"Guess who my impression was?" Jin said in a can-you-believe-this-guy? sort of tone.

"Point taken," Sky said.

"Why did you make Jin want to kick his father in the nuts?" Cory asked Sky.

Sky shrugged. "Hey, I had my impre--"

"Continuing!" Jin said loudly. "My mother was the nice one. The night before we were chosen, she told me, 'You will do what's right.' She encouraged me, but still, she stood up for my father. And that's all I want to tell you right now."

Everyone, including Max, clapped.

"I'll go now," Sky said. "I don't want to say much, but my father was a guard, too. Well, my adoptive father. My adoptive parents both knew how to use weapons. My biological sister... she, well, she was mentally unstable. It was a hard life. Then the Lord took me in. I was trained as a guard, and because of my young age, the Lord decided that it would be best that I be Jin's personal guard. He thought I could be his friend, and get him to 'cooperate better.'"

"It was probably my mother who recommended that," Jin snorted.

"Yeah, yeah, and then Jin and I grew up, snuck out right under the Lord's nose, got chosen, and then here I am now," Sky said.

Some people laughed. Max kept a straight face. He heard the rumors from his adoptive parents.

"Wait, you were adopted?" Nick asked. "How come we never saw you at the orphanage?"

"I was adopted when I was one," Sky responded.

"Oh." Nick scratched his head.

"Anyone wanna go next?" Sky asked.

Cory shrugged. "Ah, what the heck. I'll go. When I was eleven, my house was burned down by a murderer. My brother and I escaped. My parents were dead. My brother and I got separated somewhere along the way. When I was running, I passed a mask shop, where I stole my first item. My camera mask."

"One year later, when I was twelve, the guards caught me and threw me into the orphanage. I was able to keep to myself for another year, because nobody made a big deal about it. Then, Nick came into my life."

"I don't know why I did it. At the time, I just saw a twelve-year-old kid being beat up, and next thing I know, I had taken the next hit and started yelling for the lady who runs the orphanage. But I'm glad I did. I got my best friend that day. But he is really annoying."

Max felt a pang in his heart as he remembered that he was the one who bullied Nick when he first arrived.

"Anyways, Nick and I got sick of being bullied. I decided enough was enough. We ran away from the orphanage together. I stole from people to survive. Then we were chosen and our lives transformed into this. The end, who's going next? I'm still tired."

Max spoke up. "I'll go."