"What is the thing that drives people to do good in the world even at the cost of their lives, or yet still drives someone to climb the tallest mountain on Earth?" He asked with a delighted grin.
"What's with the question, Titus?" Dominique said sleepily, her weary face drooping onto the library desk.
"Just take a guess. English class made me feel extra.. " He paused, looking for the right word. "Philosophical today," Titus insisted.
"Okay, maybe… um… money or the circumstances at the time. I really don't care, let me sleep." She begged.
"It is willpower, Dominique. Isn't it obvious when you think about it? Nothing can be done without the desire to do it," Titus said happily.
"I've heard enough, leave me be," she replied, her head still glued to the table
"How can you be sleepy from English class? Mr. Gilmour is a good teacher, he barely gives us any homework; the only thing that is remotely bad about him is how long he talks." Titus stated, Monique stared at him hollowly, then she smiled wryly.
"You know what? I'm leaving here to sleep somewhere else." Monique said with an annoyed voice, she stood up and walked away from Titus.
"Sure walk away now." Titus silently retorted, his gaze shifted to a clock above the library entrance. The second hand was moving slowly.
Why the clock not working properly?
Titus quickly thought to himself, he shifted down to see Monique, only to see she was walking unnaturally slow. He blinked, thinking it was his eyes deceiving him, he couldn't process what was happening. But when he rubbed his eyes, he saw that she had slowed to a complete halt.
He looked around to see if other people were seeing the same thing he was, they were not.
Everyone around him was seemingly frozen in time, his heart sunk; in his peripheral vision he could see two small shadowy figures moving silently around the library, opening books then placing them back.
Titus tried to move, but he couldn't, he tried to hear but he couldn't Every limb in his body was paralyzed, he was effectively deaf and lame.e could only watch as the figures carefully sifted through the pages of every book in the library, its presence both baffling and unsettling.
"At long last." He said. " I have found one of the Joseppelis." The shadowy figure said with a coarse voice. His body and his partners grew in size to that of a human stature, the dark like mist surrounding them disappeared.
"Hugo, we will be heading back to headquarters." The shadowy figure muttered in a grave tone and expression, he surrounded the book he held in what seemed to be a dark mist, and out of it he brought out from what seemed to be the cover of book a shiny stone that looked incomplete.
The translucent stone seemed to change color from a shade of red to orange to red again. It started to emanate a strange pressure which the 2 men struggled against. One of the men's eyes constricted, he raised his hand toward the stone then stopped.
"Hugo, try not to let the stone mess with your mind. Let's go." He said.
"Sure but don't you notice that kid can see what we are doing? Hugo asked.
"Really? I am sure there are no extraordinary people here."
Hugo held his shoulder and pointed to Titus who was frozen in place to the left of them.
Titus who was looking at them through his peripheral vision looked away; both of them approached him and stared at him. Titus would have horror etched on his face if he could move.
"You are right, he is conscious but only Mandala users would even have a chance of being conscious. But I can't see anything from him... weird."
"He might be able to hear us." Hugo warned.
"It doesn't matter, I don't think he's affiliated." Miguel then kept quiet, his shadow darkened and Hugo jumped inside, Miguel thereafter. They were gone.
What... How is it possible for someone to jump into their own shadow?
Everyone in the library started to move again, the clock started to move normally. It was as if someone decided time would flow again.
Were they the ones who paused time? Did other people see what I just saw... I'll ask around.
From the entrance of the door someone approached him.
"Titus, what's good how are you doing?" he asked.
"Hey.... Asher, did you perchance see people walking slowly?" Titus asked
"What do you mean?"
"Nevermind."
. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
In a rundown building during an early morning in Mexico city, 2 figures emerged from nothingness, they both walked towards a door. When they opened it, 20 men and women stood before him, all waiting in silence. At the center of the room sat a man in a crimson red trench coat, lounging on a throne.
They dropped to one knee as soon as his eyes met the man on the worn down throne.
"Vossa Graça, aqui está sua relíquia conforme o pedido." Miguel handed the man in red the stone relic. He took it from him, his expression grave and eyes looking at the Relique with adoration and a deep yearning.
"Miguel, Muito Obrigado, you have proved yourself very useful to us. With three of these shards I will have enough power to deal with the northern scourge. As of today you will be O Diretor das Ilhas Britânicas" He said with a refined voice.
"Thank you." Miguel said, he bowed his head even lower.
A man among the 20 people protested.
"Why, meu senhor? After everything I've done for you, now I'll be demoted? That.." He stopped then fell down to the ground, his body started to spasm violently, water started to leak from his mouth akin to a small stream. Those who were in the room watched as he writhed on the floor…
The movement stopped. The boss suddenly grinned from ear to ear, then he stood up from his throne.
"This meeting is over. Everyone is dismissed, except Miguel and Hugo."
---
---
It was a quarter past midday and Titus was walking back from a restaurant, Asher who was farther ahead was waving his hand, gesturing to Titus to walk faster before the pedestrian signal turned red.
"Asher, why are you waving your hand? I'll be there soon." Titus snarked.
Asher then waved his hand more frantically, his face was stricken with fear.
"LOOK LEFT!!!" Asher shouted urgently.
Confused, but instinctively looking left, Titus froze as he saw a car speeding toward him—mere meters away. His heart skipped a beat. His body was frozen in shock, and blood rushed to his head in a rush of panic.
No
Titus thought, he couldn't get out of there quickly enough to escape.
The car ran over him and left as quickly as it came.
Asher closed his eyes and recoiled his head, he didn't want to see what had become of him. "What, there's no way he died, did he?" He said to himself, tears began to well in his eyes. He couldn't believe it, Asher turned his head to the road to confirm the worst, but to his shock and relief, Titus was not on the road.
Asher looked around to see if maybe he was fast enough to not be hit, or maybe he was and his corpse was laying around somewhere on the concrete, he brushed aside the morbid thought but he was nowhere to be seen.
. . .
Am I dead? Where is this place? What the hell is happening?!" Titus shouted, his voice frantic. He tried to open his eyes but the pure brightness of the place he was in prevented him.
He could feel that the ground he was sitting on was smooth, it was not like the concrete road he was just in.
An indescribable warmness washed over him.
He squinted his eyes open, he could see a white figure in the distance, he could make up that he was wearing white, though everything around him was pure white as far as his eyes could see.
The man took one step and he moved a dozen meters closer to him, Titus could see him better, ancient in appearance he had dark skin and his hair was a gray afro. He wore a white tunic and his eyes were a very pronounced shade of brown, he had a diamond apparition around his iris.
He stopped in front of him.
"Can't greet your ancestor?" the old man asked, his voice deep and tinged with frustration.
Titus blinked, he couldn't form a thought. He kept quiet for a long while.
"Who are you? Where am I? And why are you calling yourself my ancestor?"
The old man stared at him, he frowned then he looked at him warmly.
"You look exactly like me when I was on the earth... I am your ancestor and not an angel." The man stated.
Titus was now able to open his eyes well, the vast expanse of the white space before him was overwhelming. He stood up.
"You continue to call yourself my ancestor so I will not waste my time asking you again. Where am I, am I dead and can I go back to the place where I came." Titus asked
"You can rest assured you are not dead, we are not in heaven, hell, or anywhere on Earth. You are in a place much different from anywhere you may know." He pointed to the ground referring to where they were.
"You are likely here because you almost died just like many of your predecessors. Am I right?"
"You are surprisingly right, anyways can I go back to Earth, preferably my school." Titus admitted.
"Yes, you can go back anywhere you want just picture it. When you are back in the mortal world, ask your father about Mandala. He will tell you what you need to know." Tofara explained. He came closer to Titus then he touched his eyebrows. He proceeded to whisper to his ear
"Go back home, young man."
Titus's eyes burned with a sudden heat, his very vision was being stretched and pulled by a force internal. His surroundings began to twist and morph; the bright and sterile white eternity gave way to the warm, earthy tones of the world.