Prime Part Two

Part Two of the Minoverse. Read Part One first, if you haven't.

         1 ½ years later…
Chapter Five

         James hacked his arm through the foliage, leaves falling around the blade. Both of his arms were enclosed in long, sharp morphsteel knives. James stood at the head of the long column of men winding their way through the jungle. They had been carving this path inward over the last week, after Eugene had decided that he wanted a way to escape from the hassle of the reformed government.
         So, he had suggested that he join the latest branch of the jungle expedition, which was finally striking toward the center of the jungle. At this point, they were about a day’s travel from the center, though given the dense forest meant that they were only a little more than a mile from the center, as far as they could tell.
         As the branches fell away, James found himself face to face with a rather large tree. He grew a few morphsteel arms from his shoulders, which moved to the side and began cutting a path around the tree. James turned to Philip, the leader of the expedition.
         “Are you sure that there’s no easier way to find a path through these trees?” James said.
         “You’ve asked that before, James,” Phil said testily. “There is too much tree cover to make scanning practical beyond a few feet.”
         James turned back to the trees, finding that Cal had finished carving a path around the tree. He stepped back as a group of people, both men and women, moved past with machetes, one carrying one of the new parametal energy blades that had been invented recently.
         James fell back down the column to where Eugene was, surrounded by an army of attendants and servants. Despite his desire to travel light, the King could never escape the constant retinue of helpers.
         They did, perhaps, have a point. It wasn’t very politic of the King to leave for a jungle expedition after only a year and a half of rule, but he was confident that the new civilian-led congress could handle things until he returned. He had good reason for that faith. The congress had proven that they could rule just as well as anyone, so Eugene had taken a bit of a vacation.
         “How’s life in the royal retinue?” James asked Eugene.
         “Slow, as always,” Eugene said, moving forward with the rest of the column. Dressed in a traveling robe that seemed regal on him despite being brown and gray rather than red and purple. He had flatly refused to wear anything fancy, citing the fact that they were exploring the jungle, not a palace.
         “Well, there’s not much that can be done about that,” James said. “It’s slow going, even at the front. I swear that the jungle has a mind of its own for all the trees getting in our way.”
         “I wouldn’t be surprised if that were true,” Eugene said with a laugh.
         They kept walking through the morning, the sun rising over their heads. The light reflected down through the canopy, illuminating the green around them. Despite the light, visibility remained elusive as they moved slowly through the growth.
         At midday, they stopped for a meal, then continued onward. The jungle remained mostly unchanged as the afternoon wore on, but around three, one of the men who worked to cut through the jungle came running back down the line.
         “My lord,” he said, bowing to the King.
         “What is it?” Eugene asked.
         “The scanners, they’re picking up a large open area ahead. It could be false data, scanning is hard here after all.”
         “Press toward it,” Eugene said. “I’d like to see this for myself.” He started walking quicker, up the line. James joined the men hacking away, and after a few minutes the burst from the foliage and almost fell off a rather steep drop in the ground ahead.
         The drop opened up into a massive canyon, ringed with forest, but mostly clear in the center. It almost seemed preserved in time, with a few trees and vines snaking around. But the most surprising thing about the canyon were the buildings.
         An entire city, or so it seemed, spread across the canyon. The buildings were tight together, but it was clearly a well thought out city, with overgrown streets and buildings arranged in a neat square pattern. Most of the buildings were only a single story or two at most, but a massive structure that seemed to be some sort of temple rose above the entire city, sparkling in the sun.
         James glanced to the side, grinning at the shocked expressions on the faces of the others. More of the expedition hacked out of the trees and joined them on the top of the steep slope.
         “Where did this come from?” James turned around to see Phil standing there, mouth wide open, eyes even wider. “None of the maps showed this! We did deep scans from space, nothing like this appeared.”
         “Odd,” James said, looking over the canyon wall. It wasn’t as steep as he’d initially thought, though he wouldn’t want to nosedive down it. As he scanned the hidden city, he noticed something strange.
         “What’s that glow around the temple?” he asked, pointing. A faint blue glow was radiating from the temple, hard to see in the afternoon light, though very prevalent if you looked for it properly.
         “What are you talking about?” Eugene said, squinting at the temple.
         “It’s faint,” James said. “Blue energy or something. Looks like it’s leaking off the building.”
         “I don’t think that they’ll be able to see anything, James,” Cal said suddenly. “That light… It’s yjria. Imaginer Power. But I’m sensing something different about it. It’s more pure than what I’ve been able to draw on. I’m not sure how.”
         James made a quick decision. “I’m going to investigate. Look around the perimeter, find out what you can.”
         Cal snapped into place around him, forming into his now-familiar armor. He stepped lightly off the canyon wall, drawing on a bit of Imaginer Power to steady himself. He slid quickly down the hill, dirt tumbling between his feet. The cape he always wore retracted into his shoulders, as did his helmet, leaving his head free.
         James arrived at the bottom and dismounted the slope smoothly. He set off into the old city.
         The buildings around him were in surprisingly good repair, considering that they had been sitting in the jungle for goodness knew how long. There was a subtle majesty to them, despite being simple structures of stone.
         No, not simple, James realized. Each of the buildings had intricate carvings decorating their sides. Many were too weathered away to show anything, but others were clearly meant to depict all sorts of things. There were men flying through the air without any means of support, images of children playing a game that looked strikingly similar to football, even what seemed to be carvings of people engaged in some ritualistic ceremony.
         “These are incredible,” James said, brushing one with his fingers. “I’m shocked that they survived this long.”
         “How long do you think they have been here?” Cal asked.
         “Centuries, most likely,” James said. “I can only assume that these structures are from the Ancient People, the original inhabitants of Minopll.”
         “Interesting,” Cal said softly. An arm of liquid metal grew from James’ shoulder, and it caressed the rocks with a caring touch.
         “These carvings depict some sort of religious ceremony or something,”
         “It does stand to reason that the Ancients would have had their own religion,” Cal said.
         Suddenly, James detected a kind of thumping in the back of his mind. He glanced at the temple, and the thumping grew more intense. It was clearly coming from that temple.
         He set off through the ruins of the city, taking in all the sights. Many different styles of art were engraved on the walls, most of them of humans, or at least human-like figures, engaged in supernatural activities.
         James arrived at the temple after a few minutes of walking. It was situated on a hill, a large domed structure with columns surrounding it. The main door was large, made of wood, which somehow hadn’t rotted away in the time it had been here. James pushed on it, but it held firm.
         There was a small metal keyhole in the wood. Cal grew an arm from James’ shoulder, fitting the morphsteel expertly into the lock. The arm twisted, there was a click, and the door swung open.
         The temple’s entrance hall was massive, stretching upward almost thirty feet, with the remnants of a large statue standing on a pedestal in the middle of it. The statue seemed cloaked in a robe and cape, which flowed off its shoulders, fanned out behind. It carried a sword, but who or what it was, James couldn’t tell.
         Behind the pedestal, there were two pairs of doors that led into the main building. Off to the side, there were doors as well. One of those had fallen out of the frame, as had one of the doors behind the statue. Through the latter door, that blue light was trickling out like mist. The thrumming in James’ head was growing to a peak. Curious, James stepped through the door.
         He was greeted with the sight of a massive room, almost two hundred feet long. It seemed larger than the building had been outside, though perhaps he just hadn’t looked at it right. The glowing blue mist solidified into a massive dome of blue-white light covering the entire room. James stared in wonder at the shining apparition, and he felt Cal gasp mentally.
         Inside the dome, intricate thrones raised on small columns ringed the room every two feet or so. A glowing orb of light hovered over each of the thrones, each except for two in the back of the room, James noticed. The entire sight was shocking, and James, drawn by the pulsing of the dome, placed his hand upon the shimmering blue light.
         Immediately the thumping sound he was hearing stopped. He felt a well of power inside this dome, and it felt odd, as if a cloud wanted to become solid, but couldn’t quite figure it out.
         Indeed, the barrier was not fully solid. His hand passed right through it, though if he concentrated, he could somehow force it to become solid.
         “This is Imaginer Power?” James asked Cal.
         “Yes, it is,” the metal answered. “But it is much purer than anything I can draw. It feels… good.”
         James took a definitive step forward, through the shield. The blue energy didn’t move, but James felt a wash of power float through him. It was similar to the yjria but, as Cal had said, somehow purer.
         As he stepped out of the blue wall, the power vanished. He looked up at the thrones, each intricately carved with symbols and iconography. The orbs of light on the tops of them pulsed softly, and they seemed almost alive in how the light shifted.
         Suddenly, James noticed that two of the orbs were moving. They were the two on the ends of the long oval of raised thrones, one of them white, the other black. The two lights landed on the ground in front of him. The light they were made out of swirled for a moment, and then the light solidified into two figures, both the size of James.
         The one on the left was a figure wearing a pure white and gold suit of sleek armor. Its gender was indistinguishable. It wore a gold-rimmed cape, its skin was a light shade of gold-white, and it carried in its hand a long, ornate sword. James realized that it was the figure depicted in the statue outside.
         The other figure was much more dangerous. It was a specter in a dark cloak. Its head was leaned forward, and none of its features could be seen under the hood. James caught a flash of white as it moved. It held a long scythe in a bony, milky white hand.
         “Right old specter of death, aren’t you?” James asked, raising his eyebrow at the cloaked figure.
         “That is more accurate than you realize,” the white and gold one said. “I am Life, and this is Death. It is good to see you again, James McGuyvan.

Chapter Six

         James took a step back in shock. “How do you know my name?” he asked, eyeing the sword and scythe warily.
         “That’s… a long story. You will find out, in time.”
         “That’s not… Who are you two? What is this place?”
         “I am the Power of Life,” the white robed figure said. “I am the personification of the forces that sustain life and light.
         “That,” Life pointed its sword at the cloaked specter, “is Death. He doesn’t talk as much, but he is my opposite.”
         “Don’t kid yourself, Life,” a grating voice came from under Death’s cloak. The hood raised, and James caught sight of a deathly white visage, dead skin stretched over a bony face. The eye sockets were empty.
         “I am the inevitable decay of this universe,” Death said. Its voice changed to a more menacing, smooth tone. “All things will, eventually, die. I represent that force.”
         “Bit melodramatic, aren’t we?” James asked faintly.
         “Ignore him,” Life said. “Death is like that. Being trapped in a bubble for a century would do it to you too.”
         “A century? James asked. “Seriously? You’ve been here that long?”
         “Something like it,” Life said. “It’s hard to tell without a host.”
         “A host?” James asked curiously. “What do you mean?”
         “There’s a lot to explain,” Life said. Death began wandering off to the side, though it didn’t go far from the conversation between James and Life.
         “Death, myself, and these lights you see around the room are the rhu alnwer,” Life said, gesturing around the room at the glowing thrones. “We are ancient beings, made of the power that created the universe. I believe that you have experienced some of that power yourself.”
         “I have, yes,” James said.
         “Well, we are able to bestow upon living creatures various supernatural abilities,” Life continued. “I think the nedril word, ‘rhu alnwer,’ translates to ‘powers of light.’ That’s what we are. Beings of power, but trapped ones at that.”
         “Trapped?” James asked. “By that force field?”
         “Yes,” Life said. James noticed Death approaching the field. The specter pressed its hand against the blue wall, but didn’t pass through it like James could. “We have been trapped here for a long time, but fortunately, we are patient. Now that you have come, we may finally leave.”
         “How do you intend to do that?” James asked. “Death seems just as stuck now as you were before we arrived.”
         “You must let us out yourself,” Life said. “This shield was designed to keep rhu alnwer or their hosts in, but someone like you, who has experience with the Power of the Imaginer and carries no rhu alnwer can destroy it.”
         “And what would that do?” James asked.
         “It would free us,” Death growled. “We would once again be able to bestow our gifts on humanity.”
         “Yours is a gift that I would be wary of accepting,” James said. “Death itself does not sound like a power that a human should have the power to wield.”
         “Yes, but a human controlling the specter is necessary, James,” Life said. “Without someone with a good moral compass to direct the whims of Death, it would attach itself and its power to someone… less worthy of trust with such power.”
         “Am I not allowed my own will in this?” Death said softly.
         “Your will would cause the extinction of the human race,” Life answered harshly. James detected a firmness in Life’s stance as he stood opposing the grim reaper. “That is something that I will not allow.”
         “Without Death, there is no sacredness to Life,” the reaper said. It stood up straighter as well, angling the scythe toward Life. “And I admit, without Life there is no cause for Death.”
         “And so we are back in the same argument we have had hundreds of times,” Life said. It spun around and began pacing, cape billowing out behind it. “James may make his own decision.”
         “Are the other powers this conversational?” James asked curiously.
         “We two are the only ones with true voices,” Life answered. “The others are alive, so to speak, but only act on instinct, searching out those who would do well using the Power they bestow. Us two, however… we may interact freely with the world in proximity to us.”
         “If I let you out,” James said, “Who would you bond with?”
         “I know nothing of the world,” Life said. “I would request a bond with you, at least temporarily, so that I may learn the way of your modern world. Unless there is someone more skilled with yjria and its use than you?”
         “No, I’d be the most skilled, I think,” James said. It was true; nobody else had nearly as much experience as him. He’d become a sort of unofficial Imaginer Power expert in the lab.
         “Then all you must do is accept the bond,” Life said. The white robed figure suddenly burst into light which began swirling around James’ body. The sword that he had been carrying stayed hovering in midair, the hilt toward James.
         “I accept this bond, wherever it may take me,” James said hesitantly. The light that moved around him flashed inward, entering into James’ body. He felt a sudden heat flash through him, similar to that of when Cal drew on yjria, but more intense, purer. The sword disappeared from the air and reappeared in James’ hand. He held it up, and found that it was surprisingly light, and gave off a strange golden light.
         “So eager,” a voice growled. James glanced up, seeing Death leaning on its scythe. “You jump at the opportunity to learn new things, child as you are. You have no idea what you bring upon yourself by unleashing these powers on our world.”
         “Then call me Pandora,” James said. He considered for a moment, then extended the hand not holding the sword to Death. “I will let you two, and the other powers out of this dome,” he said. “However, I cannot risk the Power of Death being given to someone who would make poor use of it. Bond with me as well. It may prove temporary, as I’m sure you hope. However, then I could keep an eye on you, and you would get your wish.”
         Death’s head drooped, and James could tell that he was seriously considering it; more than James had thought that he would. Life appeared beside James, an emotion James could only describe as terror on his face.
         “James, we can’t both be in the same host. We are opposites, and we would fight too much. You would go mad, reject us, something bad.”
         “Is it possible to do this safely?” James asked.
         “Well, yes, but-”
         “Then I am willing to try it,” James said firmly. He swallowed, then turned to the Specter of Death. “What do you think?”
         Death looked up, and James shivered. That deathly visage was haunting to look at.
         Death tossed its scythe to James who caught it with surprise. Contrary to the warmth he felt from Life’s sword, still held in his other hand, the scythe felt cold, though still with the resonance of Imaginer Power.
         “I accept your terms,” Death said, and James thought he detected a bit of a laugh in the voice. “I’m beginning to like you more than I should, McGuyvan. Don’t make me regret this.”
         Death transformed into a dark sphere of energy, but it didn’t bother with the swirling vortex of light that Life had; Death simply sped toward James and hit him, imbuing his chest with the same coldness as the scythe.
         James immediately regretted his decision.
         The two Powers, so diametrically opposed to each other, couldn’t mix. Likewise, they seemed not to like being in one body. Life lashed out at Death, as though scared of it, and Death fought back with an equal fury. For a moment, James fought just to keep them from tearing him apart.
         Then, with a supreme force of will, James wrenched the two Powers apart. He pulled Life away from Death, and placed each one’s power in a separate arm. Life on the left, and Death to the right. The Powers coalesced into two pools of power, one golden white, the other dark mist, each hovering around the Power’s respective weapon.
         “This won’t be as bad as I thought,” Death said with a surprising amount of joviality.
         “Good roommate, that’s for sure,” Life responded angrily.
         Knowing somehow that he could do it, James opened both of his hands, and the weapons vanished. He felt them as a part of his newfound abilities with the two Powers. Indeed, as he stood there, his mind expanded to a new level of awareness. A vast amount of power waited for him, now accessible through these two beings.
         James walked up to the shield, and placed both of his hands on it. He drew on some yjria, not through Cal, but rather through the Power of Life. The blue energy felt inviting, even open. He felt a familiarity with it that he hadn’t before, and a well of power just waiting to be used.
         James pulled that power into himself. The wall shook, and the light suddenly bent into his soul. He felt the power of the shield, all of it, invading his essence, filling him to the brim with pure, unadulterated power.
         James felt himself rise from the ground. In that moment, he was awash with power. He felt like he could do anything. A wealth of knowledge flooded his mind, and for a moment, he thought he knew everything that was happening on the entire planet.
         Then the wall of power exploded. James was blasted backward, flying down the length of the room. As he flew, he saw the Powers on the thrones all rise into the air. In one motion, they flew through the roof of the temple, following the shards of energy that had also passed through unhindered.
         Then he struck the wall of the temple, fell to the ground, and blacked out.

Chapter Seven

         “I hope he wakes up,” the voice said. “It would be a real bother to have bonded him then have him die instantly and be stuck here forever anyway.”
         “Oh be quiet, Death,” a different voice answered. “If he were dead, you would know about it. And in that case you would be freed anyway.”
         James blinked. There was a lot of light around him. He turned his head this way and that, and blinked again.
         The spirit of Life and the specter of Death popped into view in front of him. James scrambled to his feet, but feeling a little woozy, he settled back down.
         “Oh, did you see that?” the first voice asked. “He moved!”
         “Oh dear,” James said. “Don’t tell me that Death itself is sarcastic?”
         “Of course Death is sarcastic,” Life said. “Otherwise, he’d never get past being attached to a topic so morbid.”
         “You’re just jealous that you are the one who has to be cheerful all the time,” Death said.
         “That’s not… I’m not… bah! you are insufferable,” Life said, waving his hand and stalking to the other side of the room.
         “Life’s always been like that,” Death said, with the air of explaining some deep secret. “He tries to be nice, but he’s really petty. Maybe that’s cause I stand opposed to the very concept of his existence.”
         James stood up again, this time successfully, shaking the fog from his mind. The temple looked much the same as it once had, with the thrones, the high ceiling, and the ornately carved walls. The lights that had been hovering over the thrones were gone.
         “What happened?” James wondered aloud.
         “The rhu alnwer all flew away the moment the shield went down,” Life said, wandering back over. “We stayed, as we cannot travel very far away from you. However, I believe that there are many people who have now bonded with their new Powers. You had best return to whatever population centers exist and begin finding these people. Rhu alnwer are generally good judges of character, but they have… made mistakes, in the past.”
         At that moment, the doors of the temple burst open. James saw a dozen people rushing through the door, Eugene at their head. They all screeched to a halt when they saw James standing there, Life and Death by his sides.
         “James?” Eugene said. “What are those?”
         “This is Life and Death,” James said, nodding to the two spirits standing beside him. “It’s a little complicated. We need to get moving.”

Chapter Eight

         Three months later…

         James pulled back on the throttle, slowing his off-road bike to a stop. He was in the middle of the countryside of Minopll, far away from civilization. A massive hill rose out of the plain in front of him. It could perhaps be called a mountain, but it was barely taller than a house.
         James dismounted and began the hike up the hill. It took him only a minute to reach the top, where he found a small wooden hut. It was clearly very old, but well-kept. The roof was made seemingly out of straw, though James had a suspicion that there was something else to it. The front door was slightly ajar.
         “Come in, my friend!” a voice called from within the building, causing James to jump.
         “Who are you?” James called.
         “I am the man you are looking for,” came the reply. “I am the ancient, and the new. I see all that may yet be, but know not which of the may yets will be. I am immortal, and see much. I have watched your progress from the moments before. I am glad to finally be found.”
         James approached the hut, pulling open the door. Inside, he found a man sitting cross-legged on a rather large stool. His eyes were closed, and his hands were upturned on his knees.
         He looked around fifty years old, and he wore a strange robe that stretched down the stool and onto the ground.
         Then he opened his eyes, and James found himself staring at a man who suddenly seemed much older. His eyes had a depth to them that seemed to contain all of time.
         Kill him, Death whispered in his head. James couldn’t tell if the Specter was serious about all the times he had instructed James to do that over the last months.
         “Who are you?” James asked again, ignoring Death.
         “My name was Oto, once,” the man said. “Though it is long since that name was used.”
         He pronounced it oh-toe, not awt-oh, James noted. His speech also had an interesting ring to it. It was an accent for sure, but not one that James had heard before.
         “That doesn’t help much,” James said.
         “Well, there is much you still have to learn, James.”
         James took a step backward. “How do you know my name?”
         “All will be explained in due time,” Oto said. “Tea?”
         From behind his stool, the man pulled a full tea platter, complete with a few biscuits and sugar cubes. James accepted the tea hesitantly, sitting down and taking a sip. It was good. Not as good as his mother’s tea perhaps, but still good. It was richer and more bitter than some he had tasted, almost more of a coffee than a tea.
         “How do you like it?” Oto asked.
         “It is good,” James said. “There’s an interesting taste to it. I can’t quite determine what.”
         “It’s an herb found in the jungle,” Oto said. “You haven’t discovered it yet, though I foresee that it will become quite the popular delicacy in this country at least. It is quite rare though, and hard to grow.”
         “Interesting,” James said. “Where can this herb be found?”
         “You will find it on your own, I imagine,” Oto said. “Just be careful with the yellow ferns. They caused at least three of us to rather suddenly stop living.”
         James wasn’t quite sure how to take that. He took a bite of one of the biscuits and found that they were just as good as he could have wanted.
         “You are a wonderful cook, Oto.”
         “Thank you. And now to business. You are here on a purpose, yes?”
         “You have Power,” James said. “Two Powers to be precise.”
         “Yes,” Oto replied. “I’m sure you know them already. Immortality, for one. I’m about nine hundred years old.” He provided no further explanation.
         “Foresight is my other Power,” Oto continued, “which lets me see that which might happen. The latter is by far the more interesting of the two.”
         “I can imagine,” James said. “Seeing the future sounds useful.”
         “Quite,” Oto replied. “However, I cannot see what is happening now, or in the past. I can only see that which may yet be, in all of the future’s possibilities. It is an interesting distinction. I can see all that may be, but nothing that is now, or was.”
         “That sounds… complicated,” James said.
         “Quite so. The future changes all the time, so I have to make guesses about where things are now. It would be easier to have Knowledge and Memory with me but those are contained in others now. I assume that was how you found me?”
         “Yes,” James answered. Knowledge and Memory were two Powers that allowed their user to see the present and the past, respectively. They were quite useful for seeing the world and understanding history. They were also useful for finding out where the last few Powers had gotten to after they had launched from the jungle when James had absorbed the shield. The two that Oto held were the last two unaccounted for.
         “I would kill to have one of those two,” Oto said. “I’ve felt so blind all these years, only seeing what will come, not what has come. But that is beside the point. All of the most likely futures show that you will make me an offer momentarily. Thus I ask, what is your purpose in being here?”
         James placed his cup on the ground, as there was no table, and looked at Oto curiously. He was not quite what James had expected from a future-seeing immortal, but then again, what could you expect from something like this?
         “I want you to come to the city with me,” James said. I am assembling the Powers and their holders in a single team, a peacekeeping force of sorts. I would like you to join us.”
         “Then I will do so,” Oto said. He stood up.
         “What, just like that?” James asked. “That felt too easy.”
         “All likely futures where I join the League, things go much better than when I don’t,” he said simply. “I will not offer explicit advice on all matters, since knowing the future does not always provide an advantage. But I will be there with the rest of you. It has been a long time since I have been around the Powers.”
         “What’s that mean?” James asked.
         “You will find out, eventually,” Oto said. Then he grabbed a coat off the wall and walked out the door.
         “You could kill him,” Death said, materializing behind James. “He’s not as powerful as you. You could take his Powers.”
         “I will never be a killer, Death,” James said. “I am keeping you in this bond so that I can restrain you, not so that you can run wild.”
         “I wouldn’t run wild,” Death complained. “It’s just been so boring with you as my only point of reference for the world. And such an unashamedly noble person you are.”
         “Glad to hear it,” James said dryly. He stepped out the door and followed Oto down the hill.