The Followers Of The Prophecy

Interlude: Forward In Time

I sent everyone on a new mission while I fully recovered. Twyla, just before leaving, apologized. She said she considered leaving me behind while I was gone. Proudly, I wasn't offended. We connected over being strapped to a wheelchair and how much of a pain that's been for me, no less to her, who sat permanently.

I shared with her that being bedridden was a nightmare in real life. I felt closer to her, and we made it to the point where we both cried. I said that I wouldn't have made it if it wasn't for Rao, who stuck by me the whole time when the others were off with the emergency shot project. They were off making new adventures, making new bonds, and learning about the world we live in now. This new world is full of tragedy and hunger. Events we've never seen unfold before. The thought that some babies were born into this misery pained me. My friends were off doing a great job, and I wished with every fiber of my soul that I was there with them. That I could prove to them how much I had improved in controlling my feelings, and my black magic.

Instead, I was bedridden. And after, bound to a chair, while they're off on the new mission. I admired Twyla, especially during these past few days. She learned how to move efficiently by combining her powers and her wheelchair. Even better, Rao and Icarus modified her wheelchair to the image of an auto-weapon, using scrap metal from the markets. With a flip of a switch, her wheels switched into a pair of metallic legs, ready for combat.

On the first day of therapy, I couldn't move my legs at all. The nurse had to help me trigger them, until they twitched or reacted to touch. On the first night Rao and I spent alone, we slept together again. That night I pretended to be asleep to give him peace of mind, and the next morning he was beaming about how we didn't have a nightmare. I frowned, and told him the truth. I told him that I don't see myself sleeping anytime soon.

We learned how to live with each other, and we got comfortable sleeping together. During the day, after therapy, we would help around the camp. Some times, I showed him moves I had learned to do with my black magic, and he would show me how fast he can change from being to being. Though most of the time we spent fooling around, we tried to train together. It was a limited experience because of the wheelchair, but it sufficed for me

At the end of the first week, I could walk tiny steps while holding on to a rail. I felt accomplished, but I was yet to move on my own. One evening in the second week, Rao tells me he saw a frozen lake nearby in the wood. He wanted to show me because he thought it was a sight I'd enjoy seeing. Though a bit difficult, we managed to get the wheelchair up the steep mountain side, and up to what it seemed to be a cliff. It wasn't super high off the lake, but it was high enough to give a perfect view. A view of how snowflakes floated down and stuck to the ice covering the lake. The pale wind blew on our faces, as we shivered happily. From his backpack, he took out little bowls covered in cloth, and a bottle of poison. The bowls contained sandwiches that got cold almost immediately after he took them out. We laughed about it, and at our discomfort while eating the sandwiches. We shared the bottle of poison and admired the sunset.

Rao told me he had never felt such comfort ever before in his life. Not with another partner, not with any other being. He told me he sees through my eyes, like their crystals, even when my black magic is activated. He said it seems like they were always sparkling, and that he found himself at home when he looked at me. Rao told me he felt so comfortable, he was willing to share something he had never shared before.

Long ago, when he was but a teenager of fifteen, he had been arrested for murder. He defended a child that was being kidnapped by two male centaurs, and accidentally killed them. In the castle dungeons, he lived through the worst time of his life.

...I don't understand what I did to them. I just breathed, and they decided I was wrong and they beat me to a pulp. So I trained. I lifted weights and I exercised until I was their size. I also got these tattoos on my shoulder...

...but the minotaur was the worst. He was so... perverted. I still get shivers every time I think of when one of his buddies told me to go see him in his cell. The minotaur welcomed me. He liked to touch my neck a lot. He always wanted me to meet him alone. So many times. I've never told anyone...

...And then I was kicked out of my house for religious reasons. They believed I had tarnished my destiny or something. I tried to live with my friend, but it didn't work out either...

He lived in a University's sports field until its students took him in, and he learned how to fly planes, leading him to many great places and experiences. After he told me his story, I hugged him tight. I didn't say anything, but I knew this was important to him, and a long hug is what he needed. On some occasions, silence speaks the loudest, and we appreciated the sunset in silence, until it was almost dark and we had to return to our little room in the cave.

By the end of the second week I could move more freely. I could walk and feel for short distances. But I grew tired of therapy. I wanted full results because my friends were gonna come back from the trip and I wanted to leave this tribe behind. After Rao had left to get lunch, I snuck out to the lake. I stopped my wheelchair close to the edge of the cliff, and I taunted the lake. With a swift activation of my powers, my eyes and veins became black. I shot a beam of black magic at the frozen lake, and melted all of its ice, revealing its green water. I deactivated the black magic, returning to my regular form. After, I sunk a Heat Bubble into the lake, so that it didn't freeze again. I challenged it, and with an impulse, I pushed myself off the wheelchair and dove into the lake.

It was much deeper than I expected, and my body plunged down like an anchor. I moved my legs back and forth, but they felt heavier than they did back at the camp. Still, I continued. I tugged on the water with my arms, and I moved my legs as much as I could. The darkness won't swallow me anymore. I fought the lake until my last breath, and my head escaped the surface, gasping for air and laughing like a maniac. My legs did their job properly, keeping me afloat for a long time. I swam and swam and swam, until my skin crumpled like a piece of paper. Until I felt like I'd become an aquatic being. I hated the water and the sea, but feeling my legs move at such ease relieved me. It gave me a high, but I had to climb up a cliff before sun down.

I wanted to scale the rock wall, and get to where my wheelchair was exactly. Heat Bubble followed me out of the water, but I deactivated it. More of a challenge for me, more of a challenge for my legs. Immediately, I shivered. Disregarding the cold, I held on to ledges and corners, so I wouldn't fall back down to the icy lake. My black magic had activated by itself sometimes. Maybe my emotions were all over the place. Still, I climbed. My hands were calloused, and my body shivered to no end. Yet, I have never felt stronger. My muscles were facing a new kind of challenge, and they tensed up in a way I've never seen before. I felt the rush through my body as I made it closer to the ledge. As I saw my wheelchair peeking back at me.

I looked below, and saw all the way I had come. The lake seemed so small. Though it hurt, I made it up the rock wall, and tagged my wheelchair like it waited for me. I breathed heavily, and smiled at myself. After reactivating Heat Bubble and warming myself up, I stood tall and appreciated the view. I walked behind my chair, and kicked it into the frozen lake. I saw it sink down below and freeze along with my useless legs. In the distance, I heard my name. Rao was looking for me.

I'm here! I yelled,

I'm okay.