Niall was on a flight back to L.A.
Seated next to him was a pretty woman in her mid-thirties whom was fast asleep, her baby quietly staring at the young actor in what could only pass for the innocent interest of a pure soul.
Not that Niall even registered the attention.
Over the intercom, he could vaguely hear the pilot announcing that they were halfway through the journey.
Vaguely because Niall was concentrated on something else.
Something only he could see.
Hovering above his palm like revolving miniature planets were his plated icons.
The obscured icon remained as is, the young actor unsure of how he’d unlock it.
The fountain pen remained silver-plated, implying he was still evidently just a good writer.
As for the film slate, half of its silver-plated frame had bled into gold.
That was the mark of improvement. A mark of Niall gradually evolving from a good actor into a great actor.
For a while now, Niall had been curious as to how he’d improve his acting.
However, having felt it yesterday whilst acting out Julien’s speech scene, the young actor was now certain of what he had to do to become better.
Sure, the Gift of True Aptitude made it such that he could tap into a transcendent state of assimilation and understanding, it wasn’t exactly a cheat code to skyrocket his skills to the max.
Rather, the gift worked more like a tool that uncapped his bottlenecks, hence why he was the only one thus far whom he’d noticed had a diamond aura.
Which meant, the gift didn’t intrinsically change the things that he as an artist needed to do to truly become the best possible version of himself.
Instead, only through consistently involving himself with new and different roles or ideas, optimizing what he knew and applying them in real time would he improve upon his skills.
It was so easy in hindsight, now that Niall truly thought about it.
However, given he’d been typecast for so long and pigeonholed into doing the same things over and over again, it only made sense that the insanity of it had equally narrowed his thought process.
Not anymore though. Never again.
Now, with his memories of the future, Niall believed he could effectively maximize his knowledge to land several roles and give himself as much artistic freedom as he wished...
But then again, being the kind of person that he was, Niall’s conscience wouldn’t leave him be.
Which was why, immediately after dismissing the Gift of Discernment, along with the hues and plated icons hovered over his palms, Niall leaned his head on the window of the plane.
With it, a brackish sigh escaped his lips.
Taking advantage of future opportunities was nice and all... but when he considered taking someone else’s opportunity, the young actor felt like a pit was being dug in the depths of his gut.
There were so many others trying to survive in Hollywood, some of whom had only gotten their lucky breaks after they’d landed roles he himself was now considering taking.
That, no matter how he spun it, felt extremely distasteful and selfish.
That wasn’t the kind of person he was raised by his parents to be.
That certainly wasn’t the kind of person he wanted to be.
That was why, after mulling it over a bit more, Niall decided against it.
He would take opportunities, yes... but only those that had either been squandered, or had never seen the light of day based off his future knowledge.
Although it didn’t excuse the fact that a butterfly effect was bound to happen nonetheless, it at least made Niall feel like he was doing things his way. The right way.
Was it a hypocritical thing to do? Maybe.
Was he a hundred percent comfortable with the idea? Certainly not.
But he would do it nonetheless.
Because that was the moral high ground he had chosen to stand on.
With that, a relieved sigh escaped his lips.
As if sensing the lifted burden off his chest, the baby whom had been quietly staring at him all suddenly giggled, her mirth on full display.
Or maybe she was just exuberantly excited he’d finally noticed her? One really couldn’t say with babies.
They were enigmas, to say the least.
In any case, Niall played with the baby for a few seconds, cooing and making funny faces that got her laughing even louder, all of which eventually stirred her mum awake.
Appreciating the young man for keeping her daughter occupied, the woman soon retrieved a feeding bottle a couple minutes later, plugging its sucker into the baby’s mouth to feed her.
Niall on the other hand, casually whipped out his small journal and began working on the outline for the final act of his novel.
ACT IV - A FARM BOY’S MÄRCHEN
Ch. 21 - Convergence
Tristan arrives at the last point of disruption. This time, the shadowy culprit has arrived ahead of him. Yet, he seems completely relaxed, almost as if he’d been expecting him. Tristan is left deeply confused. That is until the big twist is revealed.
Ch. 22 - In Plain Sight
The revelation hits Tristan like a thunderclap. The dead stranger who gave him the token is the very same shadowy culprit, and the true instigator of the war across Aelderon. His name, is Rayleigh. He is the previous bearer of the token of fate.
Ch. 23 - What Must Be Done
Rayleigh explains how he faked his death. He also explains his actions were a necessary evil to return the world to its peaceful state. His gamble to give the token to someone completely outside the sphere of ’worthy hands’ has paid off. Now, Rayleigh demands of the token for safekeeping. Tristan refuses, stating he doesn’t trust him in the slightest given all he’s done. The two clash in a fierce battle.
Ch. 24 - Clarity
After narrowly emerging on top, Tristan exchanges a few words with Rayleigh who tries to convince him again of his reasoning. Listening to him, Tristan realizes that Rayleigh’s ideals, worked in parallel to his. Almost like a cause and effect. It’s this realization that gives him clarity. Clarity on what he has to do to. So, he--
"Ladies and gentlemen, welcome to Los Angeles,"
Hearing the pilot over the intercom, Niall was pulled out of the climax of his story’s plot, his pen scritching to a halt.
"We’ve just touched down after our flight from England. Please remain seated with your seatbelts fastened until the aircraft comes to a complete stop," the pilot continued, his tone calm and patronizing as he concluded;
"We hope you enjoyed your journey and wish you a pleasant stay."
Staring at the last line of his outline, noticeably glad he was on the final stretch to rounding up the nook, Niall closed the journal with a soft clap.
’I’ll round it up when I get home.’ he thought to himself, a thin smile tracing the edges of his lips.
About fifteen minutes later, their plane had touched ground.
Half an hour later, Niall was out of the plane and making his way to the parking lot.
Upon locating his car, it only took a couple seconds before he’d zoomed off into the bustling city streets of Los Angeles.
The moon was already high up in the skies, the cool evening breeze washing over him as it ruffled his hair.
As one would expect though, Niall soon found himself stuck in traffic.
Taking the opportunity, the young actor sent his agent a text, informing him that he was back... something he did out of formality rather than sentimentality.
Not even a moment after he’d sent the text, a call came through.
Niall picked it through the vehicle’s infotainment system. Thankfully, it wasn’t from Callow.
"Hello Pa." he greeted warmly.
"Hello son. How’ve you been?" Clark replied with a fatherly warmth.
"Hangin’ in there. Just rounded up filming in England. How are you and Ma?" Niall followed up.
"We’re good. And it’s nice to hear that. Not too hectic, I hope?"
"Nothing I can’t handle," the young man smiled in response.
"Alright, then. How about the book? Any progress?" Clark asked, the interest evident in his tone.
"I actually just drafted the outline for the final act. Should be done with it by the day’s end,"
"And don’t worry, you and Ma will be the first to read it." Niall added for good measure.
Before his dad could reply though, his Mum’s voice suddenly echoed through the phone;
"Eat good food, Niall! If you come back home looking skinny, there’ll be hell to pay!"
"Watch where you’re waving that spatula, honey!" Clark remarked from the other end of the line.
"You can either get out of my kitchen, or get hit by it! Your call, cowboy."
Already chuckling at his mum’s warnings, Niall let out a small laughter upon hearing their exchange over the phone.
A few seconds later, Clark then spoke, a tinge of amusement in his tone;
"Well, I just called to check in on you,"
"Thanks Pa. I genuinely appreciate it."
"Don’t be a stranger." Clark added warmly.
"I won’t." Niall reciprocated.
With that, his Pops hung up.
About an hour and a couple minutes following that, Niall finally arrived home.
Not the least bit interested in settling down properly, he pulled out his laptop, placing it on the kitchenette countertop whilst leaning forwards.
Fingers racing across its keyboard, he began searching for something he’d been considering on the way over.
A movie from the future... one that had performed so terribly at the box office, it had been lauded as the worst movie of the year.
But Niall was certain.
If he could get the lead role in the movie and equally produce it instead, he might as well fast track his career from being typecast to being offered various roles.
The only downside, was that it would be a fairly long-term wait and an equally hefty investment on his part... one he was more than willing to make.
A couple minutes later, Niall found what he was looking for, his brows arching in genuine surprise.
With a seeming impressed gaze and a little bob of his head though, he then chose to contact the writer of said movie via their social media handle.
Only after he’d done that, did he sort out his traveling bag, freshen up, and then finally, focus on writing the final Chapters of his novel.
N.B:
Advance Chapters are now available on Patreon! Kindly support the book if you can at;
patreon.com/Caer07
Also, if you’d much rather prefer to read on Royal Road, it’s also posted there. Please support it there too if you can.
Lastly, Chapter uploads will now be Monday to Fridays. Its sort of the only way I can build a good backlog without burning out and compromising the book’s quality.
Thank you so much for reading, and for supporting the book. I look forward to having you along for the ride.