A part of Calvin still couldn't believe that his fist had created a seismic vibration on the Earth's crust, even after the two strangers with crazy powers had brought him to an old abandoned building. Calvin studied them, still unsure of their nature. The guy, he heard as Shijian, slinked back to the far corner of the room and squirmed in agony. Calvin could only imagine how painful it was to be punched so forceful that he flew up in the air. Meanwhile, the girl named Vide paced back and forth, eating away her fingernails.
"Now we can go back right?" Vide said. "We must go back."
"Go back where?" Calvin asked.
"We can't. We must finish him here." Shijian answered.
"Finish him here? You must be joking! Shijian look at you! You're bleeding and probably have broken ribs. And we have a disabled Veross here that have no slightest idea what is happening here."
"Are you talking about me?" Calvin asked them once again.
"Why are you so hung up on going back home? If we go back we have already lost since she can alter the future. The old Veross told us that this is the way to win, remember? We're the only one that can stop her here."
"Excuse me!" Calvin shouted, his voice echoed across the empty space. "Can you two idiots shut up for a second and answer my questions?" Vide and Shijian stared at him in shock.
"What's your question Veross?" Shijian asked, his face had mellowed like how an adult would talk to a child.
"First of all, can anyone lend me some spare clothes? Or unless the two of you still want to gawk over my skinny body?"
The two strangers looked at each other. "Vide, can you get him some clothes?"
Vide rolled her eyes. "Fine. I should probably get some supplies for us too." She turned around and in a blink of an eye, she wasn't there anymore. She disappeared like a ghost.
"The fuck?" Calvin swore under his breath.
"What do you want to know next Veross?" Shijian asked again, this time sternly. Now that they are not in imminent danger, Calvin noticed Shijian's appearance for the first time. He was awe-stricken to say the least. The boy named Shijian looked like every attractive feature mashed together—thick brown hair, a warm Korean-smooth skin, a jaw that can rip a woman's heart. But those didn't matter to Calvin. If anything it was an overkill for him. Shijian looked so perfectly molded that he was more of a sculpture, a mere decoration, rather than a human capable of companionship. But what set him apart, what Calvin was drawn into was his mystic teal colored eyes accentuated by his thick eyebrows and long eyelashes. It was like a perfectly cut gem, lustrous at any angle. He certainly hasn't seen that kind of hue in anyone's eyes before. His eyes were so hypnotic that Calvin had to look away, fearing he would seem rude to the stranger for looking for too long. His adolescent mind thought about if Shijian was his schoolmate, he would probably be the popular kid; the king that shall reign over his high school. And, Calvin assumed, he was probably the kind of guy that kisses himself in the mirror. Calvin irked. Just from this point, he knew he wouldn't get along with this boy.
"Okay angel boy, let's start with who the hell are you two?"
"What did you call me?"
"You got a problem with that man? Just answer the damn question." Calvin replied coldly.
Shijian squinted his eyes. "I'm Shijian from the old planet Kepler and the purplish haired girl is Vide from the planet Gaia."
"Planet? What, you two are aliens? Why aren't you green then? And why are your heads small?"
Shijian laughed awkwardly thinking Calvin was kidding but it thinned out when he realized he wasn't. "Oh, actually, our ancestors are Earth humans."
Calvin's eyebrow furrowed. "What?"
"Basically, we're also humans thousands of years from now and we weren't born on this planet because you Earth humans didn't think about your environment until it was too late."
"Okay, I get it now." He bit the inside of his cheeks.
The empty space of the abandoned building was quickly replaced with a sea of silence. Shijian just stared at him with those piercing teal eyes, confused. "That's it? No more questions? You're not going to ask anything else?"
Calvin closed his eyes for a long second and sighed. "Honestly, I thought you two are just hallucinations but hearing you explain stuff that I couldn't even imagine, man, it'll be easier for me to not bother arguing with you."
"Well if you say so Veross."
"Oh yeah, that. Why do you call me that? Veross."
"Veross is a title." Shijian explained. "You know, like how you call someone captain or doctor. It's the same with Shijian, Otus or Vide."
"It's a title for what?"
"For being one of the four individuals that wields the Obelisks of the Universe." Lazzi pointed at Calvin's chest where his odd insignia was imprinted. Then Lazzi showed the back of his wrist with a similar mark but it resembles an hourglass.
"Obelisks? Cleo, I mean Ortus, said something about my Obelisk. What is that about?"
Shijian exhaled loudly. "Well, long ago, or in your perspective, I say in the future, humans had to abandon the dying Earth and, in the process, we discovered the four Obelisks of the Universe. We truly had grasped the concept of time, space, emergence and odds that we have learned to control it. Humanity had ascended beyond what you know right now. These Obelisks were used by humans to survive and flourish within the universe. Using the power of Shijian, the Obelisk of Time and Vide, the Obelisk of Space, we've become a space-faring species, traveling from planet to planet lightyears away from each other, without getting limited by the constraints of time. We've inhabited other planets and terraformed it to our liking. Through the power of Ortus, the Obelisk of Emergence, humans have become almost immortal, curing all known diseases and slowing down aging."
"What is Emergence anyway? I know time and space. But what's emergence?"
"Emergence is a property of things in this universe to be greater than the sum of their parts. You know like when a tiny cell works together with other cells, they can form an organ, and organs create an organ system and so and so forth."
Calvin scratched his head. He used to love science way back when he's just a little boy. He used to brag how good he was in it to his mother but life happened. "I think I get it. So, she can control cells?"
"Well, yeah. He can completely control every cell in his body. He has the power to cure any injuries, any disease, change his physical age and sex. Anything really, not just cells, as long as it is governed by chemistry."
"Shit," Calvin sighed "that's some crazy ability."
"Yeah. Obelisks also get stronger the longer they have it. Honestly, we would have been killed by now by his sheer power and experience if only he wanted to."
"Right. Why doesn't he?"
"That's one of the mysteries I'm trying to solve as well. He had multiple chances to kill us, but he didn't. You see, there are two ways of becoming an Obelisk. The traditional way is to willingly give a part of our DNA, usually our blood and let the inheritor consume it." The memory of the strange man kissing him suddenly popped in his mind. That's why he spat on me, Calvin realized. "The other one," Shijian continued, "the grimmer one, is to kill the holder of the Obelisk and eat the tiny tumor residing on the cerebrum of their brain."
"This is really getting complicated." Calvin massaged his temple. "Maybe he's enjoying this? Like some sort of twisted game of his?"
"If that's true, I will destroy every cell of his body."
Calvin smiled nervously. This guy is nuts, he thought. "H-how about Veross? What can I do?"
Shijian's bloodlust vanished like an ephemeral flame of a matchstick. "Well, Veross, is the Obelisk of Odds. Some of my people say that having your Obelisk is having the best lucky charm in the entire universe."
"A lucky charm? I control luck? That's it? That's my power? Are you shitting me?" Calvin thought about the all the times he was called a lucky boy. But he wasn't lucky at all or so he thought. "What a lame power! I want your powers like how you reversed time and slowed it down like in the Matrix. Or Vide's power! She just Jean Grey'd those zombies away! Woosh! Like that! Lucky? Is that even a power?"
Shijian laughed but he winced immediately at the sharp jabbing pain in his stomach. Calvin clenched his jaw. This boy is making fun of me, he thought.
"But you're not just lucky. You control reality itself! Without your Obelisk, humanity couldn't have accomplished things that might have seemed impossible. When terraforming planets, your Obelisk is essential for making just the right condition to make life sustainable."
"Control reality, huh?" he pondered for a second. "You're just making that up, aren't you? To make me feel better."
Shijian covered his smile and shook his head. "No, I'm not. Why would I do that?"
Calvin rolled his eyes. "I don't fucking know man. You're just trying to make my Obelisk sound cooler so I won't side with Ortus."
Shijian blinked his eyes. "Are you...are you going to side with him?"
Calvin smiled. "Nah man! I'm kidding. Unless—"
"Stop messing around! You're the one with that Obelisk. You tell me. Is it true? That you can jump from one reality to another in your dreams?"
"In my dreams?" Calvin remembered his dream about his family being complete.
"Yeah. Legend says that Obelisk of Odds can veer into other realities. That's why they say the one who inherits Veross is not only the luckiest but also the happiest."
"So that means..." Calvin's mind suddenly burst with what once defunct hope. Slowly he began to piece one idea to another, "there is a reality where my mom is still... alive and I'm... the happiest," Calvin whispered to himself as if it was a spell that loses magic when said out loud.
"What's that?" Shijian asked.
"Nothing." Calvin hated that he embraced the thought so easily. Because he learned before hope was a treacherous thing to have. Hope is like digging for a treasure box only to find out what's inside was not gold but a letter that says 'The best treasure is the treasure of friendship'. Hope only entails pain and disappointment. He pulled himself back to the sad reality. "So, if Shijian is just a title, what's your real name?"
"Lazzi. You?" he held the z's of his name with grit as if he was proud of it.
"Calvin."
"Nice to meet you Calvin. I would have shaken your hand but my hand is bloody right now so..."
"No man, it's okay." Calvin felt awkward for his formality. This boy is a lot to handle, he thought. "What can I do besides jump into other realities anyway? Can I change the reality so I can fly?"
"No, you can't do that."
Calvin scoffed. "Why not?"
"That's not how it works. Besides, our Obelisks still have limitations."
"Limitations? So much for your story of doing shit with these Obelisks,"
"No, I'm not kidding. Like for me, if you think about it, I'm the Obelisk of Time but I can't travel back or forward in time alone. Vide is the Obelisk of Space but she can't teleport anywhere without being fatigued."
"Alone... so that means you can if you have other people with you?"
"Not just other people, other Obelisks. We Obelisks through physical touching of other insignia can fulfill some of the limitations of our Obelisks. It's what we call Bridging."
"You lost me at Insignia, man."
"Whenever we touch the other insignia of the Obelisk, like the ones on your chest, we can gain an additional temporary ability. Remember I touched your chest as soon as I saw you? I bridged with you. That's why I can alter the laws of time such as rewinding it. Alone, I wouldn't be able to do that. The same with others. If Vide and Ortus were to Bridge, Vide could translocate other objects wherever she chooses."
Calvin remembered Cleo. Or he should say Ortus. She had also touched his insignia. "What happens when Ortus and I Bridge?" he asked although he might have known the answer by now.
"Apparently, he can control other living beings." A sinking feeling welled over Calvin's guts. His classmates and Mrs Rodriguez were now possessed because of him. Even though he hates all of them, they don't deserve that kind of fate, he thought.
The next question Calvin asked was only logical. "What if we Bridge?"
"Hmmm," Lazzi thought for a second "why don't you try it yourself?" Before Calvin could protest, Lazzi pushed his back against the wall and lifted himself up to walk. When he got near Calvin, he towered over him as if a giant. Lazzi slumped his body back to the floor, careful not to cause more pain on his solar plexus. "Here take my hand," he ordered. "Touch my insignia."
Calvin hesitated for a brief moment, staring at the hour-glass shaped insignia on Lazzi's wrist, until he figured he had nothing to lose. He lightly pressed his finger on the insignia. Calvin noticed Lazzi's hand looked rough and calloused. Calvin wondered what work he endured to have that kind of hand. He waited for something to happen but the building was only occupied with nothing but silence and the steady deep breaths of Lazzi.
"Nothing's happening." Calvin said dubiously. "You better not shitting with me right now man or else."
"No Veross. It should work. Just focus on it like what you did earlier and properly hold my hand please."
Calvin squinted his eyes at Lazzi first before he closed his eyes and focused. He could only see nothing but pitch black until suddenly a small streak of white light flashed before him and it forked like branches of a tree. These branches of light continued to grow, twist, tangle, and weave together until he could only see white. Then bit by bit everything dimmed down as dark as a night and eventually he saw Lazzi inches away from his face, illuminated only by a soft orange glow from a nearby fire. He looked different from a while ago, cold too as if Lazzi came out from a freezer. And they were somewhere else. There's no dusty floor nor concrete walls anymore. Instead they were somewhere where there were trees around and he could hear the soft crackling of dry firewood and the melodious chirps of crickets. Quickly he jerked his hand away from Lazzi and opened his eyes where he found himself back in the abandoned building. He touched his warm wet lips for a moment and then rubbed it rigorously as if removing dirt.
"What the fuck man?"
"What? What did you see?"
Calvin looked away. "Nothing! It doesn't work." But truthfully, he wasn't sure if that was the doing of his Obelisk or just his imagination. Calvin glanced back at Lazzi secretly. "What is it supposed to do anyway?" he asked.
"Well they say you can see future possibilities."