The Prime Macula was an interesting point in time. Not much information was found of this strange and interesting sickness. Only two holders of this were ever documented, but only one of them has had their name found. Two of these holders had gotten terrible fates due to this colossal supernatural disease.
The holder that had his name revealed by some researchers, was Hugo. The original holder's name is yet to be discovered.
We don't have much history of it, but what we do know, was that this wasn't any ordinary plague.
It's written down that there will be a third holder, but we have yet to see this sickness come back from all those years ago.
Old texts suggest that the Macula can only be completely eradicated if all three holders are gathered under one roof. However, such a reunion seems implausible, leaving the fate of the Macula uncertain until its potential resurgence.
Callum sighed and closed the book. He needed to know who that first holder was. The quest to discover the identity of the first Macula holder consumed him. Or.. he'll never get the answers he needs, for his journey he wants to do. He got up from the dining table and then pushed the book aside.
He left from the dining room, then down the hall, into his bathroom. He looked at himself in the mirror, then at his neck.
He traced the black veins with his finger. Sometimes it comes on, sometimes it doesn't. "What the hell is this thing..." It's been bugging him for a few months. Even longer than that, since he was very young, but he never took any notice of it. He thought all those fevers were just the standard flu or a cold... But it seems to be something more.
Doctors and nurses never seem to know what's going on with him, and every time he goes to see them, the black veins in his neck go away. He tried to take pictures of it, but every time he showed the Doctors, they never believed him.
Callum has two brothers, Marcus, and James. Only them and his parents have seen it. They gave him so many medications, but nothing seemed to work.
Callum thought it was over for him since he was getting no help, but then something just was nagging him to research about it. After a bunch of mindless searching through web pages, he found a book about different plagues throughout time on Earth.
And that was what he was reading just before.
"The Prime Macula..." Callum spoke out loud in the mirror. He rubbed his neck again. There were so many black veins, and they were all over his face by now.
He looked down. "I need to find a way to cure this..."
And that was what he did. Callum is somewhat of an inventor. He invented a time machine. And only for the sole purpose of ending the Macula.
The time machine wasn't that fancy, just a decent-sized metal rectangle, a box of metal. With a dining chair as a seat for him to sit in.
"Maybe I should use a gaming chair..." Callum said as he was inside the machine, getting some things ready. "Because if I sit in this chair too long, my back is gonna give out,"
The panel was made from homemade things, such as a keyboard from a computer, a button panel from a microwave, and a scroll wheel from a mouse. And a lever he got from a junkyard that was used for a Union Pacific Locomotive's brake.
But that wasn't all.
Behind him, there's a curtain that borders off the cockpit and a little entryway to finally end up to a door that leads out of the machine from the back, but also, in the hallway, there is a glass case, that holds the machine's battery. The battery that powers it all, and the battery that makes the machine... travel through time.
Magnets. With enough speed in rotation, and enough electricity running through it, it'll generate enough power to make a wormhole outside of the machine.
Callum has tested the machine before, to try it out before he did anything drastic. And everything went smoothly. There were no casualties.
Callum adjusted himself on the chair and got out the book he got from the library. He flipped to the page that talked about the Macula.
"1300s Aquitaine, France? Alright... here we go..." Callum looked at the keyboard, then typed in "Aquitaine" then he looked over to the microwave panel, and typed in "1348" Then, he pressed the start button.
The machine rocked, as the magnets started to rotate slowly in the glass case, the sound of sparking could be heard coming from behind. All the lights came on inside, and the gaming keyboard glowed. Callum looked up, directly outside the front window, and he saw a spark. The spark turned into a vortex, as it seemed like the garage the machine was in, was warping.
Then, it felt like the machine bounced forward, as it was now traveling down the wormhole.
Callum set the book down near the keyboard. "Time to get some actual answers," He said to himself.
As the time machine was traveling down the wormhole, now and then, it would make a violent shake. "Holy shit!" Callum yelled. He adjusted the chair he was sitting down in. "I should have nailed the chair down..." He looked out the window, "Why is it so shaky? It was even shaky when I tested it out... I hope that doesn't mean anything..."
Little did Callum know, but the time panel malfunctioned and was about to send him to a time he didn't place.
The colorful wormhole started to slowly diminish, as he could see trees and green grass warping into view. Then, after one violent shake: "AHH!" Callum was sent flying out of the chair and landed on the side of the ship.
"Ow..." Callum grunted as he got up. "I really need to nail that down..." He turned his head after dusting himself off, at the window. "Huh... I'm here?" He looked at all the trees. "Beautiful landscape..." He said in awe. He looked around out the window. He needed to find anyone. But, he knows he can't go around and say he's a time traveler. That probably won't be a good thing to do.
"Wait... shit... I'm in France aren't I?" He got out his phone to quickly look up words he could say in French, but then he remembered he was in the 1300s.
"What am I thinking? I can't use this anymore..." Callum sighed and shoved the phone back in his pocket. "I just have to go out and try my best-," But then he remembered something else just as he was about to step outside. "Oh, crap! My new clothes!" He ran back inside.
He knew he was going to the 1300s beforehand, so he bought some clothes that resembled medieval times.
After changing into them, and tossing his other clothes on the floor, he was ready to go out.
"I hope no one sees my time machine..." After stepping outside, the warm sun hit him. Then, he realized he made a mistake wearing all these clothes. "How did they survive back then in this heat? Damn..." He walked through the grass, making sure he was going to be able to find his way back, and not lose his machine.
He then saw smoke going up in the air in the distance. "Is that... what I think it is?" Callum was hoping it was going to be a campfire. But he didn't just want to spring into this person's land, so he slowly walked up to them.
He saw a girl, sitting by herself, wearing very medieval-like clothes. 'Is that a blue cape behind her? What is that?' Callum said to himself. He walked up to her.
"Um... hello?"
The girl slowly looked up at him.
"Uhh?" She said.
Callum was about to say something, but then she spoke-
"Oh salut? Qui es-tu? Je vous connais?" She asked.
Callum froze. He had no idea what the hell she just said. He knew it was French, but he didn't speak it. He'd use his phone to translate it, but it doesn't work right now.
Callum took a deep breath and looked directly at her. "I..." He pointed to himself. "Am... not from here..." He pointed to the area around him. He spoke slowly, so she could at least understand him. He could see that she just arched her eyebrow at him.
Callum tried to speak again. "I... am..."
"Why are speaking like that?" She asked.
Callum was about to say something else, but then he froze. "W-Wait... You can speak English?" Callum asked, confused.
"Yes, I can," The girl said, "I can speak French and English just fine. I asked, where are you from? And... do I know you? I don't remember ever seeing you before..."
"I'm... uh..." Callum didn't want to mention he was a time traveler, definitely. But, he did want to mention Hugo, and possibly the Macula.
"Um... Do you know of a Hugo?"
He saw something like a shocked expression on the girl's face for a split moment.
"Hugo? W-What do you want with Hugo?" Her voice sounded as if it was on edge.
"I...well, there's this thing called the Macula... and..."
The girl shot up from the long she was sitting on and started to yell at Callum. "What do you want with that?! Hugo is dead! Whatever you could possibly want with him, it's not happening!"
Callum was startled and stepped back slightly, the stress he was feeling at this moment, was bringing the Macula out inside him, and his neck turned black.
"I..." The girl froze as she saw. Her eyes widened, and then she looked back up at Callum.
"Un détenteur de Macula..." She said.
Callum blinked. "W-What?" He asked,
"A Macula holder..." the girl clarified in English. "You're a Macula holder..."
"Um... Yeah... I am," Callum said. "I guess. To be honest, I'm not too sure, but I'm pretty sure I am,"
"That makes no sense. Hugo just died... if a new holder was going to take place, it wouldn't be for another 500 or so years..."
Callum blinked. 'She thinks I'm from this time...' Which, now that he was thinking about it, was a good thing. He didn't want to get out of being a time traveler, but... he remembered something she said before.
"Wait... did you say Hugo died?" Callum asked.
He could see the sadness swept on the girl's face from him asking that, "Y-Yes... he did. Lucas... he... I can't even talk about it..." She looked away wiping her eyes.
"Crap... I thought I came to the right time..." Callum thought. Well, he actually said it out loud, and the girl heard him.
"Huh? What did you say?"
Callum looked at her. This girl apparently knows who Hugo is. And she seemed to have a connection with him. He decided to let her know his secret. He needed the help.
"Come with me-," he said to the girl, gesturing for her to follow.
"Huh?" The girl asked, still standing in the same location Callum left her in. "Why? Where?"
"Just follow me," Callum insisted.
He could see her stamp out the fire, then, she came to join him.
"What's your name by the way?" Callum asked.
"Amicia..." She said.
"Okay, I'm Callum," Callum said as he traversed through the grass, "Where is it? It was over here? Wasn't it?" Callum just hoped he hadn't lost his machine.
"Where was what exactly?" Amicia asked.
"The thing I need to show you," Callum responded as he pushed through the grass. "It should be—" Then, he spotted his time machine in an open space adorned with flowers. "There she is," Callum said, relieved.
Amicia was still behind Callum pushing through the grassy area. "Where who is?" But once she entered into the open area, she took a step back. "What? Wha-?" She blinked, standing in place. She looked down at Callum walking ahead of her over to this... thing. She had never seen anything like it.
"C-Callum? That was your name right?"
Callum stopped and looked behind him. "Yes... if you're wondering what this is, just... come with me inside. I'll explain,"
Callum walked to the back and opened the door.
Amicia just stood there, stating at what was happening, not moving a all.
"Amicia just come... we don't got all day. I mean, we technically do, but just come..."
After practically dragging Amicia over to the machine, both she and Callum were inside.
Amicia just stared and looked around the interior of the time machine. She had a look of bewilderment on her face. And also a hint of unease. "What... is this?" Amicia said as she looked closer at the panel.
"Okay, so... everything thing is here is basically far from your time at all... I... well, I think I should just come out and tell you everything," Callum walked over to her and sat in his chair at the control desk.
"My name is Callum De Rune. I have a strange sickness that-,"
"Wait... wait... hold on..." Amicia said cutting Callum off. "Did you say... De Rune?"
Callum blinked, then turned his head and looked up at Amicia standing over him. "Um... Yes? Why?"
"My name... my name is Amicia De Rune..."
Callum squinted his eyes. Many thoughts were racing through his mind. "You... You're? Wait... but you said you know Hugo?"
"Hugo was my brother,"
Callum shot out of his chair. "I'm related to you and Hugo?!"
Amicia just looked at Callum. "Who... are you?! I don't know who you are. I would have known someone in my family who looks close to Lucas's age,"
"Lucas? Who's... Lucas?"
"A friend I met a while ago... but we kind of parted ways for a bit," Amicia looked around at the machine again. "Who are you, and what is this?"
Callum sighed. "I believe I'm a Macula holder,"
"I can see that," Amicia said pointing to Callum's neck. "But that's impossible. Two Macula holders can't exist at the same time. Hugo... is no longer with us, but it's only been a year. A new holder could never show up that quickly. And there's been no rats,"
Callum placed his hands on the desk. "I'm... not from this time Amicia."
Amicia tilted her head. "Not... from this time? What do you mean?"
"I'm a time traveler. Well, if you'd want to call me that,"
Amicia blinked at Callum. "I still don't understand what you mean." She said folding her arms.
"I'm from the future," Callum bluntly stated.
Amicia stood there for a while. "From the future? I don't... understand..."
"I'm from the future. I'm not from this year. What is it, like 1300 something?"
"Uhh... Yes?" Amicia said.
"Well, I'm from 2018,"
Callum saw Amicia freeze for a second. "2018? That's... more numbers than 1300..." Then, her eyes widen. "Wait... that's impossible!" She yelled. She looked down at Callum. "How is that possible?!"
Callum gestured his hands all around at the interior of his machine. "This... is why it's possible,"
Amicia looked around with a very baffled look. "Okay... so... let's say that... you did come... back in time... why?"
"As I said. I have the Macula. I wanted to visit the past to get answers. And to... see if I can break this curse,"
He saw Amicia just looking at him with a nervous expression. "Is that... safe?"
"So far, it's been going good. But I need to find Hugo. It is why I asked you about him,"
Amicia sighed and looked away. "Hugo died... a few years ago,"
Callum placed his hands on the panel. "What year did he die?
Amicia quickly looked at Callum, then at the panel. After making a shocked expression she looked back at the boy.
After punching in the dates, on the microwave panel, he punched in the years, then typed in the location into the keyboard. Then, he took the brakes off.
The machine shook-, and Amicia nearly lost he balance. "Woah!" She exclaimed.
"Grab hold of the back of my chair, I wasn't planning ahead of me eventually having more than one person in here," Callum said, pulling Amicia closer up to the chair back.
The outside of the ship started to warp, the trees started to distort. Amicia was startled at seeing this, and she let go of the chair and backed away.
But then, the ship made a sudden jerk forward, and Amicia got thrown back and landed on the floor.
Callum gasped from hearing the thud. "A-Amicia! Are you okay?!" He quickly turned around, then saw Amicia getting off the floor.
"Ca c'était quoi?!" Amicia yelled.
"W-What?" Callum aksed, not understnading.
"What was that!" Amicia yelled.
"I'll be here all day if I had to explain it to you," Callum said, as he got off the chair, and helped Amicia up.
Callum then sat back at his desk, looking out the window.
The area warping around them looked pretty at least. And Amicia was the one to mention that. "Why... does it look... nice?"
"No idea. But that's... time. The 4th dimension," Callum said. A smile grew on his face. "It was fairly easy to make this machine. I don't know why I never heard of most doing something like this, Time-travel more or less is something no one knows exists... But... I've made this pretty simply..."
Amicia stayed silent as Callum spoke. She didn't understand most of what he was talking about, but then the ship made a jerk. "Ah!" Amicia yelped grabbing the back of the chair. "What's happening now?"
Callum looked out the window and saw the warped area started to form into something. "We're almost here..."
After a few moments, the area finally appeared, and the time machine made a sudden stop.
But in the window, made Callum very confused about what he was looking at. "The heck is that? What am I looking at?" He turned his head to Amicia, only to see she was staring at it with a look of horror on his face. "A-Amicia?" He said, concerned.
Amicia shook her head. "That's it... that's where Hugo is in..."
Callum squinted at her, then turned his head back out the window. "What? What do you mean?! Why is Hugo inside this thing that looks like the building in Epcot?"
There was a sound of rumbling. Callum was the first to notice it. He placed his hands on the panel. "What's that rumbl-"
Then, the entire machine, rocketed forward, letting out a scream from Amicia.
Callum quickly placed his hands on the desk to get balance, but looking up, he saw a sea of rats running toward the white Dome. They were running, and they slammed into the time machine and moved it slightly.
"What in the flying hell?!" Callum yelled out.
Amicia quickly looked up and saw them. "Oh no! The rats! I forgot they were all over!"
Callum blinked. "What?! Why are there so many rats?!"
Amicia looked over at Callum with disbelief. "How do you not know this? You're a Macula holder!"
"What does that have to do with anything?!" Callum yelled.
"The rats! They're connected with the Macula!" Amicia said.
Callum was about to say something, but then the rats cleared out from outside the ship. Callum quickly looked out to the window, and saw. "Are they gone?"
But then after a good 30 seconds, the rats came storming again.
"Come! If we want to get to Hugo, we have to go when they clear out!" Amicia yelled to Callum.
It took a long time, but they finally reached the Dome. The rats kept on coming in swarms, and they had to hide behind boulders and rocks. Callum has never seen anything like this. And Amicia was very confused about it. She couldn't understand how Callum could have the Prime Macula, and never encountered this in his life.
"Careful," Amicia said as they both approached the Dome. "I remember entering this last time... and... it messed with my brain..."
Callum took a deep breath but then coughed from the stench of the air. "Okay, if you say so..."
"What is this..." Callum said as he walked inside. He stayed close to Amicia. All around them looked like a nest, the walls around them were red and glowing. The sky looked like it had a weird red hue.
"Amicia... are we in the Upside Down? What the fuck is happening?" Callum said.
"Hey, watch your mouth," Amicia said to Callum. "Stay close to me..."
They walked for a bit more until they came up to a huge, area that had what seemed to be a tree at the end of this very strange path.
Amicia froze. "Oh my..." She started to tear up a bit.
Callum looked at it, and he saw what seemed to be a... boy stuck in the tree. Callum had many questions about what he was seeing, but then he saw something. A boy, possibly around his age holding a crossbow, and a girl who looked shockingly similar to Amicia.
It didn't take Callum any longer to realize that this was Amicia's past self.
But then he saw his Amicia running towards them. "Lucas! Arrêt!" Amicia yelled to both the people as she ran to them.
It zapped Callum pit of his daze, and he panicked as he saw Amicia running over to her past self. "Amicia! Wait!" She took off running to her.
But Amicia wasn't listening. "Lucas! Ne le faites pas! Ne fais pas de mal à Hugo!" She yelled out.
The two people heard Amicia's yelling, and quickly turned around to see who was making all that racket.
"Quoi?" The boy said.
"Amicia!" Callum yelled. He quickly ran up to Amicia, but then he tripped, fell, then slammed into Amicia and both of them fell over. "AH!" Both Callum and Amicia yelped as they dropped to the ground face-first at the feet of these two people.
Callum lifted his head, and coughed, because whatever nest-like material the ground was, got into his mouth, and he spat it out, "Ugh, that is disgusting!" he groaned. He looked up at the boy and Amicia's possible past self. He was about to bet up, but then his Amicia got up before him.
"Lucas! Ne s'il vous plaît!"
The boy gasped, and stepped back, slightly aiming his crossbow at the future Amicia. "Qui es-tu?!"
The past Amicia looked terrified. "Pourquoi me ressembles-tu?!"
Callum quickly stood up and got in the middle of them. "Everyone calm down!" Callum yelled. He quickly looked over at the boy. "And you! Lower that crossbow,"
The boy slowly lowered it down but still kept an eye on them.
Callum then quickly looked over at his Amicia. "Amicia, never do that again! I had no idea your past self was going to be here!"
"Past self?" The other Amicia said. She looked at Callum, then at the other Amicea. "You speak English?"
"What do you mean by past self?" The boy then asked.
Callum looked at them. "Look, I-" Callum then noticed the tree-like structure that had a boy embedded into it. "What the..."
"Hugo..." Callum heard the past Amicia say, with sadness in her voice.
"That's... That... that's him?" Callum asked with confusion.
"Yes..."
"Okay, how can I take him off?" Callum said while he walked toward Hugo.
"What? Where are you going?!" The boy yelled.
"Let him!" Future Amicia yelled to the boy.
"But the rats!" The boy yelled.
But, there were no rats at the moment. At all, it was all clear for a moment.
As Callum walked closer up to Hugo trapped inside this strange object... He tried to pry him off. But it was hard. "Guys I need some help,"
Amicia, Callum's Amicia, quickly ran over to him. "Oh, Hugo..." Amicia said as she tried to also help to take him off. But it was hard.
Callum tried to take the weird vines off of Hugo, but it was difficult. "What the heck is this?"
"The Macula," Amicia said.
Callum blinked, then stopped. He looked over at Amicia. "The... the Mac-... This is the shit that's inside me?!"
Feeling very disgusted from this, only made Callum want to get Hugo out of this thing faster. But the vines were starting to stick to his hands. They weren't sticking to Amicia's.
"Let me do it, protect yourself!" Amicia yelled, and then she completely tore Hugo away from the overgrown Macula.
"There!" She then quickly ran back over to the area where her past self and the boy were.
Both of them were just standing there, seeming like they didn't know what to do.
Amicia panted as she held onto Hugo, who wasn't even wearing any clothes. "Ah... damn, all his clothes got torn," She said as she looked at Callum who came to join them. "We have to get him new clothes, or he's gonna be cold..."
"Excuse me, but who the heck are you two?!" They heard the boy yell.
Callum looked at him. "Now is not the time to explain-,"
But then, there was a loud rumble. The weird tree Hugo was stuck on, started to vibrate. They all gasped and looked toward it. It seemed like the Macula didn't like that they took Hugo away from it, and it wanted revenge. In the distance, they saw a sea of rats coming to chase them.
"Run!" Callum heard his Amicia yell out.
They all started to run, "Come on! You too! Both of you!" Callum said. He grabbed both the boy and the other Amicia's hands.
They bolted out of the Dome, and Callum took the lead to guide them to the machine.
All of them were right behind Callum, but so were the rats- Who were gaining on them.
"Guys run faster!" Callum yelled. He could see his machine in the distance. He tried to run faster to get to the door.
"What is that?" The boy said.
"Never mind that! Just get to it!" The future Amicia yelled.
Callum made it and quickly opened the door. "Come on! Get In! All of you!" He shoved them all inside, then jumped inside, just as the rats caught up with them, and rocked the time machine from side to side.
Everyone was out of breath.
Callum sighed, but it wasn't over. They had to leave the time. The rats were too powerful, and they were overtaking the time machine. They were so strong, that they were starting to move, and they felt it going backward. Callum wasn't sure what was behind them, and he didn't want the back of his time machine to hit something and get damaged. He ran over to the panel, quickly placed it in the time zone he lives in, and unlocked the brakes.
The machine vibrated, and the area outside the window started to distort, and they launched forward into the wormhole.
Once they were flying comfortably in the wormhole, Callum sighed. Well, that was an experience.
He looked behind him and saw his Amicia standing behind him, grabbing onto the wall, seeming like she nearly had fallen from the jerk of the wormhole, but was still holding onto Hugo. But the boy and the past Amicia looked like they'd seen a ghost.
"What. The. Hell." The boy said.
"Where are we?" The past Amicia said, looking around.
"Okay... let me explain..."
"So... You're someone who can travel through time? And this girl over here who looks like me... is literally me but from the future?" The past Amicia said.
Callum nodded.
"How is that possible?" The boy asked.
"It just is... Lucas," The future Amicia said to him. She sighed and looked at Callum. "He has the Macula,"
Lucas gasped, "What? How... How can he? Two people can't-,"
"Remember, he's from the future. He's just here for answers. He wants to fix it..." Amicia said. She looked at Callum. "So... where too? What now?"
"I need to find out about the original holder," Callum said.
"The original holder of the Macula?" Lucas asked. "You mean...Basilius?"
"Yes. I need-," Callum's eyes widen a bit after his brain catches up to what Lucas said. He looked back at him. "Basilius? That... That's his name?"
He saw the past Amicia nod.
Callum blinked, then looked back at the panel. "Okay, we need to get to him,"
"I don't know the time when he was alive..." Past Amicia said.
"Neither do I. Sophia is the one with most of that knowledge,"
Callum didn't know who that was, but... either way, he needed to bring his machine back to his time to refuel it, or they're gonna be stuck in a time that wasn't theirs.