Chapter Text
It was one question. Just one single question that most people would have brushed off as some type of childish make-believe. But not for Anya Forger, whose whole world felt shaken and threatened in less than five seconds.
All because he just had to ask her most dreaded question just yet.
"Are you a mind reader or something?"
Why. Just why. Why did Sy-On Boy have to go and ruin all of her hard work and effort? She was taking short breaths because that's all she could do, even though her lungs were desperate for more air. It felt like she forgot how to breathe properly, or to function even given how her whole body felt frozen.
"Hey, are you okay…?"
She could hear him and yet she couldn't process anything. It's like her head was underwater; everything felt so blurry. She hasn't registered all of the tears that she has cried just yet.
Now that Anya has been found out…does that mean that Anya has to leave Papa, Mama and Bond behind? Will Anya be forced to go back to an orphanage and find a new family? But Anya doesn't want to leave her family! But if the creepy lab guys find Anya then everything will be over… Anya will never see anyone ever again… Not Papa, Mama, Bond or Becky…
There will be no more family ootings and no more missions, no more Plan B and no World Peace…
Sy-On Boy is a big jerk who will probably expose Anya's secret to everyone. Anya will be hated by all people for sure and get expelled for being a creepy witch—
All these thoughts and more were jolting through her small frame at the same time. Frantic, chaotic and most of all terrifying. No child should have to bear such a burden. She could practically see her life flash before her eyes. A life that she had worked so hard for to maintain.
Anya felt her whole world collapse and crumble. And all she could do was tremble and be shaken. Wait— shaken?
She didn't notice that Damian was shaking her shoulder, how his voice grew more panicked with each small sentence. And she most definitely didn't notice an ominous figure approaching them with an uncanny determination, not unlike how a predator approaches their prey.
It all happened so fast. How she shoved Damian's hand away from her. How she finally registered the menacing presence nearby. How she must have yelled something out loud (no, she doesn't remember what it was). How she could feel herself move because her body finally decided to do something and switch to flight mode and how her small stubby legs carried her further and further away. How she could barely hear the crunching leaves underneath her feet and barely feel how the low-hanging twigs were scratching up her face, hands and uniform.
How she was encased in darkness from both her overflowing emotions and the sheltering trees of the forest (still on Eden school property, of course).
It all happened so fast when her whole world was seemingly ripped away from her.
~~
Damian likes to believe that he knows many things because he's good at studying. But no amount of books and research could have possibly prepared him for this reaction. Especially not to a question that most people would laugh at. A question he'd normally get ridiculed for asking in the first place, simply because it's so absurd. A question that would fit a fantasy story better than his lived reality.
However, Anya Forger wasn't "most people" and definitely not normal. Not in a bad way though, her oddness was endearing in a way— nonono. This wasn't the time or place for getting sidetracked like this. Not when he was witnessing something he clearly didn't expect.
Anya Forger was having a mental breakdown.
Anya Forger was having a mental breakdown because of him.
Because he just had to ask.
She didn't respond to all of his other questions that were concerning her well-being. All she could do was sniffle and cry and gape for air (and still look beautiful). Her lack of response and stiffened body started to cause him to panic as well. He really couldn't pinpoint what exactly about his, admittedly ridiculously stupid, question must have triggered her like this. But no matter how much he was shaking her shoulders and how desperate his pleas for her response were growing, she still didn't utter a word.
Until she shoved him away with all of her strength that must have remained, turned on her heels and yelled out the most hurtful words that have left her mouth just yet.
"I HATE YOU, SY-ON BOY!!!"
And before he could even register, let alone process, just how much those words have stung his young, tender heart, there was another threat that must have manifested out of seemingly nowhere.
"What is going on here?"
Damian's blood ran cold immediately. He didn't want to turn his head. He could practically taste his oncoming demise. Every single fiber of his body was screaming at him to run away and yet he knew better than to give in.
Because it wasn't just any ordinary teacher who was standing behind him and observing all of his smallest movements.
It was the personification of storm clouds and punishment herself.
Old Lady Tonitrus.