Chapter 32 "Sybil Magnus: Part II"

Chapter 32
Sybil Magnus
Part II

“Hey, Knapp? Are you okay?”

Knapp looks up from his cup of iced coffee. He is staring at the young woman, who is sitting at the same table across from him, in disbelief. “Sybil, what are you doing here?”

Sybil raises an eyebrow in annoyance. “What do you mean by that question? Isn’t it obvious that we’re on the date right now?”

Knapp briefly glances around at the interior of the coffee shop. He recognizes it as the first place where he was on his first date with Sybil ever. 

How? Why…?

He looks back at his first girlfriend. He asks, “Where is Lo… La… I mean, where is he?” He begins to realize that he can’t remember his name.

“Who?” She asks.

Knapp picks up his smartphone that has been sitting on the table to check today's date. October 17, 2038.

He hastily turns on the camera app on his phone only to see the younger version of himself. A 16 year old. Is this time travelling? Is this Jikan’s doing again? No… if it was her doing, then there would be two of me…

“Knapp?” Sybil says his name again but this time she sounds more worried. “Is everything ok? Are you feeling unwell?”

She reaches for Knapp’s hand, but he quickly pulls it back.

“How did you meet me?” He asks.

She tilts her head to the side a little bit in a complete confusion. Her face starts to redden out of embarrassment. “Why of course, we met at the freshman orientation. I’m surprised that you remembered it. That day… you pointed out that my shoe was untied. I would’ve died of embarrassment if I tripped that day!”

That’s her… But how…? Knapp frowns in his deep thoughts. Why are we here right now? Why is she alive? What the hell does it mean?

“Knapp, you’re acting really odd,” She says worriedly. Knapp begins to notice that the outside is rapidly turning darker, as if there is an eclipse in action at this moment. 

“O-of course I am… You were supposed to be dead," he says. “How are you here?”

Sybil’s usual pink eyes are now different-- with gold color. She asks with a deep distorted voice, “And whose fault is it that I died?”

Fresh blood is suddenly pouring out of his mouth, down her chin, on her lap, and then on the floor. She suddenly gives out a loud shrieking scream, making the entire world shake.

~*~

PLANET ORVADON

Knapp coughs repeatedly immediately after he throws up on the floor right next to his bed. He does not even have time to run to the bathroom so to avoid making a mess on the bed, he decides to choose the closest spot on the floor.

Damn, that dream felt so real. He thinks to himself as he collapses back into his bed. He then checks on Logy who is still asleep next to him. I forgot that he is way too deaf to hear me. I hope I didn’t wake up anyone else.

It’s been 10 years since Sybil’s death. It still feels like yesterday when Knapp watched Sybil dying with Ketsu still in her arms.

He gets up and stretches out his arm. He needs to clean his vomit before he goes back to bed. Otherwise, it will smell horribly in the morning. 

They have been staying at a rental house on Planet Orvadon, just one galaxy away from Earth. They decided to stop by on the way to Earth in order to regroup, to restock their food and supplies, and to test and maintain their brand new spaceship, which was gifted by the President of Rosa… Er, what is her name again?

Knapp rubs his aching forehead. He makes careful steps not to wake up Logy as he is a light sleeper and can easily feel vibrations from his footsteps. 

Just as he closes the door, a loud yet familiar voice startles him. “Dad, finally! Here you are!”

“Ketsu, is that you? What are you doing up so early?” Knapp places his fists on his hips like any father normally does as soon as he sees Ketsu running towards him. Is it me or is he a little taller than before? Did he have another growth spurt? 

“Dad, please listen to me!” Ketsu says desperately with tears in his eyes. He takes a few moments to breathe after he seemingly has run for so long. “T…there’s something wrong with this place. I kept running around and looking for someone… and I finally found you!”

“S-slow down,” Knapp says. “You’re speaking too fast. What did you mean by looking for someone?”

“Anyone, I mean! You, Logy, Katja, Clear… and others! I haven’t seen them except you. For days… no, weeks!”

“Weeks? Didn’t we land two days ago? Alright, you need to go back to bed,” Knapp says as he gently pushes Ketsu, trying to make him return to his bed. “You probably had a bad dream.”

“Have you tried to draw out your power?”

“Kid…” Knapp is starting to feel irritated at this point. He then makes several steps on the way to the bathroom only to be followed by his son. “I’m tired, and I need to go to the bathroom to get cleaning supplies. I am not feeling well, okay?”

“Don’t go into the bathroom!” Ketsu shouts as he grabs his father’s wrist right at the front of the bathroom door. His tone softens. “Please… Can you stay with me?”

Knapp gives a sigh. “Fine,” he mumbles. Soon, his son lets go of his wrist. “But I still need to use the bathroom, and then I’ll be right back with you.”

“No, wait!!”

What the hell is with him? Knapp frowns again after he shuts the door in the bathroom. He begins to gather a few cleaning supplies. When he leaves the bathroom, Ketsu is gone, to his confusion. I guess he gave up and went back to bed?

He returns to the bedroom he shares with L… What was his name again? Logy? Right, Logy. This time he is looking at the empty bed. Thinking to himself with the cleaning supplies in his arms, Where is he?

He walks around only to find a spotless area where he had vomited. Huh? Did Logy clean it?

He places the cleaning supplies on a dresser sitting against the wall across from the bed. He raises an eyebrow as he mumbles, “Wait a minute…”

He takes one more look at the whole bedroom. The dresser has moved from one side of the room to another, which is across from the bed. Also, the night stand is at Logy’s side instead of his. Did Logy also move a couple of pieces of furniture? And since when did we get a ceiling fan?

This can’t be right. Knapp lifts his hand, trying to draw out the power of the universe.

Nothing.

“Ka… Kawee? Ka-woe?” Knapp is trying to call the universe. He returns to his bed and sits on it, trying to concentrate on creating something out of the universe energy.

After fifteen minutes have passed, the Universe Warrior decides to get up and leaves the bedroom back into the hallway where he met his son not too long ago. What was his name again?

This hallway is way longer than he remembers. He enters the first room only to find that it is an empty and ordinary bedroom but when he leaves, the hallway changes once again. Instead of being straight all the way like before, it has corners and turns now. Every time he enters and leaves a room, something changes.

Eventually, he finds someone in one of the rooms -- no, two people, actually.

“Sybil?” He asks. Suddenly he has an urge to throw up but somehow holds it back. Wait, am I dreaming again? It would make so much sense if nothing makes sense here anymore.

He pinches his own arm only to wince at the sudden pain. Okay, I am not dreaming. Who is controlling reality this time? Is she even the real Sybil?

“Knapp! I’ve been lost for a long time but this girl found me… She also helped to lead me to you,” Sybil cries as she throws herself into Knapp’s embrace. Knapp barely has time to react when he catches her in his arms.

“W-what’s going on?” Knapp asks. “What is this place?”

The girl with blue eyes and blonde hair in a ponytail shrugs her shoulders, as if she is saying that she has zero idea.

“We are trapped. An enemy is hiding somewhere and waiting for the moment to strike all of us down,” Sybil explains. 

“An enemy? What about… Ceeee… Ja… John…” Knapp is getting frustrated every second. Why the hell can’t he just remember his own friends’ names? His comrades whom he had known for at least a decade? He tries again, “Ketssss… Kat…”

“Knapp?” Sybil waves her hand in front of him. “I believe the enemy is also trying to manipulate our memories. And…” She gestures her hands all over everywhere. “The reality.”

“And who is this girl?” He asks.

“I don’t know. She is either deaf or just can’t talk. Like I said, she found me,” Sybil says.

“And you think the enemy… They are trying to confuse us by changing the reality? What the hell is this place?”

“It’s because they are after you. The power of the universe,” She says. “The enemy’s name is Eclipse.”

Chapter 32
Sybil Magnus
Part II

Chapter 32
Eclipse
Part I