Chapter 3- Orion
Most people discover their semblance at some point during their life, usually in a time of need or distress. They're considered a manifestation of aura based on one's personality, but I'm living proof that this is not always the case. Unlike most, I was born with both an active aura and a perpetually active semblance. I have no way to deactivate it. But because of this I grew up using it and my aura compensates, meaning that I have an unusually strong aura that's constantly being used and exercised without need of my activation. The doctors had said that most people born with a semblance would discover a second part to it later in life, but by now I was 19 years old and I'd yet to find a second part to my semblance, which is called a sixth sense. That means I can sense the presence and positions of other auras around my own. Because of this, I can observe and locate people in the same general area as me without even opening my eyes. I can also sense grimm this way. Nature's soft, delicate aura is just about everywhere, but where there is grimm there is a distinct lack of aura. They're black holes in a world of light. I can also use my semblance while fighting people. If someone has the ability to teleport or leave shadows, I can tell where they are anyways. I sparred with this girl once in signal academy who filled the entire room with fog in seconds. I just closed my eyes and shot right at her aura. I won.
But this multicolored girl was truly something. There were plenty of people with two-part semblances, but I'd never before seen a teleporter who could leave behind a shadow too. She would've caught me completely off guard if I hadn't felt her aura condense into the glass shadow and suddenly appear behind me. But I'd trained to react to my semblance in this way. Using all my speed I dropped my bag, whipped around, and parried her oncoming attack. This caught her off guard, so I swung Alnitak around and hit the outside of her wrist. This didn't break it, but I disarmed her. She just stared at me in shock, rubbing her wrist. Her pink and brown eyes seemed to pierce through my glasses, looking straight into my soul. 'Oh, right! My glasses!' I'd completely forgot I still had them on.
As she stood there, still rubbing her wrist but seemingly out of her daze, I removed my glasses and showed her my mismatched eyes. This certainly surprised her, and her own eyes widened and actually switched color. Now her left one was brown and her right one was pink, matching her hair. "I've never met anyone else with heterochromia iridium before," I stated calmly, putting the sunglasses in the bag with the others so as to make her more comfortable. "And you can switch them? That's cool." She nodded her head, but still didn't say a word. "What's your name?" She hesitated, pursing he lips. Then she reached into her back pocket and pulled out a small slip of paper. She handed it to me. It was a business card, but all that was written on it was "Neopolitan" with the "Neo" portion underlined.
"People call you Neo?" I asked, just to make sure. It was answered with a nod. "You don't talk much, do you?" A head shake. "Can you talk?" A nod. "Why don't you?" She just smirked and stared on. "Alright, then... Do you promise not to attack me if I let you take your parasol back?" Another nod, so I finally lowered my umbrella and let her bend down and pick it up. Even if she did attack me, I knew I could take her. "Were you on your way somewhere? Or just looking for mugger's to mug?" She shrugged and twirled her parasol a bit. Probably just wandering. "Well, it's nice to meet you, Neo. See you around?"
She motioned for the card, so I gave it to her. She just seemed to look at it for a second, and then handed it back, but when I turned my eyes back to it there was a scroll number typed under her name. I would've praised her for the action, but I could sense she'd already teleported away. I could feel her strong, pink aura running down the street to the east. I poked the shadow she left behind with Alnitak and it shattered, as expected.
Neo
I ran full speed back to Roman's house, mind racing as fast as my legs were. This was impossible! Not only had I finally met someone else with heterochromia (I'd been looking for a while), but he'd managed to block my sneak attack and disarm me! Nobody could do that, not even Roman!
The thought of Roman made me sad again. But as I sat back on my bed, I thought life without him might not be so lonely after all. I'd just met him, but that Orion guy seemed pretty nice and he must be a pretty good fighter. Usually I don't just straight up give anyone my scroll number like that, but Orion seemed genuinely kind. Most people are just nice out of pity for the short, mute girl with the weird eyes. Roman was really the only one that seemed to regard me as a strong, independent person capable of great things. But when Orion looked at me, I didn't sense an ounce of pity or disgust from him either.
We'd barely had any interaction, but I could tell how much Orion had been through. I could see it in his eyes, and the way he hid behind his sunglasses before he took notice of my own eyes. No doubt he carried a spare pair or two in his long trench coat. He and I were in the same boat, and the same neighborhood, but somehow never crossed paths before. Now, when the love of my life had just died and I needed a friend more than ever, I'd found him. Or he found me, rather. I finally had an inkling of a chance to be friends with someone outside of my evil line of work. He might even be my ticket out. I fell asleep snuggled under my pink and white comforter, thinking of all the opportunities this could bring.
I didn't notice when my scroll buzzed on my nightstand and Cinder's emblem three up the screen.
