Oberon stands in the white corridor, standing before the door essential to his freedom. He places the severed hand onto the knob; a whoosh sound emits from the door. He puppeteer the hand on the knob, turning it. He pushes the door open, running inside then closing the door behind him.
Wherever he is now is dark, the ground is hard and wet. He can hear running water in the distance. He feels around, the walls are hard with rough edges; stone. He's in a tunnel of some sort. Using his hands to guide him, he transverses through the tunnel. The roaring of water gets louder and in the distance there's light. He reaches the head of the tunnel, at the entrance is a natural cave opening blanketed by a waterfall.
Oberon jumps through the wall of water, dropping down to the lake below. Oberon swims to land and surveys the area. He isn't bothered by the fact he's dripping wet. There's a path nearby, it leads to a road.
As Oberon walks out to the road, a semi-truck drives by. The truck halts and a man pokes his head out of the window, looking back at Oberon. He returns his head into his vehicle and parks the truck on the side of the road. He exits the truck, making his way to Oberon.
Oberon ponders using his telepathy to read the man's mind. To gain insight on his intent. However, he doesn't do it. This will be his first authentic conversation outside of his family.
"Young man, you okay?" the man asks, he looks around. "Where your folks?"
Oberon thinks on this. He knows what route to take. "I don't know." Fake it till you make it.
He backs up. "What is that?" He points at the severed hand in Oberon's hand.
"...Reset."
The trucker eyes become lazy. Oberon looks at the hand, it may be useful in the future. So, he'll just alter people's perception to void the hand from their sight.
The trucker blinks and shakes his head. He looks at Oberon. "Young man, you okay?" the man asks, he looks around. "Where your folks?"
"I-I don't know. Where am I?" Oberson sheepishly questions. He's fishing for knowledge.
"You're on Riven's Way, a long road that's miles away from any city. Boy, how you get out here? And why are you soaking wet?"
"I don't remember..." Oberon stares off in the distance to sell the aloof scheme.
"Forget it. Come with me. I've got some towels and I was on my way back to the city. We can sort this out at a station or something," he says with a warm smile. He walks back to his truck and Oberon follows.
The trucker helps him inside of the truck then gets inside himself. He starts driving. Oberon rests his head on his arms that set on the open window. He admires the tall, skinny trees.
"The pine trees are beautiful aren't they?" the trucker asks with a smile, his eyes never leaving the road. "Oh. Do you at least remember your name? I'm Kray. The towels I mention are in the back. Just climb on back there. There's some snacks too, help yourself."
Oberon turns his head back and is greeted with a curtain. He opens it, to his surprise there's more space. A small cabinet, small mini fridge, small television, and a small bed.
"All of this was in the back here? He must be an Esper," Oberon thinks to himself. He forages himself some beef jerky and a bottle of water. He even found the towels.
Oberon comes back to the passenger seat. "Sorry for getting your seat wet."
"Don't think about it. It'll dry, plus, it won't get sick. You should focus on drying your hair. Don't want to get sick or anything."
Oberon rubs the towel into his scalp. "Why is the road named Riven's Way?"
"There was a man named Riven. He lived in Kequila, where we're heading. He wanted to pave a road from Kequila to Voka. There was a rough path to either city. Riven wanted to make a road for better transportation. However, both rulers were enraptured by their own greed. Riven took matters into his own hand. He started to make the road himself, and died from overworking himself. But the rulers were moved in the end; finishing the road in his steed. In the end, Riven got his way. So it was called Riven's Way."
"I would of never guessed that."
"Do you remember anything yet?"
Oberon holds his head. "I think I was in water? I'm not sure. It hurts to remember."
"It's okay. Let's just listen to some music as we drive. I'm a sucker for jazz, hope you enjoy." Kray presses the play button on his stereo, releasing smooth jazz into the atmosphere.
The drive is fill with jokes, Kray tries his best to keep Oberon entertain. They arrive into Kequila. It's a coastal city. To enter Kequila you have to go over a hill; presenting the beautiful palm trees and majestic ocean in the distance the moment you enter the city. As Kray drive through the streets, Oberon notices that the people on the sidewalk are wearing clothes with light color. Perhaps it's to combat heat.
Kray turns into the police station. He parks then helps Oberon out of the truck.
"Do you have any kids?" Oberon asks as Kray lifts him out of the truck. For some reason Kray holds Oberon in his arms instead of putting him on the ground.
Kray closes the passenger door. "No. I would love to have kids. Me and wife wants kids...some things are just difficult." Kray forces a smile.
Kray walks into the police station. There isn't a line at the front desk, though, a person is ahead of them. Tears race down her face, she slams her fist onto the table. In her fist are a bundle of keys. On one of her key chains is a photo. The photo is in a heart shape, the woman is in it, beside her is a blond man, and a kid with blond hair. It's a family photo. Oberon knows the blond man in the photo. How can he forget him? Not too long ago he turned him into moth food.
"My husband as been missing for days now. Please, tell me you have something," the woman pleads.
The officer at the front desk eyes are vulnerable. Easy to read. He sympathizes with her. But you can just see it, he doesn't have anything positive to report. "At this moment ma'am, we don't have anything to report. I'm sorry."
The woman collapses onto the floor. "Find my Lucas...please," she sobs out. She's if, cry me a river, was a person. A lone female police officer helps her off of the ground. She takes her elsewhere, somewhere in the back.
"Couldn't manage loosing my wife," he says to himself. "Poor woman." With the unbeknown widow out of the way. Kray walks up to the front desk. "Good morning," he greets the officer.
"Morning Kray, who's the kid?" the officer replies, there's some familiarity between the two.
"Found lil' lad abandoned out a few miles out of the city. He was out by Caldron Fall near Riven's Way."
The officer turns his attention to Oberon. "Hey little guy, do you know where your parents are?"
Oberon shakes his head.
"When I found him he was soaking wet. And I think he may of hit his head are something. Whenever he tries to remember his head hurts," Kray says to his pal. "What are you guys going to do with him?"
"We're going to have to set up missing photos of him, and if no one collects him...we'll talk about that in private. Do you remember your name?" the officer asks Oberon.
Oberon thinks on it. "My name is Lucas."
The officer takes out a notepad and starts writing notes. "Do you remember a surname?"
"...What's a surname?"
The officer chuckles and writes in his notepad again. "I'll take that as a no. I'll have an officer take him into the back, we'll take care of him. You're safe with us," the officer says as he attempts to ruffle Oberon's negro hair.
An officer collects Oberon from Kray, taking him to the back.
"Kindle, I don't know how someone could just leave a kid out there like that," Kray says with his fists clutched.
"Kid probably ran away from home or something. No one lives where you said you found him," Kindle shares his hypothesis.
"You think a kid walked 29 miles to fucking Caldron Fall?"
"Well, it's 29 miles if he came from Kequila and 39.7 miles if he came from Voka," Kindle adds, writing this down in his notepad.
"You really think a kid would walk that distance?"
"The One knows that I did crazy shit to escape my alcoholic piece of shit of a dad. I'll leave your information on the kid's file, I assume you'll want updates and what not."
Kray strokes his chin. "Yeah. Put me down on the file. I'm going to head home." Kray leaves the police station. He has to drop the semi-truck at the company. At the company lot his personal vehicle is on the grounds. After dropping the semi-truck off, he collects his pay. He gets in his personal truck and drives off, heading in the direction of the beach. His residence reside on a cliff that overlooks the beach.
His house is a white and blue two-story. At the edge of the cliff his wife, Jaia, is overlooking the sea. Upon seeing her he grins like a fool. He exits his truck.
"Having fun?" he questions her as she examines the sea with telescope.
"A marine biologist truly has fun when they're in the water, but this is the third best thing."
"What's the first?"
His wife stops looking through the telescope, turning around to face him. "You, dumb nuts." She over to him and Kray welcomes her into his burly arms.
"But I'm not a fish," Kray says, fake crying. "I know I'm not what you want."
"All life comes from the ocean, you're a fish in spirit. How was the trip?"
"Well..." Kray breaks down how he encountered Oberon and the events that followed. "Also, poor Martha, they still can't find Lucas."
"That's unfortunate. If no one comes looking for the kid, what are we going to do? The foster system isn't good. I would know."
Kray strokes his chin. "I mean, if no one collects him. We could try adopting him. If you're okay with it."
"I was just hinting at that, of course I'm okay with it. Besides, we've been trying for so long. And this kid just happened to fall in your lap. The One works in mysterious ways."
"Yes, he does."
Five days pass by. Kray is passing by Caldron Fall, he can't help but stare at it as he drives by. By coincidence his phone rings.
"Hello?"
"It's Kindle. The kid doesn't exists."
"What? The kid obviously exists."
"Not legally. We can't find documentation on him; mostly because we don't know his surname. Also, no one came to collect him. So, I thought he wasn't from here, so I tried my luck in Voka. Same shit, can't find details, no one called in. I refuse to believe this kid came from anywhere further. He'd die of exhaustion if he came from Kady or further."
"Okay. So what does this mean?"
"It'll be a pain in the ass to adopt this kid. I apologize for feeding you fantasies. I also already called Jaia and told her."
"A little elbow grease ain't gone kill no one, I'll just go through the proper channels," Kray says, not backing down. "Me and my wife already made up our minds."
"Unless you have a super government agent to help you concrete this kid, prepare for a long lengthy process."
"We'll talk later. I'm driving," Kray says as he hangs up. "Fuck."
Kray commits to the drive. Once he returns the semi-truck to the company he works for, he heads home. As he parks his truck he notices an unfamiliar black car. As he exits his truck, laughter can be heard from the patio in the back. Kray curiously waltz to his patio to see his wife and a stranger sharing a drink; non-alcoholic, and jokes.
"Trick is actually your name?" Jaia inquiries. "That by itself has to be a trick."
"My parents had a sense of humor."
"Oh honey you're home," Jaia says as she notices her husband. "This is Mr. Nox, our angel."
"Angel?" Kray is puzzled. "I don't think we can afford that," he jokes.
"I see you both have a sense of humor. Nice environment for a child."
"Mr. Nox is a recent sponsor at the laboratory. I had a moment at work, he was on the grounds. He heard me out and wants to help us out."
"I have a few friends in high places," Mr. Nox adds.
Kray smiles. "I was stressing on the way here." Kray approaches the man to shake his hand. "Huh...what happened to your lip?"
Mr. Nox stands up. He moves strands of dark hair out of his eyes. He accepts Kray's hand. "Just a sting from a pissy wasp. It was bigger, glad to see it going down." He smiles.