[ WP ] Every person in the world develops a weird mutation/power the day they turn 16 . Everyone 's powers are always different , some more insignificant than others . You turn 16 , and watch as all your friends discover their newfound ability 's . That is , until you discover the severity of your own .

Markus was ready. On a child's sixteenth birthday, they were given one Opportunity to receive a Gift from Above. Every Gift was more or less unique, and a Gift could be as simple as defiance of gravity or a more complex one like flowing through solid substances. The Gift of predicting weather was rumored to take great effort and still not be very practical, and there were many variations of quick-and-dirty invisibility. Of course, everyone took advantage of their one Opportunity. The last Mundane had died long ago, and everyone knew from their history textbooks that the Mundanes' lives were, well, mundane. 
 
 So when Markus turned sixteen, he and Nina, the other new sixteen year old, went together to the Gift center, a towering structure at the center of their great walled city of Tirapolis, to meet their Gift Giver. It was a secret how the Gifts worked, where they came from, and if they had any purpose at all, and nobody would ever talk about how they received their own Gift -- a superstition of sorts. So Markus and Nina followed the Gift Giver with no idea whatsoever of what was going to happen. The Gift Giver led them down a series of dimly lit hallways to a small, simple room. When Markus and Nina later left the room and the Gift center, they separated to test their new Gifts. It took time for Gifts to be understood, and the more specific the Gift the longer it could be before it was revealed. 
 
 Five years later, Nina found a job at a Healing center. She did not have a Gift of Healing herself, but Nina's presence slowed the flow of blood in nearby people. Her Gift was very helpful in treating grievous wounds and could also act as a weak sedative. Markus had not been so lucky with his Gift, and it still made no outward appearance. As his friends matured into their own Gifts, they abandoned him one by one, some even avoiding him. Rumors spread about a `` Mundane disease'' that Markus carried, and some people speculated it might be contagious. Markus knew he had received a Gift, but even he had no idea what it was. The only sign was a constant longing feeling, like something was always missing from his life. With every day, the feeling grew stronger and even gained direction. Desperate to prove to everyone and himself that he was n't Mundane, he tried to follow the longing feeling, and it tugged at him like an unfinished promise. He followed the feeling to the Tirapolis city limits, where the towering walls encircled the community. Unfortunately, the feeling pointed outside the city. Everyone was told from an early age that there was nothing to be found outside the walls; yet, here was this overpowering feeling that Markus had to leave. 
 
 After a few weeks of contemplation, Markus decided that it was worth leaving Tirapolis just for the constant nagging feeling to go away. It made concentration difficult, and there was nothing left for him in the city with everyone afraid of his Mundaneness. Even Nina, who had received her own Gift in the same way as Markus and knew him to be safe, had to avoid him just to keep her own reputation. Markus focused his feelings of inadequacy and loneliness into escaping those who shunned him, and he was rewarded. Taking minimal provisions, Markus escaped the city through an old abandoned tunnel of sorts that lay behind an unused factory. 
 
 Outside the walls, Markus was astonished to see Plants. He knew all about Plants, of course, they were just another chapter in his history textbook. They belonged to the age of the Mundanes, and he had assumed they did n't exist any more. He kept following the nagging, and it eased slightly as he approached the wild overgrowth surrounding Tirapolis. Markus thought of telling Nina about the Plants. She might listen to him, even if nobody else trusted him anymore. But as he delved deeper and deeper into the forest, Tirapolis faded from memory. His thoughts started to slow, and he felt... bigger. Much bigger. And stronger. He tried to remember where he came from. But there is no `` there'', only `` here''. It was the all-encompassing here, with white food above and black drink below. And a silvery-gray Itch in the middle. 
 
 Annoying. Itches are annoying. Itches need to be... scratched. But how to scratch? It planned as best it could. It moved slowly, but slow would do. It was already touching the Itch in places, just a little push and... something gave. The process was slow, but It worked its way into the Itch. The Itch had weak points, holes. The Itch resisted, as It knew it would. The Itch was bad and did n't know or care about It. It did n't know why the Itch was bad. Something else knew the Itch was bad and told It a long time ago. Something also knew the Itch would resist scratching. But It could wait. If It had to endure the Itch, It would. For now.
