(TW: Implied abu$3, not much though) I sat at my desk, while Chaiyn stood, leaning against the wall, closing the door behind him. “Have you got a notebook?” I smirked and tossed him an empty one, without a pen. He sighed, humor dancing in his turquoise eyes. “And a pen, please, that’d be great.” I tossed him a pen as well. He caught it and sat cross-legged on the floor. I grabbed a pen of my own, opened a journal, and started writing. For a few minutes, we were quiet, both of us writing something on our respective books. Eventually, I looked up and turned in my chair. “Can I ask you something?” Chaiyn looked up, his turquoise eyes meeting my brown ones. “Sure. My answer might vary, depending on the question, but you can ask. You can always ask,” he added after a pause. I nodded. “What happened with ‘the accident’? What were you doing? What went so horribly wrong that Maya became a Shade?” Chaiyn’s expression darkened a little, but he closed his notebook. I closed mine, too, sure that this would be a lengthy story. “My reputation was never good with the townsfolk. First of all, I was a Sight-Seer, and no one liked that I knew a lot about everyone. And second of all, I was a tinkerer, and no one liked that I questioned /everything/. “Amidst all the hate, though, I had two friends. Eddie, and Eragon. They helped me with a lot of the tinkering projects I took on. Even though the townsfolk hated me, I still spent as much time in the town as I could. Eventually I figured out something that they all had in common: They all wanted to change their abilities.” “Why?” I asked. I couldn’t imagine someone wanting to change their powers, even if they were a werewolf. I’d never even considered it myself. Chaiyn shrugged. “Suck up elves, I guess. Quite a few people wanted to be a Teleporter, so that they could go places without walking, or summon things to them. A few others wanted Telepathy, but not everyone’s were self-centered. A few people wanted a Healer’s ability or even Vitanic powers. “So, naturally, now that I’d found a problem; I wanted to fix it. As Eragon, Eddie, and I started work on it, word quickly spread throughout the town. But this time, the gossip wasn’t bad. The townsfolk wanted to know how our work paid off, and for months, that was all that anyone talked about.” He sighed. “It was nice, to be honest. Having them talking about me was something I was used to, but it was never anything good. I liked it, and so did Father.” His expression darkened as he said the title. “For a while, he wasn’t as hard on me. But nothing good can last forever. “I guess he realized that if my plan worked, if I could actually change someone’s powers, that I wouldn’t be living in his shadow anymore. I’d completely outgrow it, maybe even make my /own/ shadow that he'd have to live in. And he couldn’t handle that. He went from treating me like a person to treating me like less than nothing.” He shuddered. “Some of the things that he did, that he said…” He took a shaky breath and forced his expression back to neutral. “Anyway. A few more weeks had passed, and just about then we were ready to test the invention. I’d collected an object to represent different powers - a first aid kit for Healers, a drawing of a scythe for Necronias, a black crystal for Shades, that sort of thing. “By the time we were ready to test, it was February. It had snowed recently-” “Is that important?” I cut in, just to make sure that he knew I was still listening. He nodded. “Yeah, just keep it in mind. Anyway, the day we were testing, Eddie, Eragon, and I had just put the finishing touches on. We weren’t paying attention to the machine as we negotiated which power and who would try it. We’d just decided on Shade and I’d put the crystal in place when I realized Maya was there.” He took another shaky breath and continued, his voice strained. “It had snowed. If the weather had been anything else that might not have happened. She might not have become a Shade. Father-” He cut himself off, but I could guess at what he was going to say. /Father wouldn’t have had to banish me./ He cleared his throat, voice getting even quieter as he continued. “A branch above the starting button snapped under the weight of the snow. Maya was exactly where the test subject would have been, and when the button was hit…” He mimicked an explosion with his hands.
Notes/Credits: If you're reading this, you probably know I wrote The Wolf Boy. Well, here's the sequel: The Monster's Curse. This is Chapter 34 Pt 2. Previous Chapter(s): Chapter 1: https://scratch.mit.edu/projects/652476202/ Chapter 2: https://scratch.mit.edu/projects/652950608/ Chapter 3: https://scratch.mit.edu/projects/655177024/ Chapter 4: https://scratch.mit.edu/projects/655177565/ Chapter 5: https://scratch.mit.edu/projects/655621072/ Chapter 6: https://scratch.mit.edu/projects/656955201/ Chapter 7: https://scratch.mit.edu/projects/657580423/ Chapter 8: https://scratch.mit.edu/projects/657583863/ Chapter 9: https://scratch.mit.edu/projects/657586191/ Chapter 10: https://scratch.mit.edu/projects/657668860/ Chapter 11: https://scratch.mit.edu/projects/658404211/ Chapter 12: https://scratch.mit.edu/projects/659115920/ Chapter 13: https://scratch.mit.edu/projects/659116659/ Chapter 14: https://scratch.mit.edu/projects/659117186/ Chapter 15: https://scratch.mit.edu/projects/659420154/ Chapter 16: https://scratch.mit.edu/projects/661425573/ Chapter 17: https://scratch.mit.edu/projects/661428771/ Chapter 18: https://scratch.mit.edu/projects/661974554/ Chapter 19: https://scratch.mit.edu/projects/662108449/ Chpt 20 Pt 1: https://scratch.mit.edu/projects/663144219/ Chpt 20 Pt 2: https://scratch.mit.edu/projects/663156194/ Chapter 21: https://scratch.mit.edu/projects/663760516/ Chpt 22 Pt 1: https://scratch.mit.edu/projects/674644356/ Chpt 22 Pt 2: https://scratch.mit.edu/projects/674648505/ Chpt 22 Pt 3: https://scratch.mit.edu/projects/674658226/ Chpt 23 Pt 1: https://scratch.mit.edu/projects/683757147/ Chpt 23 Pt 2: https://scratch.mit.edu/projects/683765009/ Chpt 24 Pt 1: https://scratch.mit.edu/projects/685766546/ Chpt 24 Pt 2: https://scratch.mit.edu/projects/686198230/ Chapter 25: https://scratch.mit.edu/projects/700792854/ Chpt 26 Pt 1: https://scratch.mit.edu/projects/700796432/ Chpt 26 Pt 2: https://scratch.mit.edu/projects/700878172/ Chapter 27: https://scratch.mit.edu/projects/708908365/ Chapter 28: https://scratch.mit.edu/projects/708908899/ Chapter 28.5: https://scratch.mit.edu/projects/708910102 Chapter 29: https://scratch.mit.edu/projects/715701804 Chapter 30: https://scratch.mit.edu/projects/722542292/ Chpt 31 Pt 1: https://scratch.mit.edu/projects/728333697/ Chpt 31 Pt 2: https://scratch.mit.edu/projects/728334516/ Chpt 32 Pt 1: https://scratch.mit.edu/projects/730396954/ Chpt 32 Pt 2: https://scratch.mit.edu/projects/730397968/ Chapter 33: https://scratch.mit.edu/projects/730608161/ Chpt 34 Pt 1: https://scratch.mit.edu/projects/733945483/ Credits: Me, for being the author Shannon Messenger, JK Rowling, Eoin Colfer, and many other authors for inspo @aqua_di_angelo, @AL600AWESOME, @Lanze_cupcake_face11, and @Yayabinks for inspo and supporting the story! QOTC: What ships would you like to become canon/stay canon?
