The Encounter (A Harmony Quest backstory)

I was once just an ordinary student, like everyone else. I am Chinese, but that doesn't really matter to the story, so let's just move on. Anyway, I have always been the same as everyone else and I experienced things everyone goes through.

Except for one thing.

At the age of 13, I woke up one day to find myself with very unnatural powers. I was shocked at the time and feared the mythical magic I had inside me. But, over time, I learned how to utilize these powers well. I found that these powers had came from the different video games that I have played over the years, such as Minecraft or Mario or Kirby and so on. And since I was literally the only human with these powers, for some reason that even I don't know, I had to learn to use them properly on my own.

As I was still a student, people at my school feared that my divine power could bring huge consequences. Thus, I was not allowed to use them at school, with only some special cases being an exception.

This paved the way for this entire story to take place.

Being the responsible, self-disciplined and thoughtful person I am, I don't break rules easily. I care for those who needed help. I didn't know why exactly, but I know the heavens blessed me with these gaming powers for a reason. So, I use them for good- I never just keep it to myself. But with these personalities, I suffered a huge cost:

Bullying.

Since my personal rule was set up, I was once again defenseless to any situation that involved me getting humiliated or even attacked. Yet, it never stopped- It only got stronger. Ever since I entered 7th grade, where I moved to a new school (It's how school works here), I could say humiliation really controlled my thoughts.

I've been through a lot- Teased, laughed at, having bad nicknames, getting my things stolen... You name it, I've experienced it. And at the time, I was a loner. Not only did I not have someone close to share my woes with, I was isolated in pretty much all the time except group projects. I tried everything to make it stop, but it never worked.

One day, I got back to school. I'm usually the early bird, but today I was a bit late than usual.

'Oh boy, time for another day of getting harassed at by my stupid classmates again!' I moaned, slamming my face onto my desk.

My classmate heard me moaning, and sit next to me. 'What's the matter, Nathan?'

'(Sigh) Natalie, this isn't going well for me...' I sighed. 'Every day, I hear them say things I hate over and over again like a million times. It's not even funny anymore!'

At the time- Natalie was the only classmate I could call as a friend. She's not always around, though, because she has other friends too and I don't fit in with them well.

'I'm sorry that you have to go through it,' She said.

'It's not your fault,' I replied. 'And this mess is not my doing either. I don't know why god just wants me to suffer.'

She put her hand on my shoulder. 'Don't say that! Of course, you're not the only one that is suffering from bullying! I know it's hard, but I know that a miracle will happen to you someday. They will happen, no matter how unlucky you may be now, trust me, there will be a time where you'll shine.'

I looked at her. I smiled.

'Besides... I hate him too. I know we sound like we get along but in my heart... When I see you getting harassed by him... (sigh) I just feel so bad for you and I feel so angry about what he's doing to you.' She continued.

'Thank you,' I said. 'I'm just glad you're such a supportive person, Natalie.'

She chuckled. 'Hey, I'm certainly not the only one. Maybe... Maybe you'll meet someone else like me?'

I thought for a bit- Is this world really that cruel? Is everyone really that mean and awful to me? I know my fate is not this treacherous path I am taking. A miracle is bound to happen soon, I just know it. And little did I know, it actually happened- But we'll get to it later.

As I was thinking about it, they came- The group of boys who bullied me. And they were already laughing before they even came in.

'Oooooooh, they are SO in love,' Elliot laughed.

His friend, Tommy, laughed along. 'I know right? They literally chat together all the time!'

Another one of their mates, Jason, started rapidly taking photos with his phone of the two of us.

'Hey! Using mobile phones at school is against the rules!' I yelled.

'Ha, rules?' Oh boy, there's the leader, Winston. '(Girly voice) Oh, doing this this this at school is against the rules!'

Everyone in the group started laughing as they walked to their seats.

'You're just a hilarious fool,' Winston laughed, pushing me back forcefully. 'You stay out of my way.'

I wanted to use my powers so bad. I was already charging up the fire flower.

'Hey! That's your rule, you can't break it!' Ughhhhhh, he was mimicking again as he turned back.

I just sighed as I looked at Natalie. She rolled her eyes, feeling annoyed.

'Just look at what just happened,' I sighed.

She crossed her arms. 'I know! He's just... Ugh, I couldn't stand him one bit.'

The main reason why they hate me is probably how I take things seriously. I will admit, I am not serious all the time! I am not serious, but not too lazy either. I don't like that attitude. Yet, this is the price I am paying for being such a good student.

You wanna know what's so crazy about them? They don't care if they get punished at all! It's just insane! I mean, could you imagine someone getting a number of warnings and don't care about any of it at all? It's mortifying and a straight up absurd attitude!

I stand for righteousness. I never do anything bad intentionally. But of course, there is always that ONE person who wants to make everything as imperfect as it can possibly be. Like this guy, I literally think his mind has serious problems! He even dares to talk back at teachers! What!?

That happens so often, I can't even recall how many times that happened.

This one time, we were in the middle of a lesson at school. Before I go on, let me give some prep: There's this teacher who teaches us who is kinda... Awkward. He pronounciates stuff wrongly time to time and he doesn't really do a good job at punishing students, but I was fine with it.

So, what happened was that during the middle of his lesson, Winston and his friend Oscar (who sat a few desks behind me) are secretly playing with their phones. Yes, this is normal, I see it every day. I was busy still doing Math questions that the teacher gave, so I didn't pay attention to what's going on behind me for a minute.

'I can see that, Winston,' the teacher said, putting his glasses up. 'You better put that away before I give you another record.'

The disobedient student just looked at him with an innocent face.

'What are you talking about?' He asked. 'I wasn't playing-'

The teacher walked over. 'Yes you are, show me the phone this instant.'

'Does it look like we care if you punish us?' Oscar asked. 'Why do we have to listen? We can do anything we want if we like.'

'Boys, stop fooling around before I make you take the hard route here...' The teacher was ready to send them to the principal's office.

The two still didn't stop, and then I realised what's going on.

'Oh, I'm so scared! Pfft, no, I don't care.' Winston was speaking in that freaking mimicking tone again. 'Why should I even give-'

Before he could even say the word, I already stood up in anger, banging my hands on my desk.

'STOP IT!' I roared.

As my voice boomed across the room, everyone went silent at looked at me.

'You do not have the right to talk back to teachers like that,' I warned. 'I've told them about this case once already. I will do it again if you don't stop.'

The teacher certainly did not want to be a part of this, but was confused to my actions. He stepped back a bit as Winston wanted to fight back.

'Oh, haha, playing the role of the cop again, huh!?' He slapped me hard on the face. 'I told you to stay out of my way unless you want to have a bad time... And you didn't listen.'

'Why should I listen to you, punk!?' I yelled. Everyone gasped.

Before I knew it, he pushed me hard and punched me straight to the floor. The other boys just started giggling at my failure.

'LOL, he won't try to fight back!' Jacky, another one of the gang, laughed.

'I know, right? Does he even have the guts to stand up to us?' Tommy couldn't stop the laughter.

But the bully didn't stop there- He even grabbed me and slammed my head back onto my desk before laughing and walking back to his seat.

'That's it!' The teacher was mad now. 'You two come with me right now!'

You see what I mean, fellow reader?

They're just... ridiculous people. Seeing someone getting hurt right before their eyes, and still laughs like that didn't mean anything. It feels like I wasn't there.

School was a horrible thing for me. Isolated, attacked, humilated, you name it. I was teased for practically everything- Academic results, mistakes, singing, all that. The words I have to listen to... I bear it all day, every day, yet it haunts me every time I close my eyes every night.

I didn't have anyone to always be around to care for me when I needed them. I desperately wanted a friend; Someone who could share my feelings with. Every night, I would tell the stars, 'All I wish is just a friend... Is that too much to ask?'

I always dreamed of being a happy teenager. I bet that my life would be so much more cheerful if someone was around for me, helping me, caring for me, like any good friend would.

I watched a lot of My Little Pony. Like, a lot a lot. Yet, the lessons they teach don't help much, considering I don't have many friends. All I hoped for, was someone like Twilight- Someone who would always be there to cheer me up. Someone who I can relate to. Someone I could share my feelings to. Someone... With a pair of caring wings, to comfort me in their embrace.

And little did I know, three years after I met those people, the heavens finally heard my call.