Onward to the Sun

Chapter 15: A Sunflower in its Golden State

Chapter 15: A Sunflower in its Golden State

“There must be a purpose that is related to the concept of ‘time’ which is an abstract and illusionary concept that we have created in order to assert ourselves into this world. Time is passing non-stop, and we follow it with clocks and calendars. Yet we cannot study it with a microscope or experiment with it. And it still keeps passing. We just cannot say what exactly happens when time passes. Time is represented through change, such as the circular motion of the moon around Earth. The passing of time is indeed closely connected to the concept of space as well... Now, given this knowledge and wisdom, if you want to use Tempus Imperium, Luna, you have to have a purpose prior.”

“Purpose?” I asked. I do not know exactly what she means. I was clueless. What did she mean by ‘purpose’?

The Headmistress nodded and she seems to notice my puzzled expression, so, she went on and decided to further expound in order to enlighten me, “your purpose when you saw Helios who was almost dead was to save him, and you succeeded in that.”

I nodded, “I still do not understand, though...”

“No one understands acnologia. It was not meant to be understood, it defies the very concept of reality and science, it is better to leave it not understood.” The Headmistress smiled, “we have different ways of activating our acnologia, and yours can be activated by yours alone by having a purpose. Does it still not make sense?”

I shook my head.

“You saw Helios almost dead, what was on your mind?”

I closed my eyes and tried to remember the scene again.

“Any last words?” The devil asked as he stared at the terrified eyes of the man who was now helpless. I wanted to help, but I could not do anything at all but remain hidden and watch. What is it that I can possibly do? “No last words, alright...” And with that, the devil used his other free hand and pierced it straight through the center of his chest. The man coughed blood, and the devil removed his hand from the man’s body, revealing a hole in it, and more blood streamed out of it.

A few seconds later, after the devil was contented with watching the man approach his last time of being alive, the devil released the man from its clench, and the man fell onto the ground. The devil no longer waited for the man to die because it seemed confident that the man eventually would in just a span of a few seconds. The devil used his magic after and opened the same portal once more, and he crossed it, leaving the soon-to-be-dead man who was now laying cold on the grass of the woods.

All this time, I was holding my own breath, and it was only when the devil was gone that I finally gasped for air too. I do not know, but I was petrified that the devil might notice me.

I stared at the man after, and without even realizing it, I was already running in his direction. The man had his eyes closed now, and he was already very pale. He lost too much blood. I stared at the hole right at the center of his chest, and more blood was flowing out of it, painting the grass around him with a shade of crimson color. I panicked and was flustered when the man coughed blood once more.

He was almost dead and barely breathing, but alive. Still, how will I be able to help him? I am not a doctor or a nurse, I do not know what to do!

Suddenly, I felt this force deep within me—as if something has just awakened and been released from its seal, it felt drawn towards the man’s body for no concrete reason. I closed my eyes and tried to focus on it, and this peculiar force from within me seems to be speaking to me, or my body, and it was commanding me to touch the man. I do not know why, but I just did and followed this weird force, that perchance, is just my own instincts. What difference will it do if I touch him, though? I shoved the thought away.

When my hand has finally held the cold arm of the man who was on the brink of his own death, I felt something being released from within me, an energy I never thought I would possess. My eyes widened as I watched my own hand glow, and the light that my hand emitted started to run deep within the veins of the man. I watched the light travel across his body in a beautiful manner, the light went towards the hole of his physique as if it was stitching the flesh back together in its original and former state, and the light soon trailed its path unto his injured arms, the bite marks started to evaporate too as if they were never there in the first place. It was as if time has reversed for him.

All of his injuries started to fade away until he was completely healed already. I could not believe what just happened. All I was thinking of now was this question—did I do it?

I opened my eyes and stared directly at the Headmistress’s gray eyes, they were like mine as well. “Save him.” I finally answered.

“And did you?”

I nodded.

“How?”

“I touched him—at first, I was confused how it happened, but now I understand that it was because I wield Tempus Imperium.”

“That’s it—you need to have a purpose if you want to do something, and you also need to touch whatever it is that you want to manipulate its time. You wanted to save Helios before, and you did that by touching him, with that, your acnologia activated and you reversed the time for Helios until the time that he was still not injured and very much alive. It is a very impressive magic, don’t you think?”

I nodded, finally starting to make sense of the lecture that the Headmistress is telling me.

“I see now...” I nodded.

“Let’s try and see if my assumption is true... Since the case of your mother’s was different, she did not need to touch anything, for her, it was just all in the mind.” And that makes her more powerful than me, I mentally noted.

The Headmistress, later on, picked something in her pocket, and she showed it to me. On her palm was a seed. She offered the seed to me and I just stared at it with a confused expression.

“Remember, your magic is all-encompassing and it can do anything that is related to the concept of time—you can reverse the time of something like you have done to Helios that saved him, and you can also flash-forward the time of something, which you are about to do now.” The Headmistress stated, “try to make the seed grow in order to find out what kind of flower it is.” She commanded, I took the seed from the Headmistress after and held it in my hand. “This shall be your daily training as well, in order for you to be able to increase your mana power and condition your body for something more extreme in the near future. You need to learn the basics and master it, after that, we proceed to the next level.”

“Alright, Headmistress.” I smiled and closed my eyes.

“Is the seed growing?” I asked.

“No.”

I tried to think harder to make the seed to finally sprout. “Is it now?”

“No. Open your eyes, Luna.” Headmistress Aragona stated, and I followed her command. “Perhaps you are thinking too hard, try to feel it instead, Luna. Your acnologia is a part of you—it is an energy within and you are the conductor.” She stated, “try to think of a purpose and redirect it to the seed you are holding.”

I nodded and stared at the seed that was laying at the center of my palm.

I heaved a heavy breath and followed the words of the Headmistress who just watched at me with curiosity and interest, she was carefully and intently waiting for what was about to happen. I looked around me, and saw that most students and even professors have stopped with their training to stare from a distance, they were all like the Headmistress—just waiting for me to use my magic.

I felt the sudden pressure engulf me, and I just wanted to run away. But the Headmistress and the rest looked at me like they were looking at hope, and I was too scared to disappoint them. I sighed and focused once more on the seed that I was holding, and as if on cue, my hand holding the seed suddenly glowed a warm color, the Headmistress’s lips turned upward into a hopeful beam, and I watched in awe as the seed sprout—it was like I was watching a time-lapse of a seed that was turning into a flower.

The glow was beautiful, and it turned the seed into a sunflower.

“A sunflower,” I smiled.

“Indeed, congratulations on finally activating your acnologia consciously.” Headmistress Aragona grinned at me.

I watched the sunflower, it was still glowing and changing—from its golden state, now, the sunflower is turning dull, until it has withered away from my hands and I somehow felt terrified because I know it was my magic. I was losing control. I do not know how to stop it, now the time has moved further forward until the sunflower’s end of time. Each element, they have an ending... And I just made the sunflower reached its c****x and its epilogue.

“You still need to control your acnologia, this is inevitable. But still, to be able to activate it on first-try is a good feat in itself,” the Headmistress declared, “do not be terrified by your own acnologia, Luna... For that will make you further lose control.” The Headmistress stated as if feeling whatever it is that I am feeling right now. I guess my expression is giving it all away.

I sighed and nodded.

“You can still save the sunflower by turning its time back... Reverse its time.”

I nodded and made sure to make it my purpose to return the sunflower back in its glory, from a withering state. Slowly, a glow engulfed the withered flower, and slowly too, the flower that was bent down started to rise once more, from my own grasp, and it turned yellow-gold.

I stopped when the sunflower was finally in its golden state. I stared at the sunflower, its head the same size as mine, and it was tall as well. I still cannot believe that it used to be just a seed from my hand a few minutes ago and that it was already withering away too, but now, it is back at its peak, in its former glory.

This is my magic. This is my power. This is mine. Somehow, the thought that I can do this made me feel superior, and at the same time, scared of what I can do... Because I can also do this to people—I can make a child turn into an adult, or an adult turns into an elderly. I may even be able to do the opposite, to turn an adult into a child, or an elderly into a newborn. This is something Tempus Imperium can do, and the thought that this power is within my grasp, it made me feel lots of things I cannot fathom.

“Wow, splendid...” Headmistress Aragona smiled, returning me to reality after dozing with all the thoughts running in my head. “For a week, this shall be your training, Luna. After that, we will change your training routine.”

I nodded.

“You shall turn the flower back into a seed, then turn the seed back into a flower. Do this repeatedly and vice versa—by doing this, you will become more connected and familiarized with the acnologia that you wield. On the first day, just do this for an hour, on the second day, do it for two hours. For each day until one week passes by, keep adding one hour to your regime.”

I nodded once more and with that, the Headmistress turned her back against me and walked out of the Arena, perhaps back to her private chamber or office in the main building of the campus.

I stared back at the sunflower I was holding, and in my head, I was commanding it already to turn back into a seed. Slowly, the yellow petals turned green, and the sunflower turned smaller and smaller until it was finally back into a small seed.

After that, I did the reverse again and turned the seed into a sunflower, and the sunflower back into a seed. As I did that, I can feel the exhaustion run across my body and veins already. It felt like I was doing a running marathon.

That is when I thought as well, what if I apply my magic back to my own body? Curiously, I touched my own wrist, and closed my eyes, imagining to my former state back before I used the acnologia.

Nothing worked or changed, I was still feeling exhausted. Perhaps my acnologia does not apply to myself, but just on other things too. Well, I guess I will be too powerful if I can even apply my own magic to my own body. I chuckled at the thought—in a game, this would be considered greatly as a cheat.

I shook the thought away and focused on turning the seed into a sunflower and vice versa.