Jade & Wilbur

Jade did not want her gift. It only ever brought bad things.

"What do you see?"

The room was tense, like her eyes, which were squeezed tight. She gripped the folds of her dress as she sat cross legged, looking.

Her brother's heartbeat could be heard from across the elegant library and study. Jade's visions had finally begun, only a week before, which meant that the family's legacy of powerful prophets could continue.

No pressure.

"What do you see, Jade?"

Their father's voice, gruff and shaky, emerged from behind a long sheer curtain, rippling from an invisible breeze. His sight was departing, as was his health. The curtain was a precaution to ensure Jade wasn't put at risk.

"It's...just dark."

"She needs time, Pa. Nothing ever happens as quickly anymore."

Wilbur's voice was cool and calm, his presence only needed to ensure she had a tether to this reality. He had been having regular visions for almost five years, and now, well into his teens, was learning more about the art of prophecy. Including the importance of witnessing the earliest visions of a new prophet.

Jade's face scrunched in pain suddenly, Wilbur noticing first. His energy quickly switched from calm to alert.

"I saw..I saw..red."

"People?" She nodded. Red wasn't good. Last week the darkness had lasted longer though, so at least she had improved with her searches.

"They're...crying. Moaning; barely moving but now it's one boy he looks...Wilbur he's...burning..."

She was deep in a vision then. He scrambled from his spot, reaching for a quill and parchment to take notes, but her next words made him freeze.

"On a pyre...someone's burning him but his skin isn't...it's turning white and he's laughing? Why..why is he laughing Wilbur? Why is he hurting and laughing and burning?"

"I...I don't know Jade...but you can stop. You don't have to keep looking."

"How? It's too loud here to look away...Why is there so much red?"

"Cut the tether, Wilbur." Their father spat out. To do so would end the vision, but could sent Jade into a shock-state most established prophets never escape from. And this was only Jade's third vision.

"Pa you know that would do! She's going fine-"

"I've seen-"

"Your visions don't count anymore, Pa." Cruel, but true. They were unreliable now, even if he refused to accept it.

"Jade. Can you hear me?"

Silence. Her breathing was steadier, calmer all of a sudden. Moving too deep into a vision, trying to understand as well as see was always the biggest temptation, especially when the thrill of the future, of the unknown, made the present undesirable.

It sometimes took a minute for words to find them. Sometimes invisible barriers would come up, natural instincts that would block out the present so the future could become clearer.

All of these things Wilbur was only just learning to control.

"...Mm. Wilbur?"

"Yes?"

"You envy me..."

A question? A sight? A..

"Truth. Wilbur."

She cut him off-

"You think loud."

A pause. His heartbeat returned to the foreground as a twang of pride reverberated in his chest. He wondered if she could hear it.

"Do..you know..."

"No. No idea." A smile entered her voice, but it felt..distant. It took a moment for it to register there, to reach her. An echo.

How far away was she?

"Why do you feel...still, Wilbur?"

Honesty was the only option when speaking to a prophet. His little sister wasn't meant to be under that umbrella yet.

"Wilbur."

"I feel...I don't know Jade, this is freaking me out. First you're here-"

"And then you're not here. But you don't..." She trailed off. "Sorry."

She waited for him to continue, but he didn't think it was worth it. She knew what he wanted to say. So he followed his instinct.

"Can you..see me?"

"Mm."

"Tell the truth." A breath. To face his future from another was...selfish. He gave the world a moment to remind him of the consequences, of everything he had learnt and studied and practised.

It stayed still.

"My hands.."

"Are...older."

Future. Good.

"Eyes?"

"Yours."

"Mm, very specific. And so descriptive."

"You've got white hair, old man."

Far future. Great. He took a breath.

"How far am I...from..y'know.."

"Wilbur." Pa's harsh voice behind the veil was filled with scorn.

Bit late, world.

"Curiosity isn't a crime, Pa." Jade's voice, calm, stoic. Unlike and like her in every way he'd never expected, her insecurities and hesitations gone. She had already learnt her way and would refuse any critique.

A grumble, then resolve. She was the prophet, not him.

"Comfortably. Old but peaceful." Her eyes fluttered open, gripping his with endless realms of thoughts. "The boy in the fire...his name is Jia. And we need to find him."

~