Silver Lines (Sky Forever Volume 2)

Chapter 17: A Night in a Cave

"So, why have you taken it upon yourself to look for this?" Amber asked.

Kay had served up some soup to us all after he'd finished the story, so we were all huddled in furs, sipping from our bowls.

"Back in the day, the Homunculus family and the Cast family were friends," Kay said, "Or allies, if you prefer. Until...what I did. Jasper told me the story of the formula, which is why I had to do it. His son was the youngest blood."

"What happened after that?" I asked.

"Well..." Kay replied, "That's when I was seperated from you. I told him that it was his father I tried to kill, but he didn't believe me. I've been in hiding from them for ten years. I spent five of those years in prison for various crimes. But it's all been in the name of finding the formula."

"Who's 'them'?" Amber asked.

"The Wasps." my father explained, "Jasper's loyal men. Even before he was Emperor, there's always been the corrupt ones on his side."

"Hold on," I said, turning to Amber, "Remember at the end of the battle, when all of Jasper's men were no longer fighting."

"Yeah?" She replied.

"What if they had some of the formula?" I suggested, "And it wore off because their commander died."

"You think that Jasper had the formula all along?" Kay asked.

"I don't know." I said, "But I've always thought it was weird how the battle stopped when Jasper died."

"I assumed it was because they were weren't truly loyal to him," Amber said, "So, if they had the formula, then that's true."

I nodded and took another sip of soup.

"How long have you been trying to find Neo?" I asked Kay.

"Three years," Kay answered, "I learnt about him in prison. No one knows anything about him though. The Coldlands is the only place I haven't looked."

"How can you expect to find one man in the middle of this mountain range?"

"Well, you found me."

"That was by chance."

"No, it wasn't." Kay said, "It was fate. The Gods have brought us together again, Jared."

"I don't believe in any of the Gods." I replied bluntly.

"You're an independant man, you can believe what you like. The point is this isn't an accident. We must find Neo together and destroy the formula."

I looked at the others.

"I've got nothing better to do." said Storm with a shrug.

"Me neither." Lonely Soul said.

Amber smiled at me, "Another adventure, I guess."

I smiled and turned back to Kay, "Sure. Let's do it."

Kay grinned.

A few hours later, we were all asleep, bunched up in our wraps and furs.

The dream came again, with the snow. The beast, which I now knew was the Eyes Man, was obliterated by fire, which I now knew was my father's weapon. However, I didn't wake up after that. The dream continued. The snow melted into water, which stretched into a stormy sea. Salty waves splashed up around me. I noticed I was on board a ship.

Suddenly, out of nowhere, the image of a skull took over my mind and shocked me into awakening. I sat breathing heavily for a minute.

I looked down at Amber, snuggled beside me in the wraps. She hadn't woken.

"Jared?" someone whispered.

My eyes adjusted and I saw my father looking across at me from his own wraps.

"You alright?" He asked.

"Yeah..." I replied.

"Did you have a bad dream?"

"Sort of..."

There was a pause.

"Are you a PreCog?" I asked, bluntly.

"What?" He whispered back.

I got up, with my coat wrapped around me and sat next to him.

"Jasper said you were a PreCog," I told him, "Which is why I am."

"Wait, you're a PreCog?"

"Yeah. I just had a dream."

"What did you dream?"

"It was a sea." I replied, "A stormy sea, with crashing waves."

I decided to leave out the skull part.

"Wow..." Kay said, distantly.

"So, are you a PreCog?" I asked.

He shook his head, "I was. But it fades with time."

"Really?" I replied, "I met an old woman in the Juggernaut Complex who claimed she was one. She said she saw me coming and that I was looking for you. She was called Penelope I think."

"Penelope?" Kay said, "Ah yes. I spoke to her a while ago. I guess the dreams don't fade with some."

We sat in silence for a few moments.

"Couldn't you have taken me with you?" I asked, suddenly.

Kay looked at me, "Huh?"

"When you left..." I said, "Why didn't you take me?"

"Jared, it was way too dangerous." He replied, "I realise that you were young at the time. That's why I left you with the Grieve family, back in Archery City."

"They threw me out eventually." I told him, "I was basically homeless for my whole childhood. And I'm still less streetwise than everyone here."

"But you're here though." Kay said, "That must mean you've got survival skills. You are my son, after all."

I looked over at Amber, peacefully asleep.

"She's the only reason I'm still here." I said, "She's the only reason I can see the next dawn and the next dusk. She's my guardian angel."

Kay looked at her too.

"Are you angry with me?" He said.

"Of course I am." I replied, "But I don't want to dwell on it right now."

"I don't blame you for being mad. But keep in mind that I regret everything I did. And everything I did was for a reason."

I wanted to shout in his face. I wanted to express my rage and make sure that he knew exactly how I felt. I wanted to make him realise the suffering he'd put me through by not being by my side. But I didn't. Instead, I just sat and thought.

Eventually, Kay had fallen back to sleep so I crawled back under the wraps with Amber and waited patiently to see the next dawn.