A strange humming sound filled the room. The agent began looking around, wondering what the sound could be. James noticed that a purple glow was coming from his jacket, which hung near to the door of the room. He got himself out of the bed, shivering in the cold as he did so. He tended to only sleep in boxer shorts, and, as he had recently discovered, his genetic makeup ensured that his body was not at its best during the dark of night.
He walked slowly toward the jacket, proceeding with caution as he approached it. The purple glow was coming from the inside pocket of his jacket, the same place where he had left the crystal that Auron had given to him. James reached into the pocket and picked out the crystal, which omitted a strong and then a faint purple glow. The glow lit up the room as James held it up to his face. When the glow was at it’s brightest, the agent noticed a small circle indentation on the crystal that had not been there before. Inside the indentation, was a small symbol, a four bladed red cross, the symbol of Alexandria.
The symbol had not been visible in the crystal until this moment. James had seen the symbol several times now, however, the size of it was identical to one he was very familiar with. Around his neck was his pendant, the object he had carried with him his whole life. He unclipped the chain and held the pendant next to the glowing crystal. The small pendant was the same size as the indentation that was on the side of the crystal. James placed the pendant into the small dent, which slotted in perfectly.
The object floated up out of his hand and purple lines began to emerge from it. The lines began to form imagery. It formed a small universe and star consolations began to appear. The images of two worlds became visible. The worlds were the realms of Alexandria and Underworld. The images filled the entire room, which had disappeared around the agent, turning to darkness. James was familiar with these images from the drawings inside of the pyramid in Argentina and he had guessed exactly what these two worlds were.
The imagery showed the two worlds merged together to slowly become one. Then, something else began to happen. A much larger image began to form in the middle of the other ones. This one, however, was black and white rather than purple.
A holographic like figure appeared before James. The figure had formed into the shape of a man, most likely in his fifties judging by his appearance. James had never seen this man before, however, he felt something familiar about him. The figure was actually a hologram image of Zeris, the king of the Alexandrian realm, and also James’ father. Of course, James didn’t know this, but he noticed that the man, who was dressed in royal gold and white robes, had around his neck, a pendant that was identical to the one which James himself possessed. He had long fair hair that was greying and a fair beard.
The holographic image of Zeris began to speak. “My son, you do not remember me. My name is Zeris…I am your father.” James stood stunned in silence. “I trust you will be very confused by these words, but please, clear your mind and I will explain,” said Zeris. “Your real name is Valentine, of the realm Alexandria.” James attempted to speak to the hologram, but it continued to talk over him. James realised that this was a message of some sort and thought it wise to remain quiet and listen.
Zeris went on to explain in detail to his son the details of the Great War in times gone by, which had resulted in the Creator, Trenkenth, punishing the king by taking his first born child away from him. “I am deeply sorry my son,” said Zeris, whose words sounded emotional and full of guilt. “There is not a day that goes by when I do not think of you. I wonder what type of man you have grown into. I wonder what you are doing right at this very moment. I wonder what you are thinking as you hear my words.” James’ heart felt heavy and his body felt numb.
James had long wondered about his parents. He wondered why he had been abandoned as a child and left to grow up in an orphanage. Upon first escaping the orphanage all those years ago, James had thought about trying to search for his parents, but he had nothing to go on at all. He didn’t even have a name.
“You will by now have discovered that you are different from everyone else. You have been raised as a human being but you are not one of them. Your molecular structure makes you stronger, faster, more agile, but of course, you know that already.” James looked closely at his hands, realising now where his unnatural strength originated.
“The people of our world have many gifts, some of which I doubt you will have even discovered yet. You will in time my son. Use your abilities wisely. I do not wish for you to be singled out for your uniqueness as human beings have a habit to fear what they do not understand.” James continued to listen attentively. “Unlike our world, I know that your new home has both day and night. Act with care during the darkness period for your strength diminishes somewhat, as you may have discovered. You might have confused this with what humans call fatigue, however, this is not the case Valentine. You have great abilities that are enhanced and charged in daylight.”
Kanto now relayed the final part of his message. “I hope I have been able to answer many of the questions that have been troubling you over the years my son. I have no doubt you will grow to be a wise man, much wiser than I will ever be. I live on here,” he said, pointing to James’ heart. “If it were not for my own foolishness…why at this very moment…I could embrace you in my arms.” Tears began to appear in the eyes of Zeris. The king held out his arms as if inviting his son to embrace him with a hug. James, whom at this point, was a little emotionally torn up himself, held out his arms to hug his father. As he did so, the hologram of Zeris disappeared in his arms.
The purple images vanished and the crystal dropped to the ground. The darkness faded and the room James had stood in before reappeared all around him. Tears fell down James’ cheeks and he bowed his head. Father…
He had always felt a deep sense of loneliness by not knowing his parents. Seeing his father for the first time, although only through a recorded image, had touched him deeply. James knew more now than ever what he had to do. He needed to set off on a long journey, a journey to another world. The time had come to face his past. He had run from it for long enough.
Until now, James had thought this was an impossible task, however, he discovered something else, a parting gift perhaps from Auron. After the Alexandrian warrior had given James the crystal, he had noticed a couple of small engravings on the item. He had not realised the significance of these until now. Four numbers were inched into the crystal, only visible by James’ advanced sight. These numbers are coordinates! Coordinates to where one might ask? That was what James intended to find out.
He dressed himself in regular civilian clothing and encased his sword and a large case, similar to that in which a guitar would normally be held. He intended on telling no one of his intentions and managed to slip out of the building without a trace.
The agent exited the building and opened the main gate, which led out of the car park of the headquarters when a voice called out to him. “James!” shouted a male voice from the buildings entrance.
James closed his eyes and sighed, he recognised that strong Texan accent. He turned around and sure enough, Cody was stood at the large entrance doors.
The American began walking over to James. “Where are you going man?”
“I have to go,” said James.
Cody realised the seriousness of James’ tone meant he wasn’t simply going out for coffee. “What’s happened?”
“I have to find him.”
“Who? Chad? Do you even know where he is?”
“Maybe, I’m not sure,” said James. “Cody. Tell no one I’ve left. This is something I have to do alone.”
Cody nodded; he knew James was smart and he would know what he was doing. “Ok, I won’t say a word.”
James placed his arm on the Texan’s shoulder. “Do me one favour will you?”
“Anything,” replied Cody.
“Look after everyone until I return. They will need you, now more than ever. You’re smart, much smarter than you give yourself credit for. I
believe in you.” James’ words were spoken in a very heartfelt way. I’m saying goodbye Cody.
The young Texan did not fully realise the meaning and deepness behind James’ words at that moment, but he thanked him for them nonetheless.
With that, James turned and set off on his journey. Will I ever see him again? Will I ever see any of them again? James did not know the answer to that but he knew there was no turning back now. Cody watched him until he disappeared out of sight. Just as he did so, Sophie came and stood next to him.
“What are you doing out here?” she said in that Irish accent he had come to love.
“Oh nothing, I just felt like some fresh air,” he replied hesitantly. A lie. He did not like lying, especially to Sophie but he had made a promise.
“Well hurry up, the professor’s called a meeting. Seems important!”
Cody looked out into the distance one last time. Good luck, he thought to himself. Then he and Sophie made their way back inside the building. He had a feeling it would be a long time before he would ever cross paths with James again.
Several weeks passed, as James travelled alone on his journey. He travelled light and off the grid as so it would be impossible to track his whereabouts. He did not want the World Order interfering with his mission. This is something I must do alone. Therefore, he did his best to keep off their radar. James tracked the coordinates that had been engraved onto the crystal using a Global Positioning System map to project their location latitude and longitude. The system took him to the territory of northern Russia. This part of the largest country in the world was unliveable and largely abandoned. The temperatures were below freezing and the road was difficult. The agent had to pass through a large mountainous landscape in order to reach the destination the coordinates lead too. James travelled in the terrain for days, at times having to eat the snow clean off the ground once his food rations ran out. He coped with the cold temperatures easily during the day and struggled with them during the night. I may very well freeze to death before I find Chad.
On the fourteenth day, weary and exhausted from the journey, he was nearing his destination. The coordinates led to an area less than half a mile from where he now stood. One last mountain stood between James and the end of his journey, or so he hoped anyway. This whole mission could have been a complete waste of time. He had thought as much during his time on the long and lonely road. He had begun to wonder if the markings on the crystal were even coordinates at all. Self-doubt had begun to plague his mind. I cannot give up now. I must go on! I must! He knew that in a short time, he would know once and for all whether the journey had been worth it or not.
The last mountain he had to ascend would be no easy task though as this was the biggest one of them all. It towered above all the others in the area, dwarfing them in a show of superiority. It almost looked out of place in the terrain, as if the mountain was created with the sole purpose of hiding whatever it was that lay beyond it.
The sun was beginning to fade, and the energy slowly began to drain out of the already fatigued body of James. He lost his footing several times as he advanced slowly up the mountain. Around halfway up, the large guitar case had become simply too heavy for him to carry any longer. James removed it from his back and took the sword from it. He tossed the case back down the mountain and continued upwards.
James’ legs began to feel five times heavier than usual as he ascended to near the top of the mountain. He eventually reached its peak and stopped for a moment, tossing the sword to the ground as he placed both hands on his knees. Plumes of white air froze as it came from his mouth as the agent gasped for air. The long climb had taken quite a lot out of him. After taking a few deep breathes, James reached down for the sword and took a step forward. However, his tired legs were not yet ready to continue on and James lost his footing. He fell down, rolling over the top of the mountains edge. He began to fall down it at great speed, crashing into rocks that were spread out between the snow as he rolled helplessly out of control. James felt a sharp pain as his head smashed against a rock and then everything went black.
James opened his eyes slowly. It seemed some time had passed since his fall but whether that be an hour or a day he did not know. He was battered and bruised and could hardly see a thing. This was because he now lay in total darkness. Night had fallen on the lands and the area was silent and dark. Still, there was a small ray of light in the area. James managed to shuffle his head upwards from the ground to see his sword laying only a few feet away from him. The shaft of the blade was glowing red, something he had never seen it do before. The glow dimly lit the immediate area and James struggled to his feet.
He took the sword in his hands once more and examined the blade. Ancient writing began to appear on the shaft of the sword as James touched it. ‘Only those of our blood may enter the realm’ were the words that appeared in a strange language, the same language that James had seen on the walls of the pyramid in Argentina.
Suddenly, a large stone structure appeared a few hundred feet in front of him. James looked on in awe. He had never seen anything like it. The structure that had appeared was a gateway, the gateway between worlds. The structure stood over fifty feet tall and looked like it had been here for thousands of years. The large stone towers that stood at either side of the gateway seemed old but looked well maintained. The gateway was raised from the ground and thirty large steps in the centre led upwards to it. There was an opening at the top of the stairway, which much to James’ amazement seemed like a doorway to somewhere else. More surprising for James was the fact that the area he could see beyond the opening was not shrouded in darkness, unlike the area all around him. Either side of the structure itself was still dark, meaning the area in the centre had to be somewhere different entirely.
Is this the other world that Auron and my father spoke of? James dwelled on those thoughts for a moment and then quickly shrugged them off. The time for thinking was over. He knew what he had to do. James moved onwards toward the structure. He slowly advanced up the stairway with caution, gripping his now red glowing sword with both hands preparing for anything. James reached the top of the stairway and stood directly in front of the opening. He took one final look behind him at the darkness of the mountains, at the world he had grown up in and knew it was now time to find out who he truly was. James turned back to the opening and walked, disappearing through it in an instant. The gateway vanished moments later leaving only darkness and silence in the Russian mountains once more…
About Philip McClennan
Philip was born and raised in Liverpool, England. He began writing comic books at a very young age, taking inspiration from his favourite computer game franchise Final Fantasy. He writes sports articles for various magazines and websites.
Philip achieved a BA Hon’s in Film and Screen Studies at Liverpool John Moores University. He also enjoys reading fantasy, thrillers and horror fiction, as well as autobiographies. His first novel, Clash Of Worlds, is the first book of a planned trilogy.
He loves travel, art, football and chocolate. After originally wishing to be a film director and script writer, and also spending far too many years of his life in higher education and dithering, he has decided to reorient his priorities and focus on writing fantasy and suspense. For more information, please check out his personal website: www.philipmcclennan.com
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