I cannot believe the day would come that I am publishing a story...me, an enthusiastic reader but not a writer at all!
This story is about Alexander and Hephaestion's resurrection and their new adventures in the twenty-second century. It is purely fictional, of course.
Actually I am not the writer but the translator. It is originally written by a Chinese fan with the pen name of 矢车菊. The story is well-liked and highly recommended by many Alexander fans in China.
As a tribute to Alexander's death anniversary today, I translated the first chapter of the story and published it here. Hope you will enjoy the story as much as I do!
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Chapter 1: The resurrection of Alexander (Part One)
Alexander made a great effort, and finally he managed to crack his eyes open a little, he sensed that his eyelids were as heavy as if filled with lead.
The strong light forced him to close his eyes again. He could not remember how long it had been that he saw any light. He felt light-headed and dizzy, vague about anything that happened before.
He forced himself up, and opened his eyes to look around no matter how much effort it might take. The outside world seemed to be very noisy, and he simply couldn't afford to lie around doing nothing.
He finally overcame the stimulus of the fierce light, and opened his eyes wide.
It was a big clean space as white as snow. He did not know what space this is, because it did not seem like a house, or a temple, or any open space. The strong light came from some shining strips neatly arranged on the ceiling top. He lay on a snow-white bed, small but quite comfortable, high off the ground. The furniture and decorations were very strange, a lot of shining metal boxes and transparent utensils, and he had never seen anything like that before. Everything seemed to be shining and amazing. There was a quirky bracelet on his wrist and some strange metal pieces attached to his chest.
Alexander tried to get up, but failed because he was still weak. Always a brave and proud man, he struggled off the bed with trembling feet.
Four walls around were all covered with huge mirrors, from top to bottom, and he could see numerous his own reflections in those mirrors. He had never seen such huge mirror walls before. In his day there were only small polished bronze mirrors, and absolutely nothing like what he saw.
Suddenly he became scared. Was he dead? Was this Mount Olympus or the underworld? The last thing he remembered was all the pain he suffered, lying in the Babylon Palace on that hot summer night.
All of sudden something strange on his bedside table started to shriek, and his heart jumped into his throat. That strange thing had a little window with some fancy dancing color patterns inside.
"Hephaestion! Where are you!?" Alexander touched up and down those impenetrable mirror walls. If he was really dead, shouldn't he be able to see his Hephaestion? Didn't the priests in Siwa grant Hephaestion the Divine Hero status? "I am Alexander! Answer me!"
Nobody answered him, but a bunch of bright light appeared in the central of the space, then it turned into some letters, with a voice: "Dear Alexander, welcome to the twenty-second century! If you have any questions, please press this button!"
The voice had a really strange accent, which Alexander could barely understand. During his campaign he got used to all kinds of strange accents. Persian's, Egyptian's, Indian's, whatever. Even though not as good a linguist as Hephaestion, he had the ability to adapt and understand. Besides, the letters inside the light were basically correct.
But the voice said to press a button. What did that mean? And what on hell was a button?
Bold and curious, Alexander was not going to sit there giving up the opportunity for exploration, simply because he didn't understand. He pressed down fiercely even though he did not see anything like a "button" inside the light.
"Do you have any questions?" The voice asked immediately.
"Please tell me. Am I dead or alive? Where am I? How can I find my friend?" Alexander asked all these questions anxiously but still politely.
The answer came back. "You died before, and have now been successfully resurrected in our lab. Now it is the twenty-second century, that is, 2500 years after your death. Please provide your friend's name as well as your own. We are willing to help. "
Alexander's jaw dropped to the floor, and he was completely stunned by the answer.
It was not that he didn't believe in resurrection. In Egypt, everyone was convinced that Pharaohs would be resurrected in the future. He was the Pharaoh anointed by the High Priest. Who said he would not be resurrected?
But this place didn't look like Egypt, and the lights said a lab, what was that? How could it be that the God who resurrected him did not even know his name? What about Hephaestion? Could he be resurrected as well?
"Great Zeus-Amon!" Alexander fell down to his knees towards the beams of light. "I am your most humble and devoted son Alexander, thank you for the great favor you bestow on me! All the people in my empire are your pious followers!"
The light, however, seemed to lose the reaction somehow.
Alexander continued to bow down, and he wanted to ask God to resurrect Hephaestion as well.
The light suddenly intensified and became glaring. These letters appeared:
"Please chose an answer to the following questions:
1. Who are you?
A: Alexander III of Macedon; B: Tutankhamun of Egypt; C: Richard the Lionhearted; D: Steve Jobs
2. Who is your father?
A: Julia Caesar; B: George Clooney; C: Philip II of Macedon; D: Albert Einstein
3. Who is your mother?
A: Cleopatra of Egypt; B: Lady Gaga; C: Angelina Jolie; D: Olympias of Epirus
4. What is the name of your best friend?
A: Hephaestion; B: Judas Iscariot; C: Octavian Augustus; D: Marcus Junius Brutus
5. What is your favorite book?
A: A Tale of Two Cities; B: Harry Potter; C: The Lord of the Rings; D: Iliad
6. Which city did you found?
A: New York; B: Paris; C: Alexandria; D: Athens
…
Alexander read those questions with aghast, his emotions went from adoration to contempt. God is omniscient, and he would never ask those stupid questions! Whoever he faced was definitely not God!
He stood up, holding his head high, and arrogantly declared: "First, you need to tell me your King's name! Ask your King to come and see me! Otherwise I will never answer the questions asked by some barbarians!" He jumped onto his bed and closed his eyes, not willing to say anything else.
Alexander was uneasy and nervous. He felt that he was being treated more like a prisoner facing interrogation, rather than a respected guest in a sacred temple.
Sometime later, a small hole appeared on the mirror wall. Alexander secretly cracked his eyes open a little bit, in order to see what is going on. He was really shocked by to see a metal monster. But the monster greeted him very politely, presenting him with a plate of... food?
Alexander already knew the location of the hole in the mirror wall. He pretended to accept food, and took advantage of the monster's negligence to seize its "legs" - actually a pair of wheels – and hit the hole in the mirror wall forcefully.
The mirror – which obviously was not made of bronze - shattered into numerous small particles, falling down like snow. He could hear screams behind the mirror wall. There were many big boxes with red and green shining lights. A group of people, short and tall, all wearing the same clothes, of different ages and skin colors, stood terrified and screamed.
Alexander shouted out loud and charged towards those people, carrying one arm of the unfortunate monster that he had just smashed. Before he could take two steps forward, suddenly he was sucked by a strong force into the air, and then thrown back onto the bed. Two belts automatically appeared from either side of the bed and tied him firmly to the bed.
"I protest!" Alexander shouted himself hoarse and struggled with all his strength. "Even prisoners have the right to choose to die with dignity! You have no right to treat me this way!" He believed he performed with more dignity and courage than Porus. But he was unwilling to accept the reality that he had become a prisoner.
That beam of light appeared again: "Please calm down Alexander, your body is hurt with broken glasses, and in need of treatment. Please believe that we have no ill intention. You are now in the twenty-second century, which is very different from the era you used to live. You need to adapt slowly. "
But Alexander did not appreciate those words. Throughout his life he always ordered people around, instead of being ordered around. Such an experience was definitely disastrous for him.
"My little cornflower (note 1), I am so glad you are not resurrected, I don't want you to see how your poor King suffers. He is now more hapless than Darius." His heart was heavy, but he had to keep a very aggressive and hard look, and spat on the beam of light that asked him to calm down.
The light started to tell him what happened after his death. His generals started killing each other and carving up his empires, as soon as he died. Within a few years, his family was murdered and his empire crumpled and split into several parts.
"You're lying! Nonsense!" Alexander could not believe the horrible news. His most trusted friends Ptolemy and Seleucus were the first to carve up his empire. His companions had fought and murdered each other for his inheritance. His whole family including his only son was brutally murdered.
Alexander became hysterical upon that terrible news. A metal monster struck on his arm quickly, and he fell into a deep but troubled sleep.
He dreamt of Hephaestion again. He had countless such dreams since his beloved's death. They galloped on horseback, laughing out loud, as happy as before. But suddenly he lost his little cornflower. No matter how desperately, he searched and searched, but couldn't find him.
Alexander woke up sobbing. Like many times before, his heart was in so much pain, like a sharp knife cut through it.
The light started lecturing him. "Cheer up, young man! Your empire is history. Forget it. Let's face the beautiful reality of today. Start living a happy life in the twenty-second century!"
The whole mirror wall suddenly became transparent, and Alexander could see bright sunshine and a blue sky, green grass and colorful flowers.
The light revealed to him the wonders of the twenty-second century, and Alexander watched with his mouth open. Overlapping layers of the roads, flying cars, pedestrians wearing weird clothes, fancy high-rise buildings. Everything looked strange but wonderful. The only somewhat familiar scene was Persepolis that he burned down, and those ruins remained a shadow of themselves two thousand years later. When he saw a few gray columns on the hill in Athens, he absolutely refused to believe this was the relic of the magnificent Temple of Athena that he visited as a young man.
All those novelties aroused Alexander's interest greatly. His ambition began to thrive. He swore that he would find a way to survive, to escape into this strange and beautiful world to re-establish his army and dynasty.
"Holographic screen." This was the name of the light. It also showed him various foods which looked very delicious for his choice. A "robot". This was the name of the metal monster who brought in those foods to let him enjoy, including wines that tasted wonderful. His bed rose up automatically, so that he could dine comfortably. But his legs were still bound. After the meal the robot gave him a sponge bath and washed his head, trimmed his hair and gave him a clean shave under his guidance. Alexander looked at his radiant reflection in the mirror, quite satisfied with the robot's service. Unfortunately he had not even a penny in hand now, and therefore could not give a reward.
Alexander got a pen and some paper upon his request. The paper was white, smooth and thin, and his writings by the pen were slender. He was accustomed to writing large characters, and each paper could hardly hold several sentences (note 2). Alexander was a man with great ability to adapt. He soon got used to the new paper and pen, and began to record his adventures, with the hope that one day he would find Hephaestion. He could show them off to his beloved.
Below is an excerpt of Alexander's letter to Hephaestion:
"My dear beloved little cornflower, You'll never guess where I am! I am resurrected! After 2500 years that is, yes. I temporarily lost my freedom, but it is very exciting. A new unknown world, waiting for my conquest.
Please do not worry about me, there is a mental monster called a robot who is taking good care of me. I do not miss Bagoas at all because the robot is doing such a good job to replace him. The only thing I have to do is to find you as soon as possible, to help you come back to me. We will never be separated again, either in life or death, or reborn."
Below is an excerpt of a secret lab report:
"The world's first cloned mummy tissue, culture records number 09, was unearthed from unrecorded and owner-less pyramids in Egypt (presumably Alexander the Great's tomb).
Male, height 166 cm, age 33. Time of death was around 323 BC, for unknown reasons.
The man is Indo-European, gold chestnut hair, blue-gray pupil left and right pupil brown, naïve and handsome looking, physically strong, well-built body, possessing physically quick reactions. Skull, chest, arms, legs, all have wounds and scars; necrosis in right lower lung lobe due to penetrating wound; alcoholic cirrhosis, brain damage, hypertension, mild epilepsy, and severe bipolar disorder could be cured through gene repair or clinical operations.
The male has a high IQ, a child prodigy, narcissistic personality, serious violent tendencies, mild paranoia, with psychological therapy strongly recommended.
If the man proves to be Alexander the Great, then the experiment will be an unprecedented breakthrough."
Note 1: Alexander called Hephaestion his cornflower because of the beautiful blue color of the flower.
Note 2: I believe the author is confusing the ancient Greek stylus with the Chinese brush pen. People wrote on bamboo or wood with a small brush pen, in the 4th century BC in China; you had to write the letters pretty big, even though there were small writings as well.