“You should not have brought me here…”
Relkir had been unable to speak for hours, but that was the first sentence they managed to utter. They had been uneasily waiting at Litvir’s little apartment for someone to come along and take them to see a specialist, while Litvir watched on. Eventually, Elkay had come along to shadowjump them both to see said specialist, and, all of a sudden, the three of them were no longer in a Rethan city. They were in the Castle at the Centre of the Universe, standing outside a massive door.
“Why not?” Elkay tutted. “You’ve been frozen in fear for the last four hours. You need to see an expert. This is our expert.”
“I… I do not… want to see… her… I do not like being here…”
Elkay crossed his arms and tutted some more. “Relkir, you’re a god now. Not an official one or anything like that, but you are definitely a god, so you’re allowed to set foot here. With permission, of course.”
Relkir shuddered, but Litvir did their best to keep their dad calm, by putting a hand on Relkir’s shoulder.
“Dada, it is fine, we are not going to see Ksini. We are going to see Kyr Dalosisaar.”
Elkay nodded, then knocked on the door. He then inspected Relkir, and tutted some more.
“Alright, Litvir, you don’t need me now, and I have work to do. If you do need help, call Syksis, alright?”
“Yes, old mama. I will.”
“Good. I’ll be here in an hour to take you home.”
All of a sudden, Elkay disappeared into a shadow. This caught Relkir unaware, but Litvir kept their hand on Relkir’s shoulder to keep them calm. Their nervousness spiked though as the colossal door opened up and revealed who was inside.
“Ah! Litvir, mister Relkir, please, come on in!” Dalosisaar beamed.
Litvir put an arm around Relkir and led them inside, after Dalosisaar had managed to turn around and make his way back to his desk. The room seemed plain at first, but as they stepped deeper inside, the walls turned to diamond. Litvir sat Relkir down but remained standing.
“Kyr Dalosisaar, can I stay here or do you need me to go?”
“Would you mind waiting outside? Time powers are suggesting it’ll be better.”
“Yes, Kyr Dalosisaar…” Litvir patted Relkir on the back. “I will be outside. Do not be scared, Dalosisaar is a good person.”
Relkir sighed, then watched with a hint of fear as Litvir headed off and closed the door behind them. But as the door clicked shut and was sealed off with a strange, thin layer of diamond, they found themselves suddenly feeling calm.
“Are you well, mister Relkir?”
Relkir thought for a moment. “I cannot… feel the time stuff…”
Dalosisaar nodded. “Yes, that is why the walls are currently made of antikaironic crystal. Because the crystal somewhat… negates your time powers briefly.”
“How does that work?” Relkir asked.
“The glass-like material reflects potential futures back at you, so you can’t really focus on specifics. Epani and I worked this out while you were recovering thanks to… uh… some universal help…”
Relkir looked up at Dalosisaar. “You mean that nice Rethan called Elkay, yes?”
“Uh, yeah. When you were recovering, the room you were in, the insulation was temporarily replaced with antikaironic crystal to make sure you didn’t do anything universe-breaking. Luckily, now, you have enough control to not do anything bad, but I can tell by how uneasy you are that you are getting future flashes.”
Relkir sighed, then stared at the floor, not saying anything.
“Mister Relkir, what did you see?”
Relkir remained silent.
“Okay, mister Relkir, I need to explain that, whatever it is you saw, it is better to talk about it.”
“I am scared that, if I talk about what I saw, what I saw may actually happen, that I will cement it happening in reality.”
Dalosisaar shrugged. “I get that fear, but the thing is, the opposite is true. The more you talk about an event happening, the less likely it will happen, because you will actively avoid actions that lead to that event, but also, the people involved will also subconsciously avoid actions as well. Future flashes, like what you saw, are brief glimpses into a potential future, which are not quite cemented in time, but exist at a point where you can alter what happens if you make people aware of what can happen. I actually have a theory that, because Kairos never mentioned his… weird Elkyane Prophecy to anyone, it led to his death… Anyway, enough of that. Tell me about what happened.”
Relkir hesitated, but they realised what Dalosisaar was on about and did start talking.
“I… I saw someone… trapped inside a small fighter ship, cold and… and dying, I think…”
“Who was that person?”
“I think it was my kid.”
“Not Litvir, your other kid? What is your other kid’s name?”
“They are called Retvik. I… I assumed it was them. They did not look like my lost sibling. Too tall.”
“Were you with Retvik when you had the vision? And… how old were they in the vision?”
Relkir nodded. “I was giving Retvik a bath and waiting for the water to drain. In the vision, I… I guess they were… an adult?”
Dalosisaar thought for a second. “Hm. That… that is a very very distant future flash. I admittedly can’t see anywhere near that far, I can only see like a few minutes in advance. I don’t think Ksini can see that far forward. Which is why I think what you saw wasn’t a true future flash, it was… well, I don’t have an official name for them, but it was basically a walking nightmare. Your time powers sometimes do… weird things and you have a bad dream while awake.”
“So… my youngest kid is not going to grow up and die trapped inside a damaged fighter ship?” Relkir stuttered.
“I can’t say anything for certain. It’s up to you to make sure that future does not happen. The question is, how do you do that?”
Relkir thought to themselves, then tutted. “The obvious answer would be to never allow my kid to grow up to be a pilot. But that may potentially backfire, with them being a rebellious teenager and going against me to spite me. This sounds… insane… but I think I need to help them grow up into becoming the best pilot ever, so they have the skills and knowledge to not end up in such a scenario in the first place.”
Dalosisaar blinked, surprised by Relkir’s answer. But he quickly settled down and smiled. “You know what? I think your kid is going to be absolutely fine. I mean, Litvir’s already great. And I think, after a bit of time, you’re going to be fine as well. Things are just bumpy for both of us because we’re still learning…” Dalosisaar trailed off, then rummaged around in a draw on his desk. He found a card, and gave it to Relkir. “Anyway, Ksini did somewhat insist that she does your training, but, well, I’ve been meaning to give you a way to contact me for a while. Because I’m closer to your level. If you need help, send me a message, and I’ll get back to you as soon as possible.”
Relkir got up and bowed. “I appreciate your assistance, Kyr Dalosisaar. Thank you.”
“No worries. Go outside now, and let Litvir take you to our rest area to get something to drink. I’ll give Elkay a bell and tell him to send you home. Stay safe, mister Relkir.”
“Thank you, Kyr Dalosisaar. Have a good day.”
“You too, friend.”