The Journey

by Arnav Koppala

  It transformed into a spaceship to transport us somewhere. We climbed aboard, and we entered Kalamine X. It did not work. We tried entering something, but nothing worked. The spaceship automatically, as if on autopilot flew, as it broke through the final frontier.

  Ugh! I did not even feel like myself at all. What just happened? My body feels as if somebody whacked me all over it with a bat. I am not talking about a wooden bat either. It was more like one of those aluminum metal high-performance bats that made the pop sound and sent the baseball out of the park on a grand slam. The one that everyone is familiar with that makes the popping sound.

  Well, come to think of it, it was like a pair of nun chucks. Whack-wham-whack. I turn my head. Shriek!! I should not have done that. If only it could have been someone else’s body, then it might have made me feel a little bit better. I knew it was wrong of me to wish any ill-will on anyone else but that was just the agony of my distress. Let me not complain, because I was built to endure.

  My body is pleading and crying out in dread. Any sudden movement that I made set off trigger points in my body that caused me to grit my teeth and squirm because it was that bad. My body racks up with more pain and I muffle my scream with the intentions of keeping my mind intact. On top of that, I had to keep everyone else intact also.

  It was hard to keep my mind in check. A horrible thought crept into my head from the depths of my subconscious. It stemmed from the cerebrum vortex. If only I could get down to the part of the pain that controls the sensory levels. It just landed like right there. I started to massage my temple to get some relief but that did not help me. It crept to my vision like a small black hatchling until it sprouted its fangs and sank into my priorities.

  I try to look down at my sternum but my head refuses to cooperate. It was a struggle. “Head, just cooperate with me.” I said. I slowly loll my head with the most careful attention I could give, and I see nothing! For once, my body was not damaged at the most severe point. I wonder if this is what acupuncture did to people with all those millions of needles.

  I close my eyes and concentrate on the earth below me as I feel my sternum rushing with energy. The feeling of energy was like an uncontrollable adrenaline rush that just would not go away. Magic. I pilot the stream as I veer it off course and move it to my head and split the remaining energy to my palms. My palms had this tingling vibrating sensation in them. The neurotic pathways in my brain slowly energize as my palms began to glow. The glow arising from my palms was indescribable.

  The ground beneath me begins to tremble as if the earth feared my presence. I will my head to search for everyone. My brain responds as I enter the shape dimension. I at once find Cameron, Uncle Peter, and Austin slumped together in a heap motionless. I examine them closer. They were like almost on top of each other just stoic and unable to move. My heart was pounding through my ears as I see their chests rise and fall steadily, but they started to slow down breathing. At least, they still have breath in their bodies. I went into full panic mode. “Think, Mathew.” I muttered under my breath.

  There was metal all over me, and I could not even budge. Moving them at my state of condition would break me apart. There had to be something I could do. Zzzzzzzzzck! A program launches in my head as I take a chunk of the metal and form a matrix and I input the word magnet. The matrix rises into the sky bursting through all the rubble and it starts to beep as all the metal from the ship lifts of the ground and crumples around the matrix.

  As if responding to my thoughts, the ground craters itself to make a small cushion for Cameron, Austin, and Uncle Peter, but what I did not realize was that, that program came with another program. The first one called, “Tee Earthen Matrix” and the second one called, “Botany Descry,” which allowed me to search for any kind of plant ever made and have it appear at my beck and call.

  I search for some herbs and powerful ones that can restore the human body. I come across this alien-like plant. I feel like this plant can help but it looked so monstrous. It almost resembled a Venus flytrap because it kept opening and closing and letting out spirts of liquid. I pick a spot in the ground and sprout it with all my strength. The ground cracks and out blooms the monstrous-but-really-useful-plant-that-may-or-may-not-be-the-cause-of-my-friend’s-survival-depends-upon-what-kind-of plant it is.

  The plant sways back forth and comes to a stop. I look at the flower and see a small puddle of nectar sitting in the center of the flower. I noticed when I looked away the plant would start swaying again. When I looked at it, then it would stop again. Was this plant controlled by my senses? The aroma drifted over to Cameron, Austin, and Uncle Peter and they groaned in a cacophony as if waking up from a nightmare, which might be a side-effect of alien aromas.

  The scent was sweet and protruded through my nostrils and even awakened my senses to a level of delight that I was unaccustomed to. Their souls took a bit of a joy ride out of their body before coming back into bodies, knocking some common sense into them and a lot more action. As the scent arose, they were aroused from stupor into cognizance. I decided not to look away any longer and let the scent keep rising so they would come back to themselves.

  The flower then wobbled as the ground sucked the flower into it like a noodle, leaving no trace that it ever even bloomed. I stomp my left foot into the ground and a small hole shows up spewing fresh, purified, clean, drinkable water out of the ground. Cameron, seeing the water, rushes over and starts to drink directly from the ground. Then he plops his butt on the ground and sighs with satisfaction. Why he did that I will never know because now he has his clothes soaking wet from sitting there as the water continued flowing out.

  We all take a break and lie on the ground. I needed more than anything a dry place to lay down. Even though we were in a completely different dimension, it was nice that we were familiar with some of our surroundings. The water at least reminded me of earth. Although it had a familiar tone at times, many things were unfamiliar to us because we did not know what all was going to take place. I started to lie down, and a voice enters my head. I did not need anything else creeping into my thoughts right now. I wanted to block it out, but it would not go away.

  Now, this voice sounded rough. It sounded like a man was talking, but I could not see him anywhere. I try to trace his voice. The vice was like a broken record. He kept saying, “Find me. Find me.” All I heard playing over was find me. The same repeated words that I tried to drown out. It was taking over so bad. How could I find anything that was telling me to find it? “Hey, whoever you are; where are you? Better yet, who are you?” I asked back.

  My process of elimination starts to not work, so I started thinking outside-the-box. This is me being a critical analytical thinker. I look up, but at once, I looked down because the sun’s blaring light would have burned my eyes away if I stared too long. The last thing I needed was to be struck blind from trying to be brave against the sun’s blaring rays. When I looked down the man’s voice seemed to crescendo. I started to try and apply context clues but even that did not work. I keep walking with my head facing the ground and Cameron does his silly things where he surprises me. Leave it up to Cameron.

  He crept up to me and scared the broad daylights out of me and my soul. I ask him if he had heard a man’s voice. He shook his head with confusion. Was I the only one who could hear his voice. He looked at me as if I was looney. I know it might have sounded crazy, but I know I heard a voice talking to me.

  Just then the ground rumbles but Cameron starts to laugh. “Is this your way of revenge Mathew, because it is not fooling me? Laughed Cameron. I retort quickly. “But Cameron, I am not doing anything.” His expression turned from joy to panic.

  He runs over to Austin and Uncle Peter, trying to warn them, but it was too late. The ground trembles as it all caves in revealing a dark abyss beneath them, and in that moment the man’s voice was clearer than before. And I felt a deeper connection than ever before. I knew we had to investigate. Cameron tried to use his air magic. It did
not work. I tried to make a makeshift lift with the thought, but I am not able to use my magic!

  How in the world could it be that when I needed magic to work, it would not work and then—it worked?! You know, for magic to work, you have to have an idea of the situation and what magic was needed. The earth molded itself into an elevator as Cameron, Austin, and Uncle Peter run over to the elevator on an earth path I created. We all step inside and descend into the abyss.

  — • —

  We stand for about 5 minutes before I realize that chairs would have been helpful. I morph the elevator’s bottom to accommodate four chairs. Our legs became wobbly because we were exhausted. We all plop onto the chair with relief and wait an additional 5 minutes before we realize that we need to lie down. All of this made me feel like I had motion sickness. Cameron uses his gravity terrain and makes one side of the elevator where the gravity is located.

  We all get up from our seats and lie down on the wall. A little comfort goes a long way. We wait another 10 minutes and we start to get bored. By now, the rest of the group was trying to figure out ways that we could resolve what we were up against. As they continued to brainstorm, I remembered that we could go real fast if we could use Cameron’s air to make boosters. I make up this weird propulsion system with metal because that was all that I had around me. Leave it up to me.

  I connect a pipe from inside to outside. Then attached the propulsion system to four different locations on the elevator. I installed an additional four on the bottom in case we get near the bottom. Cameron directs his oxygen in one single point and BOOM! The minute he let the oxygen flow, we broke the sound barrier. Magic used for the gravity in the wall dissipated as the gravity strengthened ten-fold as 9 other consecutive booms followed. I use the wall of the elevator and buckle us down so that the gravity does not affect us that much. After that, it was easy to change to the floor and remove it. Then using my mind, it was easy to create a dome glass on the bottom of the elevator. I also send my magic into the ground directly beneath us and set a trigger point that will divert the power from the tops propulsion system to the bottom one.

  I warned my peers, “We are nearing the trigger point, brace yourselves!” The lower propulsion system activates just as it passed the trigger point. The walls surrounding the elevator shudder vigorously with tension in them. I quickly reinforced the walls before the whole structure would tear apart and the shuddering starts to slow down.

  The elevator was exponentially slowing down as the whole pod slows down to a stop. I step out. I imagine pitch blackness, no light, and no sense of direction but some mysterious force lit up the whole room. We were in the core of a huge planet. The mysterious force had an unnatural pull towards it as I felt my body gravitate towards it. At that point, I jumped to the conclusion that maybe this light had something to do with where we were at. “Whoa.” Mathew said. In one second, I felt this tremendous form of energy leaving me in the midst nostalgia as if the energy and I have been used before. There was no doubt we were in the core of the huge planet.

  The whole chamber seemed to be made of a material that I had never ever seen before. I take a closer look at the chamber and notice almost a trillion holes in the wall. I take the time to study the walls and I peek in them and find relics. The air tasted fresh with rejuvenating oxygen and touch as I rouse my hand across the vast walls as the texture of surface is like none that I have ever seen before smooth and soft, rough but sanded all but none.

  But they were all the same. “Hello.” echoed the man’s voice. The voice grew louder. In fact, it felt like a siren went off in my head. The man said he was here but where? I felt that the man said that he was here but where? This had to have been the same voice from earlier saying find me. I started to search for a man, but that would not have had worked, unless I thought outside the box. Now, thinking outside the box was one thing; trying to find the importance of a man’s voice was another.

  I look around more and more, trying to search for any hidden clues when I notice a label near one of the holes with the inscription that said: “Find the terrastor converter of the relics cypress dementia.” Could this relic and the voice from the man be connected? What was terrastor? My control issues start to creep in. I had never heard that word before, but I know I was unsure. Cypress Dementia had to mean something, something important, something useful to use.

  I guess, you could say, it had a special connotation to it. I kept thinking and thinking when I realized that we were in the core of the whole planet, the center. I use my matrix to summon terrastor. It did not work.

  Terrastor must be some king of alien element that is indigenous to this planet. I tried to think, but it occurred to me that the room was getting taller and taller by every passing second. I kept thinking and thinking and the room grew taller and then before I knew it was like I began sinking. I look down and find quicksand up to my thighs. What? I didn’t understand how such an enormous quantity was consuming my thigh this whole time and I did not even notice.

  The whole room shook with the might of an 9.9 earthquake. There was an aftershock after it stopped. There were little tremors that followed. I just remain still for a few minutes because I was not sure if another quake was coming. I look around and I see three holes in the ground. The ground sucked Uncle Peter, Austin, and Cameron up. I focus my power on their shapes and concentrate on forcing them up from the ground.

  Slowly but surely, their bodies rose steadily, and they popped out of the ground. I held them steady in the air with more of the quicksand. I did not like the feeling of what was happening. It gets really bad with the quicksand and in flies into my head another program as if I had practiced and knew what exactly to do. How many programs were there exactly?

  I shouted, “Terra Terrain Activate.” Nothing happened, so I reversed my command. “Activate Terra Terrain.” That was all that it took and suddenly… The ground shook as my magic vibrated through the ground. Particles from the ground started to permeate in circulation around me. The quicksand pushed me off the ground and it hardened like quick-acting cement. At least, I was not sinking in the quicksand, I thought to myself.

  The earth holding Uncle Peter, Austin, and Cameron break, as Cameron gracefully puts Austin and Uncle Peter down to the ground. We all look at each other. The man’s voice comes back again louder than ever booming into my ear like never before. I wince at the voice.

  I do not understand where the voice is coming from? I waited patiently for the voice to reappear again to see if I could pinpoint where it was coming from. The terra terrain started to shift as it starts to move slowly somewhere as if it was being attracted to it. I felt that the terra terrain could guide me to the terrastor convertor. The terra terrain was linked to a small portion of my magic. When I channel more magic into one concentrated point into my hands, I thrust my palms to the ground as the ground waves from the concentrated magic I sent.

  The ground tears up and travels faster toward one relic in particular. The relic starts to tremble and disintegrate. What just happened? I thought it disintegrated. Was this it? Did I really destroy our only chance of sealing away Sakuta? I was so desperate to find a way to undo my mistake that I forgot there was another way. I used the terra terrain to not only disintegrate one but all the relics and forge each one of relics as I watch the process happen right in my hands.

  It was the relic of Cypress Dementia. The power in the terrastor converter surged and vibrated back and forth as if an insurmountable power just tapped into my magic source. Hmmmm…That was interesting enough.

  My body coursed with magic and power I had never felt before. I was embellished in the power and wanted more of it to be unleashed. It was at that moment, I knew that the terrastor converter was my relic. The chamber started to rumble. It even started to rattle a bit. All along, the terrastor converter provided a core of the planet. But just know, there is no core anymore. It was in my hands.

  I set the relic down and I chanted again like as if I knew what I exact
ly had to do. My hands began to glow as a portal of terrastor opened right above the relic. It was like an amber glow. The terrastor dropped into the opening and into the converter as the relic began to brighten.

  Out the other end, came a stream of quintessence. It has been a long time since I saw it, but this quintessence was different. It was more powerful and more controlled. That was a good thing for me because to me control was what was needed.

  The quintessence held enough power to power the planet for eternity. I fused the quintessence with some of the leftover raw terrastor. The quintessence flowed over to the raw terrastor and circled around it. Waiting for the right moment as if giving permission to the terrastor if it could join it. The terrastor symbols back with an amber glow it has accepted. The quintessence and terrastor merge and morph twisting and shaping as it finds a perfect medium, spherical ball of energy. The core itself had so much gravity my body began to fly towards it, but I linked my magic with everyone else and resisted the gravity temptation to move us closer to the core.

  Cameron, who was not at all unfazed by this slapped himself to reality and employed his gravity terrain to move us closer towards the elevator. The new core zapped the elevator absorbing the residual energy causing the elevator to collapse into rubble. We were stuck in the core of the planet with no way to get out. I could only stare at the remains of what once was the elevator. There was nothing left but what used to be. Cameron could not hold his terrain much longer.

  Soon, we would all be consumed by the quintessence. Keep in mind, too much energy was never a good thing. Just then, the molten ball stopped its gravity. It contained intense heat. The ball shot a brilliant blue beam of light right beside us as I thought its intention was to harm us.