Growing Up 16

Sitting in meditation, Bill took in a deep breath.

It had been a couple of days since he met with Captain Trapano, Fia was still working in the kitchens, Ricky was still running, and Sasha would be back today.

On top of that, Ranse had surprisingly gotten his parents to sign his promissory note and was now being trained in the MCT building.

'No not surprisingly.' Bill thought. This wasn't the United States, hell this wasn't Earth. He couldn't use assumptions based on his past life.

Ranse's parents had signed the nine-year-old boy up for service in the Marines until the age of forty. In his past life Bill had loved his country and was proud of his culture, but it would have been an insane proposal, one quickly shot down, if his children had come and asked such a thing.

In this place though, how would a civilization react to sea monsters, superpowers, and the lack of connection between communities?

How would those people act in response to the one-perceived stabilizing force in their world?

Bill had found the answer. On small islands such as Vallipo, the people venerated the government.

Ranse's father was the towns sheriff, the family was well off, but on explanation of what Trapano offered the family wasn't just willing to send off their son; they were proud to do so.

After all, from their points of view, the Marines didn't just make Vallipo a wealthy island. The navy literally connected the entire ocean. The World Government was the one source of stability in this archipelago world.

Thinking on this, Bill knew his history on Earth. Large bureaucracies were never efficient, while Vallipo was a well-run economy, surely there were less well-run economies. When he took to the sea, he would see just how well this behemoth performed.

Exhaling slowly Bill cleared his mind of thoughts.

"In nature, from the hair on one's head, from one's vital organs to the tips of one's toes, there is not a single spot that cannot be controlled with one's consciousness".

This is what Trapano had told him.

He went on to explain that Life Return was the enlightenment gained from viewing one's body as an extension of their consciousness. They were in essence, one in the same.

There were only two ways to train for it, as far as Trapano knew.

One way was to be put in a life-and-death situation. In such circumstances, the bodies survival instinct could align with the conscious link to reality. People who became enlightened this way often used an ability similar to Life Return, albeit unconsciously.

The other way was to find enlightenment through meditation by loss of the ego. In this circumstance, in absence of the ego, body and spirit would become one. This was the meaning of Life Return.

Once this was accomplished, traditional notions of strength became relative. Since by controlling the entire body, a person was capable of strengthening every single speck of his flesh and blood.

Furthermore, Trapano told Bill about willpower and how it was manifested during the process of enlightenment.

When Bill pressed this point, which was so close to what Ms. Angie had spoken about in the past, Trapano only shook his head and said for him and most others, the manifestation of willpower was not something that could simply be called upon.

However, he said, for those beings like the Commodore, it was possible.

As Trapano explained this, Bill began to dissociate the word he knew as 'willpower', used to describe a person's drive to succeed; and 'Haki' which seemed to describe a person's spiritual influence on the wider world.

After all, Haki was not simply a person's drive to finish a hard job, and willpower was not the physical extension of a person's 'will' to the outside world.

Thus, in his mind Bill would disassociate these worlds. When he had done so, many things fell in place.

There was also the question of his 'Meditative Pushup'. According to Trapano, the technique was a useful but greatly inferior version of Life Return. It was something that he had created to help Marine recruits get a sense of their bodies. Most people, as Trapano explained, would never be able to lose their ego's for long enough to gain the Life Return. Even more so for children like Bill.

The ocean was dangerous, and those who used the Meditative Pushup would have a greater chance of living past their first life-and-death encounter.

Thinking on the ways described by Trapano, Bill thought the second way should be doable. After all, hadn't he died and been reborn? There must had been at some point a time when his ego disappeared, and if he found that, he should be able to master the Life Return.

Sitting in meditation Bill cleared his mind more and more. During the years he spent as a baby, he had gotten quick at entering the meditative frame of mind. Back then he had experienced thoughts just appearing from nowhere and he tried to understand it.

Now though, he would try to go lower. Down to a place where even errant thoughts couldn't reach.

As he sat in meditation, perceptions and assumptions faded…

First, the outside world, this was the space of dreams.

Second, it was his sense of awareness. To the point he had been all those years ago.

Third, it was his sense of self. Time together with it.

And he went further.

Forth, formed an unconscious mindscape, was this real? Bill could not think, all he had in this place were... urges. In this space he could see, though there was no light. He could feel, but there was no thought.

Fifth, it was a contradiction. Looking forward without eyes he urged to go back but compelled to look forward.

Sixth, in the dim obscurity, it looked back.

*HUUNNN* *COUGH* *COUGH* *COUGH*

Snapping back to reality, Bill inhaled as hard as he could, resulting in a fit of coughing. Unable to process anything, the boy laid on the ground beside his bed heaving in exhaustion and fear.

But fear of what? Bill didn't know how this had happened. Hadn't he just started meditating?

Looking down at shaky hands and sweaty palms

'There's nothing to fear' Bill thought to himself.

In the moment he thought this, using his right hand, he grabbed on to his left wrist.

Looking down at his trembling hand he repeated again, this time aloud: "There is nothing to fear."

Then there wasn't. There wasn't shaking, the sweat dried, the coughing stopped. Bill didn't need to say it again.

Looking down at his blackened arms, Bill felt a sense of familiarity. Familiarity how? Bill couldn't think of why he should be surprised. This world was not what he knew, these people were not the humans he knew.

In this moment, only thing he knew was his own will, and he was not afraid.

It was unknown to him how long he sat beside his bed looking at his blackened arms. He had started his meditation after breakfast and *Knock *knock* *Knock*

Looking towards the door, Bill saw his nanny walk in and look at him, she paused for only the briefest second, but he knew she was alarmed.

He could feel it. Although he wasn't afraid, as she spoke, he didn't like this emotion from her. It wasn't his Will.

Ms. Angie: "Ehem, William, Ricky is here for you. Sasha's ship is coming into port, you'll have to run if you want to meet them."

Standing up in one smooth motion everything returned to normal, and Bill gave his nanny a smile saying: "Great!"

As the pair walked out of his bedroom, he turned again to her and said: "Ms. Angie, I'm really thirsty and starving to. Can you make extra dinner tonight?"

Back to her normal self, Ms. Angie replied: "Of course, it's been a big day."

With that Bill said bye to his nanny and mother before running out of the house. There Ricky stood waiting impatiently.

Looking at Ricky, the first thing Bill said: "You should have come inside!"

Nodding his head, Ricky replied: "Don't have time, come on we have to run. I bet I make it to the docks first… readysetgo!"

As soon as he said that Ricky took off running, Bill laughed at Ricky trying to pull the same trick he had.

Seeing the boy run his hardest Bill stayed just one step behind. Not until the final stretch did Bill allow himself to take the lead, and even then, he made sure he didn't win by too much.

*huff* *huff*

Ricky: "Dang, how come you beat me?!"

Shaking his head, Bill replied with an even tone: "Well, of course I beat you. You'd been exercising for what, six months? Well, I've been doing it for two years.

You're really fast though, slower than Fia, but probably faster than Ranse!"

Rolling his eyes and he put his hands on his side he said: "Ugh, Ranse and the cannon girl."

During the time Bill had spent with those two, Ricky had been on a one-track mind. So except during their shared classes, he never met with Fia or Bill, and to the best of Bill's knowledge hadn't met Ranse since he stopped playing with him.

Nodding his head to Ricky's lament, Bill replied: "You know, they're both going to be in the Marines, probably all five of us will be together during recruitment.

Looking at the ship as it neared the dock, Bill spoke again before Ricky and said: "Oh, here they come."

Due to its main industry as a shipyard, Vallipo Island had deep water ports. The boys watched as the crew of large vessel finished completely furling the sails while men from the ship came on the dock with large ropes to secure it.

Ocean-worthy ships in this world were far too large to get too close to most docks, Vallipo Island's stone dock was no exception. So, the last step of the process was fitting a large wooden ramp between the stone dock and the ships bridge.

This process was systematic and in only a few minutes the ships passengers embarked one by one.

Somewhere in the middle of the crowd, Bill saw Captain Zima.

Behind the big man, was his family. Last in line was a nearly ten-year-old girl with blonde hair and sharp facial features.

Seeing their friend, Ricky began waving excitedly. While Bill was looking at her, his attention was more placed on the straight sword which was half her height, that she had on her back.

It would have been impossible for her to miss the two boys as by now Ricky was shouting for her to come over.

Motioning to her parents, she walked over to Ricky and Bill in measured steps. As Ricky was about to speak, she held up one hand and said calmly: "Riccio, William. My two immature friends, during our time apart I've seen the world. I've trained with the greatest swordsmen alive and found my life calling…."

As she continued her speech, somewhat bragging and somewhat serious Bill didn't say anything but listened while Ricky's happy face began to drop.

"… And that with this very sword I will bring justice to the ocean."

Thankfully, for his sake Bill figured, Ricky hadn't had an outburst. So, like usual, Bill asked the question he knew the little girl wanted to be asked: "So how did you get that sword?"

Still speaking in a serine voice Sasha replied: "In our time apart, I found the greatest swordsmen alive. I went and begged him for fifty days before convincing him to teach me."

Nodding Bill asked: "Oh cool, what's your teachers name?"

Puffing out her chest, Sasha answered proudly: "My teachers is the glorious Marine Knight T-Bone! Through his methods I…"

Face fallen even more; Ricky could no longer keep quiet. Interrupting her mid-sentence, he said: "Er… Sasha, you got a booger just there."

*WHAT?!* with a yell that betrayed the girl's serine behavior, Sasha began checking her nose. As she did so Ricky said with a yell: "OH MY GOD, SASHA ZIMA IS PICKING HER NOSE!"

As eyes across the dockyard gathered on the trio, Sasha, one finger up her nose, visibly paled before looking and yelling: "RICKY!"

Moving like lightning the girl ran quicker than the boy could react, and in one fell swoop hit the back of his head.

Seeing Ricky crash to the ground, despite all of his efforts, Bill only thought: 'Well, you get what you deserve.'