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“Be back in the evening,” I yelled as I left for school. I was back to living the mundane life I had lived before I had discovered ‘The Dimension’ and all that came with it. It seemed it had been eons ago that I had last been to school, taking my exams while being sick to my core. After that, it had been a whirlwind of activity. Training, some weird mishap leading to a crisis, unexpected guests from different planets. Not a chance to take a break and enjoy all that life had to offer.

The upcoming war that Eirini had warned us about was something that I wasn’t involved in at the current moment. For all I knew, the war would be over before I even knew it was happening. Honestly, I preferred it that way. It seemed like the Council had decided to ignore me for the moment and I was all the happier for it. I had never thought I would say this but I was enjoying the little joys that my life in the mortal dimension provided.

The care that my parents showed for me mixed with their own brand of cynicism was a breath of fresh air. Despite their view of the world, I could blindly believe one thing. That they had my best interests at heart. And that was a luxury that just wasn’t afforded to me in The Dimension. Even Frank, my best friend, was more often than not motivated by his own personal interests, not that I blamed him for it.

I had been back to school for just a week but already I could feel the stark difference within me from the last time I was here. The David who roamed these halls before becoming an Untethered was an unmotivated mess of emotions, unsure about his place in the world. Not much had changed regarding me being a mess of emotions. I still cycled through emotions much faster than any emotionally mature person should.

What had changed though was my motivation. My self-assurance regarding my place in the world. I finally had something worth fighting for. Something more than a nine to five job in a cubicle that I couldn’t give a damn about. There’s nothing like having death experiences one after another to make you realise that you are but a meaningless insect in the grand order of things.

Days seemed to be passing by quicker and a whole week had passed without any interaction with an Untethered. I was a little bit hurt by the fact that even Samuel hadn’t sought to contact me but I tried to console myself by telling myself he was probably busy with the preparations of the upcoming invasion by Sol Syntrivon.

Sitting in the cafeteria alone, I couldn’t help but look around and be struck by the fact that most of my classmates seemed… childish. Or maybe, it was because I had become jaded after my experiences with the Untethered. the concerns of my classmates seemed trivial at best, not worth giving a thought. The things that had seemed to encompass my entire life before the last month now seemed meaningless in comparison to the upcoming conflict that would decide the fate of our planet.

“Hey, let’s go! It’s already time for our next class!” Turning around to look in the direction of the voice, I just nodded at the speaker. A girl who had barely spoken a word to me before this week. Emily.

This was the weirdest thing that had happened to me since returning to school. People who couldn’t be bothered to give me the time of the day were now suddenly acting familiar, eager to strike up a conversation. I had been even been asked to try out for various sports teams, now that I looked so much fitter. It was a nice change of pace, of course, transitioning from being the social outcast to a popular kid. But it still would take some getting used to, gaining recognition from peers when they had basically ignored my existence before.

The class was still boring, imparting skills that frankly wouldn’t be of much use to me if the trajectory that my life had taken was any indication. I still gave my undivided attention to the subjects being taught, the habit too ingrained within me. But I just couldn’t be bothered to care about the subject matter now.

Although I enjoyed being back in the mortal dimension, I couldn’t go back to the life I lived before I became an Untethered. While before I would have gone home and immediately started playing video games, now I found myself meditating and trying to get closer to my core. To strengthen the connection between myself and my core. Trying to observe the various changes in my core. Trying to get me in tune with the vibration of the core.

Much of my time now was spent in trying to improve myself in various aspects of being an Untethered. Even my parents had been pleasantly surprised by the changes in me, complimenting me on my changed attitude.

The period was over pretty soon. While I was busy rearranging my backpack, Emily asked me, “So, are you coming to Luke’s party tonight?”

Before I could reply, the host himself, Luke, said, “Yeah, dude, you should totally come. My folks aren’t home and I have a pool. It’s going to be totally dope!”

Dude? Dope? Words I never thought I would hear in a conversation that would involve me. But I reminded myself about my personal vow to embrace new things in the mortal realm. So, seeing no reason to refuse, I said, “Sure, I will be there!”

Luke whooped before thumping me on the back while Emily smiled at me, a smile I couldn’t help returning back. Luke began describing all the things that would be present at the party and all the girls he would introduce me to. I wasn’t particularly enthused by the conversation and could only awkwardly smile as he went on about how his party would be the best this town had ever seen.

Thankfully, I was rescued from my predicament by Emily who stopped Luke mid tirade and said, “Arent you supposed to be inviting more people, Luke? I mean, this is a random party so not many people know about it! I don’t think it’ll be the greatest party with just ten people.”

That was all Luke required to leave me alone and continue his quest to invite more guests to his party. That was how the rest of the school day passed away, with mundane classes and talk of Luke’s party in between.

As I walked towards my house after school, I found myself looking forward to Luke’s party. It was the first time someone had invited me to a social gathering and I couldn’t help but be excited at the prospect. It was totally something out of the left-field for me and something so normal compared to the experiences I had been having for the last month or so.

To say my parents were surprised about me going to a party would be the understatement of the century. The entire occasion morphed into a criticism of my wardrobe and promises of upgrading it as soon as possible and queries about the characters that would be attending the party.

Before long, it was time to go to the party. I was dressed in the best shirt and jeans I owned. Luke’s house wasn’t too far away from my own and I found it convenient to walk the distance. It was supposed to be completely dark out tonight, seeing that it was a new moon night but unknown to the mortals, Luna was still out in all its radiance, enveloping the town in its light.

The party was already in full force when I arrived. Loud music was blaring and the entire house was bathed in party lights bright enough to induce a headache. Luke greeted me as soon as I entered, eager to introduce me to everyone at the party. He proceeded to have me meet people whose name I was sure to forget within moments of them telling me.

I was glad when I finally found myself talking to Emily. She looked cute in the dress she had chosen to wear. She introduced me to some of her friends before I found myself answering questions from girls I hadn’t met before.

“So David, Emily tells us that you like playing video games. What are you playing right now? Maybe we can play it together, like co-op or something?”

“I haven’t seen you at any parties before this. Parties not your usual scene?”

“Emily can’t stop talking about you for the past week. Do you guys intend to become more than friends?”

I was struggling to answer these questions, which ranged from trivial to extremely personal when a question caught me off guard.

“Hey, David, weren’t you friends with Frank? Do you know what happened to him? I haven’t seen him at school since classes resumed?”

To be honest, I hadn’t thought much about Frank since we had gone our separate ways after our battle against Frost. I hadn’t caught a break after that and the arrival of Eirini had set things in motion that had required my complete attention. Now, I was trying to separate myself from my life as an Untethered so that I could enjoy my life as an Untethered and thinking about Frank didn’t really serve that purpose. After all, he was my first and strongest connection to the Dimension.

I could only shrug and reply, “Yeah, he’s out of town at the moment. He has some affairs to take care of. As soon as he sets them in order, he’ll be back.”

Another girl began to ask a question when someone caught my eye across the party. Someone I didn’t expect to see at this party or anywhere, in general.

You know what they say about best-laid plans. At that moment, all my plans to live a normal life as long as I could, went down the drain as I caught sight of the person. At that moment, fate once again bared its fang and showed its propensity to kick me in the nuts when I least expected it.

For across the party, staring at me with no emotion in his eyes, was a person who I knew for a fact was dead. A person who I had seen been killed at the hands of Samuel when he pummelled the life out of him and left him unconscious and on the brink of death. Only later did we find out through the Council that he hadn’t survived his injuries.

My evening had come to a premature end, it seemed. I couldn’t help the shiver that went down my spine as I looked into the empty pits that were the eyes of the lightning user and former ally of Frost, Tom.

 

 

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