Back here again…?
Dominic stood in the middle of a forest.
The last time he had dreamt of this was when signs of his powers began to show.
The world around him seemed bigger; he noticed his hands were those of a child.
He noticed a bright orange light and saw a burning pile of leaves
Did I make this?
He looked at the flames.
It was mesmerizing, drawing him in as if daring him to touch it.
He reached out like a moth drawn to a flame.
The flames grew when he got closer.
He felt himself smile, reaching to the center of the flame, watching it grow bigger.
He pulled his hands back, and a little flame floated on his palm.
The blaze danced on his fingertips, and he began to play with them, throwing them around, watching them disappear.
He laughed playfully… The curiosity and wonder of his child-like mind overtook him.
Controlling fire felt like second nature to him.
The more he laughed, the larger the flames became, almost becoming too large to control.
“No, no,” he whispered.
His excitement died down a bit, and the flames reduced.
“So cool,” he whispered.
The peaceful moment didn’t last long, though.
There was a faint rustling, a whisper through the wind.
Dominic felt his skin crawl, every nerve in his body screaming at him to get out of there.
Then he saw it…
Two glowing eyes stared directly at him from the woods.
Dominic knew what it was that was staring at him.
A blight…
Surely, he can fight it.
But his body took a few steps back, and he stumbled to the ground.
He was about to turn and run when the blight stood before him.
Its shadow towers over him.
It didn’t look like any other blight he was familiar with.
It was nearly as tall as the trees in the background, around nine feet.
It stood on all four limbs, with pieces of rotten flesh falling from its face, revealing its skull.
It inhaled deeply… Its inhale seemed to draw in the entire forest.t, then exhaled, and a strong wind passed through the forest.
“Jackpot…” Several broken voices echoed through the air.
“Hellbourne…”
Its eyes locked onto Dominic, who had begun running away while it was distracted.
It started to run after him and nearly caught up to him.
He cried out in fear, fire bursting out, spreading to the trees surrounding them.
The blaze roared around him, flooding his senses completely.
Then a thought that hadn’t come to him in years suddenly twinkled in his mind.
Something every child would think in a state of fear and discomfort.
I want my Mom…
“What do you need my help for?” William asked, walking towards Dominic and Adrian.
Dominic was now on Adrian’s lap.
“It’s common knowledge that Dominic’s resonance is quite unstable… I need you—” he said to William, “—to adjust your frequency to his and try to connect to it.”
“That sounds dangerous.” William frowned.
“But why must it be me?
You are clearly stronger—”
“Complimenting me…?
I must be dreaming,” Adrian teased.
William rolled his eyes.
Egotistical maniac.
“Unfortunately, I can’t….” Adrian said.
“Our resonance is far too incompatible.
If I try, I might worsen his instability or have him die a painful death.”
“His resonance is unstable, but you are far more compatible than you think… His is just a bit screechier than yours.”
William’s expression shifted with reluctant acceptance.
“Alright, what do I need to do?”
“Place your hand over his chest…”
William paused, looking at Adrian with his eyes raised.
“Why are you looking at me?” Adrian asked, smiling.
“His source is near his heart.”
“I know…” William grumbled, and he placed his hand over Dominic’s chest.
“What’s the use of this?”
“I’m going to trigger a resonance burst… A faux awakening,” Adrian explained.
“Isn’t that dangerous?” Olive asked, sounding a bit concerned.
“Well, our loveliest Roxy doesn’t want us to take him to a hospital or B.O.G.S, and the best course of action is to force Dominic to heal himself with a burst…” He said.
“Of course it’s dangerous, which is where William comes in.”
He raised his head towards William.
“Your job is to guide it, allowing it to expand outwards to prevent his body from taking the blow, causing more damage.”
“Oh…” William said without realizing it.
Seems easy.
“Let’s begin.”
Fire everywhere…
Not too far from him, the blight burned; it let out painful screams as it tried to put out the flames set on it.
I don’t remember this happening to me…
He looked back.
His heart is thumping.
The flames had reduced significantly.
It turned around to him, looking angry.
“Oh, now you’ve done it!
I’m going to rip you limb from limb!”
It ran towards him, but stopped before reaching him.
The fire died down, and the environment calmed.
Two feet stood before him.
He looked up and saw a woman with wild, red, curly hair, barefoot and in her underwear;.
A familiar face.
“Mom…?” He croaked, then began to cry.
“How inconvenient,” she said as she bent down to look at him and scowled.
“Awakened already?”
“Another Hellbourne…” The blight said.
“Shut up…” She raised her hand, and a ball of white light formed around her hand.
She shot it out, and the blight was destroyed easily.
“Weak ass thing,” she said, disinterested.
“What am I going to do with you…”
She picked him up and looked at him.
“I guess I can do something about this…”
“Mom,” he said, tears falling from his eyes.
“Why did you leave me?”
He looked at her, awaiting an answer.
He looked down at her.
She didn’t answer him, simply looked at him expressionless.
He sighed.
I must be losing my mind…
This is a dream; of course, she can’t answer.
His hands ran through his curly hair.
The ground shook.
Reality began to crumble.
He tried to run but fell through a hole.
He fell through.
Smoke clouded his vision, causing his eyes to water.
The smoke cleared, and he saw it, a volcano erupting.
Landing on volcanic rock on his stomach.
He looked around.
Rivers of lava flowed beside him.
The heat wasn’t hot or uncomfortable.
He senses a familiar, ominous presence.
He saw a round golden ball with a strange flower growing on it.
It was surrounded by an ink-like substance
“Adrian?”
He reached out to touch it.
The ink-like substance recoiled against his touch and directly pierced the golden ball.
A sharp pain hit him in his chest.
Then the golden ball started glowing brightly, and then became dull.
Dominic stared at the ball, his brows furrowed.
It exploded.
Adrian placed his hands on Dominic’s head,
An ominous aura spread through the air.
Roxanne frowned, while Olive subconsciously took a step back, covering her ears.
That isn’t Adrian’s original resonance alone…
Roxanne went to help Olive cover her ear.
Is he using that?
William swallowed hard, his hand hovering over Dominic’s chest.
He looked up at Adrian.
He looks concentrated, determined to save Dominic.
A tinge of envy hit him.
Why does he care so much about a person he just met just for a month…?
It doesn’t make any sense.
Adrian’s eyes slowly darkened.
An ink-like substance spilled from the cracks of his eye.
His hands turned obsidian as resonance passed through them
Almost immediately, Dominic’s body responded violently
The temperature in the room began to rise, and Dominic’s veins began to glow a bright orange colour.
“Here it comes…”
A bright orange light formed on his chest.
Resonance spread from William’s hand into Dominic’s chest.
Dominic’s shirt burned off, revealing his skin.
Adrian’s skin began sizzling, but his expression didn’t change, nor did he remove his hands.
The room cooled.
Roxanne’s resonance felt like a cool summer day, contradicting the heat
Adrian removed his hands from Dominic’s head.
“Okay,” he said, nodding at William.
Resonance rose rapidly.
William was thrown backwards towards Roxanne.
“Roxanne, barrier now!”
Dominic’s body began to glow brighter.
Roxanne created a barrier made of thick vines.
Adrian’s composure straightened.
Flares of fire emitted from Dominic’s body.
Reality bent around them; then, a dark liquid substance pulled Dominic’s resonance into it, and he forcefully compressed the resonance.
Reality bent around Dominic’s resonance, which was shaped into a small ball.
Roxanne watched through a small hole.
“Oh wow… It’s still a beautiful sight to see.”
William too looked.
He doesn’t look like he’s struggling…
There was a squealing sound followed by cracking.
Like something giving way to pressure.
A glowing ball of pure energy gently fell into Adrian’s hands.