by C. Louis S.
Leon was suddenly aware of himself standing in the room next to Kali, Micaela, and Mrs. Sol. He blushed, not knowing if he had been moving and crying in real life, or just in his mind. He didn’t want to open his eyes. He knew they would be giggling and smiling at him. How much of that was in my mind? How much of that was real?
The piano song still quietly played in his ear. The longer he stood there with his eyes closed, the more embarrassed he felt. He decided that he couldn’t stand like that all day and ventured out with one eye slightly opened.
He didn’t see anything. He opened it a little more and only saw the white fruit in front of his face. It hadn’t moved since he took a bite. He opened both eyes and lowered the fruit. Micaela and Mrs. Sol were nowhere to be found and he was sitting on the grass next to the tree. He checked his shoes and they were still on his feet.
He looked to his side to see Kali. She too was sitting and she still had the fruit near her mouth. Her eyes were closed, but tears streamed down her face. She was smiling.
Just looking at her smile made Leon tear up again. He remembered everything he had seen and felt and his cheeks were instantly wet.
What is this fruit?
He brought it up close to his face to examine it where he had bitten it. He didn’t even remember what the fruit had tasted like, but his memory told him that it was delicious. He wanted to taste it again just so he could know what it tasted like, but even the thought of seeing Nona and Papa fade away again was emotionally draining.
And yet, he wanted to taste it again.
“Leon?” a small voice asked.
Leon looked over at Kali. Tears streamed down her face even still. She blinked several times. “Did you—” she began.
Leon nodded solemnly.
“Mom and Dad?”
“No,” Leon shook his head slowly. “You saw Mom and Dad?”
Kali nodded, but correcting herself, said, “More like felt them. It’s like they were there, but I know they weren’t there. Oh, Leon, it was beautiful. Have you ever felt anything like it in your life?”
“No,” he said slowly.
“Oh, I can almost still feel it. Christ has saved us from the Dark Void and I thank him for it.”
“Is that why I felt that way?”
“Excuse me. I don’t mean to interrupt,” an aged voice said slowly. An old man stood before them. His suit coat was white. His pants were white. His shirt, shoes, and tie were white. Even his hair was white.
Smiling he said, “I’m sorry, but Micaela and her mother wanted me to tell you that they were just taking a walk around and will be back soon.”
He nodded and then turned to go, but stopped mid spin and looked at Leon and then Kali. “Did you enjoy the fruit?”
Leon smiled and slowly nodded to thank the kindly, old man.
“What kind of fruit is it?” Kali asked with a child-like tone of wonder.
“We simply call it the Fruit of the Tree of Life. It can change your life.”
“Why does everyone here say the True Light?” Leon asked.
The old man stepped forward spryly. “Have you read Disciple of Light yet?”
“Yes. Just book one,” said Kali. “We can’t wait to read more.”
The man frowned slightly. “We’ll have to get you the rest. Come with me.”
He passed them, heading for the door that they had come in from. He began telling a story expecting them to be right behind him. Leon quickly got to his feet and hurried to catch up.
“In the days of The Avalon, there were no superpowers. No colored lights held any power. There were just Light and Dark in an eternal struggle. Dark or Darkness was sometimes called the the Dark Void. It is a formless being of malice and torment. Light is the power of the Creator and gives life to Mother Nature and to all living creatures. Two generations ago when the Void gave man these superpowers it was to enslave them, distract them, conquer them.”
The man talked like he was telling a story around a campfire. The more the man talked, the more questions Leon had, but he didn’t dare interrupt. The question that excited Leon most of all was to find out what powers he could have if he joined the True Light. If they follow the Creator, they must have some amazing powers.
“Now the word light is a term that is used to mean too many things. Too many things, indeed. We are followers of the original Light. The One True Light of Christ. And that is why we call ourselves the True Light. We don’t want to be mixed in with all the other colors of light that have twisted what Light really is.” He scoffed, “Giving people superpowers. What will the Void come up with next?”
Leon couldn’t hold back any longer. “What powers does the True Light have?”
“Powers?” The man stopped. He eyed Leon and Leon shrunk within himself. The man’s gaze was looking into his soul and he could feel it searching. What will he find? Surely he can feel dark energy within me. But wait, I don’t feel any dark energy. I have no reserves of light energy at all. That fruit completely drained me. I don’t feel any power inside of me.
“No powers. No magic. True Light reverses the effects of the Void on our bodies. When you die you won’t turn to mist. The only powers you need are courage, compassion, and a warm light for all mankind to follow.”
Leon felt betrayed, cheated. No powers? A warm light? I don’t want to be warm. My house is warm enough. I want to fly. I want to do awesome things. I want … something that will beat Randall. I don’t need this True Light baloney. I don’t need compassion. Randall won’t bow to compassion. But he will bow to me when my dark powers are stronger than his.
Just then, Micaela and her mom popped around a corner. Micaela was holding two books.
“Here, I got you these, Kali. Oh, and they’re for you too obviously, Leon. They’re the next two books. I hope you enjoy them.”
“I see you met Flynn. He’s the leader of our small but blossoming group,” said Mrs. Sol.
“Blossoming indeed. People everyday are looking for the True Light even when they don’t know it. Remember that. Micaela, you have two excellent friends here.” He winked at her and continued down the hall after graciously excusing himself.
On the way out, Kali couldn’t stop talking about what an amazing building this was. She went on and on about the Tree of Life and the garden and the castle itself. She talked about how she wished that she had always known about the True Light and how she couldn’t wait to tell Mother and Father.
Leon was silent.
He scowled to himself. This was just a big waste of time. It won’t help me beat Randall. Micaela tricked me. It’s definitely not what I was looking for.
During the car ride back to Bethel, Micaela turned around in her seat in the front and asked, “Leon, are you okay? What happened?”
“Nothing.”
“I know that face, Leon.” Kali said. She was smiling so big it was annoying. She was going to try to make him talk. She would resort to tickling if nothing else worked. He was prepared for that, but he didn’t want to let it get to tickling. He was in no mood for tickling and especially not in front of Micaela and her mom.
“Stop it,” he said coldly but quietly.
“Come on, Leon.”
“Kalina. Not now.”
There was silence in the car for a moment before Kali went back to talking with Micaela. Minutes later, she tried again.
“Come on, Leon. The castle was so beautiful, and don’t you remember tasting that fruit? How could you be in a bad mood after that?”
Leon said nothing. Micaela’s a loser without powers and she’ll never be cool. True Light will never help her be anybody.
Kali moved closer with tickling fingers.
“No,” Leon said, flashing the whites of his eyes. He was trying to be firm, but keep his voice down.
She waited a few more minutes before her tickling fingers lunged. Leon caught them in mid air, surprising her. “Stop it, Kali,” he burst out.
“Then just tell me what’s wrong. That was the most amazing experi
ence of a lifetime and you’re Mr. Grumpy Gills over there.”
“Fine, I’ll tell you. True Light doesn’t have any superpowers. It’s great and all, but it’s lame. I thought this was going to be the answer to my problems, but it’s nothing. They tricked you into believing in their stupid group in their stupid white castle, but they’re never going to be anything because they don’t have powers. Ya happy now, Kali? Huh?”
Kali was stunned. Micaela abruptly faced forward in her seat. There was awkward silence for the rest of the ride.
The car pulled up to Leon’s house and he hopped out before the care completely stopped. He stomped up the front walkway and threw open the door. On the other side waited a very unexpected guest.
chapter 18
Kaz Warwick