The Keys to the Future

Chapter I: A Friend Revealed

Well, the battle for Ibara was over, and I thought the overall battle for Halla was finished. I couldn't have been any more wrong. I stood in a familiar, yet devastating place all the same. As I stood there, I remembered all the things that brought me here. I remembered how it started, and everything that happened along the way. First, I remembered all the losses and deaths.

The first casualty was Uncle Press. I still lie awake at night wishing the outcome was different. His death really hit home on Second Earth, since that was where I knew him best. The second casualty was the result of my two best friends traveling. The flume on Eelong collapsed, killing Kasha, the Klee Traveler. We had been distant up until a few weeks before. We weren't exactly friends, but I had hoped to call her such in the future. I never got the chance. She died in the flume, and Spader and Gunny, two people I would've trusted my life to, were trapped.

Then came the death of someone I didn't know…directly. Remudi, the traveler from Ibara. After his death, I was determined to finish what he started. I was determined to actually save the territory of Quillan. I failed, miserably. Had I fled Quillan after he fell to his death, things there might have turned out different. Unfortunately, it wasn't the last blow I would receive on Quillan.

After weeks of effort, we had destroyed the games and were ready to unleash Mr. Pop on the world and set it straight. We were close. Closer than I ever thought we would get. For so long, the Revivers waited for the right time. When the games were destroyed, the time was right. They were close, until Mr. Pop was discovered.

It wasn't discovered by someone we thought of as an enemy at the time. The Revivers showed both the Traveler of Quillan, Nevva Winter, and my self Mr. Pop. Mr. Pop, the wonderful warehouse that contained the entire past of Quillan, was what motivated me to see the territory through to the end. I participated in the Grand X and won. The runners of Blok were gone, and Mr. Pop was ready.

Then came the Dados. They came in waves, slowly destroying Mr. Pop, and with it the entire hope of the territory. It was over. We had lost. Right before I left, the screens above the streets of Rune came to life, broadcasting the return of Blok, and their sadistic games. The Revival was over, and Quillan was lost. But the final blow wasn't the fact we lost, it was how we lost. A friend betrayed us. To the Revivers, it was shocking. To me, it was devastating. Nevva Winter was the one who revealed the location to Blok. Not only that, but she sided with Saint Dane in the end. I vowed to never set foot on Quillan again.

From there, I went to Ibara; the tropical paradise that harbored more than met the eye. At first, the territory was at peace, or so I thought. I set sail with the Jakills, the outlaw band of people who wanted nothing more than the truth, to a forgotten city. It was then that things got bad. Flighters had captured one of the Jakills and had presumably killed the rest. That is when I learned of Ibara's past. The past of Veelox itself. Yes, Ibara was just the name of the island we had started from. Veelox was the territory. I was more than three hundred years in the future of the Veelox I knew. Since then, Lifelight had shut itself down, and the world stood frozen in ruin, with all the hope on the little island of Ibara.

All you need to know is, we lost Ibara. Plain and simple. It was the first of two crushing blows to our cause. Three of the ten territories had fallen so far. I thought myself trapped on Ibara until I learned that Siry Remudi's father, the last Traveler from Ibara, had named an Acolyte. Acolytes were the Travelers main source of help. The Acolyte was on the Tribunal of Rayne. It was…surprising in the least, but then I remembered they had been friends. It was Genj. The big man on the Tribunal.

I admit, I was starting to enjoy my time on Ibara, and I would've loved to stay longer. The island wasn't exactly defenseless, but it still wasn't a safe place. People were scared, and the Flighters kept coming. One night, I was approached by Genj.

"Pendragon. A word?" He asked.

"Sure."

"There is something you should know. It involves that ring of yours," He began.

"Wait, what do you know of the ring?" I asked, puzzled.

"I know what they do. I've gotten messages," he said.

"Wait, how?"

"Through this," he finished. He pulled out the necklace that hung on his neck. It wasn't really a necklace. It was just a dark rope. It had one of the rings hanging off the end. "He told me everything. He told me to trust you when you showed up, but I was skeptical about you. You were, different. To be honest, you scared a lot of us. I couldn't find a way to explain you, but when you told us your name, we understood. Only I was told the whole truth, but we all knew that Remudi said to trust you to the end, so we gave you the chance."

"So what do you mean?"

"I mean, I know how these work. I wondered wondered down to the destroyed tunnel last night, and something happened. A section of the tunnel remained open, and this thing created a huge lightshow, and then I was staring at a large, black tunnel. I got to urge to walk down it, but something held me back. It was a good thing I did, because an explosion of light and sound came through from the other side."

"Who came back," I aksed.

"He wasn't exactly tall, and he wasn't old. He still had a bit of boyishness about him," he said.

"Did you catch his name?"

"Yes, as a matter of fact I did.. His name was Patrick. He was looking for you," he said.

"What did he want?"

"He just said to meet him on his home territory."

So Genj led me down to the tunnel and through to the flume. That was how I managed to escape Ibara. I arrived in the flume cave, and sure enough, it was there. I suddenly wished I could stay, but I had a mission to accomplish. I called out," Third Earth."

"Stay here and do what you can to keep this territory headed down the right path," I called to Genj. "If you can do that, we my just very well turn this territory back the right way. Good luck."

"Good luck to you Pendragon. I hope you find what you're looking for, and I hope it isn't a complete nightmare," he said.

"I hope so too," I called out, and the light took me away.