Pulse of Heroes (39 page)

Michelle stood on top of her chair and
grabbed a small wooden box from the top shelf of her closet. Inside
were little pieces of her childhood. A butterfly hair clip, a rosy
ribbon with ‘My First Birthday’ printed on it in gold thread, a
tiny ring with what looked like a fake ruby, and other pieces of
jewelry that were missing a few links here and there. She slowly
overturned the box onto her bed and was glad when she found what
she was looking for. It was a red string bracelet with tiny golden
charms. Her great aunt Eranka had sent it as a gift when Michelle
was born. Michelle hadn’t worn it in years, but with her aunt on
her mind she decided to put it on, and was thankful that it was
adjustable. Later that evening before falling asleep her mind
drifted back to the woman she saw in the old photograph.

The next day while Michelle struggled to shut
her overflowing locker, Tim stopped by to say hello and talk about
finals. He continued talking and followed her towards the front of
the school. Although she had no obligations to him, Michelle
worried about Tim’s feelings because if he continued following her
he would undoubtedly see her meet up with Elliot. She knew she was
being a total chicken, but she didn’t know how to tell him that she
was seeing someone. It wasn’t like Tim had officially asked her
out. Michelle had figured that maybe she would be able to drag the
situation out until school ended for the summer.

As they descended the stairs to the front lot
a couple of Tim’s friends walked up and distracted him. Michelle
quickly said goodbye and crossed over to the other side of the
street when she heard Tim call her name. She turned around and
motioned to her invisible watch, hoping he would understand that
she had to go. As Michelle climbed into Elliot’s car, she looked
back up at Tim who was still standing at the top of the school’s
front steps. Their eyes met and Michelle couldn’t do anything
except give him a sympathetic look. Elliot was well aware of what
was happening as he had seen Tim hanging around Michelle a few too
many times, and he knew that Michelle had mixed feelings about the
boy since long before their own lives had become intertwined. He
also knew that she had chosen to be with him, and that these
situations were just part of life. He squeezed Michelle’s knee to
remind her that he was there for her.

When Elliot led Michelle to his room she was
a bit nervous. He told her that there were some serious things that
they needed to discuss, and she worried that he was going to tell
her that he couldn’t see her anymore. She was grateful that she
didn’t see any of the other guys when they walked past the living
room because she was afraid that they would blame her for the fight
between Elliot and Rion, not to mention how embarrassed she would
feel if they were all there when Elliot broke up with her.

“Here, sit down,” he said, patting the spot
next to him on the bed. Michelle settled in front of Elliot,
Indian-style. Elliot held out his hands and Michelle put her hands
in his. His face showed worry.

“Michelle, there are some things I need to
tell you about, things that are not too easy for me to disclose to
just anyone, and you probably aren’t going to understand everything
all at once. So ask me questions if you need.” Good, he wasn’t
breaking up with her. Michelle exhaled in relief.

“It’s time I tell you why I left the way I
did. First, I want to make sure you understand that none of this
was planned. And once again, I want to apologize for not letting
you know.” It was Elliot’s turn to take a big breath. He continued,
“When Devin went to see our friends in China their house was empty
and it was obvious that someone had kidnapped them.” Michelle’s
mouth dropped. “The place was ransacked, and whoever did it was
searching for something. And I fear that I may know what it is that
they were after.” Elliot reminded Michelle about his trip on the
Argos, and about how they had been searching for knowledge,
specifically for the formula of an unusual alloy. Elliot told
Michelle that many thousands of years earlier, a certain type of
electrically charged metal that did not originate on earth was
discovered in limited quantities. Some say that the metal ended up
on earth when a giant ice ball carrying it passed near to the sun
and melted. Whatever the case, this powerful metal was said to have
been used in the ‘magical’ weapons used by the ancient mythical
heroes in their wars against one another. Elliot had never seen any
of those legendary weapons himself, but he has encountered certain
weapons crafted from a combination of earth metals to form a
similar electrically charged alloy. This alloy has to be forged
under tremendous pressure, and is known by many different names
because the formula was developed independently in different parts
of the world. Elliot knew it as ‘
Nizabar
’. He told Michelle
that the alloy is very important to his kind because it is toxic to
them. If a weapon made out of
Nizabar
strikes them, they
die.

“I thought you told me that there’s nothing
that can kill you guys, other then maybe extremely high
temperatures?” Michelle became worried. Elliot got off the bed and
put his hands to his head in frustration. He had thought that he
would never have to discuss this subject again, but he was
obviously wrong.

“We can die. The toxicity of this metal can
cause a massive electrical surge that leaves the victim paralyzed.
To put it simply, it disrupts our nervous systems and once that
happens the brain is no longer capable of sending out repair
signals to our cells. It’s like an electrically charged poison.”
Michelle couldn’t help but conjure the image of Elliot dying, and
it sent a cold chill up her spine. She started to panic. “What I
told you previously about us not dying was technically correct,
although it seems that there is someone out there who is bent on
changing that fact. They are after the formula.”

“How do you know that whoever kidnapped your
friends was looking for the formula? And besides, are you even sure
they were kidnapped?” Michelle asked nervously. But Elliot
explained that there was no way his friends would have missed out
on the opportunity to see their old friend Devin, and that their
home was completely torn apart, yet with every valuable thing still
left in place.

“There was gold there, and plenty of money
and priceless antiques laying out in the open, but none were
disturbed. The only people who place no value on such things are
those of my own kind. There were signs of a struggle, but no blood
anywhere. For as much as we know, our friends are being tortured
right now.” Elliot winced at the thought and Michelle felt sick to
her stomach.

“But did they even have the formula?” she
asked.

“No, as far as I know there is only one copy
of the formula still in circulation. One of the missions that Rion
and I went on long ago was to find and destroy every copy we could.
We thought that without that terrible alloy around we could all
just live in peace, once and for all.” Michelle jumped a little at
the mention of Rion’s name, but when she saw that there was no
change in Elliot’s demeanor she just let it go. Still, she didn’t
understand why anyone would want the formula at all. Weren’t all of
his kind friends with one other? Elliot didn’t have an answer to
that question, because the last time any of their kind had fought
against each other was almost a thousand years ago.

“Does Rion still have the formula from the
days of the Argos? And I don’t understand why he had something so
awful to begin with,” Michelle said angrily. Elliot assured her
that Rion didn’t have the formula anymore and besides, he had no
idea about the alloy’s destructive power when he first smelted it.
The recipe had just come to him, like a daydream. Elliot explained
to Michelle that his kind seems to have certain innate knowledge
ingrained in their brains from birth, and it comes out in
uncontrollable spurts.

Most human advancements, including
metallurgy, came from unknown sources. Many cultures have stories
about knowledge passing to humans from other beings, and some of
these beings are said to have similar characteristics to Elliot and
his kind. The
Book of Giants
states that the Watchers taught
their human wives about medicinal plants, and it also states that a
Watcher by the name of Azazel taught men to make metal weapons. But
these accounts aren’t limited to one area of the world. Elliot told
Michelle about Haneul’s history as the founder of the first Korean
dynasty.

“Korean legends tell about ‘Tangun’ which is
Haneul’s original name, and how his father was a kind of a god, and
you’ll get a laugh out of this one, his mother was a bear that
turned into a woman.” Michelle looked at Elliot in disbelief. “I
know, I know,” Elliot laughed. “There are all kinds of stories out
there about how we originated and who our parents were, but what I
was getting at is that Haneul’s father, ‘Hwanung’, is said to have
brought him into this world in order to teach the people about
agriculture and medicine, which he did. A few generations later,
when Haneul returned to power under a different name and became
King Jumong, he was able to develop the process of smelting for the
first time. He created many amazing metals that were much stronger
than anything that had ever been seen in Korea. Eventually, he too
developed the
Nizabar
alloy. One day the formula just popped
into his head. You can ask him yourself if you want.”

“What about you? Did you ever create it
yourself?” a wide-eyed Michelle asked Elliot, her voice trailing at
the end of her words. Elliot lowered his head and Michelle knew the
answer.

“I had to, for my own protection, and that of
my family. I was forced to slay some of my own kind when they took
up arms on the side of evil. Just because we are different than you
humans doesn’t mean that we are all alike. We are born with freedom
of choice just like you. Some of us chose different alliances, and
different paths. Some of us became power hungry and terrorized
human communities, making their lives miserable or enslaving them.
When Goliath stole my original sword I had no choice but to forge
more weapons, even if I had sworn I never would.”

“Goliath? Like David and Goliath! You knew
him?!!!!” Michelle yelled. She jumped off the bed and was now
standing in front of Elliot with her hands on her hips demanding an
explanation.

“Goliath was one of us, but he fought for the
other side. He stole my sword, the same sword that David used to
sever his head. I saw the whole thing.”

“You were there? It’s all real then?”

“As real as I am.” Elliot’s serious
expression was replaced by a smile and he lost himself in a memory.
“Goliath was struck on the forehead, very close to his eyes, and
was blinded by the blood pouring out of his wound. He tripped over
a protruding rock and knocked himself out cold. David used
Goliath’s, actually my sword to cut off his head. If he had used
any other weapon, Goliath would have awoken at the first touch of
the blade and David would have been history.”

“So you’re telling me you knew David, the
famous David?” Michelle was thoroughly enthralled.

“I served in his army, and I spent many hours
with him and his wives,” Elliot said, smiling proudly. Michelle
wanted to know if David was good looking like Michelangelo’s
sculpture, but Elliot didn’t appreciate all the sudden excitement
over David. He had been forced to deal with it back then too, and
found it a bore that every woman was so taken with him.

Michelle picked up on his thoughts. “I’m just
curious Elliot, honest.”

“Since I don’t look at men the way women do I
can’t really answer that question,” he said arrogantly. Michelle’s
face sagged with disappointment, and when Elliot saw her looking
like a sad little girl he had to remind himself that David’s legend
had become bigger than he ever was. “All I can say is that he was
charming and women found him irresistible. He had a boyish appeal
to him, even when he was older. And besides, he was a musician and
they always know how to pull a woman’s strings.” Michelle looked at
Elliot dreamingly and he failed to control his jealousy. “But in
war he was as ruthless, if not more so than others. Not to mention
that his son completely eclipsed him in looks and spirit, and his
predecessor, the first King of Israel, was one of us, and he was
greater than both put together.” After Elliot’s rant Michelle
didn’t mention David again.

“Devin is still out there searching, and our
friend Mikoto has joined him. This whole thing is a dangerous mess.
Not only because my friends are in danger, but because someone out
there is crazy enough to want to start something again.” Michelle
put her arms around the obviously distraught Elliot and leaned
against him. It felt good to have someone care about how he felt,
and he realized how much he had missed it. But the intimate moment
was cut short by a knock on the door and Michelle asked him not to
answer it.

“And why not?” he whispered back into her
neck. Michelle confided in him that she was worried about the guys
blaming her for the fight between him and Rion. Elliot hugged her
and told her that was nonsense. “I was under a lot of stress. I had
just come back without being able to locate my friends and I
freakin’ hate flying. I don’t know what I was thinking. I thought
he was trying to take advantage of you. And besides, if you think
that was bad you should have seen the brawl we had in Italy.”
Elliot’s eyes sparkled with mischief and he showed Michelle his
perfectly healed forehead. “Come on,” he said, grabbing her hand
and pulling her towards the door, “you’re with me now.”

That evening, after washing her face and
brushing her teeth, Michelle picked up her little red bracelet from
the side of sink and headed to her bedroom. Her head was spinning
with all the awful information Elliot had fed her, on top of which,
what were the chances that it would be Rion knocking on Elliot’s
door just as she was saying how uncomfortable she felt since their
fight. It was bad enough that she had to face Rion after what had
happened, but to be in Elliot’s bedroom? Was Rion indifferent to
her? Was he angry that she was Elliot’s girl? His words didn’t hint
at anything; the only thing he seemed interested in was her
bracelet. Michelle scrutinized the little gold charms: a tiny duck,
a heart, a cute turtle, a flower, a sheep, and what looked like a
coiled snake. Childish little things for a baby girl, yet Rion
actually asked if he could look at them closely. Was he just trying
to make her feel uncomfortable? And then to make things even worse
he and Elliot started speaking in a different language and she felt
completely alone. Later, Elliot told her that they weren’t talking
about her, but then what were they hiding? All those thoughts
swirled in Michelle’s head, and then she remembered Elliot’s
kidnapped friends. He seemed to be worried that someone was trying
to start a war between all of them. He explained to her that if
that were the case he would have no choice but to be dragged into
it. The whole thing was beginning to sound like some bad comic book
scenario. But what really frightened Michelle was the fact that
there was still a copy of the formula somewhere out there, the one
that Elliot had written down thousands of years ago on a clay
tablet.