6 Encounter

On the summit of a cliff, on the other side of the planet, a woman in despair looks down at the waves crashing against the rocky shore, determined to end it all.

Adam decided to go to Greece to get his mother something to eat before she leaves for work. Deciding to fly all the way over to Greece, flying over the Atlantic Ocean, the Mediteranean sea, and sifting through the Achean sea's various islands.

Over an island that Adam doesn't know the name of, he spots this distressed woman, arms stretched wide to either side, as she lets her weight fall over the cliff's edge.

Adam focuses, slowing time down, and speeding up his flight. The woman didn't make it far at all, Adam managed to grab a hold of one of her hands as he landed on the ground, pulling her back to safety.

"Where the hell did you come from?" Asks the woman, on top of Adam, intimately close.

"I, uh-" Adam hesitates to tell this stranger that he flew over to save her at great speed. "I was jogging up the path when I saw you take the leap."

Their faces inches away from each other, the woman recoils off of Adam, curled up on the floor, she begins weeping.

Uncomfortable, and wanting to leave the situation, but still fearing the woman's commitment to kill herself, Adam decides to stay.

"I don't know what types of problem's you're going through, miss, but I can assure you it's not worth taking your own life."

The woman doesn't respond, her head hidden between her arms and knees. Adam can't help but be smitten by her. She's about Maria's age. Long sleek light brown hair, well taken care of warm beige skin, wearing a short white bikini cover up that excellently compliments her long gorgeous legs.

"If you need someone to vent to I'll gladly offer an ear." He says.

The woman looks up, her pretty face dripping with mascara. She snivels. "What's your name?" She asks.

"Adam, pleased to meet you." Says Adam, offering a greeting hand.

She politely takes it, a smile on her face. "My name is Olivia."

They both sit on the edge of the cliff, letting their legs rock back and forth, as Olivia tells Adam about her woes.

"I don't know how but I feel going on this trip made things worse." Says Olivia.

"How so?"

"I don't know, he just feels even more distant. Since we got here we've spent a total of three waking hours together, he seems to be busy with other things, even on vacation, at all times."

Adam allows her to continue.

"I know it's capricious of me to complain about something like this. Look at me with my champagne problems, trying to take my own life as I vacation on the Greek isles." She lets out a mocking laugh.

Adam, unsure of how to respond, tries to veer the conversation away from her struggles.

"You've talked a lot about your husband. What about you, what do you like to do? Is there something you're passionate about?"

"Definitely, my work."

"What do you do?"

"I'm a psychologist. I'm currently working at a hospital back home." She replies.

"Awesome! So you like helping people."

"All I do is listen to people, sometimes all someone needs is someone to share the crazy things going through their head to feel a little bit of calm, or at the very least relief for getting things out of their chest." Olivia notices the irony of her statement and laughs. "Thanks for listening." She says, brushing her hair behind her ear.

"All I did was listen." Says Adam.

Olivia leans over to Adam, kissing him on the lips. Adam reciprocates, intoxicated by her scent, unable to detach himself from her lips.

She jerks away. "Sorry. Moment of vulnerability."

"No, I'm sorry, I don't want to make it seem like I'm taking advantage of you."

Oliva looks at him, not saying anything, lost in his dark green eyes. "Which hotel are you staying in?" She asks.

Adam wasn't expecting this question to come up. "Uh, the Hilton?"

"Oh, I didn't know there was a Hilton on this island." She says.

"There isn't. I came from another island."

"Which one?"

"That one." Says Adam, pointing at the first island he sees.

Only after seeing Olivia's confused expression does Adam realize he pointed at an abandoned island.

"You know what, you were completely honest with me. Fuck it." Adam jumps off the cliff. He doesn't fall, just glides around in the air. Olivia's eyes bulge and her mouth drops.

"How?" She asks.

Adam is about to recall the story when he remembers that he went all the way out here to get his mom something for breakfast. "Shit! Sorry Olivia, I just remembered I have something to do."

Olivia seems hurt. "You don't have to tell me how you can fly. We can just accept it for what it is. You can fly."

Adam closes in for another kiss. This time Olivia opens her mouth, liking his lips, inviting him to open his mouth too. Adam opens his mouth, letting Olivia's warm tongue intertwine with his own. Olivia puts her arms around Adam's neck. Adam puts his hands around her waist, lifting her up in the sky with him.

Olivia doesn't notice she's no longer grounded. Adam smoothly glides them down the cliff to the beach.

"I really have to go." He says.

Olivia looks around, just realizing she's no longer in the same place. She looks over at the cliff she was on a moment ago. "Can we meet there again tomorrow?" She asks, pointing at the cliff they came from.

"Yeah, definitely. Does that mean you changed your mind about jumping?"

"For now." She jokes.

"I promise to take you out somewhere." He says, floating away from her, over the sea.

Adam takes one last look at her before teleporting back home.

He arrives at his apartment living room, Maria getting ready to walk out the door.

"Hey, you okay?" She asks. "You look like your life's flashing before your eyes."

Struggling to get Olivia out of his mind, Adam realizes he came back empty handed.

"Sorry mom, I went to get you something to eat before you left." He stops, unsure if he should let his mom know he met someone.

"That's okay, baby. I can get something at work." She says, putting on her earrings. "I love you, promise to do your best." She says, walking out the door.

"Always." Replies Adam to an empty room. His thoughts still on that last kiss.

He stares at the ocean waves, listening to them roar, wishing he hadn't left Olivia at the beach alone.

Convincing himself to take it slow with the married woman he just met, and not wanting to spend the day jerking off, Adam changes the location his house is connected to with a wave of his hand. The warm sunny beach is replaced by a cool dark forest, the one where he met Kiyana. He steps out of his house, entering the forest. He takes a seat on the same boulder he sat on the other day to communicate with the forest.

Something is different today; the trees seem restless. Like a sixth sense, Adam feels danger approaching. He opens his eyes, looking up to see a man in a suit leap towards him. Adam jumps out of the way as the suited man crushes the boulder Adam was sitting on beneath his feet.

"Who the hell are you? Where's Kiyana?" Demands Adam.

"This planet is under new management." Replies the man.

"What did you do to Kiyana?"

"The same I'm about to do to you."

Adam doesn't take any chances, attacking the man's mind, unable to get through due to the shield he has around it. The thought of hurting him is not strong enough to take the barrier down, Adam launches at him, throwing a left hook at his body. The man lowers his elbow to mitigate the blow to his torso. Able to withstand the blow, he returns one of his own, aiming at Adam's face. Unable to dodge, Adam is thrown backwards as the man's fist smashes against his skull.

Not allowing Adam to recover, he leaps over at him, this time hitting his mark, smashing Adam beneath his feet. The man picks Adam up by the throat. With his whole body numb, Adam is unable to resist.

"I'll kill you and take your power too." He says.

"What did you do to Kiyana, you son of a bitch." Grunts Adam.

The man smiles, tightening his grip around Adam's neck. Adam's vision begins to blur, slowly fading out of consciousness, only able to ward off the attack on his mind by pure chance.

The forest makes contact with Adam's mind, reinforcing his barrier.

Through the sheer power of will, Adam doesn't allow his consciousness to fade. He grabs hold of the arm choking him, and squeezes hard on the man's wrist.

The man shoots out a scream of pain, before he can react to Adam's grip, he is hurled away, crashing against a tree, letting Adam drop to the ground.

Adam looks up to see Kiyana standing where the man just stood.

"Killing an Eternal is one thing, Lucas, absorbing their power is something I can't allow you to get away with as a Guardian."

The man releases himself from the indent his impact made on the tree. "There's no place for the weak in this world I am about to create."

"Who is this guy?" Asks Adam, catching his breath.

"He's this realm's newest Eternal." She answers Adam.

"Giving you that power was a mistake, Lucas. You're clearly not fit to wield it." She yells at the man.

"I'm the only one here fit for this magnitude of power. You two fools just waste this gift away, diddling around like children. What impact have you made on the world? Why is it that all of humanity isn't prostrating at the mere mention of your names? It is because you lack ambition. It is because you are not fit to wield this power!"

Lucas charges towards Kiyana, wanting to get rid of the greater threat first.

The connection Adam made with the forest his abilities enhance, now Lucas's movements don't seem as fast as they did before.

Before Kiyana can respond with her own attack, Adam spears towards Lucas. Still able to follow Adam's movements with his eyes, but unable to respond as quickly, Lucas sees Adam swing his fist towards him. Unable to dodge, Adam's fist makes contact with Lucas's rib cage. Adam can feel the crunch of bones as a sharp pain runs up his arm.

The impact sent Lucas flying into the air, Adam teleports further up in the sky, then rockets towards Lucas, spinning his entire body, and meeting Lucas mid air with a kick that sends Lucas flying back down to the earth.

Lucas crashes heavily on the ground like a meteor, leaving a small crater where he landed.

Adam continues his assault, flying down to crush Lucas under his feet as it was done to him, striking his mind with the aid of the forest.

"This isn't over!" Yells Lucas before teleporting out of the forest.

Adam slows down and smoothly lands back on the ground. Overwhelmed with fatigue, he falls to the floor.

"Adam!" Kiyana approaches to make sure he's okay.

Adam turns to look at her, his face pale, and unable to see Kiyana through his blurry vision, he falls to the ground, everything around him going black.

He opened his eyes, and the first thing he saw was his mother. She smiles at him.

Adam looks around groggily, lying on his bed in his room.

"How did I get here?" He asks.

"When I came home there was a forest that looked like it got hit by a tornado instead of the beach. I went in and Kiyana got me out of there, took me to her home, which is quite lovely I have to say, but she explained what happened. Are you okay, honey?"

Adam's mind slowly recovers the events.

"It was different compared to the time I fought Kiyana. This guy had every intention of killing me."

"Kiyana said he wanted to absorb your power to add it to his own. I didn't know such a thing was possible." Maria can't help but show her concern on her face. "Adam, I spoke to Kiyana. She says rejecting the power is possible." She waits for Adam to respond.

The mere suggestion infuriates Adam. "And what, go back to my life as a fucking loser? No thanks."

"You weren't a fucking loser."

Adam gets up from bed, not wanting to have this discussion.

"Where's Kiyana? I'm leaving, don't be so worried about something bad happening to me! The best thing I can do for myself is to continue working on getting a better control of these powers!"

"Adam, I didn't mean-"

Adam disappears with a flash and crack, leaving his mother alone with the aftermath of his words.

Adam returns to the center of the sun for the first time in a long time. Recalling the incomparably soothing experience to be like no other.

Once again he opens his eyes, adjusting to the light, taking in with every sense what goes on around him. He feels the immense pressure, pushing down on him. He focuses on his body, encouraging it to withstand the heat and force of gravity as it collapses entirely on him, at the center of the core.

Like he did with the forest, he begins to open his mind, attempting to make contact with the sun. He feels a titanic presence before him. Overwhelmed, he cautiously makes contact with it, the small pinch of contact he makes drowning him with information. He feels the sun, the infinite explosion at its core, how it pulses slowly like a colossal heart, thump, thump, thump.

The feeling of having the sun's mass draw in on him is replaced by a feeling of expansion, the energy and force being pushed outward. He can feel where the sun meets the cold touch of the infinite void before it.

As the sun, he is conscious of how they, at a now more comprehensible speed, travel through space, traveling along with the rest of the galaxy towards the infinite void beyond the boundary of space and time.

Within the stream of information, Adam senses the sun's death consciousness, aware that it will eventually collapse under its own weight and the possibility of becoming a voracious black hole.

The existential knowledge of it's own death is balanced by a knowledge of possible rebirth, an explosion of great potential.

He feels everything around him, the very instant the atoms collide and become anew they acknowledge their place in the universe, no simpler task than to be used as fuel for a near infinite explosion traveling through creation.

Adam's ego dissolves as he becomes one with the sun. His memories, emotions, wants and needs dissipating within.

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