Shouldn't Be

chapter 8

Neil and Jason slowly closed their mouths as they looked about the tree house they were currently sat in. Neil checked his watch, it was now four in the afternoon.

“Neil” said Jason slowly “What are we doing here?”

Neil frowned, his head felt like a cloud.

“We... we finished the tree house... why do I have this nagging feeling that we didn't?”

Jason looked around the tree house, it was indeed complete just like they had planned.

“But we were at that army base just a few seconds ago”

Neil shook his head to try and clear it.

“Army base? I can't remember...”

An image of a tank flashed through his mind.

“A tank” he mumbled.

“Yes” said Jason thoughtfully “there was a tank, and soldiers... and that man... the one with the golden eyes”

A pair of eyes with bright gold irises filled Neil's head. Suddenly everything came back to him.

“Ah” he cried “You were kidnapped and I went to rescue you and then you got shot and I melted that tank and there was that guy and now... none of that happened?”

“Precisely”

Neil and Jason turned to find the young man with the golden eyes sat at the table with them, minus his huge overcoat.

“You don't mind if I help myself to a biscuit do you?” he said helping himself to a biscuit.

Neil open and closed his mouth several times. Jason was a bit calmer.

“Who are you?” he asked.

“Me? I'm nobody, but I suppose you could call me Nedrikst Fior, most people just call me Fior”

“Okay” said Jason slowly “Well...”

“You'd probably want some answers?” said Fior grabbing another biscuit.

“Yes”

Fior leant back in his chair and looked thoughtful.

“Right, where to start... I suppose the very basics. Basic lesson of the universe no. 1: everything is made from nothing.”

“Nothing?” asked Neil now that he'd calmed down.

“Yes, and more importantly every part of that nothing has something it is supposed to be, and that something has a path of existence that it starts at before returning to being nothing, understand?”

“I guess” said Jason slowly “You're saying that stuff like fate is real?”

Fior grimaced.

“Yes and no, it's really complicated and gives me headaches when I think about it. Let's say that everyone and everything has a basic, flimsy guideline they are meant follow”

“So my life is already decided for me?” asked Neil confused.

Fior just grinned and sat back up in the chair.

“Now we get to the interesting part. You two, and myself and everyone else, had a particular thing we were meant to be or path we should have followed. But then, in an astronomically small chance, we didn't follow it.”

“We didn't follow... the fate we should have done?” said Jason slowly trying to keep up.

“Yes” said Fior “Now when this happens, and the universe notices, it tries to correct itself. However that never quite works. The nothing that should have been one thing, but became another, ends up becoming a mix of both. People who are also water, or lightning, or metal, or an animal...”