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you weren't born to be soft and quiet
It's not like people say. There isn't one moment in your life that defines who you are and who you will be. No, your life is an accumulation of all the decisions you've ever made, all stacked together and smoothed out to create the tangle of problems and insanity that is your destiny.
Delilah "Lailah" Simons was a bit different in this aspect. There were three moments in her life that she knew with pinpoint accuracy had sent her down that path. She was trapped in a mess, drowning in an ocean, and she knew exactly how she had gotten there.
The first moment was when she was eight years old. Nothing important, nothing life changing can happen when you're that young, right? Wrong. On a day like any other, Iron Man came on TV, zooming across the screen, and changed her. That was the moment she decided what she wanted to do in life.
The second moment was one that she would never, ever forget as long as she lived. On a day like any other, it became the first day she blacked out, the first time she woke up to find that she was separate from the rest of the world. The Universe had drawn a line and placed her on the side opposite from the rest of humanity. It separated Normal from Other, and suddenly she was an Other. Try as she might to deny it, Lailah was different. But she hid her powers away because no one could know. That was the moment she knew she would never be the same.
The third moment was years later, when her dreams had crashed back to Earth and time had hollowed her out, turning the smiles sour and the hopes bitter. Her ability was no longer special, her scribbling and fantasies turned to dust like all things must eventually. On a day like every other, she received a letter. Everyone knew about AEGIS, a school started by Tony Stark and SHIELD for only the most prestigious of students. That was the moment when her life pivoted in a direction she had never imagined.
So that's how Lailah ended up in this mess: because of a broken dream, a broken world, and a damn broken elevator.
Superhero school isn't for everyone, and Lailah finds herself neck deep in troubles she hadn't even imagined exists. To start off, she has to juggle:
Victor, the shadow of a boy who seems to make it his goal to drain the world of happiness.
Silas, the ever cheerful one who just won't stop smiling at her.
Blake, the girly girl who's hiding behind paper curtains.
Asher, the jock with the face and humor of a block of marble.
London, the girl who has been through it all and somehow, somehow hasn't cracked.
Tucker, the boy with skin of stone and the charm of a rock (although he likes to think otherwise).
Maxwell, the one with few words who constantly looks like someone killed his cat (or murdered his puppy, depending on the moment).
Jalen, the ball of sunshine who has no grip on reality.
Mingxia, the girl who hasn't spoken a word but is always lurking in the shadows like a serial killer.
Not to mention a load of homework, an anxious friend she's left behind, and a shadow of an organization that keeps leaving a trail of icy clues behind. Yeah, Lailah's got her hands full.
Gasoline and flames don't mix. And Lailah is a lit spark flying into a puddle of problems that she's about to light up.
you were born to make the world shatter and shake at your fingertips
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DELILAH "LAILAH" SIMONS
chloe bennet
&&&
T HE AEGIS CREW
natalia dyer ━ LONDON ROSS
ASHER "ASH" MONTGOMERY ━ theo james
BLAKE LEWIS ━ halston sage
dylan o'brien ━ SILAS YOUNG
MAXWELL JOHNSON ━ thomas brodie-sangster
william moseley ━ TUCKER JOHNSON
VICTOR FISTON ━ aramis knight
liu yifei ━ MINGXIA CHEN
JALEN CARAMEL ━ kit young
&&&
THE SHADOW-Y OPPONENTS
mackenzie foy ━ ANTHIRA SMYTH
RIAN MORGAN━asher angel
thomasin mckenzie━ PIPER WARD
ASHA KAILANI ━ teilor grubbs
colin ford ━ LORENZO HART
MAKAYLA KALMAN━ seychelle gabriel
cierra ramirez ━ DAHLIA SANCHEZ
&&&
THE ONES FROM HOME
aisha dee ━ ANGELINE "ANGIE" LEWIS
AMELIA SIMONS ━ kelsey chow
ross butler ━ OWEN SIMONS
&&&
CALL OF THE LOST SERIES CHARACTERS
luca hollestelle ━ LIA LAVEY
ZOE LAVEY ━ daria siordchuk
kiera knightley ━ CLAIRE ARMSTRONG-BARTON
LESLIE ARMSTRONG-BARTON ━ shailene woodley
&&&
THE MCU CHARACTERS ━ whoever you want
as described ━ VIOLET
EVERYONE ELSE ━ as described
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AUTHOR'S NOTE:
- So I decided to re-do this because I didn't like the other version. Lailah is back and snarkier than ever! Thank you to everyone who clicked on this book; I hope you like it!
- Please forgive the awful summary.
- There is a huge cast up there. Don't worry, I'll slowly introduce all characters so it'll be less confusing. Everyone under 'Call of the Lost Characters' is from my other book, Supernova.
- I'm not even going to try with the MCU cast. I'm describing them how I see them, feel free to imagine whoever you want.
- Layout based on that of the amazing circeology who you should go follow now.
- This is AU! No timelines or anything for me please.
- TRIGGER WARNINGS: mild language, angst, descriptions of violence and gore, death, mentions of suicide and mental illness, and characters being clueless. Chapters will have additional trigger warnings (except for that last one :) ).
- Get ready for crazy dynamics and no small amount of snark.
- This is set in the marvel universe but the Avengers will be scarce because I like my own characters better. (although there will be mentions and them dropping it occasionally to cause chaos and mess everything up).
Dedicated to these amazing people:
circeology do I even need to explain? you have forever supported Lailah and are a generally amazing person and have ranted so much with me and ily.
dorkiest_nerd I don't really have to explain either. you have always been such an amazing friend and supported me with everything. ily.
Infinity-MAXIMOFF because you have been such an amazing person and great friend <3.
Raichia for being an amazing person and putting up with my spam comments <3.
and to my other amazing friends:
shangchis, KleeAlise11, wallowsworld, starryeyedturtle, regulusslocket, and everyone else I'm forgetting!!
and to everyone who loves marvel and has picked up this book and is giving it a chance !
thanks for reading !