The early afternoon was awkward for all of us after they noticed me passed out in the hallway and ended with a severe nosebleed. Now worried about me, they all have decided to keep me company; however, Gwen had to take a call and went to the backyard for some privacy. Meanwhile, Moses, who knew about my special abilities more than the others, felt calm and had an urge to discuss further the strange dream I had last night after seeing Charlotte's artwork. Amanda too was intrigued of seeing the 5 blue Moth Butterflies that were well drawn on to the canvas of the image. She started to notice a pattern and may have a clue as to what led me to develop time-reverse powers, but had evolved into jumping into alternative timelines at the same time.
Before anyone could speak, Amanda gestured her own sister to go home, for she was not needed for her to hear what we were about to discuss next…. She looked at her little sister and asked her to leave, but Selene wouldn't comply….
"Alright, Selene, please leave us be and go home…" She said in calmly manner, while having her arms crossed
Selene, who was worried about me, refused and wanted to stay also…. But her sister was having none of it, "But Amanda? I want to stay too,"
"No buts, Selene, this is an adult matter between us grownups…" Amanda said while giving her sister the attitude of a strict parent.
"Don't worry Selene, I am sure your sister means well," I replied with a soothing voice, and showing Selene as sign of me being alright.
"Alright, but if you take too long, I will return….and this time with rope at hand like how mom used to do it to all of us…." Selene chuckled and bolted to the door, and closing it behind her.
Amanda, who was feeling embarrassed of having a sister like her, blushed as she looked at us with discomfort; right after we laughed hysterically, "I swear, I shouldn't have taken the role of bringing her along to my new city job…. But to limit my parents from having to miss me way too much, they insisted on bringing Selene along for the ride, since they don't trust her to be alone in a private dormitory near the Blackwell campus…."
"You sister is unique in some way…. But my question is how did she wound up getting accepted to the new Blackwell Academy? She must have some reason to be fully accepted and receive some financial support," Moses replied, smiling as he enjoyed this sort of tough sibling love.
"Well, Selene has gotten the Chase foundations attention when she demonstrated both her artwork talent and folklore legend related to our ancestors uniqueness and cultural lineage. She is smart in her own ways…. While I have my own capabilities as well…." She said with arrogance in mind, and feeling proud of herself.
I obviously chuckled as she saw me laughing and raising an eyebrow at me… "Let me guess, Amanda, your own capabilities is being 'The all seen eye'….while working as a bartender?"
"Yeah, yeah….laugh it up and you might end up with one of my special spiked drinks tonight…. Which could be your last…?" Amanda lean in close to me and gave me that cold sarcastic stare.
"Take it easy Dr. Jekyll.... no need to get all Mr. Hyde on me…." I laughed hysterically as saliva came dripping out of my mouth, to which was kind of embarrassing to say the least.
Thanks to us goofing around with my rhetorical Joke, Moses too could hold his own laugh, and laughed so hard that he nearly choked on his own water; that he was sipping earlier today. All said and done, we all returned to the subject related to what I had experience last night, and Amanda as usual finally jumped right in….
"Um Max? I hate to be nosey. But where did you get this intriguing portrait that you have hanging in the fireplace?"
"Yeah, that art piece captured very well the old Lighthouse, with the five perfectly well drawn butterflies that are circling over the afternoon Horizon…" Moses replied feeling intrigued of seen such wonderful image near the fireplace.
"Fun Fact, did you know that whenever, you see a mysterious butterfly appear out of nowhere….that it is a sign of peace, hope, and desire. Or so I was told by my old Native folks who still are stuck in their old traditional ways," She said feeling all jumpy after she mentioned the meaning of the butterfly.
Moses had an eerie expression that he felt as he heard the meaning of what the butterfly represents, "Really, Amanda! That's awesome,"
"That's good to know, and also that is what I wanted to talk to you guys about….This image was given to me by Charlotte, who I became friends with two nights ago," I said feeling iffy, and that strange dream I had last night of that terrible storm.
I was about to proceed further, until Gwen returned right after taking a quick call and interrupted us with some amazing announcement related to the Tobanga statue that she had taken with her cell phone recently and shared it to her wife on text….
"Hey everyone, sorry that I took so long on the phone, but I got a juicy story that I want to share with all of you,"
"Alright Gwen….Shoot," giving her that satisfaction to proceed.
Gwen with glee in her eyes continued on reminiscing her wife's obsession of Mythical and historic facts of antiquity. Including that of Arcadia Bay, but what caught my attention was her mentioning the Tobanga statue that the old Natives have left behind many years ago.
"Klaudia, being her usual self loves to talk about folklore legends, and when I mentioned Arcadia Bay….something inside her lit up and told me something peculiar related to the Tobanga statue and that giant storm that destroyed the old Arcadia Bay Town."
"Ok!? But what does that have to do with Max's powers?" Moses looking a little annoyed with Gwen having to intervene with our recent conversation related the blue mystic butterfly.
"Hold on….I am getting to that subject as well," Gwen replied; looking all excited with what she is about to share with us next.
As the room remained silent, we all gave a full attention to Gwen as she began to pace the living room back and forth….
"So, Klaudia, has this thing of exploring old abandoned places…her obsession towards understanding historical events and unlocking the Urban Legends these places hold buried within their structures. And when I mention Arcadia Bay and showing her a pic of the Tobanga Statue….She flipped with excitement and started to research the town's old history…."
Our eyes lit up just as soon as she mentioned Klaudia researching the old history of Arcadia Bay….I was eager to know more about this topic and gave Gwen the hand gesture to keep going with what her wife said,
"….Well, she found something unique about this towns old historic background, and believe me it wasn't easy for her. She needed clearance to unlock a special vault that the main library in Washington D.C holds and swore to never share with anyone what she had discovered next…" Gwen paused and gave us a series look as she turned to face us and…. "So, what I am about to tell you all….must stay in this house….KAPISH!!! I am not saying that I do not trust you guys….all I am saying is that if word gets out that my wife is sharing her findings that must be kept secret, than she could get in real trouble….and its best to never find out,"
We all nodded simultaneously and agreed to the terms of what she is willing to share with us, leading Gwen completely satisfied with the terms of her sharing Klaudia's information….
"Many Years ago, before the settlers took hold of this Town, called Arcadia Bay. There was a tribe that had highly advance technology….and had a strong connections with the mystical beings. This tribe was known to be much older than the Navajo, Sioux, Cherokee, and other Native tribes that roamed here in America for 100s of years; they are known as 'The Omny Tribe'…"
"The Omny Tribe, you say?" Amanda replied, looking all confused and giving her that awkward stare.
I realizing by now that Amanda comes from a traditional Native Tribe family, and feeling blinded by her beauty and the way she dresses; I almost forgot about the dream I had last night and finally retracted my focus to Gwen's topic related to 'The Omny Tribe'. However, before Gwen could precede more about the subject matter; Amanda intervened and explained a small portion of what she heard of this mysterious tribe…
"Yeah, that's what Klaudia said over the phone, right after I mentioned the name of the Town and the Tobanga statue,"
"I heard of this old Tribe called 'The Omny Tribe' from my grandparents and the grand elders of my tribe. They were thought to be rumors that the Ancient tribe was sadly wiped out by the invading settlers, who sadly wanted the lands for themselves, and to make a profit out of them," Amanda said, with a disturbing look. But, continued on with her side of the story,
"But, others also specified something that had to do with Mystical powers, and their strong connection with the Spirit world. However, the one thing that did indeed stood out the most was the one known as, 'The Grand Spirit'….I may not know much about their connection with 'The Grand Spirit'. But, I know that they were gifted with ancient powers, and a highly intellect that gave them the ability to create ancient technology and combined it with spiritual powers…"
Once Amanda finished explaining a brief history of the old tribe, Gwen continued on with her version of the story that was shared to her…
"Well, not to brag about the old boring stuff….but what stood out the most was their highly advanced technology that enabled them to summon the weather, and can even control it. With their highly advanced knowledge in nature; combining it with their mystical powers. This gave them full advantage of keeping a stabilized environment, and was beneficial for their harvest during the Harvest seasons."
Moses and I were amazed as to what Gwen and Amanda mentioned, and what stood out the most was the ways of how the Omny Tribe operated using technology and mystical art to create harmony in their everyday life.
"So, with them having the ability to control the weather, weren't there consequences of messing with the ecosystem?" feeling amazed of seen Gwen going on giving us a lecture of an ancient technology that the 'Omny's' developed.
Gwen after seen my curiosity, didn't hesitate to answer my deepest concerned of a technology that can control the weather,
"Actually, according to a stone tablet manual script that my wife deciphered….they followed an ancient calendar of how to use the device that they created. Not only that it required 5 key elements to activate the device….but, they are represented in the symbols of an animal. Those five animals are: The Otter (Faun), The Squirrel (Crawler), The Fish (Creature of water), and The Bird,"
"Yeah, but there are only 4 elements that you mentioned so far, so what about the fifth one?" Moses replied; looking all puzzled.
"Yes, that is the problem….you see there is no explanation of the fifth element and coming back to the Totem statue; known as the Tobanga that is all my wife said for that carving is a structure on how the elements are needed for this mystical device to properly work, but nothing was mentioned of what the fifth element is…."
Gwen stood quiet, and turned her gaze to the ceiling for that was all her wife mentioned to her; leading us further into a stalemate as to what had happened to the tribe itself. Since they had technology and were gifted with mystical powers, yet to only disappear without a trace, right before the Settlers intervened and conquered the lands the natives once called home.