《Fate and Chance》Chapter 11 - Blinding Light, Golden Tendril
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Sun and her parents waved goodbye as they walked out the wooden gate.
Cury waved back and smiled, but as he turned around to head inside, he was obstructed by Pete.
Pete had a concerned expression on his face. His eyes were glowing with a slight grey tone, but a hint of green lingering.
Cury realized that his father was worried about something and asked, “What’s the matter?”
Pete put a hand on Cury’s shoulder as he crouched to get on his level and answered with a question, “What happened yesterday, it affected you did it not?”
Cury did not hesitate when he answered, “Yes, how could it not. Did it not affect you as well?”
Pete sighed, but smiled and said, “Of course it did, but I believe it affected you in a different way from the rest of us.”
Cury nodded.
“And that old woman you brought home; she knew about it too. I am starting to believe that you should be cautious around her. We have no idea what her goal is.” Pete continued.
That his father was this concerned, how could Cury not have realized it?
He felt slightly ashamed and apologized. “I am sorry I brought home a stranger”
But then his thoughts raced, and he could not help but ask, “but I think she can help me control this ability better. Don’t you think so too?”
“Well, you see Cury, sometimes people can help you, but at the same time take advantage of you.” Pete answered.
Then Pete added, “But if you make sure to learn enough without giving away too much information about your powers, then it is a win-win situation.”
Pete stood up and ruffled Cury’s hair and said “Anyway kid, I will conduct some experiments based on your theories about the Bloody ant. Based on the answers I find; I might be able to solve some unanswered questions that I have had for some time.”
Then Pete too, walked out the wooden gate.
Some time later, Cury was standing in his father’s training field.
A cat was watching over him from the roof, as the clouds moved across the skies like fish in the ocean. The cat yawned and put its head to rest on its paws.
Cury was deep in thought, pondering over how his abilities actually worked.
Yet, no matter how much he thought about it, he could not reach any conclusions.
As he stood there, unaware of his surroundings, the old seer walked towards him.
She tapped him on his shoulders a few times but got no reaction.
She cleared her throat, but Cury showed no signs of hearing her.
“This won’t do, I'll have to take drastic measures”. She said, as she pulled out her Ol' Betsy and raised it towards the sky.
The clouds were getting darker, and growled with anger.
As the thundering clouds released a bolt of lightning towards the ground, Ol' Betsy landed on Cury's head.
Shocked from the sudden lightning strike, and the pain on his head, Cury exclaimed “OUCH! Are you insane!?”
“Insane? Me?” the old Seer said.
“Never mind that, I'm glad you decided to leave your bubble and join us in the real world” she added.
Cury touch his hair, trying to ease the pain. He frowned and stared at the old woman in front of him.
The old Seer met his angry stare and said “Stop with that green look, it doesn't suit you.”
“Anyways, I had to do what I had to do. Here I am, ready to teach you some things about your powers and you have the stomach to ignore your elder?” The Seer nagged.
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“Okay okay, I'm sorry!” Cury quickly apologized.
“Please teach me!” he continued, as he bowed towards her.
The old Seer smiled and closed her eyes. She breathed in and breathed out.
Then she opened her eyes again. She was calm, and looked towards the skies.
“You see, Cury. There are a few, like you, who have special abilities that others don’t have.”
Cury nodded and his eyes began to glow with a yellow light.
“You could explain it like this. There is a realm that we are all connected to. Within this realm, you can find an almost endless amount of energies. Every living being is connected to their own energy inside this realm. This is what we call a soul.”
Cury smiled and gave the Seer a question “So you are saying that souls are real, that mother was right?”
The Seer nodded and continued, “Yes, indeed. But it is more complicated than that!”.
“Whenever life is born somewhere, a soul is born with it. Even if the body dies, the soul will remain.”
Cury stared at the Seer, but decided to look towards wherever she was gazing instead.
Plenty of grey clouds had gathered above them, slowly moving in a circle.
“Sometimes when a life is born, the soul that appears is different from other souls. Now don’t get me wrong, every soul is unique, but these souls that I'm talking about are able to interact with the body in a way that other souls can not. Usually, the soul is a gateway to people’s emotions, or dreams and ambitions. Things like that”. The old seer said as she closed her eyes again.
Cury smiled with his teeth showing. 'If a body dies, does that mean the soul is still out there?” he asked.
“Yes, and no. The soul can be destroyed, but it usually doesn’t happen as the body dies.” The Seer answered and sighed.
She knew well why Cury asked that question.
'Maybe I can get my mother’s soul' Cury thought to himself.
'maybe I can talk with her again' He asked himself.
“As I was saying, these souls that are different from normal souls, they can give the bodies special powers. You could see it as the soul allowing the being to wield elements that defies what your father would call logic. It could be anything from creating ice, to extreme strength.” The old Seer said.
She opened one eye and looked towards the cat that was sleeping on top of Cury's roof, next to the chimney. Then she closed the eye again and walked a few steps towards the wooden fence surrounding the area.
“Then, what is my ability?” Cury asked, and the yellow mixed with a growing red fire inside his eyes shined brightly.
The old woman put a hand on the fence, and with her back turned toward Cury she answered “Your ability is that your soul can interact with other souls. I don’t know the exact details but I know the gist of it.”
“How can it do that?” Cury asked.
“Well, I could describe it in a way you can understand. Let's say that every being's soul is a cloud, or a sphere of gas like some of those stars you see at night.” She said.
“Uh huh” Cury answered, 'get to the point!' he thought.
The old Seer walked along the fence, putting her hands on different poles as she spoke, “For the majority of people, the spheres are very similar to each other. What usually makes them different to one another is their size, their density or their affinity to certain emotions. Or in your case, the colours. Now, by chance, there are some spheres that have additional attributes. We call a soul like these; a blessed sphere.”
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The old Seer continued. “this sphere can behave different to other spheres. It could be extremely cold, burning hot, rock solid. You name it. There are many variations, but yours is probably the most unusual one I've seen.”
“it is!?” Cury asked'
'does this mean that my power is better?' he thought as he tailed the old Seer.
“As I said, I do not know the exact details, that is something you need to find out yourself.” She said, not knowing that she had somewhat answered his question.
Cury tried to calm himself, he was getting way to emotional about this.
He clenched his hand to a fist and took a deep breath. Then he breathed out and asked “Could you describe my soul?”
The old Seer stopped in her tracks, turned around and smiled towards Cury.
“Indeed I can, and this is where it gets interesting. Your soul seems to have been blessed twice.” She said.
Cury opened his eyes wide. “That is so cool” he said under his breath.
The old Seer nodded and continued, “First of all, your soul is extremely dense. It is not burning, it is not cold. To be honest with you, Cury, your soul is like an endless void with an extreme force somehow pulling it together. Do you understand what I mean?”
Cury hesitated. He wanted to understand, but he really didn’t. If he had an endless void, how could it be crammed within his soul? He didn't know. The Seer's explanation only left him with more questions.
Cury shook his head, “No, not quite.” He said.
“Then let me put it like this. You have a soul with such a high level of density, that it pulls other souls towards it. Not to devour them, but it allows your soul to interact with others. This is why you can see what others can not” The old Seer rephrased it.
Cury's mood lightened.
“I get it! My soul draws out the emotion from people, and I can see that through their eyes!” he joyfully said.
Then another question reached his mind. 'How can others see his colours, if he's the one pulling their emotions out?'
The old Seer answered before he had the chance to ask the question, “that leads us to the second trait that your soul has. Your soul, Cury, is alive.”
“Alive!?” Cury exclaimed. “What does that mean?” he almost yelled.
Frankly speaking, the thought of his soul being alive scared him.
“Now, now, Cury. Don't go drawing any conclusions. What I just said is slightly misleading. In a way, every soul is alive. Yours, however, is more akin to a living being.” She interrupted him.
But that thought only scared him more. “What if my soul wants to do bad things!?” he almost yelled.
He was getting worked up and breathed heavily.
His body trembled and he felt as if he was getting weaker. Knees shaking, sweat running down his spine.
But the Seer only sighed and clicked her tongue. “Cury, don't get yourself so worked up before you get the whole picture. Your soul, although being alive, is you. A person's soul is connected to the body, yes. But your body is not the only thing that defines you. Your soul is not less you than your body is. Why would your soul want anything that you yourself, doesn't want?” she said.
Still shaking, Cury tried to calm himself.
The Seer was right, he was jumping to conclusions about this matter before he had the whole picture. He was getting nervous and worked up without having any reason to.
“I’m sorry, please continue” He said. He was feeling ashamed of himself.
“Don’t hang your head like that, Cury. Your are the most brilliant child I know of. Other children your age wouldn't have the patience to listen this long. Be proud of yourself!” The Seer said, as she put a hand on Cury’s head.
She gave him two light pats before she let go.
“Let us go back to the topic. Your soul is like a living being, right?” she said
Cury nodded, but did not say anything.
“Although I'm not too sure about the details, your soul somehow sends out small roots, no, almost like tendrils towards others' souls. This is why, while you can see the emotions of others, they can also see yours.” She continued.
“Now, today I will help you control those tendrils.” She added, as she lightly hit another pole of the fence with her Ol' Betsy.
As she hit the pole, three lightning strikes hit the ground around them. The sound was deafening.
Cury was blinded by the light. The sudden fright and sound disoriented him, and sent him to his knees.
Trembling on the ground, fearing for his life, Cury covered his ears.
After some time, the old Seer patted Cury's shoulder and said, “There, there, boy. Calm yourself.”
This soothed Cury, and he tried to regulate his breathing to draw in more air with each breath.
That's when Cury realized something.
Although he could hear the Seer, he could not see her. To be honest, he could not see at all.
“Calm down Cury, this is only temporary. You will soon regain your vision!” the old Seer assured him
Cury was afraid, but tried to be brave. He had to believe the Seer.
“Listen to me Cury. Look towards where you hear my voice!” the Seer said, as she struck the ground with the bottom of Ol' Betsy.
The sound of wood hitting gravel was followed by a cloudburst. The grey clouds that circled above them popped, and rain fell.
“Use this chance, Cury. Use your emotions, try to feel your surroundings. Reach out, try to see me!”
Cury listened. He closed his eyes as he turned towards the Seer. He was scared, but he did as she said.
The rain was pouring down around him, the scent of wet dirt and grass reached his nose.
At first, he could not find anything.
He was frustrated, and realized his breathing was once again unsteady, so he calmed down.
He tried to hold a steady breath, as he earnestly tried to see his surroundings.
A sudden shift, that's what it felt like.
At first, everything was white from the lightning, but now he could see.
Well, he could not see as he usually did. But he could see colours.
Colours, almost like serpents, swimming through the air. The blinding light disappeared, and a dark veil followed as the rain poured over him.
The colours, however, remained.
Most colours were grey, mixed with red, coming from afar.
He guessed that they came from the villagers of Poz.
Having filtered them out, he could see a faint green light, coming closer.
He reached out towards it, and followed the light with his emotions.
A golden tendril of emotions touched the green serpent-like light.
This golden light was his. It was Cury's own.
His tendril followed the green light, growing far, to see where it came from.
Surrounding the green light, was a lot of grey, confused emotions. They came from other people.
Soon, he could se a large figure. It seemed human, a very large and muscular human.
This green light that he had followed came from this figure. He reach out, and as he touched the figure with his golden light, it exploded. Raging green fire flared up and grew in size.
“Cury! I told you to look towards me!” the old Seer exclaimed, interrupting him.
His golden tendril let go, cut off from the green fire. He opened his eyes towards the old Seer.
But still, he could not see.
The Seer stared at Cury as he opened his eyes. Then, she lost her breath.
A golden light reached out to her, originating from Cury's eyes.
“Blessed thrice” she said quietly, in shock.
This was too quiet for Cury to hear, but he could see a blue figure in front of him.
The blue, however, shifted to a massive grey colour as he opened his eyes.
“Do.. do you see anything?” the old Seer stuttered, then cleated her throat.
“Yes. So many colours, it's so beautiful.” Cury said.
“I didn’t expect you to understand it this quickly. You have an innate talent for this.” The old Seer said.
Slowly, the darkness covering his vision disappeared, and the world around him came back. He could still see the colours around him, but decided to retract his emotions. He pulled all the golden tendrils back.
As he did, the golden light in his eyes disappeared, leaving before he even knew it was there.
A crystal blue colour appeared. His natural eye colour.
“Cury, you have done it. I can't see your emotions” the old Seer muttered, but slightly in awe.
This boy, how could he get control this fast? The others usually took weeks to control their powers, she thought quietly to herself.
The rain stopped, all the clouds were gone, and a soaking wet Cury was standing in the middle of the training ground.
The sound of leather boots meeting gravel peaked his ears. He turned around and saw Pete, his father, rounding the house corner.
Pete sighed.
“I wanted to perform experiments today, who knew the weather would be this volatile?” he said with a large frown on his face.
Pete was drenched in water as well.
As he walked towards Cury in the training ground, he stopped in his tracks. He saw it too clearly, Cury's eyes.
They were crystal blue, the colour he was born with.
Cury ran towards his father with open arms. He embraced Pete to a hug and cried.
“What’s the matter, Cury?” Pete said as he looked towards the Seer. 'If she did anything to him, I swear..' he thought.
But the Seer only raised her shoulders as if saying, “I don't know why he's crying either.”
The Seer walked towards them and gently patted Cury’s back.
“It’s all right Cury, you did great!” She said.
Cury stopped crying with a smile.
“I did” he said.
“I can control my powers”
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