《CHAOS: The Youth and The World of Wonders.》DEEP HELL-4- Bravery Wasn't Always Easy to Get.
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The world consisted of two layers. A clear ocean he stood upon, and sky that extended to the end of his sight. It was morning here, always morning. And the moving clouds faded the sun rays. Beautiful.
It was his second time in this place, but he pondered it as if it was his first.
He took a minute before he turned back. The dark mantle, even though had no limbs, looked as if he was sitting on his butt. And his glowing white eyes weren't looking at him. But at the end of the sky on the other side.
The youth approached and stood beside him.
"How is the world?" the figure said, staring at the end of the sky.
"Good. There is a girl that hates me, but the boy is good, kind and funny to talk with."
The figure still didn't look at him.
"But that's not what you want."
"I know. What I want is a little bigger than this. Places to visit, foods to eat, sceneries to ponder… and more simple stuff," with no one.
The youth wanted to see. He was curious and especially with the empty knowledge he had, he grew wanting to venture, and to see. But he didn't want this lightness to go.
"Who said there are dangers in the upper world?" the figure asked and the youth didn't get surprised. He knew that this figure could know anything about him. This figure saw what he had seen, felt what he had felt, and knew what was in his head, and maybe, even, what wasn't…
"There are dangers everywhere. True, I wish to see the world in the safest way possible. But still, I don't want to take the risk of taking anyone along."
"I see..."
And both of them said nothing. Only looked at the endless sky that wrapped this world, for minutes, for long, silent, and awkward minutes.
"I think I'm no different than you," the figure said. "I think I'm the you that you have yet to notice."
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"I don't think so," the youth instantly said, with no much thinking, with all confidence.
"You should think so. Because I'm not lying..."
"It's time to go out," said the youth as he turned around.
"I know your body better, I know I'm way too powerful than this… and I know..."
The youth stopped, "know what?"
The figure stood, and stared at him. His glowing eyes wide open the figure said: "We both know that you are rotten inside..."
The youth said nothing more. He closed his eyes and slowly awoke. Not just because he finished talking with the figure. But also because there was another one in the room.
Her steps light but clear to his ears. She let the door loose so he hears fewer squeaks and slowly approached.
He heard how she trembled on each step she took, afraid to take the next. As if each step was heavy to move, she took a few seconds with each one.
He waited. He felt everything. When he closed his eyes, his ears worked way better, he had just known that.
"I-i-it's y-your fault," her voice trembled. She talked to herself, she tried to put the blame on him.
"One day you..." she gulped her saliva. "You will cause miserables to my family."
She was a child for sure, she risked waking him up with her voice. Even though she murmured every word, it was an unnecessary risk. But what if that what she wanted? What if she wanted the youth to hear that, and prevent what she was about to do?
The youth had that in mind, but he prevented nothing. He just waited for what she would do.
And her trembling sound became clear, her raising heartbeats became clear, and the sound of her tears dropping on the ground was for sure, clear.
And she did nothing.
She slowly walked back, gripped the doorknob, and before she closed the door, "you are a good girl," the youth said. The door squeaks stopped, but after a few seconds, it squeaked until it was closed.
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He opened his eyes, the crystals glowed above him. He followed the movement of the dust and envied how comfortable it was. It moved with the wind, had no will, and always followed the rules of nature. If some people would be thankful that they had the ability to think and take decisions, he felt that it wasn't as comfortable.
With every decision, there is a weight. With every I will, there was a hidden price… and he didn't know why he had hated those prices so much. He was blessed with amnesia, it was great. But the feelings never dissipated… the feelings of guilt. Of pain. Of uselessness.
How much he had convinced himself that he was light, those feelings would come again and shrink his hard-working heart.
Ruria wished for him to disappear, and that was the best decision to take. At least before getting attached to Roar and maybe, even his overprotective sister. He already began thinking about Roar, thinking about the decision of taking him along.
He was in a dangerous spot, and he had to move.
He went out of the house, gentle and careful not to let the other kids sense his steps. But he was sure that if Roar heard him, Ruria would do something about that.
He didn't have to wait for the parents really, he would venture place and discover where he should go next. In the end, venturing was his goal.
He sat by the edge of the shore, folded his pajama up, and dug his legs in the dense water. He trembled of the cold sting, but quickly the warmth of the underwater penetrated through his legs.
He closed his eyes. This place was the quietest place in the whole world. A place where water was quieter than any lake, and the air had no life to chirp… and in this quiet place, after he closed his eyes for some time, he heard steps.
They weren't far away… maybe a few tens of feet, taking a few steps before stopping, then taking a few steps again.
Those patterns didn't feel as if they belonged to the kids' parents. He stood, and the steps stopped, he looked in their direction. He had to move, to at least inspect the place, but… what if it was a scary being. Just like what Roar had said, if there were vampires, why wouldn't there be other people?
He clenched his hands, he hated his raising heart. He knew he wasn't a brave person, but what if he confronted a monster in the upper world…
What if he had, perhaps, to fight?
He took a deep breath, tried to focus on those steps again, but they were fading, the existence was running away.
And then the youth noticed that those steps were similar to Ruria's. The person was most likely a human…
A human trying to come here. What if he found the two kids?
But what would that do with him? That person might be stronger than him… actually who said that he was even strong? He might be weak. Roar said it clearly, magic wasn't easy. It would be more logical if what he was able to do was the basic form of magic and he wasn't as strong as he had thought.
Those steps didn't belong to Ruria, they didn't belong to a child. He couldn't act tough to them, he wasn't even sure of standing against them… he wasn't sure that he was brave enough...
The best option was to leave. Ruria wanted that and he wanted to be alone.
The youth took a few steps away from the cave and stopped.
The face of the dreaming Roar flashed in his head. Roar dreamed big and was on the verge of losing his hope.
What if that person had ill intentions?
The youth grabbed his chest, took a deep breath, calmed himself down, and returned to the cave.
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NOVA INTERIT.US
It's 2063, and the town along with much of the nation are in disarray. The decay started years before the Great Event. Our town still had hope thanks to the five families, who'd created a blockchain based water distribution system for the locals, a valuable secret hidden from the Global Water Commission and their network of mercenaries. Earlier in the mid-2040's, right after the state secessions of Idaho, Montana, and Texas, the Global Council of Water Commissioners made their deals and moved into towns throughout the country. They called it "the integration." The Commission and their contractors integrated with municipal water departments, using their organized network to invade like parasites on local services. It all coincided with the 29th Amendment to the United States Constitution, later referred to as the Regional Trident Plan. Nova is a story about survival, power structures, the turning of relationships, and the networking between people and the systems to which they belong. It’s about A.I. blockchain possibility, and its potential for human betterment versus our detriment. It’s about the question of whether or not we need to be saved from ourselves, and by who or what? The Great Event at the end of the first chapter might just be what actually saves us. The epilogue will take place in 2517. This scene is fully sketched and the full arc of the novel is set. I expect to finish Nova Interitus by summer of 2023. This is realist hard-sci-fi dystopian fiction. I hope you find Nova to be a challenging and consuming story. This is not something I planned to write. It all came to me in a dream and I haven't been able to stop writing it. This Royal Road posting is basically a beta test with chapters and drafts to get some feedback and see if there's any readership for this narrative. For the full experience read Nova on Substack. I will be narrating a podcast version later this year there. https://novainteritus.substack.com/
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