by Greg Ness
And takes off running. The water splashes behind him as his feet pound away. He heads straight for the forest Moros disappeared into. “Let’s speed this up,” Stephen utters. Instantly, each push of his leg propels him forward like never before. Water blasts behind him with every step and he darts across the lake like a rocket.
As he enters the forest, he finds himself in a cavern of inwardly bent trees. Light seeps through and reflects off the gentle stream seeping back to the lake. Large boulders coupled with pebbles line the way through the forest. Stephen runs through, jumping from rock to rock, defying gravity with every leap. Finally, he catches Moros, who hurdles through the forest in front of him. Stephen raises his hand and points his palm at a boulder.
And lifts it.
Effortlessly, Stephen catapults the ton-weighing boulder straight toward Moros, who turns around just in time. Moros lifts his own palm and redirects its path to the side. The boulder crashes through the trees.
Moros continues his trek through the boulder-filled forest, hopping and running through. Like a cheetah chasing his prey, Stephen moves at blinding speeds through the rocks to catch him.
Moros darts through an opening in the tunnel of trees and disappears into the daylight. In front of him is a tall waterfall pounding onto the rocks. Moros looks up toward the top of the waterfall and is tackled and ripped to the ground by his backpack. Stephen and Moros crash to the rocks and slide under the waterfall.
The water collapses on them, restricting their vision and drenching them. Stephen stands up and stares at Moros, who picks himself up from the ground. Stephen yells over the sound of the rushing water, “Stop running from me!”
Moros stops to catch his breath. “You can’t kill me! No matter what you do, eventually, I will destroy Earth!”
Stephen stares at Moros as the water rushes down his face. “You’re wrong about us! For every evil in the world, there is a good, fighting to stop it.”
Moros bends over and rests on one knee. “I don’t care! I’m going to kill all your friends!” Moros extends his legs and jumps hundreds of feet through the waterfall and soars to the top of the cliff.
Zeno, talking to Stephen’s friends, continues, “Over two thousand years after Jesus, with the light dimming in the world, the committee needed to send another. Gabriel came to me and asked me to do what Moros had done: become a Father to a son. I extended the palm of my hand to his. I gave my light so that he may use it for an immaculate conception. It resulted in the birth of Stephen Pandora-half human, half ‘angel’.”
Stephen stares up at the waterfall. He doesn’t know if he can jump that high. Thinking quickly, he points his palm at one of the boulders resting on the gentle river. The boulder lifts and floats toward him. He lowers his hand and it stays afloat. Shouldn’t it have fallen with his hand? Confused, Stephen points his hand at the boulder and drops his hand again. It stays floating in front of him. “I don’t need my hands,” Stephen realizes. He climbs atop the boulder and, using sheer will, sends it flying upwards. As he scales the waterfall, he stands tall. Moros watches in disbelief.
Stephen floats to the edge of the waterfall. Residual water sprays at him and the wind blows at his face. Moros paces near him and smiles. “You want to play that game?”
Moros holds out his hand and a boulder flies out from below the waterfall and zips up toward him. Moros easily jumps onto it, giving him a flying base of his own. Moros holds his hand toward Stephen’s boulder and, in a flash, they both rocket through the sky at dizzying speeds.
Stephen grips on to his boulder and looks below. They are ascending up the side of the mountain. The trees whiz by. Green fades to white and, within seconds, Stephen finds himself at the summit of the mountain, with snow blowing around with the wind. Moros waves his hand and flings Stephen’s boulder from under his feet. Stephen falls onto his back and the boulder tumbles down the side of the mountain. The icy snow is piercing; the air is thick and fuzzy to see through.
Moros leaps off his boulder and hurls it toward Stephen, who lifts his hand and halts it. He hurls it aside and lodges it into the snow.
Stephen is weary and struggles to get up. Moros slams Stephen into the snow and grips his neck. White winds swirl around them and snow coats their skin. As he starts to lose consciousness, Stephen stares into Moros’s dark, empty eyes. Moros clenches his teeth as he violently squeezes Stephen’s neck. It’s hard to breathe. There’s no easy way to get out of this. Stephen closes his eyes. He’s about to give up. But visions of Lisa fill his mind: her smile, the feel of her hands in his, the feel of her lips. Then, he sees even more. His best friend, Bruce. His friend, Kristen. His new nephew, Mikey. Campbell. Vince. Natalie. Mr. Ixley. Even Chad and Sean. All his life he has felt abandoned. But no more. He is no longer forsaken. Now, he has all he could ask for: his friends.
Stephen’s eyes fly open. To Moros’s surprise, Stephen forces a smile. The harder he squeezes, the more Stephen smiles. The light in Stephen’s blue eyes is brighter than Moros can handle. Entranced, he can’t help but stare into them. It is brighter than Elpis’s. Brighter than the Virgin Mary’s. It is even equal to that of Jesus’s. Stephen defiantly stares into his eyes, blinding him with light. Moros can’t take it anymore. He lets go of his neck and stumbles into the snow. Stephen calmly stands up and stares at Moros, who scrambles away.
Moros unlodges the boulder out of the snow and smoothly directs it under his feet. Leaping on it, he floats above Stephen and extends his arms. The blue sky above morphs into blackness. The white clouds transform into thunderous clouds that instantly unleash gallons of rain.
Stephen leaps high into the air at Moros. At that exact moment, Moros rips the boulder under his feet upwards, taking Stephen with him. It rips into the stratosphere at hundreds of miles per hour. Stephen struggles to maintain his balance as the rain pelts into him like bullets. Below, he can see the very mountain they just stood on become miniaturized in size; it starts to look like a toy model. They are traveling at astronomical speeds.
Moros shouts over the blazing winds and rain, “You are impressive, Stephen! But as bright as the light shines in you, the darkness dawns in me!”
“Then I guess there’s nothing left to do!” Stephen’s launches himself at Moros and tackles him, taking them far off the boulder. High above the mountains, they soar through the air and begin a freefall toward the lake below. From Stephen’s perspective, the village looks like tiny dots speckled next to the lake. His face stretches back with the furious winds. He looks out and sees the long drops of rain falling around him.
Moros shouts over the deafening winds, “You’ve done it now!” He rears back his fist and slams it into Stephen’s face, causing him to tumble and flip away.
Stephen contorts and flails helplessly as he plummets downward. He extends his arms and adjusts his freefall. Looking down, Stephen can see the lake and the village slowly getting larger. It’s time to make a bold move.
Stephen focuses on the trees of the mountain. With his mind, he rips several out of the ground and lines them up on the surface of the water below.
Moros stares at the trees on the lake. What is Stephen doing? Moros points his palm at one of them and tries to pull it close.
“No!” Stephen yells. He soars toward Moros and collides with him mid-air. They spin around relentlessly. Stephen wraps his arms around him. “You’re not going anywhere!” Stephen holds Moros and angles them headfirst toward the water, dropping straight like a bomb. As the wind blasts against them, Stephen stares at the trees he’s compiled on the water. Using his mind, he rips them into pieces. With them, he assembles a huge X on the water and surrounds it with a circle. The structure stays into place with Stephen’s focus.
“What are you doing?! You can’t possibly think this is going to work!”
“We’ll see!” Stephen yells. Moros struggles to free himself, prompting Stephen to squeeze even tighter.
They flash toward the water at impossible speeds. A ring of fire sprin
gs out of the lake and surrounds the huge Occor. This is it. A thin black layer surrounds them. It’s working! The black force field becomes thicker. Stephen and Moros are seconds away from colliding with the lake. Closer and closer, they rocket downward until Stephen can practically lick the surface.
Zeno says to everyone, “Stephen Pandora was conceived and born just as Jesus Christ was. In this sense, he is indeed the ‘Second Coming’. More importantly, he is the last chance for humanity before the committee makes their Second Judgment. Every soul has a choice: light or darkness. He must spread light across the world. And if you accept and believe what I have told you, we will help him. And we will all become…” Zeno looks at the eleven faces staring back at him.
“…his twelve apostles.”
52
Bruce steps forward and says loudly enough for everyone to hear, “Even if what you’re saying is true, it doesn’t change anything. Stephen is still the same person we always knew. We don’t need to act like he’s some kind of god!”
Zeno smirks. “You’re absolutely right, Bruce. What Stephen needs now, more than ever, is just for all of you to be his friend.”
Lisa smiles. It doesn’t matter to her. She peers at everyone, and they, too, seem to share her sentiment.
Across their peripheral vision, at the end of the street, Stephen and Moros soar through the air and out of sight. Their appearance ends as quickly as it starts.
“What was that?” Campbell asks. No one knows. Everyone starts running, including Zeno, to investigate the apparent flyby of Stephen and Moros. Bruce stops and watches as they all scurry away. Mikey stays behind and glares at his father. “What’s wrong, Dad?”
Bruce stares in thought. “Hold on.” He turns in the opposite direction and runs down the street. Mikey, although baffled, follows after him and pulls even. “Where you going?”
“I have to check something.”
Mikey looks around and only sees the red convertible in the near distance. “Do you believe that guy?”
“I don’t know. I saw Stephen catch that van in the air. It’s something. I guess we’ll see.”
Bruce and Mikey approach the convertible. Bruce peers inside. The ELPIS box sits in the middle. “That’s what I’m looking for.”
After soaring through the air, Stephen and Moros land in a forest. Moros plows against a tree, causing it to collapse on top of him. Stephen ricochets off the dense forest floor and bounces off several trees before coming to a stop. He’s soaked. His face is smothered with cuts and blood pours out. Stephen coughs and struggles to push himself up. Everything around him spins. He’s immensely delirious. Nonetheless, he forces his body to lift him up. “Moros!” he yells, nearly out of energy.
He spins around. All he can see are trees and branches. Weariness attempts to shut his eyes. As blood drips into them, he wipes his face with his sleeves, leaving a smearing behind. “Moros!” he yells again. His eyes dash through the forest. There isn’t a sign of anybody. The air is silent. He sees spots that dance around in his eyesight. He stumbles to the nearest tree and leans against it, hoping to catch some air.
A tree crashes down in the distance and rips to the ground. Stephen steps forward to try and catch a glimpse of it. “Moros!” he yells a third time. No answer. Nothing. Stephen stumbles back to the tree and leans against it.
Suddenly, he is throttled by his neck. It’s Moros. He stands behind him and has his arm planted around his neck. No blinding Moros’s eyes this time.
Stephen mildly struggles. He is too weary to put up much of a fight. Moros squeezes. “There’s no escape, Stephen. That trick you pulled was a good one. But it’s over. I’ll get someone to finish building the Keres and then…”
Before Moros can finish his thought, he feels a tapping on his shoulder. What? That’s strange. What could possibly be… POW! Moros is clubbed in the side of the face by a log. Mr. Ixley mercilessly follows through and sends Moros collapsing to his back.
Moros starts to lift the palm of his hand toward Mr. Ixley but Stephen dives on top of him. He grabs his wrists and slams them on a log beneath him. Judging by the reliance on his hands, if Moros can’t use them, he won’t be able to hurt anybody.
At that moment, everyone, led by Zeno, appears in the forest behind Mr. Ixley. “What are you doing!?” Stephen yells, “Get out of here! All of you!”
Moros thrashes with Stephen and desperately tries to free himself. The forest starts to rumble. Trees sway ferociously and sticks fly through the air. The sky turns gray, and like Switzerland, starts to unleash gallons of water onto them. Stephen gazes into Moros’s eyes. The darkness is enraged within them. It’s as if his eyes have been completely replaced by blackness.
“Everyone, get out! I can’t hold him much longer!”
Instead, Bruce emerges with the ELPIS box in his hands. Elpis catches sight of it. Her eyes grow wide and her heart fills with shock. She lost that box hundreds of years ago! The sight of it in Bruce’s hands is something she never could have prepared herself for. “Where did you get that?”
Moros catches a glimpse of the box and slows his attempt at escape. The rumbling in the forest concurrently dwindles. Moros is perplexed. It was the gift he had given Elpis when they were just kids. He never found out what she put inside of it.
Now he will.
An idea sparks inside of Stephen. It’s sick. It’s borderline disturbing. But there’s no other choice; it’ll work. It is time to use the contents of the ELPIS box.
“Bruce! Open the box and bring it to me!”
Moros kicks and pushes his arms. All Stephen can do is keep his hands pinned to the log. Moros pulls back his head and unleashes a furious roar that shakes the ground and sounds like a dragon has come ravaging through the forest.
Bruce runs to Stephen, unlatches the box, and opens it. He looks inside. Stephen asks, “Do you know what I want you to do?”
Bruce’s eyes widen in horror as he realizes Stephen’s idea. “No, Stephen. You can’t be serious.”
“Then hold his arms and I’ll do it!”
Mikey steps forward. “No. I’ll do it.”
Moros glares at the boy and can only wonder what they’re talking about. Mikey says, “You think I didn’t look inside? I knew what was in there years ago. Give it to me. This bastard killed my father.”
Stephen and Bruce share surprising glances at Mikey. Moros, himself flabbergasted, furrows his brow in puzzlement. Mikey looks at Moros and asks, “You thought I’d forget?”
“Alright,” Bruce declares to Mikey. “You take the left. I’ll take the right.”
It dawns on Elpis what they’re planning to do. Her stomach knots in terror. Tears fill her eyes. She can’t let them! She screams, “No! Don’t!” Moros stops struggling and stares at a frantic Elpis.
Elpis declares, “I love him!”
The statement hits Moros harder than any punch could. In two thousand years, few days went by where Moros didn’t feel love for her. To know she loves him, even still, brings a smile to his face. Moros’s muscles relax. The rain stops pouring and the forest calms. Moros rests his head, complacent with whatever may happen. The darkness in his eyes starts to fade away.
The girl he has always loved loves him still.
Elpis runs forward to try and stop them. Zeno intervenes and wraps his arms around her, restraining her.
Stephen yells, “Now!”
Bruce looks inside the box and there they sit: three seven-inch long iron nails. They look to be incredibly old but they’re still sharp. Each nail has a round knob at the top of it. Bruce pulls out two of the nails. He tosses one to Mikey.
Stephen yells, “Just line it up on the wrist!”
Bruce and Mikey comply. They line up the pointy edges of the nails over Moros’s wrists. Elpis desperately tries to evade Zeno’s grasp and screams with all her might, “No!” She looks with terror at the nails lined up over Moros’s wrists. After Jesus’s crucifixion, Elpis took the nails and put them in the box to keep as a
reminder for his ultimate sacrifice. Like Moros, she loved Jesus. And she didn’t want his role to ever be forgotten. She never could’ve imagined the nails would be used like this.
It’s too late. Stephen looks at the nails, and using his newfound power, drives them through.
Moros is nailed to the wood.
Moros is reactionless. There is surprisingly no blood. He does not scream in pain, he does not jerk from surprise. He simply rests, smiling.
Elpis, finally reaching Moros, falls to her knees in front him. He gazes at her and says, “So that’s what you put in the box.” Elpis looks at his wrists. They are nailed to wood, just as his son’s were. She exhales and starts to cry.
Stephen rises and nods at Bruce and Mikey. Figuring the worst is over, he points with his head, indicating for them to leave. They step away from Elpis and Moros and rejoin the others, taking them far enough away.
Moros asks, “Do you mean what you said?”
“Yes,” Elpis replies tearfully, “Not a day passes that I don’t think of you.”
Moros smiles. Tears escape his eyes. It is hard to remember a time when he felt such happiness. “I’m sorry, Elpis. I love you more than you will ever understand.”
Elpis leans forward and rubs her face against his. The feel of his skin against hers warms her soul. She brings her lips close to his and kisses him. Elpis closes her eyes, reveling in the love she has longed for. As she separates from him, she whispers, “I love you, Moros.”
He smiles at her. “Can you do something for me? Please get Stephen. Tell him I have to speak with him.”
Elpis nods. She reluctantly stands to her feet and wanders away to find Stephen.
Moros rests his head as he waits for Stephen. Inside, he feels different. It is something he has no explanation for, but he almost feels… lighter.
A voice rings out, “Father.”
Moros lifts his head and looks around. In front of him is his son, Jesus.
“Jesus?”
“Hello, Father.”
Moros analyzes his face. It looks just like him. Could it really be him? Whether it was Elpis or his father Michael, Moros was constantly harassed by people who existed only in his mind. “Are you real?”
