Chapter - 6 : True Self

"Bzzz Bzzz Bzzz"

"...Eh? Hmm…"

The sharp buzz of my phone's alarm woke me up. I groaned and fumbled to turn it off, squinting at the screen—7 AM. Why did mornings come so quickly? Still half-asleep, I sat up, my mind foggy from yesterday. Did I really fall asleep right when I got home? It feels like I just closed my eyes, and now it's already morning…

Yesterday was a mess. I learn more new things about the strange events happening recently– prophecy about me, the real great unknown world war,Ahh! Thinking about it made me restless. And hmmm… today is my 'training',right? What kind of training will it be? Today, it is just a normal day for everyone besides me.

Suddenly… the phone vibrated, when I checked it was a message from Jeniff : "Ready for today? It's gonna be epic!"

I rolled my eyes. Epic? Sure, maybe for him. For me, I still don't understand the whole thing, and how does he get my number? Maybe from the principal…

After dressing up in my school uniform, I grabbed my back and went downstairs.

When I opened the door to the kitchen, mom and sis were already at table with some tea and biscuits. Sis was dressed in her work uniform, she is a nurse in RIMS, where my father used to work. My father was just an ECG technician.

"Good morning, Mom"

"Good morning, Max"

"Oii, did you forget to greet me also!" sis chimed in.

"Yea,yeah, sis good morning" I said, sitting down beside her.

"Oh, thank you.. Good morning, my brother.." greeted like a princess in a show

"Ah? Why are you saying like this"

"Ahahah- I think it sounds fun, When I was watching an anime with Diamond I saw this and I thought I should try.."

"Haha– very funny.."

Mom was just sitting and watching our conversation, she looked kind of happy but didn't say anything at all..

As we slip our tea, mom suddenly asks "Max, how is your school going? Making any friends"

"Oh!! Yeah i'm doing good at school" I said with a fake smile,I can't tell my mom about the straight that recently happening and even if I tell they will think that it is just my fantasy only.

"That is not what I expected, I was thinking that you will come cry to me like you used to be" sis started teasing again.

"Haha– I had never do that"

"Ohh, really? but you're still sleeping in class like you did at your last school, right?"

"No…" "Haha– you were popular for that,remember? Everyone knew you as the guy who slept through class"

"Yea, that was my charm,you know!!"

"Haha--sleeping in class is your charm,huh?"

"Hmph… anyway, Sis, is your boyfriend coming over later?"

"Maybe…"

"Okk, if he comes.. Tell me I don't want to meet with him"

"Well… ok"

After breakfast, I rushed out the door saying bye and headed to school.

When I got there, Jeniff was already there, leaning against the school gate. Is he acting like a cool guy? Whatever, it didn't really matter.

"Hey, four-eyes senior!!" I greeted him.

"Ohh!! Hello, Max. And stop calling me that, call me Jeniff"

"Ok, then.. A-guy-who-thinks-he's-cool"

"Well, whatever. Call anything you want"

"I was just kidding, Jeniff"

"Alright alright, we are getting off-topic. Max, meet me after school, okay?"

And with that, he walked off to class.

The school day passed in a blur, my thoughts mostly elsewhere. But I guess no one noticed. During break, I went to meet Aditya, but he wasn't in his class. Where does he go? I'd been out for a whole week, so I have no idea what's been happening. I didn't get the chance to talk to Maya either. I have so many questions to ask her, but I don't know when I'll get the chance.

I wander around the school for a while, hoping to catch a glimpse of Aditya, but no luck. Just as I was about to give up, the bell rang, signalling the end of the break. I realised I was too lost in my own thoughts the whole time.

No use thinking about it now, I thought, heading back to class.

As I approached the door, I took a deep breath and put on the mask—the same carefree smile that I always wore to hide what was really going on. I needed to show everyone that I was fine, that nothing was bothering me. The last thing I wanted was people asking questions I wasn't ready to answer.

When I stepped inside, a few classmates glanced my way. As expected, no one noticed anything off.

"Yo, Max!" one of the guys called.

"What's up?" I replied, keeping up the act.

"Where have you been the whole time in break"

Eh? I really don't recognize who was talking to me,, I thought.

"Well, I was just wandering around the school," I replied casually.

"And what are these three doing? they look like they're watching something on a mobile"

I walked over to them playfully.

"Hmm, you're a kid; you wouldn't understand."

"What? Let me see!" They hid their screen, but I had a good idea of what they were watching—probably some inappropriate videos, knowing them.

I thought, I'll just act like I don't know anything and play along.

As I leaned closer, I could see them chuckling and whispering to each other. I had no interest in whatever nonsense they were watching, but the way they reacted only fueled my curiosity.

"C'mon, guys, what's so funny?" I asked, trying to sound genuinely interested.

One of them, a guy with messy hair, turned to me with a smirk. "You wouldn't get it, Max. It's just… some funny stuff."

"Yeah, right. Funny stuff like what? Don't keep me in suspense!" I teased, crossing my arms.

They exchanged glances, clearly debating whether to let me in on the joke. Just then, the teacher walked in, and the classroom fell silent. I took a seat, relieved that I had dodged whatever embarrassing moment they were about to drag me into.

The lesson began, and I tried my best to focus. But with thoughts of yesterday's revelations and the mysterious training looming over me, it was tough to concentrate. My mind kept wandering back to the prophecy, the world war, and how I fit into it all. I felt like I was in over my head.

After what felt like hours, the bell finally rang, signalling the end of school. I jumped up, ready to escape the suffocating atmosphere. As I gathered my things, my phone buzzed. It was a text from Jeniff : "come to this location"

I went to the location that Jeniff sent, the location was inside the school campus. The small houses in the school that I showed on the first day. When I reached the destination, Jeniff was there again leaning against the pillar. Is he trying to mock me? I thought.

"Hey!! Four - eyes!!" I called out.

"Ohh, Max. Follow me" he said.

He brought me to the open fields of the school. I thought that he was going to bring me inside the small houses; I was curious about what secrets they might hold. But instead, we stopped in the middle of the grassy expanse, surrounded by tall trees swaying gently in the breeze.

"Okay, so here's the deal," Jeniff said, turning to face me. "This is where we'll train to tap into our latent abilities. It's better to have some space, away from prying eyes."

"Train? Like… how?" I asked, still unsure about what this all meant.

Jeniff crossed his arms, looking serious for a moment. "First, we need to see what kind of abilities you might have. Everyone has something unique within them; it's just a matter of unlocking it."

I nodded slowly, feeling a mix of excitement and apprehension. "And how do we do that?"

"According to the book, you are the chosen one, but you could be good or evil, so it depends on this. Only the first page of the book can be understood for now, so it's still hard to figure out" he continued. "but whatever the book says, there is one fundamental rule to know your power–"

"What is it?" I asked, curious.

"Understand your true self"

"True self?"

"Yeah, the training we are going to do is not like physical training, but understanding the power of nature, which is itself understand yourself" he continued "well, I also cannot able to understand myself completely yet"

"Then… how am I going to train? How will I be able to control this at my will?"

"Well, I don't know, try to figure it out yourself." He started to back off, like he is going somewhere.

"Why are you backing off?" I asked.

"I have something to do. So, try and good luck" he said, but before he left "ohh, I forget to mention, after you're able to control your power… there will be a surprise"

"Hmmm.. What surprise?"

But he had left, leaving me alone. Eh? Eh?! I think he was just joking but he had really left me alone.. I felt a wave of frustration rising inside me.

Suddenly, I heard a voice echoing in my head. "Max, I had something to tell you that I wasn't able to share."

"Maya?" I replied, feeling a mix of confusion and curiosity.

"The real reason why I took over your body for a week," she began, her tone turning serious. "You know when you encountered that black figure on the first day?"

"Yeah?" I responded, trying to recall the strange incident.

"It leaked your power, which was affecting your surroundings. It was important for me to step in," Maya continued. "I took control of your body to stabilise your energy and prevent any further incidents, like what you had done in the past—"

"What? I've leaked my power before?" I asked, shocked.

"Yeah, you already destroyed one reality," she revealed.

"What?!"

...

-to be continued.