And then gave me time to myself when he was tired.

At night- I assumed it was night, the lights in the room were off, and everything was quiet- I slept and
dreamed of nothing, or maybe I didn’t sleep at all and there was just nothing in my mind. Either way, by
the time the lights came back on, by the time Gregory had come back, all of my wounds-the serious ones
anyway, were gone.

Gregory found that humorous.

“Adjuva, Mr. Adjuva, is that the extent of you?” He asked. “You look human and you don’t die off easily?
You aren’t very strong Mr. Adjuva.”

He made me stand, and then kicked me away from him.

“You see, Mr. Adjuva, under normal circumstances, the only people that can see a Juva, are their prey,
and the special, sensitive type of people, the Acute. So that leaves me to wonder, Mr. Adjuva. Has
everyone you’ve encountered so far been special? Or have they all been your prey?”

He made a step towards me, and the next thing I could recall was looking down at him, because I was
already suspended in the air by him by one hand. He kept talking.

“Is everyone your prey, Mr. Adjuva? Is that why everyone can see you? Or is everyone special, Mr.
Adjuva, and that’s why everyone can see you?”

He disappeared from in front of me, and before my feet could touch the ground, I felt a sharp pain in my
pack as I flew forward, bouncing against the floor a few times before stopping.

Oddly enough, I noticed that unlike [Hydra], whenever Gregory moved in that instantaneous manner, he
didn’t have to stop before executing his next action. For some reason, the thought of I want that
actually crossed my mind. For some reason, I think it was because I was used to it, I stood up. He kept
talking, asking me questions.

“You want to know what I think, Mr. Adjuva? I think everyone is your prey.” He declared. “This whole
world, or at least, everyone that encounters you, I believe they are your prey. That makes you
dangerous. But for a prey that big, Mr. Adjuva, you are too weak.”

He disappeared again, and my left leg along with the right side of my face, felt pain, and I didn’t know
which way to fall, so I caught myself and kept standing. I heard him laugh somewhere behind me, but
couldn’t be bothered to try to face him. He probably wouldn’t be there anymore if I did.

“Do you know the source to a Juva’s strength, and why you, an Adjuva, the special class amongst them,
are weak?”

No.

“It is people’s belief in them, Mr. Adjuva.” Gregory said, as he walked over to me. “And people do not
believe in you.”

That was it. Despite all of what had been going on, it was that one line that brought me down to my
knees, which literally and unexplainably brought me to tears. It also brought us back to where this story
started.
Gregory walked over to Jack, whose body was expelling a black gas, and looked down on him. His
expression was something like pity.

“How long has it been, Mr. Adjuva?” He asked. “It doesn’t matter. The true cleansing begins now.”

He raised his arm, and made a fist, and yellow energy slowly spiraled around the room, gathering
towards it.

“I’ll tell you one last thing about the world before I take you out of it.” Gregory said, as more energy
gathered around his fist. “The reason why people, normal people, non-special people, cannot see Juva,
is because they do not possess enough Animus in them.”

What is Animus?

“They did not have enough to see them, nor touch them, nor even comprehend them as truly real. And
so, Juva do not see these normal people as prey, so these normal people continue to not see them.”

Why are you telling me all this? You’re going to kill me right? Kill me.

“But the special people, the Acute? Even they sometimes are so weak they can only do one or the other.
See or feel. They are prey.”

Hurry up.

“But there are other special people. Strong people. No longer human, but people nonetheless.
Accelerators.”

Accelerators? That sounds familiar.

“Accelerators are full of Animus. And because of it, they are granted special powers and with that
power, they test their strength, against each other, and against Juva.”

Jack had stopped his tears by then. He stayed quiet, and laid in place.

“To Juva, Animus is both a food source, and a poison. It is why their prey are usually the weak, since they
are weak to it, and the weak have little of it in them. But sometimes, silly Juva, with silly titles like
Adjuva, come along, and think they are strong. So they go for strong prey. Naturally, of course, this
means that humans are the natural prey of Juva, but Juva and Accelerators, those no longer human, are
natural enemies.”

So that’s why you’re doing all this?

“But, Mr. Adjuva, do not die thinking that I am doing this because you are a Juva and I am an
Accelerator. I am doing this simply because you are too weak to eat your prey, and I am strong. It is my
responsibility as one of the strong to put you in your place.”

Jack held back a chuckle at that sentiment. By this time, loose parts of the granite floor, made from
whenever Gregory had moved in that instantaneous manner, had risen and casted around Gregory’s
arm.

“Now, Juva, even though weak, can’t just up and die without a reason though, like I said, Animus kills
them as well as feeds them. We Accelerators, so full of that energy, are capable of hurting them, but
without the use of our special powers-Stigma- we are not able to kill them. So right now, I will kill you
Mr. Adjuva, with my special power, my Stigma, [Boulder]!”

When Gregory spoke that word, the room shook and the floor erupted. The uplifted ground tossed Jack
aside and clamored around Gregory, until his form was completely replaced with something else
entirely. Until he was a mass of granite, almost half the height of the room itself. He pulled back his now
colossal arm, and smashed it down on where Jack was, but what he hit instead was a hard, black, cloudy
sphere.

Inside the sphere, Jack floated aimlessly in darkness.

No one believes in me, huh? Jack thought, thinking back on people in his life as faces flash and fade
around him. I guess that isn’t an untrue statement. How can you believe in someone who keeps you at
an arm’s length? How can you believe in someone so comfortable with leaving?

[They believe that you have your reasons. They believe you will come back. I don’t know why you would
think anything else, my beautiful boy.]

What was that?

Jack was shocked, and looked around, but saw nothing but the darkness.

From below, a giant pair of shining blue hands reached down, and pulled Jack up and out of the
darkness, into a space more likened to the night sky over a countryside. That was the first time Jack had
seen her.

Her stature was such that one hand alone was enough to enclose Jack, but she chose to cradle him in
two. He looked up at her in awe.

Are you, the voice I heard when I was fighting [Hydra]?

She nodded and smiled softly.

And, obviously, you can hear what I’m thinking, right?

She giggled.

Jack sat up in her palm and looked around.

[Are you comfortable?]

Where am I?

[Inside yourself.]

Why is it so empty?

[Why are you?]

Jack didn’t think to respond, and the woman giggled again.

[I have prepared to think of you as ‘spacious’, my beautiful boy.]

Uh huh…Who are you? And why are you inside of me?

Give me the lie.

[I am your conscience, your guide.]

No, that was sarcasm, give me the truth of course.

[Right now, the one you so cleverly dubbed, ‘the bus’, is outside, trying to breach the structure I made so
that we could talk. Do you have time for a truth? It would be easier for us both if you just tell me that
you accept my offer.]

Who, or what, are you?

[I am everything.]

Then why are you inside of me?

[Look at my face, my beautiful boy, tell me what you see.]

Jack looked her up and down, and then looked at her face. She had a very beautiful face. Beautiful lips,
a cute nose, wonderful eyes-no wait. Whenever Jack tried to look at her eyes his own would look avert
to something else.

[This is why I am inside of you. This is why I need you. I am missing eyes of my own.]

So you want to use my eyes?

[You are mistaken. The eyes you have already are “my eyes”. I just want you to use them for me now. I
want to “witness” the state of the world, and the people in it, and for that, I need you.]

I, I don’t really understand what that means. But if it’s an offer, then what do I get out of it?