Chapter 25: Voyager_Almost Everything, Book 2: Introspective

Almost Everything: Book 2, Introspective

(This is a preview to the full release and is a continuation of the first book in the series. The rest of the book is scheduled to be released later in fall of 2025. Thank you so much for everyone's love and support. You guys are the reason I keep writing and working so hard.)

"Please, Please, Please, do not read any further if you haven't finished book 1! This book contains spoilers that could completely ruin the experience of the first book. I want you to experience the series for what it is, and spoiling the ending of the first book will ruin that."

“What does it mean to truly love someone?”

“Can people really change who they are at their core?”

“What if we weren't meant to reach the stars in the sky?”

“...”

“Would that be alright?”

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“...”

So then… you’ve returned? It has been sometime since our last meeting. What? You’re surprised to see me again so soon? Do not misunderstand. I am but an outsider looking inward. This is your story to unfold.

I ask that you look inward also.

But before you go.

Know that I have a piece of advice for you and you alone. Although you were fortunate enough to change previous circumstances to your liking, I must warn you. That will not happen again.

There are no more do-overs.

Good Luck.

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CHAPTER 25

VOYAGER

(The same night after Freya’s birthday party, in an apartment complex south of San Fran Kyoto.)

*Knock, knock.*

A loud knocking noise caused by knuckles colliding with wood on a door was heard.

“Hello, Lai, Are you in there?” Sarah Bellum questioned as she attempted to call him behind his closed door. She had just arrived home after returning to Freya’s birthday party. “Sorry, I took so long. I got pulled over on my way back…” Sarah explained.

“...” After no reply, Sarah set down all the loot she had obtained from her cousin's birthday party on the dining room table.

“No dice, huh? Must be drifting again.” She thought to herself. Meanwhile, inside the room, Ma Lai Gao (Ma Lie Gow) was laying on his bed. On the outside appearance, he had messy brown hair, clear blue eyes, and clothes that had plenty of wrinkles in them. It would seem like he was lost in thought staring at the ceiling, but that was not the case. Lai was currently using his Voyager ability. A unique power that let him have an out-of-body experience as long as he didn’t blink. An astral projection of sorts. A way to separate body and spirit. While in this state, Lai could not hear where his body was nor feel anything it felt. The only sensation he felt was the strain of keeping his eyes open. While in this state, he could fly, pass through walls and objects, and hear from where he was currently floating, like an invisible ghost. His speed was nothing to scoff at either. He could soar across the city in under three minutes flat thanks to his countless hours of honing his skill with the power. It fulfilled the ultimate sense of freedom he longed for without him needing to leave the confinements of his apartment. This was how Lai got all of his information for his and Sarah’s heists. A literal pair of eyes in the sky. When it was time to scout out which families were attending Freya Young’s birthday party, Lai used his skills on the internet to track down wealthy well-off friends of the Young family. He then used Voyager to track them while they went shopping for gifts to see what was purchased. As of right now, Lai was simply using it as a means to escape reality. It was getting far more difficult to keep this charade up. Lai had been using his ability for the last sixteen years and it had certainly taken its toll on his eyes. He could only keep them open for five minutes at best before they would dry out. After that, it would be too challenging to continue using Voyager until he treated his eyes with droplets for temporary relief.

“A city where I don’t exist,” Lai remarked softly, the words almost lost in the ethos. He was sitting on top of the Salesforce Tower, one of the tallest buildings in San Fran Kyoto. Outlooking below the city beneath him, he watched as vehicles and people passed by in the streets beneath. In this place, everything had a tint of blue to it creating a somber atmosphere. People couldn’t see him either. His spirit was completely invisible to every living creature. Lai also couldn’t get a full depiction of what the citizens looked like. To him, they glowed brightly and were only recognizable by face. It was as if he could see their soul over their physical form. Everything outside blended together in a hue of different blues.

Tired of waiting, Sarah opened Lai’s door, only to push trash that was piled up out of the way.

“C’mon, Lai. You need to start cleaning up after yourself.” Her voice held a mix of irritation and worry as she surveyed the chaotic room. She sighed as she saw Lai using his ability with eyes wide open. They looked bloodshot and strained. “Geez… Blink already.” It unsettled Sarah how eerie his gaze seemed while he was somewhere else entirely. Sarah took a glance around the room. The room was an absolute mess. The only area that was even remotely clean was his desk with his computer. Scattered across the floor were soda cans, and fast food wrappers. Even his desk had stacks upon stacks of plates and bowls piled unevenly. The smell of dirty laundry spread into her nostrils. The sight churned in her stomach. Sarah, with food in hand, walked over to Lai in his bed. She then sat at Lai’s bedside. She looked at him and couldn’t help but feel responsible for how he ended up the way he is now. Sarah placed the palm of her hand on the top of Lai’s hand, gently grabbing a hold of it.

“You can come home now, Lai…” She whispered. When Sarah’s mother had passed away, she had nowhere else to go. Her only relatives, the Young Family, left her homeless and on the streets. When she really needed them the most, they were too busy to even show up to her mother's funeral. It was Lai that was the one who gave her a place to live and food to eat. Even though he was only a few years older than she was and dirt-broke, he still offered everything he had to someone like her, and for that, she was eternally grateful.

The two had lived together ever since. That was three years ago, back when Sarah was sixteen. Sarah held a sort of deep contempt for her cousin, aunt, and uncle. Yet for some odd reason, she helped Freya at her party earlier this evening. At first, she wasn’t sure why she turned her vehicle around, but when she looked at Lai, she knew the answer.

“No one deserves to be alone.” The thought lingered in Sarah’s mind, a truth she felt deeply. Sarah had a unique ability, Presage. The power to glimpse into the future of others and oneself at a limit of three hours, however, the future she would see often had a bad ending in store. At times this ability would act at random, which made life very inconvenient for her. While glimpsing into the future, the vision she saw would play out in real-time, making it appear like she was in a trance-like state to those around her. Sarah was only capable of seeing into others' futures unless she had a mirror on hand, in which she could activate Presage manually on herself. Although it appeared useful, it was all smoke and mirrors. In an attempt to change fate, and prevent misfortune, Sarah could preemptively cause something bad to happen to herself in order to balance the scales of fate, taking the misfortune upon herself in another way. Sarah considered it a lousy ability. The bruises on her body tended to agree with her. She had hurled herself down a flight of stairs in order to secure the package she had stolen from the gift table at Freya’s party.

On rare occasions, Sarah could see farther into the future of others, and these visions happened in the blink of an eye. Freya just so happened to have been the person her power extended looking past its normal time limit on. The future she saw was a lonely one. One where Freya ended up bitter and alone, never to find another love, and eventually shutting out others from getting close to her ever again. That is why she had to intervene. She knew better than anyone what loneliness felt like, but when she went through that, someone found and saved her from that well of sadness. Sarah reluctantly let go of Lai’s hand, then she proceeded to pull out a to-go box of stolen food she had taken from Freya’s party.

“Let's see if you can resist the smell of Gordan Romsly’s chicken cordon bleu.” She said as she waved the food over Lai’s nostrils. With no response, Sarah forced Lai’s eyes shut. This caused Lai’s spirit to slingshot back into his body in an instant.

“AH!” Lai shouted, startled by his ability to end early. “Hey! Didn’t I tell you not to” Lai was cut off by the smell of food. Even the leftovers smelled delicious while lukewarm. “Is that from the party…?” Lai asked with a calm demeanor.

“Yes, and It’s delicious too.” Sarah teased as she pulled the food away.

“Hey, what gives? You’re not going to share?” Lai questioned.

“Of course I will. After you clean your room up.” Sarah pressured.

“...” Lai looked away with a nervous sweat.

“Look, I get that you don’t want to go outside, but I’m still a lady you know? I need a clean environment to flourish. I hardly get any sleep as is. Besides, this floor is basically a land of bad endings for me. Each step could be a landmine that could bring forth my end.” Sarah feigned appearing troubled.

“Alright… fine, I’ll clean it. You can stop with all the theatrics.” Lai reluctantly agreed.

“Thank you, good sir. And don’t worry, I’ll help you.” Sarah offered with a smile. Lai looked at Sarah and noticed the bruises on her. He recalled Sarah mentioning she threw herself off a flight of stairs in order to secure the package he had her receive.

“Are you alright?” Lai asked as he gently touched Sarah’s bruises on her arm. “You’re hurt…”

“Yeah. It’s fine. I’ll live…” Sarah flicked Lai’s forehead with her fingers. “Also, what the heck man! Bath bombs!? I could have broken or sprained something. You should have been a bit more greedy in what we stole.”

“Sorry, but no. The last time we tried to do something too big, you did get some broken bones as a result.” Lai explained. In a previous heist in the past, Lai had Sarah steal a highly expensive piece of jewelry, and as a result, Sarah broke one of her legs. He felt lucky that it was just her leg that was injured, and knew things could have been much worse. Both he and Sarah didn’t have insurance. They ended up using the stolen piece as a way to pay for her medical bills, making for a zero-sum game. He felt responsible for that as he was the one who insisted on her using her power for greater rewards, unaware that there appeared to be a limit as to what fates she could alter. He regrets that sickening greed he had back then and has refused to have her steal anything beyond a certain limit of value. “We’ll stick with cell phones and bomb baths.”

“These sorority girls better not be pretty.” Sarah scoffed with crossed arms. Lai had mentioned that he knew a group of sorority girls who were more than willing to buy the bath bombs off of him.

“Eh? Not sure, besides, I wouldn’t touch them with a ten-foot pole.” Lai mentioned.

“I think you’re legally obligated to say that they aren’t as pretty as I am,” Sarah joked, crossing her arms in mildly frustrated with how little charisma Lai had.

“Have you got a modeling contract yet?.” Lai teased.

“Hey…” Sarah seemed disappointed.

“Yeah, yeah. You’re the cream of the crop, now gimme.” Lai reached for the food and Sarah playfully got up and ran out of the room, while Lai gave chase.

“Hey! Get back here!” Laugh chuckled.

The author's narrative has been misappropriated; report any instances of this story on Amazon.

“Your room isn’t going to clean itself!” Sarah expressed, while sprinting behind the dining room table, attempting to loop Lai in circles.

Soon after they became winded, the two began tidying up Lai’s room. In total, they collected three garbage bags worth of trash and a plethora of laundry to wash. When it was time to take out the trash, Lai stopped at the front door. This was the hardest thing for him. Going outside. It was very rare that Lai would leave the apartment complex. It was once in a blue moon. Lai gathered up the courage, but when he tried to take a step outside, his body locked in response before he set one foot out the door.

“It’s getting worse.” Panic clawed at Lai’s chest. His heart raced, wild and unsteady. “I don’t remember the last time my anxiety spiked this badly.” He felt like he was about to throw up. “What if I see her out there?” The thought of running into his ex made him feel nauseous, a wave of paranoia washing over him. He began daydreaming. Running scenarios through his mind. Something as simple as taking out the trash could lead to him running into her again. After all, she did live nearby. The thought of having a conversation with his ex made him begin to shake.

“Hey, hey! It’s alright...” Sarah reassured softly while placing her hand on his back. She rubbed his back to soothe his anxiety-ridden body. She knew what she needed to do. Sarah used Presage on Lai, glancing five minutes into the future. Her vision collapsed in on itself like a kaleidoscope. She watched in her vision as Lai took out the trash and got his hand caught by the dumpster lid slamming on it due to a harsh breeze, then he proceeded to go back inside without encountering anyone. As her vision ended she told Lai the truth. “I saw your future. You’re not going to run into anyone out there. I promise.“

“You used Presage on me?” Lai questioned.

“Yep. So now you have nothing to worry about, okay?” Sarah smiled.

“You didn’t see any bad endings?” Lai asked.

“Nope,” Sarah lied.

“Sarah… I…” Lai felt completely pathetic.

“It’s okay.” Now go take out the trash, tough guy.” Sarah gave Lai a gentle shove out the door.

“Right…” Lai, with newfound reassurance, went outside and down the hall to take out the trash.

“See… You can do it if you try.” Sarah thought. Once Lai had exited her line of sight, she looked at her bruised arm and pinched it with enough force to draw blood. She felt like that was adequate payment to protect Lai from the evil dumpster monster that sought to eat his arm.

Soon, Lai came back with his task completed. To his surprise, Sarah had heated up the food she had promised him before they were done cleaning.

“Come on, eat up,” Sarah said, gesturing towards dinner. At her waist side was a container full of dirty laundry. “I’m going to go throw these in the washer, okay?”

“I’m sorry.“ Lai felt guilty. Sarah was doing so much for his sake, and here he was unable to even do the simplest tasks.

“Don’t be. You’ve already done more than enough for me.” Sarah said with a warm, but tired smile. “Alright, I’ll be out for a bit, I’m going to go shopping after throwing this in the washer.”

“Alright, be safe.” Lai waved as he sat down and began munching on his meal.

“Adios amigo.” Sarah threw up a peace sign and lifted the laundry up, then she headed out the front door. There were no washers or dryers in the housing units, instead, they were down the hall.

Lai quickly finished his meal and walked back into his room. He decided it was time to contact his sorority friend for a payment. He opened up SocialLight on his web browser and logged into his account with the name Malaysian_Sponge_Cake. Then type a name into the account search bar.

[Search Bar: Mavia_Tempest]

Lai clicked on the profile and sent a private message to his client.

Malaysian_Sponge_Cake: Hey. We have those Bath Bombs you were interested in.

(A few moments later, the account replied back.)

Mavia_Tempest: Oh! Awesome. Do you want to ship it to SASQUATCH, DRIVE, PIONEER Road, 85698?

Malaysian_Sponge_Cake: Sure. I can do that if you’ll pay for shipping and handling.

Mavia_Tempest: Absolutely! Also, you’re Ma Lai Gao, the songwriter, and musician, aren’t you?

Lai was caught off guard by the sudden question. “How does she know who I am?” He said aloud. For the last two and a half years, Lai has been off the grid socially. Not once did he invite friends over, or attempt to make plans with anyone. He wished to stay under the radar and not reveal who he was.

Malaysian_Sponge_Cake: Was it the name that gave it away?

Mavia_Tempest: Your username Malaysian_Sponge_Cake, literally translates to Ma Lai Gao in Cantonese.

Malaysian_Sponge_Cake: How do you know of me?

Lai found it odd, considering he wasn’t famous enough to make a lot of money through music. He was an indie musician with only 20,000 followers on his old SocialLight account which has been inactive for some time.

Mavia_Tempest: I don’t. I just know someone who knows you. ‘NORAH’ and I were just talking about you a few months back.

The name he read gave him a heart attack like a jumpscare in a movie or game. Lai couldn’t help but see her face in his imagination. A spew of feelings of hatred, guilt, sadness, and regret filled his heart. It was too much to take on at once. So he, in a panic, sent a desperate text. He knew that even if his account was discovered there was still no way to pinpoint his location. Still, he preferred his privacy.

Malaysian_Sponge_Cake: Don’t tell her about me, please! I’ve been avoiding her for years.

Mavia_Tempest: She’s been looking for you. Of course, your secret is safe with me.

Malaysian_Sponge_Cake: How can I trust you?

Lai had a sense of security inside his room. As long as he didn't leave his bubble and had Sarah, everything would be okay. He even made sure the mail packages he sent had no return address.

Mavia_Tempest: Norah and I aren’t on speaking terms at the moment. It’s too complicated to explain over text, but I hope you can continue to help me out in the future! You are a valuable sales associate of mine.

Malaysian_Sponge_Cake: Okay. Please do not bring her up in the future. It brings back bad memories.

Mavia_Tempest: I’m sorry. I didn’t know. She only had good things to say about you, and how much she misses you.

Malaysian_Sponge_Cake: I’m sure she did.

Mavia_Tempest: Hey, I’ll throw in 15,000 yen (Approximately $100.00 USD) If you send in a signed autograph. My younger sister is a big fan of your music.

Malaysian_Sponge_Cake: Sure, if you promise to keep my identity a secret.

Mavia_Tempest: Deal! She’s going to be so pumped! She talks about you all the time. Mostly about how handsome you are, but I’m often in the car when she plays your music.

Malaysian_Sponge_Cake: Your package should be delivered Friday.

Mavia_Tempest: Thank you!

(Conversation Closed)

“Ugh…” Lai let out a regrettable sigh of annoyance as he leaned back his gaming chair to its limits. “Why today of all days?” he wondered, exasperation spiraling up within him. Lai looked over at all of the dusty music equipment he had compiled in the corner. The gear hadn’t been touched for a few years. Lai took a deep breath to help calm his nerves. “Okay… I just need to know for certain that she's not there.” He thought as he stared blankly at the address Mavia_Tempest sent him. Lai wasn’t actually sure what he would do if he found her, but he had to know if Norah was involved. He found it hard to trust strangers who knew her, considering in the past, Norah had used Lai’s old friends to try and get in touch with him. Lai quickly searched for how to get to the address through the internet and memorized his path forward. Lai reached over toward his desk and grabbed a bottle of condensation and poured a few droplets onto each of his irises.

Lai began to close his eyes gently before forcing them open with great intensity. As he did so, his spirit exited his body in an instant and began hovering aloft over his own vessel. He had already used Voyager once today, so he knew his limit was likely around three minutes at best. Without wasting another thought, Lai soared through the walls of his room and flew out and above his apartment complex. With one quick scan around him, Lai knew exactly where to go.

Meanwhile, Sarah Bellum had just finished loading all of the laundry she carried into the washing machine.

“That's about it!” Sarah said proudly with an accomplished look on her face. She wiped a fake sweat off her brow. She realized that perhaps she may not have time to pick up things at the store as it was getting late into the night. She wondered if it would be too loud to even do a load of laundry.

Sarah pulled out a receipt she found in one of Lai’s pants pockets. It was a receipt from a delivery service that served fast food from a restaurant.

“He's been eating out a lot lately. Geez, we’re too broke to be doing this Lai. That’s 6,000 yen ($40.00 USD) down the drain. I told you I would cook for you.” Sarah facepalmed, stuffing the receipt back into her pocket.

Suddenly a concerned voice asked a question from the entry to the laundry room.

“Hello dear, are you doing alright? You look stressed.” An elderly woman asked politely. Sarah turned around to see Mrs. Peterson checking on her.

“Mrs. Peterson, good to see you.” Sarah greeted. “And, yes, I’m doing fine, thank you.” Mrs. Peterson looked at Sarah’s battered and bruised body and began to worry deeply for the young lady.

“Is that man you’ve been living with hurting you again?” Mrs. Peterson asked as she laid her hand on the shoulder of Sarah.

“No. He’s never hurt me. Like I said before, I’m accident-prone.” Sarah rolled up her sleeves and then displayed her injuries openly. “You see I actually fell down the stairs.”.

“So he pushed you down the stairs!?” Mrs. Peterson thought to herself with a look of pity on display. “You poor girl. Tell you what, if you are in need of a place to stay, you can always stay at my unit.”

“That won't be necessary. I’m perfectly fine at home.” Sarah reassured her.

“My husband is a retired police officer, you know. You don’t have to worry about retaliation.” Mrs. Peterson insisted.

“Please don’t call the police like last time.” Sarah pleaded. “I swear, I caused it to happen to myself.” She gently removed Mrs. Peterson’s hand from her shoulder.

“At this point, I can’t sit back and watch her bad mouth Lai.” Sarah’s frustrations began to build up.”I get that she is trying to look out for me, but Lai isn’t some sort of monster who has me locked up in a cage and keeps me in chains. If anyone is chained down, it's him.” She thought. “Look. I appreciate you, but really, I’m fine. I actually did just hurt myself while falling down the stairs. I just bruise very easily.” Sarah reiterated, a bit more agitated this time around.

“Well if you ever need me, you know where to find me dear.” Mrs. Peterson offered kindly.

“Will do…” Sarah nodded, feeling the weight of the conversation lift slightly, but the worry still lingered. With no other way to relieve stress Sarah began folding dirty laundry for no reason at all.

Above the cityscape, Lai had been traveling through the skies at fluctuating highspeeds prompting to stop every few seconds he could spare to get a grasp on his bearing. Soon he arrived at the addressed home and he hovered at the doorstep where he descended. The house he arrived at was an upper-class model home. He couldn’t tell its color due to everything looking a hue of blue, but he could tell it was painted with a light color. Lai then noticed there was a light on up on the second floor.

“I’m not being creepy, I’m not being creepy,” Lai reassured himself, though doubt crept in. “I just need to make sure she’s not here or in contact with my client.” Lai quietly ascended up toward the window and peeked inside. He was well aware that many could perceive his ability as being a perfect peeping tool if it was ever discovered, but Lai couldn’t see people’s physical vessels. Only their spiritual bodies, which looked amorphous in shape in all parts except in the face. He wasn’t a pervert or a stalker. He just had to know the truth before it got the better of him.

Looking inside he saw a girl lying on her stomach in bed. She was currently on her cell phone texting someone. Knowing his time was limited Lai quickly phased through the window and floated up beside her. He attempted to glance at what her phone was displaying. It appeared as though this girl was Mavia Tempest, his client and the person she was texting was her younger sister Samira Tempest.

“Looks like I was worried over nothing.” A sense of relief washed over Lai’s face. All he ended up observing was two girls fangirling about the discovery of his account and finally uncovering his disappearance.

Mavia: (Also, you’re never going to believe this, but I got you his autograph.)

Samira: (NO WAY!?)

A small smile appeared on Lai’s face as his heart was warmed by the two's interaction. It made him miss performing songs.

“This is it. The reason I made music in the first place. I just want to make things people love and connect with them through song.” Lai began hovering backward out the window after finding his answer. With about thirty seconds to spare, Lai flew upward and stalled under the moon in the sky. He looked at it in awe. Its radiant beam shone brightly upon him and the rest of the city acting as the last bastion of light in the night.

Suddenly, in the center mass of the moon, he noticed something was odd. There was a figure there that hovered ominously, floating above, silhouetted by the moon behind her.

“What… who, who is that?” Lai spoke. His eyes began to focus on the person in question. It was a girl. Her hair was the length of her entire body. It flowed gently although there was no wind, almost as if in water. Her body was glowing pink, contrast to the rest of the blue world around the two of them and it also had a shape to it, unlike the many spirits of those he had seen.

“You need to come find me.” The voice said. Lai couldn’t understand what she was saying but felt as though it was important. Then, Lai blinked and jumped back into his body. He opened his eyes while still leaning back in his chair. His eyes were met with a disappointed Sarah looking directly into his.

“AHHHHH!” Lai screamed.

“AH!” Sarah screamed back.” Sarah.

“YOU HAVE TO STOP DOING THAT” Lai shouted.

“Quiet down! You’re not helping the abuse allegations when you yell like this!” Sarah appeared frustrated.

“You run into granny again?.” Lai said.

“Yeah, she’s sweet but she is stepping over boundaries.” Sarah sighed, "But more importantly, you spent 6,000 yen while I was out stealing for the two of us.” Sarah scolded.

“Lai’s sorry.” Lai apologized in a childish tone.

“You’d better be.” Sarah gumbled.

The two then went to their separate rooms and went to bed. As Lai lay alone under his covers several thoughts began to flood his mind.

“Just… who was that girl I saw? And why did it feel so important? More importantly… she could see me. Does that mean I’m not alone?”

Chapter 25: Voyager

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