Chapter 1

       Every single day of my life, I felt different from everyone around me. They were all strong and brave and quick to think. And me? 

       I was the complete opposite.

       I hated going out on missions. I hated training with any weapon, even my weapon of choice that I had been training with for years. I especially hated when one of the missions included killing someone.

       Most of my time, my dad was considerate towards how I felt being part of the Protector Circle. In fact, if it wasn't by birth and it was all by choice, he would be completely fine if I didn't join the Protector Circle.

       Too bad I was born into it.

       And it sucked because I definitely believed in what the Protector Circle stood for. We protected both humans and supernaturals, mainly from each other. We kept the humans safe and clueless of the mythical world around them.

       I wanted everyone to stay safe, but I couldn't handle the way we had to do it at times.

       There hadn't been much missions for the Protectors around my age of seventeen -almost eighteen- so most of the time we were scheduled for training.

       And I hated it.

       I would much rather have one on one training with my brother Tony, but he was currently on a mission right now since he just had to be four years older than me and be allowed to go on missions.

       Not that I would want to go on one anyway.

       But as of right now, I would much rather be on a mission than train with the people around my age, including my ex-best friend Belle and her boyfriend Devon.

       They weren't really fond of me and tried bothering me every single chance they got.

       If I us Protectors were allowed to hurt each other, I probably would have done it by now.

       Or not since I didn't like hurting anyone.

       Every Protector developed a special ability when they were young, ranging from super strength to telekinesis. Anything was possible.

       Once a Protector developed their ability, they were allowed to choose a weapon that they would train with and use during missions. I chose one I thought was easy.

       Well, not for me apparently.

       I probably just had horrible aim because after eleven years, I had never hit a bulls-eye during practice. Or on missions. I hit my target, but never where I actually aimed to.

       Belle and Devon were standing off to the side in the training room, watching with amused smiles as I was attempting over and over again to get at least one bulls-eye.

       After my probably twentieth missed, I got fed up with their chuckling so I looked over at them. "Don't you have anything better to do?" I asked.

       "Not really, no," Belle said. "We're the two strongest Protectors at our age, so we don't even have to practice. We're just passing time watching you fail miserably. Sometimes, we even wonder why you're a Protector."

       "Because there's this thing called being born into the Protectors," I said. "If you're born with an ability, you're a Protector."

       "Yes, but they should keep the weak ones out of the Protector Circle," Devon said. "People like you are only going to drag us down and probably get others killed. Like Ben."

       I ignored Devon and turned away at the mention of Belle's brother.  I tried going back to aiming for a bulls-eye, but I failed even worse than I ever had now that Ben was on my mind.

       Belle and Devon laughed again. "Oh, man, I don't even know why you try," Belle said. "You're horrible."

       There was only one other person in the training room right now; Grayson Prince. Grayson was part of one of the most well-respected and powerful families of the Protector Circle. He was a very reserved person and most of the time, looked like he was judging everyone.

       Especially Devon and Belle. He hated them for whatever reason. I didn't blame him.

       Grayson was sitting on a table somewhat nearby, sharpening his sword, and I could tell he was listening in on the conversation, and he was starting to get irritated. 

       Even more than I was, and I was the target of Belle and Devon's harassment.

       "Seriously, go bother someone else," I said to Belle. "I'm not in the mood."

       "When are you ever in the mood?" Belle asked. "Seriously, I'm embarrassed for everyone related to you, especially your dad. How can he still be the head of the HQ with you as a daughter? He's skilled with every single weapon and you can't even hit the target."

       Grayson seemed like he had enough after he placed his sword on the table and hopped off before heading to the weapon stand and picking up a bow and quiver. He then walked over to Belle and handed them to her. "Here," he said. "You think you can do better? Prove it?"

       "Uh, no thank you," Belle said. "And you don't have anything to do with this. It's none of your business."

       "Well, I'm making it my business," Grayson said. "We're Protectors and I'm not just going to sit there and let you pick on Poppy just because your brother was an idiot."

       Belle's face started turning a deep shade of red in anger, but she was trying to best to contain her calm state. "My brother is not an idiot," Belle said. "Poppy is weak, and you can clearly see it because, like I've said a dozen times before, she can't even hit the target."

       "Then you try," Grayson said. "Show us how it's done."

       "No," Belle said. "I don't have to prove myself to you."

       "Really?" Grayson asked. "Even though you claimed that you and Devon were the two strongest Protectors around this age? Because I see it as the opposite."

       Devon finally got fed up and snatched the bow and quiver from Grayson's hands. "I'll do it," Devon said.

       I was trying my best not to smile when I noticed Devon position the arrow on the bow wrong, but I didn't bother saying anything. It was even better when he completely missed the target.

       "Oh, interesting," Grayson said.

       Devon scoffed and handed the weapon back to Grayson. "The bow isn't my weapon. I haven't trained with it at all."

       "Neither am I," Grayson said, placing the quiver on the ground after taking out an arrow. He placed it properly in the bow before aiming towards one of the targets. "As you saw, my weapon is the sword. This is the second time I'm using the bow."

       He released the arrow and it struck the yellow zone on the target. It wasn't a bulls-eye, but it was pretty dang close to it. Closer than I ever got.

       "Oh, would you look at that?" Grayson asked. "Not my weapon, but I did better than you."

       Devon and Belle didn't say anything else as they left the training room.

       "Thanks," I said to Grayson. "For making them shut up."

       "No problem," Grayson said. "They piss me off so much, especially when they think they're strong Protectors because it's clear that they're not. They annoy me almost as much as you do. I'll do anything to get them to stop talking, especially if it means showing them up."

       "How were you able to aim so well if that was your second time using the bow?" I asked.

       "Well, between you and me, that wasn't really my second time," Grayson said with a wink before heading to the weapon stand to put the bow and quiver away.

       Dad walked into the training room just then. "Poppy, can I talk to you in my office?" he asked.

       "Yeah," I said. I put my own bow and quiver away before following Dad out of the training room and to his office.

       "So, I know you have been holding off getting back on the field, but I think you're going to have to do it soon," Dad said as he closed the door. "There have been numerous reports of demons roaming the streets, so I need to pair everyone off and have them patrol the streets throughout the week."

       I sighed. "Well, I don't want to, but if it's a demon invasion, then I shouldn't hold off on it. I just don't know if anyone would be willing to me my partner."

       "Don't worry about that," Dad said. "I'll find someone for you."

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should the shipping king fulfill his role????? lol

I'M SO HAPPY TO WRITE ABOUT YOUNG POPSON AGAIN WOOOO. And be happy it's Grayson's birthday today (it's still the 4th for me) because February is the months I have a lot of character's birthday, so I'm going to be writing an update or bonus chapter (if they're story is done) when it's their birthday. If I didn't and it wasn't Grayson's birthday, then I would probably hold off on this more.

ANYWAY ENJOY THIS STORY ABOUT YOUNG POPSON AND JUST REMEMBER THE NICKNAME BECAUSE IT'S COMING SOON.