FSE

Furry search engine

formerly SoFurry search engine

Just like Finn had demanded, Daniel had come to look after Oliver for the rest of the day. They had ordered pizza and played video games with a high-end VR-system, which Oliver had been only dreaming of owning. In the game the two entered a realm of wizardry and monsters, and despite it had some horror elements, Oliver didn't fear one bit. Hours passed quickly and despite the two were having a great time, Daniel had to leave when Finn returned. Now it was just the two of them in the large luxury apartment. Finn had headed pretty much straight to bed, so Oliver didn't have much choice but to do the same.

Unfortunately, the events from earlier were still haunting Oliver's mind, mostly the near-death experience. He had checked his hands several times, failing to find any signs of that strange light. He was tossing and turning in bed, unable to really get comfortable, which was a rather new feeling because he didn't usually have any trouble falling asleep. He was feeling hot and sweaty, and there was a deep fear lurking in his thoughts. What if the CTI had succeeded and caught him? What if Finn hadn't had caught him? What if he had died?

Then Oliver sensed a presence near him. He sat up and noticed Finn at the bedroom door; apparently, he had heard the restless cub. He was wearing a tank top and loose boxer shorts, clearly coming straight from the bed. His markings were glowing beautifully, and he had a serious look on his face. He was staring at Oliver with a concerned look. "Come." That was all he said. Oliver stood up and followed him, feeling a bit confused for not telling why.

The two walked through the apartment and headed to the large balcony. There was a swimming pool, deck chairs and a dining table with chairs, basically everything for a perfect outdoor party. The view was beautiful, with the Nexus City in its night lighting and the deep dark sky above. The cool night wind brushing against his fur felt so nice and soothing. The moon was almost full, and Oliver saw its reflection on Finn's eyes.

"Yesterday, you felt something, didn't you?" Finn turned to Oliver and was looking dead serious.

Oliver didn't know what to say. He simply stared into the distance, trying to come up with a reply.

"Just as I feared: you felt the gift, am I right?"

"I don't know. Something just... happened."

"Remember when I said that the gift would be unfolded by strong emotions? Well, you had a strong emotion this morning. Perhaps the strongest emotion possible: the realization of one's imminent death."

"Does that mean that the gift is unfolded?"

"Sadly, not in this case. What it does mean though, is that the gift is almost ripe. You merely experienced a weak echo of the gift. However, the type of emotion affects the nature of the gift when it unfolds. If the triggering emotion is a happy or touching, like mine was, everything will usually go smoothly. But you felt fear and horror. That is usually a bad thing."

"What do you mean?" Oliver sounded restless.

"There are some bad magic wielders around. They usually have had these agonizing and terrifying experiences in their childhoods. The gift does its best to suppress those feelings, which in turn makes them seek peace by eliminating all possible threats."

"That doesn't make sense! Why would someone, who is afraid, do everything in their power to eliminate those who one sees as a threat, no matter how minor? Technically that would mean almost every person around. That wouldn't solve anything!"

"Precisely. They won't usually do it consciously, of course, although some people are simply bad, if you know what I mean."

"So, will I become evil?"

"Of course not! Your gift shouldn't make your choices for you. Although I must admit that you fear so much that your mind would be pretty vulnerable. You must take control of the gift, no matter what its nature will be. Don't do the same mistakes as I have."

Oliver looked at Finn, feeling the urge to ask further. However, Finn noticed this and shook his head. "No, I won't tell you about my mistakes right now. Let's just say that I've made wrong choices several times and I've tried to fix as much of them as I've could."

The two stood there, leaning against the railing and staring the cityscape. Oliver looked at his hands once more. "When I was falling, there was this weird glow on my hands. Then my speed began to slow down."

Finn nodded. "That's what I suspected when I was rushing to catch you. I noticed the glow as well but wasn't exactly sure if it was an optical illusion or not. If your speed hadn't slowed down, I wouldn't have gotten enough momentum to catch you."

Finn motioned Oliver to follow him back inside. He sat onto the couch and opened an AR interface on the coffee table. He flicked through some web pages rapidly, clearly looking for something. Then his pace began to slow down, until he stopped at one news article. Oliver sat next to him and began reading.

The article was a news report about a strange phenomenon which had occurred downtown earlier. An explosion in the air was mentioned, so he was quite sure it must've been on the same location he had been falling. Then he got a bit confused, as the article explained how people near the area had experienced a loss of balance and that many smaller objects had actually begun floating in the air for a short moment. Flying cars which were in the air on that moment hadn't been seriously affected, but those parked on the ground had had some major malfunctions. Lastly it was stated that the CTI is investigating the case among the NCPD, and that magic is likely to have played a part in this.

Oliver was baffled. "If that phenomenon was caused by me, does this mean that I can make things float in the air? Like telekinesis?"

Finn shook his head. "No, I think not. If it were, why would it affect the whole area? It says that there were some electromagnetic disturbances as well, and that they were detected in a half-mile radius around that spot."

Finn began shifting through news articles again and soon found another one about the case. It partly recapped what was written earlier, but then there was an interview with some high-ranked CTI scientist. She had claimed that there had been strange quantum space-time disturbances as well, which were all new to modern science. She confirmed that the only possible explanations were either some random strong quantum mechanics nonsense, or powerful magic, which apparently was the more likely scenario.

"Solar said your magic is strong. I was reading these articles when you were already in bed and got worried. It seems your powers are far beyond your comprehension. It appears that the powers have something to do with the fundamentals of physics. That's all I can tell at the moment. That, and the fact that your powers are likely to be revolutionizing. I'm afraid that I now know exactly why the CTI was after you. The real question is, how did they know about it in the first place?"

Oliver was shivering and clearly upset, almost sobbing. "What is going to happen to me...?" In his mind, he had practically turned from a more or less ordinary school boy into a deity in around 24 hours, able to perform insanely powerful magic. Yet he didn't know what it was. He looked at his paws and tried to gather his thoughts. Earlier he was more afraid to the CTI, but now it seemed that he was a major threat to himself. He found it hard to keep everything together.

Finn closed the AR and turned to stare at the young fox. "Understand, that you won't be able to withstand that kind of power if you won't control your emotions. With such power, who knows, you could annihilate the entire planet with a simple thought. It is extremely important that the CTI won't find you, and if possible, never to find out what kind of power you exactly hold within. They would most likely turn you into either a weapon of mass destruction or a freakish experiment for science."

"B-but how?? I don't even know what it is that I should be doing... or avoiding..." Oliver was crying and shaking uncontrollably. He was fiddling with his tail like a small cub and hid his face in the fluff.

Finn took Oliver in his arms and held him close. "I know what you are feeling right now. I was so confused when my powers first emerged, and it took me months to fully understand what I was going through. This won't be easy for anyone. You must endure and never give up. If you fail I... I must make sure you won't harm anyone."

Oliver was confused. "But you said you'd help me any way you can!"

"I know, and I'll stick to that promise. However, you must realize that if you become a threat to the world, I won't allow it. The entire Circle will come after you and stop you."

"So... I guess I have no choice then... either control my emotions and thoughts a hundred and ten percent, or I will be dead, one way or the other."

"I didn't say I would kill you. I wouldn't even think such a thing!"

Oliver looked confused. "What would you do to me then?"

Finn realized he had spoken too much. He sighed and changed subject. "Anyway, you should go home tomorrow, am I right?"

Oliver took a couple of deep breaths to gain control over his hyperventilation. "Yeah, my sister has her birthday then. Mom is very strict about these matters."

"You do realize that home isn't at all the safest place around right now?"

Oliver nodded. "But if I won't go home, my mom will become a more serious threat than CTI or anything else."

Finn laughed heartily. "Right, right, I get it. Well, maybe I can make her mind change."

"How would you do that?"

"I'm not going to tell you. It's going to be a surprise." Finn gave Oliver a wink, then stood up. "Anyways, its almost 1 am. You should definitely go to bed and get some sleep."

* * *

Oliver wasn't sleeping very well. He dreamed himself falling down from the car over and over again, each time waking up as he hit the ground. No matter what the result was always the same. It was driving him crazy. He began fearing falling asleep again, because he knew exactly what would happen. He was sweaty, and his head hurt. He even realized he had been screaming in his sleep, as Biggins had popped up and asked what the matter was.

The morning came agonizingly slowly. At 6 am Oliver just couldn't take it anymore and stood up. He had probably gotten about 2 hours of sleep in total. He felt awful and as he checked himself on a large mirror, he saw how his fur was a total mess. His eyes were bloody, and his ears were drooping. There was a horrible taste in his mouth and he was sniffing hard.

Then he noticed something different. At first, he doubted it was just his mind playing tricks on him, but after checking it three times he was now absolutely sure: his eye color had changed. Before they had been light blue, but now they were bright yellow with a sort of orange tint. He thought they actually looked pretty cool, but then again, his mom would notice for sure.

After realizing the change of eye color, he noticed how his tail felt a little longer than before. He couldn't be absolutely sure, but as he swung it back and forth, it definitely felt different from normal. Then he thought that his body seemed a little slimmer than usual. He hadn't been chubby before, not one bit, but not that slim either. Now his belly was quite flat and smooth, and he could even faintly feel his abdominal muscles.

However, he was wondering why these changes had occurred? The eye color was the only clear and noticeable change, so something definitely had happened. Could it be the gift? He should ask Finn about this when he would get up. But for now, he was in need of a shower. He headed to the en suite bathroom with a luxurious shower system. He didn't want to waste water, so he rinsed and scrubbed himself pretty friskily and didn't want to try the fancy features.

When he was done, he put on his clothes, jumped onto the bed and grabbed his commlink. There were no messages, so he thought he should check if there were any more news about that strange incident downtown. Sadly, there was nothing major. A couple of short articles explained how people had reacted and how much damage had been caused. He felt a little bad for causing so much trouble, but then again, he had been near death. Besides, he didn't do it voluntarily in the first place.

The he heard soothing piano music echoing from the living room. Apparently, Finn had gotten up too and was playing a beautiful tune, probably intending to wake up Oliver. He headed to the living area and Finn was still wearing his nightwear. However, next to the piano was a strange figure. It was transparent, glittering and resembled a woman. It was leaning on the grand piano and listening to the music. When Finn noticed Oliver, he stopped immediately, and the magical figure vanished.

"What was that creature?"

"What do you mean?"

"That glittering woman. She was listening you play."

"Oh, you mean her... it's complicated." Finn gave Oliver a look that clearly indicated that he shouldn't ask any more about her.

Then Finn realized the changes. "Your eyes. The color has changed."

"Yeah, I noticed that too. Is it because of the gift?"

"I think so, yes. Any other changes?"

"Well, I think my tail is a bit bigger, and my belly is now nice and smooth."

"I see. Very subtle changes. That's good."

"It is?"

"Well, for two reasons. One, those changes are easier to disguise. Two, the gift isn't quite as ready as I originally feared."

"Will there be more?"

"I don't know for sure, but it's likely. For example, my markings haven't always been this complex and intricate. When I embraced the gift, they turned into these complex shapes, and very delicate details appeared on the backs of my hands and forehead. I also became about a foot taller and my voice changed too."

"So, let me guess: one can't predict the changes?"

"That's right. But I guess your changes aren't going to be that far off than I've seen with some magic wielders. Some had turned into monsters with big teeth and sword-like claws. On the other hand, with some the changes are barely notable. What I've heard is that Solar didn't experience any external changes at all when she embraced her gift."

Oliver then remembered that he had to head home soon. "I don't know what to say when I get home. My mom will certainly notice the differences."

"Don't worry, kid." Finn gave the fox a wink and stood up. He came close to Oliver and his hands began to glow. After a few seconds he stopped, but Oliver didn't feel anything.

"There. Now you look exactly like you did yesterday."

Oliver quickly headed to the hallway to find a mirror, and indeed, he looked just like he used to. However, he noticed a strange cyan aura around him.

"What is this aura? Is it your magic?"

"Yes. All magic-wielders will detect auras left by other mages. I believe your mom isn't one, so she won't notice a thing."

Oliver's tummy was grumbling, and Finn headed to the kitchen to arrange some breakfast for them both. It was still too early to head home, so Oliver got the chance to play with the VR-system for a while. Meanwhile Finn contacted the Circle and discussed about further actions. Apparently, the Circle had gotten really concerned after the incident downtown, and they wished to add more protection. Also, they didn't like the idea of Oliver visiting home alone, but at the moment they had no other options.

At 11 am the two left the apartment. Finn drove him home with a new hovercar, which Biggins had arranged. It wasn't as fancy as the earlier one, but still pretty nice. However, Finn stopped the car a couple of blocks away, just to make sure he would be unseen by the family and possible CTI agents who were most likely observing the house. Finn said that he and the Circle were watching and if anything got out of hand, he would rush in. Oliver was relieved, but still a little afraid. He left Finn and ran the two blocks home.