by T5 and The Eurostar
Edulcore Cicciotto returned to sit on the balcony sofa with his sword, still a bit shaken by Phil Smith and Leslie Kline's entrance. They could have at least had the decency to warn them. You never knew when someone could be actually attacking, so simulating it was poor style, he thought. But he had to admit the trick worked. They sure were scared there for a moment.
The new year of 2003 had to be a year of changes. More discipline and focus on the job at hand were needed. He stroked the sword while drinking a glass of orange juice. The mere thought of alcohol, pah. Only madmen would drink when the enemy could be just outside, right this minute.
The pain in the head hit him like a sledgehammer, and he fell over the table, alarming everyone near him.
"Eurostar... Antarctica... domination... help!" The words hammered into his head, and he thought he would cry out, but as fast as it came, it disappeared.
Ameristar and Crasher ran out to help him get to his feet, and he looked at them with tears in his eyes. If it was from pain or anything else, he didn't say.
"Thank you, friends. I... will manage. Thanks."
Ameristar gave him a worried look. "Are you sure? You're crying."
"What? ... Oh, no, no... heh heh heh. It's happiness, my friends. A lost soul is back, an old friend of ours that we thought was dead is back and alive. Naecken is alive! He will surely see things my way!"
Crasher looked at Ameristar and signed with her hands, "He doesn't seem to be playing with a full deck."
"C'mon, dear. Let's get you inside, and we can talk about it." Ameristar led him into the kitchen and sat him on a chair. "Okay from the top. Who is this Naecken guy?"
And he told them.
Heligoland, North Sea:
The old man looked outside the windows at the first light of the new day, the first day of the new year, through the abundant snowfall.
He then went to his library and observed the place where a book was obviously missing. He smiled. His daughter would never learn to not steal the jam.
Ah. It would be a very difficult mission for Ameristar and her comrades in the MBL. But the old Neanderthal knew that she would succeed, and the Liber Vitae finally would be in his hands.
Edulcore Cicciotto:
"In the time of fire, the green will emerge from the red... Put this disk on Naecken's forehead..."
The words of my future self still echo in my mind. The disk hangs from my neck. Everyone thinks it's an amulet; they don't know what it is or its purpose. Nobody knows except me.
I will not reveal it to Jackie or Crasher. I was going to, but I felt a chill along my spine. I know it was Ladnikia. She doesn't want me to reveal it. And since she has saved my life more than one time, I know I have to trust her.
I look at the empty glass. Orange juice, bah. But after the stupid entrance of those two kids, I am in warrior mode, so to speak. And the need to drown my deeper thoughts in alcohol is gone.
The two girls look gorgeous. Who should I invite to dance? Jackie is now a close friend, after what we endured during the haunt of the Giorgios, after the hurricane. But I know she loves Crasher. What I don't know is if Crasher returns her feelings.
"HI, LITTLE EDULCORE!"
I turn. There is a giant turtle-like demon hovering over me.
"Bargh... Baahhhrg... Baghr..." I begin, but the demon silences me gently with his index finger in front of his beak.
"IT'S JUST UNCLE FOR YOU, ED."
"Uncle... what does it mean? I have searched for you for a long time."
"I KNOW. LET'S GO OUTSIDE."
I follow him outside on the balcony. "Whole story."
"I CAN'T SAY MUCH. SOMETHING HAS BEEN REVEALED TO YOU BEFORE: THERE ARE TWO SECRET SOCIETIES..."
"...That struggle from the Stone Age to control the planet. The Hoods, aliens crashed on Earth, that taught technology to man and created the Mu empire, and the Cloaks, also known as the Futurists and any other number of names, the champions of Earth's rebellion who discovered magic to fight the advanced powers of the rivals. And since the dawn of history, they always struggle, both parts never achieving total victory, because there is an immortal Neanderthal that always thwarts their plans, directly or enlisting the champions of that era."
"YOU DID YOUR HOMEWORK. YOUR FATHER WAS ONE OF THE HOODS IN A HIGH COMMAND POSITION. HE WAS SUPPOSED TO KILL ONE OF THE CLOAKS, A WOMAN. INSTEAD HE FELL IN LOVE WITH HER. SHE WAS A HIGH WITCH. I WAS HER SERVANT. THEY TRIED TO HIDE FROM THE SOCIETIES, HIDING IN BOLOGNA, ITALY, AS OWNER OF A LITTLE RESTAURANT. THEY HAD YOU. THEN, WHEN YOU WERE STILL A CHILD, THEY HAD AN INCIDENT. IT WAS A GIORGIO THAT FINALLY FOUND THEM. THEY WERE BOTH KILLED. YOUR FATHER WAS LATER CLONED. I DON'T KNOW MUCH MORE."
"Where did you disappear to? This information is not much more than what I knew before."
"I WAS... AWAY, TO GET INSTRUCTIONS."
"Where?"
"AWAY. I HAVE RETURNED TO WARN YOU. YOUR SWORD... YOU ARE NOT THE ONE THAT SHOULD HAVE FOUND HER. THERE IS ANOTHER INCARNATION OF THE TIMELESS CHAMPION ON THIS EARTH, THAT IS THE LEGITIMATE POSSESSOR. YOU HAVE NOT THE STRENGTH FOR HER BURDEN."
I take Ladninkia in my hand, balance her, rotate her over my head. "I have all the strength I need, demon."
"MORAL STRENGTH, ED. YOU ARE HER SLAVE. I HAVE ARRIVED TOO LATE. LISTEN TO ME: THROW THE SWORD IN THE OCEAN!"
I laugh. "Ah-ah-ah, little demon. You come here, saying to either give away my sword or throw it away? Are you escaped from an asylum, or what?"
The demon Bhaghhh-rupth turns, shaking his head, and returns to the party.
I look at Ladnikia. The euphoria lifts all of a sudden. The weight of Ladnikia now is too obvious. Panic, fear, and images of horror possess my brain. Things I know so well, from when I was slave of a different kind of sword.
Oh, God, what I am becoming?