Revolution: Genesis

The Outlooks: Max

And I stumbled back on the crossroads, panting as my throat weaseled. I was sure that I was pale because of what happened so, I looked around for Rigel because being by myself felt like a bad idea. Luckily, I found him a couple of steps ahead from where I landed.

“Rigel!” Stretching out my hand, I staggered towards him, trying to catch up as he slowly glided forward but hearing my call, he stopped.

“What… what was that?” Out of breath, I asked, finally falling in step with him.

“What was what?” He said with confusion on his face and in his voice. It was then he took in my appearance, and a worried look got plastered on his face.

“What happened?” He hurried towards me and draped a comforting hand around my shoulders, helping me to stand better. I tried to take a few calming breaths before answering him because my heart felt like it would burst out of my chest any minute.

“Azura, in there… she spoke. She grabbed my wrist, and she talked to me. She warned me to stop using the book.” Swallowing the giant lump in my throat, I relayed the occurrence and panted, suddenly in need of water.

Right on cue, a cold bottle of water appeared in my hand as I jumped at the sudden contact. Rigel looked at me, surprised and worried, as his mouth went in a straight line. He started walking ahead and pulled me along with him.

“I didn’t know you had such a powerful subconscious.” He quietly stated as I furrowed my eyebrows at him.

“Well, I really wanted to drink water,” I muttered, trying hard not to come off as annoyed.

“I didn’t mean the water bottle. Well, yes, also the water bottle, but what I actually want to denote is that the comatose Azura we just saw, and from what you describe, was in a way your subconscious giving the same warning we’re here for.” He said and kept walking as though he was deep in thought. Meanwhile, I was having thoughts of my own.

I mean, really? Now my subconsciousness was also meddling with my brain? What? Were they trying to make me go insane?

“So, why was I in a coma back there? And what does that have to do with the book?” I started after a minute of silence as we walked back towards the middle of the crossroads. A part of me already knew the answer, but maybe listening to him would make my assumption a bit clearer.

“You saw the way your mother asked for the book’s help, didn’t you?” I nodded silently, paying my full attention to his every word.

“Well, that was the start of why you’re attached to the book.” I raised an eyebrow at that, a little taken aback.

“Why am I attached to it?”

“You found it, and you kept it.”

“Oh,” I said as shame started to fill me up. Why did I keep it when I knew it was evil? Meanwhile, he continued.

“You see, as your mother said in there, it is your guide if you use it.” Confused, I looked at him with a twisted expression hoping that he would understand my jumbled-up brain as I tried to hide how shameful I felt.

“Rest assured. You don’t use it.” His lips turned into a sly grin as he gave me a sideways glance, but in all honesty, I was delighted to know that I didn’t use it. Whatever outlook I may be in, it was good to know I was sensible.

“But, due to your state of coma, your mother uses it for you to wake up.” He said with a guilty look on his face as my heart sunk.

Oh, mom…

It tore me apart knowing how grieved my mother was. I never wanted to see her like this because I knew how much she loved us and the lengths she would go to ensure her children’s safety, no matter the cost. And it scared me.

I looked ahead to see that we had reached the middle of the crossroads. It amazed me to see how fast the journey seemed to pass when I was occupied. All of a sudden, I perked up as an idea sprang into my mind.

“So what if I don’t find the book at all?” I asked, eager to find out the better outcome of my actions. He met my eyes kindly, now fully facing me, and smiled at my immediate enthusiasm.

“That is what you will find out when you step through the third outlook.” He replied in a firm voice as he stretched his hollow sleeved arm towards the next street we were to go in.

Soon, we walked through, and I took a deep breath bracing myself for what I was about to see, and confidently strutted towards the shine I was witnessing for the third time. But as the distance between us decreased, my confidence faltered. I turned my head to see Rigel a few steps behind and stopped so he could catch up with me, as my nerves heightened.

“So, these are just outlooks right?” I asked, uncertainly, as I avoided meeting his gaze.

“Yes.” He nodded, matching my slower pace.

“And this means that whatever I see is still…unpredictable?” I tried to keep my tone neutral, but the voice c***k at the end of my statement gave me away as Rigel once more turned towards me fully with a tender look on his face.

“It’s okay to be nervous.” He said as I flushed under his gaze, mentally face palming myself. Way to go, self.

“I just… This is just too much to take in all at once.” I tried explaining as I flailed my hands, trying to hide my face but all it did was earn a hearty laugh from him, which somehow put a slight smile on my face too. In this short time, he felt like a father figure to me. And that feeling made everything a little easier.

“I wish I could be of some help, but we don’t have the time we need, which is why I must urge you to step in there quickly.” He encouraged me with a nod–to which I replied with one too–and like before, I went through.

This time though, I was standing on a road like one before. For a moment, I thought I wasn’t in the outlook at all. Because the similarities between them were too much. Luckily though, Rigel came in too, and I was able to ask him if we were in the right place.

“Yes, but this is the place where you will first come across the book. Watch.” He said and made me turn in a hundred and eighty degrees. Right on cue, the third version of me appeared, turning from the street on the left, walking on the sidewalk.

Her head was hanging, the earbuds were placed in her ear, and her backpack was on her shoulders. I estimated that she was walking back from school, and just as that thought crossed my mind, I looked around the place I was standing in as a wave of recognition hit me.

It was my neighborhood: Dolphin Square.

Yet something wasn’t the same. Something was either out of place or out of sight. I tried to pin it but couldn’t, and that had started to bug me, but my attention was caught by myself. The Azura walking home passed in front of me and accidentally collided headfirst with a pole and cried out in pain.

I winced, feeling for her as she rubbed her head, looking around, and carefully got up so that she wouldn’t drop her things as she started walking again without looking up. However, in front of her was a figure approaching wearing rags with a small clothed bag in his hands. I couldn’t really see their face as they were busy looking into their bag to notice ahead and didn’t see where they were going.

I wanted to shout to them to watch out so they both could be careful, but unfortunately, even if I tried to, they wouldn’t be able to hear me. So I watched the scene unfold as Azura collided with that poor person once again. A small part of me wanted to laugh at her clumsiness, and another part of me felt extremely embarrassed for being such a klutz.

“Remind me to be careful with my surroundings when I wake up?” I suggested trying to play it cool, which earned a bubbly laugh from Rigel. Then a thought occurred to me, and I asked without stopping myself and thinking about it.

“Are you out there in the real world or just here?” Without facing him, I spoke as Azura apologized to the person and helped them pick up their things. The person was revealed to be an old woman, and suddenly she was in a hurry as she grabbed her things and walked away as if staying in Azura’s presence would harm her. She turned on the street from where Azura initially came from and vanished. I frowned.

“I am where I belong. And it isn’t your world.” I looked at Rigel and nodded at his statement, not exactly satisfied, but the curtness of his voice made me stop from approaching the topic further.

I noticed how the old lady, and apparently Azura, missed this book lying in between the bushes. It had fallen out from the woman’s bag and realized it could be the same book I was here about. Meanwhile, Azura must’ve also felt weird by that old lady's sudden behavior because it made her looked behind herself. She followed the trail of the poor person as I held my breath in anticipation, wondering if she would see the book, but then she shook her head and continued down on her path.

“She didn’t see the book,” I whispered, releasing the breath I was holding as I felt relief wash over me. Whoever thought I would be wary of a book! I guess there was a first time for everything.

“Yes, she didn’t.” As he said this, I saw it wiggle and disappear into thin air. Raising my eyebrows, I turned my head a little to the side, silently questioning Rigel about what just happened. However, he either didn’t notice it, or he chose to ignore it, which bothered me a great deal.

“Rigel, where did it go?” I could hear the doubt in my own voice as I asked him when he wouldn’t answer me. I saw him take a deep breath when the wind started to blow as it swayed the trees and his robe and cloak as well.

“Come, we must move quickly; if we don’t want to miss where the book went.” He promptly said as he started walking towards the same path as Azura’s. I contemplated whether we were going back at the crossroads, but since I didn’t get what this outlook was about, I gathered we must be going someplace in here. And I was right.

“I’m home, mom.” We slowly reached my home as we followed Azura, and she grimly opened the door and croaked lightly. Astonished, once again, I turned my confused gaze at Rigel. Why was it that my insides churned at the sound of her voice? Was something wrong?

But when I read his guilt-ridden face, regret, and torment clear on it, my dread only increased. I swallowed a large lump in my throat and trailed hesitantly after Azura. She wasn’t walking towards her room; instead, she was going into Max’s bedroom. My eyebrows involuntarily furrowed as I tried to keep an optimistic vibe over this and miserably failed.

My body went rigid when I walked into the bedroom, and I saw why I had this insanely nauseating pit in my stomach. I staggered a step back as Rigel immediately came forward to keep me steady. My lips trembled when I tried forming some sort of response over what my eyes saw.

“Max…” I choked at the sight of my brother lying on the bed the same way I was when I saw myself in a coma.