1 Year Later
Bo was standing with his little sister in a graveyard.
This was a special graveyard, located on a beautiful mountain called the "Mountain of Heroes". The mountain was made for fighters who fell in battle, created by the Organization.
There were many graves there, but the grave that he was standing in front of was special.
It was made from white stone and appeared to be new. It was beautifully decorated with many flowers, and many stones lay on top of it.
They came very early in the morning so that no one would trouble them. Soon, there will be hundreds of people waiting in line to visit the grave.
His sister was holding onto a beautiful lotus flower that they bought in a flower shop, which was quite expensive, but worth it.
She was understandably crying.
A year has passed since Cal died. They said he died bravely in battle, defending humanity from evil.
Bo didn't care. All he wanted was his big brother back.
He was the big brother now, having to take care of himself, his sister, and his home. His parents were working all the time, not even being able to visit their dead son a year after he died. He had to take responsibility. There was no other choice.
"Abi, you can place it," Bo said. His sister tried to wipe away her tears unsuccessfully and place the lotus flower below the writing on the grave.
Bo tried not to read it, but it was hard. 'Bo, the first Novice Greatness. Son, Big Brother, Hero.'
'Why did you have to be a hero?' Bo asked himself.
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It was another day. Bo woke up early with an annoying, old school alarm clock. Phones stopped working after the Eyes. He looked at the ceiling for a minute with dead eyes, then leapt from his bed and forced a smile. 'My parents are going through the worst,' he thought.
He made food for his parents and sister, who were about to wake up. He became quite the cook after cooking for himself and his family for more than a year.
His parents woke up first. They had quite the dead eyes. They glanced at Bo, took his food, and left. His mother took the food and left hurriedly. His father managed to smile at Bo and left hurriedly.
Bo dropped his smile. Their life was hard, and it was putting a strain on his mental state. He was trying hard, but whenever his mother didn't even look at him, it struck a nerve. A tear ran down his face.
"Bo!" he heard a shout. He wiped the tear away quickly and put on a smile. "What did you make for me today?" Abi shouted again.
"Have a guess!" Bo shouted back.
His little sister came out to the kitchen. "Omelet? But I asked for pasta!" She shouted angrily.
"Sorry, but I forgot," Bo answered.
Abi looked at him sourly, took her food, and left for her room. She was only six, but it still affected him.
He went to his room. Every time he went in, it reminded him of his brother, who slept with him in their shared room.
He lay on his bed, looking gloomy at the ceiling.
"Why me?" he asked himself. "Cal… why did you leave me behind?"
Slowly, he started crying, quietly so his sister wouldn't hear.
'If I had powers like him, I would have been able to help him…' he thought.
'If I only desired as much as he did! If only I were brave enough to be as great as he was! Why couldn't I have been there for him? Why?'
He had a hard time staying quiet, but he managed.
He cried, and cried, until finally he fell asleep.
The sleep was weird. It felt like he wasn't truly sleeping, but everything was dark as if he was waiting for a dream to start.
'Is this lucid dreaming?' Bo thought.
From darkness slowly spread a gray mist. He was feeling like he was standing nowhere and on top of nothing.
He decided to walk forward. Suddenly, he heard whispers.
"Appreciation… Rest… Happiness…" It started quietly, the words making him feel better. With every word, a new door popped. They all were surrounded by white mist, but each of them was different.
The first door that appeared was very welcoming. It had many hands coming out of it. Most weren't human. Some were of different colors, but apart from that, they looked normal. Some were alien, like the tentacles and the ethereal ones. He felt sad for some reason just by looking at them, and the more he looked, the more lifeless they felt. There were many more hands, but suddenly, the next door appeared.
The one with rest made him sleepy. He felt at peace just by looking at it. It looked very soft, and it made him feel that just by touching it, he would have the rest of his life. It was colorful, each color looking like a cushion. He studied it a bit more and started noticing weird prints on each cushion, as if someone had slept there forever.
Then the third door appeared. The first two doors were the same size, about the size of a normal door, but this one was huge compared to them. It dwarfed anything he had ever seen. He wasn't able to see its top and sides.
It was yellow in color, making even the mist around it a bit yellow. It was ethereal, like a god in yellow appeared inside it, leaking yellow. It felt so powerful. He hadn't felt so happy in his life, and he was only looking at it! He was about to run through it, but the moment he tried, the door didn't feel welcoming anymore. It was rejecting him.
Then there was a shift in the air, and the feeling changed.
"Vengeance…" A door appeared at the other side of the area. It had dark mist around it, and it felt unnerving. It wasn't as huge as the last door, but it was much bigger than the first two. It was a gothic door, made out of a hard material that looked like stone, and it was cracked everywhere. The cracks made sharp edges, and it looked like every crack was stained in blood, although most stains weren't red. The spike at the top was the most unnerving. It felt as if he would die by touching it. It was unwelcoming from the start, rejecting him completely.
Many other doors appeared, each looked as different as the other, but they were more distant and unreachable.
He looked at the first two doors, Appreciation and Rest. They looked very welcoming, like they were drawing him in with all their power, but he didn't feel like they were the right choice.
It was his only choice, so he started walking towards them. Memories filled his vision, memories of the moment he heard his brother's injury, the moment he found out that it killed him, the moment with the eyes, and the moment before he slept.
Suddenly, he stumbled and almost fell on his face. He searched for the cause, seeing a small object on the floor. He picked it up and saw that it was a very small door, the size of a pebble. It wasn't surrounded by special mist, and he wasn't able to make out its details. He didn't feel anything towards it, so he tried to throw it away, but it stuck to his arm. Then it sank into it.
He started to spasm, and he felt pain throughout his body.
The pain was the worst he had felt in his life.
He felt like a whole new organ was growing inside him.
It didn't feel like it was pushing other organs, but as if it was always meant to be there.
The process took a lifetime, or so he felt. Every inch of his body was screaming with pain. He wanted to shout, to cry, but he couldn't make a sound.
Suddenly, he woke up, sweating.