The boy woke up just before the breaking of dawn.
He had the most beautiful dream. He was being held by the rainbow and sung lullabye by the wind. Beautiful creatures hovered above him to brush insects that may disturb his slumber.
He looked around but all he could see was the barely recognizable tree trunk and small vines surrounding it.
It felt strange that he was not afraid although he heard stories about the balete tree, enough to discourage him from even looking at it.
It's true, the big trunk looked like a giant's legs and the leaves sometimes crossover to form eerie figures but there were also images that looked magical and captivating.
He fell asleep outside the hollow place formed by the trunk and the vines but for some reason, he found himself inside the cave-like center of the tree.
He must have moved here unconsciously. He shrugged. The details were not important.
It was a small blessing that he managed to crawl inside. Otherwise, he might have been drenched with dewdrops by the time he woke up.
The inside of the tree felt safe. It felt like home.
He peered outside and could barely make out the slowly brightening horizon.
He went outside to watch the sunrise.
The dark purple sky turned dark red and then orange. Clouds slowly appeared and they formed a majestic diorama for the boy to gaze upon.
The rays of the sun slowly turned the horizon brighter. Blue started showing up and the clouds turned from purplish to yellow to white.
They looked like giant warriors fighting a big scary monster then they broke and formed again into horses drawing carriage and bunny rabbits chasing each other.
The boy looked in deep amazement at the vista unfolding before him and it filled him with renewed vigor.
He looked back to the tree and murmured his gratitude.
Grace smiled as he saw what the boy did. She resisted showing herself to him.
"Show me how…" the boy suddenly blurted and that alerted Grace.
There he is again, talking to an unseen person; much like herself.
She had to wonder if the boy isn't right in the head.
Then to her surprise, a small portal appeared near the boy.
What came out was an even bigger surprise. She knew that man who came striding out the portal.
He is younger and moved with a certain confident gait unlike the halting shuffle she got used to but it was him.
She was with him inside the Cradle.
John - Juan Bernardo.
He looked at her briefly like someone registering familiar scenery; one that he already saw thousands of times and walked towards the boy.
Grace wondered if he truly saw her. She, too, went beside the boy.
Again, John looked at her but it was as if he wasn't surprised. She felt certain it was the John she knew but not from the game.
She met this one or will have met him in another one of the crossovers. Those that don't register time as forward-moving.
She nodded at him as a way of greeting.
"What happened?" he asked the boy.
"It didn't work. I practiced but I did not hit a single one," the boy pointed at the cans still perfectly lined up on the nearby fallen branch.
"Do it again," John said.
"I don't have my slingshot. They broke it."
"Go home. Eat something then come back. I will make a new one for you."
The boy promptly got up, dusted the seat of his pants and walked slowly away.
John watched him a little longer before he turned to her.
"Hi, Grace. How are you?"
If she was surprised, she did not show it.
"I'm okay. Whatever that means. I am still chained to the tree, as you can see," she showed him the shackles.
"It won't be for long. Induyan is on her way. They just have to gather more urban legends."
"You… are you the John that I knew?"
"I am. And I'm not, in a manner of speaking," he smiled.
"I won't pretend to understand so would you be so kind as to explain?"
"I am John. Not the John from the Cradle but someone you will meet in the near future. I suppose I am still me but I just know more than the John who was with you."
"You are also younger."
"That I am. Time flows differently from where I came from."
"How did you come here without a crossover?"
"There was a crossover. I carried it with me."
"That would be impossible but seeing that you are here, I will suspend my disbelief."
"I know why you thought it was impossible. These pocket dimensions exist independently from the others that is why they are effective havens or prisons, depending on how you look at it."
He walked to a nearby small tree and produced out of thin air a pocket knife. He cut a Y-shaped branch and started chipping away some of the bark to smoothen it.
"Guava wood is the best for making a slingshot," he said to no one.
"How did you cross then?" Grace prodded.
"I am the crossover," he said simply.
"How…?"
"The John that you knew. The one that started the adventure, will eventually grow strong enough and one of the things he learned or will learn is the ability to cross over gateless worlds freely."
He continued making the slingshot and Grace watched him. He is indeed different. He moved with precision and confidence that the other John did not have. They look the same but this one had a more powerful aura.
He said that one of the guardians is on the way here. She believed him.
After a while, the slingshot was finished. He took a pebble and loaded it to the projectile pouch of the toy/weapon.
His hand, the one holding the pouch part, glowed bluish and that aura extended quickly to the rest of the slingshot.
He let go and the pebble was no longer a pebble. It was a blast of energy and one of the tin cans rocked a little as the energy bullet went through it. It was not knocked over but Grace could see a hole in the middle of it.
Such was the force that it cut a hole cleanly without knocking it.
"The John I knew also did not know how to shoot like that."
"He will. I am making sure of it."
"You will teach him?"
"Yes."
The boy came back after an hour. By then it was fully light.
John handed the boy his new slingshot.
His grin was infectious and Grace couldn't help herself. Her heart went out for the boy.
"Will I be able to shoot better now?"
"That's the idea. But you have to believe it first. Free yourself of doubts. See only the target and visualize your bullet hitting it."
"Show me how."
"That's not how it works."
"Show me. I will learn by watching how you do it."
"Alright. Watch carefully and try to imitate my whole manner as much as possible."
John did it again and like the first time, his hand glowed blue.
They watched in awe as John shot the second can cleanly without knocking it over.
"Now do it exactly like I did."
"With the glow thing? I don't know how to do that."
"That will come later. Just shoot it normally for now."
"Shall I also close my left eye like you did?"
"It helps to remove parallax."
"What's that?"
"It's the way things move as you look at them as if from a tube. When you move your head while looking at it, it will appear as if it moves into the opposite direction although in reality, it hasn't moved at all."
"I don't get it but I will close my left eye just the same."
"Inhale deeply and exhale a little. Leave some air and hold. It will help you stabilize your heartbeat. Do something that can increase your focus on what you are about to do."
"I bite my tongue a little."
"Right. That will help. Now inhale again. Hold. Focus on your target. Imagine that distance is an illusion. Be one with your bullet. Send your thoughts to it. Guide it towards the target. Imagine the target being caught in your trap with no way out."
The boy did just that and drew the projectile pouch back.
With no hesitation or doubt, he let go.
The tin can tumble back.
"I did it? I did it!" the boy jumped around in celebration.
He hugged John.
John hugged him back awkwardly.
"Now do it again. Remember the feeling. Visualize your whole body being locked in place, within the confines of the movement that gave you success. The practice is not about shooting. It was about remembering the motions and the strength and control you exert over your own body."
The boy shot again.
And again.
All hit their mark.
"Bravo!" said a familiar voice.
The boy turned and there was Toby and his gang.
As always, he was there to ruin what little fun he had.
"So this is where you ran off to. To your ghost and goblin friends."
"There are no ghosts here. The only goblins are you and your friends."
Unseen by the others, John went to Grace and tapped her on the shoulder."
"Be seeing you," he said.
"You're not going to help the boy?"
"I have already helped him. This is something he has to do by himself."
With that he vanished inside the portal.
Grace watched helplessly as Toby and his gang approached the defiant boy.
"I am warning you, Toby. don't any of you come any closer."
"Or else what? You're going to shoot us with your 'gun'?" he laughed and stepped closer.
He picked up a stone and so did his cohorts.
The boy calmly drew the pouch back.
Grace noted that he did not put any pebble in.
She wanted to warn the boy but she knew he wouldn't be able to hear her.
She gathered her will and prepared to scare the boys away.
"Get back, Toby," the boy warned for the last time.
His hand glowed blue then red.
Toby did not see this but Grace did.
Toby and his two friends were still laughing derisively when the boy let go of the projectile pouch loaded with enough energy to obliterate a small sized car.
Grace tapped the boy's left hand at the last moment to send the energy blast to another direction.
The wall that got hit instantly crumbled.
The energy bullet just grazed them but that was enough to shake them to the core.
They saw their death.
In front of them is the boy loading another ball of energy to his slingshot.
Toby and his gang ran away screaming.
The boy stood there aiming where they were a moment ago, blue energy surrounding him.
Grace went to him and hugged him until he calmed down.
In the sky is the sun blazing majestically.