by Jacob Rundle
“Not a single deity knows why the job is left up to you. And all I am allowed to share with you is what I have already stated and one other thing: the first gateway.” Henri’s curiosity arose again, wanting answers.
“Umm….” Henri watched the Goddess. Kali stopped speaking, and she walked over to him. She stood in front of him and gave him a single glance. It wasn’t a simple glance, but more a look that demanded his attention. Somehow Henri knew that if he tried to interrupt her once again, she would end his existence in a split second. Instinctively, he understood what he had just received from the goddess of destruction. He closed his lips, and he opened his ears once more.
“Like I was saying, you and the other Destined will open these gateways to bring about the end. What happens when these doorways are open? No one knows, Pamgibar.” Henri wasn’t left with feelings of comfort by her words.
“That’s not really helpful, Kali.” Henri became immediately aware how out of line he was before she had to remind him.
“The contingency plan was created before my time, and anyone who played a part in its creation is no longer alive. There is a major misconception that because a spirit holds a place or position that we know everything. Does omniscience exist? No. But humans are not okay with that idea, and since you all have free will, we cannot interfere with it. The divine must allow these tiny lies to float around while we know better.” Kali sighed and stopped for a moment.
She then walked around the platform to look out over the work she had built throughout time. Simultaneously, as she admired her work, she also wondered what it would be like if even she no longer existed. Even the goddess of destruction pondered the fate of the universe at the hands of the Old Ones. She stopped in front of her golden throne and turned around to ask Henri another question,
“Do you know what gateways are?” she asked.
“No. I don’t know what or where they are.” He wished some of these entities would simply tell him what they knew instead of playing these stupid guessing games.
“There are a variety of gateways for particular reasons, and it is almost impossible to know them all. When I decide that it is time for me to complete my dance, I open the necessary gateways, and the events begin the moment that I open the final gateway. Now, it is your time to do your dance of destruction. More importantly, the fact is that the outcome outweighs what is happening. Understand what I am saying?”
“Well, I can say that I would rather have the world and universe be reborn than there be nothing. The thought of nothingness terrifies me.” Henri had flashbacks of the Dark Place, and he didn’t want to venture there again.
“As I said before to you, the gateways that you must open are ones of myth even to me. I was informed of the first one, and it is my duty to tell you about it.” Kali wasn’t one to enjoy disrupting the order of things, but she noticed a connection forming with Henri.
“So, what is the first gateway?”
“The first gateway is the act of a heavenly soul resurrecting a great evil.” Kali examined Henri’s confused expression.
“Heavenly soul? Resurrecting a great evil?” Henri repeated as he scratched his head in confusion.
“Yes, a heavenly soul must resurrect an evil being. And, who else knows of a great evil than a goddess of destruction who has had an encounter with a powerful, evil demon?”
“Okay…” Henri said hesitantly.
“When I battled the Asura, Raktabija.
“Asusra?” Henri became irritated at the Hindu goddess before him.
“Asura means demon.
“Anyway, I had to prevent its blood from hitting the ground because he would regenerate. So, I decided to lop up his blood except for one tiny drop which I placed in my scimitar. Henri, you must acquire my scimitar, and in order to open that gateway, you must resurrect the demon, Raktabija.”
“So, bring a demon back to life. Got it,” Henri had no idea on how to do it, but he remembered the lives that would be lost in the future: Tim Stevenson and family. He wasn’t going to allow their deaths to be in vain.
Kali was surprised by Henri’s understanding of the task.
“Good. Now the act of resurrecting that demon will break open the gateway. You must be the one who opens the gateway. You must find my scimitar. I gave humanity my weapon as a reminder of my power. And since then, they have never forgotten me or what I am able to do. You may only call on me again when you have my item. Do you understand me, child?” Kali’s word struck Henri deep in his core.
She softly rubbed her palm along his arm, healing the broken bones he had acquired during his run-in with the creature. The look in her eyes told Henri of her worries. He didn’t enjoy seeing the goddess of destruction fearing anything.
“Yes. So, where is your scimitar?”
“I can’t say that. I do not know.”
“How do you not know where it is?”
“It is your job to find it. I will say, though, that you know someone who knows exactly how to locate my item. Good Luck. And do not fail,” Kali added, enjoying her exit, and leaving Henri feeling more pressure on a now cosmic scale.
It took a moment for the vision to be over, and then once again, Henri was standing in front of Etlina and Siméon. They stared at him as if he had just magically appeared in front of them.
“Henri! You’re back!” Etlina tackled him to the ground. Henri noticed that he didn’t have pain in his body. He was gracious that she had not left him with a single broken bone.
“Thank you, Kali,” Henri whispered softly so no one would hear him.
“Are you okay, Henri?” Siméon rushed over, making sure that he wasn’t hurt.
“Yeah, I guess.” Henri needed a moment to process his return.
“Henri, what happened? Did the Ancestors pull you right away?”
Henri was excited to see Siméon’s strapping, chiseled face again. “Umm…I wasn’t with the Ancestors. You both better sit down so that I can tell you what just happened,” Henri waved to them to follow him.
They sat around Siméon’s coffee table, and for the next twenty minutes, Henri replayed the whole vision with the both of them. He told them of Metatron’s death, the desert, and Kali. He described all of the unknown scripts that he couldn’t recognize. He was hesitant about telling them what the first gateway was, though, and the difficulty that he would face when the time came to open it.
“Henri, you were physically gone.” Etlina still couldn’t believe her eyes.
“What do you mean? I just projected.”
“Henri, you didn’t just project.” Siméon hadn’t seen anyone ever teleport before.
Henri stopped for a second to process this new information before he told them about the gateway.
“So, Kali did tell me what the first gateway is.” Henri knew that he had to stay focused.
“What is it?” Siméon refocused his thoughts.
“What’s a gateway?” Etlina was confused. They both realized that she had a lot of catching up to do.
“Henri is part of a group of individuals who are termed the Destined, and this group of people must bring forth an event.” Siméon approached the topic delicately.
“Destined? Gateways? What stuff are you two into?” Etlina couldn’t hold back her judgmental tone.
“Well, yes. What Siméon said is true, for the most part. However, I need to update some of it. Kali explained to me that the Old Ones are coming. And the first gateway is an action. This action is that a pure soul must resurrect a great evil.” Henri didn’t realize how much weight those words had on his mind.
“Wait…what? Resurrect a great evil?” Etlina jumped to her feet. She wanted no part in such an act.
“Yeah, somehow I have to resurrect a demon that has been dead for centuries. And when I resurrect this evil, the action alone will open the first gateway.” Henri didn’t want to tell the rest, but he felt as though Siméon and Etlina had almost become a second family to him.
“More? How is there
more?” Siméon whispered sternly.
“When I open the gateway, something else will happen. Kali didn’t go into too much detail. But if you both had seen my vision of the future, the future where the little brothers watched their father get murdered and devoured in front of their faces… I can’t allow that to happen. This whole thing is messed up, and a part of me doesn’t want any involvement in it, but if I don’t do anything, every single thing will be gone. All that will be left is pure nothingness.” Henri’s eyes watered at the thought of the Dark Place and Metatron, and the other two saw the sadness in his eyes.
“Henri, I am so sorry.” Etlina embraced Henri and did her best to comfort him.
“And there is more. Apparently, the more that I use my gift the more it takes a toll on my body.” Henri slouched back into the couch.
“Well, you teleported this time. That is extremely energy draining.” Henri loved Siméon’s descriptions.
“Maybe there is another way?” Siméon’s expression was one of determination. He hated seeing Henri with no energy.
“There isn’t, Siméon. I have asked. And this must be done. I think back to sometime last year when I wished that my life was more exciting. Well, I guess I got what I wished for.” Henri found amusement in the moment, and he decided to enjoy it for once.
“Well, I want to help you guys. You can’t do this alone.” Etlina shook her nerves, and she put Henri’s needs before her own.
“No offense, Etlina, but there isn’t anything you can do,” Siméon muttered dismissively.
“Oh?” Etlina whispered as she focused on the room. After few moments, she snapped her fingers and the air in the room became still, waiting in suspense. Then the winds rushed into the room, forcing Siméon’s door to fly open. She thrust her hand towards the ground and made a motion as if she was releasing something from her palm.
“Corre!” she uttered, and an immense gust of wind picked up in the room, knocking over the pictures. The hanging pictures fell to the floor, breaking instantly, and the paint on the walls peeled, revealing bare plastered walls behind. The scene resembled the wrath of a tornado. Siméon stared at Etlina in awe, realizing that his new friend certainly proved to be a real powerhouse.
“Henri, will you correct Siméon?” Etlina laughed with a smile.
“Oh, Siméon, Etlina is a bruja. Her whole family comes from magic.” Henri smiled and batted his eyes at him.
“Oh, as does mine.” Siméon was relieved he wasn’t the only magic wielder.
“I know a way to find Kali’s weapon.” Etlina realized that she had a way to locate the scimitar.
After Etlina’s impressive display of her talents, she began explaining to Henri and Siméon how she could perform a working to find the item that Henri needed to open the first gateway.
She explained how she could use the essence of Kali that he had picked up from being around her. She also explained that since the weapons would be extensions of her power that she would be able to locate them.
“Do you two understand?” she asked.
“So, since I was around Kali, you are able to find these weapons since they are an extension of her?” Henri asked for clarification.
“Exactly, Henri. You need to know where the item is. I’ll contact you two when I found all the required ingredients. Okay?” Henri liked her tenacity.
“That sounds perfect. We can take this coming week to adjust to all the information that we have received. Our minds must be prepared if we are going to help Henri.” Siméon glanced at Henri, wishing that he could do more for the one person he cared deeply for.
“I should get home so that I can get some sleep. I’m really tired,” Henri explained.
“Okay, let’s go, Henri. Thank you, Siméon, for everything.” Etlina hugged him as a proper good-bye.
“You’re very welcome, Etlina. I will see you Friday.” Siméon waited for Henri to approach him.
“Siméon, I want to thank you for everything. You have been there for me since day one. I don’t know what I would do without you.”
“I already told you, Henri, that I care for you, and I won’t let anything happen to you. This destiny is already filled with death, sadness and loneliness.”
Siméon moved closer to Henri, and he thought that Siméon wanted to whisper something to him so that Etlina didn’t hear him, but instead, Siméon placed his lips on Henri’s. Siméon kissed Henri for what felt like forever, and Henri didn’t want it to end. He finally unwillingly pulled himself away from Siméon.
“Siméon, I have to leave. I don’t want to leave, but I really need to spend some time at home. I will see you tomorrow in class.”
As Etlina walked out of Siméon’s apartment, Henri turned around to look at the young man. He had the most content look on his face; Henri knew that Siméon was filled with happiness and excitement. He started to close the door behind himself, but instead, he rushed over to Siméon and kissed him one last time. All the feelings and color rushed to both of their faces.
“Good night, Siméon.” Henri walked to his car with the biggest grin on his face.
CHAPTER 21
6:45 A.M.
HENRI’S HOUSE
“Henri! You’re going to be late for school!” His mother’s announcement startled him out of another deep sleep.
“Why can’t she let me sleep?” He mumbled as he got out of his bed to make sure that she didn’t come barging into his room.
“Okay, Mom. I’m getting ready now!” he yelled down the stairs to her. He despised that he had to get ready for school. An education seemed so trivial to him, right now.
Henri didn’t want to go to school. The only positive that he saw was that Siméon would be in class. A small part of him wondered why any of it really mattered.
“If the world was going to end then why would he bother to finish school? Go on a date? Go to college? None of this made any sense to him. Henri then decided that perhaps he should take a mental health day.” Henri tried to think of something else, but he knew that no matter how hard he tried, he was still a seventeen-year-old boy.
Henri walked down the stairs so that his mother could see that he was dressed for school. She wouldn’t think it was odd if he left the house early on a school day. He grabbed the lunch that she had made for him, and he yelled a few parting words:
“Thanks, Mom. Have a great day, okay?” he said as he gave her a kiss on the cheek.
“You too, Henri. Tonight, we will discuss your college plans again, okay?”
“Mom, I don’t even know if I want to go.”
“Why? We’ve been planning this for a while, Henri. What has changed?” Henri knew that he couldn’t tell his mother anything that was going on with him; she wouldn’t believe him if he tried.
“Okay, Mom. We will discuss them again,” Henri said as he walked out the door.”
He knew his mother wanted him to pick a college closer to home so that she could keep tabs on him.
“Aren’t parents supposed to support their children in fulfilling their dreams?” Henri said to himself as he walked outside. He didn’t want to start another argument with his mom, but he couldn’t force himself to think about college when he knew that the Old Ones were making their way through the stars.
Henri made his way to the subway and jumped onto the train. He had a few moments of clarity about the past few months. This road would be the most difficult and dangerous thing he would ever do, and he didn’t know how it was going to work out.
He needed someone to discuss what happened in the Dark Place with. The Ancestors heard his desire, and Adhira responded to Henri’s call. Henri had become accustomed to having conversations in his mind.
“Child, I am always listening to you. What are you wanting to discuss with me?” Adhira stated gently.
“Well, I had an encounter with Kali Maa. Do you know who Kali Maa is?”
“Of course I know of her. All the divinities know of each other. We normally don’t interfere with each oth
er’s territories, but we are all respectful of each other. We all are different spirits, but we are part of the same divine consciousness.” Henri forgot that Adhira was Kali’s avatar at one point.
“Well, I met her yesterday, and she informed me of the first gateway.”
“I am aware that she has completed her task.”
“Adhira, why didn’t you tell me what the first gateway was? I don’t understand how you didn’t know.”
“Child, it is not my duty to make you feel better about your fate. You know that you have the option to accept your destiny or not. Even with the pending threats coming, I do not serve you, so it is better you watch your sarcasm and attitude. Remember to whom you speak.”
“I apologize. I am just overwhelmed.”
“I understand, child. However, remember you speak to an aspect of the Divine. If you cannot keep your composure then I will smite you, and you will be recycled, child.”
Henri stopped walking for a moment, and he wondered how the conversation had gone so wrong already. He tried to find a way to get this talk back on track. He had many negative comments to say to Adhira, but he realized that he shouldn’t anger an Ancestor if he wanted to be successful with the Old Ones. He suddenly realized that an old-fashioned apology would work.
“Adhira, I am truly sorry. I didn’t mean to anger you.”
“Let us get this conversation back on track, child.”
“Adhira, Kali Maa told me that the first gateway is the action of me resurrecting the demon Raktabija by finding her lost weapon. What are your thoughts on this?”
“My thoughts? What do you mean?”
“Well, I am just wondering what your thoughts are. If I resurrect this demon, I would release this thousand-year-old demon on the world again. How can I do this?” Henri had a vision flash through his mind of a scary, demonic entity lunging at him.
“Child, you were told by Kali that you would have to do things that you are completely against in order to stop the Old Ones. Do you remember her saying this to you?”
“Yes. But…” Henri had no rebuttal.
