Years ago, when Nova was just a child, he had the misfortune of turning on the TV and stumbling upon a live report of someone who had lost control in the famous country of Ousara, on the continent of Yamara.
Flames engulfed the beautiful cherry trees across the land as the reporter flew above the city with his massive membranous wings. At the epicenter of the destruction lay a young man, roughly in his early twenties. His body was covered in cracks spreading across his skin, glowing with the crimson color of rage.
People ran in panic while the nearest Empaths helped with the evacuation.
Nova didn’t understand how people could lose control. Although he had once heard about it from his elementary school teacher, he didn’t believe something like that was truly real. After all, he felt that he would never lose control himself.
An old man arrived at the scene, his eyes blindfolded, drifting among the cherry blossoms like a mystical ghost. He wore a joyful, relaxed, and serene smile, as if this disaster were nothing serious. His long hair at the sides was gray, as silver as the moon, and his pale, slightly wrinkled skin revealed the many years he had lived. A samurai sword was tied at his waist—the curved, slender, elongated scabbard was proof of it. His clothing resembled that of the mountain warrior monks from the country of Shèngshān Guó—ancient Taoist clothes inherited by humans from old Earth.
Nova would never forget what the reporter said when the old man appeared, much less what happened afterward.
[We’re receiving confirmation that the Feeler, Xu Han, has entered the scene. He is the third most powerful Empath on the planet!]
If Nova had been like other children his age, his eyes would have shone with excitement and admiration, but his gaze was as lifeless as the wilted flowers in the pots by the window.
The old man approached the boy calmly, never wiping that gentle, cheerful smile from his face. There, as the young man charged to attack, Xu Han extended his hand. Soon, the aura of Serenity covered him, kindly enveloping the boy shattered by the Spectrum’s Loss of Control.
[I’m going to activate microphone amplification. Let’s pay close attention.] the reporter said.
The old man’s calm voice reached every viewer.
“Sleep, little one. Tomorrow will be a better day.”
The aura of Serenity surrounded Xu Han; the flames around him were extinguished by a soft, mysterious breeze. The land, once burned and broken, was nourished as beautiful flowers of every color bloomed, covering the entire disaster zone. At the same time, the boy fell to his knees, tears streaming down his face. His eyes, once lit with fury, dimmed along with his aura.
“You will return home. I promise,” Xu Han said, kind and serene.
The disaster was over. The old man took a step forward, and his body dissolved into countless cherry blossom petals that evaporated into the air.
Taken from Royal Road, this narrative should be reported if found on Amazon.
Little Nova raised his eyebrows, curious. He looked at his hand, activating his Spectrum.
‘So Serenity can do something like that. Interesting…’
Capable of calming those with broken hearts…
“Nova!” a young Adelaide called out, appearing at the end of the hallway near the living room door. She was carrying a basket of dirty laundry. “The psychologist said you shouldn’t use your Spectrum carelessly.”
Nova’s eyes turned toward the woman, showing no visible emotion.
“I’m sorry, Mom. I’ll be more careful.”
The woman sighed in relief.
“As long as you understand, everything will be fine. Now go tidy up your room. It’s not good to get too distracted by television.”
“Ok,” Nova replied, turning off the TV and heading back to his room down the hallway.
***
When he opened his eyes, he was once again in the field of flowers, lying on the ground and staring up at the eight stars in the sky. The corpses of the other Novas were gone. The only thing different in the area after the battle against Manto was a scorched circular perimeter.
Nova, on the other hand, raised his forearm to his face, covering his eyes.
‘I don’t feel well.’
In two months, a person could change quite a bit. Going from feeling nothing to feeling bad—while not a good thing—was, in itself, a form of progress as a person.
‘It’s been a long time since I thought about that Feeler. That was the only time I ever saw him on TV.’
He stretched his arms across the ground.
‘Is it because I was about to lose control?’ He looked toward the burned area, recalling the moment. ‘Well… it was one of the few times I ever saw an Empath lose control. I came close to it, but if it hadn’t been for my Serenity, I…’
Losing control forever… He knew very well what that entailed. Regaining control was considered theoretically impossible, but for an Empath whose Spectrum belonged to the branch of Ecstasy, there was a possible solution.
He didn’t complete the transformation of Loss of Control because he forced his Spectrum of Serenity so hard that it caused an explosion of energy within his own mind. Strange as it was, there were even stranger things on Terra.
Nova thought of it as merely the tip of the iceberg of power in his world. There were rumors that the most powerful Empath in the world could split the planet in two if they wanted to.
He hoped that was just a rumor…
‘I don’t know what to do anymore. Too many things keep happening all the time. I’m not used to this.’
Sitting up among the flowers, he took the time to organize his thoughts.
“I suppose that if I’m here, then I’m still alive. How? Once again, I don’t have a damn answer…”
He grabbed his head, ruffling his hair in frustration.
“Ahhhhh! I don’t understand anything!”
He fell back onto the flowers.
‘I need to get out of here as soon as possible… I also need the answers that green guy has for me. There’s still so much I don’t understand, but I’ll use whatever little I can get to escape, no matter what.’
For now, he closed his eyes and rested—both mind and body.
