The Dark Obelisk - Chapter Five

The legacy of the Gerougeon has left a burden upon which his family has been forced to carry. And Zero will see for himself once again the price that must be paid.

Everyone was alive.

Except one.

I looked down upon the plate of food in front of me and sighed quietly. As real as it had tasted, as real as my happiness had felt, I knew it wasn't. This was one dream that was not new to me, though I welcomed it each time it came. Many times it had come to make the mot troubling nights easier, to remind me of why I fought on. My mother was gone, but she lived on in my heart. She gave me strength when I felt the weakest. And her sacrifice reminded me of why I had to keep fighting.

I looked up across the table as conversation continued, though it became little more than indistinct noise to me. My mother and father had become blurrs, but my sister remained clear as day. She was the one, the only one I'd had those seven long years. Just her and me. When she was young, she had the tendency to be the thing a lot of little sisters were: Annoying, and even a brat. She'd always tended to get in my way, fought over toys and stuff with me. She'd go into my room without asking, You could say she was the stereotypical little monster. I'd never ever hated Khazetuha, but back then I didn't particularly like her.

Until one night, one night I remembered well. I think we both were about seven or eight years old at the time. It'd been raining all day, but the real parts of the storm didn't come till evening, when it started to pour really hard and the thunder rolled in. Thunderstorms always fascinated me, I enjoyed watching them when I could. I had forgone sleep so that I could sit at my window, curtains pulled, and watched the commotion outside. The way the lightning rippled through the skies and the thunder boomed against the earth, it was amazing.

Some time into it, my sister had snuck into my room without my noticing. I turned around and found her rummaging through my box of stuffed toys. She'd done that a lot, gone through my stuff without asking, so I did what I always did - got mad and told her to get out. I figured she would eventually, so I just kept watching the storm, only to realize a few minutes later she hadn't left and now she had one of my favorite toys in her arms - a scaley blue cartoon dragon plush.

I was about to yell at her again when a flash of lightning illuminated sparkles on her cheeks. I realized, after a few moments, that she was crying...

If there was one thing that I'd never seen my sister do, amongst all the tantrums, bickering, and whatnot, I'd never seen her cry. Her eyes had closed and she was trembling...it confused me.

I'd hopped off my windowsill and went over to her, asked her what was wrong. She sniffled quietly, shivered, and told me she was scared. I'd stared at her for a few moments. My little sister, who'd always been such a pain...now she'd looked so vulnerable. She looked at me with her misty eyes and continued to tremble. Her voice was weak and scared.

"Don't make me go away...please." She'd said. I felt sort of dazed as I walked forward, put my arms around her, as she cried against me. All the negativity I'd held towards her, all the dislike and distrust, it just seemed to vanish. In that moment, even as young as I was, I knew she needed me. She needed her big brother to protect her.

"I'll never make you go away, ever again," I'd whispered to her. I let her sleep with me that night.

From that night forward, things changed. She still knew how to be a snot from time to time, still found plenty of ways to annoy me. But she also came to me when she was afraid. She talked to me about things that bothered her, she asked me questions about things she didn't understand, and she started wanting to hang out with me. Color with me, or read with me, or even play videogames. Before, she'd try to steal my crayons, my books, my games. Now, she wanted to share them.

I think what happened then was meant to happen. It prepared us for what was to come. For not long after that, Yggdrasil caught our family off guard. He swooped in, and in the matter of one night, one dark period, suddenly I and Khaze were on our own. Our mother was dead, and we had assumed our father was too. We had nobody but each other.  My sister, one afraid of thunderstorms, now found that her life had become one. I knew then that I had to be the big brother. I had to be strong. She needed me more than ever, and I soon discovered I needed her just as much. In the coming years, I found it was all the things that made her who she was that brought light into my life.

She'd grown quickly after that. From a short, stumpy, chubby little pink nekojin who suddenly got a whole foot taller than me (I being 4'4, she 5'4), became lithe, agile, and graceful. She matured, too. She never lost her hyperactivity or stubbornness, but she developed an infallible kindness, an indomitable spirit, a gung-ho attitude which was spiced with a good bit of craziness and a lot of laughter. Had she not been in my life the way she was, those seven years would have been dark, lonely, and hopeless. In a way, we were two parts. Inseparable, one could not survive without the other, and that was why I soon found I was willing to put my life on the line for her.

But...there was always something. A dark part in all of this, a secret I'd kept from her, a secret my parents kept from her. It was one of the most painful things to think about, because it was something she deserved to know. It was something she had every right in the world to know.

The reason that Yggdrasil sought our family, the reason he'd pursued us with such single-minded resolve...was because of Khazetuha. I'd found it out when I'd stumbled onto a private conversation my parent's had been having. They'd caught me, but I'd already heard enough details to put parts of it together. Khazetuha had something inside of her that Yggdrasil wanted, something that he would go to any measures to get ahold of.

Later, my father'd taken me aside and spoke with me, man-to-man. He knew I wasn't stupid and that I'd heard enough, so he explained the situation to me, though he'd said it'd be difficult to fully understand. I'd come to my own understanding through what he told me and what I discovered on my own in later years.

Our family, the Drawn line, had descended from an ancient civilization that had existed over 3,000 years ago. They were known as the Gerougeon, a word in their language that meant "Great Alliance". They had been a society built on cooperation - any species of any kind and any origin were allowed to come and co-exist, so long as they shared their knowledge and resources freely. The Gerougeon people had strived for great peace, and had hoped to obtain ultimate knowledge by bringing creatures from all corners of the galaxy together.

They believed in the values of compromise and cooperation, that conflicts could be solved by giving each person their fair say and allowing every voice to be heard. But no society could please everybody. There'd always be a minority.

In the case of the Gerougeon, this minority consisted of individuals who believed a militial presence was imperative to achieving Gerougeon goals, that war was acceptable if the outcome could lead to benefiting the society, such as acquiring knowledge others refused to disclose. A people founded upon peace clearly did not take kindly to this idea, and when the opposition became unruly, they were banished from the society by the Elder Council, the descendants of the city's founding fathers. The group formed their own sect, known as the Yanna.

Unbeknownst to the Elder Council, one of their own had been a supporter of the Yanna's views, though he remained quiet. His name was Vires, and he was considered at the time to be one of the leading innovators in society. A charismatic individual, his speeches could move millions and often sat as the ignition for change in the society. But even he knew his words alone would not be enough to sway the people on this issue, so he took up differing means.

Acting as an informant from the very heart of the Gerougeon, as well as the de-facto leader of the Yanna, Vires used his position of power to quietly gather the resources necessary to take full control of the society. Though the Gerougeon people were against the concept of war, they were not defenseless - among their ranks rested extraordinary engineers capable of building technologically advanced machinery, powerful magi capable of shaping the world with their spells, and conduits of divine power known as Paladins. Vires himself was a Paladin, and this helped to further credit him as the good-intentioned visionary he seemed to be.

But through the study of the society's deepest annals of knowledge, he became potent in the use of dark sorcery and taught his followers the same. They'd also slowly accumulated the materials to build a massive warship known as the Narcotrix, which Yggdrasil would later name his own shiperfter.

Vires became powerful to the point that he was able to wrest the power of the Holy Energy within him, energy that could once only be used for good, he could now use to destroy. Armed with the energy of light and dark on his side, a powerful warship, and a legion of thousands of followers, he finally chose to assault the city on an all-out frontal barrage.

My oldest known ancestor, the progenitor of our family and the one I had been named after, Zero Darius Drawn, engaged Vires in mortal combat. It seemed they were on even ground, for though Vires possessed a tremendous reserve of sorcery and skill, Zero pulled forth a strength from deep within, from a place Vires had long ago forsaken in his insane conquest for dominance.

I could only imagine what that battle must have looked like. In some ways, I wished I had seen it, for I did not doubt it was truly an awe-inspiring spectacle.

In the beginning, there was really no way he could have won. The Gerougeon populace was strong enough with their assortment of blessed individuals to keep his legion at bay, but that was when he unveiled his greatest accomplishment of all - The Mass Extinction Array, something with the capability to wipe out everything in an instant. From the depths of the most forbidden knowledge, he'd pulled forth methods of using one's own soul as fuel for powerful magic. Within these depths of terrible things, he'd been exposed to that which eventually drove him insane. Truly, when he revealed his weapon, even his own followers were astounded. Where they had believed to take the city under their control and dominate it, Vires now simply wished to wipe it off the face of the universe.

The remaining Elder Council converged in a special place called the Chamber of Crisis, where they discussed and eventually settled upon the dire measures that needed to take place. Seeing Zero as the one most capable of surviving, they called him from the battle and told them of their plan: They were going to use their combined power to contain the city and all it's people. They'd drive it far beneath the earth and lock it inside a barrier, so that Vires' Mass Extinction Array would not destroy the world. But they did not wish to lose everything the Gerougeons had worked so hard to achieve. They sealed the Great Library, center collaboration of all gathered Gerougeon knowledge, and transformed it into spiritual energy. It was Zero into which they wished to placed this energy, making him the key.

He agreed to such and on that day, they made a pact. Zero became the Burden Bearer, symbolized by the Gerougeon Crest (a blue tattoo with figures joining hands across a table, forming an alliance) seared into his neck, and for as long as he lived he would possess the one true key to the Great Library. Because they knew he would not live forever, the Burden was designed to be passed on if he bore children, though it would only go to one child. The Elders used what remained of their power to teleport Zero far away from the city, to a new planet, Earth. Vires unleashed the Mass Extinction Array and in a few moment's time, the entirety of the Gerougeon civilization was wiped out.

Ever since then, the Burden has been passed down from generation to generation in the Drawn family line, to the firstborn of each Bearer in every generation. But, through all this, two issues still remained.

The first issue this had brought up was how Yggdrasil had come to learn about any of this. It was clear that he was seeking the Burden Bearer's key so that he could gain access to the Great Library, but it didn't make sense as to how he knew about it seeing as it was a secret contained solely to our family, nor did I understand why he even wanted it so badly in the first place. My father didn't have an answer for me. Yggdrasil had begun attacking our family quite a few generations back, yet none had been able to discover who exactly he was, where he was from, and how he had come to learn of our secret. It made Yggdrasil an enigma, an inexplicable force of nature that had swept upon us and plagued us for so long.

The second issue was why he sought Khazetuha, or, more specifically, why I hadn't become the Burden Bearer. This was something else he was unable to explain. Things had progressed without a hiccup until I was born, and my dad realized that the Burden had not left him since he still had the Gerougeon crest on the back of his neck and I had nothing. Things became even more confusing when my parents had their second child, Khazetuha. The crest had vanished from my father...but it was nowhere to be found on either me or my sister.

This had come as a relief at the time. My father believed that the burden had simply ceased to exist, and if he was able to get Yggdrasil to realize this, he'd hoped that the tribulations with him would come to an end.

Of course, they never did. Somehow, Yggdrasil believed Khazetuha to be the Burden Bearer, and he had no intention of ever stopping until he had his hands on her. Whether or not she actually did didn't seem to matter - our problems continued and the question of what exactly happened to the Burden has henceforth gone unanswered.

Thinking of all this again...I knew what had to be done. I knew where I needed to be. My family seemed to fade back into focus once more, and I could have rejoined their conversation if I'd wanted.

But as much as I wished I could stay here forever, I knew that it was time to put this dream to rest and open my eyes again. I looked upon my mother, my father, my chubby little sister...once more.

"Goodbye..." I whispered softly. None of them heard me...but it was better that way. I didn't want them to miss me when I was gone.

Everything started to become hazy, blurry...the world around me melded into itself...the familiar faces slipped away...

* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * *

With a soft sigh my eyes slowly opened to the glow of warm torchlight. I was sprawled across my bed, covers thrown messily. I yawned loudly and stretched my limbs, felt a dull sense of pain from some of my not fully-healed wounds. I glanced upon my arms, still wrapped in bandages.

"At least I know this isn't a dream, anymore." I spoke to myself. With a quick glance around the room I confirmed my father wasn't there. The bookcase-door had been left ajar, so I assumed he was out getting more water or some such. I swung my feet over the edge of the bed and sat up with a soft sigh.

I'd have to go find him, for what I needed to talk about was urgent. With my dreams and my thoughts, I realized that getting back to Khazetuha was the most important thing I had to do right now. The thought of leaving my father was not a pleasant one, but I knew that without me, my sister was in a tremendous amount of danger. And, simply enough...I didn't want her to be alone. Though she was becoming a young woman, deep down inside I knew there was still that little girl who'd been so afraid of thunderstorms. She needed her big brother. And I needed her too.

I lifted myself from the bed and gingerly tested my legs, putting weight on them slowly. But for a mild pain, they seemed steady enough. I took a step...and then another, and then a few more. I nodded in satisfaction. I wouldn't be running any 100-meter dashes anytime soon, but I was fine to move around. Next step was locating my father.

I made my way across the room and took to the stairs. I was curious to what I'd find, since this was the first time I'd been up here. I emerged into what looked like a simplistic stonewall kitchen - in one corner I could see a hearth of sorts, it's stone surface marred with the burn marks of fire. Shelves carved out of rock were above and to each side of it. Upon these shelves were various pottery-made utensils and bowls, for eating and preparation.

To the right of me, through a stone archway, I could see what appeared to be a dining room. An old round wooden table was sat in the center of it...when I moved closer, I saw that four chairs were set around it. I noticed that in front of three of the chairs, upon the table itself, sat a series of three small objects. It didn't take me long to recognize them.

On the table in front of the first chair sat a small cartoon dragon plushie, which had always been my favorite one. I remembered sleeping with it a lot when I was little. Next to that rested a small plastic red heart with a clip on it. I realized that had belonged to my sister; she had always worn it in her hair.

Finally, I saw a ring. Simple, round, colored gold...it was unremarkable to look at, yet if it was what I thought it was...then it was my mother's. Her wedding ring.

I couldn't say how he'd managed to bring those into a place like this. Other things were on my mind.

I sighed softly and closed my eyes as I wondered how many times my father may have sat at this table over the past year. How many times he may have sat and gazed upon these trinkets, how he may have imagined his family together with him. I wondered if he'd ever had a dream like mine...

"...one day, Dad. One day..." I could never know when or how that day would come. But one day, we would have our family again. Our mother would reside in our hearts, and we would share a table once more.

I made that promise to myself, right then. With a confirmatory nod, it only strengthened my resolve to get back to Khaze.

Past the table and to my left, I saw that the front door, a large wooden construct with metal hinges and riveting, was left standing ajar. I made my way over to it and peered outside. The ground was just as I remembered it; cracked, fissured, barren, dead. The sky too had not changed, obsidian black and streaked with crackling jade lightning that briefly illuminated looming clouds.

It took me a few moments before I saw him, standing a good 20 yards away from the house. My dad was facing away from me, his arms were crossed in front of him, and he remained still. I blinked softly, a little worried as I called out to him.

"Dad!"

To this, he peered over his shoulder and when he saw me, he visibly sighed. I could see his shoulders slump. I knew something was wrong.

"I wish you hadn't woken up, Zero." he said with a sad voice. "But...now that you have, you need to see this." He became silent.

"See what?" I called back to him. I was confused, as far as I could tell there wasn't anything to see. I made to step out the door, but stopped in my tracks when he jutted his paw out towards me.

"Stay in the house, Zero. No matter what, stay in the house." He snapped his finger, and a green line traced itself across the ground at my feet. I jumped backwards just as a vibrant green flame sprang to life within the doorway. The flames were translucent; I could see through them. "That wont hurt you, but it will keep you inside. You need to see this if you're going to be here. You need to understand..." He slowly turned to face outward again.

"You need to understand the danger we're in."

"Danger," I asked, "What danger?" My paws came up and pressed against the flames. True to his word, they did not harm me, but they felt as a rubbery obstruction that would not let me pass.

My father lifted a finger and shushed me. For a few moments, there was silence...and then...

Howling. From the distance, I heard it. Unmistakeable, it was howling, unearthly noises that seemed to seep in from a long way in every direction. My blood ran cold and my eyes became wide...I found myself unable to move.

"Watch me, Zero. Learn." His arms became tense. Beyond him, the horizon stirred...and soon, I could see them, a blurr at first, but slowly they became more distinct, colored. I backed away slowly...

When I had stood atop the pillar upon first arriving in this place, I had seen them. There had been a thousand of them. They looked as if the living dead...and when I had fallen, they attacked me with viciousness and blind bloodlust.

But as I gazed into the distance, the true horror of the situation became apparent. Where I had seen a thousand...now there were ten thousand. A great rolling wave of hatred was closing in on us...my father stood alone, to defend against it.

His arms lifted, paws hoisted high into the sky...and within them, I saw it. A great sword, held within two hands, black hilt birthing forth a mighty emerald-and-black blade. Light from the storm in the sky gleamed off the weapon, which caused it to shine brilliantly. My eyes were wide. I could not move. I could not speak.

My father brought the blade down low to his side, body hunched defensively. The howl of the wave of undeath grew and grew...before long, it would become deafening. Before long, they would be upon us.

"Watch me, Zero, and I'll show you what it means to protect what's important. I'll show you what it takes to fight for happiness."

"I'll show you what it means when I say I love you."

Author's Note

Comments always welcome. Please disregard typos.