Chapter ?? (Preparations)
Aiden appeared aboard the Boat of the Sun. Within a second of being back aboard the massive vessel, Ra was at his side. The look of most deep concern was on his face.
"Aiden, there are no words that I can offer to you to comfort the sorrow you are experiencing. There was no other way to save humanity. The lengths of corruption Apocolyptica can distill within a person can corrode them to the point of no return. Bill was beyond that point and the only thing that would have been effective was to grant him the mercy of death. Even though you can't understand it just yet, you saved Bill, not destroyed him."
Aiden became very tense. It took everything in him to hold back the feeling that was churning within his gut.
"I understand that he was too far gone. The conversation we had proved that to myself. I just wish that it could have been someone else, anyone else to have to fight him."
Ra put his hand on his shoulder and spoke in the angelic tone that Aiden was so accustomed to.
"Only you could have defeated him Aiden. You are stronger than you know and you saw the extent of your powers once you were angered. You and Bill matured to a point the entire council took millennia to reach, in just a few days. Don't you see it Aiden? Why Apocolyptica wants to destroy humanity? Long ago, the Zurokian's found their way to a lush world, full of life and able to support their dying species. After living on the planet for many years, they noticed a mutation in their newborn. The children began to exhibit traits such as a need to breath the oxygen within the atmosphere. Their powers began to suppress within themselves because the need to use them was no longer as required as it had been in the outer rims of the universe. Taking notice of this, some of the Zurokians ventured back into space to track down their leader. It took many centuries to track him down and the Zurokians left on earth continued to breed and forget their ties to their ancestors.
We are not sure what happened to the Zurokians that left earth originally and their fates, but we are sure that their leader returned to earth at around the time that we were born. From space he probed within everybody's minds until he found us. He couldn't understand what was happening within ourselves or why everyone's minds were putting the mental blocks on themselves at such a quick rate. The events that followed are the same that I have previously explained to you. During the fight in space when Apocolyptica disappeared during the battle, none of us knew where he had gone, here until recently that is. Apocolyptica discovered a planet like earth in the far reaches of the milky way. There had been a civilization much like humanity there. He discovered the same mental blocks on the people of that planet that he discovered the humans had. He spent all of his time probing and examining their minds trying to piece together what was going on.
Apocolyptica developed his suspicions and left the planet alone for the time being. His suspicions were the same as my own but neither of us had any solid evidence that they were correct. When I released your minds, both of our suspicions rose after just a couple of days. After your fight with Bill, they were confirmed. The power of the Zurokian's minds that have been dormant within humans have been experiencing evolution over all this time. The mental blocks that were originally within your human minds are fading away. Only the blocks we placed within your minds are keeping humanity from having a massive explosion of evolution. We still are not sure why the original mental blocks had developed within our minds. We can only speculate that they were there to allow the mind to evolve at a slow paced rate as to not destroy the people.
Being pure Zurokian, Apocolyptica's more threatened by humanity than ever before. Your mind has evolved past that of the rest of the council. Apocolyptica is much stronger than the council since he has become pure, but he is unsure how well he would match up with you after examining your fight with Bill. He doesn't know if he would be able to defeat you if you both fought. With the knowledge of this, Apocolyptica immediately sent his Leviathan to the planet he had recently discovered and wiped them out. Now, it is on its way to earth to do the same. Apocolyptica will stop it nothing to make sure that humanity can not threaten the race of the pure Zurokians."
For the first time since all of this began, Aiden felt a feeling of triumph. Apocolyptica was scared of him. His feelings on the matter were short-lived however.
"If the Leviathan is on its way to earth we need to start the evacuation process Ra."
Ra showed quite a bit of concern on his face.
"I agree completely and we need to make some very quick decisions Aiden. First of all, who to save and who not to save. We have vessels but we can't possibly save the billions of people on the entire planet. We can save enough to be in just the millions. We did not foresee Apocolyptica making a move this quickly and I am sincerely sorry we did not create more ships for a possible evacuation."
Aiden thought for a moment. He was having trouble forming thoughts at all. Something was eating away at his insides and it was driving him crazy.
"As I told Bill, the ones that are already corrupt, need to stay and face their fates. We need to examine everyone and pick the most pure of mind people that we can. If humanity is to survive we need to do it with the best humanity has to offer."
Ra nodded in agreement.
"I believe your correct so far. You still need to decided the fate of everyone that is left behind. Should we just leave them for the Leviathan, or should we end their lives for them quickly and painlessly? We could make them simply slip into a sleep and never wake up. It would be a very 'humane' way to go about the process."
Aiden looked slightly confused.
"Why do you say that I still need to decide Ra? Shouldn't both of us come up with these decisions as important as they are?"
Ra gained his serious look.
"Humanity is your race Aiden. I am here to council you and advise you about how to go about it but ultimately it is your people and your decision to make."
Aiden let it go and began to think on what to do.
"I think after we select who we will save and after we have them on the vessels, that we should give everyone left behind options. We can talk to them all at once and show them quickly what is happening. We should give them the option to slip into a deep sleep they will never wake up from, wait for the Leviathan to come and let them watch the planet be destroyed as they are still there, or live their last moments with their families so that they can say their goodbyes."
Ra smiled.
"I agree with giving them options Aiden but we can tweak them slightly."
Aiden looked at Ra eagerly.
"By all means I am open to any suggestions Ra."
Ra began to speak.
"As I said before, the council and I are all sorry for not having taken preemptive measures against this event. I can gather the council that has sided with me and we can simultaneously cut off their minds just before they are destroyed by the Leviathan. It would give them as much time together as possible and they still would not have to experience a horrible death. The people left behind would also not have to worry about not being able to reach their families. We would bring them all together in an instant so that everyone gets the moments they deserve with the ones that they love. As for the 'corrupt' and anyone else on the planet, when we give the people these options we will make it very clear that any aggressive actions at all will result in an immediate death. This will ensure that riots do not break out around the world and that the families last moments will be spent in peace."
Aiden was very pleased with the modifications to his original idea.
"I like those additions to the options Ra and I think that is how we should do things. We need to quickly start selecting who we are taking. How much time do we have?"
Ra looked very concerned.
"Two more days before the beast reaches the planet."
Aiden turned towards earth and began to examine it.
"We better get started then."
Aiden's focus was drifting and he had a hard time trying to examine anything. Ra took notice of this and began to speak in the softest most angelic tone he had ever used with anyone.
"Aiden. I want to tell you something I have never revealed to anyone. Being in the early stages of humanity, our emotions had not developed to the same point that humans have today. I have never known what the emotion of love feels like and I assure you I never will. I have seen what the power of love can accomplish though, and even within humanity it causes people to do great things that other humans can't do. In your fight with Bill you spoke of different kinds of love. You loved Bill as a sibling and you love Mariya as a wife. You had to make a choice that nobody should ever have to make. You had to choose between her or him, who lived and who died. To add to it I have made you have to choose the same thing again right after your loss, and on a much greater scale. It is wrong of me to put you through these things but it is what is necessary. Your powers are so great because your mind has evolved to allow your emotions to amplify them. If humanity is to survive you must stop harboring this sorrow within yourself and let your emotions out like you would have before I unlocked your mind.
This being said and after all you have been put through, I wish to grant you a small mercy. You have told me how you want to go about saving the planet. There are at least two days left before the Leviathan reaches earth. I want you to take the first one to be with Mariya. Tell her what is happening and what happened with Bill. She is one of the purest minds I have ever seen. She will comfort you and it is something you desperately need because as you and I both know, you are having trouble focusing on everything at the time being. The council and I can more than handle the evacuation with the instructions we have created. I know this is a bad time but she is worried about your disappearance and she needs you as much as you need her right now. Go, be with her. Act as if everything is normal to the best you can for one last day. We will take care of the rest and meet up with you after this day."
Aiden didn't know what to say. He started to object but Ra held his hand up in defiance. It was clear that there was no choice. Aiden hadn't given thought to what Mariya had gone through the past few days and suddenly felt a strong urge to be with her. He gave Ra a look of deep respect and gratitude. Ra nodded in acknowledgment and Aiden disappeared.
Aiden reappeared at his home on earth. It seemed like ages since he had been in the large two story house. It was around midnight and he went up the stairs headed straight for Mariya's presence in their room. He stopped outside their door to the sound of Mariya crying. He read her thoughts and saw what she was thinking.
"Aiden, I should have never told you two to go further into the cave. We should have waited until backup arrived. It's all my fault I lost you. I've lost myself too because without you I am lost. And poor Bill. I haven't been able to bring up the courage inside myself to tell his family yet. How am I supposed to tell them I killed their son and my husband. What will I tell Aiden's family. I'm so sorry my love. I just wish that we had found at least something when we got there. There were no traces of anything except for the camera which was fried. There were no traces of any bodies so we don't even have remains to return to the families for a funeral. I just wish GPE could find some sort of sign of what happened to you Aiden. I just need some sign or closure to help me accept you're gone."
Aiden listened for a short while longer and then decided to walk in.
"Mariya. It's me."
Mariya spun around in surprise, a look of horror on her face.
"Aiden? It. It can't be. How? It's not possible we looked everywhere. I am going crazy."
Aiden walked towards her.
"No Mariya, your not crazy. It really is me."
He proceeded towards her and reached out to her. She jerked away at first in fear, but slowly began to reach towards Aiden's outstretched hands. As they made contact she pulled Aiden towards her and rubbed his hand over her cheeks. Convinced she was really feeling his presence, she stood up and embraced him. She stared into his eyes with the most intense gaze she had ever given him, as if to peer directly into his soul to secure his existence in her own mind. Aiden pulled her closer and put his forehead on hers. She wrapped her arms around his neck and pulled him in. They kissed passionately for a few minutes. She put her forehead back against Aiden's and burst into tears. She spoke very quietly at first.
"I thought you were dead. We couldn't find your bodies. I. I didn't know what to do Aiden. I have been so lost without you."
Aiden felt his stomach churn.
"I know honey, I know. I have been through a lot and have much that I need to explain to you in a very short time. Please be patient and I'll explain everything to you."
She pulled him close and hugged him as hard as she possibly could.
"I'm just so happy your alive. Now tell me everything."
Aiden smiled at her and sat her down on the bed with him.
"It is something I will have to show you."
She looked very confused. Aiden spoke up once more.
"Just be patient and trust me."
Aiden jumped into her mind and showed her everything that had happened within the tomb. He showed her Ra and Ra's tale of their being. He showed her their training and everything they had done to begin to prepare. He showed her everything except for his fight with Bill and the parts of his recent conversation with Ra that concerned Bill. Mariya was in complete shock.
"I am going crazy. O my god I am crazy."
Aiden laughed.
"Honey I promise you your not crazy. Everything I have showed you is the real truth of our species."
Mariya's expression was still one of shock.
"I can't believe this is happening. Everything we know is going to be destroyed."
Aiden nodded to confirm her statement.
"We don't have much time. As you saw, Ra and the other council are working right now to prepare everything. He wouldn't let me help. He said I needed to spend time with you in a normal day before he would let me begin to help again."
They both smiled. She kissed him once more.
"Well I think Ra is a very wise person and I am in such a debt to him for giving you back to me. As worried as I am about everything I am so happy your here with me that nothing can spoil it. We should go to bed and we can finish talking in the morning."
Aiden agreed and the two of them undressed and got into the bed. They cuddled up together and held each other close, staring into each others eyes. Aiden passionately kissed Mariya.
"I love you honey, so much. You should get some sleep. We have a big day tomorrow."
Aiden looked into her eyes until she eventually dozed off. Aiden laid there for a long time before finally dozing off himself. They woke up early, around nine in the morning, and began to make breakfast. They did everything just as they would their normal routine. As they were sitting at the table finished with their meals, Mariya spoke up.
"So, what are our plans for the day sweetie?"
Aiden gave her a huge smile.
"Well I can take us anywhere. When I say that I mean anywhere. How would you like to see Saturn in person?"
Her eyes widened.
"I don't think a space tour would be that bad to be honest. It sounds like a wonderful way to spend the day!"
Aiden laughed at her enthusiasm.
"Well we need to go and make a lunch and snacks for us to take with us, it will be a long day."
She was two steps ahead of him. She went into the kitchen and began to make lunches and snacks.
"There is just one thing I would like to do before the day is over Aiden."
Aiden looked curious but didn't want to spoil her mood by reading her mind to find out.
"What's that honey?"
She smiled sweetly.
"I want to go somewhere away from everyone else tonight. I want to go somewhere where we can see all the stars, here on earth. We should go to Iceland, it is so beautiful there."
Aiden nodded.
"Anything and anywhere you wanna go Mariya."
Mariya finished with the lunches and snacks and they departed on their journey. Their first stop was Saturn. Aiden put up a massive atmosphere around them so that she would have plenty of oxygen to breath for the trip. Mariya's face was of pure amazement as she was able to go back and forth through the rings of the gas giant. They continued to go to all the planets within the outer solar system and then proceeded out into the other portions of the milky way. They viewed breath taking nebulae and ate lunch on a white dwarf. They toured the galaxy and had never enjoyed each others company more than that day. Drawing towards the end of their day they returned to earth and Aiden took them to the most beautiful and secluded place in all of Iceland. They laid there and looked up at the stars, silent and enjoying each others company. Mariya rolled over to gaze at Aiden. His gaze was focused on a certain part of the sky. Mariya took notice of this and attempted to make conversation.
"Sweetie, thank you so much for today. I really enjoyed myself. I never thought I could see so many things that would blow my imagination in the same day. Planets are so much more beautiful in person."
Aiden's focus never left the spot in space.
"Sweetie? Aiden? Aiden!"
Aiden quickly snapped out of it and turned to meet her gaze.
"I'm sorry honey I was daydreaming. What was it you said?"
She gave him a look as if she wasn't convinced and then repeated herself.
"I am glad you enjoyed yourself Mariya. Having my abilities definitely has its benefits. Is there anything else you would like to do tonight?"
Mariya blew off the recent encounter and began to talk again.
"I am satisfied just laying here with you for now."
She snuggled up against her husband and began to stare up at the stars again. After a little while, she noticed that once again, Aiden was staring at the same spot in the sky as he had been earlier.
"Honey, are you alright? You seem very distracted right now. Is something on your mind? You know you can talk to me about anything, right?"
Aiden seemed to ignore her, caught in his intense gaze at the sky. Mariya pulled Aiden's face close to hers and gave him a very serious look.
"Aiden, I don't need to have my mind unlocked to see that something is clearly wrong. You have been staring at that same spot all night long. Something is wrong. You are not telling me something and it is starting to drive me crazy. I love you Aiden, and I know you better than anyone else in the entire universe. You are never distracted like this. Something horrible happened and your holding it in. You know better than to hold things in, it tears you apart from the inside, it always has. You are really starting to worry me and I need you to tell me what is going on so that I can do my job as your wife to comfort you and help you move past this."
The tearing at Aiden's gut skyrocketed. His whole body felt like it was shutting down. His knees began to shake uncontrollably. He was doing everything he could to hold it back but it was building and it wouldn't yield to anything he did. Mariya sat up and put her hands on his knees to stop them. She stood him up and gently embraced him. She pulled back slightly and took his head in her hands and stared deep into Aiden's soul. In the most loving tone she had ever used.
"Aiden my love, please. Let me into your mind. Let me help you make things better."
Aiden began to speak, but fell silent once more. Mariya decided to resort to drastic measures and use a tactic she had used every time she had ever needed to get Aiden to open up. She looked down in a pouting manner and said.
"I bet if Bill was here you would tell him."
The words struck Aiden at his core. His entire body went stiff and turned ice cold. Icy fingers crawled through his body and took hold of his heart. His knees started shaking again, followed by his entire upper body. Every ounce of will power he had was being used to hold the feelings back but the cold just grew colder and colder as it took over his body. Mariya instantly noticed the change and put the clues together.
"Aiden I am so sorry. I, I didn't realize. What happened to Bill? Oh my god I am so sorry I feel terrible!"
Mariya started crying badly as she pulled him close and hugged him as tight as she could.
"Please forgive me Aiden! What happened? Is Bill alright? Please say something!"
Aiden stood there petrified. Mariya persisted.
"Aiden I know it's hard but you have to tell me what happened. It all makes sense now why your so distracted. You can't hold something like that in Aiden you need to talk to me about it! I know how you are and if something really bad happened to Bill it will destroy you on the inside if you don't let it out so that you can actually start the mourning process! Please Aiden! Aiden! Say something! Please say something! Please. Please let me in. I'm just trying to do my job."
Those words. They were what Bill had always said. Every time they had ever gotten into an argument over work Bill would say that. Each time Bill made any sort of achievement those would be his words. The day that Mariya and Aiden had been married, Aiden had told Bill thank you for introducing them in the first place, for giving Aiden the love of his life. That was Bill's reply. If only Aiden could have done the same for Bill maybe for once in his life he could be the one to say those words. It was Bill's phrase, and for some reason hearing it gave Aiden the strength to generate words. He stuttered as he spoke and he spoke very slowly.
"I. I ki..ki..kil...killed him Mariya. I killed my best friend. I didn't just kill him...I cast him from existence."
Mariya was still crying but begged him for more answers.
"What happened honey? You have to get it all out."
Mariya began to cry harder and harder. Aiden slowly started to speak.
"Apocolyptica got to him. He corrupted his mind and there was nothing I could do by the time I realized what had happened. If I had just seen it. If I had paid more attention maybe Bill wouldn't have been taken over by that damn Zurakian! It's my fault. Its all my fault Mariya!"
She started yelling at him tears streaming down her face.
"No! Aiden it was not your fault! You can't blame yourself for something that even Ra overlooked. If what you have shown me is true then there was nothing you could have done to keep Bill from being taken over!"
Pleading with him she held him as close as she could, violently convulsing. Aiden began to speak.
"Bill had told me to meet him and gave me the location after I found out that he was on Apocolyptica's side. We both talked and tried to convince each other that they were right. It wasn't really any different from a normal fight. Everything escalated. He was talking about how humanity is all corrupt, like they are a plague. He said we all had to die including him and I. I asked him if he thought I was corrupt and he nodded yes. Shortly after we began to fight. We beat each other senseless and were pretty evenly matched."
Aiden's fists both clenched as a slight portion of the anger he had felt surged through his body once more. His arms began to shake from the pressure he was extorting on his own hands. Drops of blood began to drip and hit the ground.
"He stopped in the middle and let me see into his mind, his next move. He was going to kill you in front of me Mariya. He was going to let you be crushed in space and then throw your body into a star. After I saw the image, he teleported. I got so angry. Time almost stopped. My reflexes happened before I thought them. I caught him in mid teleport and took him by the throat. He was powerless to defend himself. Everything he did I countered. I electrocuted him till he was just a smoldering body, but still living. I imploded the nearest star into a black hole and threw him into it. Then I destroyed the black hole."
Aiden began to violently convulse. The feeling in his body could be held back no longer. His legs gave out and he fell onto Mariya. She caught him and did her best to set him down. Aiden collapsed onto his hands and knees. Mariya laid upon his back crying with him. Aiden's convulsing turned into deep sobs of regret and sorrow. He screamed in agony as he slammed his fists into the earth, putting small craters into the ground.
"I killed my best friend! Bill, my brother. How could I do such a horrible thing to him? He was there for me my entire life when nobody else was and I killed him out of anger! I couldn't hold back it was you or him Mariya. It's not fair! Why should I have to make a decision like that? Why me? What the hell did I ever do to deserve something like that?"
Aiden's yelling came down to a very low tone.
"What did Bill ever do to deserve something like that?"
Tears were falling off of Aiden's face an began to dampen the earth beneath him.
"He was the best friend that a person could ever have. We grew up as brothers, and tackled our entire lives together. He gave me the love of my life. He did all he could to make our lives the best they could possibly be no matter the circumstances. Even though you are gone, I'll never forget you Bill. I swear on Mariya's life I will never forget you!"
Mariya pulled her husband up into her arms and held him like he was a child. He laid in her arms and cried like he did as a young child against his mother's chest. As he cried harder and harder, he felt the churning feeling deep within him begin to push itself outwards towards his skin. The closer it got to releasing the harder Aiden cried, and the more he tried to hold onto it. Aiden felt it get to the edge of his skin. It bounced against the inner layers as he tried to keep it within himself until finally, it expelled all at once.
The energy that left his body sent a shock wave across the landscape. Everything it touched seemed to go into a state of mourning. The tree's leaves drooped, the blades of grass bent over instead of standing up straight, the constantly flowing fissures in Iceland quieted and stopped completely. The shock wave spread around the entire planet causing the same effect on everything. Every person was hit. They felt and gained a feeling of deep regret and sympathy for some reason none of them could explain. People came together within their families with their loved ones just to be together, to feel like they weren't bearing the feeling alone. The animals of the planet all stopped hunting each other, stopped playing, stopped living their everyday lives. They all sat down in respect and waited for the feeling to pass.
From directly above Aiden and Mariya a cloud formed and quickly spread. Rain began to gently fall from the cloud and began to soak the landscape. The cloud spread and spread until the entire globe was covered by it. The planet was mourning with Aiden and willingly sharing his burden. It was as if a greater force was working in the background to let Aiden know that everything was alright, that he was not alone in having to deal with the burden placed on him, that he was being forgiven and that everything was going to be alright. Aiden and Mariya cried for hours and hours and the entire planet mourned with them.
It was almost sunrise and Aiden and Mariya had both ran out of tears. The feeling he had had deep within him had completely gone and he was finally able to accept what had happened and begin to move on with it. Mariya turned to him and looked at him lovingly.
"How are you doing? Do you feel any better now?"
Aiden gave her a broken smile.
"I honestly do Mariya. I still feel horrible about it but the feeling I had that was eating at me is gone. I think I'll be able to move on now."
Mariya lightened up a bit, her eyes red from all of the crying.
"I am so happy to hear that, and so sorry about Bill. I know you loved him honey."
Aiden smiled a bit.
"I did love him. He was my brother. That being said, he wouldn't want me to be like this, I know that for a fact. I will get Apocolyptica for this. I will destroy him I swear it Mariya."
She looked down and then back up at him.
"I know you will, but right now you have more important things to worry about."
Aiden nodded.
"I know I do. Can I tell you something Mariya?"
She looked at him with a funny look.
"Of course sweetie, you can tell me anything."
He began to talk to her about what had happened when he started crying in her arms.
"Right before that whole thing happened I had something inside of me trying desperately to get out. It pried at me and dug its way through my skin. I've had that feeling since my fight with Bill and it was eating away at me. When it was trying to escape my body, for some reason I didn't want to let it go. I wanted to hold onto it forever, but the more I fought the harder it tried to escape. After it got out I had already wished it was still there, even though it caused me all of that pain and misery. Once it was out it caused what happened to happen. I wonder what it was?"
Mariya shrugged her shoulders.
"I have no idea honey, but I am sure whatever it was, it tried so hard to get out of your body for a good reason. Like I said, when you hold those things in they eat at you. It's a good thing it was let out. Whatever it was, it leaving your body gave you the strength to move on, to let go."
Aiden seemed pleased with the answer. They stood up to gather their things. The cloud was still blanketing the entire planet. As they had gathered everything Aiden looked up to the sky to the spot where Bill and him had fought. He thought to himself.
"I wish I had an explanation for what happened there. I wonder why there was such a massive reaction? What force could possibly want to help me bear such a burden for no reason?"
As he thought those words, the cloud opened up and a beam of light shown down directly on Aiden and Mariya. It was the most beautiful light they had ever seen. It was heavenly. It shown upon them for a few minutes and they couldn't pull themselves from it because of the sheer beauty. That's when he heard it, the answer to his questions.
"I'm just trying to do my job."