Original Souls (A World Apart #1)

by Kyle Thomas Miller

  The video and computer voice started up again. I got up and began pacing about the bridge's sidewalk in front of it. I wondered what my next move should be. While I thought, I noticed something interesting in the video. I took a closer look at the instructional tape and saw that the key that the computer voice was referring to is a llave. Why would there be an image of a llave going into some random lock? That's not their purpose. They're for wielding magik. They replaced wands decades ago, and keys for doors are an out dated technology. Maybe that keyhole has actually been there since the bridge was built?

  After a few more seconds of pacing I started to put it all together. Julia's need for absolute certainty and the llave in the picture. The fact that she chose the Puente del Cielo as her place to create her new World, without me, of course. And lastly, the blinking beacon that lead me over here. Had Julia left a secret message here specifically for me? It would appear so. The video message kept playing over and over again, with the voice asking for a key to be inserted. While I watched the video for the millionth time, I realized the key, the llave being inserted into the lock, it’s my llave. It’s a hologram replica, but sure enough I recognize all intricate spells engraved on it. I knew Jules wouldn't simply leave me hanging. She wanted me to able to see my son. Perhaps even rethink my decision and position in all of this.

  Still, her need to be certain is getting in the way of my initial plan. She wants me to sacrifice my llave in exchange for letting me into her World, where she is all powerful, because she is its creator. Why such a tactic, since she does have absolute power in a world of her design. She must still be weak from using the spell that invoked all this chaos. She wants insurance for my visit. She wants to make sure she has the upper hand in case something goes awry. I can't blame her. She used all that power to create this World and became a fugitive in the process. She wouldn't want it to collapse just as quickly as it came to be.

  That's why this act is so very illegal. To create a new World would destroy most, but anyone who could manage it would be a potential threat to the eight Worlds already established. The massive power drove all but one of the Great Eight into madness. Even wielders of magik as powerful as they couldn't manage this kind of power. All the wars of the past are because of this simple fact; with great power, comes a great deal of responsibilities. If you neglect those responsibilities, the entire system will collapse on you. That's what happened to the Great Eight, except Aurora. Why would it not happen to Julia too? If Julia can be like Aurora then she just might have a fighting chance. So, if she needs me to come to her defenseless and humble . . . then I guess that’s what I’m going to do.

  I quickly inserted my llave into the keyhole that still played the instructional recording. I turned the lock that would open an entirely new world of wonder to me. A portal began opening up as the gold locking mechanism shifting inside, like a self-deconstructing maze. The metals inside clicked and clanked against themselves and the entire wall of the pillar opened up from its center. The marble started to diverge in opposing directions. While the wall split into two separate parts, I heard a voice calling from the other side.

  "What is the Letra de Tesoro?" the soft but robotic voice inquired. I didn't expect that question, considering Julia hadn't left any clues to what the treasured letters could be.

  I shouted back to the woman with the soft robot voice, "I don't have the Letra de Tesoro, I haven't been told what it is!"

  "You may not enter without that information, it is forbidden," said the dark figure shrouded in the white and gold lights radiating from the other side of the entrance.

  I got angry. I wanted this riddle to be done now. "I don't know the pass code, but my son's in there, lady, and I need to see him… now!!!" She ignored me, and turned away. I shouted that just before the splitting pillar started to close back up, attempting to reform a single structure.

  Without thinking, I crazily jumped into the portal, but some mysterious force started repelling me as soon as I did. With my llave already gone through the lock, I had no way to push back. I was vertically hanging from a grove that was a part of the untwisted locking mechanism. I was halfway inside of a closing wall in the middle of a bridge in the sky, when I finally realized that Julia is smarter than I am. As if me being a cop, and her being a doctor hadn't already said it all. Well, why sell myself sort, I am a specialist in my field of work. Well, I was a specialist. But the only stupid thing about Julia, is that she still thinks that I'm half as intelligent as her.

  The dark figure from the other side turned back. "You must let go, sir, or else your hands will be crushed by the resealing of the Pillar of Corinthia."

  Tell me something I don't know, lady, I thought to myself. This mystery wind force trying to push me away started to intensify. They really didn't want me in that World without that pass code. The split pillar was close to reforming and my hands were slipping from the edges. She called this wall, the Pillar of Corinthia. Maybe that's the Letra de Tesoro?

  "The Pillar of Corinthia, that's the pass code ... right?" I yelled to the mystery lady, but she wasn't biting.

  "No, you are mistaken," she informed me with audible sadness in her tone. It seemed like she wanted me to get across this boarder.

  I had to think. Julia would never put me in this type of situation without all the right pieces to the puzzle. There has to be an easy way to put together a clear picture. What could the Letra de Tesoro possibly be? One of her favorite words or something similar?

  "Shut up, Criston, just shut up!" I said to the lady, but she didn't budge. "You're wrong . . . you're an idiot . . . I love you . . . I hate you!" I kept shouting out all the most common things Julia ever said to me. But the lady continued speaking her ominous phrases.

  "You are losing time," her composure had returned. "You must say the required phrase or forever be banned from Corinthia," she informed me with less compassion in her robot voice than earlier. "Use that which was given to you ... Criston," she said with a confusing sense of urgency.

  Because of her tone, I looked up from the ground, where my head hung low, trying to keep the winds out my face. I twisted sideways, where I witnessed the beginning of the end of me. Both sides of the wall were creeping up against the edges of my fingernails. I could feel them grinding against my nails. Just a sliver of space left to see the mysterious lady. She was nearly gone from sight. The wall crept closed very slowly, but wasn't stopping to wait for me to let go. I could see the blood running down my arm as the two edges that opened up inside this pillar started to inch steadily closer, back into one wall. They would crush my fingers whole if I don't come up with the correct pass code.

  The lady told me to use what was given to me. This is my last shot before my fingers are permanently severed from my hands. The sides are too close to let go any longer. I will either be maimed or allowed inside. I cried out in pain the only phrase left I could think of to get me through. The converging walls crushed my fingers as I shouted.

  "Insert key . . . please!!!!!"

  Chapter 3:

  The Crumbling Walls

  March 26, 1002 ~ Nightfall

  "Wow!" is the only thing I could think to say after the portal sucked me through. I was saved from a bitter fate of living without my fingers. This day, I deem fingers a necessity for getting through life. I don't think I could have managed without them. They burn now, as the blood dries from my debatably insignificant wounds. But-at least I still had them. I can’t imagine how people get around without certain limbs. I need my legs, arms, hands and yes, fingers.

  Julia really knew her stuff. It was all in the pudding from the start. She didn't miss a beat. I can't believe I was stupid enough to question the audio and video examples.

  This is my first look at what Julia's plan entailed. Apparently, she didn't think this all the way through. There isn't much here in this so called paradise. Just a beach looking house a few yards away from a beautiful shoreline. The sunset looked just like the sunrise I witnessed a moment a
go on the Puente del Cielo. I guess the time frames from her World to the next were a little different. It's not surprising at all really. All the Worlds have different time frames. It's got something to do with the original time of day they were created. Julia created Corinthia at close to sunset on the Puente del Cielo yesterday. When the sun rises on the bridge, then it will be setting in Corinthia and vice versa. A beautiful site, this twilight. The sky's orange and gold hues reflected off the white shutters of the beach house and made this place look perfectly serene. I guess there is some magik here after all. I felt right at home.

  Julia stepped through a white porch door with a gray netted screen at its top center. She was wearing a turquoise sun dress that fluttered in the ocean breeze. The dress was nearly the same color as Corinth's eyes. The mix between my Draconian heritage and Julia's La Envidia heritage was to thank for that. Her brown hair was down, and it too was flying around in the wind. A sweet and natural beauty. This was a surprise to me when I first met her. Her people aren't exactly known for being easy going or friendly. She had her moments, but for the most part, I think she's put most of that stereotype to rest.

  "You're late!" Julia shouted down to me, with a smile, from the wooden porch. The sea winds muffled her voice. She spoke up as much as she could. "Come in off the beach, someone's been dying to see you."

  I walked over and as I lifted my leg, putting a dusty black boot on the first white painted wooden step, a bolt of lightning burst out of the door! It flew down the steps and into my arms. It knocked me clear back off the stairs and sent me falling on my back into the sandy beach beneath me. This lightning bolt, or at least what I thought to be lightning, sparked an excited fire in me the likes of which I haven't felt in years.

  "Corinth!" I yelled with a huge smile. "You've grown so much!" I couldn’t help but shed a few tears. I lifted my now twelve-year-old son into the air and spun him around like a windmill. Corinth was always so short for his age, but his shape seemed a little more elongated as I hugged him tight. "This is the greatest day of my life," I said to him with a kid's joy in my voice.

  But he didn't say anything back at first. Not a word. I put him down. Tried to give him a little breathing room, considering he’s two years older than the ten year boy I hugged that horrid last night I saw him. He's old enough to carry himself, I suppose.He looked up into my eyes, squinted his own, and then asked a question . . . without moving his lips. I could finally hear that tender voice with the slight stutter again. It asked me;“what’s wrong with me, dad?” I looked up to Julia as I put my hands on Corinth's feeble shoulders. By the look in her eyes, I could tell that she was well aware of the situation.

  When we got into the house, we told Corinth to wait for us in the living room. He sat there innocently watching cartoons on the flat screen. He loved that mouse and cat one. He laughed every time the cat got whacked in the head with the frying pan. I'm so glad to see him smiling and happy, but most of all safe. Julia really pulled it off.

  She decided to start the dreaded conversation, since all I could do was stare at her blankly. "He's telepathic, Cris."

  "I noticed," was all I could get out, because hearing her say that struck fear in my heart.

  "Are you glad now that I made a move?" she asked arrogantly.

  I couldn't let that one slide. She really had her priorities out of order. "You being right isn't what's important, Corinth's health and safety are the only things that should matter."

  "I know," she put her head down and grabbed her glass of iced-tea. She took a steady sip and glanced back up to me. "At least we're no longer blind to the facts," she conceded.

  "You're right," I admitted, "he’s got a lot of grief ahead of him though.” I hung my head low, trying to block out the stories I've heard of psychics driving themselves insane.“I can't believe we never saw the signs."

  "Were there any signs?" she asked rhetorically. "He never gave off any vibes. He's-such a sweet boy, and magik just isn’t his strong suit. In fact, he has always seemed so. . ." hesitating to say what we both knew.

  So I said it for her. "Weak."

  "Yeah," her shoulders sunk. "He-never seemed like he'd be interested or able to do anything big with magik." And she’d know best. She tried to teach him, despite the law. Even put him on the roof.‘A little fear never hurt anyone’ she always said. I thought I was supposed to be the hard one, but Julia didn’t pitfall into stereotypes easily. She did what she could to make sure her son knew the wonders of magik. But he never got too far, even with his mad mother’s zealous encouragement.

  "Well, that's the problem with the restriction on magik in Draconia," I said angrily. I was starting to come down a little from this whole situation. One surprise after another, and all this for power over the masses. Just senseless anarchy it seems.

  "Wow,” she appeared genuinely stunned,“I'm a bit surprised to hear you speak like that, Criston."

  "Yeah," I started a little softer, "you wouldn't believe what's happen to me since you left me in that hospital bathroom."

  She looked down for a second, then brought her head back up to reveal a sly little smile creeping from one side of her mouth to the other. I couldn't believe she was having fun with the thought that I looked like a fool, because of how proactive she was. I loved her more than ever in this moment. The fact that she could manage to have a sense of humor under these stressed circumstances showed how loving a woman she really is. I was scared and restless, but she was ready to sit down and just be a family again. If only for a little while. Even though I gave her no help in all this, she still wanted me around. She's so strong anyway, I'm not surprised that a hick-up or two couldn't shake her love for the family we've built.

  So, instead of talking about the ever-looming fears making their way through both our minds, we decided to take up with Corinth on the couch and watch that cat chase that poor mouse all over creation. We all fell asleep huddled together. Finally back on the same team.

  <*>

  Corinth and I woke up to the smell of food. Bacon, to be more exact. I loved bacon, but Cory, he's obsessed with it. It's definitely in his top five favorite foods. Julia knew how to make him feel like he was home. I was extremely hungry too. I hadn't eaten since I was in the hospital.

  I need to put something in my stomach, but I'm so taken by Corinth. He's here with us, no trouble in sight. Just the thought of it is so refreshing. How could I ruin this by trying to take him back? That thought seemed ridiculously selfish. I couldn't rip him from this perfect situation.

  We ventured from the living room couch toward the kitchen. We sat down and dug in.

  He ate so fast. I knew I couldn't just jump right back into parent mode with him. It would be counterproductive, so I let him have his meal the way he wanted it. He loves milk, so Julia poured a glass for him while he scooped up eggs with his hand and shoveled them into his mouth. He looked rather frail so it's good he's packing it in like that. His skin was tanned to the T. His green shirt move up and down as he stood up on his chair in the kitchen and sat back down after he retrieved whatever random item he wanted from the far end of the table. He had grown indeed, but he was a bit of a shrimp compared to most boys his age.

  Whether it was the pepper, the syrup, or ketchup, he just stood up like an animal on its hind legs to get it. He bent over the table using one hand to support his weight while he reached. I loved seeing it. I missed seeing it. He's never had great table manners. Julia says it’s because I don't have any table manners, but I think he's his own little man. He's old enough now to decide for himself how to take in a meal. I could see his tan line as the shirt moved up and down his arm, adjusting itself as needed. He had a few noticeable cuts and bruises between the sun exposed dark tan skin, and light creamy tan skin around the shirt's short sleeves.

  He was certainly a perfect mix between every feature I had and his mother’s. Her light olive and my dark brown skin tone-made up his perfect complexion. Despite the light scarring, I was wholly surprised that h
e's in such great condition. Not just physically, but mentally too. He just seemed happy and in tune with his surroundings. Not in a suspicious way either, just really well adjusted and back into the natural flow of things. But he was concerned. That I knew because he couldn’t stop telling me so in my head. His turquoise colored eyes shimmered as the sun light came in through the kitchen window in front of the stove, where Jules stood.

  She's gazing at Cory just as intently as I am. I suppose she's reminiscing as well, and calculating the damage that's been done. His dark black hair draped over his forehead, partly covering his eyes. His pink lips cracked open into a smirk as he noticed me watching him. He looked up at me and flashed the biggest smile I've ever seen from him. I smiled back and touched the top of his head and tossed his hair around some. His hair is slightly longer in the front than the back. It's a nice cut. He put it back the way it was after my hand left his head. He must have liked it as well. I suppose Julia did it before I got here. His hair was much less kept, shaggy and longer when I saw him back in that abandoned factory. It was mangy too when we were at the hospital. I didn’t see him much at the hospital, but then too I lost myself looking over his frame and that thick head of jet-black hair. Good thing Julia cleaned him up as she always did. He likely felt a lot more like himself after that.