Wherever it takes us.

Ideals of a mad man

"Can I say no?" I asked as the white silhouette came into view again, "Oh, of course not, come on." He replies, beckoning me forward with his hand.

What sat in front of him was an old brown table, round in shape, made of cedar wood. Opposite him stood a standard chair, nothing fancy. I took my seat and observed the hot wafts of steam. "None of this should be possible," I told him, throwing him a puzzled look. "So people who are blessed with powers and are called individuals make more sense?" He asks; even without a face, I knew he was being rhetorical. "Come on; it's your favorite, trust me." He said, sounding as confident as ever. I sighed before picking up the cup to take a sip. I closed my eyes to taste the tea tastebuds met with perfection and a hint of nostalgia. "H-how?" I said, stunned by the quality and the memories I felt. "It has the same taste as the one mom used to make for me," I commented out loud, my mind surfing through memories. "When I was a kid, anytime I felt down." I started, suddenly feeling warm and cozy," How did you know?"I asked.

He stared at me for a moment before sparingly glancing at the mug, "I had no idea." He responds, "The second you visited me, it appeared as well." He informed me calmly.

"Got it," I replied, taking a moment to process everything. "Wait, how did you know it was my favorite?" He looks towards me before responding happily, "Lucky guess."

I sighed before running my hand through my hair. "I'm done making sense of you." I groaned, to which I earned a chuckle for my troubles. "About making sense, I have a suggestion." He said, sparking my curiosity, "Why don't we try to make sense of what's been going on, yeah?" He purposed.

I looked at him before glancing toward the tea, "Where do you wanna start?"

CX turns his body towards me; his body language had surprise written all over it, "I may not be human, but I'm pretty sure sane people disagree with this concept." He choked out the collection of voices, all holding the same shock. "It's the tea talking." I raised my mug to his face in response.

"Alright then." He starts; with all forms of confusion and concern leaving his tone, "First of all, any ideas what these revolutionists people want?"

I took my time to think about a response, "I'm honestly not sure. So far, we have only bits and pieces of information to work with: They seem to have an end goal in mind, which requires the youth for some reason." I reasoned, my brain laboring to come up with something, "Maybe they're looking for young individuals they can manipulate?" CX suggests, which causes me to turn my head toward his direction for a moment, "Ok, I can acknowledge that for now, but why come after Royals as well?" I countered. I honestly believed these people were just crazy, but CX's idea wasn't half bad. "I'm honestly not sure, maybe to get rid of any form of resistance or even assert dominance," CX replied. I sighed before taking another sip of my tea. A sudden memory of my mom hugging me when I was younger occupied my thoughts for a moment.

It was only a moment.

"Stay focused, don't switch off," I told myself calmly, pacing with slow breaths. In a moment or two, my heart rate lowered slightly, signifying I was good to go. "We're just pulling at straws with the revolutionists' ideas; we can gather more clues when I come too," I told him. He nods in response, "Yeah, that sounds good."

"Next up," I started, stretching my legs slightly as my muscles were sore, "These individuals, why wasn't their existence made public till now?" I thought out loud. "If random people were getting magic, wouldn't it have been big news?" There was silence for a while as CX and I were both deep in thought.

"What if these powers just occurred? Which would make sense as to why they were only taking youths." I said, breaking the silence, " I mean, that does make sense, but hold on," CX spoke, raising his arm, "Julia was born a year after you, which is also the same year that the prophecy was released, right?" He reminded me, his voice held a tone of discovery, so I gestured my hand for him to finish. "The way her mom spoke, she and her daughter are individuals; it's not wrong to think you're one as well." He told me as he proceeded to tap the table.

"Yeah, I had the same thoughts as well," I responded, "But it also means it's not only teenagers and kids then. The distribution of these gifts seems to be random." I groaned while massaging my temples with my fingers. "The only thing we can link all this to is the discovery of power most likely happened after the discovery of the prophecy. Also, she said that they already knew of the divination, which means that the news could have gone anywhere and everywhere." I concluded, then proceeded to take another sip from the cup: I needed something to calm my nerves.

Another memory resurfaced. It was when I was eight. My dad was trying to teach me how to write our royal seal. I messed up so bad I got us covered in thick black ink that day. "I lost my appetite for this," I muttered as I felt a teardrop slowly forming in my left eye. "You good?" I heard CX ask, his voice laced with concern. "Of course, I am," I breathed out, my heart heavy, "If I'm an individual, do you think madness is my power?" I joked while wiping the tear away: I couldn't get involved with my thoughts; it would be too much to handle right now. I have to take it one step at a time. "I'm pretty sure it isn't." He responded while he stared at my drink, "Thought it was your favorite?" He asked me.

"A little bittersweet, still nice all the same," I told him as I closed my eyes to take a deep breath. 'What has happened can't be changed; it's to work on what will happen so we can tweak the outcome.' I said the mantra to myself, at the same time twiddling with my fingers. Something Uncle Ben taught me a while back to cope with stuff. I sat in silence, playing with my fingers, eyes closed, as I muttered the mantra for what felt like a few minutes. I slowly opened my eyes to observe CX mimicking my actions as he waited. "Listen, I know they say imitation is the best form of flattery, but please stop; it's weird to look at." I told him, to which he shook his head in response, "Alright."

"What now?" He asked, his shoulders slumped as he folded his arms across his chest, "Do you know what you are?" I interrogated; my voice was stern and stiff. "Hmmm, still getting to that." He answered coyly, "From time to time, I've been receiving bits and pieces of information." He told me. "So the line, 'Legends never die.' just appeared in your mind?" I asked again incredulously. I was finding it hard to understand what he meant in general; it was like trying to make sense of a human oracle.

"Yeah, it did the second time we met. The phrase just popped up." His voice felt honest and sincere. "Alright, let's go with that," I said while dusting my shirt, "How about we agree on something?" I purposed a smile on my face.

"Go on." He said while leaning towards me. "Listen, I don't know what you are, but I know that you're someone I could rely on that, or you're just really jobless." I told him with a blank face present, "Can't say you aren't wrong to both statements." He muttered quietly. "So, I have something to ask you." I went on while stretching my hand in his direction, "You help me with whatever I face from now on, at least to the best of your abilities." I told him, " I'll help you with whatever you like.

"Interesting!!" He exclaimed, catching me off guard as he quickly rose from his chair, knocking it over in the process, "Do you believe you can be the best?" He asks me, reminding me of our first encounter so long ago. "I don't know what that means." I deadpanned, causing him to have a hearty laugh. "Ok then, how about this? I find you very interesting, as your life seems to go from bad to worse the more I look on-"

"Oh wow, I didn't know my misfortune gave you so much joy." I interrupted with a frown.

"Anyway," He continued, ignoring my remark. "I want to see where this takes us; maybe you'll surpass my expectations." He remarked while stretching his arm towards me, "Besides, I already told you to think of me as a friend when in need." His hand is millimeters from mine.

"Deal?" I asked before shaking his hand firmly; to my surprise, his hand was solid and warm. "Deal." His voices responded collectively. And with that, everything suddenly faded into darkness, almost like it never happened.

I suddenly heard murmurs and random noises as my eyes slowly fluttered open. My head ached as my eyes were met with a bright light, causing me to roll around in response.

"Oh look, guys, the new boy's not dead." I heard one of the voices say.