Visterra #1: Lumeria and the Six Prophetics

Chapter 3: What Happened To Jessica?

Jessica Jones was a little woman of alacrity.

She was always the first to volunteer in schoolwork, being a team leader, or singing in the church.

But now, her enthusiasm was dampened and this her sister, Jane, noticed.

The Jones sisters entered the threshold of their home just as the sky broke into a drizzle. They panted heavily, for they had run two streets from Josephine's house. They relaxed for an hour, before their mother called them for dinner. It was during that one hour that Jane had noticed her sister's dampened face.

After dinner, the two sisters went to the sitting room to read along with their parents, as was their custom for as long as they knew. The Joneses were a great patrons of literature and art, something that been in their blood for decades. The story of how they came to be is very interesting and we shall know of it another day.

For now, Jane was so concerned about her sister that she couldn't concentrate on the Enid Blyton book she was reading. She kept throwing glances at her, wondering what I do not know. Jessica tried not to let her sister's restlessness distract her by focussing only on the words she was reading.

Neither of them was aware of the sharp eyes of their mother on them.

At long last, when she decided she could tolerate it no longer, Mrs Jones cleared her throat loud and clear.

The two girls and their father startled; they stared at her, blinking in surprise.

"What's the matter with you, Jane?" she asked. "Why do you keep glancing so restlessly at your sister like that? Have you heard something? What is it?"

"Oh..." Jane's voice trailed away as relaxed.

Mrs Jones waited, but she said no more. "Well?"

"Well... Jessica isn't acting right." Jane's eyes roamed everywhere else as she spoke nervously.

Mr Jones cleared his throat then. "Ah yes, that is true, isn't it. I wanted to ask her during dinner, but forgot. Now, Jessica, tell us what's wrong?"

Jessica set her book aside, slowly, calculating, trying to think of the right words to put her feelings into. She thought hard, for a while, but nothing surfaced. "Um... how do I put it...? I just feel... something's wrong."

The parents glanced at each other.

"I feel there's going to be a fire somewhere."

Still, they didn't say anything.

Jessica now looked at them directly. "You know something's up, don't you? You've been too cool this entire evening."

"Well...," began her father, "for one thing, your friend, Siddharth, his grandmother has been hospitalised this afternoon."

News though it was to her, she didn't faze. She could hear a gasp beside her. "And for the other thing...?" she prodded.

Mr and Mrs Jones glanced at each other as if debating whether to reveal something that shouldn't or not.

"One of our friends has received a very high honour from the gods," began Mr Jones. "She has ascended to heaven in her own right and has been granted the power to create a world of her own."

"So...?"

"So..." Mrs Jones cleared her throat. "So, you, Jessie, are going to be the fire that will light up that world."

Jessica was supposed to be stunned.

She should at least have acted so. But Jane was shocked that she didn't.

For Jane's part, she was shocked at the wrong thing, too.

"Fire that will light up the world," mused Jessica. "Yes, I've had dreams about it."

'Dreams?' wondered Jane, subdued. 'She never told me. Now that I think about it, she hasn't been telling me anything lately.' She tried not to let it get to her.

"Who is this friend of yours?" asked Jessica, unbeknownst about her sister's thought trail. "Is she human?"

Mrs Jones exchanged glances with her husband. "She's a demigod. Human mother and a godly father."

"And –"

"And am I in this prophecy?"

All eyes turned to Jane at this question. She didn't realise she spoke until she noticed them staring at her. She gulped.

"Of course you are," replied Mr Jones. "So are your friends."

Jessica blinked now, surprised. "Who?"

"Josephine, Ekaant, Siddharth, and Jehan. You're all going to achieve something great – not this world, but another."

"Jehan would've told me if he knew of this prophecy," mused Jane. She looked up. "Why didn't you tell us any of this?"

"Because we needed to know the time has come," said Mrs Jones. She glanced at her eldest daughter. "We knew it had when Jessica told us about her dreams."

"Look, you'll still be a part of this world," Mr Jones went on. "We'll still love you and you'll still be a part of this family. It's just that... we need to let go of each other for a while whilst you fulfil the prophecy that had been foretold when the eldest of you was born."

Jane turned to Jessica. "Who is the eldest of us?"

Jessica thought about it. "Isn't it Siddharth? No – Ekaant's the oldest."

"Oh. When he was born..." her voice trailed away in thought.

Jessica turned to their parents. "Do the others know about this?"

"I don't know," replied their mother. "I'm sure the parents do, though. Jiya Sharma definitely knows." A flash of memory from fourteen years ago came back to her.

"Ji – Mrs Sharma? Oh." She turned to her younger sister. "Did you know about this?"

Jane shook her head, speechless. 'Would I be this surprised if I already knew?'

"Ah yes, of course not. You would've said something."

She nodded. 'Unlike you who suddenly decided not to tell me anything.'

Jessica turned towards the window. "As soon as the rain lets up, we'll gather our friends and discuss this. Perhaps they know something more than we do!"

Before her sister could respond, it was Mrs Jones who spoke up: "Oh no, nobody will be going out after the rain lets up! It'll get very late in the evening. You can go tomorrow first thing in the morning if you want. Or bring everybody here for breakfast."

"Yes, Mumma," said the two sisters, rather disappointed. But they reminded each other that tomorrow was just around the corner and they only had to be patient.