Chapter 153 – Pendant

[2009 – October]

His every note perfection, as the quiet melody he played seemed to cast a spell on his surroundings, drawing in all those listening.

A melody so hauntingly beautiful, that she had never even heard something comparable echoed through the air. It was light and sad, filled with quiet happiness and intense yearning.

Without wanting to, Sahra's thoughts drifted to her husband, to the day they met, their first date, their wedding, ...

She recalled the overwhelming joy and laughter that had filled their small apartment the day that she had told Mark that she was pregnant.

Her tears fell relentlessly as she relived the happiest time of her life while holding onto her daughter tightly, watching the young man's fingers dance over the keys of the piano.

His eyes were closed as he drew note after note from the instrument, turning the world around him silent with his music being the only exception. It was as if reality itself paused for a moment just to listen to him play.

Sahra wasn't sure how long he played but when the last note sounded out, slowly fading away, only breathless silence remained.

Gently taking hold of the little owlet that seemed to have almost fallen asleep on Kylie's palm while listening, the young man sat her down on his own shoulder, the tiny featherling directly snuggling up close to his neck before closing its eyes again.

Kylie also seemed to be in a daze, captivated by what she had just listened to as she curled up in her embrace, looking at Elijah with eyes filled with adoration and wonder.

"It's called 'La Chaleur'.", the young man stated quietly, breaking the tranquil silence around them as he turned towards her with his beautiful soul-stirring eyes, "I wrote it to remember."

A tremor went through Sahra's body as she heard those quiet words, her lips pressed together to stop herself from crying again. And before she could take hold of herself, the young man had already taken his coat and walked away.

She looked around but it was as if he had vanished into thin air. Even stranger though was the fact that there was no crowd, no passersby that had recorded him playing the piano, even though it was the most beautiful thing that she had ever heard.

It was as if only she and her daughter had heard him play. As if only the two of them had been allowed to listen to his music.

"Mommy, look.", Kylie called out, pointing to the now-empty seat beside Sahra.

A small black pendant in the shape of a flower was lying on the cushion.

…

I wasn't a mind reader or an empath but if I focused my senses, it was almost impossible for a normal human being to hide their emotions from my eyes. This meant that I had naturally picked up on the young mother's pain and worry, her daughter carrying the same shadow in her heart.

I didn't know the origin of those emotions but that hardly mattered as I had no plans of inserting myself into the life of strangers. Still, the young girl's obvious love for the piano had made me want to share my music with them for a few moments.

I had erected a barrier though so that only the two of them could hear me play.

At this point altering the perception of normal humans was almost too easy, no matter their number.

The 'pendant' though was just something that I had left behind on impulse. I wasn't sure why I did it, though if I had to name a reason then it would probably be 'instinct'.

I couldn't sense the existence of fate, couldn't see how its strings interwove to form this reality, but I trusted my instincts as a Realm Lord very much. Not to mention that there was also my curiosity and a hint of adventurous spirit that made me anticipate what might come of this.

After all, I only strived to control my own fate, not my surroundings. The world being mostly unpredictable, was what made it beautiful after all.

I may have some future knowledge but that was only intel, not experience. What I knew about the future also wasn't absolute or in any form the whole picture.

Truly living in this Universe was vastly different than just knowing what might happen at different points in time, not to mention that I had little interest in interfering in events that had no impact on me.

Living a fulfilling and interesting life beyond all the trouble and catastrophes was what I was aiming for.

The unknown and unexplored were what I wanted to see with my own eyes. I wanted to watch a thousand stars come into existence and extinguish. I wanted to walk on the surface of worlds that no one else had seen and would ever see.

For now though, I was just content to live my life at Jean's side, surrounded by friends and family while I slowly advanced on my path, growing into my power and seeing what else fate had in store for me.

"What are you thinking so hard about, my love?", Jean's voice sounded out from my side, her hand coming up to brush away a few stray locks before she cradled my cheek for a moment, her thumb caressing my cheekbone gently as she rested in my embrace.

We were waiting for Laura in front of the bathroom for ladies as she had to pee after power-shopping with Jean for two hours straight, as we planned to go and meet up with Yukio, Ellie, Pietro, and a few Hellions at a nearby fast food joint. We planned to get some takeout and smuggle it into the movies with us through my barriers.

Pietro had been going on and on about some low-budget thriller that he wanted us to see together. Yukio had unfortunately fallen easily to his rather shameless begging.

What followed was naturally Ellie caving in and Jean being too soft-hearted to let them suffer on their own. I, on the other hand, had figured that if I had to suffer too, best to drag a few others down with me, and so I invited/coerced the Hellions as well.

"How do you know that I was thinking about something? Couldn't I have just admired you?", I asked quietly while smiling lightly, gazing into Jean's warm and curious green eyes.

"Your eyes.", she replied while tiptoeing and leaving a kiss on my lips, smiling tenderly, "They tell me everything I need to know."

Leaning down, I left a kiss on her cheek as I answered with a whisper in her ears: "I was just thinking about how much I enjoy being with you."

Her gorgeous eyes lit up in joy while a beautiful small smile drew up the corners of her lips. Though she didn't say anything in response, and just looked up at me with tender affection, her hands coming up to gently caress my cheeks and comb through my hair.