Chapter 4

a day on eden

Mankind desires so strongly a paradise. They live life searching for a glimpse of that place, a place where burdens fade and dreams come to life. Even I longed for such a place. On that day I stood upon an island called Eden. My eyes amazed at the beauty it bestowed, unlike anything I had seen before. It truly was a paradise, ancient and majestic.

Atop the majestic island I gazed into the distance in awe. Doubts and regrets vanished at the sight of the evergreen lands. It was an endless field of untamed grass that spanned as far as the eyes could see.

Lilith stood beside me looking steadily ahead towards the winding river. She screamed silent screams of excitement in her mind, compelled to wander towards the meandering river. But it wasn’t possible, after taking a few steps she found herself unable to move any further, held back by some unseen force.

“The eternal city Xanadu, which resides on the floating island Eden.” Sept said watching Lilith as she tried to find a way through the invisible wall. “It is surrounded by a feild that cloaks its existence and repells intruders.”

He walked towards Lilith and reached out his left hand, his crimson ripples shimmered brightly. The air around us seemed to ripple almost as though it were an image reflected in a clear lake. Slowly a city of grandure began to appear before us, the city of Xanadu.

It was a city of exquisite beauty, glistening in the scorching light of the cerulean sky.

Beyond the city was a dome, so massive it could have easily pierced the clouds. Though it was massive it cast no shadow onto the city. Parts of it would phase in and out of visibility, at times looking as though it never existed.

We continued walking, eventually reaching and entering a building that consisted of nothing but a long corridor with pictures of honored men lining the walls. A large door waited and beckoned for us at the end of the corridor.

There were many guards on both sides of us, but as we approached the door they didn’t seem to mind our walking through, almost as though they were expecting us. I knew something special had to be beyond those doors.

The large door faded into thin air, leaving an opening in the wall allowing us to enter a dark room. Upon entering I felt a strange aura that made my legs tremble. There was nothing but darkness, the only source of light came from the opening. But soon it closed just as it had opened. Now there was nothing but black.

I was afraid, I felt as though an ominous presence lurked in the darkness.

 

A light slowly became visible from the distance, radiating from 3 chairs facing the entrance. In one of the chairs was a man who hid his face in a hooded cloak. It was an elaborately embroidered cloak that shimmered its own light, a blinding white.

“Welcome back, my dear seven.” Said the cloaked man. His voice sounded much younger than I anticipated.

“I have returned, milord.” Sept said as he and Mia kneeled on their left knees. They lifted their left arms parralell to the ground and bent it at the elbow in a

90 degree angle. Their hands were fisted with their palms facing them so that the cloaked man could see the crimson ripples. They each bowed their heads in respect.

“Mia I see you’ve managed to obtain both targets without your assigned teammates,” Said the cloaked man.

“Yes, milord,” She replied.

The man stood from his seated position and began to walk towards us. His image began to grow transparant as he continued to approach, until he couldn’t be seen. A split second later he appeared a few paces in front of me.

“Do you wish to join our dreams of peace?” he asked without looking at me.

“I…I’ll go wherever Lilith wants.” I said, terrified at his presence.

“Lilith?” he asked.

She looked at me for a moment then said, “as long as he’s here.”

“Good then,” Said the cloaked man as he reached out at me, “give me your left hand Keep.”

I gave him my hand submissively. He placed his hands on the back of mine. There was a brief pain, it hurt but felt strangely pleasurable at the same time. After holding my hand for a few seconds he let go, the pain abated.

He walked over to Lilith and took hold of both her hands, she cringed at the pain. There was a glow that radiated from her, a dim red flash and a wave of heat. Countless visions flashed in her mind and she stared over at me, saddened at what she saw. They were visions of our pasts, everyone who stood in that room with her. After a few seconds he returned her hands to her side and the visions faded from her mind. He stepped away and disappeared, reappearing again sitting still in the center chair that seemed so far away.

“Alph the sacred bestows the trust of these lands unto you,” he put his hood down so that I could clearly see his face. His skin was pale, his eyes shone a mesmerizing green and his hair was white at snow. He looked me in the eyes, “Keep, child who looks intently at the skies dreaming of another life.” His eyes turned to Lilith, “ Lilith, whose mind has seen the world a thousand times, whose eyes have yet seen the oceans. I give you both my blessings and welcome you.”

His voice echoed throughout the dark room as the light faded along with him. I looked down at my left hand, in the perfect darkness I could still see two azure rings pulsating an azure glow on my left hand. Looking over to Lilith I tried to find the symbol on her, but there was nothing.

After having seen Alph‘s face I couldn’t help but question Lilith’s and Alph‘s relation. Whatever the reason, Alph volunteered to look after Lilith and I was told to go along with Sept. He led me to a small apartment building only a few blocks away from the building, I was left at the entrance and told to wait for my roommate. I didn’t understand what was going on, but Sept reassured me that everything was going to be alright that everything would be explained in the coming days.

Upon entering my new home I noticed that everything was orderly, nothing was out of place. The sofa, coffee table, television and floor didn’t have a single spec of dust on it.

I was alone, but hungry, so I headed over to the fridge. I opened it hoping to find something to munch on, but I had no such luck. It was filled from top to bottom with nothing but unlabled bottles of water.

“What the hell am I living with?” I thought.

Starving, frustrated and nervous I laid down on the soft couch and tried to calm my mind and maybe answer some of the questions. A few hours passed but the questions still lingered. With so much time on my hand and so many questions I couldn’t answer I nearly went insane. Luckily my roommate returned before I had died of boredom and frustration.

 

He walked into the apartment just as the sky began to lose its light. He was a good looking blond boy a few years older than me. His eyes were a bright blue and he had on a white jacket and boot cut blue jeans. He was the kind of boy that girls went crazy for, but the kind of person that you had to learn to love. As he opened the door and spotted me he looked surprised then quickly grinned.

“You must be the newbie.” He said still grinning.

“Umm yeah.” I replied.

“Hey you’re a little shy looking, oh my what strange hair ya got, its not natural is it?” he indiscriminately walked over to me then quickly took hold of my hair.

“Hey stop it.” I said pushing him away.

He was persistant and refused to let go without having a good look. We got into the motions of me pushing and beating him away with my arms and legs while he came back for more. When the matter was over with and we were both exhausted he managed to get away with a few strands of my hair and had received many bruises.

“Oh wow, its real, no dye.” He said examining the strands of hair.

I rubbed my head where the strands had been taken, “Your not my roommate are you?” I asked, knowing the answer.

“Oh yeah I almost forgot, we need names. Everyone calls me Moon. You?”

He walked towards me and I backed up to avoid another struggle. His hands went up in front of him, open and palms forward, to show me he meant no harm.

“Keep.” I said reaching out my hand for a handshake.

“Keep’s your real name? No surname?” he said as he shook my hand.

“No, no last name, it’s the name Claudius gave me.” I said in a soft tone, looking down at his feet. “Anyways it’s not like your name is less strange. What kind of name is Moon?”

“Well its not my real name, my real name is Dais Val.”

What the hell? That’s even stranger.

He quickly laughed, “I know. How the hell do you get moon out of Dais. Actually you see what happened was when I first joined a few years ago, the first thing I did was moon my C.O. every since then everyone has called me Moon.”

“Really?”

“Yeah, and then they made me clean all the stalls in town.”

I was curious now, “Who was your C.O?”

“Why, none other than Sept of course. He is the leader of our squad.”

“Sept?” I said trying to imagine his reaction, “hmm, Sept, ah that reminds me, does he have a last name?”

“I guess you wouldn’t know.” He took hold of my chin with his pointer finger and thumb. He leaned down and looked me straight in the eyes, “you’re a pretty little orphan aren’t ya.” I stepped away from him, “a lot of members are orphans and sort of get their names from the caretakers.”

“Yah… but I never…” I said, slowly shying away from his stare.

“I know you never knew anything about this place. I guess they don’t really think its that important when most of you guys aren’t gonna become members.”

“What? Is the orphanage like some sort of barn for members or something?” I asked feeling a little disappointed.

“No, not really it’s a legit orphanage. We just can’t forcibly take kids away from their parents, so most members are orphans that come from orphanages ran by CONTROL.”

“So your from one too?”

“Oh me? No, no I’m not.” He slicked his hair back and waited for it to fall back into place, “my parents live here in town. I was living with them until last year when I decided I should take my training more seriously, but my mom still makes me go over there every day. And she even comes here to checkup on me and clean too.”

That’s why its so clean.

“You probably already saw all the water.” He looked over at the refridgeratar, which I had failed to completely closed. He walked over to the fridge and pushed on the door, closing the small opening. “Sorry I didn’t have any food but I eat at my parents place so all I get is water, that way I don’t eat too much fat and sweets. Like I said I’m taking my training seriously.”

“I guess it must be lonely living by yourself.” I said quietly, I know I was always lonely.

“Sometimes, but I have to grow up sometime.” He started to walk towards his bedroom, “It’s getting late so I’ma go to bed now, don’t wanna be late for class tomorrow since Sept’s finally back, gotta make a good impression.”

“Kay, I’ll go to bed too than.” I said.

“The other bedroom should have everything you need,” he said with his back to me, “and some clothes too. They made me bring all that stuff in for you yesterday, I guess they knew you were coming.”

He walked into his room without turning on the lights and shut the door. I was exhausted too, my body felt slightly numb from having done nothing for the last few hours. Though I was tired, I didn’t know if I could sleep. I was too anxious about tomorrow.

My room was clean and had no personality. It consisted of a bed large enough to fit one normal sized man, a desk off to the side, a white blanket and a pair of matching pillows. Though it was a rather boring and dull room, it was still mine. It felt nice to have a place to call my own. I laid down beneath my blanket. The fabric was silk-like and very cozy, much better than the ones we had at the orphanage. The bed was soft and I sunk in the moment I laid down, it was the most comfortable I had ever been. I closed my eyes enjoying the peace I had found, in this place that made everything seem like it was going to be alright, even with so many doubts in my mind.

As the world around me slowly drifted away and I went deeper and deeper into my own world, I began to hear a quiet noise in the distance. In the darkness the noise began to grow louder and louder, it was the sound of a flute. A soothing music, soft and gentle, so calming that my nerves went numb.

“Open your eyes child.” Said a voice as the music suddenly stopped.

I obeyed and opened my eyes to a serene landscape of amber grass. Golden lights floated freely in the air chasing golden moths that fluttered aimlessly. A distance from me was that man, Alph. His hood was down and he had a wooden flute in his hands. He looked at me, almost as though he were staring right through me.

His figure vanished, reappearing beside me.

“Am I dreaming?” I asked.

“This is no dream. Your desire to know has brought you here,” it was his voice but his mouth never moved.

A moth fluttered by in front of me, instinctively I reached out to grasp it, but something was wrong, I had no body, at least not a physical one. Though it was absent, I still felt its presence, I just couldn’t see it.

“Your mind has lived confined in a physical presence,” he reached out to where my body should have been, “it seems you cannot accept existence without a physical form. Perhaps that is why you could not transcend to becoming a seer. Your sheer will to deny this world will not allow you to comprehend the infinite outcomes. Your actions and visions force you to create a circumstance that is most befitting for you.”

“wh.. what does that mean?” I asked.

“In other words, you are afraid and full of greed.”

I wanted to argue with him, but for some reason in that golden land I felt as though we were one and the same. A part of me understood what he meant. It was my greed that brought me there, my desire to escape my life, my want to see her smile and my need to know. But even with so much desires I couldn’t accomplish any of it on my own, because I was always too afraid to take the first step. I understood, almost as though an unknown force were etching his thoughts unto me.

Beneath the strong self pity I felt for myself, I felt a sadness that wasn’t my own. It was a sadness that had grown over many years. Is this his sadness? Is this what Lilith felt?

“You have some questions for me, don’t you? Otherwise you wouldn’t be here.” he said, again his mouth didn’t budge.

“Ye.. yeah I do.” I said, “how come you and Lilith look so much alike?” she was the only thing on my mind.

“What are your feelings towards this girl? Is it romance or do you just want to protect her?” He looked at me, gazing at the nothingness I was, “I guess it doesn’t matter right now.” He pointed away from us towards something I couldn’t see, but I could feel a presence, “It all ties in with the red moon, just as you believe. I’ll try to answer all your questions at once. You cannot become a seer, not because you lack the abilities, but rather you lack the mentality. Your existence itself tries to deny this world, accepting it is the only way to become one of us. Perhaps we seers have become slave to the Eternal Sphere.”

“What’s Eternal Sphere?” I asked.

He paused for a moment, gazing at the spot he had pointed to, “All of existence stems from the Eternal Sphere, the sphere that shines like a moon drenched in blood. That is why she sees it even when her eyes are closed, in its presence, all else is meaningless. ”

I followed his eyes to the invisible entity, trying to see what was hiding right before me. I gazed steadily at it, squiting my eyes, focusing as hard as I could, for a split second I saw a transparent glow. I blinked, and it was gone, I could see nothing there.

“I guess we do look alike.” he said it in a casual manner, interrupting my concentration. “Our appearances comes from that glow, the exposure to high concentrations of mana. Poisonous and deadly, if you live, your body will be altered to this state. First your skin loses its color then your hair, finally your eyes become shrouded in a visibly green layer of mana.”

Another voice suddenly came out from no where, “oh my little Alphy.”

A boy appeared before Alph. His hair and iris were red as blood.

“You weren’t planning on telling him how special he is were you?” said the boy.

“Fate, should stay out of this,” Alph said condescendingly to the boy.

I ignored them and continued to stare at the unseen presence while they continued to converse.

“What would your sister say about leaving out such important information?” asked the boy.

“She’s not here, so she wouldn’t say anything.” Alph said angrily.

“Getting angry at the mere mention of her, I guess I shouldn’t mention him either. But I’m right aren’t I, they are a lot alike. But I miss that girls cakes, it always smelled so good.”

The boys comment angered Alph. Suppressing his anger Alph began to walk away from the boy, his image vanished once more.

“Sorry Keep, I don’t feel like talking with him here. You should leave too, before he poisons your mind with lies.” He said fading to nothing.

Alph disappeared, but the scarlet haired boy was still there. He looked at me and smiled, waving goodbye. Just then the golden landscape began to fade as well as the boy. Once again I stood in a world of darkness, nothing but black.

Moments later I heard a voice in the darkness, “KEEP!” it was Moon. “Hey sexy boy get up.”

An entire night had come and gone in those few moments I spent in the golden lands.

“Huh what?” I said in a stupor as I opened my eyes.

“Come on man, were gonna be late. I’ve been calling your name for the last 10 minutes.” He was standing in front of my bed looking down on me, disappointed.

“Wha? What are we late for?” I asked still half asleep.

He grabbed me by the hair and pulled me out of bed.

“Class.” He said as he handed me my shoes, “you don’t have time to do anything so just go as you are.”

I put on my shoes and he rushed me out of our apartment. We headed east towards the end of the block. There was a structure at the end of the block resembling a door frame with a pad off to the side.

“Military academy, room 129.” He said as he put his left hand on the pad.

The empty door frame shimmered then an image appeared in the door way. There were many students scrambling about in the image, it looked like it was a hallway. Before I could analyse everything in the frame Moon grabbed me and pushed me into the doorway. There was a strange surge of energy as I went through.

Before I realized it, I was already standing in the middle of a hallway, surrounded by students rushing to their classes.

“What was that?” I asked, turning to moon.

“No time” he said as he quickly rushed into a room.

I followed him and entered. Sept was standing in the front of the class. There were about 10 other students in there and a few empty desks. Moon had found himself a desk at the front of the room, while I looked to the back, hoping that I wouldn’t have to participate. I went to the last desk in the second row from the door. I understood now, why Sept always sounded like he had spoken those words so many times before, he must’ve had to say it to his students often.

I looked around the classroom, trying to familiarize myself with the place. For the most part the students in the class looked normal, I was the one that stood out the most. In front of me was a brunette girl whose face I couldn’t see and sitting besides me was a boy whose face was oddly familiar but at that moment I couldn’t quite remember.

Who is this guy, I thought.

“Man that girl was right, you are infinitely unobservant.” He said as I sat down.

I remembered who he was the moment he spoke, it was the same boy from the night before. Everything about him was the same, except his hair and eyes, they were now green instead of that blood red.

“Did you dye your hair?” I asked quietly.

“No, my eyes and hair changes color on its own.” He replied.

“Shhhh, class is starting,” Said the girl sitting ahead of me.

“Sorry,” I said.

Sept began to talk but my mind was on something else, I was more curious about the boy who had appeared in my dreams. I stared at him, keeping motionless. Everything around me didn’t seem to matter, all that mattered was finding out who this boy was. Suddenly a whiteboard eraser came whooshing through the air, hitting me in the face.

“Would you like to introduce yourself,” Sept said, trying to hide his grin from the class.

“Umm yeah,” I said standing up, “well, I’m Keep. Im 12 years old and I like watching movies. Umm yeah, that’s all.” I sat down nervously as Sept began to introduce our new topics.

“What a loser.” Said the green haired boy as he laughed histirically.

“Shut up class is starting.” I whispered loudly to him.

Sept continued to speak, but I still wasn’t paying any attention to him.

“oh, I’m SORRY!” he screamed.

“Shut up!” I shouted back.

“Shhhh,” said the girl again.

Everyone looked at me except for Moon, he hid his face acting as though he didn’t know who I was. I blushed and put my head down on the desk to hide my face. Sept ignored me and continued to speak.

The boy beside me continued laughing, “its been ages since I’ve had someone to talk to besides that bummer Alph.”

I looked over at him with my head still on my desk.

“The names Fate, I guess you could say I’m the spirit of this island.”

“No wonder no one can hear him,” I thought, “why is the spirit of this island such a dumbass.”

“Hey! I’m no dumbass I’m a very smart person.”

“What? Can he hear my thoughts?” I thought.

“Of course I can. Oh my god you are really stupid aren’t you. I wonder why you would choose such a strange existence?”

Fate continued to blabber on, I ignored him and lost myself in my own thoughts. Everything seemed to be changing so quickly, a couple days ago I was just an ordinary kid with no real purpose in life. Now I was talking to a ghost, seeing weird lights and learning how to use what could only be called magic.

The strange boy, the spirit of Eden, Eden’s Fate, something about him was oddly familiar to me, not just his appearance, but his presense itself. I felt I had known that feeling for so long, but I couldn’t understand at the time what it meant.

A few minutes passed by and I was still lost in thought, suddenly I heard the door open and everyone standing up. I looked up to see that everyone was in the same position as Mia and Sept were when we had met with Alph. Looking over to the door I saw her, Lilith. She was standing in the door way looking around the classroom.

Her eyes met mine and she smiled. She ran pass everyone else, towards me. I didn’t know how I was supposed to react but seeing her made me happy. I was glad I could see her so soon.

“what, what are you doing here? I thought…” I said trying to hold back my excitement.

“Alph said it would be better if I studied with you.” She said inturupting me midsentence.

She bent down and put her arms around me softly whispering into my ears, “I’m happy to see you too.”