The Core: The Dark Enemy

48. The Dragon Child and the Owl

The Watcher in the Canopy

The Owl had seen enough.

It sat studying the intimate movements below, tracing the strands of fate and energy destined to blossom in time.

It watched as the four Fruits of the Tree hovered around and worked to achieve their victory for their Father.

Calis, the concept of Dominion. Refelen, the concept of Attunement. Belioc, the concept of Variation. Lisx, the concept of Finality.

The first three constantly interfered with the fate of the Tree, nudging and bending events to their will. Lisx did nothing. She simply observed and waited for her Father's command, like a giant axe hovering above it all.

From what the Owl observed in the future the spark that gave life would be bent to the will of the Tree, taken from its home dimension, and used all over the Tree.

That spark, Kevin, would serve for a time before suddenly and violently becoming the death of the Tree. The Owl could see it, the way the tool would be used until it turned in the hands of its wielder and cut their hearts out.

Kevin was the Tree's doom.

A living bomb.

Every time, down every timeline that the Fruits succeeded in controlling him, regardless of who won the challenge, Kevin would eventually lash out with emotions that spoke of death and despair to everything that lived.

His dimension, or something in it, was like the pin inside a grenade. The moment that the Fruits took him away, that pin would be pulled free, and death was all that lay ahead.

In one timeline, there was so much death that Kevin actually sought out other Trees...

The Owl took flight, casting one last glance at Kevin, hovering next to his Leva, at his planet and his home, before flying off into the beyond.

Completely missing Null, still hovering inside Kevin's parents' home.

A Fruit the Watcher had never noticed.

---

In Earth's orbit

Hailey was bouncing around with so much energy, reminding her father of the first and last time she had ever experienced cotton candy at a fair.

Their guide, Mr. Dean, was studying a status panel while speaking softly to his Tutor at the front of the shuttle bus. Hailey could just make out him talking about perfect suit integrity and that someone in seat 12B had needed a private cleanup service. There was just some guy sitting in that spot. His skin was white as a sheet, and he seemed to mainly be focusing on breathing. At least he hadn't thrown up, or everyone probably would have heard it.

Hailey hoped he was going to be ok and not mess up the trip.

"When we get back, you need to thank our cousin for the ticket," her father said, gently patting her knee that wouldn't stop bouncing.

"Yes! And I will be sure to tell her all of the stories and draw her pictures too!" Hailey agreed as she sat up and tried to look out the window. The glass was currently tinted a little to protect everyone's eyes from the harsh light of the sun. It would remain that way until they got to the dark side of the planet, where they would all embark on their spacewalk.

The tint and light rapidly faded, replaced by ambient light throughout the shuttle.

"Ok, it is getting dark. You all know what that means," Dean announced to everyone as he glanced one last time over all of the checkmarked suits. Even the person in 12B's suit had swiftly changed from yellow to green as the suit was cleaned and refreshed internally.