The creator's staff

Chapter 8 - Lucius

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Lucius' entire life has been a bit of everything. Painful, held together, messy, alone, with love, with hate... After discovering he can move objects telekinetically, he decides to find out more about his powers.

He has used his boring free time since childhood for stories; reading is his hobby. His favorite genres are history, gods, fictional stories, and almost everything about impossibilities and superhuman powers. He has also spent more time with his mother, ever since she told him about his family history.

He and his parents have decided to keep what makes him special a secret. His mother, together with Lucius, finds out about his flames-hot, red, scary flames.

They manifested out of nothing. It isn't something one would imagine a child having

He has had a hard time controlling the nature of fire and keeps burning parts of his body every time he tries holding up the flames for more than a minute. *It doesn't even make sense! Why do I get burned by the flames my body produces? Mama, am I cursed?* He asks his mother these questions several times.

Mama Lucius refuses to think deeper into it to give her son an answer. She decides to spill a secret she has been holding for a while after a dangerous incident-a secret that has been bothering her for a while. She tells him, *There is one man who also knew about our family history. It might sound crazy, but even though he should have been dead by now, I have the feeling he is among us, watching every step we take. He was an old storyteller who always told us he would be forever young and immortal. He never looked as young as he claimed to be and also not as old as he believed to be-a weird man! His stories were really fun and interesting, but the man himself was never my personal favorite. His stories were like a real-life experience, like he had lived it. Sometimes I had the feeling he was talking about something that was going to happen soon. He named one of his characters after me. She said she would marry Nathaniel.*

*Wait, but dad is called Nathaniel?*, Lucius puts the pieces together. Her only answer is a "yes," while a shiver runs down her spine.

She continues, *It's like I knew everything but always forgot until it happened. Even you-your name. He said exactly when and where you would be born and what your name would be. I noted the name for the future, so I wouldn't use it. Your dad and I were going to decide what your name would be after you were born, but I went into deep sleep after you came out. I woke up weeks later and then heard...*

*My name had already been chosen, and it was Lucius, just like he said. * Lucius gets where it's all going. "Yes!" is once again her short answer, looking more concerned than ever.

*He said you were the devil's new. I still don't understand what he meant by that. We might find out about that one day. One more thing... I am pretty familiar with the old stories about our ancestors, and I sometimes noticed these strange relics from the past-relics that should have stayed there or with the family*

His mom's stories make him giddy. The stories never scare him off at all; rather, they make him yearn for more. A part of him never wants to believe anything is real. He keeps explaining to his mother how such events couldn't take place in real life.

"No human being can live for that long!" Is always his answer. *There is no such thing, Mom! I think you were just putting some fake pieces of a story together because his presence was frightening you. Do you think he is like me? If he is, then he can't live for so long. See, I keep aging, just like a normal person*; he argues.

Eventually, he caves in and accepts all the facts. *Well, it's not impossible tho, Mama. If what you keep saying is true, it would mean Grandpa Jamie was over two hundred years old, and his appearance never looked like he was that old. How did no one notice it?* A new mystery is created for a new detective.

His mother explains the fact that she and Aunt June are the only ones to remember such things about him. Everyone has forgotten many details in his story.

They remember these as if they were there themselves, as if they were Jamie himself. *It's like a backed-up video of everything he had, was, and remembered. It's like he trusted us to preserve his existence.* They decided to keep the information to themselves, as every close family member never knew a thing, and no one would ever believe them. Everyone either has the memory of him living a normal life and bringing hope to the family, or there is no memory left of his existence.

Many remember a few pieces that aren't easy to put together. Though their story is almost completely accurate, it ended up having a different interpretation. They mixed it up with another man's life and named it the story of Jesus. They believed the story took place two thousand years ago.

Now there are two stories about Jesus, and no one can tell which one is the real one or mixed up.

*Though I somehow have the feeling he is still alive, that man should be dead by now. Maybe he never really existed, and it was some kind of prophecy I had been daydreaming about.*

Lucius understands what his mom is trying to tell him. He shouldn't get the idea of looking for someone whose existence was never proven. He frowns a little and scrumps his nose after making sure his mom knows he is going to let the topic stay a fairy tale.

Young Lucius kept in mind that there were dangerous things that he could encounter at any time in his life. Every day after school, he spent his time training his abilities, both fire and telekineses, and got a bit stronger every day.

His mother teaches him to meditate. After a few lessons, it becomes part of the daily routine. They have fun together. He is told to make every negative emotion coursing through his head flow out during meditation, as he has a rather terrifying temper.

One Saturday, Lucius' mom decides to meditate with him for a double amount of time. Lucius is fully motivated and gives his best. His mother pulls him away from reality, making him fantasize on his own.

This time, he isn't going to flush away negative emotions.

*Try combining every emotion and pulling them all out; everything that was gone needs to be drawn back-all at the same time. You need to feel everything at once, think of something to contain them while they're there, and create something new-something you want. While doing so, show me every single thing you hate and what you love. Balance your emotions and use them as fuel; they have to be burned after we are done today.* She whispers in his ears.

She pulls back again.

She raises her voice just a bit so he doesn't lose her and tells him, *First, start imagining yourself in a self-made garden and then pull someone you want to meet in it, me!

Lucius searches for a specific person, not his mother. He gets to see a silhouette for a split second. He pushes himself harder.

His mother opens her eyes. She thinks that her son has pulled her in; rather, she sees something strange: Lucius is Levitating and every light-weighted object is flying around him in a circle, almost like a heavy storm indoors.

His mother wants to call off the meditation. Lucius, however, doesn't respond.

She goes back to meditating, trying hard to somehow find a connection to him. Right as she concentrates on her son, Lucius thinks about her and pulls her in. She feels him pull and opens her eyes.

She is sure that it isn't the real world she is in. She walks around to find him.

*Why did Lucius choose something like this?*, she murmurs to herself. His reality is warm. It feels like one is wanted in there, but at the same time, the reality is hot and trying to drag you out. A simultaneous push and pull with something electric-current-like rushing through the entire body in every direction possible.

Imagine that at one point you are somewhere, and at the same time you aren't. It's hard to imagine, isn't it?

Chapter 8, end.

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