Chapter 7: Will It Matter Anything?

"What is that?"

With his eyes barely open, Neo could see a small red light just a little distance in front of him and when he opened his eyes, he was able to identify where the light was coming from.

The red bracelet was floating in front of him glowing just like it was doing last time but that wasn't really what he was concerned about.

The fact that he was back in the dark astral plane suddenly had a lot of thoughts running through his mind.

'Did I die again? Seriously, why did I have to die like this when I was living my dream of having a caring family?"

The light from the bracelet suddenly began to pulsate at that moment quickly calling his attention back to it.

"Was it you? Are you responsible for all of this?" He asked but just as expected he got no response.

"What am I saying, in my former world you appeared in my dreams quite frequently and you showed up and exploded before I found myself in this new world, you have to be at the center of it somehow….."

His eyes suddenly began to feel heavy at that moment which was strange because just a few minutes ago he felt quite wide awake.

"What's going on?"

He tried to resist but this was beyond his control and before he knew it, his eyes were closed shut.

Almost immediately, he opened his eyes to find himself not in the astral plane but in his room and on his bed.

'I see, so I didn't die after all.'

He felt something enveloping his left hand and when he turned to it, he found his mother sitting there with both of her hands covering the hand while she had her eyes closed, it looked like she was praying.

"She must have been worried sick." He muttered as a subtle smile slowly found its way to his face.

"I see you've finally decided to rejoin us young master."

"Huh?"

He quickly turned his gaze to the right where he heard the voice come from to see Nicole standing there.

"Nicole?"

"Don't act so surprised, I was asked to watch over you since Lady Luna was busy reassuring the guests that you were okay, it's been less than thirty minutes since she came to watch over you herself." She disclosed.

"Less than thirty minutes?" He muttered before turning to his mother who still had her eyes closed. "How long have I been unconscious for?"

Most children his age wouldn't bother to ask that kind of question after experiencing what he experienced, most of them would be crying right now but it wasn't news to anyone who had been around him since he was just a toddler that he wasn't exactly normal. Everyone in the house was used to him acting more mature than kids his age.

Nicole wasn't too quick to respond to that question as she proceeded to check her wristwatch and the wall clock first.

"Almost two hours now." She disclosed.

"Oh."

'It's been that long? It felt just like a few minutes to me.'

"So, how are you feeling now?" Nicole asked before leaning closer to him.

She was so close that it was starting to affect his breathing as his face slowly began to turn red.

She didn't seem to be aware of her effects on him as she slowly placed her hand on his forehead to feel his temperature.

"Your temperature seems to be fine."

"Well, I still feel a bit of a headache." He uttered.

"Headache?"

"Yeah, but I think it'll go away if you….kiss my cheek." He blurted, swallowing every semblance of awkwardness that could have come from saying that.

"You want me to kiss you on the cheek?" Nicole asked, taken aback a bit.

"Mhm."

"And you think it'll make your headache go away?"

"Sorry, I can't do that." She shook her head.

"What? You don't think it'll work?" He retorted.

"Just look behind you."

"Huh?"

He quickly turned around at that moment to see his mother staring at him looking a bit annoyed.

"You just woke up and the first thing you're doing is trying to trick Nicole into kissing you, naughty boy."

That expression of annoyance slowly turned into a look of relief as she slowly wrapped her arms around him in a warm embrace.

"I'm so glad you're okay." She muttered, her voice cracking a bit.

'I knew she was worried.'

"I'm sorry to make you worry, Mom."

"It's okay, you're fine now so it's okay." She replied.

There was a little moment of silence between the two before Neo decided to ask an important question.

"What about the party?"

"Well, we can't really start it without you there, everyone's still here but it's okay if you don't feel up to it anymore. We'll just sing you a birthday song and call it a wrap."

"No." He shook his head before sitting up on his bed.

'They worked hard to make this a memorable birthday for me so I can't let it go to waste like that.'

"I feel up to it, we can still enjoy the party." He said before slowly letting himself down from the bed.

"Oh, and what happened to the headache?"

He quickly turned to Nicole to find her looking at him with her usual poker face.

"It's gone now, I guess." He muttered before slowly turning away from her.

Just like he wanted, he was able to rejoin the party as soon as possible and everyone was glad to see that he was doing okay after seeing what happened to him.

Though very late now, the party proceeded as planned, and after about an hour later, it started nearing its end with his parents talking about a few things with their mates and the maids taking care of the used dishes.

That meant that Neo was all alone now but it wasn't like that bothered him.

He was going to use the free time he had to try and piece something together anyway, well, that was until he caught sight of someone sitting outside.

"Hmmm." He muttered before turning to the chunk of cake left in the center of the room.

The person he saw sitting outside happened to be Miriam, the six-year-old girl that was here with her parents and she was just sitting there staring particularly at nothing.

"Want some?"

She quickly looked up at that moment to see Neo standing there with holding two cake slices on two different plates.

"Uhhhh…."

That was the only sound that came out of her mouth because she didn't exactly know what to say.

"Or do you just not like cake?" He inquired. "I'm asking because you didn't eat the one you got inside either."

"Not really." She shook her head.

"I guess that's fine." He shrugged before slowly sitting beside her, dropping the piece of cake he brought for her in between them.

As soon as he sat down, Miriam slowly pushed away a little creating more distance between them.

"I don't know why you're shifting, I'm not going to bite you." Neo sighed before slipping a spoonful of cake into his mouth.

"I know, it's just…."

Her voice was so low and tiny that if Neo didn't have a good ear he wouldn't be able to hear what she was saying.

"Oh, yeah, you're just shy but it's okay, there's no need to be shy around me."

He thought that would ease a bit but she was actively avoiding making eye contact with him with both of her hands held very close to her body, an indication that she was nervous.

'I guess I'll have to try something else.'

"I heard your parents say you awakened your ability when you were three, that makes you a prodigy, right?" He asked.

"Yes, that's what everyone says." She responded with a little nod.

"It must be nice being a prodigy, huh?"

"Not really? Everyone's always looking at me."

'Oh, and I guess she must not like that.'

"Well, they're only looking at you because they admire you."

"I still don't like it." She blurted her voice going up a bit with a little quiver.

'Wow, she really despises attention. Well, there's really nothing I can do about that.'

There was a little moment of silence between them before Neo decided to break it.

"So, can you show me?"

"What?" She inquired.

"Your ability, everyone in this house other than me has cool abilities but none of them has a water ability. Can you show me what it looks like?" He requested, leaning a bit closer to her.

"Um…I guess I could show you something." She replied with a bit of hesitance in her voice.

"Thank you." Neo smiled.

She slowly opened both of her hands at that moment and almost immediately numerous bubbles began to form there each one floating up as soon as it appeared.

Before long, they were surrounded by numerous bubbles with Miriam looking up and Neo looking around with an amazed look on his face.

"This is cool."

"It's the first spell I learned, refreshing bubbles, the bubbles will heal any injured person nearby," Miriam explained.

She didn't know it, but her voice sounded clearer now and she didn't have that timid tone either.

"A spell, I think I've heard Father mention that before." He uttered. "Anyway, I wonder what type of ability I'll awaken, personally I prefer Mom's lightning, but the old man's flames wouldn't be bad either…"

His voice slowly dropped at that last part as he slowly brought his gaze down.

'Will it even matter anything, though?' He said inwardly, his mind shifting to the red bracelet at that moment.