Cyrus Solaris
My chest tightened. I never felt guilt for what I did that day. It was my life or his, and I chose mine.
That was the mentality I adopted during those two years. But now, sitting in front of her was like drowning in the ocean with no way to reach the surface.
She had the same face as him.
The heat in my body rose the more I thought about Adam and his actions. I needed to leave.
I grabbed my jacket and sprinted out of the medbay. She called out to me, but I didn't look back.
I made my way back to my room, ignoring everyone who tried to get my attention.
I needed to call Gramps.
He would be the only person who could give me guidance on how to navigate something like this.
In the privacy of my run-down room, I pulled out my communicator and tapped his icon.
The communicator rang, rang, and rang. No answer.
I called again, and again. No answer. I kept getting the error message saying no connection.
I threw the communicator against the wall.
How can a state-of-the-art academy not have a connection?
Silence hung in my isolated room, and memories of that day replayed in my mind. No matter what I did, they didn't leave, Gramps said this shouldn't be a problem after the energy from the core has been fully assimilated into mine.
Maybe he was wrong.
So I forced myself to sleep.
When I woke up, it was nearly dark out.
I had messages from Professor Rhondall and the Headmaster. I had missed my afternoon classes, which wasn't good.
I didn't respond to the messages. How could I explain my situation to them? Tell them I was on the run for two years because my father was framed for terrorism, and during that time, I killed one of my father's best friends and absorbed his core, and was haunted by his memories.
They wouldn't understand that at all.
It was hard to keep all of this in. I wished I could have gotten a hold of Gramps.
I wished Mom were here.
But I was alone.
On the floor, I looked over to where I had thrown my communicator. It was cracked, but still functional. I only had four contacts. Gramps, Prime Minister Kazehoshi, Lady Arya, and Mira, for the mere fact that she provided the updates for the app I bribed her into giving me.
Gramps was unavailable, I couldn't tell the Prime Minister or Mira what happened.
That left only one person: Lady Arya. She was someone my father trusted, and after her help a couple of months ago, I felt like I could, too. I clicked her icon.
It rang and rang. Then a voice appeared. But it was just a voicemail.
My stomach dropped.
I put my communicator on my desk and climbed into my bed. I retracted the roof and stared up into the night sky.
We will meet again, when the very stars you gaze upon lie at your feet.
"I can't wait any longer, Mom, I need you now." A deep sigh left me as I stared at my chest.
It had been a while since I had looked at my astral tattoo. Several circles wrapped around each other.
Then an idea hit me.
I calmed myself as much as I could and focused on my breath. Focusing the cosmic energy in my forehead, I astral projected.
Part of me wanted to leave my body behind and float off into the expanse. But I knew I couldn't. Instead, I dove straight into the portal of my nexus.
The dark void was comforting as I floated my way towards Dox. At first, Dox was dull, but as I got closer, it brimmed with a vibrant magenta.
"Welcome back," he said as I stopped before him.
"Do you want to learn about your third node?"
"No, not yet. I actually want to ask you a question."
Dox went dull for a short period of time before he responded, "About what?"
"Well, I need advice, and I was wondering if anyone who has been connected to the Pardoxen constellation has experienced things like meeting the sister of the man you killed?"
Dox flickered. "All I can say is that there has been one person who was connected to this power before."
That answer was news to me, a shock really. When I was given the core, I believed that it was something new.
There seemed to be no record of it anywhere.
But the record seemed to be with dox.
"Is that all you know, or is that all that you are allowed to say?"
"All that I am allowed to say."
"Why is that?"
"Due to your current stage of celestial core. Your conscience is not strong enough to handle further information about a previous wielder of this power. But in regard to your situation, I can give advice."
I wondered what could be so special about the previous wielder of the constellation that the information has been sealed off until I ascend to higher stages.
"Alright then, Dox, what do I do about this?"
A lull hung in the void. "Learn more about her. So that you can establish the difference between the two,"
"How do I go about that?"
"You should do something nice for the nurse. Maybe it will clear your head and help you progress past this."
"Do you think I should tell her what happened, Dox?"
"No." He said it so matter of fact it caught me off guard. But he was right.
It would blow my family's cover. I guess I could settle for a gift, now I just need to find something that someone like her would like.