“Felix… Felix, wake up!”

His eyes flew open as he sat up straighter than a parade soldier. Felix rubbed his eyes groggily as though he had actually been sleeping— No. He must have passed out somehow when he went through the portal—

“Get up, sleepy head.” A small hand tugged at his forearm playfully. “C’mon, c’mon! It’s almost time! Gods, how can someone be late for his own birthday?”

Felix took a cursory look around as the small footsteps pattered away, leaving a plain brown door slightly ajar. It didn’t take a second glance to recognise his surroundings. He was back in his house. In his own room, to be specific.

Everything was as he remembered it, from the posters of breakdancers on the turquoise wall to the five hundred kilogram weights that he used to train his telekinesis, hanging on the anti-gravity racks. Even the bed he was still sitting on didn’t feel all that small either, despite being only long enough to accommodate a teenager.

He stood up and took a good look at himself in a conveniently positioned mirror. The man— No, the boy now— instinctively reached for his chin, feeling for the stubble he would come to sport some twenty years later. It was as smooth as it could get. Felix’s eyes softened as his memories came flooding back to him. After all, there was no forgetting the fateful day he became an orphan.

Balloons and a buffet of food greeted him as he walked down the stairs, taking his time to take in the sight of his old house. A large sign that read ‘HAPPY 13TH!’ hung on top of the main door, while photos of his family were pinned against the wall.

Felix narrowed his eyes as he noticed the setting sun through the window. This wasn’t right. If his memory served well, his entire family had gone to a theme park for his thirteenth birthday. It wasn’t until dark before they finally decided to leave.

And his parents never made it back home.

“Happy birthday, lad.” A familiar voice caught his attention. Felix tilted his head in confusion, staring at the man walking towards him.

“Look at you all grown up, young man.” Alcaeus Vulcan gave him a soft pat on the shoulder. “I’m so proud to call myself your godfather.”

Godfather…? I never had a—

“Happy birthday, big bro!” A small figure threw itself at him from behind, hugging him tightly. Surprise flashed across Felix’s face before recognition settled on it. The teenage boy embraced his five-year-old sister as Vulcan patted her head lightly.

“Father, you’re here already?” Marcia piped. “Oh, this is going to be the best day ever!”

Felix shifted uncomfortably. Gods, this is a new kind of messed up.

“Weren’t we supposed to go to a theme park?” he asked testily. It was obvious that he was in Marcia’s twisted delusions, but he had to shake her out of this as quickly as possible.

Anger blinked in Marcia’s eyes for a millisecond, before joyful innocence quickly covered it up.

“The theme park is down for the week.” His mother’s voice drifted from the kitchen. “Real sudden, but nobody could have predicted that.”

“I thought your sister would’ve been disappointed; she’d been begging for us to go for the past month.” His father walked down the stairs. “But you’re a mature girl. Aren’t you, Marcia?”

Apollo Pagonis wrapped his arms around his children. “Happy birthday, my son. I love you. I love you both.”

Felix’s eyes welled up at the sound of his father’s voice. Gods, what he would give to stay like this forever…

But he couldn’t. And neither could she.

“Marcia,” Felix began. “I need you to listen to me—”

“Hmm?” Marcia looked back at him with an innocent smile, her big round eyes blinking slowly as though pleading with him.

“I… I’m not— This isn’t real. None of this is real.”

“What are you talking about, Felix?” The girl tilted her head in an adorable manner. “Is this not good enough?”

“It is,” Felix whispered. “This is the best birthday I could ever have, Marcia. But it is not real. This never happened. We went to a theme park and… And…”

Words rose up in his chest but remained stuck in his throat.

The sound of squealing brakes as the vehicle barrelled towards his family.

The frantic screams as his parents attempted to swerve out of the way.

The desperation in his veins as he put up a force field, only for the impact to knock him and his sister out of the vehicle before his shield could reach his parents.

Everything was flooding back, accompanied by his guilt strangling his conscience.

“Everything’s going to be okay, Felix.” Diana Pagonis’ voice snapped him back to the present. “This is a safe place.”

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Marcia was standing across from him with her family now, and they were all smiling serenely at him. Felix closed his eyes and took a deep breath to muster the strength for what he was about to do.

“No.” He raised a shaky hand, tears clouding his vision.

“What are you doing?” Vulcan’s smile faded.

“I’m sorry…”

“Son, it’s alright. It’s us,” Apollo said. “Put down your hand.”

Tears streamed down Felix’s face, his palm glowing brighter by the second. He shook his head and pursed his lips like a wilful child. Every mote of his being was screaming for him to give in, to embrace the false memory.

“Please, my boy…” Diana stepped forward, her eyes pleading with him. “Please don’t hurt us. I love you… We love you.”

“I love you too— I will never stop loving you.” Pink lit up in his pained eyes. “But I know you’re not real. And it is time for this illusion to end.”

Vulcan, Apollo, and Diana screamed as psionic beams tore through their torsos cleanly. Felix gritted his teeth, forcing himself to blot out their screams. He increased his power output, and the three people burst into pink dust, dissipating into the air.

“What are you doing?” Marcia screamed, pulling him away. “No! Mom, Dad, Father! No, come back… Come back to me, please! Stay with me!”

The psychic did not stop there. He clenched his fists as he released more of his telekinetic power. His house shook as though an earthquake was running through it. Furniture smashed against the walls. Birthday decorations flew around in tiny hurricanes. Food hurled themselves onto the floor.

“No, stop it! Stop it!” Marcia’s fists pounded against his back. “You’re ruining everything!”

Felix relaxed his fists and the destruction finally ceased. His sister sank to her knees, sobbing loudly.

“I hate you… I hate you!” Marcia stood up violently, shoving hard against him. “Why did you do that? This was supposed to be the best day of my life! My family… You took my family away! You monster! You— You…”

“It’s not real, Marcia.”

“Shut up, I don’t care… I don’t care! I just wanted to see them again. I just want to have a family again! One more day… Just one more day is all I ask for. But you ruined everything! You destroyed everything! We were supposed to have a celebration at home instead of going to the theme park! And… And then—”

“Nothing else comes next,” Felix said grimly. “This is it. There is no end, no beginning. This will be the rest of your life, trapped in an eternal loop.”

“What’s so wrong about that?” Marcia hissed. “At least I get to be happy. At least nobody would’ve died! It’s all my fault. If only we’d just stay home… If only I hadn’t suggested going to the theme park…”

“None of this is your fault—”

“Stop lying to me!” Marcia covered her ears and shook her head violently. “Stop— Stop telling me the truth! Why won’t you leave me be? Why are you here?!”

“Because you need me, sister. Marcia, look—”

“You’re not my brother! You… you’re just someone who looks like him! My brother is dead! My family is dead! I have no one! I…”

A flash of light ran through the house as birthday decorations faded from the now-faded walls. The girl in front of Felix did not look so much like a girl anymore.

“Why did you have to bring me on this journey? Why did you have to show me what I can never get back?” the twenty-eight-year-old woman rasped at him. “It’s all your fault! It’s all your— You don’t know how you made me feel…”

“You’re right. I’m not your brother,” Felix replied. “I don’t know how you feel, and I won’t pretend that I do.”

“I don’t even know what I’m feeling…” Marcia’s voice dropped. “It feels so empty, so heavy. So… lonely. It just eats at me all the time and this— This illusion… It filled me up again. It feels better than any anaesthetic out there. It’s better than any antidote I could ask for.”

“But this is not your antidote. It’s just a different poison, and it is trying to kill you.”

“I’m… I’m tired, Felix. I’m tired of numbing myself all the time to get over the guilt that everything is my fault. Is this what it’s going to be like for my entire life? Knowing that our family could be together again if I had just made a different choice?”

“None of it was ever your fault, Marcia. You’re not the one who caused the traffic accident. You’re not the one who kidnapped me. All you’ve done is play the hand you’ve been dealt, even if it means losing the game. Because what other choice do you have?”

“I… I don’t care if this isn’t real.” Marcia wiped her tears and began tending to the furniture, which had also aged another decade. “If there’s even a one per cent chance I can get things to go back to how they were, I’m taking it as an absolute certainty. Even if it means reliving the same false day over and over again; even if it means never going back to the real world. I just want one more day of happiness… forever.”

She paused as Felix bent down as well and started setting their tables on their feet again.

“What are you doing?” she asked.

“I’m helping you,” he replied simply.

“What? Why?”

“Well, I figured if you’re determined to spend eternity here, you’d like someone to accompany you.” Felix gave her a small smile. “After all, I promised I’d be with you to the end, didn’t I?”

Marcia stared at the family photo in her hands. Her family beamed back at her. And despite the destruction wrought, it was still intact.

A small sob broke the silence before gradually getting louder.

“Dammit, it hurts like hell… It really hurts like hell!” the girl bawled, throwing herself onto Felix’s shoulder. “But I have to accept it. Fuck… I’m so sorry…”

The same flash of light burned fiercely from within Marcia, before exploding into a brilliant pink gleam that engulfed everything. Felix squinted against the glare, holding his sister tightly in his arms.

And at long last, their house melted away.

“Thank you, Felix…” Marcia whispered, shaking in his embrace. “Thank you.”