<center>![Picture](https://cdn.pixabay.com/photo/2016/11/29/09/15/beautiful-1868656_1280.jpg)</center>*<sub>By Pexels on pixabay.com</sub>*


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Act 1:
[Part 1]( https://steemit.com/fiction/@suesa/joel-the-chosen-part-1), [Part 2]( https://steemit.com/fiction/@suesa/the-capital-the-chosen-act-1-part-2), [Part 3]( https://steemit.com/fiction/@suesa/secrets-the-chosen-act-1-part-3)

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*January 2nd, 2166*

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*”Show me what abilities I have, then”*, the hybrid demanded, after untying Joel. *”Can I fly? Shoot lasers out of my eyes?”* Joel frowned. This was a bad start, the hybrid … *the chosen*, he corrected himself, was already too impatient. 

*”Your abilities aren’t quite as visually impressive”*, he answered carefully. *”They are more … abilities of the mind.”*

*”Like math?”* Xeraias looked disappointed now.

*”No, no, that’s not what I meant”*, Joel hurried to say. *”It’s more in the direction of reading thoughts and moving objects with your mind.”* And controlling people to do your bidding whenever you want, he continued in his thoughts. That’s not something Joel wanted to reveal just yet, but it was mentioned in the prophecy. The chosen would have a variety of mental abilities, one more dangerous and powerful than the other.

Did he really want to give all this power to a hybrid? Then again, he wasn’t the one giving out the power, he’d just help the chosen to control it if he already possessed it. That was different. He had to keep telling himself that, or he would likely be eaten up by guilt.

*”Reading minds?”* Xeraias said, slowly. *”That’s a useful power to have. How do I do that? Why haven’t I been able to do that before?”*

*”You might have done it before, just without noticing”*, Joel explained. *”Your abilities could have manifested themselves in a very subtle way. Have you ever known something specific would happen, moments before it did? Did people sometimes seem a bit *too* compliant when you were working with them? Did objects that you needed pop up next to you out of seemingly nowhere?”*

The hybrid seemed to think, to go through past events in his memory, trying to find out if any of the things Joel had mentioned had happened to him. The outcome seemed positive, and thus in Joel’s favor.<sub><sub><sub><sub><sub><sub><sub><sub><sub><sub>@suesa</sub></sub></sub></sub></sub></sub></sub></sub></sub></sub>

*”I might have experienced some of these things”*, Xeraias finally said. *”I would think it’s just coincidences, but maybe not. You say that you can help me control this?”*

*”If you follow my directions, yes”*, Joel said. *”I’ve been trained all my life to, one day, instruct the chosen one.”*

*”Which is me.”*

*”Yes.”*

*”Alright. I will follow your instructions – but only those that are about my abilities. For everything else, you will follow ***my*** instructions, understood?”*

*”Understood.”*

*”Follow me”*, the hybrid said, and left the room. For a moment, Joel just stood there, confused, but then hurried to keep up with the long strides of his new master. Xeraias stepped out of the house and Joel was blinded by the light. It had to be about noon, as high as the sun was standing.

*”Where are we going?”* He asked.

*”Home”*, Xeraias replied. *”I have to introduce you to my family if you’re going to stay with me.”*

*”Your … your family?”* Joel stopped and stared at the hybrid in disbelief. *”You have a family?”*

*”Why shouldn’t I?”* Xeraias seemed offended. *”Do you think I’m just sitting in this pub all day, drinking? Alone?”*

*”Technically, you’re not alone there, with all the aliens …”*

Xeraias spit on the ground.

*”You think I want to spend all of my time with a bunch of drunks? In celibacy?”*

*”No, of course not …”* Joel hadn’t really thought about the hybrid’s life, why should he have? But there were certain assumptions that he made, and which were wrong it seemed. The hybrid had a family, a home and … did he say *celibacy*? 

*”Here we are”*, Xeraias said, as they stopped in front of an apartment complex. He opened the door, made sure Joel was following him, and together they walked up the stairs. *”Elevator has been broken since I moved in”*, Xeraias explained.

To Joel, all of this seemed absurd. This wasn’t the drunk hybrid he had encountered in the pub, who had, just moments before, threatened to kill him. What was going on?

In front of an apartment door, Xeraias stopped again and turned to Joel. His ugly face showed uncertainty.

*”You can’t tell her”*, he said. *”You can’t tell her where we met, or how. She doesn’t know I’m still going to the pub. She thinks I’ve stopped drinking, that I have a job which is not dealing drugs to aliens. Promise me not to tell her anything, or I will kill you, understood?”*

The hybrid was a drug dealer for aliens? Aliens were taking drugs?

*”Of course, I promise”*, Joel said, not having another choice. Xeraias seemed convinced and opened the door.

*”Mia? I’m home!”* He softly called out. As a result, steps sounded through the apartment, and a woman emerged.

A human woman.

A beautiful human woman.

Joel’s jaw dropped and had it not been attached to his skull, it would undoubtedly have fallen to the floor.

*”Xeraias! You’re home, finally. I was worried when you didn’t return last night. Did you have to work longer?”* Then, her eyes wandered to Joel. *”And who’s our friend?”* She gave him a soft smile, that made Joel melt to the ground.

*”He’s a spiritual teacher”*, Xeraias explained, which was at least closer to the truth than anything Joel could have come up with. *”He’s my personal teacher for the next 6 months, starting now so that I can improve myself even more.”*

*”Your boss arranged that?”* Mia’s face didn’t show any doubt, she completely believed what the hybrid was saying. Did he mentally manipulate her? But a manipulation this strong required more skill than the hybrid was supposed to have without training. Was he stronger than Joel had expected?

*”Yes”*, answered Xeraias to Mia’s question. *”It’s the first step to a promotion.”*

Mia clapped her hands in excitement.

*”That means we can move into a bigger house, once the baby arrives! 6 months you said? That’ll be right around the birth!”*

Birth? Baby? Joel looked at Xeraias in shock. Hybrids weren’t fertile. They couldn’t have children. Xeraias looked back at Joel. Then he nodded, confirming the impossible.

Mia was pregnant. 

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<center>[![stem-update-02-12-18.gif](https://steemitimages.com/DQmdmYiKVRsTQBvjXFYnB7xaQEoBhat36CQ5pk4Gy3hU2Se/stem-update-02-12-18.gif)](https://discord.gg/DYk4EvG)</center>
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