Nova was born to a loving father and mother. She also had a loving little sister with about 3 years of difference between them.
They weren't rich, but they weren't poor either. So, living itself was never hard for them.
In their world, everyone was born with a power. The power got stronger with time and usually would manifest fully when they hit their teens.
Nova's mother could create a small fire, and her father could speak directly into another person's mind within a certain radius.
These weren't good enough to get them anywhere in life as a Soul artist, so they were happy with the life they made with their family.
When it came to Nova, however, she never manifested her powers. Even after she was 18, no one could figure out what her powers were.
In the end, the family believed that she was born without one. As such, society shunned her and distanced itself from her.
But Nova didn't care. Yes, she was a little disappointed when she realized she was one of the few powerless people in the world, but that wasn't problematic for her at all.
After her, she still had her family with her.
In her 22nd year alive on that planet, something happened in the nation Nova lived in. They went through a heatwave the likes of which the planet hadn't seen in centuries.
As such, all the crops started dying and their water source started drying. Fires started randomly in the forests and mountains where the plants dried.
Soon, the fire caught on more and more and reached a village near the town Nova lived in.
People went to take care of the fire, but it was way too big already. And the people in the city that could actually help them couldn't make it there in time.
As such, by the time the fire was put out, half the village was burned to ruins and 20 people had died in their sleep.
The souls of those who died couldn't go to the reincarnation cycle and ended up gravitating towards something close by that called for them.
Nova's weak powers.
Nova had the powers of Opposite. To anyone on the outside, it looked like bad luck, but it was more nuanced.
Her powers affected the souls of others and gave them the worst thought possible in the other direction of what they wanted.
Even for herself, her powers forced the opposite of what she wanted.
If she wanted a clean face, pimples would pop out the next day. If she wanted to eat something sweet, it would turn the food salty to her.
If she wanted to have powers like everyone else in the world, it would hide from the world.
But, her powers weren't so bad as they were really weak. In the grand scheme of things, they were powers that could be easily chalked up to a mere coincidence.
That was until it fed on the souls of the dead. Until now, her powers were working on the strength of her broken soul. After that, it suddenly had 20 new broken souls to work with. People had died before around Nova, but never this many, not at once.
As such, overnight, Nova's power increased 20-fold.
The next day, Nova went to the place where she worked as a waiter. Over the course of the day, she started noticing weird stuff.
Overcooked meat, raw vegetables, and stiff bread, however, that was nothing compared to the one man who wished his dish didn't have nuts in it.
With Nova's powers, it did. As soon as the man ate the food, he fell to the ground with a nut allergy. As he was on the ground, he wished with all his heart that he didn't die.
Nova's powers heard what he wished and did the opposite. Within seconds, the man died, and Nova's powers absorbed his broken soul.
When the man died in the middle of the restaurant, the other people who saw him die wished that their fate was never like his.
Nova's powers made sure they were, and it made sure to feed on their souls when they died.
One after another, the people in the restaurant either started dying or started killing themselves.
Nova was so scared that she ran away from the restaurant. People found out what happened and before she could even reach her home, the other people came to catch her thinking she had killed them all.
She didn't want to fight them, so a sword appeared in her hand. She didn't want to hurt them, so the sword attacked them.
She didn't want them to die too, and so they died.
And so her powers got stronger. Soon her powers started to be more proactive and had people do the worst thing they couldn't imagine themselves doing and do it.
Some husbands killed their wives, some mothers killed their children. Friends killed each other, lovers tore each other's hearts out.
People who were alone killed the only one they could find, themselves.
People who were suicidal started taking other people's lives like psychopaths. In the end, when they were alone, they killed themselves as well.
And as the people died, Nova's power absorbed their souls and increased its reach for both influence and absorption.
Soon, everyone in the nation started killing themselves. Once they were dead, their souls would make her even stronger.
Nova had figured out by now that it was her power that was doing it all. Knowing that it was her powers, she tried to stop it, suppress it.
She only made it work faster and harder.
Everything she wanted, the opposite happened.
Nova was too overwhelmed to think about anything, so perhaps that was the reason why her parents were still alive when she reached home.
However, just because she wasn't thinking about them, didn't mean her powers hadn't reached here.
Nova looked to the side and saw something black and charred on the floor.
Nova looked at her mother and father. Then she looked at someone who wasn't there and she knew what the charred thing on the ground was.
Her mother had killed her sister, and it was entirely Nova's fault.
