Chapter 5

'Why me? Why?'

'I don't get it…'

'They were doing perfectly fine. Why was Mom sitting there? Why did Dad have that in his hands? Why was he lying on the floor like that? Why?'

'Why is everything different? Why did everything change? I don't get it.'

'I don't get it.'

'Actually, now that I think of it. Mom always looked a tiny bit scared when Dad was around.'

'Why couldn't I be there? Why couldn't I have protected her?'

Then Shiva woke up.

Stasius and Proteus had dragged Shiva back to Stasius's house.

Shiva sat up on the couch and noticed Proteus sitting on another couch passed out. Stasius was lying on the floor as if too tired to walk up the stairs to the room.

Shiva looked to his sides and saw the sun coming up from beyond the horizon. The sunlight covered the room like a blanket as if telling Shiva to go back to sleep, and he almost did but then the memories of the previous day invaded his head. Why had this all happened to him?

'It was after that angel.'

He thought back to what the angel had asked.

[What do you desire most?]

At the time he had told the strange angel for some reason, but then as the angel started to fade he had asked it something.

"But how do I chase my desire?"

[However you want my child.]

[The world is yours.]

"But I'm scared. What would other people think?"

Then the angel faded away.

***

Stasius was starting to wake up now. His body was sore but he stood up.

He looked over at Shiva who seemed lost in thought still.

"Hey, Shiva"

He didn't respond so Stasius walked over to him and tapped him a bit.

"Shiva?"

Shiva looked at Stasius.

"What do you desire the most?"

"Huh? Where did this come from?"

"Just curious."

"Well, I want to restore the world and everything on it to its former beauty."

"Ahh…"

"What do you desire Shiva?"

Shiva looked down for a second.

"Something like that."

Shiva stood up and then walked over to Proteus who was still asleep.

"Hey get up."

He nudged him.

Proteus was slowly opening his eyes.

"Were you this ugly before?"

Shiva twitched.

Stasius chuckled a little.

Stasius walked over to them.

"Guys we need to talk."

Stasius looked at Proteus and Shiva.

"What the hell is going on?"

Proteus stretched and sat straight on the couch.

"It was after that dream."

Shiva sat down next to him.

"You saw the angel Pro but did you Stasius?"

"No."

"It asked what I desired. Then I talked to it and it told me that the world is mine and to chase after my desire however I want."

Then Proteus spoke:

"Do you think everyone on Earth had that dream?"

Stasius started to wonder.

'If everyone got the dream, does that mean everyone will chase their desires?'

"Hey Pro, what do you desire the most?"

"Me? Well, I want to conquer the sea. My dad used to take me on his boat and show me the wonders of the ocean, but I was scared, it's the only thing that scared me. So one day I decided that I'd just conquer the sea. And once I do I won't be scared of anything anymore."

'The water moved around him. For a short moment, he had conquered the ocean and so the water made way.'

"I think I might get it!"

Shiva and Proteus looked at him a little confused.

"Chase your desires however you want. The world is inviting us."

Stasius walked over to the plant that had grown on his walls and then placed his hand on a leaf.

The leaf had started to stretch out and grow if only a little.

Shiva looked at the wall.

"Did that leaf just… grow?"

"Yeah…"

A smile appeared on his face.

"Proteus the water split for you didn't it?"

"Now that I think about it, yeah. I had wanted the water to just get out of my way and it did."

Stasius then turned to Shiva.

"What do you desire?"

Shiva was silent for a little.

"I'm still figuring out what I want…"

"That's fine. The world is ours to chase our desires!"

***

The boys had decided to take some time to process what Stasius just said.

Stasius had decided to go to the bathroom to try and freshen up a bit then realized.

'There's no water coming out the sink.'

He walked downstairs to the 2 boys who were raiding his kitchen for something to eat.

"Guys, have you noticed something strange?"

Proteus turned towards Statius.

"No, why?"

"There's no electricity or water…"

Proteus walked over to the sink and turned the handle to the water but nothing came out.

"Damnit. What do we do?"

Stasius walked over to a window and saw the outside world.

Everything was older, except a few buildings.

The streets were cracked and old. Plants were overgrown and some buildings had collapsed from erosion.

"We are going to have to pack stuff and leave."

Shiva and Proteus looked at him confused then walked towards the window and saw the world.

Stasius smiled a little.

"This seems fun."