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I hope I never get tired of the beautiful views.
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“I have a few questions… and I’ve been seeing strange visions, why do I need to be here? why do I need to do this?” I was still lost, I only wanted to follow Jupiter and save as many people as I could, but, they seemed to have other plans for me…
"My name..." Jupiter began to speak "Nevermind, you trust us right?" His voice sounded uneasy, which didn’t happen often. "Aren't you two the only people really here?" I could only think to prod them on their information, badly I wanted to fall to the ground and get some rest, but first I needed answers. I didn’t feel cheated, or lied to, but I got the idea I wasn’t being told everything, that wasn’t too much to ask right?
Jupiter looked back at Europa and stopped walking "Elias." He put a hand over my shoulder. "You are part of a prophecy... I've been fighting alongside Eruopa to find you, that armor was made to ensure your safety, that graveyard was built to give you power.” There was a little sadness in his voice, why?
"I don't understand, I'm not special.” The words hurt a little, but I knew it was true, I had no past, no power, only a first name, and no one to protect. I was strong, but others were strong too, and compared to Jupiter, no one was stronger than him, and I could give him no useful information as I didn’t know anything either, no one would write a prophecy about someone like that…
"That's right Elias, that's why..." Swift and sharp, a blow from Jupiter's fist landed on my chest, knocking some of the wind out of me. "We have to toughen you up, no one needs you right now, but someone might need you tomorrow" He gave me a slap on the back making me stand upright.
"Listen Elias.." With both hands on my shoulder his helmet came face to face with mine. "Starting now, the world won't wait on you, riding the razor's edge is all there's left for you now, think about how many close calls you’ve had, that is what pushes you to be better, to be something special." Strangely my chest didn't hurt, if anything Jupiter's voice seemed strained, clearly he wasn't enjoying this "Are you sure I can do it..?" I had to ask, if he said it was so then it was, I just had to know.
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"Well, Europa?" At Jupiter's call Europa emerged from beside him and looked me up and down. Soon removing her glasses and looking me over again, it was at least a little embarrassing to be inspected by a girl, but I had more pressing matters. It didn’t feel as awkward as I thought, probably because she wasn’t making it weird… I was probably overthinking things…
"Well his heart is still beating, blegh- weird...." she stuck her tongue out like she was looking at something disgusting, it stung a little. She lifted her glasses a little, those swirling eyes of many colors were back, even though they were pitch black before… part of me wanted to ask, I still didn’t know what to think the the answer I got before.
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"That's not what I meant, but being able to see his heart is strange in the first place, tell me how much magic he has.” Jupiter crouched behind Europa as if trying to get the same view as her, seemingly to no effect, whatever Europa had was special, so she had already reached that point, what had she suffered through?
"Hmm..." She now looked around me, yet not past me, the feeling send a shiver down my spine, somehow it felt like the air got colder, maybe it was just a coincidence. "A gross amount, he might measure up to you if he keeps growing like this" She sighed and backed away, and the cold feeling left with her, she could be scary when she wanted to be, if she wanted to be…
"Good, I can't have you dying on me Elias" Jupiter slumped slightly and flipped Europa's glasses back over her eyes, to which she did not seem to mind, rather she just rubbed her eyes like they hurt. After that there wasn’t anything I needed to be awake for, my mind and body needed proper rest, so I decided to listen.
With that, I drifted off once more...
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No dreams this time, I woke up smelling the grass in the hot sun, something even smelled burnt, but that subsided with a tide and clouds of dust, I fell back asleep. No dreams, I could hear the clanging of armor into stone and snapping of bones, but no matter what I did, I could only strain my ears, I fell back asleep. No dreams, my tongue had long since lost taste, the feeling on my skin scraped off, my eyes slowly opened.
Slung over the shoulder of the Great Knight Jupiter, my body laid limp, unable to move. Rain slowly ran down my helmet, my cape blocking the rain for Europa below, wherever we were going, I hoped we reached there safely. "Would you look at that." Stirred by Jupiter's words, I opened my tired eyes to see a bolt of lighting split the clouds along our path, my skin started to tingle.
"A miracle?" Europa's voice sound strained slightly as she looked up at the newly clear sky. "Isn't magic just one bundle of miracles, a whole person's life leading up to this, should make you thankful." I don’t know how, but I made that lightning, or rather, someone inside of me did…
"No..." I spoke, both of them turned their heads as they realized I was awake. "Not just this, I swear I will live up to the lives of everyone who has blessed me, I will respect you by putting your life's work to use" I had to get the words out, I'm already nothing, but if I let myself be nothing with the power of several someone's writhing me, I'll be less than a person.
As the gears slowly started to turn in my brain I felt I had graced something divine. "You needed someone to start a revolution?" I asked as the pieces slowly moved together. "But for what?"
Jupiter put a hand under his helmet like he was scratching his chin. "The world, it needs waking up, like you were, right now everyone is asleep, going through life without thinking, without feeling, I cannot do this myself, I have already sacrificed too much, it needs to be you." He let me off his shoulders, that was fine, I could stand on my own now.
"You are linked with the world on a fundamental level, whether by circumstance or fate, you must grow stronger so the world can too." In other words I have to pull everyone from the top "People will have to die for that" I responded, it was obvious, but I wanted to know what response he had. Magic came from death, that is just how it works, no matter how hard someone wished it were different, it simply couldn’t be changed.
“No one said it was going to be easy…”