A small artwork of the chapter for illustration and plot concept.
ㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤ━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━
"Damn it, I can do it! I can do it! I have powers!"
My shouts echo through the cramped space, and my own euphoria betrays me when, suddenly, everything collapses— the heat vanishes from my skin, and the sharp cold that once flowed from my fingers dissipates into the air. My powers simply... shut off. But at that moment, I don't care.
Because, in the end, I did it.
I gasp for air, my eyes burning on a crushed shard of ice in front of me on the floor. Dampened onto the dingy window its almost luminescent face glows a milky white in the shadowed room as it refracts night seeping in through yellowed cracks. The power I had not long ago possessed still tingles in my fingertips.
"I really have Todoroki's powers."
I can't help but smile, though it's a hesitant, trembling smile. My right side? Nothing. But my left? The promise of something far greater. When I was alive, what fascinated me most about Todoroki—besides his introspective personality—was the duality of his quirk. His right side was pure winter—cold, meticulous, lethal. While his left carried the fury of flames—chaotic, unpredictable, destructive. A perfect balance of two extremes.
And now, part of that power was inside me.
The thought intoxicates me for a moment. Controlling the elements has always been one of the most coveted abilities, both in comics and manga. The power to shape nature itself to one's will... it's the kind of thing that turns someone into a legend. In the world of Twilight, where vampire abilities are almost always derived from the supernatural, I am an anomaly.
But a part of me knows that testing my fire abilities now would be a mistake. The mere thought makes me swallow hard. The house I'm in is old, made of worn wood that creaks with every step I take. If a single spark escapes my control, everything could turn to ashes in the blink of an eye.
Or worse—I could end up setting myself on fire.
My powers don't make me immune to what I create... at least, I'm not sure yet.
I let out a shaky breath, trying to steady my nerves. No... for now, I can only allow myself to train with ice.
And above all, I need to make sure Lunatic Daddy Aro never finds out I can produce fire.
In my new reality, vampires would already consider me powerful just for having the ability to control ice. If they found out I could also generate flames, I wouldn't be seen as a prodigy. I'd be seen as a threat.
And I'm not ready to be hunted. Not yet.
I play with a fragment of ice between my fingers, feeling the cold surface melt against my warm skin. The temperature in the room seems to have dropped a few degrees, the air around me carrying a subtle, almost imperceptible humidity. A strange feeling washes over me.
Maybe it's pride. Maybe it's fear.
Either way, I need to keep this a secret. I have to be careful with it. I remember all too well that Aro would kill me on the spot if he found out I possess the one thing capable of killing a vampire like him.
I gather the ice in my closed hand and crush it, my thoughts turning the shards into dust along with the splinters that slip between my fingers. I need to focus.
Ah! That's when I realize my mistake.
Shit... I made too much noise.
And my heart — or whatever's left of it — starts pounding. The house holds its breath, as if the very silence of the earth around me weighed ten pounds heavier. Outside, the wind whistles through the patched wooden walls, and the scent of damp soil seeps in where the rain once fell.
I look around, scanning the shadows for any hint of movement. A shiver runs through me like icy hellfire.
Did someone hear me?
I hold my breath. I wait.
Nothing.
I let out a relieved sigh and sit back down, deciding to repeat the process. I need to train. I need to refine my control. But even as I do, I can't stop the silly grin that keeps forming every time I see that little shard of ice take shape.
For a moment, I'm just a kid playing with something new.
And it makes sense.
In my other life, I was just thirteen years old.
I'm still a kid.
But I can't afford to think that way.
"New world, new life."
There's no room for nostalgia. Thinking about the past will only weaken me.
I swallow hard, pushing the thoughts away, and refocus on my training. I need to plan ways to use my power efficiently. I refuse to be like Iceman from X-Men—an absurdly powerful mutant held back by a lack of creativity.
My strength can't come from my powers alone. My body needs to be resilient. My mind, sharp.
The thought energizes me, and I spend the rest of the morning testing what I can do. But unfortunately, I still can't create anything larger than a bean.
Which is frustrating.
On the other hand, I've managed to come up with several clever ways to use what I have. Small ice crystals are already a start. A promising start.
Crunch! Crunch!
The noise yanks me from my thoughts, and this time, irritation takes over.
My progress has been interrupted again.
I turn, my gaze immediately shifting to the entrance of the house. And then, I see her.
My youngest aunt.
A delicate presence, yet carrying something unsettling. Her pale blue eyes shine in the dim light, and her smile, though gentle, seems laced with something deeper.
A shiver runs down my spine.
She approaches slowly, her steps so light that I can barely hear them. But even so, the feeling of inevitability grows inside me.
"Here we go again."
But then I notice something different.
She isn't as radiant as usual.
She looks... sad.
When she finally crouches down to my height, her voice comes out softer than normal.
"Hey, Morpheus. How are you? Sorry I was gone all day. I had to visit some places with big brother Aro. You didn't get into any trouble while I was away, did you?"
She tries to smile, but something in her eyes tells me there's more behind her words. Maybe it's a vampire's instinct, or maybe just a worried nephew's intuition.
"I'm fine, Auntie. And I behaved myself. I'm a big boy now, and because I'm a big boy, you can't make me do cute faces anymore."
My voice comes out playfully, but then I change my tone.
"But you don't seem okay. Did something happen to Daddy Aro?"
She blinks, surprised by my observation.
Then, she sighs.
"Morpheus, I won't beat around the bush. I'm sorry to say this, but... we have to leave.
To be continued...
ㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤ━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━
Alright, everyone, here's the deal: this fanfic was originally posted here a few years ago, but at the time, I had just started my Law degree. Over the past two years, my schedule became incredibly hectic, and my writing took a backseat. During this period, I focused more on academic writing and producing content related to university, which pulled me away from the stories I truly wanted to tell.
However, recently, I came across a comment on one of my stories that really made me think. The reader wrote something that stuck with me:
"I'm giving this a low rating because it feels like you're an author who never finishes what they start. Five stories, and none of them go past ten chapters. What's the point of publishing if you're just going to leave us hanging? Just keep it to yourself instead of making us excited for amazing stories only to abandon them."
And honestly? They were right.
I realized that, despite having countless projects and ideas, I left many readers with unfinished stories—stories I had started with so much excitement. That's not fair to you, and it's not fair to me either. So, I've decided to change that once and for all.
I'm reposting the chapters of this fanfic here, but with some changes and improvements to the narrative. I want to refine the story, deepen the characters, and create an even better reading experience. More importantly, this time, I'm truly committed to seeing it through. I'll be focusing not only on writing new chapters but also on restructuring the old ones, ensuring this story develops the way I've always envisioned.
To everyone who's still here—thank you for your patience and for believing in my return. And if you're new here, welcome! No more long pauses this time. Let's move forward!
ㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤ
To be continued...
ㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤ━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━
[N/A] If you've read this far, thank you! And since I'm terrible at handling compliments, please, insult me instead!