Sequel: The Fifth World 2

The Fifth World

Lucius

Bo: Days go by. Some are faster than others and all the while I have been sharing a bedroom with Felicity, Janine, Nancy, Calhoun... and Cynric. I see him every day, sleep merely a few metres from him every night yet I've never felt so distant from him. I feel like he is barely around... or maybe it is just me who is always absent..

I spend most of my time with Caine, he is teaching me the art of combat. It is incredibly frustrating yet I find myself picking it up quite easily. He says I am a natural. Sometimes he is forced to leave me as he is a member of Seabrooke's guardians. Like Isabelle, Caine and at least twenty others patrol the surrounding forests of Seabrooke. It is simply for the protection of the town. That was how they found us - they were on patrol and also looking out for Calhoun since some Time Jumpers had seen him in the future.
Caine can be gone at hours at a time but as soon as he is done he jumps back to me and we continue where we left off. When he isn't around I find time to write letters to Mum, Adam and Jonathan. I jump back to Manchester, pick up a reply from our letter box and read all about Mum and Adam's trip in Australia. I haven't received any replies from Jonathan - mainly because I didn't put a return address on my original letter to him. I enjoy writing him, even though I know I will never get a reply. It gives me peace of mind. It's comforting to know, that someone I care about so deeply, is reading my words and is appreciating them.
Several times I have thought about jumping back to see him but what if I missed out on something here? What if something happened? Or, what if I was caught out back in the Average Human World? If I show up and see Jonathan then he'll expect me to be back for good... I can't let that happen.
Caine has been teaching me to control my time traveling powers. I'm getting there but they're a bit more difficult to manage than defending myself with a sword.
Tonight 'The Great Calhoun Festival' is on. It was created in Calhoun's honour. The people of Seabrooke didn't want to name it 'The Great Hargon Festival' as that could imply that the city of Hargon is 'great'... which I think most of us have come to the conclusion that it definitely is not.

"And what would be at this festival?" I ask Caine.

He smiles at me and shrugs indifferently as his fingers gently touch a leaf from a bush as we walk by, "plenty of food, different festival games, competitions and dances, I guess. There will be horse riding but that is mainly for the children."

I feel myself smile, "and for those who cannot ride a horse at all." He laughs once and then he continues on admiring the gardens further towards the walls of Seabrooke. He touches leaves as if they are human, as if they are a child's hand. It is as if he has some kind of connection with nature and he is very gracefully petting them.

"How old are you?" I ask him.

"I am twenty one."

I swallow once, "have you ever been in love, Caine?"

He turns to me and smiles softly, "how do you think I was driven to this place?"

He turns to a rose bush where beautiful bright roses are blooming perfectly. I count at least five. With careful fingers Caine takes a stem, with the other hand he pulls a knife from his pocket and swoops the stem until it has no connection whatsoever with the rest of the plant. He turns to me and places it in my hands instructing me to be careful of the thorns. I smile at him, thank him and smell it's sweet scent. It instantly reminds me of Jonathan. I sigh.

"What happened?" I ask him.

I don't mean to pry but I hope that somehow I can find some hope into Caine's story... but I expect I won't otherwise he wouldn't be with me right now - he'd be with whoever he loves.

He shrugs, "his name was Lucius. He was an Angelican, beautiful, young and intelligent. I fell in love with him the moment I saw him. We would take History together at the Academy. In our spare time we would go on walks through Hargon. Sometimes our long conversations would lead us to the mountains, we would get so distracted that we wouldn't even realise where we were going. One day one thing lead to another, we were in a secluded area, too high up for everyone else to see, nobody could have known... but somebody must have seen us. The next morning Lucius went missing and by noon Justice Agents were knocking at my door. I escaped by jumping into the mountains - the same place Lucius and I got... personal. The last time I returned to Hargon there were no records of Lucius even existing. Both our rooms at the Academy had been cleaned out. It was as if neither of us had existed. I never looked back."

I could see the tears in Caine's eyes, feel the emotions brewing within him. It hurts too much for me to even imagine what would happen if the government got their hands on me... or more importantly - Cynric. Imagine never seeing that one person again, not knowing whether they rest in peace or are living a life of pain without you. I can see by the look on Caine's face that he believes Lucius is dead... and if I were him I'd probably hope the same thing.
I wouldn't want my love to be held captive somewhere just because of who they are, I also wouldn't want to be imagining them feeling the same pain I am feeling. That'd be horrible. I think, that even though it would hurt me so much if this actually happened, that I would prefer to know that my love would be in a better place, a place where there is no prejudice, no deception... a place where all can exist peacefully.

"Did he have a gift?" I ask Caine.

I guess I am only asking because I remember Calhoun's stories - the ones on Angelicans being kidnapped by Thornes, they'd disappear without a trace. The Angelicans that were kidnapped usually had gifts that were very powerful... I don't even suggest my idea to Caine, I simply ask him a question and decide, that if this Lucius' gift really was powerful that maybe there's a possibility he could still be alive and probably be somewhere in the mountains, unable to escape from the Thornes that had kidnapped all those years ago, but I'd keep that to myself anyway.

Caine smiles and snorts at the same time, "you are suspecting he could have been kidnapped by the Thornes?"

I feel my face fall a little, of course, Caine is smart, he would know all about the genetic engineering.

He shrugs at me, "it's okay, I have had my suspicions too but Lucius' Angelican gift was just seeing people and knowing what they'd look like in any amount of years he would choose. Some may see it as a gift... he never saw it that way. He hated that when he would look at someone, subconsciously apply his gift on them and see nothing when in his mind he should be seeing that person a few years older, their body wrinkled or possibly larger, just a little bit more aged than what they are now... he hated knowing that sometime within the
next few years that person would be dead."

"So," I say to him, "if he looked at me and he decided he wanted to see what I would look like in five years... he could?"

Caine nods his head, "yes, all he had to do was look at them, choose an amount of years and then he'd see them in his head the way they would look like in the future. It is nothing more, Bo. The Thornes did not abduct him, the precious Hargon government killed him."

The day continues and Caine and I continue training. It is strange holding a sword in my hand or any weapon for that matter. The thought of hurting someone or even killing someone frightens me but I think I have the courage to do it. I mean, I did sort of ask Cynric to beat up Derek Brown for me... maybe I have some kind of vicious streak through my blood already.
By dusk we have already cleaned ourselves up and prepared for the festival. Janine was kind enough to lend me a white dress of hers, it is pretty and flowy but I don't think my legs are long enough for it. Nancy took up the hem a bit for me.

"Are you ready?" Caine asks me when I exit the cottage.

Janine and Nancy follow me out. Janine is, once again, in a white dress of hers with her hair curled and hanging perfectly from that beautiful head of hers. Nancy is wearing jeans and a black blouse with long dark boots. I look at Caine and smile up at him. He is dressed nicely in blue denim jeans and a casual printed tee-shirt - a typical outfit I would expect to see back in Manchester. He looks like any other guy I would see walking down the street - not somebody I would see in the Fifth World. He holds an arm out to me and expects me to take it. I raise an eyebrow at him as I am surprised with his chivalry. He chuckles once when he watches me contemplate, with a loud and humorous sigh at him I take his arm and we continue towards main street where tonights festival will proceed.