Astral Odyssey: Dying Ember

Chapter 1: Luna

Luna was a middle child born into a high class family that is neither weak nor strong. Her parents were both good looking. Unfortunately, she was the only child who did not take after her parents' good looks. Her siblings got their parents' rich bountiful black hair. Her younger sister inherited their mother's hazel phoenix eyes, dainty nose, and perfectly bow-shaped lips. Her older brother got their father's sharp grey eyes, thin lips, and strong features. Luna has thin wispy black hair, grey round eyes, a button nose, and downward-turned lips.

Her parents did not hold the most powerful positions but they held significant ones. Her siblings had things they excelled at. Her sister has good intellect, and excelled in literature and the arts. She planned to end up in business like their mother. Her brother has a strong physique and was good at sports. He entered the military like their father. Luna was amazingly average no matter how hard she tried. Her parents refused to believe that Luna has reached her peak potential. They believed that she simply needed more nurturing as compared to her siblings. They started off with sending her to countless enrichment classes. Later, they resorted to hiring back to back private tutors so that Luna did not need to waste time commuting between places. Each tutor taught something different to try and find her talent. Literature, arts, music, theatre, business, finance, science, technology, engineering, martial arts... Overtime, it was clear to see that she was a jack of all trades and a master at none.

Today was another day of getting back her test results from all her tutors. Looking at her own mediocre results, she suddenly realised that she no longer felt anything. She stared blankly at the paper. There was no disappointment, sadness, or frustration. Before this, she would usually hate herself for being very mediocre. She would bite her lips in frustration and fight to hold back the tears threatening to fall from her eyes. 

It was not long later that she realised she also does not feel anything when she succeeds. Her mother had asked her to cook a meal for the family since she was the only one being home-schooled. It was also a way for Luna to let everyone know how she was faring. She put her all into researching, planning, and cooking. When she was finally done and her family all tasted the food, they exclaimed in surprise that it was "pretty good" and "above average". Her parents looked proud and her siblings congratulated her. She politely smiled and accepted their praises and critiques well. All she had felt was relief. All she thought was that she had completed something she was assigned with and that others seemed happy with it. She had always thought that she would be filled with joy and satisfaction. 

Whenever her family went for social events, it seemed like people often neglect her existence. Sometimes, people would mistakenly think that her parents had only two children. Other times, people would not notice her presence until she was pointed out to them. Her family was not bad. They would comfort and well-intentionally try to place her right beside them. However, they quickly realised that it had the opposite effect from what they wanted as it made her pale even more in comparison. They ended up letting her do whatever she wanted during parties and make some connections.

At age 16, she got sent to the same elite school as her brother. Her sister would eventually enter that school as well. This was so that they could all look out for each other. Her siblings were especially worried if she would get picked on. However, her quiet and reserved nature and average looks somehow led to the misunderstanding that she was only some scholarship student. Children their age saw no benefit in associating with scholarship students since the secondary mission assigned to them by their parents was to form useful connections that could be used outside of school and for their families' businesses.

As a person who stands on the sideline unnoticed and unbothered, she had a clear view of the happenings that went on around her. It was as if she became an observer and a non-participant in her life. After spending a period of time in school, everything suddenly became strikingly clear to her. She could see through things as if she was reading a novel. She could quickly identify what was going on and what is likely to happen. She could see the 'red string of fate' between people. She could tell who were the leads and supporting characters and what their characters were like. This was how she predicted her end. An extra side character like her would randomly meet his or her end just for the story's progress. Her death would not impact anyone or the plot because any other person could easily fill her role. She just could not tell when she would meet her demise. Since the day she gained this ability, life was like the colour grey. Nothing seemed impressive to her anymore. The most ironic part about gaining this ability was that she would lack the talent to make any changes anyway.