The Journey

by Arnav Koppala

  At last, we could clap our hands and let out a huge sigh of relief. After everything we had undergone to get here, we had something to be proud of. Assuredly, we will never forget our travels and how dangerous our quest was. We were approaching the end of a journey that seemed almost impossible. We had come too far to fail.

  Soon everything would all finally be over. We were getting closer. Our ship is off to a great start. It is quiet except for the sound of the loud revving engine. Everyone was in their own zone replaying over in their minds all the ups and the downs that it took to get here. We had endured so much along the way that at times, it seemed almost surreal to even reflect on.

  We cruise smoothly in the space as the space around us seems to blur. The ship’s engine was under no stress whatsoever. I was thrilled to find out that wherever this ship was taking us, would not be somewhere that was going to get us blown up. I was just glad that it was not going anywhere that would get us into any trouble.

  Our bonds as guardians really took a beating because I could not think of any way to start a conversation without things getting uncomfortable. There was a lot that needed to be discussed but trying to figure out where to start was hard. “Hello, Jack!” My eyes dart around me. I yelp in my seat, causing myself to flinch at the sound of Justin’s voice. I was not expecting to hear anything because of how silent it was.

  The ship enters the warp speed of 5.273546981 because this is the speed that will help us cross the gap between Point A to Point B without being traceable. All of us take a look at our final destination. Everything appeared perfectly fine. Absolutely nothing looked out of the ordinary. I pulled up a heat signature of the planet and scanned for any lifeforms. Out of curiosity, I was anxious to see if there was any extraterrestrial activity.

  Sput! Sput! Sput! The revving engine of the ship started to slow down. The engine was about to burn out. I shot some light out of my hand and it traveled over to the hole in the ground. Amelia turned the light into this ghostly transparent fabric-like fog that dripped its way down the shaft and into the energy converter in the engines.

  The converter was a generator was managed by electricity but was also the reason that the environment of the ship was not going to hurt me. What?! I was so confused. I will admit, that sometimes what I am thinking does not make sense. Coming into exposure of your whole environment being completely pure of one element is bad for you. It saps your life force, but very little of it.

  The screens of the ship blared to life as the ship’s outer cams picked up a visual on our destination. It was so close in view that you can almost touch it. I examined the visual and everyone else was as well. There did not seem to be anything wrong. Just moments before the screens came on, I noticed a flash of light around the topmost point on the rim of the planet. Did anyone else catch that or was it just me?

  There was something else approaching the planet. The object twirled in the air and blasted itself through the atmosphere of this new planet. It could have made itself out to be an actual meteoroid. The planet resembled Earth in so many ways.

  Everywhere I looked had a view unlike anything else. The lush green forests covered the place. It looked like paradise with all that green. I even saw faintly what looked like trees off in the distance. Water was everywhere. It was ends of flowing water just covered everywhere.

  The poles where covered in sheets of ice. If anyone stuck their hand on that, they would be stuck in place. It almost felt like just breathing in that spot would cause the air to freeze or turn to ice. In certain places, it looked like deserts as well. I just saw long patches of barrenness. It was rough and dry terrain and appeared rugged.

  I looked again and in another area, I saw rain. It was raining so hard that it was hard to see anything. I saw all kinds of land with animals on it. There were even crops and fields of vegetation.

  What disturbed me the most was when I looked and saw a different area. It was like an inferno of fire. The blaze darkened the sky and all I could see where embers of flames. Trees were all burning. There did not appear to be any signs of life there.

  Wait a minute! I run over to everyone else. Is this where I think it is? My brain was unable to compute this. I needed a confirmation. I could not contain myself. My emotions were running wild. Is this it?

  I just needed an answer from anybody. I kept telling myself that I had the answer. I did not need to seek the answer. I had no control over my thoughts. This is it. One part of me said that it was it. Another part of me kept preventing me from accepting that it was it.

  What I was seeing was Earth. Earth is that you that I see? I was becoming hysterical and I could not control it. I know I was not going crazy. I knew what I was seeing. Was anyone seeing the same thing that I was seeing. Please do not let me be the only one.

  I knew if anyone would know, it would have to be Aunt Glalie. She had so much wisdom stored up inside of her. I took a chance. I tap her on the shoulder and look in her eyes. “Aunt Gla—Glalie.” I said. She looked at me as if to read my mind. I just finally blurted it out hesitant. “Is this Earth?”

  She stifles a scream and that only enraged my curiosity. The sound of her screaming, made me jump a tad bit. I was caught off guard. What was going on?! This was the location of the last battle. What was the final battle? The entire world seemed to vibe with this Earth-like feeling?

  As we entered through the atmosphere, the ship screens turned white and dimmed down to reveal the planet’s true colors. The screens started to flicker and almost zoom in every time I looked at them. Was I really seeing what I was seeing? Surprise. The whole place was barren. It was deserted from end to end.

  Fire, Earth, Air, and Water, ravaged throughout the land individually instead of as a whole; like a team. They were all distinct and apart by themselves. Where was the Earth that we just saw seconds ago? I switch the screens to the back of the ship cams from the front ship cams.

  The layer of atmosphere shimmered with light. It rippled across the rest of the layer like dropping a rock in a pond. Just as I was about to turn away, the ripples countered with other ripples. The ripples started to make waves that ascended and descended.

  This confirmed his idea. There was someone else here coming straight to this planet for something. It had to be another life form of some sort. The planet seemed to groan at me. Was it trying to tell me something that my intuition already knew?

  Did everyone else hear that? I really was starting to lose myself in all of this. I use the ship’s lighting as energy and shutter some light against the atmosphere. The light stopped at the edge of the atmosphere. The atmosphere shimmered again and repeated the same process that happened when our ship first entered the atmosphere. The whole atmosphere was a hologram!

  There was something on this planet that the original guardians had to shield from prying eyes or even long-distance scanners. What was out there? Our ship entered a new layer of atmosphere. The ship started to descend underground.

  I thought the ship was going to turn off, but it kept going. There was a certain place where air, water, earth, and fire connected. The ground opened to reveal it. It was a hangar underneath the surface.

  The ship landed at first when we landed. It came to a complete stop. I was unable to hear the engine. The sputting stopped and not another sound was heard from the ship after that. I was not even trying to watch the cams either. We thought that the ship in front of us was a reflection. The lights coming from it were blinding.

  What could this mean? I got down from the ship not realizing the air was okay to breathe in. I walked up to the reflection only to see that someone else was getting down from it. I followed it as far as my eyes could see. The reflection from the light became brighter as I got closer to it.

  Was I seeing this right? Wait could it have been…I did not want any disappointment. I started to call names as I saw their images. “Is that everybody?” They all came into clear view. It was them. No, I was deceiving myself into thinking that it was them. Oh, wow. Sure
enough, I was right. Yes, Cameron, Austin, Mathew, and Uncle Peter? Oh, let it be them. We had been separated for far too long.

  My body was tingling with emotions. This was the moment that we all waited for. It was a time for a great celebration. We would be united back together again. I wanted to cry but held back tears. I wanted to leap for joy, but my body would not let me.

  I started sprouting in the air. My heart was pounding out of my chest. I patted my chest to try to calm my heart down. This scene was giving me chills. I had goosebumps on my arms. I was in shock.

  My level of excitement increased with each moment that maybe this could be the reunion everyone was expecting. We have not seen each other for about 4-8 weeks. It could have been longer than that if you calculate time traveling in space.

  This was a joyous moment. I just wanted to cast all my cares away and just enjoy this. It just seemed like this day would never arrive. Now, here I was grinning. I could not believe what I was seeing. This was really happening. I pinched myself to be sure that it was true. There was a moment of silence.

  I started to see familiar faces. I tried to think back to earlier memories that we had shared before we had been separated from each other. It was all starting to come back to me now. Had it really been that long? I was bombarded with so many things at one time that I almost forgot to breathe.

  It really was true. I was beyond overjoyed to find out my friends were okay. They were alive. They had made it. They were okay. It looked like they were all really exhausted. I could not believe my eyes.

  I noticed that they held the relics in their hands as they walked down from the stairs of the ship. They took each step one-by-one. I knew they had endured so much along the way. They trying to make it down the ship.

  The expressions on everyone’s faces was beyond relief. There were no words to describe this. It was a reunion. We all embraced each other.

  Uncle Peter and Aunt Glalie were back together at once. I know that had to be extremely trying for husband and wife to be away from each other for that length of time. They spoke a few words to each and smiled. I knew they were happy. They gravitated towards each other as if they were never apart.

  I took in each moment we shared. I did not know what to really feel. I tried hard to see if everyone was okay. I was being overdramatic. It had been so long since we had all been around each other.

  Everyone was satisfied. We still had a lot of catching up to do. After the reunion was settled and finished, Aunt Glalie and Uncle Peter shared a look. Uncle Peter knew what Aunt Glalie was thinking.

  Aunt Glalie knew what Uncle Peter was thinking. What were they thinking? They kept looking at each other and then over at us. There was so much suspense in the air.

  I did not know it at first, but I felt a strange connection to this place. It was a sense of belonging. I closed my eyes and I reached into the center of the planet. I felt a faint residue of a powerful object; the relic. Everyone else had their relic and I did not. I needed to get my relic.

  Maybe my relic is waiting for me. At last, the silence from everyone calming down broke. We became quiet in an instant. We really needed to pay attention to what was happening.

  Aunt Glalie spoke to us saying, “Listen, everyone. This is the location of one of the most famed battles in the history of Kalmania.” Right, where we were, was the actual site of the famous battle. Really?

  “What’s Kalmania?” I asked.

  “Kalamania, was the place where X, Y, and Z were once together. They used to be all together. That place was called Kalmania right here. This is a historical landmark where we are standing. However, the demons had influenced parts of Kalmania. These sections became what you know as Kalamine X, Y, and Z.” she said.

  “Kalmania was peaceful. It used to be a place of order and structure. When these demons ravaged our land, our god Omnichron helped protect our part from the evil. The demons fought and fought against Omnichron. Eventually, he got tired, so he split his body into five beings; the original guardians.

  “During the process of transformation, both the White Demon and Black Demon lost a piece of their soul. That lost piece of their soul caused a conversion. This turned into the Bad and Good Guardians; light and dark. After this occurred, it was obvious that Sakuta and Atukas had to split off. The original Guardians sealed them away.

  “As they sealed them away, the Flame guardian interrupted the process as he had to say a prophecy. This began to be known as the Sacred Words. Once you say the words, you invoke upon the ritual, and the ensealment begins. We began researching this through old texts and piecing together the ritual.

  “Unfortunately, after the relics, there is another important piece of information that was needed to perform the ritual. The crystals also have to do with the ritual as well. They create the portal that reseals them into the portal. There is a connection between the crystals camouflaged in space and the ritual.

  “However, their security can be breached. The crystals themselves hold a separate code. Most of them are false, but there are 7 specific crystals throughout the whole galaxy that connect with the crystals you have. They can only be unlocked once you find the relics. But to decrypt the information, we need to get to Kalamine X.” Aunt Glalie explained.

  Looks like we all had marching orders. Aunt Glalie made a great commander in chief. There right by her side was Uncle Peter as drill sergeant standing at attention. She had equipped us in our briefing. We were all standing as soldiers having been geared for battle.

  As we listened to her, we started walking down a path into the planet. I looked around and noticed strange markings all over the place. There was an opening at the end of the tunnel. We rushed towards it. Aunt Glalie’s voice seemed to trail off.

  She was still speaking. All I heard was the last part about unlocking. As soon as I crossed, I realized my mistake, I stepped onto the libra. The last thing any of us needed was to make costly mistakes and slow down progress. I got to be more careful.

  On the other end were the elements of fire, water, air, and earth. The librum started to tip. I was on the clock. I had to fuse each element together. I reached out with my mind and imagined I was the chef. I was making a recipe for quintessence.

  I added each of the ingredients and I cooked them on the light. The libra dipped but then started to wobble. The quintessence pranced across the small plate of the libra. The libra swung around so the others could get on to it. Once we got on, the quintessence bobbled over to the center of the libra and infused itself with the libra.

  The libra began to pulsate with light. The head relic could be unlocked if the other relics were not present. The libra swung around in circles causing a change in gravity. The libra descended downward causing my sense of stability to vomit everywhere.

  Luckily, my strong stomach kicked in at the last moment, so then I was able to swallow back down the about-to-be-vomit back down my throat. It was more like stomach acid because I do not remember the last time I ate. I moved towards the center. I was afraid that I would just fall, but the spinning kept it from happening.

  At the edge of the disk, I jump and then I burst of the disk and onto the center pole tip, just barely balancing on the tip. I am learning more about myself then even I know. I did not realize that I could do that. Thankfully, I took some yoga. It helped balance my concentration.

  I look back onto my friends. Aunt Glalie, Amelia, Alex, and Justin on one disk. Uncle Peter, Mathew, Austin, and Cameron on the other disk. The same two groups as before.

  The chains seemed perfectly fine holding the disks together. The quirky little quintessence energy inside the libra sent a small shock of energy that vibrated throughout the Libra. The chains started to wobble, and the vibration cut small slits into the chain. The Libra spun faster, and it almost had the same experience I had on the tilt-a-whirl back on Earth.

  The gravity increased more and the small incision in the chains gave away. The hairs on my neck stood up! Oh, no! The disks broke through the wall.
All that was left of the Libra was the center pole and the seesaw beam just right below where I stood. I stared at the place my friends, who were just at…

  The chains were like whiplashes. They smacked the walls revealing an empty darkness behind it. It just came to my mind that we were falling for about 5 minutes. There was no way that the planet was even big enough for that amount of space unless, the whole interior of the planet is hollow! That would make no sense. Either way, I had to get out of here or else I will be stuck in this ever-permanent time loop.

  The pole gradually sank slower as if there was an invisible molasses in the air. The pole then stopped right on the border of the black sea and the white sea. The border reminded me of the yin and yang. You know, the Chinese Philosophy that shows that opposite or contrary forces may be interconnected. The biggest thing here, was whether or not they interrelated to one another.

  What was I supposed to do with it? Suddenly, I was shocked with a tiny bolt of electricity. It went all the way throughout my entire body. The voltage was intense. I had this sensation of losing all sense of touch and then it came back. I completely forgot about that quintessence energy stuck in the Libra.

  The seas are separated. Yes. The black sea was disconnected from the white sea. That was the first thing I saw. My magic was for the purposes of combing and fusing together stuff. Now, that was the second step.

  The quintessence energy then slammed into my chest. It was like a shock to my heart. The energy started to envelope me, but then it dissipated into my body. My magic reserves welled up with energy that I never saw before. My friends were stuck on the seas.

  I could vaguely feel their presence, but I knew they were there. I welled up my energy into one single point. Justin and everyone else could sense it as well because they also sent their part of magic within me. I had a little bit of everybody’s magic along with mine.