"We made it," Nina said.
The sun was setting when we finally got out of the blizzard's reach. We were standing on top of a large overturned boulder at the foot of the mountain where the blizzard failed to conquer. The clouds of the storm remained confined at the top of the mountain, gurgling with lightning as thunder sounded from time to time. Beyond the cold hell was a sight to cherish. Below the orange sky riddled with clouds was a vast rainforest that stretched for kilometers without end. The green leaves reflected the light of the setting sun as birds flew over the branches and reached for the sky. My enhanced sense was having a great time detecting the millions of creatures, both big and small, roaming around. From the smallest of critters to the biggest of beasts, we had finally escaped the nightmare of the mountain. I had never seen such a vibrant and healthy ecosystem before. As far as I could recall, the forests back in my reality would either be too healthy for the good of those wanting to exploit, explore, and settle it or too sick for even the local wildlife to use it.
But I should not forget that unknown dangers and creatures lurked in these woodlands. I sensed predators big and small but none of which I was familiar with. Living beings always gave off a unique psychic energy around them, those are what I called energy signatures. These energy signatures varied in size and shape, if it was emitting a complex wave of psychic energy, it was most definitely a human, if it was rapid, it was a predator, if it was slow, it was the prey. I came to further know the little differences of these energy signatures that were unique to certain species and that was when I was able to determine the identity of a creature, no matter how big or small, thanks to its energy signature.
However, despite the similar flora that made up this beauty of a forest, the fauna was entirely strange to me. The mere thought of memorizing and discerning the different energy signatures of many different species sent a slight shiver down my spine. That may sound weird considering how I had been mostly undefeated and unchallenged but I still got scared of learning new things.
I yearned for knowledge because I also feared it. If I were to be ignorant, my psychic power may diminish and weaken. That I cannot afford.
Ignorance may be bliss but only an idiot would be satisfied by mere crumbs of knowledge. I did not want the crumbs, I wanted the entire dish.
I gazed at the sight longer than I expected. Yuna and Nina seemed unimpressed but did not mind the obvious amazement painted all-over my face. As a creature similar to a wolf howled in the distance, I whispered to myself;
"The Nightmare Continues,"
As we were stepping down the boulder, I heard the sound of Yuna's belly, begging for a slice of food. I turned my head at Yuna as she tried to hide the blush on her face, embarrassed because of how loud her tummy was. I did not blame her nor her belly, we were all living beings that needed the energy to survive. A psychic like me could delay my hunger for a few weeks but the two sisters with me weren't like me. Thus, it was time to do what I could.
It was time to forage.
Before I could do that, there were some things I needed to take care of. I finally agreed to Nina's wishes to let her walk as soon as I touched the fertile ground. She wobbled a few meters and almost dunked her face into the brown soil but she thankfully found her balance after a few missteps. The three of us then gathered into a circle to discuss what to do next. Nina was convinced that I was going to abandon them as soon as we got out of the mountain. It was a cause for concern for it revealed that their doubts were still too deep to ignore.
"No, I am not going anywhere without both of you," I said. I looked at her dead in the eye and nodded. My body language was screaming at her that I was telling the truth.
Nina looked at me, her eyes brimming with concern.
"Then why? Why are you going so far to help us?" She asked, "You have nothing to gain from us if you keep following us!"
It was as if she was trying to get rid of me. It baffled me for a few seconds before I then realized that she was just concerned, not for themselves but for me. Well, a tad concerned about themselves as well.
She must have thought that I would want remuneration, payment, or whatever the hell I may need or want from them. Of course, that was just a bloody lie inside her head. I wanted nothing from the two of them nor did I need anything from them, I had everything I needed.
I just wanted to stay. Part of me wanted it. I did not want anything from them but I wanted myself to stay.
"You think I'll get dragged into whatever trouble you lot are in?" I said. The question was a gamble to see if she would confirm my other suspicions that shrouded them. I had my assumptions back at the mountain but did not want to press on them until now. She gave me a firm nod and looked at her feet. That's when I knew exactly what was going on. These two were not welcome in this land and if they weren't so was I. Her mother must have been an important official of sorts and if my assumption that this world was a world stuck in the late medieval era then the politics of this place would be, by all intents and purposes, a fucking dumpster fire that could extinguish an entire continent.
I remembered when she held my hair and told me we were opposites. Hair color represented power, according to her so, what was the rank of the color white? How about my hair color, black?
Still, there was no turning back for me. I went this far, there was no other choice but to press onwards. I admit I may be a liar, a trickster, a despot but still. I didn't really understand myself but a part of me felt indebted to these two although the only reason I helped them in the first place was because of what I witnessed the moment I arrived in this reality.
Maybe this was my chance. Maybe this was my time to be what my mother dreamed and wanted me to be.
Psychics could sense the spirits of the beings that passed away, the ones who leave their mortal coil and move on into the unknown. No matter how big or small, every living thing had a spirit inside and that spirit would be the vessel in which the being would use upon its death. Spirits of humans often clung to their loved ones for a time before disappearing. The only people who felt and witnessed these occurrences were psychics like me. I remembered back then when I mingled with fellow psychics such as I. We were young and eager to experience the realities of life through our psychic lens. We didn't expect what would happen next. I too did not understand until it almost happened to me as well.
Seventy percent of the psychics I knew back then killed themselves when they witnessed the spirits for the first time. Most did it due to grief and to prevent their rapid descent into insanity. They saw their loved ones clinging to their spirits still stuck inside the physical world. They yearned for their loved ones to return and so did themselves a favor and went with them.
The ones who remained either had no past love, no family, no attachment to anyone that had died. Out of all the people who got through that terrifying phase, I was only one who had a loved one pass away during that period. However, what happened to me was different.
My mother whom I thought would be there, looking over me, never clung to me when she died. I saw her spirit leave her body but I never saw or felt it again. I did not see her spirit clinging to my soul nor was she there to give me solace. I was alone, in the dark, abandoned even by the spirits.
It had been a few years then since I started ascending the ranks of society. My mother never went against me but she always voiced her concerns. Only when she died and told me her last words did I even began to wonder, was she disappointed? Appalled by my ways? The questions never left me. However, the answer may not be so far away now. Maybe this was it, my calling, maybe my mother never left me in the first place. Maybe she was here, somewhere far where I couldn't see her but she can see me, waiting for the exact moment I redeem myself in her eyes.
Maybe.
As long as a part of me yearned to be with them, I'd stay.
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