After having being told he had been in a coma for more than a month, Juno was astonished. It took him quite some time to come to terms with it, but the truth was there were many worries at the back of his mind. A lot of things might have surely occurred within this timespan, and he had probably missed out on certain important happenings. His major concern though was that, his family might've been very worried about him.
'The nurse told me I'd be discharged after all the appropriate tests have proven that I'm totally fit. So I guess I'd be hanging around for about a week then.' He took an apple from the fruit basket by the bedside and casually bit into it. The taste made him lift his brows in awe. The nurse had left earlier to call his family and inform them about him waking up. He was pretty sure they were on their way now. Strangely enough, he didn't know how to face them and he began to feel nervous. 'Is it because it has been more than a month? No. For them it might have been like so. But for me, it is just as if a few hours have passed. I shouldn't be nervous for any reason so why am I currently like this.'
He shook his head vigorously to clear out any unnecessary thoughts. Now wasn't the time to think about that. He was going to see them eventually, and besides, they were his family...his own flesh and blood. Instead, he began to think back to the scenes that kept on replaying in his head like a movie. The shooting star...the strange figure...his death...
Juno suddenly looked down at his torso area. He could feel the region had been bandaged, surely it meant one thing. 'So the figure truly was real...He really did pierce through my body. So then how is it possible that his body hadn't been found. Well maybe the nurse is oblivious to that fact.' He wondered. There was no way the body would suddenly disappear. Certainly the ones who had found him might know what may have occurred to the body. 'I can feel a little discomfort in my chest area, but then that's all. I feel perfectly fine otherwise. What tests could they possibly be running on me that might keep this long?'
His thoughts were interrupted by the sound of the door opening. He had barely turned to look in that direction when something heavily landed on him.
"Oof!" The air in his lungs came out of his mouth as his body was hugged tightly. It was his sister, Elora.
"You're awake!!!" He heard her yell into his ears, causing his head to ring all of a sudden. The discomfort was becoming unbearable, and he struggled to get her off him. "Hey, hey, hey. Get the hell off me! You're incredibly heavy!"
"You're the one who's heavy!!!" The shout was followed by a knock on his skull that only further served to increase the ringing in his mind.
"Hey, that's painful!" Anger welled up in him as he mustered the strength to lift her off his body. "I didn't die yet, okay. Relax!" He said between bated breaths.
Elora stood there with tears beginning to well up in her eyes. The relief and concern in her stunning eyes were visible, shocking even Juno to his very core. "I-I-I...I really thought that I'd lost you." The tears she had tried so hard to fight back disobediently made their way down her cheeks. Juno was left in stupefaction. He didn't know how to respond at all.
"Now, now, you're a big girl. You can't possibly be crying before your little brother. What image do you want him to have of you?" Joana made her way from behind her daughter even as she spoke. The dried out tears on the sides of her face silently betrayed her emotions. She might've probably been the one in pain the most. She bent down and planted a loving kiss on his forehead.
Juno could only watch with an open mouth as his father too came towards him and ruffled his hair. "Hahaha, little brat. It looks like I have to teach you a lesson once we get back. How can you make the only important women in your life suffer this much?" The sides of his eyes were filled with tears even as he joyfully looked at his lad. Juno really didn't know what to do in this situation. This surely wasn't the reception that he'd been expecting. Well, what could he really have been expecting at all. After all, they were his only family.
'Family...' A melancholic smile appeared on his face as he thought about this. It was soon replaced by a bright one as he stared at the people who truly loved him. 'My family...Hahaha...I love this feeling...'
"Ahem." The emotional moment was broken by the sound of a person clearing her throat. The Klaks turned to see the nurse that had come to attend to Juno earlier. Standing behind her was a handsome man in dark blue suit. His arms were behind him, his stance, polished and grandiose. Anyone could tell that hidden behind those dark shades were some lady killer eyes.
Apart from Juno, everyone else seemed to recognize him for they instantly turned and bowed respectfully, much to Juno's confusion. He quietly tapped Elora who was beside him and whispered in a way only she could hear. "Who is that guy, sis? He looks really scary."
The response didn't come from her though. "You can call me Agent Morrison." The man said directly, further frightening Juno. He didn't think the man would be able to hear that despite the distance. "I am the Deputy Head of the Office of the National Bureau of Mutants. And I'm the one currently in charge of handling your case, Juno Klak."
Juno gulped silently upon hearing the man's words. He didn't think that such an important figure was the one currently standing right before him. His heart started to beat faster than usual. And for more reasons than one. If he were to take a guess, thus guy was probably a mutant too. And a very powerful one at that.
'Why would the Deputy Head himself be the one in charge of my case?' Juno wondered. 'Has it got something to do with the strange figure? That's possibly got to be it?'
Agent Morrison seemed to have sense that Juno was feeling suspicious. "The reason why I've been put in charge of your case is due to its relation to the event that occurred about a month ago. The same event of which you were a victim."
"The shooting star." Juno declared.
"However you want to call it." Agent Morrison went on, "On the day that the star had appeared in our stratosphere, a warning had been sent out to everyone in the area to evacuate as soon as possible. It's a pity that your family van's in-built radio system had been faulty, otherwise I believe you wouldn't have had to go through such an unpleasant situation."
Jean Klak scratched his head embarrassedly when he heard this. Actually, he'd known that the radio system had been faulty, yet, he had made no effort to get it repaired for he didn't see the need to. Now it nearly cost him his son.
"To be honest though, it's none of your faults." Agent Morrison proclaimed. "The extent of devastation was something that even we didn't expect to see...despite the star's miniature size, the amount of energy it had been harbouring was in unprecedented amounts. You lot were just unfortunate on that day."
To the others, this wasn't the first time they were hearing this. But to Juno, it was. However he wasn't a bit interested. All he wanted to know was if the strange figure really was real or just a figment of his imagination.
"What about others?" He questioned ambiguously, careful not to arouse any suspicions from the Deputy Head. "Were there any others involved in the catastrophe?"
Agent Morrison shook his head. "Fortunately or unfortunately, your family were the only victims in this event. Everyone else was out of the range of the explosion. We were rather lucky it had landed in the forest, I'm not sure the situation would have been this stable if it landed in any of the counties instead."
Juno knew he was right. He couldn't even begin to imagine the chaos that would've ensued.
"I have a few questions for you though if you don't mind." Juno heard him say. He thought Agent Morrison was coming to ask him about the strange figure, but rejected that thought at once. Morrison had already made clear that no one else was affected by the incident. He could be telling half the truth though.
"Sure." Juno shrugged his shoulders. Just like he'd suspected, Morrison didn't question him about the figure he'd encountered, just a few basic questions for him to answer. It was quite easy for him to answer them, but one question really stood out in particular to Juno.
"Have you also awakened your mutant genes?" He'd asked. Juno could quickly infer that the only reason who'd have asked this question is if he knew about Elora's powers already. 'Well it doesn't seem to be too shocking though, this is the National Bureau of Mutants we are talking about here.'
"No." Juno answered simply. "And I can't tell if I'd ever be able to do so."
"Of course you'd be able to." Jean Klak beat his son on the shoulder as he berated him. "With a genius like you, it surely is possible."
Juno chuckled inwardly. He knew the only reason his father was this confident was because Elora had managed to awaken hers and manifest her powers.
"Your father is right." Agent Morrison added. "I've done a little background profile on your family and you lot are quite the genius kind. And also, with your sister managing to awaken her genes, it should be possible for you too. We'd just have to wait patiently." He then turned to look at Elora. "To be honest though, I didn't come here for your brother alone...I came here because of you too."
Elora was rather surprised. "Me?" She made the gesture of pointing to herself, to which Morrison nodded.
"I wanted to inform you and your parents about the conclusion the Bureau has come to after accessing your powers during the training sessions." He stated.
The Klaks, including Juno began to pay attention to his next words.
"An official request has been made by the head himself for you Elora to join us as one of ours. In retrospect, you would be receiving the best training from our very best in order to build you up more. Your well being will be our concern from now on, and we'll make sure you enjoy the best of resources available to us." He paused and motioned to someone outside the door. A plump gentleman in black tuxedo walked in holding a file that had already been prepared. His face was full of smiles as he greeted everyone in the room. He handed over the file and stood to the side. Agent Morrison passed on the file to Jean. "However we'll need your permission first, together with the consent of your parents. If you all agree with the stated conditions, then sign the document you've been given."
Upon noticing the matter about to be discussed was certainly of high importance, the nurse offered to give Juno his medication whilst the family settled the affairs outside. Agent Morrison was secretly thankful for that.
Even though Juno was particularly interested in Elora's response, he opted rather to wait. As the family left, the nurse began to administer his medication to him. After she was also done, he was given some time alone in the room to rest.
Looking at the white ceiling of the ward he was in, he was currently in deep thought. Thinking back to his life till now, he had began to realize how distant he had been from his family, something he had started to regret since the dreadful incident. 'It won't do me any good to distance myself from them.' he thought. 'I've began to realize how important they are to me...they are the only ones I have...'
He turned his head to rest on the pillow when something clicked in his brain almost instantly. Somewhere in his mind, he could feel that something was trying to reach out to him, which perplexed him greatly. It was surely a strange feeling to be having, as if he was supposed to remember something but just couldn't no matter how hard he tried. The next moment, his head began to ring intensely, bringing with it an assaulting pain.
'W-w-w-what is going on?!' He sat up at once and grunted painfully. He was tempted to scream out in pain to ask for help from the nurse but for some reason, he couldn't make any sounds. A heavy feeling overcame him almost at once, followed by an unsettling dizziness. He tried his best to stay awake, but it proved futile for he lost his consciousness the very next moment...
...In a very dark space...
A brilliant flash of light graced the space all of a sudden. Juno materialized from the light, fully conscious and well, much to his own surprise.
'Where am I?' he wondered as he looked around. All that he could see was the vast darkness around him.
"You have been transported to a pocket realm I created." He heard someone say from behind him, and turned quickly to look at him. His face turned pale however, for the one before him was none other than the strange figure who'd nearly killed him some weeks back.
'What is this?' Juno wondered and instinctively began to move away...or at least he tried to. For some reason he could move every part of his body apart from his legs. 'Am I dreaming? Yes that's it. This has got to be a bad dream.' he thought.
"This isn't a dream, but a separate reality you've been put in." The strange figure said once more. "However it isn't going to last for long because I'm nothing but a spirit form, so I'd admonish you to listen to me for now. I can't waste precious time arguing with you."
Juno gnashed his teeth angrily and glared at him. "What bullshit! You tried to kill me! At least tell me why!"
"Well that's exactly what I'm about to do..." The figure smirked, and with a wave of his hand the space around them began crumbling down. "But before that, I guess it'd be better to see this first."
The space shattered completely as a new scene was revealed before Juno's eyes. It was almost as if he had been transported to a whole new place. Except he seemed to be levitating midair. His mouth slowly opened up in shock as he began to look around. The vast plains before his sights were filled with raging flames and craters the size of ten skyscrapers. The land itself was in such a deplorable state, he began to wonder...What exactly had caused such level of destruction?
"This is soon going to be the fate of the planet you find yourself, lad." The strange figure who was a few metres away said suddenly, a trace of solemnity in his tone. "If you're not informed of the danger beforehand...that is."