Revolution: Genesis (Published)

Chapter 35: Star-Bound

JACK

You can't expect to fill your broken pieces by someone who is fixed, because they can't afford to lose themselves in order to complete another. A broken person, however, is far more generous in giving away what's left of them. They understand what it feels to be full of void, to be partial. In turn when two damaged people meet, they evolve to be something entirely unorthodox. You see, when the different kinds of fragments join together, they develop a picture of something bigger than the shards they initially were. Put together, they make something of theirs and it is the beauty of that relationship which blooms brighter than most.

*'*'*

Guilt; that's all I felt as I sat there listening to another add up leading to Reece Knight's death. Whatever the reasons be, I played a significant part in doing the dirty work which ended up in the Shadow's favor. It wasn't something to move on from. As much as I tried masking it up and stretching my lips in an attempt to stay strong, I couldn't get past it. I deserved the torment I felt, yes, however I wanted my chance for redemption. I really did. Defeating Betelgeuse once and for all was the only focus where I thought I actually had a shot at easing my conscience.

How would I do it was the real question. I couldn't just summon him up and dagger the Shadow in the heart like the movies about psychotic serial killers or thrillers for supernatural beings showed. No cinema or novel could help me figure out how I'd fight the cosmic being. Besides, his soul-self couldn't have a heart in it so there wasn't much I could've done to him physically anyway.

The information we gained about the death vow was definitely something to ponder over. The way it worked was not to be taken lightly. It was clear with the way Rigil emphasized on it. Death vow didn't have loopholes. Once you've made it, there was no going back. Be it life or death. Wiping out of existence as a consequence seemed higher of a price than death anyway, and nothing was better about it.

It did make me wonder how my dad would've gotten around making the vow and how he worked it out. It was intriguing to think how the Shadow would've agreed to be bound with my father until his last breath, but before the conversation wandered to that part, Azura chimed. "You said outside that with every change of the vessel, the name always had a part of the origin. What was that about?" She asked.

"When the bright souls are deceased, they infuse themselves in their descendants. Every offspring has a piece of their elders leading up to the very first family which were brought into the world. So in a sense, every son or daughter is a vessel of the souls before them and of their own. It's often why we see similarities between the members of the family." Rigil replied and staggered to stand up as she announced it was time to practice once again.

We all went into our respective rooms to change into more comfortable clothes and soon met up outside, on the mansion's ground. We were being instructed to meditate since, as Rigil quoted, 'a focused mind always has a quick approach to your goal'. No one objected since no one knew better and the slight cool breeze swaying in the air made it easy for us to concentrate. Rigil kept giving us pointers on what to think and how we could repeat one word which would make us more comfortable with sitting still for two hours.

"So, I have a question." Addison said after five minutes in the complete silence. I opened my eyes and everyone did the same. Those who had the star powers and those who didn't, were all present. Rigil thought it best that if they couldn't fight elementally, they could defend and attack physically and strategically, since Betelgeuse knew that he could use them as leverage. Mason being his riotous-self had asked who would train them and not so surprisingly, Rigil stepped up being a master in that as well. She had tested it out with Mason when he refused to believe that the old-aged cosmic lady could be that reflective. A good smack-down was all it took for Mason to hold out his hands in surrender. For the meditation part they had to sit around too, on Rigil's order of course, so that they could have their senses heightened.