Chapter 3.1 - Rise of the Heroes

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Never in life could they have expected the day's turn of events to become something even more surprising.

They stand in a vast, horizonless white. All surrounded by shiny pillars with mirrors around each corner. Whispers cascade over the foursome from all around.

"Where are we?" Logan asks.

"Just what is this bloody place? And why does it smell like... no, not lavender exactly, but almost floral?" Seiner asks while raising his voice before his nose picks up a peculiar scent around the room.

"Are—are—are we in heaven? D—dead...? Oh dios, please no..." Tany says, biting her lips and looking at everything around her. Her reflection appeared in each mirror above, decorated with white, golden metal.

"I think not, Tany. I feel this is a place that looks exactly like the one described in the books related to the Guardians..." Amira says.

"What Guardians?" Seiner asks.

"I have heard they're some sort of entities, almost like observers from beyond... not sure if they're gods or anything, but they could be something that extends beyond the stars."

Seiner scoffs in response. "As if we're all just their hamsters, if that's what you mean. All rolling for eternity... let me tell ya, I still feel lots of bull coming from you."

"I may understand what you are trying to say, but whatever this place is, it is something beyond physical reach," Amira says.

"Eh? Oh, cool!" Tany says as she reaches for her pocket to look for her phone, but as with most instances of dealing with the unknown, it's very trivial to do a thing like that, especially when drained.

Tany can only look quietly at her phone for a moment while the rest turn to look at her.

"Eh, if you truly know them, call them later because I really want to show this. No, nothing malicious at all, hehe," Tany says as she sheepishly hides her phone back. Seiner glares at her in irritation.

"Next you'll pick the option for a boy band, which is quite a wonder..." Seiner replies with an eye roll.

But before they can react to anything, they hear a smooth and elegant sound from a distance. Logan is the first to notice the sound and soon sees that it's coming from a nearby stairway to another altar.

He slowly walks into it, with the rest following suit. With each climbing step, the sound grows closer. And even if they're slow ones, they're clearly ones well deserved for a suitable curiosity for that sound. Then, the long chords sound like a cello.

Getting closer, all while feeling the smooth concrete below them, they see a white hooded figure with black stripes around the robe's arms. The figure's playing delicately, almost to where it doesn't change the tenor. Just like a true musician would do it every time they can play something. Even in war.

The four finally reach the altar, locking their eyes on the hooded figure. And after some moment of playing the melody with the cello, the figure stops playing, laying down the cello while holding the bow near one of the strings.

A deafening silence, and yet the four cannot help but still see the allure of the music.

"Excuse me, whatever you are, do you know where we are?" Logan asks. Silence is the only answer coming from it.

"Maybe what I said could be impolite for you, but as new visitors around here, it would be appreciated if you could tell us something at least."

Silence again.

Seiner then approaches him in a fit of irritation.

"Excuse me! Stop being a flimsy mute tosser this instant and give us-" Seiner says, trying to touch the figure's shoulder. The figure's robes fall to the floor, empty of anything.

Seiner and the others get goosebumps as they step back from the fallen robes.

Just what is this place, anyway?

"What the hell?" Seiner says as he stares and keeps himself in control.

"OK, whatever's going on, I'm going to slap it silly to the dude who ran away because he maybe hates giving answers!" Tany replies.

"That would be way too rude, Tany," Logan replies.

"Oh, sorry, well, make it listen to pop!"

Amira giggles in response, holding her hand near the chin in amusement.

"Your thoughts are quite dazzling at the moment, Tany. Maybe Humanity is really interesting to study after all."

"What? My head?" Tany says as she kneels while pressing her hands on her ears.

The rest looked a bit confused, yet amused at her reaction.

"Don't read me, please!" Tany says.

"I... Well, OK, Tany."

Logan only lets out a heartfelt chuckle from the fun the two were having. Seiner is mostly indifferent to it, with crossed arms and such.

Then, Seiner notices something near the bow placed in the center string of the cello.

"Eh? Hey guys, look," Seiner says as he points to the bow.

The hair of the bow glows in a bright, bluish color, all pointing to the right side outside the altar. When they turn to see the direction where the bow is pointing, it leads to another seemingly empty white space shrouded in mist.

After carefully analyzing the left side, Seiner finds a split gap amidst the mist where the cello is pointing. They walk towards the indicated area in which they carefully step. They can feel a stairway descending. They descend for some minutes, all checking that there's nothing suspicious around as the whispers continue.

After a minute of walking, the group enters a dimly lit room, almost like the entrance of a chamber in medieval times. They continue to descend a bit more, until eventually, they stop near a room, where there's only a wall in front of them, with an engraved inscription.

Looking in awe, it's like something they too would never notice in real life. An inscription chiseled with the sturdiest materials of silver concrete, words whose length reach even the longest pages known to man. Logan steps closer as he places his finger near one of the letters of it, moving it back and forth as his glance fixates on the text itself.

"This inscription appears to have a vaguely worded language, almost like a mix of Latin and Old English from what I'm seeing," Logan says.

"Hmm, what should we call it? Latingus?" Tany asks with a bright smile.

Seiner, of course, only glares at her, causing her smile to drop.

"Wait, that language... It is the language of the Cosmos. Maybe I can help you translate it," Amira says.

"Ah, an interpreter then. For a moment, I thought this would be another lesson for this intergalactic situation, but oh well," Logan replies.

"Well, only if it's a bloody good one. But given who you are, I'm calling bull," Seiner replies as well.

"Just observe and lower your distrust. Let me do it."

"That won't-"

But before he can tackle Amira, Logan pushes him back, all with a stern look on his over his discrimination towards Amira.

"Whatever. Just do it."

She then uses her hand to touch a part of the inscription, first touching the first line of it and then moving the hand while continuing to read on.

The translation is:

A principle is our part of eternal life. The component for the common being of peace. Thy union grants the beloved a wishful eternity. For thou who sin our principle, will serve the condemned. Rising, the valor of the surpassing of fear, slights us, guided by the closeness of the children of all creation. The will to serve the children grants gratitude alongside the choice of anything. Oh, Guardians, I send thou our peace, thus the cycle will live on, for all times and forever.

Silence is what they hear. Maybe it was a simple inscription after all or some sort of an ancient mechanism that can be opened through another means.

"Are you sure that's the language? Because congrats, you just gave a good lesson in the language and nothing else. Can we get a move on?" Seiner quips.

Within the blink of an eye, the inscription glows into a greenish light which then spreads across the walls of the chamber.

The wall with the inscription rises upwards, revealing another hidden room.

It looks similar to the previous one, only this time, there are four boxes, each with their own color for the lock. And it also contained four sunflowers stacked in a pot on a table.

As for the boxes, one is red, another is yellow, the other is green and the last one's blue.

Each of the group approaches one of the boxes. By each step, their heartbeats get faster, yet not in a rush, almost as if they're thinking of the connection between the boxes.

"What's this, we're getting each of our own goodie treasures? Then I'll be filthy rich! Well, I don't like being a rich one, anyway," Tany says.

"Shut up."

"Oh, meanie!"

They each open their respective boxes slowly, revealing a handful of things they wouldn't believe.

For Logan, it has a golden sword hilt that has an empty blade alongside a red stone.

For Seiner, it contained a light-yellow gun with a belt containing boxes colored in chrome and some metal hilts.

For Amira, a goblet that is filled with green glowing liquid.

And last but not the least, for Tany, it is a long blue staff with a cyan orb in it.

The four feel a connection to these objects, but remember nothing related to them. Just how can they feel such an attraction to them?

Logan looks at his left hand, then puts it near his chest and presses down. Afterward, he reaches for the hilt and the red stone, grabbing them with ease.

Seiner adjusts his glasses while grabbing the objects in front of him.

Amira simply picks up the goblet and after some moment of hesitation, she drinks it up fully.

Tany just grabs the staff and swings it around for a while.

At first, it all feels normal, like nothing at all out of the ordinary is happening at the moment for the four.

"Hmm, if Blackbeard reached here in his prime, he wouldn't be too keen to get those, anyway," Logan quips.

Then without warning, they all pause, holding their breaths and the items except for Amira, who drops the goblet to the ground.

Their eyes widen, slowly turning into a respective color of the lock they've picked.

Red for Logan, light yellow for Seiner, green for Amira and blue for Tany.

After a brief pause being frozen while staring closely at the items, they all soon shake their heads and act normally once more.

"These objects... I feel like they have something for us," Logan says.

"Yeah, I can feel it too." Seiner replies.

"My mind, it all feels so different. Could it be?" Amira replies as well.

"I think that this funny staff can grant me anything!"

Before they can react to anything, the wall on the left opens, revealing nothing more but a bright white light outside.

A light breeze enters the room which picks up the sunflowers outside while lightly blowing the room.

"Guys, whatever you and I may be feeling right now, it could be something unnatural," Seiner says as he adjusts his glasses while trembling for a bit.

"I know, but, we're learning more of the unknown," Logan replies.

Seiner turns towards Logan with his eyes widening and a noticeable frown.

"Well, you'll be lucky if you're so sure it's a good unknown, because if not, it will be your own responsibility."

"Humans, please do not try to..."

"Shut it, Alien, this is none of your concern and you may share the fault as everyone else."

"Seiner, you will not get us anywhere with that tone. We can still monitor her but she doesn't look like an enemy so far, you know that."

"Excuse me, you naïve dumbass?"

But before they could start another scuffle, they notice the flowers coming back to the room.

However, something felt off to them.

They weren't sunflowers anymore, not truly.

One's now an Aster, another is a Star of Bethlehem, the other is a Mullein and last, a red and yellow rose.

Whatever the change was, the group soon noticed what it could mean.

Amira's expression became more nervous and unsure. She knows what could happen if they come to the supposed exit.

"Dear Humans, maybe you could hear this out... whatever brought us here is likely to allow us to see what we're going to face in the war now that we have those artifacts. Because right now... I am afraid of what will happen next. Once we exit, everything we had in our lives before, everything that we did, will be all gone forever."

"Forever? You can't be absolutely serious," Seiner says while staring at her.

"No, Seiner, I feel the same thing," Logan says.

"I- me too," Tany replies in a surprisingly sad tone.

"So what, you want us to commit suicide?" Seiner scoffs once more.

"We're not sure, and that would be what could happen, but right now, there's a world in flames-nay- a galaxy in flames right now, we've all been waiting for a miracle that could make us wish the Zlocu will eventually be stopped for good. And sometimes, a miracle must happen at the hands of anyone. Here, it is we who should make it work. Right now, even if it may not be good. What we should do next is necessary for all of us," Logan replies.

"No, you don't mean..." Seiner replies as he looks narrowly at Logan.

"Just tell me, people, are you truly prepared for what may come next? Just know what I've said. Consider it."

Silence fills the room for a moment as the four think of what this decision could bring them. Should they try to commit their ideology for a just cause and a changing world even if it means not being the same anymore and not getting back to their past lives? Could they withstand what they could face in the future? So many questions are swirling in their minds.

Then, after a period of silence, Seiner raises his head to face Logan.

"Well, not much of a choice I guess."

"Same. It does not matter what may happen to us now. I will be willing to do anything to stop them," Amira says.

"Let's just say, I'm in for the fun! Hope it's really fun..." Tany says in a sudden shift of two tones.

Logan then slightly smiles at them, knowing that despite everything, the right choice is that they need to settle things.

And with no second thoughts, they all head to the exit, now ready for a new step in their lives.

A new step in becoming something better than they can imagine.


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