Bartholomew

Mutation

At night or in any dark place, Bartholomew's mutation causes the color of his skin and the color of his clothes he's wearing at the time to invert color and illuminate.

Back Story

Bartholomew was merely 13 when his life went to hell. Before the apocalypse he lived for pleasing others, making friends, helping his brother Conrad make his through his everyday life and trying to build close bonds with everyone he met; all out of his fear of being alone.

But then one morning, everything changed for him. As he stepped outside he realized everyone he'd grown to love, including friends, parents, and siblings, had been choked out by the gas that encompassed the air. Even he himself collapsed to the ground, pain filling his lungs as he felt his body begin to change. Yet he didn’t meet the same fate as those he’d loved, instead, day by day as he wandered by himself he began noticing parts of his body beginning to illuminate at night. As time went on, it went from small parts of his body to his whole body changing. His mutation would later be known as Inverted-Illumination.

During the nights, in fear of those around him and the creatures he had seen, he had kept to himself, feeling like a target to those who saw fit. Time went on and Bartholomew was subjected to his worst fear, being alone. Three weeks he was by himself, depression and anger seeping in and taking over him, not knowing how much longer he could take it.

But even though he questioned himself constantly and lived in fear, something inside himself wanted to live on. As night crept in, Bartholomew heard footsteps from outside his hideout. He knew this would either be his last moments or a chance for him to finally fight back, so he mustered up all his strength, grabbed a nearby stick, and rushed out towards the footsteps. Though the moment he encountered the source of the footsteps, he knew he’d made a mistake.

The figure that stood before him began to kneel down, and Bartholomew cowered, awaiting his fate. But as the figure got down to eye level, Bartholomew was greeted with a warm hot dad smile. His voice was gentle as he spoke, “It’s alright, I’m not here to hurt you”... Bartholomew, still unsure how to react to the situation and took a few steps back.

“My name is Chronos, do you have a name?”

Bartholomew hesitated before squeaking out his name, “Bartholomew!”

Chronos chuckled a bit, extending his hand, “Nice to meet you Bartholomew”.

Bartholomew slowly reached out his hand and grabbed onto Chronos’, who gently shook his hand. “Are you all by yourself?” Chronos’ brows furrowed as he spoke. Bartholomew looked down at the floor, not wanting to speak about it, but it seemed as if Chronos understood without him saying. Chronos patted him on the head before speaking again, “I run a gang of sorts...called Psyke. It’s for people like you, who don’t have anywhere else to go. We’re sort of like a family...a small one right now but we’re growing. You’re welcome to come with me”.

Bartholomew’s eyes lit up at the notion of not being alone anymore, “Are you sure?” he asked, to which Chronos smiled again, followed by a nod, “I’m sure”.

Chronos lifted him up onto his back, and Bartholomew leaned his head against him as he began to walk, falling asleep at the comfort that he no longer was going to be on his own anymore.