I’ve wondered of other Magic Bullets while working on the one I currently possess. Airwaves, Tonguewisp, Ascension even. That last one is a personal favourite of mine, much as I loathe the Addiction and Withdrawal they give.

-From Professor Shokolov’s Journal, 18th Entry

AxEl stood in the center of a bustling group of people. They walked every which way they could manage, even in the enlarged space of the new lab. The walls were set much higher, and they lights above shown down with dim illumination.

AxEl looked around at the numerous tables arrayed together and the intense blue light that seemed to shine down upon them. He picked up one of the Prophecy mushrooms, seeing the ever-shifting images on its surface break apart and fade.

“Please, sir, don’t touch the working batch. We wanted to test something out on these,” said one of the scientists as they plucked the little plant out of AxEl’s hands and took it somewhere. BannIh was nowhere to be found, however, so this was the only thing AxEl could do for the moment.

Another one of BannIh’s understudies came to AxEl after a few moments. “The professor is in the sectioned off area, sir. He said he wanted to show you something in specific,” the man said, before heading away.

AxEl took a breath and entered inside himself, finding BannIh hunched over some other pills that he had set on the table. He wore a deep blue shawl around his shoulders at the moment. Why so traditional?

“Ah, there you are, master AxEl! Come, I’ve got some exciting news to share with you,” BannIh said as he motioned the man over to the table. AxEl looked closer but could not discern whatever it was that had intrigued BannIh so much.

“Are they really so interesting that you had to call me over so early in the morning?” AxEl asked.

“Oh, definitely. Tell me, how long do your Prophecy pills let you see into the future, master AxEl?” BannIh asked. AxEl rubbed at the back of his head, then recounted the timing that Anagen and he had figured out for the power.

“A few seconds at most.”

“Then I’d say my discovery is significant, as these ones let you see an entire minute into the future!” BannIh exclaimed.

“An entire minute? That seems…. powerful,” AxEl replied.

“It comes with its own downsides. Here, take one of them,” BannIh offered the tray to AxEl, who plucked one of the pills off of it.

“Now, I’ll need you to tell me when to take a pill myself, master AxEl. This is important to the experiment as well,” BannIh explained.

“And if I don’t?”

“Well, I simply won’t take a pill, then” BannIh replied. AxEl popped it into his mouth and felt visions and sounds from the future bombard his brain. He had grown used to the feeling however, and so he could parse through them rather easily.

What he saw in the visions were BannIh himself attacking AxEl. He took a knife from the table and tried plunging it forward. AxEl would retaliate of course, and take down the man in the process.

“Take a pill, BannIh,” he said, and the man did as ordered. BannIh’s eyes began to glow and AxEl was shocked to find his visions now blurred. When before there were images given out of order but from the same scene, now a million different scenes played out in front of him.

AxEl tried parsing through these images as fast as he could, but when he got a sense for one of the futures, it would slip through his fingers like a pile of sand.

“You can see it now, can’t you?” BannIh asked, cutting through the confusion. AxEl focused on the present, but he didn’t need to for long as the pill ran out soon after. That was…fast.

A case of content theft: this narrative is not rightfully on Amazon; if you spot it, report the violation.

“Why did my visions blur, BannIh? I saw you attacking me!” AxEl exclaimed with a hint of anger.

“And I saw your counter-attack. We both kept seeing the reactions to each other’s futures and reacting ourselves in such rapid succession that it all melded together into infinite possibilities. Fascinating, isn’t it?”

“Confusing, is the word I’d use,” AxEl replied. BannIh had gone back to the tray and picked up another pill, but this one he just spun in the light with one hand on his chin.

“But that does mean that the more we let Prophecy proliferate in the world, the more branching futures we’ll see. Predictions could be tossed out of the window if a single junkie using Prophecy ends up on the path of said prediction. No future would ever come true, I wonder what that would entail…” BannIh muttered to himself, beginning to ignore the only other presence in the room.

“Whatever it may be, BannIh, just supply me with the new pills so I can use them. Would be an edge against those who come after me,” AxEl asked.

“That….is another one of the downsides of the pill, master AxEl.

“The stronger the Prophecy pill, the more bewl one needs in order to make use of it. It’s one of the major disadvantages I’ve found to the production of this new variety,” BannIh said, and his eyes faded back to normalcy soon after.

“So I’ll be out of bewl before I can even use the vision?”

“Correct.”

AxEl groaned. “Not only is my one advantage in a fight nullified if someone else has it, but the new variety isn’t even useful.”

“I’m afraid that’s how it is, master AxEl. We can’t stop Prophecy from slipping out to the rest of HuedoLupan, but we can limit what varieties we sell.”

“Not these ones, then. They stay out of the market as far as I’m concerned,” AxEl said.

“There might be other fields where we could make use of them, actually,” BannIh said.

“Do whatever you want with them, BannIh, as long as I don’t end up seeing them outside,” AxEl replied.

****

After that point, AxEl’s days seemed to be filled with less woes. Anagen’s increased presence prevented him from spending too much time in the business himself, leading to better grades in his class.

FenEl admired AxEl and his newfound commitment to his studies, and he welcomed the distraction. He wouldn’t call himself the best performing student in the entire class, but he coasted by easily enough. And almost as though no time had passed at all, the end of the year arrived.

****

The bell rung, signaling the end of the day. AxEl had been staring outside the window the entire time, so when it arrived, it was a bit startling. He was knocked out of his daydream and back into reality, where Nook waited for him.

“You ready to leave yet?” Nook asked.

“Ah, yeah…”

He packed up the rest of his belongings and took to the halls of the school. Something seemed out of the ordinary, however. People were bunched up, whispering in hushed tones as they walked together. Some of them had odd equipment with them as well, such as hiking boots and jackets.

“Straight to the top of the mountain! I’m sure I can convince the professor to let us at least try!” someone said, and AxEl peered over.

“What’s with everyone?” AxEl asked.

“Did you miss the anouncemnt last week? We’re taking a trip. Last year and all that,” Nook said.

“Huh, I guess I did.”

“Keep your head in the clouds that long and you’ll get jetlag when you bring it back down,” Nook remarked.

“Not like it’s important to you or me,” AxEl scoffed as he made his way to the entrance.

“Nah, I’m going. Was hoping you would come along too, so it’d be less boring,” Nook said.

“Can’t. Finals are coming up and I need to study for those,” AxEl replied.

“We all do, doesn’t mean we can’t enjoy the time between, though.”

AxEl scoffed. Trips aren’t something I’m interested in anyway. Waste of money.

“Well, think about it at least while you’ve got the time. Application’s open till tomorrow night after all,” Nook said.

“Maybe I will,” AxEl replied, then bid the man goodbye. Walking back home, AxEl began to wonder, however. I do have the money now, I guess. That hasn’t been an issue for a long while. But still, a trip to the mountains? We’ve barely explored AnaHon this entire time.

AxEl opened the door and was pleasantly surprised to find his mother preparing dinner. Usually, she’d be a bit late. He didn’t question further, however, as she looked to be in high spirits.

“How was the day?” She asked, not taking her eyes off of the running TV in the living room.

“Nothing special. I learned what Torque is?” AxEl replied half-heartedly. He sat down on the couch and focused on the show as well. It was some kind of drama he couldn’t decipher. It at least kept him distracted from his own thoughts.

“There’s something on your mind, isn’t there?” FenEl asked.

“Kind of. There’s a class trip happening,” AxEl replied.

“Well, go with them, then!” FenEl replied.

“Are you sure that’s the right thing to do? I don’t usually…do stuff like that,” AxEl replied.

FenEl chuckled however, despite his dilemma.

“I’ve told you over and over, AxEl. It’s my job to worry about earning a living. You can do that once you’re older, okay?”

“I’m not even sure I want to go.”

“Then do it for me, okay? Enjoy yourself, AxEl. I better not see you here on the day of the trip!” FenEl replied, then returned to her motherly duties. AxEl took those thoughts with him to the bed, and all up till tomorrow where he met with Nook again.

“You’re coming?” Nook asked, looking happy.

“Yeah, I changed my mind. Could be fun,” AxEl replied.