NOVEL NEXT Chapter 59: Chapter 59 - Changes in The Forest
As Xavier absorbed the cosmic rays, he felt his strength surging back to the limits his teenage body could manage.
As a teenager, his Cosmic Energy absorption felt as if he was thirstier than the amount of water his body could store.
Xavier suspected his weakened strength was more of a mental block than a limit to his physique but at the same time, it felt like a compulsion of sorts.
Instinctively, Ikaris felt as if he was not ready for something.
Memories were flooding in but those were only original memories, nothing from recent eras.
Obviously, The Eternal's mind was proactively hiding something from him… and what could be so bad that even a Prime Eternal would like to forget it?
Opening his eyes, a golden glow of cosmic brilliance simmering within, Xavier found Emmett, Rosalie, and Alice still floating, immersed in the tranquility of the night sky.
Due to the limits of his domination over the nearby gravitons, the vampires could not drift more than a couple of meters away from The Eternal but Rosalie and the others made sure to stay well within that boundary.
Just because a fall from beyond the clouds would not kill them, didn't mean Rosalie, Alice, and Emmett were eager to try.
Perhaps, Alice was eager to feel the sensation of falling from such height but Xavier was wise enough to reverse the gravitons near the limits of his control, forcing Alice back whenever she got too far.
The cheerful vampire pouted.
Alice had figured out how to maneuver slightly, gliding through the air with graceful, experimental movement.
As soon as she saw Xavier's eyes open, Alice twirled to his side, her laughter was light and carefree as she twisted and turned, enjoying the freedom of weightlessness.
Of course, it was not true weightlessness as it was the localized transference of gravity into a loop.
Alice and the others still weighed the same; it was only their weight that was canceling their weight.
Xavier extended a hand, aiding Alice along as she twirled to his side… her laughter brought him comfort so he took a direct hold of the nearby gravitons, forcing them upwards, and sideways, and looping them so Alice could experience all the possible orientations and speed.
Her laugh was a mix of joyfulness and innocence – something Xavier had not heard in centuries.
Rosalie and Emmett paused, directing strange gazes at Alice and Xavier… something disturbing was occurring but they could not identify what it was.
Perhaps, it was the fact that Alice was behaving much too human – a condition becoming more potent ever since she met The Eternal.
Also, Xavier was someone who rarely showed joy, even when he was happy, it was as if his happiness had a natural limit… a limit that did not exist with Alice.
Alice suddenly paused mid-air, her gaze sharp and focused on a distant point. "Look, Ikaris," she called out, gesturing towards a spot on the horizon.
With their heightened senses, it was as if they were standing right next to Charlie's home, Bella's truck parked in the driveway.
Xavier floated over to Alice, intrigued. "Bella's house, right?"
Alice nodded, her eyes as thoughtful as her thoughts were swimming. "Yes, it is. I've been keeping a closer watch on Bella lately. Her decisions are becoming more important, and… well, she's always getting herself into clumsy situations. Poor girl, she's forever tripping over something."
Xavier chuckled softly. "I know Bella, personally… but, what is it about her that draws attention from The Cullens?" He questioned.
The Eternal was curious about what future Alice was witnessing.
In hindsight, it should be an especially powerful ability to see the future as it changes.
Xavier had encountered psychics before, capable of seeing one future bound to happen but could be changed with significant intervention, and then there were those futures that could not be changed.
They could read the threads of fate but remained eternally unable to change it.
Then, there was Alice… the first of her kind in many ways; someone who sees futures forged by decisions and Xavier knew that was far from her limits.
'What happens when she realizes she can influence decisions?' The Eternal felt a chill down to his bones.
Alice continued staring at Bella's house for a couple of seconds before responding. "Bella is unique," She said. "She's human, but she's intertwined with our world in unusual ways. She's drawn to Edward and me, and we to her. Her clumsiness is almost endearing, yet it puts her in constant danger."
Xavier nodded, understanding the gravity of her words. "I can see how that would be a concern. Edward is keeping his nose clean?"
Alice shrugged. "As much as a teenage boy in love could manage," she stated.
The Eternal smiled.
Alice smiled in turn, her gaze distant. "I can hear her heartbeat from here, can you?"
Xavier focused for a couple of seconds but he could not sort through the other noises.
However, when he focused on Angela's heartbeat, the soothing sound immediately trickled into his ears.
"No, I can't…" The Eternal admitted. "But I can hear Angela's."
Alice's smile was still as bright but tinged with a hint of sadness. "I can't hear Jasper's."
Xavier chose to remain silent at that statement; after all, you could not hear what was not there.
"Bella's heartbeat is… soothing. She has a way of seeing through the heart of things, of accepting things without fear. It's refreshing, but it also means we have to be extra careful. She's fragile in ways we aren't, yet she has a strength of spirit that's undeniable," by the end, Alice's voice was distant.
The Eternal floated beside Alice and stirred the gravitons to put them in a clockwise rotation at a soothing, steady pace.
Soon, Rosalie was pulled along, drifting too close to change in the gravitons momenta.
Emmett, for his part, was happy just floating from border to border, testing future wrestling moves reserved for Jasper.
"It's fascinating how one person can alter the dynamics of an entire group. It speaks to the complexity of relationships and the power of connection," Rosalie analyzed.
Xavier quirked a brow. "Are you really a psychologist?"
Rosalie nodded with a smug expression. "One of my degrees," She voiced. "I think I got it from The APA. I was one of the earliest graduates."
Ikaris: "Interesting life you have lived."
"We all have," Alice responded, staring into the dark clouds. "And there is a storm coming in about five minutes."
The conversation varied, questions were answered, concerns were addressed, and unsaid words were buried deeper.
The group hovered in silence for a moment, each lost in their own thoughts, basking in the final moments of freedom… of flying.
The stars above seemed to pulse with gentle energy, something only Xavier could feel in detail; after all, Cosmic Energy, the very foundation of the universe, powered him.
Alice, Rosalie, Emmett, and Xavier, high above the earth, found a new understanding and sense of unity.
As the night deepened, they began their descent back to the ground.
For some reason, Rosalie, Emmett, and Alice found the trip down more enjoyable than the trip up… Xavier roused the gravitons in complex patterns to give them the full experience of a rapid descent.
Any human would have been terrified but with death off the table, The Cullens were more than eager to add another experience under their belt.
Xavier, contrary to the memories flooding his mind, found himself drifting from a well-established maturity.
...…
DURING THE DAY
The forest of The Quileute Reservation was alive with the sounds of nature, the rustling of leaves, and the distant calls of nocturnal animals.
Sam, in-tuned as he was with nature, could hear the underlying hum of the land, calling out and welcoming him back.
It had merely been a couple of days but to someone who grew up on the reservation, it felt as if he had gone on a voyage to The New World.
And in some ways, he had…
Kaulder and Sam moved stealthily through the underbrush, their senses heightened, attuned to every movement and sound around them.
Sam's senses were concentrated enough to hear the low rumble of a landslide from dozens of miles away, while Kaulder's senses were earned through the heat of experiences.
The Last Witch Hunter felt the subtle trembling of the earth, the slight taste of salt in the wind, and the unique to-and-fro motion of the trees.
Everything told him of the landslide Sam had so easily detected due to his superior senses.
It was akin to the difference between generational wealth and someone poor - they could achieve the same things but what came easy for the wealthy would take substantial effort from the poor.
As they traveled, Sam's keen eyes spotted more animals than usual. "There's something different about this morning," he remarked quietly to Kaulder. "The forest is teeming with life. More than I've seen in a long time."
Kaulder nodded, his gaze scanning the surroundings before falling to his ring, which glowed with a gentle yellow. "Nature, more than anything, has its rhythms. Perhaps something is drawing them in."
They paused near a small clearing; Sam considered capturing some of the nearby rabbits.
"Don't," Kaulder voiced, reading The Alpha's thoughts from his facial expressions. "You are now aware of a larger world so you can't go about recklessly killing things as you did before…"
Sam was confused. He gestured to the rabbit. "It's not like I am killing them for perverse pleasure," he voiced. "We haven't eaten in a while."
"Before man interrupted the process, nature had a fundamental balance ingrained," Kaulder explained, highlighting his faintly glowing ring. "There should be a druid nearby or something. Either way, this forest is protected. To put it simply, nothing will hunt within a couple of miles. When it is time to hunt, wolves and other creatures will leave beyond the protection area."
"Why?" Sam questioned.
He had seen a rabbit, a hog, and a deer lingering in the same area – that was not something that happened often, if at all.
"When an area is protected, animals don't hunt each other there," Kaulder led the way forward with casual ease, uncaring of the mountain lion and wolf that walked past. "This is advantageous to small animals like rabbits. So, when they give birth, they will leave their children behind and venture to live outside the safe area. That way, wolves, jaguars, and everything else will get a chance to eat. That is the balance of nature…"
Sam frowned. "Why not live in the safe area their entire lives?"
"Because nature is about balance," Kaulder responded, leading Sam further and further away from their target destination. "If everything was safe all the time, nothing would grow."
Kaulder stopped, causing Sam to stop.
"Okay, this should be fine," Kaulder murmured.
Before Sam could react, The Witch Hunter had drawn Hexenbane from its sheath on his back, performing a piercing attack that tore through the jugular.
Kaulder raised the blade and presented his kill to Sam. "There…" He said. "This should be enough for breakfast, right?"
Sam was stunned for a second; both because Kaulder had moved so fast that The Alpha failed to respond and the fact that The Witch Hunter had killed a rabbit after he had given an entire lecture about why an act shouldn't be done.
Sam: "I thought you said this was a safe area?"
Kaulder shrugged. "If you take ten steps in that direction then, yes… you would be in the safe area," He said.
It was only then Sam realized, so consumed with his question, that he had been drifting in the opposite direction of home.
Working in silence, both men skinned the rabbit, cured the meat, and cooked it over a makeshift fire, the warmth of the flames comforting in contrast to the cool morning air.