Gabriel Silvas: A Wildcard Week Short

­Alpha Belt
Mortal Realm
Venura Residence
2015

After Gabriel Silvas had lost his friends one by one, he swore to himself that he wouldn’t get attached to the first person he got to know.

Of course, Fate wanted to test him – Fate tested everyone, after all. The next thing he knew, Gabriel was delegated as a Watcher. And he had no idea how he came to be at that position. Gritting his teeth, Gabriel accepted the position without daring to say anything against the Creator.

Even with his new duties, he promised that he wouldn’t get attached to whoever his Assignment would be. Attachments were dangerous as proved by the friendships he had fostered. Gabriel told himself that he would only watch over whoever his Assignment would be purely out of mere obligation and responsibility. The last thing he wanted was to get on the Creator’s hit list.

However, upon first peeking into the thirteen-year-old’s mind, Gabriel cursed.

He immediately knew that not getting attached was something that definitely wouldn’t happen.

  

After the disaster which had caused the termination of his friendships, Gabriel Silvas was intent on creating a new identity for himself. The Forest Original wanted a new beginning, a new start, for everything to restart. After thinking long and hard, he finally decided on a new name.

Loyal as ever to his first name (and strangely attached to the nicknames he had gained over the years), he kept Gabriel as a surname. He personally found it too fitting – after all, in Christian beliefs, one of the top archangels had been named Gabriel.

When it came to his actual name, Gabriel was unable to decide on something for a number of weeks until the hit of epiphany came. A thought came to him while he was sitting on the rooftop, isolating himself from the rest of the group.

If there’s anything I really want, it’s to be miles and miles away from this place. 

I want to be miles away from the person I am right now.

And a singular word resounded in his mind.

Miles, he thought slowly. He licked his lips. Miles Gabriel. I think I like that.  

Gabriel Silvas the compassionate, the playful and mischevious Englishman the rest of them knew was discarded and put away. Gabriel Silvas, the man who swore he’d protect his friends with his life and set himself on fire on them, resolved to close himself off. Gabriel Silvas buried away his heart of gold and raised trees so tall no one would be able to enter.

Miles Gabriel was different, he told himself. Miles Gabriel wasn’t the type of person, of Watcher who would get attached.

Attachments would lead to disappointment. Attachments would lead to much more pain that he’d like.

And Gab – Miles – was tired of pain.

The first time he peeked into Aria Venura’s head as her newly-assigned Watcher, the first thoughts he heard resonated within and struck deep.

I don’t want pain anymore.

And it was repeated so many times that he had to force himself to pull away. He remembered what was reminded to him and the other Watchers. “Only introduce yourselves when needed. For now, keep an eye on them from afar. Note their thoughts. When things go bad, introduce yourselves.”

Miles found himself wishing that he wouldn’t need to introduce himself to her. He was troubled enough as it seemed. However, a number of months passed and he found himself at the critical moment.

His Assignment was taking an exam. The moment he glanced into her mind, he was overwhelmed by the panicky thoughts she had, thoughts containing words like disaster and failure and disappointment. The male could see her trembling fingers wrapped tightly around a black pen, how her eyes were staring at the paper with a fearful look in them.

Finally, he exhaled and let himself speak.

Miles guided her (despite he himself not knowing how to deal with such complicated formulas) and made her keep her ground. His Assignment went with it, not questioning why there was a random male voice which spoke to her in her head. He then guessed that she was too wound up to care.

When the right time came, Miles found himself looking at a girl with wide eyes and a shaky cup of coffee in her hands. He introduced himself as her Watcher and explained what his duty was; to his surprise, she accepted him quickly.

After seeing a hint of green flash in her eyes when he announced that he was her Watcher, Miles was certain that she was the Source. Green had met green momentarily, and he (finally) accepted that he would eventually get attached to the Lightning Original.

Ever since his time as Gabriel Silvas, he had an affinity for plant life and loved being in the wood. The Silvas family had an immense garden behind their home and he was frequently seen there, either hanging around the large oak or climbing the tall trees.

Forests were abundant back in his homeland; trees could grow tall and last for a number of lifetimes.  And it wasn’t just trees which existed in the forest, but many forms of life from flora to fauna.

He recalled being a much outdoor-sy person than anyone else he knew. As a child, he was frequently on-the-go, searching here and there and coming home with a toothy grin and scraped knees from falling too hard. His mother would always scold him; Amy (then Amaryllis) would shake her head in dismay and quietly watched as he got himself patched up.

Trees were everywhere, watching the people who came and left.

Miles thought it was quite telling of his future as a Forest Original and as a Watcher to one of the Sources.

As a Watcher, Miles had to now devote his time to Aria. At that point, getting attached as a necessity. He had grown fond of the short-haired girl as the weeks passed, getting to know her to a much personal level and finding that both of them had more similarities than they thought. Eventually, they were so comfortable that they shared their own teasing, their own inside jokes.

If Miles and Aria were spotted together, one could assume that he was her older brother. On the inside, he would agree.

Miles thought of Aria as his younger sister, someone he could joke around with yet brought out the guns when things got serious. Despite his relaxed personality, Miles was fiercely protective of the Lightning Original.

He had failed at not getting attached.

He made another promise: to not leave her as he not left the others. To not give her a reason to leave him as he had given the others.

Before Miles Gabriel was Gabriel Silvas.

Gabriel Silvas had lost so much that it seemed like someone had cut off his roots. He had lost the same people who nurtured him and found himself nearly lifeless after having to face weeks of explusion and denial from the people he deeply loved back then.

Miles formed his own roots and settled as a Watcher.

In his settling, he found another root. Another person to keep him grounded; another person who gave him a reason to try.

Oftentimes, he had to remind himself that he had to be strong for her. He had to admit that the things she went through wasn’t exactly a field of roses. And he understood why she was the person she was: nearly the exact representation of a lightning bolt ready to strike.

Forests were there to serve as home to all sorts of life; to perhaps nurture and keep safe. Forests were resilient, not backing down unless the worst came. Even when storms ravaged them, there were still a number of trees left standing.

Long gone was Gabriel Silvas. He buried the identity deep within his heart and replaced his former first name with Miles. Experiences and memories ran too deep – too deep that he went and shut his former self away.

This was his new life. He accepted it.

As he rubbed the back of his Assignment (who was curled up in bed and refusing to speak), he hoped that he was giving her what she had given him.

A reason to stay rooted.