Nova was escorted too the spaceship. If one failed at awakening the Mark they would be sent back. Staying would not change anything. The attendant then escorted Nova to a seat. Even without obtaining the Mark, the attendant did not look down on him. She walked beside him quietly, professional… but there was something in her eyes.
Understanding.
She too was a lower human and had once stood before the inscription but failed to awaken a Mark. So she said nothing.
No pity, no judgment, just silence. When the spaceship arrived back at the dock, Nova stepped out slowly. The air felt heavier than before. In the distance, he saw Grey.
Grey had already hailed a taxi and was standing beside it, waiting. He did not wave, he did not smile. He simply opened the door. Nova walked toward him without a word. Grey followed closely behind. Nova entered the back seat. Grey sat in the front. The vehicle hummed softly as the doors sealed shut. It was auto-drive driven AI so no driver was needed.
As the car lifted slightly and moved forward, the city lights reflected against the interior glass. Through the rearview mirror, Grey looked at Nova. His heart tightened. He knew those eyes, he had seen them before. Not on Nova, but on soldiers who lost everything. It was the eyes of someone standing on the verge of breaking. Yet filled with something dangerous that should be left alone.
Grey opened his mouth. He wanted to say something. Anything.
"It's fine."
"There will be another chance."
"You did your best."
But none of it felt right. So he closed his mouth again. Maybe it was better to let Nova breathe. The silence continued as the taxi arrived at the STT.
They boarded without speaking. The teleportation light engulfed the train and moments later, they arrived at Planet Helid.
Grey hailed another cab. Nova followed. Still silent. Still distant. When they finally reached home, the door slid open automatically. The familiar scent of the house filled the air.
"Would you like to eat something?" Grey asked gently as they stepped inside.
"No thanks, Dad," Nova replied quietly. His voice was calman empty.
Grey turned slightly to look at him, but Nova had already walked away. As he walked through the hallway couldn't help but wondered. Why? What did he do wrong? His genetics were fine… right? Grey had the Channeler's Mark. Uncle Noah had the Channeler's Mark. So what happened to him? Was he defective? Was he the mistake in the bloodline or something?
He slowly walked toward his room. The door sensed his presence and slid open with a soft hiss. As soon as he stepped inside, his eyes fell on the portrait sitting quietly on the desk on the side wall.
His mother's picture.
She was smiling in it, warm and gentle. For a moment, Nova felt like those eyes were staring directly at him, not smiling but just… looking.
Then the emotions he had been suppressing all since suddenly cracked. His vision blurred and his chest tightened.
"Mom… I'm sorry," he whispered.
A tear gathered in his eye. It trembled for a second then rolled down his cheek. Another followed. He didn't wipe them. He just stood there.
Then his gaze shifted to the portrait hanging at the other side of the room. It was a picture of him Grey took of him and Uncle Noah during training. Noah was training him with a wooden sword. Nova smiling with confidence in the picture.
That confidence now felt like a joke. "Uncle Noah…" Nova's voice trembled. "I let you down." He clenched his fist. "You had so many expectations for me. You spent your time training me. You said I would surpass you one day."
His breathing became uneven. "And what did I get in return? Nothing."
"I'm sorry… I'm… sniff… I'm sorry…" His shoulders shook. The room felt suffocating.
Nova staggered forward and collapsed face-first onto his bed. The mattress sank under his weight. He buried his face into the pillow. Trying to muffle the sound. But the soft, broken sobs still echoed in the room. His fingers dug into the sheets. His entire body trembled.
Outside his door, Grey stood silently. He had followed without Nova noticing. He could hear it. Every muffled sound. Every crack in his Nova's voice.
Grey clenched his jaw as his hand slowly lifted as if to knock but it stopped half way then he slowly lowered it.
Some pains… could not be comforted by words.
He turned around and walked away.
•••
Ssssh.
The door slid open with a soft hiss. Then a man walked in. His face was expressionless and calm, as if a person were to be killed in front of him, he wouldn't give a d*mn.
Noah walked over and stood beside the bed where Nova was sprawled, limp like a dead dog. For a moment, he just stared. Then, for the first time, his emotionless face and fierce gaze softened. "It seems like today's training was rough."
He stared at Nova who was still sound as sleep, he wasn't snoring but he just lay there like dead man.
A small smile escaped Noah's lips, his hands slowly move closer to Nova's face but it stopped. He seemed hesitant.
A slow exhale left him as he strengthened his resolve. His jaw tightened. The softness vanished, replaced by something heavier, something final.
He stretched both hands over Nova's head.
"Forgive me, Nova."
A faint glow began to shimmer above his head.
"Nexus Lock"
Slowly, a luminous circle formed, spinning gently as it etched itself into the air like a brand being carved into reality. Symbols flickered along its rim, pulsing once… twice…
Then the circle descended.
The light phased through Nova's skull and sank into his head.
Then the room fell silent again.
Noah's chest tightened as he took out a old looking card.
"I'll make sure I keep him safe, Nobody would take him. I'll make sure to train to the point that when he grows up he would be able to defend himself."
The promise he had made sixteen ago echoed in his mind like a revolving latern.
He softly shook his head once softly as if trying to silence the past. Noah exhaled. Between his index and middle finger, he lifted the old card. Its edges were worn, and the text in front of it seemed ancient but heavy with meaning.
Then... golden specks of light began to drift out of Noah's arm. It did not looked summoned but extracted. The particles flowed though the air, slipped past his wrist, and poured into the card. The surface trembled giving off a faint vibration. Then it grew stronger.
Noah's brows furrowed. Something was wrong. He tightened his grip, but the flow did not slow down. Instead it increased.
His other hand shot up, gripping the wrist that held the card. His fingers dug into his own skin as if trying to physically restrain the energy being siphoned away.
Through gritted teeth, he raised the card toward Nova's head.
"Cryptic Lock." He called.
The golden current exploded. It tore through the air in violent streams, spiraling into the card at terrifying speed. The glow intensified, turning from warm gold to a blinding white-gold hue.
Ahhh!
Noah tried to suppress it, but a low groan escaped him. "Why is it draining so much life force?!" His thoughts trembled. His teeth ground harder as his raised his head upward. Veins surfaced across his neck. Then something shifted.
The left side of his face. Began to age. Wrinkles formed in seconds. Skin loosened. Color drained. The aging crept downward, across his cheek, along his jaw, down to his neck… racing toward his arm like rot spreading beneath the surface.
Swoosh.
The card shot out from between his fingers. It dissolved mid-air then melted straight into Nova's head.
Silence took over as the golden light vanished.
Noah collapsed to one knee, breathing heavily. His chest rose and fell in an uneven rhythm. He slowly lifted his unaged hand and touched the left side of his face.
Rough and old.
Half of him now bore the weight of years that had not yet passed. His fingers trembled slightly, but his eyes did not. "If this saves hundreds of lives from Nova's sudden power outburst… If this keeps him safe from the Divisions… If this prevents the MPU from turning him into a weapon for profit… Then it's fine."
He slowly forced himself up. Every movement heavier than before. Nova lay there, paceful, breathing softly, unaware. He just stood beside the bed, staring at him for a long moment. "You won't be able to awaken the Mark," he said quietly. "But I hope… one day… you can forgive me, Nova."
•••
Back in the room, Nova suddenly shot upright in bed. His chest rose and fell in violent, uneven breaths.
*Pant.* *Pant.*
"What the hell was that dream? Was that…?" The thought barely had time to surface before he suddenly felt something.
*Thump. Thump*
He felt a heartbeat strangely familiar, like he had heard it before.
*Thump. Thump*
It echoed inside his head again, but this time an image followed, like a recorded tape replaying itself.
The strange mass of cosmic energy from that place appeared in his mind. Bounded in heavy chains, suspended in the void… beating like a heart.
Each pulse sending faint ripples through the darkness around it and somehow touching stars around it. The chains trembled with every throb. He felt that place was somewhat very close to him.
*Thump. Thump*
Nova's fingers clenched into the sheets.
"That wasn't just a dream…" he whispered, pushing himself to his feet and stepping out of the room.
He strode down the hallway toward the kitchen, the floor cool beneath his bare feet, the silence pressing in around him. His thoughts felt thick, tangled, unreal.
He needed water. Something cold to wash all of this down. Just before he reached the doorway, he heard it, a faint murmur threading through the silence in low whisper. And it belonged to Grey.