CHAPTER 29 – T-minus (15)

I sit there, by Witch's side. She had not woken up the whole day.

Feather had helped me heal, after he himself healed. But also, I had a bandage running around my back and my chest, as the wound was still open, as Feather couldn't really help so much, but did his best.

Witch gasps and gets up, as I stare at her for too long.

I jump up, by a bit. But then move closer to her.

"You alright?" I ask.

Witch looks at me, and stares, with visible fear in her eyes. And then she hugs me tight.

"He. He is coming," Witch says.

.

..

"So… there was some naked, fat, psychopath?" Thunder interprets whatever Witch says. Even I, who was present there on that day, didn't know about this, properly. "And he invaded your dreams?"

"I don't get dreams," Witch says, coldly. Having lost the fear in her, suddenly.

"Well, you just said…" Thunder says and looks at our unchanged faces, for help.

"He was using the powers of somebody else. Morpheus," Witch says.

"Who is that?" Thunder asks.

"Ah… right. You have zero idea here," Scelesthe sighs. "He is basically the guy who made that happen to Bengaluru's half. The dome and all."

"Oh I thought that was Saturn's doing."

"Anyways. He is going to come back. Come here," Witch says. "He said he will."

"What about that other person you mentioned?" Psyand asks.

"That person… I don't know. Invisible," Witch says, thinking into the space around her. "And strong."

"Why do you keep meeting random new people?" Forcerer sighs loudly.

"You two are one of those," Witch says.

"At least they didn't randomly disappear," Scelesthe says.

"WE need to randomly disappear from here," Rusk sighs.

"But the dome… do you think this being of a person can break it?" Feather asks the real question.

"I don't know the strength the dome has but… he is pretty strong," Witch says.

"The dragon teleported here. So it can't be hard for someone who comes in dreams," Psyand's mother says.

"True. And the last time I saw him, well, even when not clearly, I experienced the sonic boom he caused," I say.

"And he won't be teleporting here," Witch says, and everyone, including me, turn to her. "When I concentrate, I feel the Exterior-Beings. And also… him. He is far away but… he was further away a while back. He is getting closer and closer."

Scelesthe just shakes her head, disappointed by the situation.

"Which is worse, this guy or the Saturn Organisation?"

"Does it matter though?" Witch asks. "And it seems that they MADE him," Witch pauses, and something hits her, "like they made me."

Everyone just gets silent. Thunder looks at everyone's face, still clueless.

"What, are you just going to stay silent?" Scelesthe asks.

"Oh, ah…" Edward says. "I don't have an idea but… did you mention a crimson hue perhaps?"

Witch nods.

"It can't be but…" Edward says. "I have a friend… he told me how my dad died."

"What does it have to do with the crimson hue?" Scelesthe asks.

"Such a person… wielding such a hue… killed him. My dad," Edward says. "But that thing… it had stopped. So it can't be…"

"They could have re-made such a thing."

"Yes… but no," Edward says and bends his head down in a sigh. "He… I don't know much of it. But that thing… it can't be…"

"How bad is it?" Forcerer asks the question on my mind.

"Mind control. This person had a whole nation's army under their command and tricky control. We even doubted that it could be the LORD of Saturn Organisation but… it can't be."

"Sounds plausible. So why not?"

"Cause SATURN found it. There was Saturn before it. And this thing… it is like a… energy parasite, I heard. Someone good died under its control. But it didn't… so we…" Edward pauses. "They… ended it."

"How?" Scelesthe asks. "Maybe this is a rip-off. Maybe we can end it the same way."

"It is like any story," Edward shrugs. "They blew it. It is energy right? So add more impurities of energy to it, and it'd become nothing. Basically."

"We have those Exterior-Beings to deal with," Feather says.

"They'll act as one. Once he gets here," Witch says. "They need to go down too."

"One big blast… in a contained place," I say.

"We don't have explosives," Scelesthe mentions.

"And there is so much our powers can do," Forcerer says.

"I could try but…" Feather says.

"We know," I say. "It is not just setting a bomb but… so no. Not you."

"I could barely do it," Feather says.

"I could keep a bomb far away but… I'll need a bomb for that," Psyand says.

"Psyand…" Psyand's mom says, and Psyand just lets out a groan.

As Psyand's mother nags at Psyand, to be so reckless minded, time just goes by. No conclusion. We didn't exactly know what he was. And even when we knew what could work… we couldn't do it.

But I knew. Probably even Scelesthe knew. Of who probably could hack us a win here. Of this unknown person, who was known only to me.

Should I go to this person? Will he help? Will it even work?

"What did you do about her though? The one who had similar powers to Thunder?" Edward asks.

"Scelesthe asked for her to be killed but… we just have her at Grandpa's," Feather says.

"That guy… he is weak afterall. You can't just leave him in such a situation," Thunder says.

"As I said. She is asleep. He'll be fine. We have drugged her," Feather says.

"You didn't… say that," Thunder says.

"I'll… go to Grandpa's… just in case," I say, and get up.

Everybody just stares at me, as I awkwardly just make my way out the room.

They didn't trust me completely… so would they maybe be tensed about it?

I still reach Grandpa's house, and knock at the door.

"Ah… you are here," Grandpa smiles widely.

"You are very welcoming for someone who doesn't even know our names properly," I say.

"In the military… I was a cook. I didn't know them all, but they treated me as their therapist and friend," Grandpa says.

That's where he learnt about the medicine and stuff.

"I know who you are and your story," I say. "Arson."

***

"He saved the girl, thinking she is someone defenceless," Rusk says to me.

"He saved me too…" I say. "Not every saviour has to be the hero."

"Trust me. I too doubt him but…" Rusk says.

"You have doubts on your doubting," I say. "He has a mysterious past for the one who is the most commoner of us…"

"And pretty convincingly is at places… places he doesn't think twice to be the hero…" Scelesthe says.

"Even when he is far from it."

"He shivered at the edge of the dome like he just had given up," Forcerer says.

"I think we continually keep coming back to that," Feather points.

"There is so much we know about him. What else can be done for a conclusion?"

"For all we know, the 'The Brave 1' part in the book could be a… way to cover things up," I say. "There was his number on it but…"

"I memorized the number," Psyand says.

"Well… so did I," Scelesthe says.

Psyand looks at Scelesthe. "But we can't call them. The person from TBC said-"

"-it'll be tracked and Brave 1 could be in danger. Yes, yes," Scelesthe says and… forms a smirk, directed towards Psyand.

"But," I say. "He talked to his sister. On the new year night."

"Did he get a call or…?" Scelesthe asks.

"He got the call and he attended. For quite a while," I say.

"Did you listen to what they talked?"

"A bit," I say. "But inconclusive. Actually more on the doubtable side but… I don't see it as that."

"Are you on the, he's a good guy side, or the other?" Forcerer asks.

It was the guy I was glad to see first, after, the dream thing. And it was a guy who HAD written about us in a book, after spying on us but… 'beautiful-face-behind-the-mask' lady, 'armour-person', 'bulky-body' dude, 'steroid' player, 'chi' kid… these were the names he had given to the people he was 'spying'.

"I do believe that it could be a perfect lie…" I say, and don't continue, as Forcerer just stares at me.

"Well, what's the conclusion?" Forcerer asks.

"We need to find a way to stop Other-Being," I say, staring right into Forcerer's eyes.

"No, about Lost-Bird," Forcerer says, and nobody replies. "Seriously? What, you think he is some hero? It wasn't him, or Scelesthe who made that speech that night. It was Feather and you! And we know for one who Scelesthe is. But him…?"

"This really isn't a situation where we can doubt him. Him who has struck with us," Scelesthe says.

"Wantedly. Probably."

"…"

***

"Forcerer," I say, following him, as our discussion about Lost-Bird and the guys in Witch's dream had come to an end. And this person was the first one to leave… with anger.

"Don't call me that."

"Fine, Aarush."

"Don't… just don't keep… defending him. Like…" Aarush says, stuttering.

"Like what?"

"Like he is one of us. He is not!"

"One of us…? Okay. Sit down and tell me what the fuck that means."

"Us… they fear us so much. THEY classify us as different. And they fear us and are actually the… the MINDLESS freaks who call us freaks and try to kill us. Aren't you seeing what is happening outside? And who did it?"

"So you are going to blame all those powerless people for that? As one?"

"It doesn't matter… powerless? We can throw a punch at the face, straight to the face. But they would backstab everyone. Doesn't matter of they are… a friend… your dad… or whatever at all. They hate us. They fear us."

I just helplessly stare at Aarush, hoping he'd change his mind suddenly.

"You don't mean that. You just…" I say.

"No I do. I hate them and… what even is it about him, huh?"

I just stare at this guy tearing in rage, as I feel tears in my eyes.

"Why do you defend him? What is… even special about him?"

"Well, he is us," I say, and Aarush just stares at me. "Before we… we… became this DIFFERENT thing. Before… before I was weak. Before I… CHOSE this. We are given a choice… and… I was done being weak and fightless in my life. All my life… no one listened to me because… I'm a nobody."

I sniffle, and try to look at Forcerer, who just silently stands there and listens to me.

"And now… everybody just thinks it doesn't hurt me. They just throw me into danger thinking it won't hurt. Because I'm strong. But it does. It still does but… we just form an expectation from a whole classified group. And none of it is true. It may be majority-wise true but… not always."

I just go ahead and hug Aarush.

"You don't have to be that way. A person is still a person on their own. Not according to where they are. Or what they did sometime ago. But who they are. Who they are now. Just… sometimes it is okay to see what good they did, and ignore the parts which we are so unsure of."

"I…"

"I know… that is… okay. Just give him a chance, ok?" I ask, and feel Aarush nodding his head, on my shoulder.

"So this is who you are," Aarush says, and takes in a deep breath, and lets out a shaky breath. "And this must be how heaven feels like."

I wordlessly just stay there.

I don't know whether what I feel with this person is…

But. Sometimes it is okay to be unsure of the things you still don't know. And just embrace the person in-between your arms right now.