The world of Olestra
The Palace of Decagon
Decagon sits on his throne, his wife sits next to him on another. The couple argue about the man that stands before them. He is a tall African man dressed in traditional African garb. On his head he wears a leather band embedded with twelve gemstones. Each stone represents an hour in the day with the largest at the front being both noon and midnight. The stones are each a different color to represent each month of the year. His name is Wounoru or Wu for short, he was once worshiped as the African god of the past and future, “It was I who sent the would-be champion to Olestra.” “He, who will be your greatest of all Master Warriors.”
“We no longer bow to your wishes old god!” the wife insists. “You and the others long ago abandon us!” Hidden away behind the doorway Henry eavesdrops on the events in the Throne Room. Unlike the rulers he is pleased at the arrival of the man who gave him the prophecy centuries ago. It can only mean that he was right to choose Steve Roberts.
“I exist in all times at once as does this land we gods have given to you Empress,” Wu says to the angry ruler. “If you believe I sent this man here to remain a prisoner you are gravely mistaken,” the god tells the rulers of the land. “Even without your consent I have arranged for his escape.” “Stand in his way of leaving this plane and you will suffer at the wrath of time.”
Decagon takes Wu’s threat seriously knowing that it is in his grace that the rulers have not aged in centuries. Wu is not a malevolent god but Decagon knows he is still a force to be reckoned with. To deny his demands could mean the end of everything they know. He will allow this Steve Roberts to escape Olestra, but afterward all access to Earth will be sealed forever. “Very well then, what is one Master Warrior when I have an army of them!” Decagon announces to his wife’s disapproval. “He will have two days to escape, I will not stand in his way.” “But, if he still remains he will be stripped of his honor and made a slave of my son, Filipi!”
Wu turns to the young man lurking outside the doorway who believed himself unseen until this moment. Their eyes meet and Wu gives the boy a nod signaling him to begin. Henry hurries through the palace corridors gathering up supplies as he heads for the Master Warrior Dormitory.
The Master Warrior Dormitory
Room of the newest Master Warrior, Steve Roberts.
Steve Roberts languishes in his room. It seems like weeks since he won the tournament. His wounds have completely healed, but he has not begun any kind of training for his new position as a member of the Master Warrior guard. He has not even been given a uniform like the other men, he still sits around his room wearing only a bath towel.
Looking in the mirror he can see that his hair has grown in quite a bit, the only thing showing the passage of time to him. The rest of his body hair has returned as well. He has no idea how long he has been in Olestra, days, weeks, a month? More importantly, why hasn’t anyone come to look for him. He just really only wants to go home to see his family and friends at this point.
Although he chose Henry as his personal slave he still only sees the young man once a day around dinner time. They eat and talk together. Steve has taken over most of his own hygiene only allowing Henry to use the strange tools of Olestra on him when needed. He has persuaded Henry to allow him to keep his mustache and only shave his jaw and throat with the hair removing scrubbing sponge.
He has spent most of his time training on his own to use his new Arsenal of weapons. It is an amazing tool. It can become almost any weapon he can imagine. The speed of transformations is incredibly fast as well. Its transformations are not limited to only weapons he has discovered. It can be used to create protective armaments and containment vessels.
Suddenly the door to his room burst open. “The Seer has cleared our path to escape!” Henry announces entering Steve’s room in a hurry. He didn’t expect Henry for hours yet, but his friend is in an urgent state.
“The Seer?” Steve repeats. “The same one who told you the prophecy about me?”
“Yes,” “We need to move we only have two days to get out of Olestra or you will become a slave of Decagon’s son, Filipi,” Henry says tossing him clothing from the bag over his shoulder. “Put this on!” “Decagon will surely send Filipi after us!” “If you become one of his slaves he will castrate you and make you watch as he eats your balls!”
“I have to say that is something I would prefer not to happen,” Steve says unwrapping the metal mesh clothing Henry has given him. “Wow, real pants and a shirt,” Steve exclaims. “It seems like forever since I wore pants!” Steve pulls off the bath towel from around his waist and moves to put on the pants. He steps into the first leg then the second, as he begins to pull them up almost instantly the metal mesh catches the hair on his legs causing an epilating situation. Looking up to the rest of his body Steve realizes, “Don’t you have underwear or something I can put on first?” “These clothes are going to be brutal on my hair follicles.”
Henry looks over at the man with his pants at mid-thigh. “I told you it was best if you kept clean shaven!” “There is no time for me to shave you now, you are just going to have to deal with it!” Henry tells him forcefully as he pulls on his own metal mesh shirt over his hairless body. “These suits are the only way out of the palace.” Henry returns to packing as Steve struggles to get the pants up to his waist.
There is quite a bit of gingerly adjusting in the crotch area before he starts putting on the shirt. The mesh shirt pulls tight across his chest and around his arms. His chest hair is pulled by the shirt’s mesh but it is not as bad as what goes on down below. The metal pants have feet in them and the sleeves of the shirt are too long which implies that is to completely cover his body. It is clear that the uses for the oversized turtleneck is to pull up over his head, which he tries.
Lowering the neck of his shirt Steve watches Henry again. He really doesn’t have many personal items in his room just his gauntlets, the arsenal and the gemstone Aries gave him in a leather bag that he tucks inside the metal mesh suit. So Steve is not clear on what Henry is packing into the two duffle bags. “What are you taking with us?” he asks.
“Only what we will need to survive outside the palace!” Henry replies as he shoves what Steve believed to be a large paperweight into the bag. “Here put this on your back,” Henry says tossing the heavier bag to Steve.
Steve throws the bag over his shoulders putting his arms through the straps. Movement in the metal suit is slightly painful but like Henry said he has to deal with it. Getting home is all that matters now. Steve follows as Henry leads him from the room. He doesn’t even need to have a last look, he is just glad to never see the room again. The dormitory seems abandoned, it appears that all of the other royal guards are elsewhere. Henry leads Steve to a metal plate in the wall at the end of the corridor.
“Do what I do,” Henry instructs as he pulls the collar of the suit up over his head. Henry steps toward the metal plate his foot merging with the wall. Slowly his metal covered body moves through the solid barrier. Once Henry is completely through the metal plate Steve does the same thing. It is a strange chilling sensation as the metal suit feels as if it is joining with the barrier and then being released. Steve feels every hair on his body pulled and tugged as the metal mesh becomes part of the wall and then returns to its coating of his body.
When the sensation ends he knows he is through the wall and he moves to lower the collar. “What was that?” Steve exclaims looking back at the solid metal plate to touch it with his bare hand.
“It is hard to explain,” Henry says as they begin to walk down a torch lit tunnel. “The barrier is made from the same kind of metal as the suits.” “When the two metals touch it creates a passageway.”
What kind of metal is this?” Steve asks pinching the mesh of the long sleeve between his fingers.
“The suits and the barrier are made of a Magical elemental metal, Henry tells Steve. “The palace exists inside a spell that alters the flow of time, the only way in or out is to use this metal.” “The carts that bring the Tournament contestants in is made of the same metal.”
“So are we out of the Palace now?” Steve asks eyeing the slime on the walls that grows thicker as they walk.
“No, the human body takes time to adjust to the effects of the time displacement spell inside the palace.” Henry explains. “Even for us.” “It will take until we react the end of this tunnel to be truly outside the palace and the spell.” Henry is right somehow time does feel like it is flowing differently here inside this tunnel.
As they walk the slime on the walls and floor gets thicker and the tunnel gets narrower. The torches on the wall become dimmer and farther in between. Soon Steve walks with both of his shoulders touching the sides of the tunnel, where the smaller Henry is still unhindered. Steve must turn sideways and squat slightly as he walks. By the time the tunnel becomes tight for Henry, Steve is already quite squatted down. He feels as though he will be crawling on his hands and knees soon. “Is this tunnel going to become too small for me to get through?” he asks.
“Think of it as being born again,” Henry replies the thick slime from the top of the tunnel oozing down over his face. If it wasn’t for the fact that he can’t see through the metal mesh Steve would have pulled the collar over his head by now. But frankly the slime that has leaked inside the suit has acted as a kind of lubricant as gross as that sounds. It is not long before both Henry and Steve are crawling through the tunnel. Then they slide over the slime covered tunnel on their bellies toward another shining metal barrier ahead of them. Pulling themselves forward with their fingers and pushing with their toes at the end of the tunnel in sight they have a new vigor.
Henry is the first to pierce the metal barrier to emerge outside the palace like a worm on the ground. He quickly rolls out of the way to allow Steve to emerge behind him. Pulling down his collar Steve gasps for air with a sigh of relief. “Get up, we need to move!” Henry shouts pulling on Steve’s arm. “We need to run!”
Steve stands up pulling down his collar to look back at the barrier. The metal circle his held in place by a ring of oblong stones. He chuckles, “Did we just come out of the Palace’s asshole?”
Henry can’t help but laugh too, “It is the back door after all.”
“It seems rather appropriate that I should exit here from a place where I felt my asshole was most likely to be entered,” Steve laughs again.
“We really do need to keep moving,” Henry insists. “No matter what you see or hear, just keep running, don’t stop!” “The people outside the palace aren’t always happy to see people from inside.”
“I have one more question, are we done with these metal suits?” Steve asks knowing that there is no way he wants to run while still wearing it.
“Yes, the next barrier we cross will be much different,” Henry tells him.
Steve slides his hands down the front of the metal mesh pants to free any snagged hairs before lowering them to his thighs. Then taking his new arsenal he wills it into the shape of a large knife. Sliding the knife down between his leg and the pants he cuts the metal mesh open on one leg and then the other. Cutting the legs from the feet he now wears what is akin to an ankle length skirt with a high slit and metal socks. Steve stands up returning the knife to the shape of a band that encircles his bare right thigh. Taking hold of the waist of the pants now a skirt he turns it to have the slits on the sides and the long flaps on the front and back. “There, that is much better, no matter how much I want a pair of pants, these things were just too painful!”
“If you are finished with your wardrobe alterations, can we go?” Henry asks impatiently. Steve nods as he adjust the bag on his back. Henry takes off running east. Not just an average jog either. He runs full out hitting close to sixty miles an hour before Steve can catch up to him. It feels good to Steve to be free again to just run. It has been a long time since he could just let loose like this, unfortunately the metal flap on the front of his new outfit as no other place to go but to blow to the side as he runs. It doesn’t matter there is no one around to see his junk. If there was he and Henry are moving close to a hundred miles an hour now. They approach a small village and Henry just keeps running through it as Steve follows. At the speed they are going Steve can barely even catch a glimpse of the residents. Everyone he does see as he zig-zag around them seems completely normal. The village is very primitive like something out of the 17th century.
Out of the village the two speeding men continue to run for mile after mile. Along the way they pass through several more villages just like the first. Steve notices Henry taking random things as he makes his way through the streets. It is hard to see what Henry is taking as they continue to move at a speed Steve has never done before today.
The Palace of Decagon
the east wing
This is Filipi’s section of the palace few people ever come here by choice, not even his parents. Of the residents of this wing few are allowed to leave unless given a task. Filipi has twenty-seven personal slaves, nineteen women and eight unics that he has personally castrated. His parents prefer to give him women as slaves because he is much less cruel with them but on occasion he has been give men, more as a punishment to those slaves than a reward to Filipi. Some might think his father’s fascination with the Master Warrior Tournament has made Filipi too hostel and cruel to the male slaves, but no one dares say it.
Only minutes ago one of Filipi’s more favored female slaves, who has greater privileges, has returned with instructions from his father. It is his greatest joy that his father has entrusted him with the capture of an escaped Master Warrior.
As Henry told Steve most people outside the palace are hostile to those who live inside it, for good reason. There are others who are more respectful of the ruling class. One village of Amphibians is such a group who favors the rulers. In Olestra the Amphibian are fewer in number than the other races and they wish only to survive. Doing tasks for the Emperor and his family insure their continued prosperity.
Henry believes that Filipi must follow them on land, that is not so. Filipi has other means of tracking his targets. In his study the Emperor’s son has many things that he has collected in his time outside the palace to aide him. One such thing is what appears to be a crystal sphere that is kept in a wooden box on a shelf. Filipi retrieves the sphere from the oak box, it is wet to the touch. It is more than wet it is made of water. The surface swirls to form a solid shell that contains the magic inside. He places his lips to the globe as if to kiss it. Then he slurps it into his mouth, swallowing it into his stomach. It takes only seconds for the magic to take hold and he is gone, transported to the Amphibian village at the furthest reaches of Olestra.
Olestra far from the Emperor’s Palace
at the very edge of the inhabited lands.
Steve and Henry’s race continues for hours until they come to the edge of a large forest. Henry steers their coarse around the edge of the trees to a stream that flows into the forest. It is near sunset when Henry finally comes to a stop along the water and trees. Steve’s hands fall to his knees as he tries to catch his breath. “I am completely spent!” “Have we just been running for nine hours straight?”
“Possible,” Henry pants. “We needed to get enough of a head start on Filipi, so we can make camp for the night.”
“Do you really think he will come after us?” Steve asks pulling of his sweaty metal shirt. The slime from the tunnel and his sweat have created a gooey, smelly mess on his skin.
“I’m sure of it,” Henry replies. “And if he dines on your balls he will become immortal and be a bigger threat than ever!”
“I think there is a little more to my gift than that,” Steve pants knowing what he learned about the role the rest of his organs play in the mix on Benu’s ship, “Needless to say I still don’t want that to happen.” Standing up straight to stretch his back Steve thinks out loud, “Hey, if he ate your balls would that make him your slave for life?”
“Unfortunately, not being older when I became a Nozama my semen doesn’t have the potency of the adult men,” Henry tells Steve. “Believe me when I say I have tried to use it that way many times over the centuries with no luck.”
“Is that why you tried to drug me?” Steve finally gets up the nerve to ask his friend.
“No contestant before you ever complained about my methods,” Henry says removing his own metal clothing and heading toward the stream’s edge. “After the first time I never had to drug them again, they were always grateful for the pleasure I gave them.”
Steve painfully pulls of the metal mesh shirt and removes what is left of his pants. The two men wade into the cool water of the stream. It is refreshing after their long run. Out of habit Henry approaches Steve in the water. “No need for that, you aren’t my slave any more,” Steve tells Henry. “I can wash myself now.” “You should do the same.”
The men find that the water does not dissolve the coating of slime and sweat on their skin as easily as expected. It takes a lot of scrubbing. Steve moves to help Henry get some of the gunk off his back. It is strange for the slave to have the help of the man he once served. “It has been a long time since I had a friend and not a master,” Henry confesses.
“I’m glad you finally think of me as your friend, I was never comfortable with the latter,” Steve tells him finishing getting Henry’s back clean.
Cleaned up and dried off Henry pulls some more clothing from the bag Steve was carrying. “You’ve got to be kidding me!” Steve shouts holding up a pair of soft leather pants and a vest. “I’ve had these clothes in my bag all along and you made me wear a metal dress?”
“That’s what friends do I guess,” Henry grins. “If I gave them to you earlier you wouldn’t have a clean change of clothes now.” Henry then slips on a white linen toga over his head to which he adds leather flapped overskirt and belt to hold his sword. He also dresses in a leather vest, his attire is similar to what he wore before his years as a slave.
The sun is almost fully set now as Henry pulls another thing from the bag, the large paper weigh Steve watched him put in. Henry places the bowling ball sized rock on the ground.
“What is that thing anyway?” Steve asks curiously as he pulls on the leather pants to tuck the satchel holding the gemstone in his belt.
“It is a piece of Fire ore,” Henry explains as he takes a medium sized sheathed sword from the large bag. Unsheathing the sword he raise it over his head and brings it down fast and hard on the Fire ore to cleave it down the center. Fire bursts from the split rock like from a broken gas main.
“That is incredible!” Steve exclaims. “What is Fire ore?” he asks.
“There are five mystic elements of nature on Earth; Air, Water, Earth, Fire, and Metal,” Henry explains. “Only three of those mystic elements exist in Olestra, Water, Fire, and Metal.” “The suits were made of the elemental Metal ore which is as rare here as it is on Earth.” “The fire should keep away any wild life that might come out when it gets dark.”
“If all of this stuff was in my bag, what was it I saw you stuffing in yours as we ran through the villages?” Steve asks.
Henry retrieves his bag from the ground where it lay. “Food doesn’t fair well coming through the barrier,” he replies pulling a dead rabbit from his bag. “I got these too,” he adds taking out some carrots and potatoes.
“Looks good to me!” Steve says pulling the band from his leg as it takes the shape of a long skewer. Henry takes the head off of the rabbit with his sword and then sides the carcass onto Steve’s arsenal for cooking over the fire.
The Amphibian village
not far from where Steve and Henry have made camp.
“My Leash, one of the scoot has found the men you search for,” An Amphibian guardsman reports to Filipi who sits in a large makeshift throne. The Amphibian people appear completely human accept for gill slits on either side of their throats and ribs. They are the people from which the Mistix, Aquarius was born. On Earth the Amphibians were hunted and killed, leaving only a few in hiding. On the lost continent of Atlantis the Amphibian population still thrives even more so in Olestra. The ones who came to Olestra eons ago still struggle to survive the jealousy of other branches of the human race. Filipi know how to use this struggle to his advantage.
“Very good, I will see to it that your village is rewarded for your efforts,” Filipi tells the guardsman. “But I need one thing more from your people.” “Water Elementals, how many do you enslave here?”
“Twenty-two, my Leash,” The guardsman replies reluctantly. The Amphibians create Water Elementals by murdering other humans in a ritual manner to enslave them. On Earth only one Elemental being of a mystic element can emerge at a time. In Olestra there is no such restriction. The process to properly create a Water Elemental and enslave it is long and hard. The village uses these Elemental for protection against invades. To risk them without cause would be a great sacrifice for the village.
“I will need eleven of them to capture these men and bring the men back to the palace!” Filipi demands. The guardsman knows Filipi has no intention of returning the Elementals once he takes them to the palace, but denying the son of the Emperor could be a much bigger loss to the village.
Not far from the edge of the inhabited lands
Where Steve and Henry have made camp for the night
After eating the two men sit around the fire talking for a time. It is the first time they have talked about something other than Olestra and how they will escape. “So now that you are a free man, what is first on your list?” Steve asks Henry.
“Making plans for freedom might be a little premature,” Henry replies across the fire. “We have yet to escape Olestra.”
“I am confident that I am going home now!” Steve replies. “And eager to see my family and friends again.” “I even miss the job I just quit.” Steve lays down on the blanket Henry brought from the palace to think for a moment. “I think I miss women too,” Steve says softly. “I know it sounds silly.” “I’ve spent most of my life afraid of them but I want to make that change now.” “What about you, have you ever been with a woman?” he asks looking around the dwindling fire at Henry.
“Look at me Steve, I look like a teenage boy, you even thought so,” Henry replies with anger in his voice. “What woman wants a boy when she could have a man….. like you!” “My appearance is only attractive to a certain kind of people and they are not women.”
“Don’t say that,” Steve says. He fears his friend has been a slave to the tournament for far too long. After a time Steve speaks again, “Is that why you did it?” “Because you had no other option to feel loved?”
Henry lays down on his own blanket to look up at the night sky. “Not so much loved as appreciated.” “When I was with Achilles we were best friends.” “I felt I needed him and he needed me.”
“Was your friendship with Achilles…sexual?” Steve asks timidly.
“No, never,” Henry replies. “That didn’t happen to me until we became Nozamas and we were captured to be taken to their walled city.” “Achilles and I were separated, I don’t know what became of him.” Steve can hear the loss in Henry’s voice even after all this time. “The warriors passed me around like a toy.” “As strong as I am, they were stronger.” “I don’t know how long I was there until I came to Olestra.”
Steve looks over at his friend to see the tears glistening on his face in the fire light. “We don’t have to talk about this,” he says.
“No, it is okay, that part of my life is long over,” Henry replies trying to sound strong. “It was different in Olestra, I was in charge here, I was the one bringing pleasure to the warriors and they were always grateful.”
“Was I right were you brought here by Bones?” Steve asks.
“No, the Nozama who brought me here was much worse than Bones,” Henry tells Steve. “He was too violent and uncontrollable to be part of the Tournament.” “Many of the other Master Warriors died trying to imprison, Samso.” “It took the act of a goddess to lock him away.”
Steve can hear the relief in Henry’s words as he talked about the imprisonment of this Samso. “I think you should come home with me,” Steve says. “You can be like a little brother to me and we can learn about women together!”
Henry chuckles, “A little brother who is nearly as old as your mother at 2080!”
“See you’ve already improved your attractiveness to women,” Steve laughs.
“How is that?” Henry questions.
“Women love older men!” Steve giggles. “Not to mention having a second older brother would really piss off my sister.”
“You have a sister?” Henry asks.
“Yes, Christine,” Steve replies. “She is a pain in the ass sometimes but I love and miss her.” “She is one of the people I can’t wait to see when I get home.”
“What is it you miss the most about your home?” Henry asks.
“That is easy, deodorant!” Steve says with finality.
“What is deodorant?” Henry asks in confusion.
“Figures you wouldn’t know what deodorant is, I never smelled any body odor coming from you,” Steve comments as he thinks for a moment. “Or Bones for that matter, the smells coming from him seemed to be from something else.” “Deodorant is a fragrance used to cover body odor and let me tell you fighting in that arena, all of those guys could have used a Right Guard shower.”
“Nozamas don’t have body odor,” Henry explains. “Body odor is used for sexual attraction, Nozamas are sterile and have no use for it.” “What year did you say it is on Earth?” Henry asks.
“It just turned to 1987, Ronald Reagan is president of the United States, the lead singer of Culture Club is the most confusing looking person I have ever seen, Top Gun and Crocodile Dundee are top of the movie box office.”
“What is movie box office?” Henry asks curiously.
“What was the year when came to Olestra?” Steve asks.
“1345,” Henry replies. “But I was in Atlantis for a while before that so I can’t be sure of the year.” “So many things must have changed since then.”
“You have so much to learn,” Steve retorts as the Fire ore snaps shut dousing the flame. “Is that normal?”
“The ore has a limited amount of power, it must recharge for several hours,” Henry explains.
The two men lay silent for a time as they drift off to sleep. The sound of the rushing water of the stream relaxes both of them after their strenuous day. The air is cool and sweet as they breathe it in. Steve must admit the air is fresher than he has ever tasted on Earth. Steve will miss its taste.
The flow of the stream grows louder as he takes a deep breathe but it is not the air that he draws in. At first Steve is sound asleep, too groggy to realize what is happening, he feels a trickle of water down the back of his throat. Then it is a gush of water that floods his lungs. He springs up choking. His lungs burn as they fill with the warm salt water. “Gulp, gawk,” is the sound he makes as he struggles to expel the water from his lungs. His eyes bulging he looks to Henry who thrashes on the ground with the same affliction, trying to cough up the fluid. Crawling onto his hands and knees Steve struggles to force the water from inside his body. Jerking back up from the grass he wraps his arms around his ribs squeezing. It takes every ounce of strength and control he has to force his lungs to completely collapse expelling the fluid. He vomits the water and part of his dinner onto the grass. The liquid quickly slithers ways into the river leaving what little of his dinner that came along behind on the grass.
Then Steve falling back onto his back he takes the deepest breath of his life to refill his lungs with air. He can hear Henry still gasping not far away. Steve doesn’t have time to waste to regain his strength. Crawling over to Henry he sits him up to pat his back to help his dislodge the fluid in his lungs. Steve’s efforts have no success as Henry’s eyes bulge and his lips begins to turn blue. Steve knows the hymalic will be of no use the water seems to have a mind of its own.
Steve lays Henry back to the ground trying to push on his abdomen to dislodge the water inside him. With everything Steve has seen Henry do, it is clear that Henry’s smaller body is not as powerful as his own. In fact Steve has no idea how he did what he did or if Nozamas are even capable of such control. Henry’s eyes roll back in his head as he loosed consciousness. Only one thing comes to Steve’s mind in the hope of saving his friend’s life, he must do it again. Steve tilts Henry’s head back pulling open his mouth. He presses his mouth to Henry’s but not to blow as in CPR, but to suck. Steve pinches his friend’s nose shut and inhales with all his might to suck the aggressive water for Henry’s lungs.
Steve continues to suck taking all the fluid from the unconscious man’s body into his own. He is disoriented now as he releases the man’s head to fall back to the ground. Dizzy Steve falls on his side taking hold of himself again, rolling back and forth. He coughs and chokes, it is harder this time than the first. He feels himself passing out before he at last expels the living fluid along with the last of his dinner. Steve lays gasping, his eyes tightly closed, feeling sicker than he has in his life. In his mind he sees the image of the Fire Ore cracking open and a being of flame leaping out to fight back a huge creature made of water.
Suddenly a hand goes over his mouth and nose as he is pulled up by his arm to his unsteady feet. It is Henry, “Thanks for whatever it was you did.” “They are Water Elementals, you need to keep your mouth closed!” Henry tells Steve as he supports himself on the smaller man’s shoulders. He opens his eyes to see many puddles of water slithering from the edge of the stream across the grass. “I have heard stories of Amphibians enslaving Water Elementals.” “Filipi must have made some kind of deal with the nearby Amphibian village to aid him in our capture.”
Steve tries to find his voice, “Casper was an Amphibian.”
“Yes, Amphibians are strong fighters but they are versed in mystic rituals too,” Henry explains as he guides Steve back toward the edge of the forest. “If the Water Elementals get inside our bodies when we are unconscious they can take control.”
“I can’t do that again, not for a while,” Steve gasps. “There are too many, how do we fight water?”
“There are ways to fight Water Elementals, I just can’t remember them, my head is still cloudy,” Henry tells Steve. “We need to get away from them.” “I don’t think they will follow into the forest.” “Can you run?”
“Not like we did today,” Steve says trying to steady himself. One of the Water Elementals is nearing Henry’s blanket as Steve falls forward on the Fire ore. Grabbing it, he rolls over back toward Henry struggling back to his feet. “Water and Fire don’t mix we might need this yet.
The men turn toward the forest to run, stumbling as they begin. Both men are still weak from their ordeal with the Water Elementals. Fortunately their foes are slow on land. Steve feels like a teen in a Friday the 13th movie, running from Jason through the woods and he knows that never works out well. The Fire ore clutched to his chest like a football he has no idea how long it will take to work again or what he saw in his dream. As bad a shape as Steve feels he is in, Henry must be in worse as he stumbles to the ground.
“Why is it taking us so long to recover?” Steve asks as he helps Henry up.
“We have had a dead thing inside of us,” Henry tells him. “Water Elementals are dead human spirits held together by the mystic element.” “They weren’t only drowning our bodies but also our souls.” The men could hear the sound of water moving over the ground toward them.
“We must stand and fight!” Steve says pulling his arsenal from his leg commanding it to the shape of a sword.
“Don’t be a fool, we can’t fight the Water Elementals with a sword,” Henry says. “We have no idea how many there are, at least on Earth there can be only one of each Elemental at a time.” “Here in Olestra Elemental Ore can be used to create many at once.”
“Can Elementals fight each other?” Steve asks remembering his dream flash.
“Well yes, Water Elementals and Fire Elementals are natural opposites,” Henry explains. “A Fire Elemental could turn these Water Elementals to vapor.” “The elemental spirit would have to return to the sea to gather more salt water for its body.”
“Can we use this to create a Fire Elemental?” Steve asks holding out the Fire Ore.
“We would need to kill a living soul in a mystic ritual that neither of us knows,” Henry explains.
“If I captured one of these Water Elementals could we force it to switch Elements?” Steve asks as the sound of the running water draws closer.
“In theory the Fire ore could over power the Water Elementals, but how would we force it to change Elements if it is being controlled by someone else,” Henry suggests. “Moreover how would we get a Fire Elemental on our side?”
Steve grins at Henry. “You could do it with your ‘secret sauce’,” he says. “I saw it in a dream.”
Henry is confused for a minute by Steve’s Pop culture reference until the man’s raised eyebrow makes it clear to him. “Steve I told you my ‘secret sauce’ is too weak to control anyone,” Henry insists as they begin to jog again through the woods.
“But you said someone is controlling these Water Elementals already, maybe that can boost your power and you can seize control.” Steve suggests. “You might only have to control the spell and not the Elemental itself.” “What other choice do we have?”
The men stop running again and Henry says, “Do you really think you can catch a Water Elementals?”
“Sure can with this,” Steve says holding up his sword that reshapes into a golden sphere that opens like a Pac-man. “But you will have to add your contribution first.”
Henry looks at the bowl in Steve’s hand and then to the man’s face. “Here give it to me, it’s going to take a few minutes, can you keep a look out for the Elementals?”
“You just do your thing and I’ll keep them at bay somehow,” Steve says handing him the arsenal. Henry jogs a little farther ahead where he lifts his toga. While Steve cautiously walks back the way they came.
Steve walks through the dark forest his ears listening for the slightest of movement as his eyes watch the ground. He still carries the football sized Fire ore with him. It is warm under his left arm in the position touching his gauntlet. He stops for a moment to take a closer look at it. He finds it hard to believe that such an ordinary looking object would have so much power. In the darkness he can see that there is a glowing seam running down the center of it were Henry cleaved it open.
Holding the ore in his right hand it touches his gauntlet and he feels the warmth move into it. Steve knows that his gauntlets can absorb most forms of energy and force, perhaps he can use this one against the Water Elementals. Balancing the ore on his wrists with his gauntlets the ore begins to glow. Light is cast out over the forest revealing the many glistening puddles of water on the ground all around him. As the ore warms his gauntlets he memorized the position of each of the puddles that move only slightly as if stalking him.
Steve slides the ore inside his vest, dousing the light it cast while touching his gauntlets. Strangely it is not warm against his chest as the light dims. Straining to see the shimmer of one of the Water Elemental puddles in the dark he takes aim. Touching his gauntlets together there is a flash as a beam of heat strikes out. One of the puddles on the ground is vaporized releasing a cluster of glowing sparks that float up into the trees. That must be the Spirit that Henry spoke of, Steve thinks. Henry better hurry up, he thinks looking back to see his friend squatted down not far away.
Steve can hear the other Water Elementals moving now. Are they going to charge him, he wonders. Trying to catch the glimmer of moon light through the trees on the water Steve clanks his Gauntlets again, evaporating another foe. This is how he will capture them. Once freed of the water spirits are defenseless.
“Here, here it is,” Henry calls out as he runs to Steve’s side.
“Get ready then, I only have enough power for one more shot,” Steve says. “When I blast the Elemental you catch the spirit in the ball, I will close it and we have our spirit!” Steve aims and releases his final Elemental blast striking a Water Elemental who is retreating from them. Henry lunges forward capturing it in Steve’s arsenal along with his donation. Most of Steve’s strength returned, he quickly forces the Fire ore inside the arsenal before closing it. “Come on we have to move, they may be retreating but I can feel the danger increasing!” Steve shouts.
The two men begin to run again, Henry carrying the Fire ore this time. “We need to find a spot where I can concentrate on this!” Henry says. The men run for a while farther into the forest, before stopping. Henry sits down on the ground to hold the golden arsenal sphere. He stares at it trying to make an attempt at controlling the entity inside it. At first there is nothing, he feels discouraged having never tried this before. He rolls the sphere in his hands hoping to combine its contents.
Without the Fire ore Steve is concerned at what he will do if the Water Elementals attack in mass. He looks to Henry who is completely focused on the golden ball. Steve’s sharp ears listen to hear any sign of the Water Elementals in the dark forest. He hears only the sound of crickets, they have moved too far from the stream for him to even hear it now. Then there is a loud groan as if trees are being up rooted. “That doesn’t sound good,” Steve says. “I hate to rush you but something is coming.”
“I think I’ve got it now,” Henry replies. “I can feel the soul of the Elemental.” “It was an old man who was on the verge of death.” “He wanted to be a Water Elementals but not a slave.”
“That doesn’t sound promising,” Steve says as the sound of breaking trees grows louder.
“But it is, by becoming a Fire Elemental the spell will be broken,” Henry explains. “He will gladly help us in exchange.”
Then there is a great crash as the men turn to face a fifteen foot tall monster made of solid water. The remaining Water Elementals have joined together as one. “Whatever we are doing we need to do it now!” Steve shouts grabbing the arsenal ball. The moment he touches the golden sphere it transforms into a large broadsword, letting the Fire ore fall to the ground. “We need to move if it happens like I saw in my dream!” Steve pulls Henry by his arm as the Fire ore cracks open like a hatching of a grenade. The towering Fire Elemental springs forth. It turns to look down at the two men standing nearby in the light its flame casts. Then it looks back to the watery monster. It nods at the men as it waves its arm to tell them to flee. There is no further exchange as flames roar out from the Fire Elemental.
As the men run the can feel the heat of the fire on their backs. Having little rest both men are still haggard from their first run, but they soldier on. “What is he doing?” Steve calls to Henry.
“He is doing what he must, burning out the Water Elementals,” Henry replies. “Destroying the watery bodies breaks the spell of control.” As they near the edge of the forest flames begin to leap through the treetops. Flaming limbs begin to fall all around them forcing them to split up to dodge the debris. It is not until they clear the burning forest fire that the men again meet up on the side of a mountain.
“What will happen to the Elementals?” Steve asks as they look down at the burning trees.
“Some will create new bodies and others will move on to the next plane, I guess,” Henry answers.
“So you had a mental link with that Elemental?” Steve asks.
“I guess I did, but I didn’t have any control of him, what he did was by his own choice,” Henry tells Steve.
“Do you still have that link?” Steve asks.
Henry is silent in thought for a moment before replying, “No, it is gone but I think he is at peace.” Henry smiles to himself as they stand watching the fire burn.
“What’s that for?” Steve asks as Henry shrugs his shoulders. “I don’t think I’ve seen you smile before.”
“I just feel good for the first time in a long time,” Henry tells him. “I have a power now that brings me closer to someone, without violating them.” Steve just smiles and puts his arm around Henry’s shoulder as they begin to climb the mountain.
The Amphibian village
not far from where Steve and Henry made camp.
“Worthless Elemental garbage!” Filipi shouts as he throws over a table and chairs to the floor. The Amphibians guardsman is startled by the royal man’s actions because he can not see what Filipi sees. Filipi wears a set of mystic water filled goggles over his eyes that allow him to see the events that take place with the Water Elementals. When the last of the Water Elementals is consumed by the flames of the Fire Elemental the scene goes dark. Filipi pulls the goggles from his head and throws them onto the pile of overturned furniture. “Your pathetic Water Elementals have failed me!” the would-be Emperor shouts. “How am I to take this fine specimen as my slave if I am surrounded by failure?”
“Perhaps sir you need to separate them to capture one,” the guardsman quietly suggests.
Filipi turns to glare at the man, the fury in his eyes dimming. “Yes, yes!” the Emperor’s son exclaims. “That is the answer, why did I not think of it before now?” Filipi’s ego will not allow him to give anyone else credit but himself. “I will break their friendship, breed distrust, make them hate each other!”
“Sir, you really don’t have time for that,” the guardsman whispers. “Perhaps just a distraction to separate them.” It would appear that the guardsman’s low mellow tone makes Filipi believe that he is hearing the voice in his head.
“No, I don’t have time for that, I need a way to just split them up,” Filipi repeats. “How quickly can you get men there, I need your best and strongest men!”
“Instantly sir,” the guardsman says opening a box that contains a sphere like the one Filipi used to travel to the village.
The great vault of power
The highest mountain peak in Olestra
Steve and Henry arrive at the top of the mountain at the most forbidden place in Olestra. The men stand speechless before the most magnificent structure either of them has ever seen. “Something bad is about to happen,” Steve says, breaking the silence.
“What do you mean, this is what we have been searching for, it is the way out of Olestra!” Henry replies.
Steve turns around to see them first. There are twenty heavily armed men standing at the edge of the mountain top. As incredible as is sound each of them holds a semi-automatic AK-47 rifle. “How the hell did they get those weapons here?” Steve announces in amazement.
“What are they holding?” Henry queries. “I’ve never seen anything like that.”
“You are going to wish you hadn’t in a minute,” Steve says pushing Henry down behind the large base of statue that stands at the front of the vault. Steve dives behind another marble base on the opposite side of the walkway as the bullets begin to fly.
“Holy Shit!” Henry shouts over the noise of the bullets hitting the stone that he hides behind. “It is like a rain of metal, only sideways!” “Are these weapons from Earth, in your time?”
“Yes and this many bullets at that speed can cut a man in half, us too,” Steve says. “They have us pinned down!”
“No Steve, they have me pinned down,” Henry says. Steve realizes then that none of the bullets are aimed at him. Every bullet fired is hitting the monument that Henry hides behind. “Filipi has no use for me.” “I am only in his way by helping you.” “You need to keep going, find your way home,” Henry urges.
“No, I will not leave you to these over armed Amphibians,” Steve asserts.
“Those are not Amphibians,” Henry calls out over the hail of bullets. “The Amphibian people would not risk so many of their men, not even for Filipi.” “They are Aviators, artificial automatons created to be soldiers and I have an idea.” “Now get going, you are completely safe to walk to the door, it will help to draw them in closer,” Henry insists.
“Are you sure?” Steve questions one last time.
“Positive!” “Now go!” Henry insists again. Steve gets up from the ground to runs up the steps to the front door of the vault. Henry is right not one gun is turned in Steve’s direction, so that means the impending danger he feels comes from inside the vault.
Behind the monument Henry turns to sit with his back to the crumbling stone block. As Steve reaches the door of the vault, he shapes his arsenal into a massive battle ax to swing at the stone barrier. The stone slab cleaves in two from top to bottom at the blade of the ax. The two slabs fall back inside. Before the dust settles Steve is charging inside the unknown room on the other side. Even as he bounds in Steve is cautious not knowing what to expect as he enters the vault.
Henry told him that the Arsenal worked as a key to open a doorway home, but he has no idea how it works. The inside of this first chamber is a wide open space, Steve estimates to be about fifty by fifty feet. Along the walls there are carved pillars that go up to the thirty foot high ceiling. At the center of the large room there is another marble vault. This structure is about twenty by twenty by twenty foot cube with only one door. That would appear to be Steve’s destination as he steps forward.
“You will make an amazing addition to my slaves,” Filipi speaks as he steps forward from behind the structure at the center of the room. He holds in his hand a long lance like the one Ullery attacked Steve with in the Tournament.
“You must be insane, didn’t you see what happened to Ullery when he used a weapon like that against me?” Steve calls to his pursuer across the open room.
“You confuse this weapon with a photon lance,” Filipi says stepping closer. “This is something much more painful!” He points the lance at Steve and a bolt of green energy strikes out. Steve raises his left gauntlet to block the crackling bolts. The green surge jumps around his gauntlet striking him in the face. Steve is knocked back by the force of the bolt as it sparks around his head.
The pain is like nothing Steve has ever felt, he grabs for his face and the energy traps his hands. The surging green bolt flows down over his whole body bringing him to his knees. Filipi walks closer grinning at the man’s pain. “Quite excruciating isn’t it?” he asks. “The power of this lance attacks the ‘soul’ not the body.”
Filipi stands only feet away from the kneeling man as the aura of green fades. Steve is stunned for a minute as he looks at the man’s sandaled feet. If there are two things that his mother always said were important in battle it was confidence and catching your opponent off guard. Steve looks up at Filipi with a sly smile. “That kind of tickled,” he says. Filipi’s anger is reflected in another bolt from the lance to the kneeling man.
Steve shakes off the second charge much quicker than the first. Again he smiles at Filipi, “My ‘soul’ has lived hundreds of life times it is much more resilient than that!” Then in a single motion Steve stands up grabbing the lance and backhanding his would-be slave master. The smaller man is sent airborne across the room to hit the wall. Steve glares at the lance for a minute examining its structure. Close up it is not Celaerian at all. Holding the lance up he snaps the wood and stone rod in half releasing all of the green energy stored inside it. What a strange device he thinks. Although the first bolt was painful, afterward it almost felt good in a way he can’t even describe. Nor can he explain the line about his soul living a hundred times.
He looks to Filipi who lays on the floor unconscious but still breathing. Then he looks back to the smaller vault at the center of the room. This place is like some kind of nesting doll or something.
Outside the vault.
Huddled behind the stone base his hands cupped full Henry waits. As the gunfire stops he waits patiently as he hears the footsteps of the Avatars move closer. Although he looks to be only sixteen he has over two thousand years of experience and the wisdom to go with those years. When he and Steve were climbing up the mountain it struck him that Nozama semen control a person’s mind and body. That Elemental soul inside the Arsenal had no mind or body. He was communicating directly with that old man’s soul.
The Amphibian race feels so endangered that they use other ways to fight their battles, one is the Water Elementals and the other is the Avatars. Avatars are created by a person extending their soul into an artificially created body. Those bodies are created from mystic living tissue, perhaps the souls in these Avatars are vulnerable like the Water Elemental was, or at least that is what Henry hopes.
He waits, listening to every sound as they move closer. When he hears the first step on the stairs Henry makes his move. Jumping up he swings out his hands splashing several of the Avatars with the slick fluid from his hands. There are seven of the Avatars that are hit with the fluid instantly freeze them in place while the others push past toward Henry. It has been centuries since Henry fought hand to hand with anyone, but he has forgotten nothing. It is the guns that he is not acquainted with in a fight, but he knows not to get in front of one. Henry fights to disarm his attackers wishing he had some help.
As he moves to defend himself something strange begins to happen as the Avatars he splashed move to his defense. Each Avatar fight independent of Henry but are clearly on his side. Focused on staying alive Henry has no time to analyze what is going on with his new allies. As he fights for his life he can feel a strange presence in the back of his mind.
Inside the vault
Steve moves up the three steps at the base of the second vault. Over the stone door a purple drape hangs held at the top corners by two red opal stone mounted on gold disks. Steve feels the urge to reach up to touch the clasps that hold the fabric. His touch triggers the fabric to retract up into a swag that drapes over the doorway. Steve’s strength is more than enough to force the final door of the vault open. As he walks under the swag the clasps release from the stone doorway to fall around his shoulders. The gold and opal clasp reattach to the vest on his chest. Steve reaches to remove the clasps and the purple fabric flows out down his back in the form of a cape. His new wardrobe appears to be irremovable as he examines the clasps. Steve releases the clasps and the cape retracts back up into the swag behind his neck. Perhaps it is some kind of protective garment for what comes next.
Turning his attention forward, Steve can see in the center of the room there is a monolith that extended from the floor four feet high. Proximity to it must have triggered something in the Arsenal as Steve approaches it holding the arsenal in the shape of a sword. As Steve comes closer to the monolith the arsenal in his hand began to transform on its own. It becomes what he could only describe as a large key. This new shape also comes with increased weight. It must be over five hundred pounds to hold as he lifts the key over his shoulder. Steve stepped up onto the ledge in front of the monolith. On the top of the structure he could see a slot that matched the key. Lifting with both hands he tried to lower the key into place. But once it is over the lock the key’s weight feels as if it has doubled. Steve is forced to climb up on top of the monolith to stand over the keyhole as he pulled the ever heavier key into place. He positioned and dropped the key into the hole, nothing happens. Then squatting down on top the monolith to hugs the key, it takes all of his strength to turn it in the lock. Then there is a blast of light and force that sends him back to the floor.
“I am Optima,” a woman’s voice said as Steve sits up on the floor. She is a ghostly being that floats over the monolith as he lays on the floor. She looks exactly like the woman Steve knew as Decagon’s wife. Then she speaks again as Henry rushed into the chamber to help his friend up from the floor. “Long ago when it was time for the old gods to leave Earth, they wished to pass on a gift of their once mighty power.” “They gave that gift to me.” “Creating this pocket world calling it Olestra, I was to be its goddess.” “I lived here creating a beautiful paradise.” “It was a lonely existence so I returned to Atlantis in human form to seek out a suitor.” “When I found my mate I returned here with him sealing the gift of the gods in this vault to live with him as a human.” “What is it you seek here Master Warrior?”
It is the first time Steve has been addressed by the name and he feels silly but he likes it. “I’m beginning to feel like Dorothy Gayle, but I just want to go home,” he answers.
“Where is your home?” the entity asks.
“Earth, Philadelphia, Pa,” the Master Warrior replies.
The entity looks as if deep in thought for a moment before replying, “I fear Earth is beyond my reach but I know of a place I can send you to be safe.” “But first you must accept that you will take the shadows of what you have done with you.”
“He is going nowhere but to my cells!” Filipi shouts storming into the vault carrying a AK-47 in each hand.
“Steve you go, I’ll take care of him,” Henry says.
“How are you going to do that alone?” Steve exclaims.
“I have help,” Henry replies as three of the Avatars he turned enter the vault behind Filipi. The Avatars grab the gun barrels directing them to the floor as Filipi begins to fire. Henry bounds across the room landing a right cross to Filipi’s jaw. Surprisingly Filipi is tougher than he looks as he fights back against his attackers.
Steve turns back to the goddess Optima. “Do you accept the shadows?” she questions again.
“Yes, yes, whatever I have to do to get home!” Steve replies urgently.
“This is a one time only, one way trip,” She tells him as she begins to glow and her features are blurred by the light. “You take with you all that is destiny,” Optima says as her silhouette changes losing human shape to become a swirling oval.
Steve can feel the pull of the portal on him as he calls back to his friend, “Henry leave him, come with me!” The Avatars hold Filipi tightly as Henry spits on his hands to wet them. He rubs his hands together before reaching out to touch the restraint man’s face. Henry slides his wet hands over Filipi’s face and mouth. Steve can not make heads or tails of what his friend is doing.
“See the truth of what you are doing!” Henry says to Filipi who still struggles to escape the hold of the Avatars.
“The truth is I’m going to take so much pleasure in killing and cutting you into little pieces!” Filipi snarls as he spits in the former slave’s face.
Half of Steve’s body has been pulled through the portal now as he yells again, “Henry, he doesn’t matter this is our only chance to get out of here!” Henry looks to his friend who has only his right shoulder, head and arm poking out of the mystic portal created by Optima.
Then Filipi pulls something from his belt that releases a sonic blast. Henry grabs for his ears as the Avatars are turned to dust by the sound. Filipi lunges to the floor to retrieve a gun while Henry turns to run for his friend’s outstretched hand. Steve grabs for Henry’s hand but it is slippery and he can’t hold it as his head and shoulder slip through the portal, leaving only his arm in the vault. Steve’s arm flails grabbing for anything as he feels the portal grow smaller.
Then there is a blinding flash of light as the ghostly Optima returns to her lofty place over the monolith.
“Mother, how could you let him escape?” Filipi asks from the floor where the force of the blast laid him out.
“I am not your Mother evil human child,” the ghostly figure replies, “I am but the power she renounced.”
Filipi stands up shaking his fist at the ghostly woman. “One day when I am Emperor I will have him brought back and his balls will be my breakfast!”
Inside a stone temple
the lost continent of Atlantis
Steve is the first to emerge through the dimensional fabric, pulling Henry along by the arm. The men arrive falling to the floor in a cathedral ceiling marble lined room. “Where are we?” Steve questions as his arsenal falls to the floor with a clank. “This sure doesn’t look like Philly.”
Henry survives the scene spotting a familiar statue. “This is the temple of Janus, the god of doorways and safe passage,” he says pointing to the two faced statue. “Optima couldn’t have sent us to a better place.” “This temple provides a safe haven for all who find it.” “We are completely safe from Filipi here and he can not follow us once we leave.”
“Good because I am beat!” Steve announces returning his arsenal to his thigh before sitting down on the corner of a marble pedestal. “I could sleep for a week.”
“I don’t think you should rest that long,” Henry advises. “Time flows closer to Earth’s cycle here in Atlantis.” “I have heard that Janus’ Temple offers food and lodging for lost travelers, maybe we should look around before leaving.”
“I could really use a dump before I eat anything,” Steve says holding his belly as he stands up to look around.
“I’m sure we can find you, what did you call it?” Henry jokes. “A bathroom?”
“After my time in Olestra, I’m not sure such a thing exists anymore,” Steve laughs.
The men begin to explore the large Temple finding a bathroom and many sleep chambers. After cleaning up they find a room filled with fresh food. There is a table laid out with fruit and vegetable platters and a large roasted pig at the far end. “Is this safe?” Steve asks. “Who prepared all of this?”
“Long ago, when the old gods began to die some of them invested their remaining power in man,” Henry explains. “Benevolent ones like Janus created this sanctuary temples that is self maintained for lost travelers.” “Others did things. let’s say not so nice.”
After filling their bellies Henry and Steve find a room with two cots to sleep in. Henry takes off his sandals, vest, belt and over shirt to lay on the cot in his linen toga. Steve undresses as well only leaving on his pants as he lays down on the cot across from his friend. Of course conversation follows.
“So I guess your ‘secret sauce’ worked?” Steve questions with a chuckle.
“In a way, it has been a long time since I tried it,” Henry replies across the dark room. “I have had it used on me by other Nozama and I know how it feels to not be able to resist.” “Maybe if I had tried to use it more I would have discovered what I did today.”
“What is it you discovered?” Steve asks.
“My ‘secret sauce’ as you call it doesn’t give me control of a person, rather it makes them see the truth,” Henry explains. “It is so strong that it broke the spell on the spirit of that Elemental and the one on the Avatars also.”
“How can you be so sure of that?” Steve asks curiously.
“Try to lie to me,” Henry suggest, “Tell me your name is John.”
Steve chuckles for a minute, “I’m not a very good liar, but that I can do, My name is Steve.”
“See,” Henry grins looking over at his friend, who is completely confused by what has just happened.
“But how?” Steve asks.
“That is why my hand was slippery,” Henry laughs. “I was spitting on them to try and turn Filipi.” “I guess some people have a different truth.”
“That is so gross I should punch you in the face!” Steve says holding up his right fist.
“That is why I suggested we wash up first before we ate,” Henry reminds. “It also says that Filipi is not right in his head.” “When you create your own truth there is something wrong with your mind.”
The next morning
The Temple of Janus
Atlantis
Steve is up with the sun. He stands up at the side of his cot, looking over to Henry still sleeping soundly on the other cot. Then walks to the window of the small room. Watching out the window to see the sunrise over the pure and untouched landscape is inspiring for a man who grew up in the suburbs. I reminds him of his years at summer camp. He thinks of Gary and the great time they had at camp. He looks to Henry who still sleeps on his cot. This man has been as good if not better friend to him than Gary ever was in all of those years. Steve thinks of what Paddy will say when he brings home this stray. He will understand how important friends are to Steve seeing as he has so few. Sharing his room and perhaps his bed with Henry will not be that great a sacrifice, the two men have already shared so much in this short time. It was strange at first, even creepy at times but now after these past weeks Henry feels like family to Steve, truly like a brother.
“Hey, Wake up,” Steve shouts kicking the cot that Henry slumbers on. Steve doesn’t think he has ever seen Henry sleep so soundly. The young looking man struggles awake to sit on the edge of the cot. “So how do we get from Atlantis back to Earth?” Steve asks his barely awake companion. “Do we need to find another goddess?”
Stretching arms and scratching his head Henry replies, “Yaaawwwwwnnnn, No nothing that complicated.” Henry stands up to stretch some more. “I haven’t slept that well in centuries.” “I think it is the safety of this temple that encourages it.” “Now, getting back to Earth is much easier, you just need to swim.”
“I need to swim?” Steve repeats as he pulls on his vest and shoes. “Swim where?”
Slipping on his sandals, Henry picks up his clothes and throws them over his shoulder. “Several miles off shore of Atlantis in any direction, there is a border that will cross over into Earth’s dimension,” Henry explains walking from the room and heading for the bathroom. Steve follows after him, he could use a morning piss too. The two men stand next to each other pissing into a long trough that runs along one wall of the lavatory room. “Atlantis is an adjacent dimension that is harder to get to than leave,” Henry explains. “Lucky for Earth most of the inhabitants of Atlantic don’t know that and the ones that do, don’t want to leave.” Giving a few shakes Henry turns away from the trough. Henry dresses in his leather over shirt and vest. “We can start for the coast anytime you like,” he tells Steve who finishes up.
“How far do you think it is to the shore line?” Steve asks as they walk back into the front hall of the temple where they arrived last night.
“Really can’t say, until I know were this temple is located,” Henry replies as he pulls on the large stone door at the front of the hall. The door swings open and the morning sun bathes the temple in light. When the men’s eyes adjust they can see that the temple sits right on the edge of the beach.
“How is that for luck?” Steve exclaims as he steps out into the morning air. He walks down the beach several yards when he realizes he is alone. Steve turns to see Henry still standing in the doorway of the temple. “Hey what are you waiting for let’s go!” he calls back.
“I’m sorry Steve, but I’m not going,” Henry says sadly. “There is no place for me in your world.”
“Don’t be ridiculous, of course there is,” Steve encourages. “We’re going to be like brothers, I know my family will accept you as I have!”
“I’m sorry,” Henry says one final time as he closes the huge door of the temple. Steve begins back up the sand but it is too late as the Temple of Janus vanishes from sight. He searches for almost an hour before he gives up. The temple is gone or hidden in such a way he will never find it again. That is what Henry said, the Temple of Janus provide safe haven, save even from him.”
Steve runs down the beach and begins to swim. He swims harder than he ever has before his only thought is to get home. He has no idea where he will come ashore, the east coast, the west coast, maybe even Europe all he knows is that he wants to go home!
Steve feels a strange sensation wash over his body as he stops in the water. Spinning around there is no sign of land anywhere he looks. Atlantis is gone, slipped away into its pocket dimension as Henry called it. He begins to swim again as the ocean becomes choppy. The current suddenly changes and he is swept helplessly into a whirlpool.
][January 6, 1987
The Palace of Mist
Magic Island
Steve Roberts hits the floor of Mist’s observation room hard, like being thrown out of a bucket of water. The water quickly runs off over the floor leaving him there wet and stunned. Steve opens his eyes to see the sandaled feet of Mist standing over him as he lays in a puddle of salt water. He rolls over to look up at the sorcerer. “You’ve got to be kidding me!” Steve exclaims. “You better not tell me that you could have pulled me here at anytime!”
Mist looks down at him with the same stern look on his face he always. “I could not locate you until you returned to this plane,” Mist explains. “Then it was a simple spell.”
“I’ve been gone for a month!” Steve shouts as he stands up from the floor. “Why didn’t anyone think to come look for me?”
“You are mistaken, Steven,” Mist counters. “You have only been gone for five days.”
Running his hand over his wet head of hair Steve is confused, “How is that possible, I had my head shaved and it is nearly as long now as when I left!”
“The flow of time in other realms is tricky,” Mist tells Steve. “Where is it you have been?”
“First I was in Zeeza where you sent me and then I was in a place called Olestra,” Steve explains.
“Well that would explain why you were away longer,” Mist says under his breath.
“Longer than what?” Steve asks. “You know what I don’t care.” “While I was away I’ve learned many things.” “Foremost I don’t want to hide anymore helping only a few.” “I need to be out there helping as many people as I can.”
“How do you intend to do that?” Mist asks.
It was strange but Steve feels different. He has a new sense of confidence that he didn’t have before his trip to Olestra. Steve doesn’t feel just like the son of an amazon anymore, he feels like his own man for the first time. “First of all, I want the suit I wore on my trip to Sonoma, complete with the flight vest,” Steve demands. “If there is one thing I have learned, I need a means of transportation.” Steve digs his hand down inside the pouch that hangs on the side of his belt searching for something. “This, I want to use this to conceal my identity.”
Mist reaches out to take the clear crystal gem from Steve. “Ahhh a glamour crystal, where did you get this?”
“From a maniac calling himself the Mistix Aries in Zeeza,” Steve replies. “Can you find a way for it to work for me?”
“Of course,” Mist says rolling the crystal in his palms. The stone appears to shrink until Mist opens his hands and tosses the glowing dust at Steve. He flinches slightly at a pinch to his left earlobe. “That should do the trick,” Mist tells Steve. A simple touch of that ear stud and not only with your identity be concealed but your clothing will be changed.” “You will find the rest of what you asked for waiting for you in that room.” Mist instruct pointing to a door at the side of the observatory.
Steve enters the room, it is set up like a hotel suite, complete with bathroom and shower. The suit he asked for is hung on a rack. His skin dried with the salt water, a shower would be nice. Steve strips off the clothes given to him by Henry. It is good to finally feel safe enough to take off his gauntlets. He thinks about his friend and wishes Henry had come home with him.
After showering Steve dresses in the blue pants adding his arsenal to his right thigh. He pulls the golden flight vest over his head onto his chest, it fits snuggly. He returns to the leather vest he wore to retrieve the two gold and opal clasps from it that easily release this time. Standing in front of the mirror he places the purple swag around the back of his neck attaching the clasps to the gold flight vest. The cape billow out behind him changing color to match the blue of his pants. A second touch of the clasp and the cape retracts again. It makes a nice accent to his outfit.
When Steve returns from getting dressed he is surprised to see that his Mom and Dad have arrived. It was strange to see his Dad here. Dad was never a fan of Magic Island. Steve stands before Mist and his parents in his full Master Warrior garb for the first time. Dona Roberts looks at her son filled with pride at the man he has become, a tear in her eye. “Mom what is wrong?” he asks. “You look like you are about to cry.”
“It’s nothing, Mist has told us what you plan to do,” Dona Roberts says trying to smile. “I’m just so proud of the man you have become!” she sobs stepping forward to hug him. “I can hardly wait for what comes next,” she says in his ear.
“What do you mean by that?” Steve asks.
“You’ll find out soon enough, sweetie” Dona replies wiping the tears from her cheek.
“Dad, do you know what she is talking about?” Steve asks his father.
“Don’t look at me, you know how mysterious she can be,” his Dad replies shaking my hand. “I’m proud of you too.” “I don’t know what this means as career choices go but I’m proud just the same.”
“I’m glad your guys are here, I have some questions,” Steve says. “When Filipi confronted me he used a weapon that he said attacks the soul.” “At first it was painful and then it became almost like it was strengthening me.”
“Ouch, a Soul lance, they can be tricky,” his mother says. “That weapon draws on a soul’s weakness from previous lives.” “The more weakness you had in precious lives the more pain it causes you.”
“I told him that my soul had lived hundreds of lives.” “I know you two are big in the reincarnation thing, did you know me in a previous life?”
“It is possible,” Dona says. “I have lived a very long time and the same souls have passed through that life many times.”
“We knew his soul before, darling,” his father pipes up. “Remember the twin nephews I had almost 3000 years ago?” “Zeno and Peleus, Steve was Zeno, I recognized his soul the moment I first held him.”
“Dad, you can do that?” Steve says with surprise. “You can recognize a soul you knew in a previous life?”
“Sometime, when they are first born and it is someone from my previous life that I was close with,” his father replies. “There was even a time when I was your son.”
“So all this talk over the years about the two of you being soul mates, you know for a fact that I have one!” Steve exclaims. “Could you find her for me if you looked?”
“Calm down Master Warrior,” Dona Roberts says giggling. “It is not that cut and dry.” “The lifetime your father speaks about when you were one of his nephew, he was very old when I found him.” “You and your brother were caring for him most of your lives so you never found your soulmate in that life time.”
“Besides, I am not like a metal detector you can run over the beach to find buried treasure,” Steven senior says putting his arm on his son’s shoulder. “It is all about fate, your mother missed me many times over the centuries.” “Patience is its own reward.” “I just hope your soulmate is a woman in this lifetime.”
“Please Dad, that isn’t funny!” Steve grumbles. “I’ve seen enough of that stuff in the past month to last me a long time.”
“Hey we may have not had children in that lifetime but we had each other,” Dona Roberts says hugging her husband.
“Gross, Dad you were a woman?” Steve realizes.
“Sex is determined by the body not the soul,” Senior adds.
“Well let’s move on, Mom,” Steve says eagerly. “Why didn’t you ever tell me about Nozamas or Bones?”
“Bones,” Dona Roberts repeats. “I haven’t thought about that bastard in centuries!” “Most Nozamas are so stupid they got themselves killed in battle.”
“Well Bones was alive and well when I met him,” Steve explains. “He had the insane idea that he was meant to be my father.”
“How would he even know who you were?” Dona asks.
“Apparently, there’s some kind of connection between Amazon and Nozama danger sense,” Steve explains. “I had a dream that revealed who he was and he who I was to you.”
“It was back when Samso was still leading the Nozamas,” Dona begins. “Samso had the idea that the Amazons would make perfect breeding stock for them.” “Problem was that we put up a fight and as it turns out one of the drawbacks of being a Nozama is they can’t breed.”
“So I learned,” Steve retorts. “Do you know what exactly happened to Samso?”
“Oh now there is an interesting story,” Dona grins. “The way Hershel explained it Samso got overthrown by one of his generals, Solo, I think was his name.” “Solo gave Samso some drug that drove him completely insane.” “Hershel was Samso’s younger brother so he went after him.” “Hershel tracked Samso for years, ended up imprisoning him in a vault with the help of some goddess.” “That was what gave us the idea to imprison Orana, the last of the Amazon Queens.”
“So what this Nozama Hershel your friend?” Steve asks very confused by the thought of his mother being friendly with a Nozama.
“Yes, but Artemis knew him much better,” Dona smiles. “They were married for close to a century.” “They made a great team.”
“An Amazon and a Nozama married?” Steve says in shock. “I would have never guessed that when I met her.”
“When you are as old as Artemis and I, you can’t tell your whole life history at a three hour wedding reception,” Dona tells her son.
“Well I met that goddess, or rather her power incarnate, Optima,” Steve tells his parents. “She is the one who helped me escape Olestra to Atlantis.” “I also had the help of a Nozama slave, Henry.” “I wanted him to come home with me but he chose to stay behind.”
“I’m sure he only did what he thought was best,” Dona says giving her son another hug.
“Well Mom, I’ve got another history question for you,” Steve says looking at his mother in the eye. “Now that I know Centaurs are real and how they reproduce, how is it that they didn’t take over the Earth?”
“You fought Centaurs too?” Dona says with true concern in her face.
Steve nods, “They are fierce fighters and brutal in ways I could have never imagined.”
“The first Centaur was created by the goddess De’Obolic.” “The Centaurs greatest weakness is their inability to swim.” “The first man who was turned into a Centaur as a punishment and he was left alone on an island.” “When he escaped the Centaurs quickly grew in number.” “The Centaurs other weakness is that they can not breed with women.” Dona smiles then. “One of the battles I felt most proud of was the one against the Centaur army.” “The Amazons killed all of the Centaur except to original which we could not kill.” “We imprisoned him on an island even harder to reach.”
“Well I guess Decagon found a way to get what he needed to create a new
Centaurs,” Steve tell his mother.
“Enough talks of such things,” Dona insists worried about what her son has been through while he was away. “Now let’s see that cape.”
Steve touches the clasps and his blue cape unfurls behind him. “Hey, how did you know about the cape?” Steve asks. His mother doesn’t reply.
“I think it is a bit much,” Steve’s father says.
“There is one more thing you need to know,” Mist says stepping closer to the newly christened Master Warrior. “I have put an enchantment on the belt buckle.” Steve takes hold of the brass belt buckle to look at the embellishment on it. “If you should ever need my assistance, you need only touch the lighthouse insignia and call out my name and you will be brought here instantly.” “I will be glad to aid you anyway I can.”