- Return to the Beginning

A car drove down a long road, flanked on both sides by a small ditch, grass and the occasional tree. For a fleeting moment, birds could be heard chirping, before being left behind by the speed of the car.

It was the height of summer. The sun beamed down and coated all it could see, its vision increased by the lack of clouds in the sky.

Despite this, the temperature wasn't too high. A gentle, cool breeze flew through the air, shaking the trees and offering respite to any living beings.

"Look, all I'm saying is it might be a good idea to start looking," spoke a man. "Of course I would prefer to naturally have a child, but you and I both know that it doesn't really make a difference if we were to adopt."

He was young, maybe in his mid-twenties. Despite this, his blue eyes held some sort of maturity. His face showed signs of stress that contradicted his young age.

"I know that, of course I know. I'm just scared. What if it's my fault that we can't. What if there's something wrong with me?" a woman answered. Her age was similar to the man's, and her green eyes showed the same thing as his. She fiddled with the ends of her blonde hair as she spoke.

"Hey, don't say that," the man said, glancing at her. "It doesn't mean there's anything wrong with you."

"It's like I said, I'm just scared. Don't worry abou..."

The woman suddenly stopped talking. "Wait. Stop the car," she told the man.

The car came to a stop at the side of the road, and the couple got out.

At the side of the road lay a large crib with a baby inside.

The woman picked up the baby and looked at the man. "This is horrible. Who the hell would just abandon a child like this? We should take him to the police."

The man nodded in agreement. "Does he have a name?"

The woman looked at the child's clothes and crib. Stitched into the garments he wore was his name. "I think it's Marcus. Marcus Gr... what is that, Grant?"

The man picked the crib up and gestured to the car. "Come on, let's go down to the station."

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A week later, with the adoption process finished (surprisingly quickly), the couple took Marcus home.

Their home was small. A terraced, two bedroom house that blended in with the other houses it stood alongside, as insignificant as the street upon which it stood.

They spent half a year preparing his room, converting it into a room fit for a baby from the formal guestroom it was previously. The spontaneity of the circumstances left them with little time to prepare in advance, so the room had to be prepared around the child.

The room, once complete, was coated in a light shade of blue.

A large cupboard stood in the corner, filled with clothes and other items for the baby.

The baby's cot stood in the middle of the room. Above it spun a baby mobile, adorned with various aircraft.

The change in décor wasn't the only change that would occur for this family. Two months earlier, four months after Marcus's arrival, His mother had become pregnant. Then, a month after Marcus's first birthday, he had a younger sister.

This resulted in more change, as the children's room was redecorated to accommodate another child. In the end, it looked like two separate rooms without a wall to divide them.

Two years later, change once again began to occur to the family.

When he was three years old, Marcus learned of his power. For an unknown reason, he was able to enact his will on the world with nothing more than a snap. As a child he only used it naively, allowing himself to get things like new toys. He would use it excessively without understanding it, its results often leaving the child laughing.

The other change occurred with a change in home.

The family moved into a new house, in preparation for a new child. The new house was slightly larger, sporting another room that was planned to be used as a bedroom for two of the three children.

Three months after his sister's second birthday, his mother gave birth to twins.

This surprise threw their plans into a frenzy, resulting in more work needing to be done to accommodate two babies that was carried out around them, just like what happened to Marcus.

The next change big happened when he was eleven.

His family had decided to get a pet cat. As the eldest, Marcus had the privilege of naming it.

Without a moment's hesitation, he instantly decided on a name.

"Roxy."

Compared to the struggles of raising four children, the animal was very easy to care for, requiring only food, water and the occasional bit of attention which it got in abundance from the children.

Once he turned thirteen, his life changed drastically.

He began to despise his power.

He hated that it simply gave him everything. He hated that he could never achieve anything, because he had this simple lifeline always in reach, making his achievements worthless.

For years he considered forcing himself to lose it. And every time he thought that, he would have a feeling in his gut that told him not to do that.

Once his sixteenth birthday arrived, he had made a resolution. Much like a child with rich parents, he felt that his actions and achievements weren't his own.

Once he was nineteen, he would transport himself into another world, one that wasn't already tainted by his power.

One where he could achieve things himself without the use of the power, the power that had been warping his results since he was an infant.

One where he could prove to himself what sort of person he truly was.

One where he could feel some sort of self pride.

More than that, he felt deep down that there was somewhere specific he had to go to achieve this, as though it was his fate to enter a new world, and that he had no choice in the matter.

He grew emotional through the three years to that point, knowing he had given himself a deadline to his current life. His emotional state began to become erratic, with Marcus acting like a man condemned to death's row.

He secretly said his goodbyes in the build-up to his nineteenth, spending time with people he felt a connection, giving them unforgettable memories of him while also forging memories for himself that he hoped he would not forget.

Shortly after his nineteenth birthday, he began the process of his journey to this new world, laying the groundwork for his departure.