Epilogue: Turbulence

"Row 19… Seat A and C, right?"

Vidia nodded back. "I'm seat C."

"Then I'm seat A," Midas replied.

The two found the row they'd been given. It was the designated emergency exit row.

"Perfect. Just like I'd planned."

The two sat in their seats, leaving the middle seat, B, empty. Soon this would be filled, when the anticipated passenger came to sit. He was a formally attired male dawning a black suit. His presence screamed nothing but importance. Midas and Vidia already knew this.

The three now sat in row 19, waiting for the plane to lift off.

"Welcome to Pactolus Airlines. Today you will be flying a one hour trip to Xavier District. Please fasten your seatbelt as we will shortly be taking off."

Midas began to buckle his seatbelt, followed by Vidia who did the same. The man in the middle looked at each of them, took a deep breath, then began to buckle his own.

Within a matter of time, the whir of turbulent engines began to resonate, vibrating the seats of everyone on the plane. With a sudden surge forwards, the plane engaged acceleration, and was soon pulled off the ground into the brilliant blue sky. As this happened, Midas noticed the man in seat B to continuously take deep breaths. Midas looked down into his palm, tracing the emotional essence that began to manifest.

He smirked.

The plane had been airborne for quite some time now, gaining higher altitude. The aircraft had eventually reached the height where passengers were told they could remove their buckles, and when flight attendees came by to offer snacks. One came by row 19, but turned to offer snacks to seats D, E, and F first.

"Saltine crackers or salty peanuts?"

"Salty peanuts please," the man who sat in seat F said.

"Ah, sorry. Is it okay if we all get saltine crackers instead? Lesley over here is allergic to peanuts," the woman in seat E interrupted.

"Mom, it's okay. It's only if I eat it."

"Even so. Don't wanna take any risks."

The man of seat F smiled. "No problem! I understand. Three saltine crackers please!" He told the flight attendee. They were then given as they'd requested. Soon, the entire plane was snacking on crunchy snacks. This indicated a monumental time in an air flight; the peak altitude.

It was here that Midas noticed the man in seat B to begin breathing heavily again. He looked down at his hands, noticing he'd left tiny traces of blood in his palms from clenching too hard.

"You okay?"

The man looked at him, surprised. "Yeah, yeah, I'm fine… I'm just… I don't know…"

Midas returned a calming smile. "It's okay. Some people get the jitters at altitudes this high—totally understandable." He then leaned towards the man. "Though I have heard about a lot of incidents regarding this airline in the last few couple weeks. Let's keep our fingers crossed for this flight, shall we?"

The man's eyes shot open. Just from looking into his irises, Midas could sense the fear beginning to build. The potential power was already immense.

Taking this, and the already known altitude of the plane due to air-time, into consideration, Midas decided it was time to give the signal. He pulled his left sleeve back, revealing an intricately designed silver watch. Removing the battery latch, he pulled out a tiny microchip which he hooked to his left ear. Midas then brought the watch close to his mouth, beginning to whisper.

"Hey, Venus. Do you copy?"

"I hear you," Midas heard faintly through his ear-chip.

"Good. Just wanted to give you my signal. The height's good enough…"

"Imbecile, took you long enough. Just let me know when you're ready."

A smirk began to form at the corner of Midas' mouth.

"Now."

In an instant the airplane was struck with immense pressure. Everyone inside was thrown into shock.

"What was that?!" The man in seat B yelled. He looked at both Midas and Vidia, noticing they were completely calm. Before he could make any statements, the plane was struck again.

"Ahh!!!" Everyone on the plane screamed.

The second strike showed noticeable damage, as pieces of the plane's exterior were seen ripping off into the clouds. It was when a giant orange glow introduced itself that even more fear was induced.

The plane's rotary engines had caught fire.

"What's happening?!" Somebody yelled.

Flight attendants were rushing back and forth between the isles, attempting to get the oxygen masks on everyone's faces. Everyone screamed and people panicked as the plane shook violently with intent to end a hundred lives. Midas noticed the man in seat B paralyzed with fear. He took the chance to amplify it.

"Seems like we weren't lucky this time."

The man turned to Midas, completely disgusted at how undisturbed he was. "How could you be so calm in a situation like this?! We're gonna die!"

Midas scoffed. "You're wrong. We were prepared for this, and 'we' doesn't include you."

The man was struck with confusion. He turned to his right, noticing that the female who sat to his right gave off the same eerieness. He looked into her eyes; a big mistake.

"We're both here to ensure your failure," she told him.

Suddenly, the man's sight began to haze. The outlines of shapes he saw became blurred lines, and the brightness in everything dimmed to a descending black.

He was losing his sight.

Realizing this, the man trembled with increasing terror. Soon, his sight was nowhere to be seen; blindness completely instilled. By now, his fear had exceeded the expected limits of any human.

"That's way more than enough essence to catch a fall from this height," Midas laughed. He stuck his palm out, squeezing his hands into a tight fist. With this, the plane's lights flickered, and everyone in the plane gasped for air in synchronization. The man in seat B felt his heart condense, bringing him to such a state of deprivation and fatigue he couldn't even move a single limb.

Midas opened his hand, watching his palm twinkle with energy. "Phew, I feel rejuvenated. Come with me Vidia, we sat by the emergency window for a reason."

"But I need to do my job—"

"You've done it already. Look at his eyes," Midas pointed at the man. "He's blind."

Vidia sighed, nodding in agreement.

"Sorry Mr. To-Be CEO, but you won't be getting that promotion," Midas said. He reached out his hand, to which Vidia grabbed and tumbled over the man in seat B. Midas then opened the emergency latch and jumped out with Vidia, completely wrapping his arms around her.

The two were now being carried downwards by the wind.

"Holy shit!"

"Aghhhhh!" Vidia screamed.

The two soared towards the ground, with Midas' body leading the fall. With his body facing towards the sky, he could see the plane they'd just escaped beginning to crumble. It was suddenly struck with another jerk by something unseen, bringing more flames to ignite its engines.

"That's overkill Venus…"

Latched onto him for dear life, Vidia saw that they approached the ground very quickly.

"Midas! We're reaching ground zero! Aghhhh!!!"

"Don't worry!" He wrapped tightly around Vidia. "I'll break our fall!"

Feeling the emotional essence that now imbued his body, Midas engaged the secondary form of his ability and brought the energy to his own build and durability. Holding onto him, Vidia felt Midas' body began to bulk. His chest expanded, and his back widened. His arms grew, and his shoulders broadened. By the time they were just a few meters above the ground, Midas' body had enhanced its physical durability by a hundredfold.

Boom!

The ground beneath them exploded and a crater formed around their rugged bodies. After the dust finally settled, the two were revealed right in the center of the cavity. Vidia was completely unharmed.

"Urg—!" Midas grunted. His body had returned to its original size with the explosion of the impact. "You okay Vidia?"

She stood up, surprisingly steady. "Yeah… Thanks…"

Midas stayed on the ground, cringing at the pain in his back. "I'll stay like this for a bit."

Vidia walked back over. "Pass me your watch."

"Take it off of my wrist, I can barely move." Midas was covered with bruises and dust.

Vidia leaned in, removing the watch carefully from his wrist. She was surprised to see it hadn't been damaged whatsoever in the impact of the fall. She took and brought it close to her mouth. "If you can hear this Venus, the mission is a success. Me and Midas are safe. Can you and Ian track down the coordinates of this watch and come get us? Midas is a bit injured from breaking our fall."

The disheveled plane flew over their heads in that moment, crashing just a mile away.