Immortals: Pendant of Power

by Brenton Bloch

abandoned, those needles were far kinder than my irresponsible father.  Plus, they helped greatly to speed up my regenerative powers.

  "I'm fine.  Let's get going, If my old man's alive I bet he's pretty beat up.  And if he's not...he's going to be."  That I would make sure of.

  We opened the next door and this time I held her back to prevent any more screw ups.  I slowly inspected the floor moving at the speed of a snail knowing what this room held.  Even falling into an abyss wouldn't stop me from wringing my father’s neck.

  "There seems to be cracks everywhere except this path."  I noticed.

  I walked along and marked the path using a stick from my bag.  A line drawn in the sand followed me as I turned and nudged my way through the maze.

  "Okay, start following the line I made and be careful!"  I shouted.

  "All right...just slowly...move your feet...on the line..." She muttered to herself.  "AH!"  Letting out a loud scream.

  A large chunk of the floor fell into an endless chasm taking Juley along with it.   Miraculously she hung onto the edge of the path by her fingertips.  Slowly readjusting, she put her hands to a firm position and lifted herself up and onto the path.

  "Oh my god that was close."  She said panting.

  "Don't move I'll come get you.  Try to stand up and we'll link arms!"  I directed.

  "Okay!  Just don't let me fall...I'm afraid of the dark...oh and dying!"  She hollered back at me trying to lighten the grim event.

  We made our way to the other side and up to the door.  Unfortunately when I made the journey I only had one carrying bag, leaving Juley's stuff at the other side and her refusing to get it we continued on.  I wanted to know what was next so I could protect Juley but I guess I'll have to find out through experience.

  Ch. 5: Reunion

  Opening the door we again turn on our flashlights to look around.  The room's overall appearance was about the same, although there was a significant difference which affected me greatly.  Looking at the other end of the room I saw a body that had not yet decomposed.  After a few second I ran towards it and became enraged.

  On my way I saw snakes slithering through the walls trying to surround me.  I kept running shaking them off as they bit my arms and legs injecting me with their poison.  Although agonizing I never lost momentum.  As I reached the body I grabbed snakes and chucked them away from me, ripping a few apart just because I was so annoyed.  They must have gotten scared because they retreated quickly into any crack they could find.  I turned to the body in anger.

  "Who is it?!"  Juley asked.

  Engulfed in my rage I started to swing.  "It's my..." punching his head to the side "inconsiderate, worthless, dead body of a father!"  I yelled as I kept swinging his head back and forth.  "How dare you abandon me so you can end up as a fucking corpse in a god forsaken tomb while your son is at home wondering why the hell you abandoned him!"  I lost control and with one blow kicked his head clean off.

  It rolled over to Juley which made her scream.  In that moment I realized something.  I could get my answers directly from him if I used the lab.  As for the poison, my cells were quickly absorbing it, dying and being replaced by new ones, painful but necessary.  In my rage, I forgot the pendant which sat atop a pedestal at the far end of the room.  I walked toward it and knocked it down grabbing the pendant as the pedestal collapsed.  Staring at the top half of the golden colored pentagon I noticed most of it had a large indent.  Perhaps to unlock its power.

  "Juley...I got it...I..."  My sentence cut short by a rumbling sound.

  The entire end wall shook and lifted up revealing a boulder which started to gain speed.  I ran to the middle of the room and faced it head on.  The boulder gained an amazing amount of speed in the short time it rolled and was unavoidable.  I pulled my fist back and used a trick I made up myself using what I knew from reading a chemistry book.

  The boulder made contact with water that I redirected through my pores in my fist.  The boulder's rolling made friction releasing heat.  The heat is trapped within the water until it is so hot it starts to dissipate as steam into the air and is replaced by more water.   With this contact, the speed of the boulder decreased until it ceased its rampage.

  "I did it, we're safe."  I reassured Juley while panting.

  She walked over.  "Great job Scott, I thought we were dead for sure."  Congratulating me.

  "Yeah.  Hand me some waters, I need to rehydrate.  That took a lot out of me, I've never used that trick before."  I ordered, slowly panting.

  "You mean you weren't sure it would even work?"  Getting angry.

  "No but we're alive aren't we?  Go get my dad's head."  I told her.

  She walked toward it and started to pick it up only to drop it a foot off the ground.

  "EW!  You do it, it's gross!"  She told me in disgust.

  I drank my waters and drifted into the direction of a large empty bag I brought.  I kept the sacred pendant piece on my person so I would never lose it like our luggage.  Bringing the large bag over to my father's head, I placed it inside.  Then I went over to his body, ripped off his limbs and stuck his torso in there as well.  Closing it I put it on my back and grabbed the rest of our gear.

  "Come on Juley, let's get out of here."  I told her.

  "Uh...okay but why take your dad's remains?  You're not one of those sick freaks that keeps bodies of the dead are you?"  She gasped.

  "No you idiot I have a plan.  Now come on."  I replied.

  After grabbing Juley's bag, that we left behind last time, we found our way out of the pyramid.

  "Let's hop on a plane and get out of this barren Sahara."  I said, mostly to myself.

  "That's not true, Egypt is great.  There's the Sphinx, the Pyramids..."  Cutting her short I intervened.

  "Yeah and one of the things you just mentioned tried to kill me so come on."  I replied.

  We hopped on a plane and started home.  Getting past security was easy, disguising the pendant as a necklace.  Juley couldn't stop yapping the whole way home about every little detail.  Sometimes I think she just likes to hear herself prattle on and on about nothing.

  Ch. 6: Revival

  Back at the lab I open the bag containing my father's remains and place them into, what my father calls, a revival tank.  This device combined with the computer is able to take the brain cells of any immortal and recreate their entire self-anew.

  "What are you doing Scott?"  Juley asked, curious.

  "I'm going to revive him so he can explain a few things.  I grabbed his torso so the process will go faster.  The other limbs wouldn't have mattered."  I explained.

  Another question popping out of her mouth.  "How long do you think it'll take?"

  "Usually a month, but my bloodline is strong so he should only take a week.  Think of the time if he had regenerative powers like me."  I told her.

  Three days passed and I had an idea.  I filled a vial and entered the lab.  I constructed a massive fish bowl, with no water, and a robotic arm above it.  I placed the vial between the robotic pincers for a hand, instructed the computer and left the room turning off all the lights.

  The week was up and my father showed signs of full recovery.  Juley skipped school and rushed over to witness the revival of the, so called “father” that left me.  Hooked up to feeding tubes and suspended in liquid slowed the process a bit but retained the body's composure and lessened any further decay.

  "Get up dad!  Your son's back and he want to beat you to a pulp!"  I shouted.

  "Don't say that we need to welcome him."  She told me.

  "Screw that.  I have questions and he has answers.  Simple as that."  I said.

  As he awoke the glass began to crack.  After enough time it shattered and the water began to rush out leaving my father standing before us.  As a courtesy to Juley I fitted his decayed body with underwear and pants to prevent her from whining like she always does.

  His hair, white lik
e mine, was filled with the liquid that kept him alive.  No chin or body hair to speak of and hazel eyes, which were passed down to me.  Other than that he's pretty uninteresting.

  "Hey son.  Long time no see.  Is this your girlfriend?"  He started abruptly.

  "No.  Get dressed you have answers I want."  I demanded.

  I threw him spare clothes I got out of his room and as he put them on, unhooked the tubes keeping his once decayed body rejuvenated.  Once dressed, we adjourned to the library where I still had books spread out across the floor.

  "So what's my son been up to?"  He asked.

  "Rescuing your sorry ass!  Now give me some answers before I beat your "living" body to a pulp!"  I roared.

  "I know you’re mad so I'll explain.  When I saw the future I wasn't there.  Obviously I can't see my own future but I saw you which means I must have abandoned you.  To fulfill what I saw I knew I went somewhere.  Finding the book, I left you a message knowing you would rescue me dead or alive leading us to this point.  Now you have the pendant, which thanks to your regenerative powers you obtained what I couldn't.  Now if we can find the second piece we'll be able to restore our race."  He explained.

  "That may explain why you abandoned me but it doesn't make up for everything I went through.  And what happens if our race is restored?  Are you planning to kill off the humans and repopulate with our people?"  I asked in anger.

  "I don't like the sound of that."  Juley shivered.

  "No son.  Humans have made advancements in space travel and with our