Chapter Text
I live in a world dominated by a hierarchy, controlled by colors. Every single person is born with a color, a color that will define one's entire life. You have the same color throughout your entire life, from when you're born till you die. It's not possible to change your given color. Scientists have tried and failed.
There are ten colors in our world, each with its own social rank. Purple, white, yellow, and blue being the highest ranks and the rarest colors. These are the colors that rule our world. White, the pure that brings peace in our world. They do nothing wrong and are pictured as angels sent from heaven.
Yellow the intellectuals who rule in science and knowledge. They are the ones in control of all technology, medical research, and world progression. They are born with a supercomputer-like brain.
Blue, the beautiful born leaders. They rule and lead the world. They make the rules, and they decide what is and will be.
And Purple, the rarest color of them all. Only about 0,000001% of the world population is born with this color. The color of perfection, rarity, royalty, gods. They have the ability to encourage others and change the world. To spread their opinions and goals to others. They are powerful and dangerous. Children born with this color are shipped from their parents and to the royal family. Growing up only knowing one thing, they are worth everything and everyone else is worth nothing.
Then there is the middle class, the normal colors. Green, turquoise, and grey. These colors are the majority of this world. They are the normal people who live normal lives. There is nothing special about them, yet there are still a few differences. The main one being grey. People born with grey as their color, are dull, unfeeling people. They don't have goals, don't have hopes and dreams and they don't hold any opinions on anything. They don't have a personality, nor any ambitions. They are born to follow, without question.
Lastly, the low ranks. They are looked down upon and outcasted from society. Pink, red, and orange.
Pink, they are beautiful, seductive, like sirens. Most use their beauty and seduction to get what they want and the majority of pinks work in the porn and sex-worker industry. They cannot have normal lives, even if they tried.
Red, the delinquents. Their aggressive and violent behaviors make them frowned upon and out-shunned by the world. They are the criminals, the murderers of this world. There is never peace with them around.
And then there's orange, the lowest of them all. The outcast of the world. Anyone associated with this color will be looked down upon. Nearly none wants children of this color, resulting in orphanages filled with them. People born with orange as their color are cunning, untrustworthy. They cheat and lie, to get what they want. You can try and raise them to be better, but it's simply impossible since it's coded in their DNA.
The way we know our colors is through the eyes. You know the saying, "one's eyes are the window to our soul" Well, that is truly the chase here. Our eyes hold the color we are born with. Any and all have access to our given color at birth. This means no one can hide their color. So, if you're born with a low rank, then there is no saving you.
This is the social norm we are born into. This is how our world works. No one questions it and no one seems to mind. This is our world. This is our life. And this? This is my tale.
_
The alarm clock rings and rings. It has been so for a few minutes now. Finally, a hand slams on top of it, turning the unruly loud thing off. Out of bed, he rises, and off to the closet, he goes. His room isn't anything special. And that isn't being modest. There are no posters, no awards, no collections, no nothing. It was simply a plain room with a desk, bed, and closet. Slacking behind in his footsteps he slowly finds his way to his small amount of clothing. As for his room, his clothes aren't anything special either. Plain black, greys, and other dark blue tones. He doesn't own anything flashy or bright and colorful. It would be a complete contrast to him. Well, except for that one Hawaiian shirt his mother bought him months back.
His looks? Long slender body, sloughed stands, short black hair, and dull grey eyes.
Upon arriving at the kitchen, he's greeted by his ever so energetic mother. "Good morning sweetheart! Slept well?" He pulls on his shoulders and gives a small grunt in response. She doesn't seem to mind though, long since used to her son's indifference. "There are some eggs on the pan left for you" She gestures to the pan on the stove, which indeed has some scrambled egg and fried bacon "I have to leave a bit early for work today, so you'll have to walk to school." She informs him and gives him a sweet little kiss on the cheek. "Love you, sweetie, have a nice day!" She smiles brightly at him. "' Kay, love you too mom." He waves to his mom and watches as she gets into her car and then pulls out of the driveway to drive off. It isn't new for his mom to be called in early for work. It happens quite often actually, but it doesn't seem to bother her, so it doesn't bother him either.
His father has already left for work too. His dad teaches at a college downtown in the city. His father teaches advanced mathematics. He is very talented in his profession, even though he has average turquoise eyes. His mother works at a nursing home for the elderly. She helps them through their everyday struggles and what else they might need help with. She is a loving and kind person, she and her beautiful emerald green eyes. He cares for both of his parents. Or the closest feeling he could get to caring. Although it's a bit funny really. His father excelling in advanced mathematics and his mother being a kindhearted woman should result in a happy young child with a bright future. Though they got him.
He himself is an extremely average person. Or as average as someone like him can be. His grades are nothing special, but they are passable. He doesn't excel at anything in school or out, always average or just above in everything he does. He doesn't mind though, or more like he doesn't care, and his parents don't seem to mind either. They're just happy that he's happy. Yet he doesn't really know if "happy" is the exact word he would use to describe himself. He's not sad and depressed or anything. He just exists. He doesn't get mad, sad, or glad. He's always in this "meh" kind of mood. But that isn't a surprise at all really. After all, his given color is grey.
Everything about him is average. His looks, his grades, his physique. He's properly the most average person to exist. Sadly, this means he doesn't have many friends. More like none, actually. Since he is this dull empty shell of a person, there isn't anything interesting about him. No one in his school ever even seems to notice his existence, to begin with. And yet, he doesn't mind. Doesn't care, actually. He doesn't think much. He just exists.
Everything about him is simply a dull grey.
_
School is as it always is. A circus full of animals. He's enrolled at the local college in the part of town he lives in. Or more like a city. This is where the citadel is located after all. The college isn't very prestigious in any way. It has all rankings of colors enrolled, which can result in many problematic scenarios.
The halls are filled with people of all eye colors. There's the high-end blue-eyed students that get anything and everything they want. They all have high-end families and power behind them. The yellow-eyed intelligent students with straight A's and powerful connections to places normal people couldn't dream of. Then there's the pink-eyed cheerleaders and the red-eyed delinquents beating the other lower ranks up. There are even the now and then orange-eyed students enrolled. But there are very few of them, for obvious reasons.
This school truly is a smaller version of the world's hierarchy. Though in his eyes, they're all the same. They're all just people. He doesn't really care about people's given colors, though having grey as his given color, that's no surprise at all. Grey-eyed people don't have opinions, don't think out of the box, and don't express feelings.
To specify. Grey is the dullest given color to have. By having grey as your given color, you won't excel in anything and are average in anything and everything. You don't feel that special either. Most grey-colored people are boring and just simply live to live. No one ever really takes notice of them or is interested in them. They're mostly alone, but they don't mind, since they don't really feel nor care about anything in general.
And he is exactly like every other grey-eyed person. There are other grey-eyed students enrolled at this college, yet none of them speak to one another, but some few individuals.
He continues walking down the halls. Lockers are mounted on the walls along the halls like every other school. He's on his way for his first lecture. He has plenty of time before the first bell rings signaling the first lesson to start, so he doesn't hurry. Behind him though is someone calling out to him, "Hey nerd!"
He turns around and sees Olivia as her usual self.
"Oh, hey Olivia." Olivia is a small petite girl with a fiery personality. She has long curly orange hair that compliments her elegant sapphire eyes. She has a high pitch voice that seems to always have a mocking undertone in it. She's much shorter than himself, yet that doesn't stop her from acting big.
Olivia puffs out her chest and barks back a response. "You dare say my name?! You? You simple dull grey? You are in no place to talk to me so casually! You're so boring I don't even know why you bother." He simply pulls on his shoulders in response. He really doesn't care what she says or what she thinks of him. Though he kind of gets what she means. She's a high rank with her clear blue eyes. It's clear as day, as to where their social standpoints are.
He doesn't understand why Olivia bothers to mess with him every day though. You should think with her rank, that she would be uninterested or at least have something to do with her time. Yet here she is, calling him a nerd like every day since the school year started.
Olivia's smug expression grows when he doesn't verbally answer her "You aren't going to answer me? What, are you scared? Ha! You're so pathetic. Come on, defend yourself! Talk back to me!" She says in a mocking tone, "Oh, but you can't, can you? Because you're just a simple, boring, grey." The spite in her tone is clear as day. Yet he still doesn't say anything. Doesn't give her an entertaining reaction. Simply staring at her with tired eyes.
Olivia lets out a long sigh and slumps her shoulders dramatically. She turns around to walk away, but before she's too far away, she calls back. "Truly pathetic. Why don't you just off yourself and spare society your uselessness?"
He pulls his shoulders in an indifferent response. Once Olivia's gone, he continues towards his next lesson.
In the start when Olivia began to mock him with his given color, he was slightly taken aback. He still doesn't really understand why she picked a grey-eyed person of all people to go after since he could never really give her a satisfying reaction. He's sure it would be much more entertaining for her to go after a green-eyed or an orange-eyed person even. But really, he can't care less. He isn't hurt by her words, since they are true in the end. He isn't going to go off himself though, since that would sadden his parents deeply. They are the only people that he cares about. He wouldn't do anything to upset them.
Even though Olivia took up some of his time, he still made it for his first lecture in plenty of time. Around the class are the typical groups. There're the highly ranked popular blue-eyed kids near the middle to the back of the room. The yellow-eyed brains of course sitting in the front to get the best learning experience. The red-eyed delinquents in the far back of the room glaring at everyone who dares look their way. Even some of the pink-eyed girls were giggling in their own little corner and visibly flirting with other students at the other end of the room. This school, just like the rest of the world, is truly a hierarchy based on color and ranks. If you were born with a low-ranking color, then good luck getting through life.
The teacher walked into the room and announced her presence. Most of the class quieted down and the teacher started doing road calls. Every student is called to announce themselves present.
"Emilia?", "Present." Emilia, she is one of the smartest and most dedicated in the school. She has won multiple awards that prove her expanding knowledge of science and human biology. Her personality is cold and resentful compared to others of her color. She doesn't really care about others' feelings. She has semi-long brown hair and a pair of sharp glasses adorning her face. Oh, and her color? Well, yellow of course.
"Josephine?", "Here!" Josephine, one of the sweetest people anyone will ever have the pleasure to meet. She isn't the best in science and mathematics, but her thought progress in philosophy is mind-blowing. She is one of the few people that doesn't mind or even care about society's norms and talks with everyone. She's always smiling and when she walks into a room, her bright pink eyes lighten the mood. She's short and has long light pink hair usually tucked in a messy bun.
"Azrael?", "Yeah." You can easily say she's the exact opposite of Azrael. Azrael is a heavily pierced and tattooed guy. He has semi-short black and red dyed hair styled in a long mohawk. It's said that if you look at him funny, he'll beat you up. That's one of the many rumors going around. Truthfully, no one really knows much about him other than that one time he beat another student up so much they ended in the hospital. Yeah, Azrael isn't one to mess with. One look from his crimson-colored eyes and you're dead.
"Mark?", "Oh, um... Here." Arh, and there he is. The one this story is truly about. The greyest and dullest person you could ever have the displeasure of meeting. Mark.