“Huh?!” Lex nearly dropped the mug. His face turned pink.
“But let not even her distract you from your ultimate mission… You three will keep each other on the right path, and become strong warriors, who will face the mighty Trium. You, Lex, will have to protect those two. Kyle, he is your big brother from now on. He has a strong will and is bent on taking revenge for what Magma Town did. Make sure you channel his strength in the right direction…” Lex looked at the old man with wide eyes, feeling inadequate and unworthy of these instructions and praises. “Well, that should be all then,” the old man yawned, “go on now.”
“Thanks for everything, Master Ben,” Lex said, and bade him good night, closing the door on his way out.
Clover, who was just returning from the kitchen, looked back at Lex as he was leaving Ben’s room.
“Hey, Clover.” The girl’s face grew suddenly pink, and she started giggling. The red-faced boy jumped back suddenly, just remembering he had left his clothes in Ben’s room. He forced a laugh, willing to trade even his icemaking ability for some pants.
“I’m really glad you’re okay, Lex,” the girl said, smiling at him.
“Heh.” He smiled back naturally. Again, he was staring at her, looking deep into her green, shiny eyes. Realizing he was staring, he flashed his eyes from her. She laughed, and opened the room door. “God, I really hope I’m not dreaming,” he said to himself under his breath.
***
Warm rays of morning sun hit Lex’s face. He turned and fidgeted in the bed, trying to shoo the light away from him. Finally, he cracked his eyes open, sitting up and shielding his eyes from the invading light. He gasped, and suddenly flashed his head from left to right. A sudden weakness overtook him and his heart raced. “I’m still here,” he muttered to himself, realizing he had woken between the sleeping siblings. He jumped from his bed quickly and dashed out of the room, more puzzled than before as to what was real and what was not.
“Well, look who’s up early today!” Lex looked over to the dining table and Bengushi. Scrolls and books and charts were scattered everywhere.
“Good… morning… Master Bengushi,” the boy answered, bowing a little, a nervous look on his face.
“You look troubled, young Lex. What might be the matter?” he asked, just looking up from his studies.
No answer. Lex just stared on with eyes he wore the first time he saw Bengushi.
“Oh, I see,” the man realized, smiling a bit, “You’re still confused as to whether you’re dreaming.”
Lex held his head as he tried to process thoughts sensibly. “Okay…” He breathed deeply, trying to calm his mind “If I’m not dreaming… if I’m not dreaming… how do I get back home? Don’t get me wrong, now, I really like it here, but—”
“I understand, young one,” the man said, and sighed, a look of pity and sympathy on his face that frightened Lex even more. “But I’m afraid I can’t help you with that… I really don’t know if and when you will return to your original world… Maybe after you face Trium…”
Lex just stared at Ben with fright. Awful thoughts of never seeing his mother, his friends, his world again, rushed through his mind. He made no attempt to hold back the tears.
Bengushi beckoned to Lex to sit with him. Lex sat there opposite to him, crying and shaking. “For years I sat at this table, in this very chair, at the very hour of morn… and I thought and thought of this very moment I knew would come,” the old man said in a sombre, reflective tone that made Lex inclined to trust him. “I wondered what I would say to the chosen one who sits before me… Even now, I don’t have the answer. You must have faith, though, that in the end everything will be alright. You must make this sacrifice of leaving your world behind, though forced upon you by fate, drive you to finish your mission. I know you won’t let such a sacrifice be for nothing.”
Lex sat there staring down at the writings before him. His tears damped some of the millennia-old scrolls that not even dust had been allowed by Bengushi to touch.
“My mother… My mother, old man… Can’t I even have her know I’m alright?” Lex asked, an abrasive, bitter tone having crept into his voice, which had never before been present.
Bengushi sighed again. “Heroes are punished by the selfless path they sojourn.”
“I’m no damn hero, alright?!” Lex blasted, rising from the chair, crying, “I’m just a regular kid! Now stop this nonsense and take me home! You hear me, old man?!” Bengushi saw in Lex’s eyes a look of terror and fear, that he knew would accompany understanding and acceptance of a new reality. Lex grabbed Bengushi’s collar, breathing heavily in his crying, a fierce but pitiful look in his shiny eyes. “Please, old man…” he begged in a whisper, the begging, pleading tenor in the boy’s voice and the sorrowful look on his face making Bengushi’s heart heavier, and his eyes damp.
Clover looked at the two at the table from the room doorway, tears flooding her face even more than Lex’s.
“If you wish to see your mother again, become strong, and defeat Trium when the time comes,” Kyle’s voice entered as he walked past Clover, startling her.
Lex unhanded Bengushi and looked over at Kyle and Clover.
***
Days packed with play and training, studying and house chores, games and storytelling, laughter and crying, fusses and scolding went by quickly, and Lex had become a full-fledged member of the Bengushi. As he grew to know Kyle and Clover better than he knew any of his friends in his previous life, his earlier reality grew more and more distant from his mind, and he sat and cried less and less often about not being able to go home to his mother. Every now and again, he would feel a strong guilt for how happy he had become, and would tell himself sternly that he might as well accept what was. Sweat and laughter had a way of making the dim feelings that tried to bother him subside quickly. He was now making iceballs at an impressive rate, his top score being a dozen for one day, and each one he produced was at least a little denser and more powerful than the last. His aptitude for compressing high levels of ice energy was rapidly increasing, and the spheres he made were bluer and heavier and more energetic, pressuring the muscles in his arms, building them.
Clover, though, was making far less visible improvements with her magic; she knew only one command, and each time she used it, she grew weary and lightheaded, unable to generate mana on her hands again for even an entire day. Kyle wasn’t wasting time either. He pushed himself even harder than Lex and Clover, becoming a little stronger and a little faster and a little more enduring each day, and making slightly more accurate strikes with his sword, and seeing the colour of small sticks clearly.
Another sunset had ended another rigorous day. Dinner was done, and sweat was washed away. Being so tired from pushing himself even harder than usual, Lex found himself dozing off even before Clover. Peaceful, quiet hours passed, and the household slept soundly, especially Kyle (with all his snoring).
“Lex… Lex… Lex.” Sharp whispers of his name and robust shaking of his body woke him, making him forget his dream instantly.
“Old man?”
“Come with me,” Bengushi told him, a sound of urgency in his voice, still shaking him forcefully. The boy jumped down from his bed, holding his forehead, dizzy and sleepy. Bengushi grabbed his hand and dragged him along, like he was leading a little child across a busy street.
“What’s going on?” the boy asked, becoming nervous, looking back to ensure that Kyle and Clover were still in the room. “Hey, it wasn’t me, Master Ben! Kyle was the one who switched the apple with the huge pepper when you turned around,” the boy ratted out.
“You’re paying for it anyway!” the man answered, dragging Lex into his room and bolting the door behind them.
“Please, Master—”
“Oh, so I’m Master now, eh?” the old man asked in a trivial tone, “Now relax, you’re not in trouble. Stay here.” Lex stood nervously at the door of the dimly lit room. He watched as Ben searched through one of his bottom draw
ers for something hastily. “Now where’s that iron whip?” Lex heard the man mumble to himself. Bengushi could feel Lex’s eyes widen and his heart pound. “Ha! I’m joking!” he told Lex, not too convincingly. “Found it!” Lex watched curiously as the man brandished a rusty brown key.
This had Lex in even more wonder than before. He watched Bengushi carefully remove a vertical portrait from a nail in the wall, some abstract painting that the old man never made any sense of. He tossed it on the bed and blew the dust that gathered behind it off the wall. The young Icemaker noticed a small hole where the dust had scurried from, and moved closer, wondering if his deduction might be right. His eyes widened as the old man forced the brown key into the keyhole and turned it sharply. Lex moved closer inquisitively as he noticed a small rectangle jut out from the wall. The old man pulled what seemed to be a small drawer out from the wall. “Cool!” Lex peered down inside it.
“Go on, pick it up,” Ben told him, and without hesitation, Lex grabbed up the little black key from the drawer. The man threw the brown key down on the bed and bent and grabbed two of its perfectly carved legs. “Gimmie a hand here,” Ben told Lex, and together, they moved the bed away. Lex looked down at a suspicious-looking section of the floor which was hidden under the bed. “Of the many treasures and secrets in this room, what you are about to see is the most precious,” the man said, sounding like he was warning the boy. He reached on the bed and took up the rusty brown key. Lex looked down at the strange square foot of flooring. There were twenty-five keyholes in a grid on the floor. The setup looked like a strange puzzle. “Let’s hope I remember the order now,” the old man said, laughing a little, “one wrong move and we’re up in flames.”
This old man must be joking! Lex thought, wondering how else he could say such a thing so trivially, and wondering about his ability of setting up such complicated systems.
With the small key in the firm grip of his right hand, Ben closed his eyes for a second in concentration and recollection, his left index finger in the air, telling Lex he shouldn’t distract him. Then, he jammed the key in one of the holes, and in rapid succession, jammed and turned in all the holes in a seemingly random order, turning the key each time to a specific number of degrees in a specific direction. Ben stood, holding his back with a low groan.
“What now?” Lex asked. The boy nearly jumped as a square foot of floor suddenly jumped up an inch right before him. He looked down at it. Ben moved over to this raised section and jammed the key into another keyhole on top of it.
“You’re kiddin’,” Lex muttered, wondering what all this contraption could be about. As Bengushi turned the key in the hole slightly, the square slowly moved up out of the ground, until it showed itself to be a cube, a little box. Ben pushed his finger down at the centre of the top surface of the cube through a small hole it appeared his finger had just made. Curling his finger up to grip, Ben removed the top of the box, a heavy lid of thick wood.
The boy’s eyes glistened as he peered down at what looked like a black chest in the wooden box. “Get it out,” Ben instructed. Lex quickly put his hands down into the box, pulling at the unmoving chest with both hands. “Even Clover should be able to pull this up, come on!” Ben jeered him, keeping his voice down. Lex pulled up at the chest with all his might; veins bulged in his arms and his teeth clenched in strain. Finally, he let go, stepping back from it, panting. Bengushi made a little snicker, then put one hand down into the box and effortlessly pulled out the metal chest, resting it on the ground gently. Lex’s eyes widened in disbelief. “Heh. Don’t feel bad, young one. Just know never to underestimate a frail-looking old man. Heheheh. Go on, open it.” Without further ado, Lex stooped and jammed the black key into the similarly coloured chest, turning it forcefully. He heard a click, and the top of the chest eased up a bit. The eager boy quickly flung the chest open, then jumped back in fright and silence.
Bengushi grabbed the vessel and slowly raised it from the chest. Lex stared at the thing in deep thought, his heart racing. “I know you know what this vessel contains,” the old man said. “Stand at the door.” Lex dressed back until his back was against the locked door. “Through the ancient writings passed down from the time of Kizer and Oga, I learnt of where this was buried. Only one of the vials were written of in the literature I got my hands on, and long before my grandchildren were born, I journeyed across continents and retrieved this ancient treasure, and kept it here for you, who I was sure would come. For some reason, my spirit is warning me not to put this off any longer. Tonight… this great power of old will be yours!”
Lex’s heart raced even faster. He shook nervously.
“Keep your eyes open,” Bengushi instructed. “Make way for the dark spirit and allow its great power to become yours… You will bend this power of darkness to your own will, and be its master, and the light of hope to this world.” Bengushi stood before Lex, his eyes closed. He turned the top half of the vial. “Get ready,” he told the shaking boy. Then, he opened the vial, and in a dark flash, a shadowy demon that was darker than black rushed out of the vial toward Lex. The boy’s body took on a sudden black glow as the shadowy spirit lunged through his eyes. His head was raised up nearly the point of breaking his neck, and his body floated up inches above the ground.
An infinite stretch of foreign memories flashed through his mind as he perceived warped shadows and brilliant lights in a timeless moment.
As the mighty power rushed into him, Ben clenched his teeth and struggled to stand his ground. The tension this power created in the room was like the winds of a hurricane. As about two hundred pounds were relieved from the vessel, Ben’s muscles relaxed a bit, and the wind calmed, and the boy fell to his feet, the glow disappearing from around him. Lex’s eyes were closed, and he stood there, not breathing.
Then, they opened abruptly. Ben shivered at the sight before him. Lex’s eyes were completely black. As his eyes were opened, the tense wind was resurrected. Bengushi grabbed on to the sturdy bed. The ground beneath Lex’s feet cracked under pressure, and the walls began to tear apart. “The black eyed state,” Bengushi told himself.
A rough, masculine voice spoke out from Lex’s lips, certainly not the voice of an eleven year old boy, “Finally… I am awaken from my slumber!” Then, the darkness faded from Lex’s eyes, and Ben ran up him and caught him as he fell, faint and weak.
Chapter 3: Genesis of the Exodus
Lex woke early the next morning though he had had quite a night. “That’s right!” the boy exclaimed, jumping off his bed with much exuberance. “Come on! Come on! Get up! Get up! Get up!” the lively boy ranted, running to and from Kyle’s and Clover’s beds, shaking them vigorously, already getting on Kyle’s nerves. Clover sleepily sat up, still under her cream-coloured covers, her eyes still not quite open yet. “Come on! Rise and shine! It’s a beautiful day!” the boy continued, almost tilting Kyle’s bed right over.
“What in the name of—”
“What’s going on, Lex?” Clover finally asked.
“Today I’m twelve!” the boy finally announced, his secret countdown finally ending.
“What?! It’s your birthday!?” Clover jumped out of bed quickly and ran and hugged him, then released him abruptly, even pushing him off. “You didn’t tell me! I can’t believe you turn twelve before I turn eleven! Our birthdays are closer than you think you know!”
“Yeah, only a few years apart,” the cynical, apathetic voice of Kyle came in as he finally sat up and stretched and yawned and sighed. “Well, happy birthday, kid – before you know it, you’ll be as old as I used to be.”
“Come on, let’s get Grandpa!” the now giddy girl recommended, dashing past Lex out of the room.
“Ugh! Come on, keep it down, it’s the middle of the night!” Kyle snarled, diving back under the covers.
“Such a lamer!” Lex said, and ran after Clover to get old man Ben. He stopped his running and calmed himself, realizing that the room was quiet and still. The door was ajar. He pushed it
slowly, walking in softly. A sudden strong wind whipped the air, and the long painting shifted for a moment, and Lex saw the little keyhole behind it. He gasped, and his eyes grew wide and his heart sped up. “It wasn’t a dream,” he whispered to himself, suddenly noticing little things that confirmed the strange event of last night, though the old man had obviously did some cleaning up, but he couldn’t undo everything, like cracks in the wall that Clover didn’t seem to notice. He grabbed on to his belly, remember the awful thing that had invaded him. He suddenly felt much heavier.
He noticed that Clover was kneeling at Bengushi’s bedside, staring without blinking for quite some time. He saw tears well up in her eyes and move down her face rapidly, but she said nothing, and her stare, her pale expression became an increasingly scary picture. “No…” Lex whispered to himself, walking up to Clover and the unmoving, sleeping man. He gently and nervously rested his shaking hand on the old man’s chest, but it was still. He moved it up to under the man’s nostrils, and there was nothing. “This can’t be,” Lex told himself unconvincingly.
Clover’s weeping had just begun, as the reality had struck her with a deadly suddenness. “No! Grandpa! Wake up!” she cried, shaking him with the little strength she had, breathing heavily. Lex grabbed her quickly and pulled her from the lying man, hugging her tightly. The crying girl held on to Lex, squeezing him, already soaking his shirt with her tears. Then she pushed him off forcefully, running out of the deathly room. Lex just stood there staring down at the dead man in disbelief.
“Kyle! Brother! Get up! Get up!” the girl blasted, hitting him fiercely. The frightened boy jumped out of his bed, staring at his crying sister in confusion and sudden panic.
“What the hell’s the matter with you?!” he asked with an unusually shaky voice.
The Seventh Spirit Page 5