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13.the wrongs

-I thought a conversation with Flynn would've been somewhat of an eye opener for you. Haven't you realized yet, that the hurt are the ones who hurt? People with healthy lives and constructive and healing coping mechanisms find ways to channel their anger, the immature traumatized children do nothing all day but try and return the hurt, and pain you just like what happened to them. Anger is a poison to the soul, it's like a virus, while corrupting its host, it spreads to others, destroying them as well, not many have the antidote, and it seems like you lack it as well,

-What is it, Xancore?

-I'm not here to teach life's secrets to you and bring them out on a golden platter, you need to make mistakes and learn from them to grow, find out the right response by yourself this time. All I'm asking from you is to touch Klen tomorrow, I'll absorb his memories and show them to you at night, then you figure out what to do from then on, because this cannot keep going any longer, his type of pain feeds the Gwactacon way too much.

-Fine, can't wait to see Klen's hidden suffering

The next day, Opal "accidentally" bumped into Klen. Using "the empath", Opal already felt a hefty amount of very heavy unsettling energy, and he could feel something about a toxic relationship being the cause, but he could only decipher so much from just the energy, a Xancore memory callback would make the blurry image much clearer.

His suspicions were confirmed that night, as Xancore unveiled the truth behind his life; everyone knows his girlfriend Eyla, and their relationship looked healthy, at first glance; they would occasionally make out in corners of the school, hold hands while walking to classes, he gets her gifts and she brightens up when she sees him. It was so picture perfect it felt unreal, turns out it was never real.

When using "the empath" to try and understand his emotional state, Alan felt something very weird, the left side of his face radiated energy different to the right, it was darker energy. While browsing through his memories, he saw an argument they had, Eyla has noticed that he was being "too nice" to other girls and she felt as if he wasn't loyal to her, while explaining that he treated everyone the same, in a moment of anger, she punched him in the left side of his face, while screaming "this is how you're making ME feel".

The love he had for her was too blinding, and if he would ever open up he would probably get shamed rather than helped, because a woman abusing a man was very uncommon, and if people hear of it they'd just think the man is pathetic and weak, or that he's lying.

Plus, he truly loved her, he loved the attention she gave him, as s**t as she made him feel she also made him feel loved and wanted, he always thinks to himself that if she didn't care about him she wouldn't have cared about what girl he talks to, in some way, that punch she gave him was out of love, because it showed how jealous she could get over him, therefore how much she truly loved him.

"Is that how he really thinks? Really?

-Unfortunately it is, Opal.

-Kidnappers love their hostages as well. I need to form a bond with him, one that's close enough for him to be able to open up about Eyla, I can't just go to him tomorrow and tell him I know everything, I would be exposing myself.

-Good plan. But, do it as quickly as you can.

-I'll try."

Problem was that at lunchtime Klen either dines with Flynn and the rest of the perfectly heteronormative males who happen to all loathe Opal, or hangs out with his girlfriend. Opal needed to find a time that's long enough for them both to have a good conversation during while being alone, but then Opal remembered that he happens to live in a time where phones and social media exist, and nothing separated him from talking to Klen but some anxiety and a click of a button.

Opal was less confident of his convincing skills online because talking in real life allows him to emit energy and do some subliminal magic that makes the people like him more but that was undoable online. Though, he gave it a shot.

"Hey, Klen, this is Opal, we go to the same high school. I hope what I'm about to say is going to make sense, but for some reason I feel people's energy and lately I've been seeing your eyes and they look really dead and unhappy, which could only mean that something bad is going on. I don't expect you to tell me what it is but I just wanted to let you know that I'm here if you ever need to vent or just talk about your emotions -15:52

-this is really sweet, I appreciate you bro, I have been a bit worn out the past few weeks but don't worry about me, I'm sure I could handle it -16:02"

Opal was shocked he even got a reply, let alone a nice one, "I guess he's not in the "alpha" mindset when no one's watching, but he still holds back from opening up, I wonder if he thinks it'll make him weak to express vulnerability, I think I'm going to use my magic gaze on him

Igby: wouldn't it hypnotize him?

-Yes, that if I perform it correctly. Magic is a spectrum and depending on the amount of energy you put into the move the result varies, a very light "gaze of the sirens" would make him submit to my words while still conscious, thinking it was his own decision, but I need to catch him alone. I'm going to stalk him to find out how his schedule goes.

-Doesn't Xancore have his memory?

-Xancore only reveals the things that are essential and impossible for me to be able to fathom if I don't see. Basically, anything that I can even remotely be able to figure out myself, I don't get to see.

-That's good, actually. Makes you work a bit, what's the fun of it if you get everything served on a golden platter."

Throughout the next week, Opal took note of Klen's patterns, until he found an opening he could hypnotize him during; when he finished classes on Wednesday he stays outside the school for an hour awaiting hi mom to come pick him up, his girlfriend and all of his friends go home. Opal's plan was going to be executed the upcoming Wednesday

...

At night, a sharp pain went right through Tedra's cranium, she kept hitting her head to feel relief until her vision distorted, she pulled on her hair from the agony and chunks ripped out of her scalp, the pain was so severe, almost as bad as the one she initially received when the Gwactacon introduced himself.

"Hyner... what-is happening? What's going on in this country that's this bad?

-Get out of your house, Tedra. We need to get you to control your ability "the wings", because in a day we'll be flying towards the source of the pain you're experiencing.

-What is that source?

-I'm sorry, Tedra. I'm having a hard time saying it. It's just, so damn awful, it breaks me..