"Pretty good, but we got a bit of trouble today. We had to use magic, and we lost a few people." The fisherman says in understanding.
The boy frowns. The white man notices the kid. "Hey Cliff, what's the girl's name?" he asks.
The boy looks up with a big grin. "I'm Stephe," he whispers, his eyes sparkling.
The man turns his gaze to Cliff and smiles back. "Stephe? That's unusual..." he murmurs.
A man wearing a uniform approaches them. "Mr. Cliff! Is this the girl?" he asks. Cliff nods. The Soldier beckons them to follow him. Steph follows the white soldier in silence. He wonders why they need him. His eyes wander to the large wooden building in front of them. He sees rows and shelves stacked high with wooden crates and boxes.
The Soldier leads them to one of the storage rooms, where four people have gathered, including a bald man holding something in his hands.
"What's going on, Lieutenant Commander?" Cliff asks him. "We've found a girl." A soldier says matter of factly.
The Lieutenant nods. "Bring her in," he says, looking expectantly at the girl.
Steph hesitates for a moment, then slowly moves forward. As he gets closer, he can smell the familiar scent of cinnamon, pine trees, and sandalwood mixed. He recognizes this smell but cannot place it right now. Suddenly, the wooden doors slam shut, locking him inside the room. "I can feel vibrations from you." the man says, tinkering with a small metal ball.
He feels her heart beating against her chest and her hands growing clammy. She tries to calm herself, but nothing works.
"Your power is strong…" he continues.
Steph feels the temperature drop several degrees. Goosebumps run across his arms. The man suddenly stands and begins walking towards the door. "You know, I'd love to help you control your power. However, there is a price to pay if you do." Steph shivers. He reaches into his pocket and pulls out a small vial. Steph freezes when he sees its contents. It's a transparent liquid with a red-tinted substance floating within. The redness is getting bigger with every step he takes.
"I think you'll be able to handle your power, don't you agree?" he asks softly.
The liquid inside the bottle then glows bright yellow. Steph backs away slightly until his legs touch a crate. The crate shudders under the weight of whatever is behind it. "Little girl, the core of the city reacts to you. Do you know that?" The yellow color grows brighter. "And how much longer can you hold it all in?"
Steph squeezes his eyes tightly. He is afraid to open them and see what awaits him.
"The more powerful you get, the greater the risk you take…."
"What do you want?" Stephe stutters.
"That would depend upon you…if you decide to cooperate." He holds the glowing liquid in both hands. Steph watches it grow brighter and brighter. The liquid begins bubbling. Its surface has turned an opaque orange hue, forming bubbles.
"I suspect you've gotten a power from that entity but no guidance on how to use it." The Lieutenant says, showing him a glowing dice. He tosses it gently through the air. It spins twice in the air before falling to the ground. It bounces a few times before finally stopping. The top of the dice has the number 6 on it.
"This is that entity's gift. The Dice of Probability."
Steph gulps audibly. What does he mean by that? The lieutenant picks up the tiny object. "It's the last piece of advice the being gave me before disappearing."
He throws the cube again. This time Steph catches it just before it lands on the floor. He studies the little thing as it rolls.
"Your power is just as useless as you are."
Learning... learning is an essential part of a child's development. To learn, he must be exposed to the world around him. He must also experience it on his own as an independent being. This means he has to go into the human world. And when he steps f out that door, it is time for his journey in this world to begin.
~
"Drink the liquid in the vial." the Lieutenant says. Stephe feels nervous, pulling on the hem of his skirt. The "water" is cold, and it stings against his skin. There's something familiar about it that doesn't make sense with current circumstances. He doesn't know what to expect, so he takes the bottle and pours its contents down his throat. His vision goes blurry, and he coughs.
"You're going to be bound to me from now on." the Lieutenant says as he sits on the table next to the boy. Stephe doesn't like the way the words come out. It seems wrong coming from a stranger. But then again, the Lieutenant has always been a little strange, so he shouldn't be too surprised...
He continues. "My name is Timothy Newton. You can call me Dr. Newton." Stephe looks up at him curiously. He knows he should be scared, but he finds himself drawn to this man and doesn't want to scare him off.
"Okay, Dr. Newton..." Stephe walks up towards him. "Little girl, don't be too frail." Dr. Newton gives her an old dusty book. The Laboratory Manual... Stephe stares at it for a while before putting it away.
"Read up on it. Meet me back here with your foster father." Dr. Newton says, the floor seemingly pushing Stephe out of the room until the door closes in front of him. Steam comes out of the vents lining the hallway, as the sky outside is already dark.
Stephe looks up to see the night sky stretching above him and the stars beginning to emerge. He runs down the stairs searching for his foster father, but there aren't any people to be found, no sign of life. Stephe thinks back to the strange man who had given him those words.
Suddenly hands lie on his shoulder. "Let's go home." a familiar voice in this unfamiliar country says. He looks behind him to see Cliff. A warm feeling rises in Stephe's chest, and he turns to face the man. He follows after him silently. The air was crisp in the late October breeze as they walked through the town to where they were to live.
******
Stephe looked around curiously at all of the buildings and shops. As he looked around more, he realized that many seemed familiar to him; some were even vaguely friendly, looking like the building on the other side of town. This... he can't explain how he knows this place. As if sensing Stephe's thoughts, Cliff puts a hand on his shoulder and guides him forward.
They pass by a shop filled with different kinds of clothing. Some were black, and some were pink. On one corner, colorful scarves hung up, and some of them seemed oddly familiar.
"Let's go buy clothes. Follow." Cliff says. They walk into the shop, stepping inside. The store was dimly lit, with only one or two lights hanging from the ceiling. Everything seemed worn like it hadn't been cleaned in quite a long time. Clothes are laid in rows, some in piles on the ground and others on shelves. Some were neatly folded in cubbies along the wall, while others just sat down in their places. The smells of fabric softener and fabric glue fill the small space.
As soon as Stephe enters, he notices the smell of fabric softener. It's strong. Not overpowering but overwhelming enough. The second thing he sees is how quiet everything is compared to other stores. No one else is shopping. It's not a bustling store full of people rushing around. It's almost like a funeral.
Other shops have at least one or two people in them. The cold, snowy wind howls loudly outside. It's loud enough to cover the sound of their footsteps as they amble through the shop. Eventually, Cliff leads him toward a rack filled with hats.
The hats are beautiful. Each hat has different designs and different styles. There are ones shaped like trees, ones shaped like flowers, and ones shaped like animals.
Cliff buys a few sets of clothes, including a jacket, boots, gloves, scarf, hat, scarf and mittens, a pair of sunglasses, and a bunch of earmuffs. They pay without saying anything and leave the store.
As they get home, the streets are crowded with people dressed in warm winter attire. They rush past them all.
This northern city feels depressing and dark, Stephe realizes. The people around him seem like ghosts walking.
They get home to the old cabin just outside of town.
******
The cabin is warm, the fire is lit in the stone fireplace, and the soft hum of the wind outside fills up the room. It has been a quiet day; they're resting after their excursion into the town.
"Hey!" a voice sounds almost like a whisper in his head. Stephe's eyes snap open as he looks around the room, trying to figure out where the voice is coming from. He looks down at his hands, noticing something glowing on his skin. Curious, he runs his fingers over it as he focuses on the feeling it gives him. Suddenly a portal opens in front of him. It closes just as quickly, leaving him with no idea how it works or what it did.
"You exhausted it." the voice sounds in his head again. Stephe glances at the door and sees a metallic umbrella leaning on the wall. It must be an illusion. But when he looks back at the metal umbrella, the murmurs in his head are still there. What was that?
He gets up out of bed, heading for the door. Once there, he hesitates before opening it. A peculiar sound, like metallic gears grinding, reverberates as the umbrella unfurls automatically as he pushes it open. The sight scares him but also takes his breath away. The thing looks like it has teeth as if it's a fly trap going to snap close on his arms at any moment, but what frightens Stephe is how long it is. At least three feet tall and has hundreds of tiny metal blades protruding points along its length. Its length glows red in the darkness. Stephe stares up at it, unable to move from fear. This can't be real, he thinks to himself. Is this an actual living being? Then it speaks, its words bouncing off the walls of Stephe's skull. It speaks softly, yet loud enough so that Stephe can hear clearly.
"Stephe," its voice echoes in his head. "Do you enjoy your life right now?"
"Don't you feel safe?"
"You like clothes?"
"You like food?"
Its voice echoes these questions, but none seem to make sense. "What do you mean by 'I'?" Stephe asks, more to himself than the umbrella.
"What I'm talking about is, don't you enjoy what you have now?"
"Why do you keep asking me that?"
"You only have to do simple favors for me." the umbrella says. Stephe shivers at the sound of all these things inside.
"Please stop talking. Just leave me alone."
"Shut up!" it says in a loud echoing voice, hurting his head.
"Leave me alone, please!" Stephe pleads. Suddenly he's transported to a dark dungeon. He can't see anything in front of him. His legs give way, and he falls onto the cold stone floor. There's a loud clang. Stephe turns his body so that he's lying on his side, staring up at nothingness. He's trembling uncontrollably, but no one is around to comfort or take care of him. He feels tears welling up in his eyes. He doesn't know why he's crying, but he does. He wants someone to hold him and tell him everything will be okay. He wants someone to say to him that he's not alone. He wants someone to tell him that he's loved.
Suddenly a slender woman enters the place, wearing black latex clothing, but then Stephe looks up and looks at the woman's face. But all he sees is a hollow cavity, like two pieces of glass have been placed inside the front, and the eyes aren't seeing anything. The creature starts moving towards him, taking slow, deliberate steps with every step it takes. Stephe tries to scream, but there's only silence coming out instead of sound. The creature grabs his arm tightly with her skeletal hand when she reaches him.
"Do what I want, kid!" the creature slaps him with its hand, and the cold sensation spreads through his body, sending chills throughout his entire body. "You need me," it says softly.
"You don't make me feel good! You're just like those bad people back home!" Stephe yells at it, but it doesn't flinch.
"I'm the only one who can help you."
"If you think that's true..." he trails off. Then suddenly, something snaps within him, and he screams as he punches it in the face; the pain shoots through every part of his body like lightning; it burns his skin as if it were made of flames.
"No free lunch in the world, boy!" it says.
"Shut up! Shut up!" Stephe shouts at it, hitting harder; the pain in his leg and his fist ache from the force of each swing.
Eventually, he stops punching and falls backward, exhausted. Tears roll down his cheeks like raindrops. "Why?" he whispers. "Why me?" He knows it's rhetorical but can't bring himself to care anymore. Everything hurts. He sits up slowly and notices that the creature has disappeared.
~ ~ ~
Stephe sits in the chair in front of his workbench, the only piece of furniture in the large room allocated to him in the wooden cabin. He holds his hands against his face, trying to stave off his headache. The light from the window is starting to dim, and the snow outside continues to fall heavily without stopping, even though it's barely midmorning and not evening yet. As always, there's some strange noise coming from outside the cabin.
Stephe sits in the chair in front of his workbench, the only piece of furniture in the large room allocated to him in the wooden cabin. He holds his hands against his face, trying to stave off his headache. The light from the window is starting to dim, and the snow outside continues to fall heavily without stopping, even though it's barely midmorning and not evening yet. As always, there's some strange noise coming from outside the cabin. The peculiar metallic umbrella is leaning on the doorframe, as usual, its long string still swinging slightly with each gust of wind that hits it from time to time. It isn't enjoyable, but Stephe can't help listening to it. He wishes for it just to go away.