Everyone Forgets the Beginning (BattleR Saga Story 1)
Twelfth Chant

Accepting Reality, FacingTowards Present

Callyps have been sitting motionlesslyfor two days and two nights, thinking about the prophecy of the future I haveforeseen.

At dawn of the third day he stood uplooking at fading stars on the morning sky which began to lighten.

“Dad. He moved.”

I was fast asleep as it was me whomostly watched after Callyps in his almost catatonic state for the past twodays.

“Dad! Come on!”, Ehvi grabbed my legand started to drag my body from the fir-tree I fell asleep under, across thelarge meadow to where Callyps was.About ten meters later my head hit some rocksticking out from the surface of the grassy ground and made me wake upinstantaneously with terrible headache.

“Ouch! I’m awake, I’m awake. Stopdragging me.”, I looked up to where Callyps was sitting till recently. “Oh, sohe finally decided.”

“Decided on what, dad?”, Ehvi let goof my leg and helped me stand as I reached out my hand to her from cold, dewedground.

“You’ll see.”

Callyps started gyrating slowly, stilllooking above his head.

“Ey! Apo. Can you hear me? What’re yougoing to do then? Option A, B or C?”, I stood right before him and he loweredhis eyes at me. They were empty. Empty of emotion.

“No. There is more. One more optionthat I can choose. And there’s only one thing you can do to stop me.”

“You don’t mean…”

Callyps turned around. He slowlywalked towards his sword, which was still driven into the ground a few metersaway. He grabbed the shining black blade with one hand and with the other onethe handle near the guard. With a single, sharp pull he drove it out, pointedit at his chest and without a second of haste he stabbed himself with oneconfident strike.

Dark, navy blood spurted out of hismouth second later and the sword started to melt.

“Callyps! What the hell are you…”, Iran to him but he stopped me after few steps with his open palm reached out tome.

“This is… my choice… my fate…”, withtroubles to even breath he forced himself to look up at the last star on thesky. The melting sword was slowly being sucked inside his body, paralyzing himand ensuring his imminent death.

Callyps, whose strength was slowlybeing taken away from him, dropped on his knees before me. Mighty and proudyoung Emperor waiting for his last breath. This is the time he told me about.

“No. This choice changes nothing. Itwas foreseen long ago.”

“Ha… ha… ha… Then why did you let medo that?”

“Some lessons can be learned only whenthe mind is ready for them.”

Ehvi took a couple of steps back. Ilooked at her and I saw it. I saw confusion and fear written all over her face.But she also tried very hard not to show it.

Sheis getting stronger, I thought, She’s just like her mother and grandfather.

“Alright, Ehvi, honey, go back to thecaves. Wake up your mother and wait for me inside. I will be right there, letme just say farewell to our guest here.”

It took her few seconds but Ehvilooked at me, nodded her head and ran deep into the nearby forest separatingthis meadow we were at from the chain of underground caves we decided to hidein for a little while. Once she passed the center of the dark woods I looked atdying Callyps.

“There is one thing, Apo, that Ihaven’t told you about yet. You see, I knew what objective you had in coming toour Galaxy before you even crossed the Passage. General Yakufe also knew thatfrom the start. As you know the time flow in Milky Way is different than inyour Galaxy. Therefore we learned in time to look at things from differentangles, different perspectives. You are still unable to see the bigger picture,even though I just gave you all the puzzle pieces you need.”

I grabbed the sword melting intoCallyps’ chest and the metal started to cover my left hand. I kneeled beforehim, but he couldn’t even move his head to look at me anymore, paralyzed by themetal surging through his veins. I tried to look and sound as serious andgentle at the same time as it was possible.

“There is a way, very dangerous toboth of us, to bring back to you your lost sister, Raida Callyps. It is becauseshe’s neither lost nor dead to begin with. To help you see the bigger picture Imust take you back twenty nine years ago. I was still at the Academy back then,but my skills were already being recognized and I joined the Lower GuardTroops. One day General Yakufe asked our superiors for the best five of oursquad. Naturally, I was one of them. We flew to a distant system, very muchlike this one, called Zirioos. There we met General’s brother and a tall woman,taller than any of us, covered with silver-crimson cape and hood. She said sheand her crew came from different Galaxy and they can’t return home for unknownreason. The Passage couldn’t be open from this site and apparently somethinghappened on the other. She sought help however back then there was nothing wecould do. Not yet. Over ten years later, couple of years before you used thePassage, the seven of us met with her once again. Yakufe tracked down her andfifteen of her crew members that were still alive, hiding in the lost system,where already unstable sun could implode at any time. We went there to sharewith Raida what General and his brother have found in Great Milky Library. Theylearned that there exists a chant, very powerful and difficult to master, theone I told you about, that allows user to temporarily disrupt reality andcreate artificial passage between the galaxies, parallel to the Galaxy Passageused by Technomians. But the price was too big for her. She couldn’t acceptthat only single person per Galaxian Year can safely pass through the artificialpassage casted by one user. And there wasn’t anyone else but General Yakufestrong enough to even learn that chant, not to mention safely guide someonethrough it.”

I smiled, more and more of the meltedblack metal stuck to my left forearm, looking for a way to melt into my veins.

“Do you know what she told us? I’m not like my father, I can’t abandon mycrew, my real family, If we can’t all go back, we will wait. Until one of youcreate a chant to send us all home. In order to boost up a chant thispowerful even more one must be able to enter the Sacred Form. Officially, thatform still has no name, even though some Generals were able to use itgenerations ago. And only the one who is stronger than Generals can do it.”

Callyps still immobilized forcedhimself to look into my eyes, trying to picture what form would that be.

“I used that form to exterminate yourfleet and to seal away all of your four Raiders. Yakufe was willing tosacrifice his own lifespan to do that, however his plans were interrupted asyou challenged us right after we left our previous system. That curse he castedon you, I know all about it. I know its purpose, its meaning. That’s also whyhe tried to make you believe time passed for you slower than it actually did.That’s why he kept an eye on you. He saw hatred and anger in your eyes, unlikein your sister’s. He tried to give you time, but once you learned how tocontrol it, you lost the ability to see its true nature. He couldn’t let thatangry boy who you were fifteen years ago face his kind and caring sister. Butyou failed him, and her. But that mark on your eye will never disappear, and itwill prevent you from dying too. That’s right, your efforts just jumped off thecliff. Until the cure is fulfilled you can’t die, as the curse itself is thekey to open multiple artificial passages at once.”

I started to pull out the sword out ofApo’s chest, but single strings of half melted metal were still connected tothe melted parts mixed up with his blood.

“That’s why you can’t die yet.”

Sword melting in my hand coveredalmost whole my left arm and started to engulf my shoulder, back and neck. Withone strong pull I drove the remaining parts of the sword out of Apo’s body,threw away the sword which after losing contact with Callyps’ body started toharden very fast, and sat cross-legged next to him.

Cloudless sky welcomed the sunrisewith the disappearance of the last star. Beams of warm sunlight reached us fromabove vast hills on the east. New day has come.

I started inhaling chilly air andCallyps started to regain a little bit of control over his own body.

“Why?”, he asked, spitting his muchmore darker due to melted metal blood again.

“Simple. I know exactly where yoursister is, how to send you home and get rid of the curse. But I won’t help youuntil you help yourself.”

I closed my eyes. For about half anhour we were just sitting and kneeling in the middle of empty meadow doingabsolutely nothing but thinking.

“Do you start to see the bigger picturenow, Apo? You are both from different Galaxy with different time flow, so youdon’t age here like we do. Why do you think Ken still looks like a teenagereven after fifteen years here? And how old do you think he really is?”

After ten more minutes Ehvi peekedfrom behind the nearest tree. She had her sleeping brother wrapped on her back.

“What is it, Ehvi? Why aren’t youwaiting in the caves?”

“Mom sent me.”, Ehvi came out from theforest and started walking towards us. “She said: If he has time to play with Apo he could at least let the rest of ususe the night to the fullest. I’ve been waking up every hour because of yourbrother’s crying. Next time I’m dealing with the guests and he’s dealing withthe kids. Go tell him that right now. Then she sent Ken for something up inthe mountains and kicked us out of the caves.”

“Well, you heard that, Apo? At leastyou don’t have to deal with this kind of problems.”

I stood up and brushed out my clothesfrom dust and dew. Callyps laid on his back and fell asleep.

“It was eventful night. We’ll let himrest for a bit.”, I placed my right hand on his wounded chest and snapped myfingers of the left. “Now he won’t wake up for a couple of hours, and if hegets lucky he might even have a nice dream.”

(end of part 1)

part 2

Thesun was rising. First direct rays of warm light hit his face as he was sittingon the edge of the cliff with the empty piece of paper in his hands.

“Whatare you doing here so early in the morning?”

Thereddish-orange haired woman sat right next to him.

“Iwas just thinking about what father told me once before. Great General Dhamm,what a man.”

Thecaped young man looked at the unrolled parchment in his hands.

“SometimesI wonder how he would deal with this new world. What would he do in our stead.”

“Youknow you can always ask him, right?”

“It’snot the same. I wish I knew him for a little while longer. Talking to ghostsseems somehow fake to me. It just doesn’t feel the same.”

“Iwish you had a chance to meet mother though. She was strong, and kind, and…”

“Verybeautiful. Yes, you always say that.”

Theyboth smiled at the exact same moment and looked at one another. The cliff edgeseemed cold due to rocky ground and chilly breeze from the ocean, but theyenjoyed it like a nice dawn in summer.

Thewoman, in her late thirties, stood up abruptly, turned around and ran with aspeed precluding anyone from even seeing her move, leaving only small dustclouds behind her.

Theyoung lad in his twenties continued staring at the steadily ascending away fromthe horizon red sun. Above the mountain peak on the west was still partially visiblemoon and a few barely noticeable stars.

Father. This new world has alot to offer, you were not mistaken in that. However was your decision correctone? Was locking up Callyps in this other dimension a wise choice? Was motherright to give up her soul to us too? Wasn’t there anything else, better, thatwe could do? Sometimes I feel like this could’ve happen differently if I wasolder or if I wasn’t there at all.

Lostin his own thoughts, unanswered questions and unspoken speculations the youngman didn’t notice a change of the scenery. The clouds were gathering slowly inthe south, the breeze stopped almost completely and the parchment in his handunveiled its hidden message.

“Ken!Ken!”, the scream was hearable in the entire city but the man named Ken wasnowhere to be found.

“MasterKen! Where are you?! Master Ken!”, even children started looking for the oldestperson in whole Northern Continent.

KenulOial, Master of the Cristal Order, wise Technomian Mage, the last eye-witnessof the beginnings of the Afou Taimu age, master of no elements, creator of theTools of Elema.

Manwith many names, known throughout the world as the Great Advisor.

“Ken!Master! Are you still in the city?! Ken!”

Thescreams continued until the sunset. The old, gray haired man with wizened oliveskin was sound asleep, sitting under an oak tree near the Main Gate.

Ayoung boy found him soon after dark when the search was postponed. Ken woke up inan instant mumbling something about the Galaxial Passage and the way to returntime to where it belongs. But after few seconds his consciousness took over andhe looked at confused boy who woke him up.

“Oh.Hello, dear lad. Your name is Mikka, right? Son of Mallia the huntress. Whatare you doing outside the town so late?”

“Everyonewas looking for you, Master. For an entire afternoon. Didn’t you hear us?”

“Oh,I’m sorry, dear. I’m much, much older than I look, and it looks like time isfinally starting to catch up with me.”

Mikkahelped old master to stand up and gave him the staff lying on the tree branchabove the place Ken was sleeping at.

“Thankyou, Mikka. I think it’s time to go back for some dinner and tell you all kidsabout the truths of this and other worlds.”

“Willyou tell us about the Great Conqueror again? Or about the Forgotten Ages? Meand my friends love those stories.”

“Ofcourse, whatever satisfy you, young ones. Now, let’s hurry. I feel like Ioverslept a few meals. Hahaha.”

Laterthat night, when everyone fell asleep and the city was covered in darkness andsilence, Ken opened the passage leading underground, hidden under his house.

Hepressed a rectangular shaped button near the ceiling and deep below, where thesteep stairs were leading to, intense blue light appeared.

Stepby step, one stair at the time, Ken took his time to get to the bottom of thepassage. Vast room was well lit and dozens of shelves were filled with books,piles of papers and dusted tools unused for centuries.

Kenwalked slowly towards long, curved table in the center of the room. He took onepiece of yellowed paper, with one of the corners slightly burned. It was long scroll, unrolled at the top. The contentwas written in Technomian, by hand.

Kahilja Gruhania. ForgottenBeginning. Unknown to still primitive human race story of the starting pointsof the end of their Galaxy.

Kenunrolled the bottom. While reading the last paragraph he sat on the top of thedesk and sighed.

“Howlong will you make me keep this hidden? Isn’t this past millennium enough yet?Aren’t they ready to know the truth yet? They learned so many things bythemselves already, can’t I just pass this task to someone else now and joinyou guys on the other side?”

Onlysilence answered his questions. He just kept staring at the letters for a bit.

“Aren’tyou satisfied yet? Meg? Akh? Ehvi? I know you can hear me, I know you are stillhere, guarding the truth until the right time comes. I’m old, and tired. I wishI didn’t agree to this stupid idea of yours, General. I wish it has turned outdifferently.”

But wishes are nothing morethan wishes, Ken.

Awhisper reached his ears. Soft, gentle voice of a long lost friend appearedfrom nothingness.

You did well. You kept yourpromise. The time has come to take the truth to the next generation. Amillennium has passed not without a reason. Millennium full of suffering,loneliness, apathy and emotionless observations. The DNA has been accepted, nowthe heirs will come. Weak in bodies, but strong in hearts and souls.

Ashe lost himself in the voice of a friend deeply echoing in his mind, the nightpassed faster than any other night before.

“Where…Where do I go then?”

Only you know where to go.Only you know where to look. You are the knowledge and you are the wisdom.Believe in your soul and your heritage. You are the last pure bloodedTechnomian in the Milky Way. No one but you can send the truth to the rightperson. Now go, your time is near. Your soul will join us soon. Go, my friend.

Hestood up. He took couple of books and unused tools from shelves around him, putthem all in a bag, and with a smile on his face, determination in his eyes, scrolledparchment in one hand and old wooden staff in the other, he climbed back up tothe place he called home for the last 20 years.

Thehidden passage closed. He pulled out the button he used earlier and put it inhis bag.

This is a new day. Not onlyfor you, but for the entire world. Everything that happened for the lastthousand years – happened to lead you to this day.

Withthis last sentence in his head he vigorously left the small house and beforeleaving the city he visited the chief.

“Mytime has come, child. I must go and fulfill what I was meant to do. But fearnot, you have my teachings with you and you will be fine. Remember thatnight is just as important as day,fearing one or the other is not going to stop them from happening. Embrace thedifficulties and your city will live on.”

“Thankyou, Master, for everything you did. If you ever visit these parts again – youwill always replace here shelter.”

Everyonegathered as Ken was walking out of the city through the Main Gate.

Inthe northern region of the Western Continent was a small village covered bysnow. A man and a woman covered by dirtied white fur was keeping the big fireburning on the outskirts of the village.

Thenoon of the shortest day of the year was nearing, and the hunters were gone fora whole week now. Only children and elderly were still in the village.

Fromafar a single silhouette was closing in on the two guards of the fire.

Noneof them noticed a man approaching the village until he showed up behind themand asked for warmed water.

“Iam Kenul Ouil. I wish to see with The Guardian Spirit. Where can I replace him?”

Noneof them replied, only looked at one another and then continued adding driedwood to the fire.

“Dothey not understand the speech? Know they not how to speak yet?”

“Theyknew, stranger. But they are mutes now.”

Atall, well built man with a long beard and a pike in his hand startled Ken bygrabbing his shoulder.

“Whoare you old man, and what do you want with the Great Spirit?”

“Iam Kenul Ouil. The Spirit is expecting me. I have a message and a gift todeliver to him.”

“Tellme the message and hand over the gift to me, I will send them to the GreatSpirit personally.”

“I’mafraid I cannot do that, boy. The message is encrypted, and the gift is veryprecious. Only the Spirit can…”

“Lethim in, Krake. The Great Guardian Spirit is waiting.”

Anold, small woman came from the village and poked the one called Krake with hercane. The rest of the hunters dragged their prays closer to the fire andstarted to prepare them for evening dinner.

“I’msorry, mother. I did not know the Great Spirit was expecting anyone.”

Thevillage was completely covered by snow, only some wooden pales and straw on theroofs were visible at the right angle.

Thehut of the Spirit was at the center of the village. It was the smallestbuilding around, with no doors and strings of hair with small animal bones entwinedin them covering the entrance and windows.

Theinside was very dark, only small fire inside gave any light, enough to see thecontours of the objects but no details whatsoever. Surprisingly though it wasincredibly warm inside. Ken took down the bag from his shoulder, took off thefur coat and stood with a help of his body-long staff.

“Sit,Kenul Ouil of Technoma, the one called Great Advisor in many parts of theplanet.”

“Therrais vast, I doubt I’m remembered in that many places, my child.” Ken smiled ashe sat on his coat placed near the fire.

“Iam the Spirit. Glo’Od. I was waiting for you for a long time, messenger.”

Thevoice of the Spirit was low and harsh, but it was not clear whether it was maleof female voice. The Spirit itself was a small figure, uncovered with anyadditional fur, only wearing piece of clothing on the torso and long, leatherpants.

“Thetruth, Glo’Od. The truth about the past and the future.”

“Futureis unknown and it can be rewritten many times over. You should know that,Master of the Crystal Order.”

“Youseem to know a lot, considering where you live.”

“WhereI live has nothing to do with what I know and what I can do. You should knowthat too, no-element master.”

Kentook out the scrolled parchment from his bag and put it above the fire so thatthe Spirit could see what it was.

“Idon’t need light to see, Creator, my sight was taken from me before I wasborn.” Glo’Od reached out for the scroll and small hand disappeared in darknessright before my eyes. “I see. So that is inevitable. I believe what yourmessage says is not what the truth is, though. From what I can tell – youweren’t the one who wrote it, am I right? You only encrypted it to languageunknown by inhabitants of Therra.”

“Thatis correct. The writing I just gave you was done by the inspirited by soul ofhis father last of the pure Ellementalls, and a friend of mine.”

“Wereyou the one to decipher the numbers?”

“Yes,that is correct.”

“Wereyou the one to give those numbers?”

“No.That was my parents last message.”

Thespirit threw the scroll into the fire. The paper inflamed in a second and thegreen smoke filled the hut.

“Thetruth you were bound to protect is now in my hands. I hereby bound my soul toit, so that it won’t be revealed to anyone but the worthy heir. You can rest inpeace now, Kenul, the last witness. The Apo Callyps will be sent home beforethe end and I promise you – your millennial sacrifice will not be in vain. Youwill be remembered.”

Kenstood up. He was very tired. The cold stopped bothering him long ago. It tookhim decades to travel around the world to replace the one called ‘Spirit’. But nowhe could finally let go.

Hesat at the rock next to the Spirit’s hut. He fell asleep.