Convergence III: Fulfillment In Becoming

Chapter Six: Dramatic Irony

It is early July in the year 2061, and it is the last nine days of Nick Althorne's life.

Nick, Ella and Jackie sat quietly on the couch, all three of them wide-eyed and completely silent.

Jackie, however, was the most wide-eyed and silent. Maybe Nick and Ella would exchange glances, but they didn't move at all. Their hands were shaking, and they weren't blinking.

Nick inhaled sharply, putting their hand slowly on Jackie's shoulder. "Jack? Are you okay?"

Jackie tensed at their touch, their eyes going much wider. "nope."

"I know this is probably..." Nick tried to find the right words. "...Freaking you out."

"Oh, no! Not at all!" Jackie still didn't look to the side. "I'm fine. I started making shit float I'm totally fine. NICK. YEAH I'M FREAKING OUT."

"Right. Yeah. I. Totally get that." Nick took their hand away.

"Also." Jackie turned to Nick now, pointing down at their blackened arm. "What the FUCK did you do."

"Why do you think it was something I did!?"

"Because that's what you DO! You're MAGIC!"

"I didn't pick being magic!" Nick squeaked. "And I didn't pick this, either!"

"Then what happened?!" Jackie sighed, sounding more distressed than angry. "First this, and then that?! What's happening this time?!"

"Well--" Nick started, hesitating as they trailed off. "Your thing. Might have been. My fault."

"You've gotta be kidding me." Jackie buried their face in their hands, and as a mug floated by them, they grabbed it without looking. "I'm making things float. I can't even control it. I just fucking do it."

"Well," Ella started, "maybe you could learn?"

"I figured that was easier said than done," Jackie sighed.

"This might have been because I wished you were a kinetic yesterday," Nick thought aloud, "but I've said that to you before and it's never actually happened."

"Well, now it did. Now I'm a fuckin. Superhero. I guess."

"That's flattering," Nick remarked. "It's not as fun as it looks."

"I know that now!" Jackie, being incredibly panicked, pulled their face into their shirt. "God, this sucks! How do you even do this!?"

"It took years." Ella shrugged. "We adapted to it. And we still have our off days, but you just have to listen to yourself and know what it needs."

"You were born with it," Jackie grumbled. "I've been cursed."

"I didn't know I was gonna infect you with it! I didn't know it was contagious!" exclaimed Nick.

"It couldn't have been contagious, you've hung around each other for eight years." Ella tried to deduce this for herself. "Did your mom wish to have telekinesis or something?"

"Uh... no? I mean, I don't think so, but I never asked her."

"I know that," Ella responded. "What I mean is, that warlock guy gave everyone their powers before Jackie, right? So, what changed?"

Nick blinked. "Oh, my God. This is my fault. That girl said I was a warlock now, and I infected Jackie with kinetic juice, and I'm literally gonna die."

"That's ridiculous. How are you a warlock now?" Ella tilted her head.

Nick laughed sheepishly. "Uhhhh. Kinda hard to explain."

Jackie squinted. "Explain."

They inhaled. "When I got stabbed, the warlock guy brought me to the afterlife and said that if I traded him places, he could move on and Ella and I could stay. I didn't know that he meant I'd be taking his place as a fucking magic dude, but here we are. I definitely gave you those powers."

"You're a warlock?!" Jackie sat up, becoming more frantic. "Is that why your arm is going all dark and shit?!"

"Maybe??? I don't know."

"You're acting so nonchalant about this, don't you see how bad this is?!" Jackie turned their body more towards Nick and Ella.

"Of course I see how it's bad, but we have bigger problems!" Nick turned their body in response. "You're a kinetic now, and that's amazing but it's also never gonna go away, so you need to learn how to use your kinetic-ness."

Ella stammered. "Wait. Backtrack. Nick, you could definitely die."

"Calm down, I'm not gonna die." Nick gave a short smile, introducing a writing element we narrators call dramatic irony.

"I think your arm says otherwise." Jackie crossed their arms.

"My arm is cool." Nick replied. "Sometimes it moves on its own, but it's cool. We're almost like the same person."

"I can't tell if this is you being nihilistic or stupid." Jackie almost laughed. "But I know you're trying to make me feel better."

"Is it working?"

"I guess it might be." Jackie still seemed hesitant.

"Jackie." Nick leaned in, motioning to the floating objects around them. "This won't kill you. You've got superpowers now. And you've got the best teachers in the world. All you need is a little bit of bravery."

"Yeah, we'll teach you how to use your powers." Ella nodded. "And, uh, your first lesson can be putting us down."

Jackie looked down, the couch levitating at least 3 feet in the air. "Oh." A pause. "I don't know how to do that."

"Calming down helps." Ella dug into her pocket, pulling out a fidget cube. She tossed it to Jackie.

"Oh. Thanks." Jackie took it, and started playing around with it. As they did, things slowly started to fall back to the floor like feathers. Then the couch fell faster than a bowling ball from a skyscraper.