Learning Something New

"I was completely unaware that I was going to receive visitors today," Alex said stroking his chin lightly, "I was planning on harvesting my tomatoes, and then all of a sudden you two showed up here."

"So I was right, that cottage is your house, Alex!" Vito chirped while pointing his finger past Alex towards the building.

"Yes you are but it's a little special you see, this place isn't exactly a place that our physical bodies can reside in. We are only half here," Alex answered.

"What do you mean by, half?" Terra asked tilting his head sideways even more.

"Well you see, our bodies are still wherever we left them, but another part of us, a certain energy escapes our bodies and is brought here in this place. You can see it as a dream," Alex answered.

"I knew it!" Vito yelled cheerfully while shoving it in Terra's face.

He was so happy to be right about something. It felt like his first win in a while.

"Argh," Terra groaned. He found it silly that Vito was making it a big deal as if it was something grand, but it was silly so he laughed a little.

"Ahem!" Alex said with a cough as he got the two boys' attention.

"As I was saying, I was only informed moments before you came about what the planet was planning on doing. It wanted to stop enhancing your emotions but before that, it wanted to help you specifically Vito."

"It wanted to continue helping people like Dawn and Edith to be more honest and brief with what they feel in the moment but it also wants you to be able to do that on your own. In the end, it wanted to withdraw its actions, but not before helping you come clean Vito."

"It sensed that in your deep subconscious, you still had a few grudges you had against someone and it wished to help you realize this before it was too late. That is why it did all of this in the first place."

"To be honest when it told me that it was going to make you tell Terra how you felt deep down I expected you to break down in tears and talk things out."

"Instead you beat him up. I was shocked!!"

At that moment Vito placed a hand on the back of his head while the acorn that was giving him a back hug was now rolling around on the floor as though expressing laughter from this humor.

Terra on the other hand was not having. "He didn't beat me up," he said passionately, "he couldn't even hit me! It took a power-up from that tree behind me for him to even have a chance in the first place."

It's not like the fight mattered to Terra, but he wanted them to keep their facts straight about his fight. He didn't lose.

"It's okay Terra, I understand the way you feel," Vito said jokingly.

"Like heck you do. Try better me without powers!" Terra retorted.

"I could beat you any day, it's too easy," Vito teased despite knowing that he struggled earlier.

"Alright, enough about who beats who, it seems like you have already solved any remaining conflicts between you, no hard feelings?" Alex asked.

The two boys thought about it for a moment.

"Well technically if we think about it, it was the Earth's fault that I attacked Terra in the first place. I bet I would have been sad but I wouldn't have gone to such lengths." With that Vito defended himself with a straight face.

The acorn had stopped rolling and stood still in shock from what it was hearing.

"Yeah, that does make sense. I don't see Vito as the man to go that far for what he wants," Terra nodded.

"Hey man, you didn't have to say it like that," Vito replied.

The tree was in shock, these ungrateful sons of-

These ungrateful children were acting like everything it had done for them was a burden more so than a blessing. It helped them have more honest conversations but they are complaining about that.

Alex stood there and thought about what they were saying, he had his eyes closed and arms crossed against each other as his hand was on his chin.

"I agree, let's just blame the Earth for our problems," Alex finally said.

The tree felt like it was about to wither, its greatest confidant had betrayed it at this moment. It could not accept that. It began to hurl tons and tons of acorns at Alex and the boys.

The kids raised their hands to protect themselves from the blows but instead, the acorns never reached them. They kept on disappearing right before they hit the children.

When Terra and Vito turned to look at Alex, he had his hands raised out and blue sparks could be seen on each and every acorn that had passed them by.

The acorns then reappeared back at the base of the tree as it would be used as fertilizer for it.

"Don't waste your precious nutrients Earth," Alex said with a smile towards the tree as it grew an inch and had its branches cross against one another.

When Alex had his hands spread out Terra had noticed something on it. It was the intricate patterns of two vines intertwining with each other around multiple sets of crystal-like gems placed on what seemed to be a wedding ring.

"Hey Alex, May I ask you something?" Terra said softly, he didn't know how personally he was allowed to know Alex.

"For the representative of the planet, ask away my friend," Alex replied.

"Are you married?" Terra asked.

There was a pause, for a moment Alex did not know what to say.

"It's okay, I am sorry, I shouldn't have asked," he said hurriedly trying to abandon the conversation.

"No, it is fine," Alex spoke once more but with a bit more of a melancholy tone, "It would be improper to say that I am. I lost my wife a long time ago."

The atmosphere wasn't as lively anymore and Terra partially regretted asking that question but a part of him wanted to ask something more about it. The ring Alex wore just felt.....

Special.

Vito changing the subject decided to ask, "Hey Alex, if this place isn't exactly real then why are you harvesting fake tomatoes?"

"That answer is simple," Alex said, "I enjoy gardening. It calms my nerves."

"You have nerves?" Vito asked with his mouth hanging open.

He was certain that Alex was unbreakable. He had this alluring confidence that exceeded all else around him.

"Of course I do, I'm only human."

"Which reminds me, I was harvesting today to prepare myself for a special meeting being held. The world leaders are being brought in for an official world meeting." He said.

"A world meeting?" the two boys gasped with exaggeration. A meeting like this would be a big deal.

"Why is that?" Vito asked.

"Well, you see, this fiasco of choosing a representative and them not getting a say in anything has really pissed them off. As well as other issues such as riots, indiscriminate violence, and chaos breaking loose. All sorts of things have led to a world meeting."

"Of course, not all the leaders would be present, so a suitable stand-in may appear instead. But nothing less than a right or left-hand man, so like a vice president or a king's advisor." Alex answered.

"What about language barriers?" Terra asked.

"I have something to work around that," Alex said with a smile.

This news had the boys marveling as they began to imagine what a meeting like that would feel like, it would be the first time that world leaders from all over the globe would come to agree on something.

Meanwhile, Alex was not looking forward to it. He had plenty of experience in dealing with politics so he knew the corrupt sides are people in power more often than one would like to know.

And to be in a room full of all such people with ill intentions towards one another, such a scenario would be worse than managing kids because adults can act like bigger kids with weapons.

"Well since you two are here perhaps I can teach you something new to help pass the time? This will benefit you greatly as there is a certain power that can come with it." Alex said as he walked past the two boys and was now much closer to the tree.

"A type of power?" Terra asked.

"Yes, you see in this world, no that's not right. In the entirety of the universe, everything that lives carries an energy with it, this lifeforce grants them vitality and strength, also providing them a long life."

"Nothing that lives does not have this energy."

"One can use this energy to help enhance their own weaknesses into strength and there have been many variations to how this energy is used and called. Some call it chi, ki, and many others. We keep it simple by its universal term, lifeforce."

"Now learning about it takes time so for now, all I want of you two is to learn how to feel your own. It would greatly benefit you both. Are you up for it?" Alex asked.

The two boys were excited to hear this and it was much more different from their training with John where they had to tame animals. This was more exciting because it relates to superpowers.

What Alex didn't say though was that this ability to feel life force and use it could only truly be utilized by the representative of the planet.

Others could still learn about it and become chi masters and master their breathing techniques but it would not compare to what the representative could do with such knowledge.

Still, he felt it only right to teach Vito as a simple friendly rivalry could spark a fire in their hearts to make them give their all in order to beat one another. This would further lead to their growth down the line.

"Well then" Alex bowed down as he faced the two boys, "Are you ready to learn then?"