The Venerate Order

by Troy Dukart

  His tone was slightly sarcastic with a touch of sadness. He doesn’t seem excited to be here.

  Rousseau jumped in the air and sprinted down the hill. He ran so fast that a gust of wind blew down Zon on his butt as he passed him. Rousseau then spun around and blew Zon a kiss. I got a good laugh out of that.

  Brutus and I made our way down the hill and we started walking east along a small creek. The water smelled nice and the breeze helped to cool us during the hot day. We were all alone up in the mountains besides the occasional wild rams that had blue horns. Brutus chased after them but they were too fast, even for him. I kept closing my eyes to see Roya’s location; we chatted along the way.

  “So, you’re from here Rousseau?” I asked him. He snapped his fingers and pointed at me and said,

  “Bingo! Ha-ha, are you impressed? What about you? Tell me about where you’re from.”

  “Well, it’s a nice place near the beach. It’s called New Santa Barbara. My world doesn’t have war, it’s actually illegal. I do get restless sometimes though; I became a pilot to travel the world and hopefully find my brother. There’s only so many things you can do in one town, even in a place some would call a paradise,” I told him.

  “It seems like you have a good planet. What do you think of Eternia?” Rousseau asked me.

  I paused before I answered, “Seeing people die like it’s routine has been hard to get used to, but I’ll never give up until get my friends and family back. Since I found out that my family might be here, maybe it was always my destiny. I miss my mother, and worry that she is looking for me. I need to get back to Earth somehow.”

  “I can personally promise you that if you help us save our world, your mom will be more proud of you than mad at you,” Rousseau teased, we laughed.

  Zon cringed when he heard us talking loud and dug his foot in the ground, “What are you doing! You’re creating attention to us. For all we know, we could be wanted fugitives here.”

  “It’s called getting to know each other Zon. You should try it, maybe you won’t be so crabby all the time,” I mentioned.

  “Listen here, alien, these problems we have go back long before you came and long after you go home. You are also not a warrior, yet carry strength that can bail you out of trouble. If you didn’t have that, you would have died long ago. If you are responsible for putting us in a situation of life and death, I will not help you survive again,” Zon stated.

  “What’ve I done to make you doubt me?” I asked.

  “I have my apprehension about you, but you are not the enemy. You talk a good game, I need to see you back it up,” Zon said in a calmer voice.

  I think I threw him off. In life I learned that sometimes you have to stand up for yourself and say what was on your mind. Also to let people know that they can’t get away talking to you in a demeaning way. If you do, they’ll come to respect you for it.

  “You should be thankful for receiving such a gift Zon. You would be wise to remember that,” Brutus noted.

  “These powers we have are not gifts! They are curses! Have you ever stopped to think that these powers could be used to manipulate us!? Nothing is free in this world; there is always a reason,” Zon said coldly.

  “You sure as hell like to do that disappearing act a bunch there chap. I suppose you popped out of the womb bouncing off the walls like a ninja?” Rousseau retorted.

  “This is not what I wanted,” Zon responded as he looked to his sword.

  I could feel the tension between us all so I intervened, “Listen, we’ve had to fight our way through hell and back to get this far. I don’t know about you all, but these bastards have my girlfriend, and my family. Gain, the man we met in that ship, was my best friend but they took him from me too. Tearing each other apart isn’t going to help anyone we care about. I’ll do whatever it takes to save them and find out who is responsible for this. I’m sure you guys have people you love you’re fighting for. We need to find Roya and then we can figure out all that has happened.”

  “Strafe’s right. I’m sorry my brother,” Rousseau said.

  He held his hand out to Zon. Zon had to examine his hand for a second before he realized Rousseau was offering an apology. He shook the hand with caution and looked back at Rousseau and asked, “Why do you give me your weapon hand?”

  “Because I know I’m quicker than you mate,” Rousseau joked, we all laughed and began to walk again.

  Rousseau ran up with Brutus and Zon stayed behind with me.

  “I apologize for my misconduct with you. It is hard, even for me, to completely understand what is going on. Having an alien around has thrown me off,” Zon admitted.

  “I’ll forgive you, as long as you stop calling me an ‘alien,’” I told him.

  “No problem, it won’t happen again,” Zon said after he bowed his head.

  Chapter 17/

  The Ancient Ones

  Strafe

  We walked for hours.

  I climbed up a hill and saw a huge waterfall cascading down a small mountain. I could see Roya’s aura in the cave.

  “This is going to be a nandai,” Zon said.

  “A what? A band-aid?” I asked.

  “No, nandai. I forgot the word in your language, ah, it’s like a very hard thing to do,” Zon explained.

  “Nandai, if I remember correctly that means challenge,” Rousseau answered.

  “Ah, do you speak Shinji?” Zon asked.

  “I studied it for a little bit; I have a thing for all the comics from your country,” Rousseau replied.

  “You would love Japan if you like comics,” I joked.

  “Is that a country in your world?” Rousseau replied.

  “Yes. Zon, you’d fit right in there with your warrior-code,” Brutus explained.

  Zon looked to change the subject, “Are you telling me she is up there?”

  “Yes sir! I see her beautiful yellow aura!” Rousseau sang.

  We made our way to the base of the waterfall and looked up. All the rocks surrounding the waterfall were slippery, cold and hard as steel.

  “There’s no way we can climb it. These rocks are too slippery,” I pointed out as I slid my hand across the rocks.

  “That was articulate my man!” Rousseau teased. I ran over and put him in a headlock and gave him a knuckle-rub across his head.

  Before I could react, I felt a pinch in my shoulders. I turned around to see that Brutus had bit onto my jacket and had me in his grasp. “Here, I got a solution.”

  His aura was glowing bright orange and with a quick snap of his head he tossed me all the way up to the waterfall cave.

  “AHHHHHHHHH!!!!” I screamed as I flew through the air.

  Brutus had tossed me perfectly up to the mouth of the cave. I got to my feet and looked down at the others. I waved my hand and let them know I was okay. Brutus jumped over to Rousseau, and did the same thing only Rousseau kept screaming even after he made it to the top.

  Zon backed away from Brutus when he was about to toss him up. We saw Zon activate his aura as he pulled out a weird looking chained weapon. It looked like a rope with a hook on it. He threw it about 15 feet up the wall and it stuck into the rocks. He then jerked hard and pulled himself up where his weapon was hooked in the wall. After he got up to the hook-point, he spun around and used his teleport ability to pass through the waterfall and hooked himself higher on the wall. Zon kept zigzagging his way up the waterfall until he teleported right in front of us. It was a sight to see, for sure.

  We looked down and saw Brutus pacing back and forth.

  “Woof!” Brutus barked.

  “Give us a warning next time you do that okay!” I yelled to him.

  Brutus then looked up to the hill we walked down. It stood higher than the waterfall, and being as intelligent he was, he ran to the top of it.

  “What’s that bugger up to?” Rousseau said.

  Brutus ran toward us as fast as he could before he jumped in the air. He glided using his Whitecloud ability
all the way to the cave mouth. He landed perfectly.

  “Damn! I can’t believe how intelligent you’ve become Brutus! Must run in the family,” I said as I rubbed his head.

  “Somebody’s gotta watch out for you,” Brutus joked.

  “Impressive,” Zon remarked.

  “Hey guys, I found Roya! I think she’s asleep,” Rousseau announced. We made our way into the cavern to help her. She was sleeping. “Roya? You okay love?” he asked as she woke up.

  Brutus was quick to rush over to her to see how she was doing, to which she smiled and caressed his check. Brutus had become close with her.

  “Ahhh, where are we? Any ideas Brutus-Sah?” she yawned.

  “According to Rousseau, we’re in a country called Yuwheria. It’s where he’s from,” Brutus told her.

  “Really? You happy to be back Rousseau-Sah?” Roya asked.

  “Thrilled,” Rousseau uttered.

  “How did you end up so far from us Roya?” Zon knelt down next to her and touched her shoulder.

  “I needed sometime to myself, so I think that’s why I ended up here,” Roya replied.

  “You doing alright?” I asked.

  Roya initially hesitated but then told us her story and why she was on this journey. I felt for her because I’d lost friends along the way as well. Brutus sat next to her as she pet him. When people around him were suffering, Brutus was always there to comfort. He helped me through some tough times myself growing up. He was my best friend after all.

  After we rested, I asked, “Do any of you know truly know where this power we have comes from?”

  I was met with silence but then Roya began, “According to scriptures from my tribe, these powers have existed for Millennia. My people were dedicated on honoring the past and sought after knowledge of Eternia’s history for as long as we have existed. We found out there was once two beings that protected this world from all evil, Guardian and Nian. Immortal beings, they were worshiped as gods yet they were commanded by mortals.”

  “Commanded by mortals?” I noted.

  “Yes Strafe-Sah. Unfortunately, they were sealed beyond space and time by an extremely advanced people called The Venerates, the race that created them. Initially the Ancient Ones created only Guardian to protect all the people of Eternia. What made Guardian so powerful wasn’t magic or immortality, no, but the fact that he held ultimate mastery of the 14 essential emotions present in all life. Love, anger, passion, despair, joy, concern, grief, desire, compassion, elation, jealousy, ecstasy, pride and fear,” Roya explained.

  “Venerates? Guardian? My clan has never heard of such a thing,” Zon retorted.

  “There are many ways of knowing Zon-Sah and I would be happy to hear what you believe,” Roya replied, he turned and looked out toward the valley.

  “What happened to the Guardian Ms. Roya?” Rousseau asked.

  “The Venerates transferred the emotional power into 14 beings on Eternia to balance the power so one group of humans couldn’t command dominance. The Venerates couldn’t take away Guardian’s immortality, so this was the next best thing.”

  “Checks and balances,” Zon concluded.

  “The Guardian, Venerates and humans had once lived in perfect harmony, and were protectors of Eternia. This is how it was until one group of Venerates, The Ancient Ones had decided to betray the others and use Guardian as a tool to rule the Galaxy. They split Guardian’s power in two and created his clone called Nian. Nian was a hunter and sought to destroy Guardian. Nian inherited the darker emotions while Guardian kept the positive ones,” Roya explained.

  “Too much power in one place is never a good thing,” Brutus reckoned.

  “So I have God-power?” I marveled.

  “You see Strafe, no being is completely good or bad. When Guardian defeats Nian, or the other way around, they will control unstoppable power. Both of them lie in a realm that now acts as the Venerates’ resting place. Unfortunately, the damage done by The Ancient One’s was widespread and epidemic. They waged war against the humans and Venerates, in what became The Galaxy War,” Roya offered.

  ”How do you know this? I’ve never heard this before?” Rousseau interjected.

  “Please, let me finish. All will make sense,” she assuaged, “The Ancient One’s had introduced technology and weapons they had never seen before. The Venerates couldn’t stand seeing it going on any further. They made a promise to protect the planet and sealed that which The Ancient One’s waged their war for, Guardian and Nian. They had devised a plan to lure in the remaining Ancient One’s by offering the Guardians to them. Only to the Ancient One’s surprise, it was a well devised trap that was intended to seal them up forever in the Celestial Gate. They had placed the Guardian inside and negotiated a fake surrender to be taken place in the gate. The Ancient One’s and Nian fell for it and they had effectively been sealed away along with Guardian, never to return again.”

  “The first humans of Eternia fought against gods? Sounds like ancient Greek mythology” I said.

  “Before they sealed up gate, Guardian and Nian’s powers were distributed to 14 beings. The power had to be vested into those who harnessed the particular emotion strongly. After the power was passed down to the beings on Eternia, the Ancient One’s fate was forever sealed. The power was too great and meant too much to the planet to simply throw away, the Venerates thought. They envisioned the ones who carried Guardian and Nian’s power would deter war and stop it if it rose up,” she addressed.

  “My god, everything we know, my religion of Serenity, is it real?” Rousseau mumbled.

  “Once the last of the Venerates had scattered the power around the globe, their purpose was fulfilled and they slowly passed away. They entrusted to the people on Eternia the Powers of Guardian, a gift from a dying race. These powers can never be extinguished except if Guardian and Nian would be destroyed. Once we fully master our powers, we will be able to bestow parts of our powers to others. That is how I was able to pass on the tracking ability to you Strafe. As for surviving the cannon blast, I have no idea,” Roya ended with.

  I had to take a minute or two to digest all of what I’d heard; it’s not often that everything you know and believe is totally put into question. Could this reality relate to mine?

  “So. . .You’re telling me an ancient race created gods to protect the planet. Once those gods couldn’t be trusted anymore they gave their power to humans? How can this be?” I speculated.

  “I am not telling you what you believe is wrong, only you can decide how you view life. What I am telling you though, is that you have been selected to hold the Power of Passion. Your path will challenge every belief you have emotionally, spiritually, physically, mentally and most of all your heart. I know how you are feeling. This universe is a ying-yang Strafe; if there is evil there will always be good to put it in check,” she whispered as she caressed my face.

  “So we’ve become part of the prophecy. The prophecy to bring order back to this world,” I surmised.

  “The Venerate Order,” Brutus noted.

  He motioned for Roya and I to hop on his back. He helped us, two by two, down the waterfall and we were on our way. Rousseau told us he would lead us to the closest city.

  Chapter 18/

  Arrouegadin

  Rousseau

  My name is Rousseau, and I am a nomad.

  The “blessed” country we found ourselves in was called Yuwheria, where I grew up. How I got into this mess or why I deserved this, I have no idea. The Senti’s aggression on Eternia has made me question our humanity more than usual. The one thing that kept me going was the opportunity to make-up for my failures of my past. Heck, with this crazy group of chaps, I felt we could do anything, even stop a war.

  I was always so damn curious as to why we had these powers, and thanks to Roya I knew why! We were born to kick ass! I jest but the reality was that my strongest emotion, Elation, had made me super-human fast. It wasn’t about me or my good looks, no, it was about getting a chance
to make things right in the world. I was far from a hero unfortunately.

  How many people do you know with strength like a bull, guys who can teleport like crazy ninjas, and a lady who can manipulate any object she touches? And then there was me, a man who is super fast on his feet but wants to take things slow. Why must I be a hero and savior? I have enough problems as it is!

  I needed to find my friend Tom. Burn everything on Eternia and as long as he stood untouched I would be fine. He meant the world to me. I knew he was in Yuwheria. The games were about to start. I looked to the setting sun and remembered that I didn’t give a damn about the crown until now.

  “I need you with me father, I need your wisdom,” I whispered.

  Having mates helping me along the journey made it easier to cope. We’re all in the shit together. Zon was the first I met, and as ridged as he can be, underneath all that tough guy stuff was a teddy bear looking for a hug. Just don’t make him mad! Roya had a beautiful spirit and great purpose. Strafe, he’s a cute one and isn’t afraid of anything. Gotta love his wolf Brutus too! I never thought I could be outsmarted by an animal on a regular basis!

  The longer I walked down this road with these four, the more I realized that this may not have been what we all wanted, but we were chosen to do something special. After hearing how these powers we had came to be, it made me wonder what our true potential. Would I be able to face my fears if I got stronger?

  Growing up in the Royalty of Yuwheria, so much was expected out of me, so much pressure to “please the crowd.” It could drive me bonkers sometimes. Having to hide who I was from the public tested my soul every day. That’s why I didn’t mind leaving this damn judgmental place but the chally bastard Marcio will not go unpunished. Even uttering his name brings me back to the memories of scrubbing the blood of my father off my face.

  I told them that we were close to the capitol of Yuwheria. With my friend Tom’s help we could go to the World’s Nation to testify against the Senti. The World’s Nation was an organization where each nation could come together to solve our deepest problems. Each war treaty in the history of Eternia was signed there and it became a beacon for peace.