Chapter Text
February 14 th 2088
Felix is one unlucky son of a bitch.
This is how Felix dies. It’s so stupid. He had always thought he’d die peacefully in his sleep at the ripe old age of 37 (if he made it that far). Or maybe in a blaze of glory after saving a bus load of children or something as equally heroic. At last, that was not in the cards for Felix. Instead, he was in a back ally crouched in the corner next to the dumpster crying, while his assailant stood over him laughing, while bringing the knife he held in his hand closer to Felix’s face. His soon to be murderer’s friends, three of them, stood behind laughing, egging him on to “hurry up and rid us of the freak”, while the other two of his friends stood closer to the entrance of the ally. Felix supposes they were the lookouts, but they were facing him and not the street, eagerly awaiting his demise and not wanting to miss out.
All because of a flower. Felix was going to die because he made a flower.
***
Felix is unlucky. He supposes it’s deeper than that. It shouldn’t be but it is. He didn’t just ‘make a flower’. Felix was a mutant. Not a very powerful one. Certainly useless, and definitely not dangerous but a mutant all the same and well his existence was frowned upon.
No one really knows how it started. The world was supposed to end in 2026. No one believed it, as it wasn’t the first time someone predicted that the world would end, and it definitely wouldn’t be the last. January 1st, 2026 came and went and no one died, So humanity thought that they once again ditched the impending apocalypse. Until they didn’t. It started slow. One kid here could fly, another kid somewhere else was faster than should be humanly possible. Until it wasn’t just one kid here and there. It was thousands, and it was everywhere. Humans don’t adapt to change very well, and no one really adapted to this change. Other than the mutants of course, but they were no longer legally viewed as humans, and they had a whole bunch of regulations they had to follow. None fair and definitely not humane. One of those regulations were that if you were a mutant you had to be registered as such. Once registered you will be transported to a mutant facility.
Felix heard the horror stories about those. It was supposed to be a place where mutants can live together and be safe. Instead, it was basically a prison. No mutant wanted to live there. So they hid, every mutant for themselves. Felix supposes he should be happy. He had been lucky up to this point. Yes, he was about to die, but he’d made it to 18 without being registered and institutionalized. Not many mutants could say that.
There was a genetic test that was done at the age of 10 to deem if you had the mutant gene. If it was found, then you were forced (by use of drugs) to present (show your power). Depending on what power was you would be either killed on the spot or sent to a facility. Sometimes the mutant ability showed itself before 10. Those were the “lucky ones”. They could run and hide before the government could register them as a mutant. All registered mutants were chipped, so that the facilities could know where you were at all times. Some mutants who presented before 10 weren’t lucky. Those were the ones who were physically changed. They either had different colour skin or eyes, scales, a tail. The possibilities were endless but equally catastrophic. Those mutants were killed on sight. Most, or dare Felix say, all mutants now physically passed as human. Even when forced to present, if one hair changes; you’re killed on sight.
November 9th, 2072
Felix was lucky. He presented when he was 3. He doesn’t remember it, but he was told one moment he was sitting the grass; the next he was covered in sunflowers. The whole yard was. Felix could grow flowers. Useless. His mother had been terrified, but it was only her and Felix home at the time. As it was told to him, she immediately grabbed Felix and placed him inside, then got rid of every flower that had magically spawned. She told Felix to never do it again. Not that his three year old brain fully understood, yet he listened to his mother. Between the ages of 3 and 10 no more flowers magically appeared. Then came the test.
September 15th, 2079
Felix was lucky. His mother worked at one of the many testing facilities and she was assigned to him. She faked his results and told everyone he was human. Told him he was human. Until he realized he wasn’t.
April 21st, 2086
He was 17 and sad. His mother had passed away in a car accident the year before. He was living with an uncle who’d rather not have the responsibility of a teenage boy to raise. All he wanted was some flowers for his mother’s grave, but his uncle told him he was too sensitive. Flowers weren’t going to bring his mother back. His uncle would take him to the grave and bring him home but that was it. No flowers. The grave was bare, and Felix was sad. All he wanted was to bring his mother some Lilies, her favorite flower. Or one Lilly, Felix wasn’t picky, but no. Stupid uncle and his stupid hatred against flowers. One moment Felix wished that the area around the grave was surrounded by Lilies, the next moment it was.
Felix was lucky. His uncle knew he was a mutant. He knew his mother lied and hid the fact that her son had the gene. His mother promised him that Felix would never use his powers and he hadn’t until now. “Hiding a dormant mutant is one thing, but I won’t be responsible for hiding one who actively uses their powers” his uncle had said. Felix wanted to argue that up until that point he didn’t know he had powers. Had wanted to argue, he made flowers not bombs but couldn’t find it within himself. His mother had lied to him. His mother had saved his life.
Felix was lucky. His uncle didn’t report him to the government. No instead he gave Felix $1,000,000₩ and shipped him off. To South Korea. Felix had never left Australia and although he knew Korean his all around understanding of the language was rudimentary. His mother had taught it to him but they never really spoke it, so Felix never practiced. He got by though. He was by himself, in a country he didn’t know, with a language that he three quarters understood but he made it.
A whole year.
February 14 th 2088
Felix was lucky, until he wasn’t.
He had just wanted the girl to smile. It was valentine’s day. The girl had been crying, Felix doesn’t know the exact reason why. He just knew that no one should cry on valentine’s day. It was a Rose, one single rose. He created it and gave it to the girl. He’d never done that before, fear of being discovered as a mutant preventing him from actively using his powers. Luck being on his side that his powers was one that could easily be hid.
He thought they were alone. She stopped crying, grateful for the act of kindness shown by a stranger. Felix was chased. A group of guys in the building across the road had seen the interaction. They had seen the Rose appear from nowhere. They knew what it meant, and they took it upon themselves to help rectify the problem.
So here we were. Felix was going to die. In the snow, next to a dumpster in the back of an ally on Valentine’s day. How unlucky Felix was.
“Any last words freak?” the guy with the knife asked as he applied pressure to the knife that was held against Felix’s cheek.
“Well, that’s not very nice”
The words didn’t come from Felix or his attackers. A boy with thin eyes stood in the opening of the alleyway. He wore a t-shirt that was three sizes too big for him, well worn jeans and scuffed shoes. He looked like what a fox would look like if he was human. Felix recognized him though he didn’t know his name. He was a special boy. Not special like Felix but different in his own way. He would sit outside the local convenient store on the pavement waving at everyone who passed. He didn’t have a home as far as Felix knew, or friends. Just people who would pass and ignore the strange childish boy. Some people would wave in pity, but most left him alone. He was harmless, and now he was standing in an alley way with 6 guys who has no problem killing Felix and would probably kill the fox looking boy too.
“Beat it kid” one of the guys who were supposed to be looking out said. He had on a red hoddie and he looked at the boy as though his presence was annoying him. It probably was.
“Not a kid,” The fox boy mumbled in the way children do “I just turned 18 you know”.
“That’s great” the hoddie guy said “Go tell someone else”.
“Why are you holding a knife to my friend?” the Fox eyed boy asked as though hoddie guy didn’t speak. He looked confused and concerned.
“This your friend?” Knife guy scoffed, moving the weapon from Felix’s cheek to his throat.
“Yes!” The fox eyed boy replied excitedly the same time Felix yelled “NO!”
Felix’s future murderers laughed.
“You going to have to choose better friends kid,” hoddie guy advised “This one’s a mutant”
The fox boy smiled wide, eyes shining in excitement. Felix had never seen anyone excited about a mutant before “He is?” he leaned to look around hoddie guy and the other lookout to where Felix was on the floor “You are?”
The boy’s question went ignored.
“Get rid of him,” knife guy spat to his two friends.
They immediately grabbed the fox boy by his collar and dragged him away. Felix could see through his attackers’ legs that the boy was pushed into the road. Felix closed his eyes and prayed to whatever was out there that the boy would stay safe, and his attackers wouldn’t find him after they were finished with Felix.
“Hurry up and kill the freak before someone else comes” hoddie guy spat to knife guy.
“That’s not very nice”
The fox boy was back, but he was different somehow. It was the same face, but the eyes were sharper. Harder than before somehow. Even the tone was different. When the fox boy first spoke it was light and childish. Now the same phrase was said in a harder voice that promised violence if ignored. It was the same boy, but it wasn’t.
Before any of Felix’s attackers could respond, the boy had grabbed the two lookouts by their necks and slammed their heads into each other. They crumpled to the ground like ragdolls. Before Felix could react he felt a sharp sting in his side. He looked down to see that knife guy had swiftly stabbed him, twisted the blade and pulled it back out. Felix had enough wits about him to see knife guy now stalking towards fox boy but was too shocked to do anything about it. Not that he could. What was he going to do, cover the guy in daises? The worse that would do is give him hay fever which wasn’t helpful to the situation. All Felix could do was watch fox boy get stabbed. Felix refused to look away. He got this kid killed and it was his penance to watch it happen. Only that didn’t happen.
Knife guy stabbed but instead of it piercing fox boy’s skin the knife broke and shattered into pieces.
“Mutant” one of knife boys lackies whisper shouted.
Fox boy laughed. “Obviously.” He whisper shouted back. It sounded deadly
Felix doesn’t have a clear picture of what happened after. The last thing he remembers clearly is thinking that he was dying and suddenly being covered in flowers. Felix recognized the flowers as Monkey Orchids and he knows that signifies death. Felix closes his eyes to the sound of knife guy’s scream.
***
Next thing Felix notices is that he’s being carried by the fox boy. He doesn’t know where he is or where he’s being taken to. He thinks fox boy may be trying to save him so he doesn’t move. His wound has been wrapped but he could still feel the blood oozing out. He’s not dead yet, but he is dying. Monkey orchids grow with ever step fox boy takes. Felix closes his eyes.
***
Next thing Felix notices is that he is lying down somewhere. He’s covered in Monkey Orchids. His eyes feel heavy and he can still feel the blood escaping the wound. Still dying. There are voices. Felix can barely make out what they are saying. Not because they are far away but because they are speaking fast and clearly angry. Felix always has difficulty understanding Korean when it was too fast or being yelled. This time it’s both.
“Should I have let him die?” that was fox boy. Felix recognizes the voice, its back to being childlike and it was coated in sadness.
“Yes” is spat by multiple voices he doesn’t recognize.
“No” is said by another voice. It was softer than the others, but firm “You did good Innie”.
Felix closes his eyes.
***
Next thing Felix notices is that he is warm, especially where he was stabbed. It’s like the skin is molding itself back together. The Monkey Orchids are gone. Felix tries to open his eyes but they are still heavy. He feels stronger though. He knows he’s no longer dying.
Felix is one lucky son of a bitch.