She cringed with pain, her clothing charred. A fireball landed on Lexan's back and pushed him down into the dirt. He hit ground, flipped, and landed back-first. The air in his lungs escaped. When he tried to get up, he already saw Mosai running away toward the door. Lexan, once more, summoned his strength and let his body vibrate with energy. This time, he let the energy act like a magnet, but a magnet meant only for Mosai. The girl slipped and fell backward.
The boy finally stood up and headed toward Mosai. She, angry on the ground, blasted a laser beam at Lexan. The beam, a thin strip of light in the ultraviolet spectrum, escaped her fingers and landed and burned through the boy's arm. He screamed with pain as the beam exited through the other side.
He did not bleed but he could not feel his arm either.. His see-through right arm was shimmering as if unsure if it really existed. His body tried to regenerate his muscle tissue but could not. The heat from the beam had already singed the muscle fibers even though they were hidden and only partially existent in this reality.
“Dammit, what did you do that for?!” Lexan fell down to his knees, one arm clutching the other. The girl watched him from distance, wide-eyed. He tried to slow down his breathing but could not, the pain spread through his whole body. The endorphins released did not help much either, they only made him drowsy but still aware of the pain. He grit his teeth, he could not breathe. With a single swoop, he tore off his mask so that he could breathe clearly without obstruction. Tears welled up in his eyes. He could not take the pain.
A shimmering white liquid started dripping from his arm as his body reverted back to the first stage Aetheric state, the grass seemed to absorb it and grow. Some of the flowers bloomed. With a final and desperate attempt to stop Mosai, no, Alary, to stop, Lexan threw his left hand forward, dripping with his own liquids. He felt the anger, the pain, and frustration fill his body. The emotion aligned his bodily energy. The boy channeled it forward into his left arm. It felt hot, and burning. It burned, it hurt him. The pain amplified, he screamed.
And then it stopped. The pain stopped, the burning stopped, and he did not feel angry anymore. He did not feel frustrated, if only for a few seconds. In front of him glowed a perfect golden sphere. Its surface swirled and bubbled slightly. He created another fireball but this time it was no longer just a fire ball. It was a star, but not just a tiny star that Alary had created and thrown at Lexan earlier, one that dissolved within seconds, this one was sustainable. The ball sucked energy from around them and it started to have its own gravitational pull, inhaling the dirt and grass. The little start started to grow. Then an eruption came and a piece of the mass ejected itself into the simulation room. The ground flared up with fire.
Lexan launched the orb at Alary who stared at it, terrified, “No! STOP!” she yelled out. Her arm reached out in front of her, “Stop! We're in a simulation room, you're going to burn the place down!”
The boy stared at her and called upon the star to rejoin him. The tiny little ball that acted as a bright blazing vacuum returned to him. His body reabsorbed the pain, the anger, and the frustrations. He bit down, and bared his teeth. Lexan's muscles flexed and he felt the pain leave him again. The pain that he created; his arm still bled the silver liquid.
“Yeah, you tell me to stop but that did not stop you from messing up my arm, huh?” He said, and stood up. Alary had turned back into her human form and ran toward him to help. Lexan turned back too, only to see the silver liquid mix with his blood. As it entered his body, the wound healed.
“I did not realize it! I forgot we were inside. I'm still not used to these life-like simulations,” she reached out to him and grabbed his right arm, “Damn, that beam did a lot of damage.” She then looked up at him, “Sorry about that [Muray], I didn't recognize you with your helmet on! And you could have said it was you at the beginning. It could have saved us from this mess.”
“Finally, and it's Lexan, or did you forget?” He smiled at her, finally relieved that she recognized him.
“[Muray] wasn't it? And why do you go by [Muray] anyways?” she stared at him confused. Lexan looked back at her even more confused.
“Let's go to your place. We can't have a conversation like this.” she nodded and they left the simulation room together.
“Where have you been all this time? And how did you get here from the Cardinal Regions?” Alary spoke again, and the boy shook his head again.
“We'll talk, just hold on.”
They had soon arrived, and Lexan led her to the Closet where they enjoyed the view of the Aether star.
“So, now can we talk [Muray]?” Alary asked.
“Turn off your cerebral chips,” Lexan said, the girl stared at him.
“Why?”
“Just trust me and do it.”
Alary took off the mask of her suit to reveal her long curly hair. The original brown in her hair had faded into silver. She had grown considerably, matured into a woman from the girl she had been. Lexan felt his heart beat with the warmth of memories they had spent together.
She reached for her NCC, the liquid flowed up her arm and plugged itself into her cerebral connections. The girl closed her eyes and opened them a few seconds later.
The boy did the same and when he opened his eyes, he found himself standing where he was before. Not at all what he expected. It seemed that the space/star illusion was much more complex than he had originally assumed.
“Now we can finally talk,” he smiled at her and proceeded to explain how the filtering worked and why she had not recognized him at first. She questioned him thoroughly about his journey to the Aether system, to which they found out they came aboard the same vessel.
“So you were asleep while I studied and vice-versa,” Alary said, “that is amazing. I can't believe we were so close this whole time.”
Lexan nodded thoughtfully, “What I can't believe is that neither Master Raki nor anyone else told us about it.”
“I wonder why,” Alary started, “they wouldn't let us be together. It's not like we would go around causing trouble.”
“Well, see that's the thing,” Lexan answered uncomfortable, “We would. Do you know about the prophecy?”
“Yes, about my brother and I,” She turned toward the star and stared out into the skies. The boy watched her intrigued, and curious as to how she found out.
“I want you to see something,” she looked at him seriously. Her hands reached up and loosened up her suit. The black, scaly surfing suit ruptured as if under pressure. Alary twisted around so that only her back showed. One arm crossed her chest while the other gave her suit a command to drop. And that's when Lexan's jaw dropped as well. He stared blankly upon her back.
She had not lost any of her beauty, her skin shone vibrantly. The yellow of the nearby star threw harsh shadows over her spine.
“Just like your brother,” the boy murmured, his eyes carefully scanning the circular scar encompassing the mid of her back. A single line split the circle in two, “How come I've never seen it when we were back on Earth?” he wondered.
“Master Raki told me that the moment Nangern and I were separated, the prophecy took hold. And a scar burned itself upon my back,” she said.
“So you know your brother has one too?” Finally, at this point Alary seemed surprised.
“No. How would you know that?” She asked, putting her suit back on.
“I had a vision. I became a man that your brother tortured and killed. He showed me the marking upon his back. The mark of a Toria, the Toria of Knowledge.”
“Not possible. There is no way you could know all this,” her eyes grew wide, “and what do you mean tortured? My brother does not torture people. That's sick.”
“Alary, he's a general in the Nether invasion,” Lexan whispered.
“Yes, I know, but-” she frowned, “he would never harm another.”
“Just like he did not hit me the last day at the orphanage? Just like he would not start an int
er-galactic war? ” The boy's temper grew. He did not even realize why, “He's a sick person. He's a murderer.”
Alary slapped him, “Get out of here.”
He stared at her, where have I gone wrong? “We have to stop him. Look, if we don't stop him, the prophecy-”
“-will become true and half the galaxy will be dead? Why should I stop that?” she trembled with anger, “It's better for the life here, it's better for the galaxy this way.”
“You can't be serious,” Lexan stopped, his heart beat slowed down, “you want this to happen?”
“Just get out,” Alary wouldn't speak to him, she sent him out once more. Her body flashed with flames as it transformed. The small room suddenly became excessively hot, “All will go according to the prophecy.”
“He has to stopped!” the boy pleaded, “What if he gets killed? Don't you care?”
“Shut up. You know damn well I care. Nangern is my brother. He's of my blood,” the heat died down.
“So help me. Come with me, once you two unite the war will end,” Alary stood sternly. Her body became mortal again.
“You want to unite us?” she asked imploringly.
“Yes!” he felt like crying, she just wouldn't understand! “I want to unite you two. That will end the war. End this whole conflict. That's how it started!”
“I haven't thought of that,” she sat down on an invisible shelf, “Lexan, you have to understand, the war is inevitable.”
She looked him dead in the eye. Wary, the boy retreated and readied his mind for another fight, “It's not inevitable.”
“We have already been separated. That's how this starts. If we reunite, nothing will change,” she eyed him carefully, “Neither of the galaxies has passed the test of the Toria. If it had, the scar on my back would not be there and the invasion would not have happened.”
Lexan, dumbstruck, left his jaw hanging open, “You LET this war erupt because the galaxies did not meet some bloody expectations of yours?” he slowly retreated toward the door, with a horror in his face.
“You have to understand, Lexan. Both Nangern and I had been entrusted a task. A task wherein we decide the course of history for the next three thousand years. This is fate. From the ashes of two separate galaxies that have raged on in conflicts for hundreds of thousands of years, will be a new era reborn,” she spoke as if the words were not her own. She fell into a state of trance. Her body transcended the second Aether form, and went on further, “Lexan, you cannot unite us.”
“But how do you know all this?” he screamed out, but somehow his voice was lost in a sudden upwind. Sides of the room started tearing apart.
“I have seen it in my dreams,” the girl stopped floating and her body returned to normal.
“In your dreams? I have seen something in my dreams too. The symbol, it told me to unite us three!”
She blinked in surprise, “What do you mean 'us three'? Only Nangern and I are the chosen ones. You are nothing.” Her eyes, her body seemed to longer be hers.
“Look, I don't know. I just want this to end. I don't want you to get hurt,” exasperated, he said down on the floor, his eyes watering from frustration, “I don't want Nangern to hurt anyone. I don't want some damn Aether killing him, either.”
Alary watched him closely and finally, once more she said, “Leave.” Their meeting ended short. The months of agony within Lexan ended with a disappointment, even though his wishes were fulfilled. He saw her, he met her.
And this time, he knew he could not argue back, and he would never win such an argument. He was nothing, he was not part of the prophecy. And Alary, she wanted him gone. Getting up, he felt lost. He felt failure sweep over him and an otherworldly feeling. This cannot be happening, he thought again as he did so many times before. He felt his back burn, it burned, the searing pain did not bring him back from the state of mind he currently occupied.
It burned with hellfires. His back burned and the pain spread through his whole body but he ignored it, not giving it a second thought. Tears escaped his eyes for he never experienced such failure before. Sadness encompassed his heart as he realized that not only did he lose the argument, the war will rage on. And not only will he not unite the two, but he just lost Alary forever. His only connection to the old world, to his old life evaporated.
And the burn gained in brilliance and pain. His skin seared, and when he breathed in, he could smell the faint hint of burning flesh. He welcomed it, he felt as if that pain he felt kept him alive. Kept him alive as he walked out of Alary's little apartment.
Joshua warned him of unknown health risks. His conscious mind screamed at him to cry for help for his body had been on fire. But the boy kept on walking, knowing full well that if the fires were drenched in water, they would not be put out. He knew that the fires, if gone, would enter his insides, and inside of him, they would wreak havoc.
The door materialized behind him, even as Alary came running after him. With wide eyes and a familiar expression, she watched as a semi-circle of fire destroyed his suit. She watched as a piercing straight arrow burned across the half circle, with a single thorn on the side. She watched as her friend, her former friend, engulfed by flames, walked on out of her life. And finally, after the years of knowing the boy, of loving him and marveling at his strangeness, she realized who he really was. And whom he really represented.
CHAPTER SIXTEEN
I
Hours later, Lexan had already packed his bags. He changed into a new suit, fully understanding the implications of his burn. The fire upon his own body he started. He etched the symbol from his dreams onto his back. It was the only unifying goal within his mind. The only light that brought him out of the confusion.
I will be a warrior of peace, he thought. He was aware of the dark tremors within his own mind and the way his heart skipped a beat every few seconds. There could be no turning back. Neither Alary, nor Nangern, nor Master Raki, nor the damn Council could stop him from his task. If he knew one thing for certain, one destiny he knew was his, it would be to stop Nangern. It would be to prevent the wars from ravaging this beautiful galaxy he grew to love, but also hate, every single day of his life.
The dreams he had throughout his journey into the freedom he calls being an Aether, he cherished those dreams and followed their guidance. He fully realized the implications of the dreams. Some whispered into his ear whatever path he could follow. Others showed him the different futures.
He remembered one of the early prophesying dreams. One where he joined Alary to the great dance; the dance, he realized, scheduled at the exact middle of the year. That would never happen because he chose to obey the other messages his destiny told him.
Other dreams showed the darkness within him and within Nangern, within Alary. He knew that darkness and he knew the light. He recognized the brilliant whiteness, the pain of light and fire. He recognized the comfort of the dark, and what hid there as well.
As the blue lights flicked on and off on the wall, Lexan stopped himself. He stared blankly at the empty wall which pulsated with blues. His rippling muscles flexed, he grit his teeth together. The grinding sound amplified by the acoustics. His body, once more became an Aetherly body. It radiated light and then it absorbed it. Everything turned into a bluish haze, the second transformation.
He sat down. The weight of the world on his shoulders pushed him down. He could not straighten up, he shut his eyes, trying to block the rush flooding his system. The cold stung his veins, it penetrated his body inside out. Blood turned to ice, and every single sad memory, every single pain he had experienced and had been inflicted upon the boy, resurfaced resurrected. Whips of fire emerged to slash at him. With each blow came a different memory, with each blow he felt the pain he had before.
Failure, the word stuck in the boy's mind. He had failed. Failed to convince Alary, he failed to appease Bloo. The thought of the poor young girl, with her beautiful blue skin, made Lexan nauseous. He left her, did n
ot even apologize to her, after all the time she had spent with him. After all the fun they had, the love they felt for each other. The only thing he could do was betray her, and put his pride before his feelings.
Immediately, in his state of disconcert, he sent a message to Bloo, apologizing for everything that happened, explaining the situation. He told her he loved her, and that he could never forgive himself if he did not try to get her back.
“You mean so much to me,” he said, “I cannot believe I let you go.” and with that he sent the message.
Without awaiting a response, the boy dug deeper inside his mind. There was Jacque, and Nivua, the most gorgeous girl in the sector. People he met, people he weaved into his life. Another lash upon his back. He deserted Nivua and never considered her feelings.
The fire seared at his skin.
“Why do you torment me so?” he screamed into nothingness for no one would hear him in this form. The whips lashed at him until he broke into cries. The tears started rolling from his eyes. One after another, each symbolizing another bit of his pain.
“I can't take this anymore,” he said to himself, once more realizing that no one else could hear. He laid down on his bed and buried his head into the pillow, screaming in the process.
His breathing quickened, even as he forced it to slow down.
“WHY?” he screamed into the light, “Why am I to do this task?” he asked but no one replied, “Why should I prevent this war? Why should I even care?”
No one answered, but he knew the answer, “It's because you know I can do it, isn't it?”
And by 'you' he meant himself, “It's because I can put a stop to this when no one else can.”
“But how can that be true?”
The streams of tears pooled in his hands and swirled to show reflect his own image, “It's because Alary won't do it. Nangern won't do it, and I am the only one aware. I am the only one who gives a damn.
“The Council and school will wait until half the galaxy is gone before they send their best. Even the government Imperialistic forces, the Peace-Keepers, are no match for the Nethers of Andromeda.”
Aetheran Child Page 29
