"You did well!", said that demanding mother of his. He'd hear that only when he reached the top ranks. Though she once was far more lenient than she is now, it still was rather cruel. The way she handled her children and the golden child Alpha had to be was incredibly cruel to the three of them. It drove a massive wedge between them and essentially isolated him from the support he could have within his family. The same thing happened to him and his friend. Disconnect from the situation at hand, his friends would eventually wittle his confidence down on accident unknowing of the issues he was facing. Even his teachers bought into the notion that he has to be the perfect child everyone is supposed to look up to. He was all alone in the world.

"Wrong! How long will it take until you understand something as simple as this is?" His mother held issue with the fact that he couldn't count over ten at the age of four. She wanted him to be as exceptional as possible so that she could have a child she could present to the world and declare hers.

Crying and shaking as he was just a wee lad that yearned for approval, he cemented that thought of something being wrong with him into his very being. As a result, his mother would cruelly imprison him at home to keep him away from "anything that may influence him". The constant onslaught of remarks withered away his personality and his very own free will.

Not long after that, his mother would demand that he become a gymnast. His interest in art despite the inability to draw in the lines was tremendous yet she wanted to hear none of it. Support and interest from his mother would only come when his interests alligned with the interests of his mother's. It was cruel yet expected. He never understood why she wouldn't support him but was unbothered by it all simply because he was the “golden child”. Presented as the perfect poster child, his siblings grew jealous before they could even walk. He doesn't know whether it is genuine jealousy or just him not being capable of imagining a world where they genuinely loved him like normal siblings would.

"Playing with you is no fun! Back off!" His best friend would take more of that confidence of his. A common occurence was them not being friends anymore simply because they couldn't stand being around a person seemingly showered with praise. Jealousy and loneliness would overcome those he was best friends with. Whenever Alpha befriended another recluse that was just as lonely as he was, it would take just one bully encouraging them to treat him badly to turn them into another person that betrayed his trust and the next popular kid.

Elementary school was especially cruel. Starting with first grade, he started off with a healthy amount of friends that would look after him and care for him. The one that stood out was Benny, a chubby boy who'd always have his back. As time went on they'd grow further and further apart until that fated day at the end of third grade would hit the both of them like a truck.

Like the average Friday, a couple of bullies would hold him up before he could leave for school. It was either them throwing him into a pile of snow or them throwing his belongings around. One day it was particularly bad simply because Benny wasn't around. Needing to use the toilet, he was on his way as students and teachers alike left the building. At 1pm, no one would stay behind except for a select few because of different beliefs they held. On his way there, he was held up by Benny.

"Benny? What's wrong?", he asked.

Benny slowly walked behind Alpha not saying a word. It slightly creeped him out but he paid it no mind as he was about to pee his pants. It then took him by surprise to suddenly hoisted up. With Benny burying his arms under Alpha's armpits, he took Alpha off his feet.

"Hey! What are y-"

A punch to the stomach by one of his bullies... It took Alpha by surprise nearly making him piss himself. However, he could hold it in for just one more punch. Another punch was all it took for his bladder to release all it had stored up. Others simply watched as they did nothing to help. Half of them were simply uncomfortable and either too disgusted or too scared to help. The other half laughed while teachers pretended that Alpha was to blame.

"You're to blame!"

"Just ignore them."

"Why do you want me to solve your little problems?"

"Aren't you to blame? You probably did something to make them angry."

"You're old enough to defend yourself!"

"Problem child..."

"You're supposed to be exemplary."

No one cared about him. No one wanted to know. No one wanted to ask. No one wanted to help. All of them were cruel yet he still blamed himself for situations where he did no wrong.

Secondary school was a new start. It somehow gave him a new chance at life. With no way for anyone to retell his past, he could make friends and do as he pleased. With no teachers tattling on his habits and no classmates to make his life hell, life could go on without any more issues... or so he thought. No matter where he goes, no matter what he does, he always ends up being the victim. The older he got the harder it was to comply with his mothers wishes. With time the loneliness would hurt him harder and harder.

By the time he entered fifth grade, he gained a lot of weight. Sports and academics declined within such a short time that he would hang behind within everything.

"What happened to you? Are you doing this to hurt me?!", were phrases ingrained into his very being as his mother couldn't handle losing that poster child of hers.

With only a select few friends that would invite him only for him to decline, he had nothing. With time they would stop trying and ultimately let him rot. However, it allowed for change, for him to finally gain the courage to express himself as he recognized that his mother was stunting his growth as his father, despite being there everyday, was absent. An abusive mother at day as her husband was away... An abusive father at night as soon as alcohol came into play. They were less than ideal ways to grow up.

From 7th grade onwards, he had to change the way he handled things. By using his wits he thought of a way to discreetly lose weight and gather money to a minimum of 1000€. Through lies and deceipt he rekindled the appraisal his mother would give him and then lose weight over a span of two years. Paying no mind to his grades dropping to such a level that he'd have to repeat 8th grade, he had to look for one final oppurtunity, a way to be expelled from school.

Minor offenses wouldn't do. It would have to be big and absolutely unacceptable to his mother. Something that could make him lose his poster-child-status forever and not bar him from entering the secondary school he wants to enter... Assaulting a student is something he'd rather refrain from. Hurting someone else for the sake of his own gain is something he can't do out of the good of his heart.

"Theft!", he thought as his plan came into being.

One day he would steal the keys of one of his teachers and the janitor in the hopes of finally getting into the teachers lounge on a weekend. From there on he'd simply vandalize the tables of the teacher he disliked most and leave something that would point towards him. The plan was over the top and his expectations were high for something so silly. But those teachers of his... Even they had accepted that he's supposed to be the poster child! Therefore, his punishment will be far worse than necessary and maybe even reach the expulsion he wants. That twisted mind... Those twisted thoughts of a helpless child would get him what he wants.

Making himself the clown by drawing genitalia all over the walls, he went far beyond what his original plan entailed. It could catch the attention of other schools but through lies and deceit his mother would ensure that it wouldn't get that far. A rough beating, long berating, and endlessly forsaken... He finally got to transfer schools and truly start over. Though he maintained his physique, his grades stabilized around barely acceptable to barely passing. The friends that had left him to rot, the parents that had beaten him till he had broken down, and the peers that had humiliated him, all left scars on him that likely won't heal with the profession he's taken on: the martyr.

"I'm Franky! Nice to meet you!"

Back then, Franky wouldn't open up or show his true indifferent self. Instead he'd just present himself as the cheerful popular guy that was understanding and charismatic. It couldn't be farther from the truth but would take a while for Alpha to know.

Online they unknowingly would meet again as their true selfs. Venting to each other as they believed that they were strangers worlds apart, they unknowingly grew closer. Meeting within a lobby for an rpg game, they grew quite close.

"So how was your day? Not doing fine I bet?", asked Alpha still called Ataraxia within that game they played together.

"My parents visited today... I honestly wish they would just stay away and not bother me ever again! But it's nothing really. Just a little too... exciting.", Franky replied calling himself Aponia.

Franky didn't know that the one calling himself Ataraxia was Alpha yet Alpha had a hunch that the one calling himself Aponia was Franky. Picking up on little things Franky would do when classmates asked about his parents, like him slightly hesitating, scratching the back of his ear, and sometimes stammering, he figured out who the one he'd play with every evening was.

"Franky, you know you can talk to me, right?"

Right then and there... At the time Franky only had Ben as a friend. That friend of his was like a big brother he could always rely on but still shy away from. Having someone else that understood him and his struggles was a blessing he didn't know he needed.

"Do we know each other?! How do you know my name?? Have we met somewhere?!"

Asking away relentlessly, Alpha wouldn't answer anything that could tell Franky about his identity. Finally, after months spent brooding over who Ataraxia could be, Franky gave up. Next to him sat the lonely unpopular student only he would occasionally talk to. Sighing, he buried his face into one of the books he had on him in the middle of class.

"What's wrong, Aponia?"

From then on their friendship would blossom to a point of turning the two into best buds. Though he couldn't take hearing Franky complain about anything that didn't go his way, he still couldn't deny that he also enjoyed being talked to. Alpha would simply pretend that he was either unbothered or annoyed by Franky's complaints. They essentially got a chance at starting over. Alpha got the best friend that would listen to him when needed. Franky got the best friend that would understand him and would start obsessing over him a little.

However, one day, Franky would find out that he could protect the person he loves the most even better. Becoming a Dream Catcher would allow him to be the hero that could protect Alpha from harm until he was hit with the revelation that Alpha became a Dream Catcher after him. Not only that but also did he have to deal with the fact that that Dream Catcher was far better at mastering his powers than he is. The person he wanted to protect now can protect him. He hated it.

Every weekend is spent partaking in those tournaments that solely exist for his growth. Every weekend he'd lament that he's not growing as much as Alpha is and soon would be outmatched. Every weekend he fears losing the person that brought light into his world.

Alpha too was afraid that he was losing Franky. Franky would complain far less and became a lot more reserved. The only way to handle that in his eyes, was to confront Franky.

"Those tournaments... Let us partake in them as well!"