Feros and the Underworld Prince (51 page)

“
Yeah, that would probably do it.” I reply and we walk in silence for the next half mile.

“
Hey, don’t you think that Tali looks a lot like Naia?” Cheza thinks.

“
I was actually thinking that she looked familiar not too long ago.” I reply as Tali stops in front of a blank wall. She puts her hand on the wall and mumbles something I’m unable to catch before a light-blue light flows downward from the top of the wall to outline a door with complex looking glyphs on it.

“
We are here.” Tali says as the door silently opens.

…

Chapter 43: History Rewritten, First Sights, and Ryan Gosling

“
Here you are. Will you be needing anything else?” a marid butler asks after he shows Cheza and I to a bedroom in the large house.

“
No, that will be all. Thank you.” I reply. The butler gives a slight bow and closes the door behind him. I shrug off my jacket, remove my pack, take off my boots, and sit down on the bed. Cheza removes her shoes and joins me.

(Use your ring to slice open your right palm and both of Cheza’s palms. Then lie down on the bed a relax with both of your hands clasped together)

I cut open my right palm before quickly slicing into Cheza’s palms. Cheza scoots up into the bed and turns on her right side, facing away from me. I lay down behind her, wrap my arms around her, and grasp her hands that she has held in front of her chest with her palms facing away from her.

(I’ll handle the rest. See you two in a little while)

****

I wake up to find myself floating through the darkness once again.

“
Cole? Where are we?” I hear Cheza ask to my right.

“
Cheza? What are you doing here? To answer your question, this is my subconscious… perhaps. This is where the silver door was that unlocked my Drive. That gate is gone now though.” I reply.

“
Then what’s that?” Cheza asks and points behind me. I turn around and see the silver door floating in the darkness.

“
What the…” I absentmindedly say and make my way towards the door.

I rest both hands on the double-doors’ handles and pull them open. There is a flash of light and I’m greeted with an unfamiliar scene being projected in the doorway in a two dimensional fashion, as though the doorway were a movie screen. The scene is shot from an angle that is about three feet off of the ground and is of Uncle Eric, standing in the middle of the desert, talking to a tall blonde woman that is almost familiar…

“
Mom?” I say in shock.

“
Inti, you have already helped us out a great deal by supplying the blueprints on the blood warriors, but we need your help again. We need you to raise the boy. He won’t be able to get the worldly experience that he needs if he’s raised on Mount Kailash.” My mother says while gesturing towards the source of the recording and I realize that she’s gesturing to a five year old me.

“
Why not stay here and raise him like a human?” Inti asks.

“
This body is already greatly weakened; if I don’t return to Mount Kailash, this incarnation will be destroyed completely, along with whatever city I happen to be in.” My mother replies.

“
I understand. The boy will be well cared for and I’ll send updates on his progress.” Inti says.

“
That will be unnecessary. We used the incarnations of Kali, and Durga to act as a guide that will be able to give us reports on him in real-time.” My mother informs him.

“
Are you talking about his Drives?” Inti asks.

“
We used Bhairava for his Drive and decided to combine all the Drives into one. No, this guide is something more of his conscience that will stimulate the growth of his powers when the time comes. Speaking of which, here.” My mother explains and hands Inti a bottle of pills.

“
We don’t want him using his Drive until we are sure that he can control it so have him take these pills. We will send new ones when he runs out.” My mother adds.

“
I’ve already implanted false memories of my death and funeral so he won’t ask any questions. However, as a side-effect, he will be silent and rather unresponsive for quite some time. It will take more than a year for him to snap out of it.” My mother informs Inti.

“
Alright, I’ll hire a private tutor so that he won’t fall behind with schooling.” Inti says.

“
That has already been taken care of. Did you think it was a mere coincidence that Saraswati’s daughter’s resume was on your desk this morning? Wait a while to start combat training and choose someone who you think will be appropriate, preferably a lesser god that is trustworthy. You of course already know the importance of keeping his identity and purpose a secret. I have to go now, but we’ll keep in touch. Bye Inti.” My mother says.

The silver doors slowly swing shut.

****

[October 13th]

I gasp awake with my arms tightly wrapped around Cheza. I roll onto my back and try to catch my breath. What the fuck was that?

“
Cole…” Cheza softly says as she turns over into my right side and drapes an arm over my stomach.

Okay, I can now say several things for certain. 1: Uncle Eric knew about what I am. 2: Airi is some weird combination between Durga, Hindu goddess of righteous victory, and Kali, Hindu goddess of change and destruction; while Bhairava, an incarnation of Shiva that is associated with destruction, is somehow involved with my Drive. 3: my mother knew about the gods and used blueprints of the blood warriors for something, most likely something to do with me. However, this also brings up multiple questions that I have no hope of answering. What I need is to speak with Nagi. I swing my legs off of the bed and stand up.

“
Cole?” Cheza asks.

“
Come on, it’s time to go see Horus.” I tell her.

“
Do you want to talk about it?” Cheza inquires.

“
I need to talk to Nagi, but we need to take care of Horus first.” I reply, and head toward my jacket and boots. I stop when I hear a gasp.

“
What?” I ask as I turn around to find Cheza staring at me wide-eyed.

“
What’s on my back!? GET IT OFF! GET IT OFF!” I scream while frantically clawing at my shirt while remembering that the jinn plane resembles the Middle East i.e. the worst possible place to have something on your back… with the exception of Australia, where freaking everything is trying to kill you. I finally rip my shirt in half and throw the remains on the floor only to find that there is nothing on it.

“
Cheza… why did you just make me waste a perfectly good shirt?” I inquire calmly as Cheza just stares blankly at my torso.

“
I know, I’m one beautiful son of a bitch with amazing pectorals and washboard abs that would put Ryan Gosling to shame, but you’ve seen those dozens of times and they aren’t going anywhere so you don’t need to stare!” I sarcastically exclaim.

While my ‘physically active’ lifestyle does keep me fit and I do have decent abs to the point that I’m not embarrassed to take my shirt off in public, I’m hardly a beautiful Canadian bastard like Ryan Gosling: a man that could walk down the street with his shirt off to the tune of three fatal car accidents, two heart attacks, and a round of applause, and that’s not even counting any women that happen to be nearby… the people in this fictional scenario are applauding Ryan Gosling, not the five or more dead people because I’m not quite cynical enough to believe that everyone in the world is that much of an asshole.

Honestly, I’m just happy that I haven’t been confused for a sixteen year old since I’ve been back from the dead, most likely thanks to my now gaunter cheeks. It could also have to do with the fact that I can now grow a beard, even though it is constantly at a five o’clock status. If there’s one thing I can thank the gods for in my somewhat shitty life, it’s for making it so my facial hair naturally looks like I’m thwarting a terrorist plot, which coincidentally is sort of what I’m supposed to be doing right now anyway… Shit, has Cheza responded yet?

“
Cheza?” I ask as I take a few steps towards her, now concerned that she hasn’t responded.

“
Cheza!” I say as I caress her cheek, causing her to yelp loudly. “What’s going on?”

“
I… I was just looking at your aura.” Cheza replies while continuing to stare at my torso.

“
You can see my inner aura!? What does it look like?” I immediately inquire.

“
You’ve never seen it?” Cheza incredulously asks.

“
Well I know that the outer aura is silver, because it surrounds my Mu-cutter, but I don’t know what my central aura looks like because I’ve never seen it in a mirror… then again, I’ve never looked in a mirror specifically for that purpose.” I explain.

“
Yeah, I’ve seen the silver of your Mu-cutter before, but I’ve never seen the silver outline that you have now. What I’ve been staring at is the orb in your stomach; I keep getting lost in it… it feels like it’s sucking me in…” Cheza trails off.

“
Well, what does it look like?” I ask, trying to keep Cheza focused.

“
It’s… black… with cracks of silver that streak through it like lightning, but the black seems as though it’s swallowing them, like a black hole.” Cheza says with heavy use of simile.

“
Actually, ‘black hole’ is a misnomer. They tend to be the brightest things in the sky because they compress gasses, which are ignited from extreme friction, which cause cosmic blasts of fire.” I stupidly say because if there’s one thing I’ve learned, it’s that women love to be corrected when they’re trying to make a point.

“
Smartass… you’re lucky that you’re cute.” Cheza says as she kisses me. I think she actually means ‘you’re lucky that I don’t stab your bitch-ass for interrupting me,’ or perhaps I’m just over analyzing it too much.

“
Cheza?” I say when I notice her blank stare once again.

“
Sorry. The black reminds me of looking into two mirrors that are facing each other so that they appear to go on forever when you look into one… anyway, you should probably get dressed.” Cheza says after shaking her head to snap out of it. I grab my jacket and pull it on while noticing that Cheza is trying to avoid looking at me.

“
Alright, let’s go.” I tell her once I put on my boots and holster. There are two quick raps at the door before it opens.

“
Mr. Cole, I have been instructed to lead you to the Queen.” A butler says as he opens the door. His eyes flick to the floor to look upon the remains of my shirt before returning to me.

“
We didn’t have sex; she just gave me indication that something was on my back so I frantically tore off my shirt when I remembered this place is technically part of the Middle East and the Middle East is home to scorpions and camel-eating spiders or whatever other giant-ass spiders that you guys have.” I explain.

The butler gives me a look that clearly states that he didn’t ask.

“
Lead on good sir.” I say while pretending that the last few moments didn’t happen.

Cheza and I follow the butler out the door and down the hall to the right. The butler leads us into a living room where Tali is sitting on a silk pillow in front of a square low-table with her back to the door, dressed in combat armor.

“
Well, this is it. The MGFC forces are in position and ready to move at my word. This is the day that has been the fruition of over a decade of hatred for the death of my eight year old daughter, Anai. I can empathize with the way you feel towards Horus because it’s the way I have felt towards the Ifrit King for twelve years, but that ends tonight. Tonight, I shall have my revenge.” Tali says while swirling around an amber colored drink in a crystal glass. Why does the name Anai sound familiar…

“
She is eight years old and her name is Anai. Do with her as you wish.”
The memory of Horus’s voice replays in my mind.

Holy Shit! Naia is her daughter! I need to tell her that her daughter is still alive! But…