Aetheran Child

by Antonin Januska

  “My sister caught you before you hit your head on another rock,” Nangern finished Taylor’s story and the boys laughed uneasily.

  “So…much…trouble…” Alexander groaned and shifted uncomfortably.

  “Leo’s not going to tell anyone…believe me. He won’t tell anyone he got beat up,” Dominik chuckled, “You really gave him a pounding.”

  “He’s right!” said Nangern excitedly, the beaten-up boy lying down imagined him smiling.

  Alexander groaned, “I need some sleep..I’m dead tired.”

  “Hold on, mate. We’ll get ya t’bed soon,” Taylor’s voice trailed off as Alexander lost consciousness again and felt the dreams, strange dreams rush in, for the Day was coming.

  CHAPTER THREE

  I

  A spaceship slowed down, entering the known universe, and the Solar System. Its design imitated that of a needle: long, narrow, and sharp at the front. The back curved into bluntness so smooth that no extrusion could be seen on its polished cover. Smoothed out by atom by atom, the friction coefficient numbered to zero. It reflected any light and in all directions, making the ship glow with a halo.

  The swift-space of faster-than-light speeds required the aerodynamics provided by the sharp front end. It also allowed for smoother and easier inter-dimensional travel. The dimensions used for travel have changed and switched over hundreds of times. Explorers found new pathways and ways to twist the higher dimensions for travel. The Sacred Race of All gave the first galaxy travelers a way to access different worlds, and they built on that. It is yet unknown but the most famous archeologists of the Milky Way work very hard to decipher the tombs of these creatures, the Sacred Race, to unravel the mysteries of the galaxy and the universe.

  The ship exited the swift-space after a year’s worth of travel across the vast galaxy, from near its core. Master Raki sat down from exhaustion and wiped the sweat off his brow. Exhaustion brought him down, especially since the council decided he did not need a vessel crew. Alone, the man meditated and thought. He reflected upon his life and trained to keep up his shape and physical vigor.

  He realized a flaw in the plan early on, the mission, and the prophecy. No one could expect it because no one knew. He calculated and decided. The destiny would crumble and everything true would be wrong if he let the mistake exist. The third cannot be suppressed, he thought, I have to warn The Spirits but I cannot wait. There was not enough time to discuss this. He had to send the message to Nethers who should already be on their way, close to Earth in fact. Their way of travel was much more risky but faster than swift-space. Instead of just accessing the sixth dimension and looping into an alternate universe with laws that not only allowed faster than light speeds but demanded it, the Nethers used the seventh dimension to get into a time where the universe was at its end. The Great Crunch, and many other endings of the universe, allowed them to surpass time/space limits but at higher risk. It took less time for them to get to Earth from the Andromeda galaxy than for the Spirits to arrive from the Imperial Core Planets.

  The first two have to be separated during their flight, the master thought, one to be with Nethers, the other with Spirits but what of the third? The third was peculiar, the third was unaccounted for.

  They must not meet, any of them.

  “I will have to disguise myself,” A thought flashed through Raki’s mind. He meditated once again, clearing his mind to lay out the new plan in detail. As the pieces of the plan started falling into the large puzzle, Raki’s eyes turned brown from blue.

  II

  Alexander floated in a dark place, without a single thought. Lightning, hosting threads and strings of thoughts and ideas, flashed every other second supplying ambient light. When the dark came again, it was as dark as Alexander’s hair which shined and waved with every loud thunderous blast which shook the air and the boy.

  The boy stood still and remembered a similar dream he dreamt. He dreamt it a month ago, or a week, maybe a day, hour, minute, probably a second. Sense of time left him, the dream always seemed to take an eternity but a second at the same time. An infinity in a zero value. He dreamt and could not voluntarily think.

  He saw the two same men from his last dream, the two tall men. One burnt and one white as a wall. One stood in front of him, one in the back. This time though, two women stood by his side. They were skinny with long hair. They seemed beautiful and graceful, full of love actually. The first was splattered in blood, with scars on her body from numerous fights. Her veins and the energy around her pulsated ominously. She smiled, showing off her sharp gleaming white teeth. The other woman seemed to waver like the water or the clouds in the sky. Her peaceful smile and her clear blue eyes resembled that of a goddess. She was pure. The contrast between the women burned Alexander’s eyes.

  A voice whispered, “Things aren’t always as they seem to be,” it lingered and seemed to breath in and out with the lightning strikes, “Choose a path or do not, it makes no difference,” the voice sighed and the next sentence sounded more of a desperate plea than a statement, “There is no good. There is no evil.”

  The four standing figures started chanting and spinning in a circle. Some kind of energy formed around Alexander and enveloped his body. The boy’s body flooded with vast amounts of adrenalin. His mouth dried up and his lips started to crack. He felt blood upon his tongue. His pulse sped up until his heart beat too tightly against his chest, trying to get out. The boy’s breathing quickened but there was no pain only anxiety. Alexander wanted to run and never stop but he could not move. Frustration started to build up in his mind and he wanted to scream but again could not. He woke up.

  III

  The boy sweated in his bed. The ray of moonlight pierced the darkness. A thin blanket covered his body but not only his body. A warm body pressed up against his. It twitched as he moved. The two cuddled, it was a natural reflex just like fetal position, and they had endured the slightly chilly night it seemed.

  Alexander recognized the body as one of a girl. She had long, curly, and brown hair. He could not see her eyes but saw that she wore a blue shirt and black jeans, an unusual combination for sleepwear. The moonlight caressed her skin and Alexander thought she looked delightfully cute as his head filled with inappropriate thoughts. He watched her for some time until she suddenly started shaking and twisting. She dislodged her arms and put her arms over her face in a grimace. She woke up, heavily breathing. She seemed to have had a nightmare, a disturbing one.

  “Those women, they were me-” she muttered, “burnt skin, those men..” she stopped and startled looked over at Alexander. She mumbled a few words and some things before she realized the boy lying next to her was awake.

  “Are you-are you awake?” She asked.

  “Yeah…” Alexander yawned tiredly and quickly then realized he was half-naked under the blanket and pulled it up, “What are you doing here?” he yawned again, “Actually who are you?”

  “I’m Nangern’s sister, Alary,” She started, “I cleaned some of your cuts. I must have fallen asleep, sorry,” Alexander watched her and she turned away, her cheeks burning with a healthy red of embarrassment, “I’ll go sleep on the floor, I can’t leave the dorm this late,” she proceeded to get up but Alexander stopped her.

  “Just stay here, I’ll move to the edge, there’s room for both of us,” the boy started and felt his heart jump. He honestly did not have any bad intentions, but he felt as if he wished for this to happen subconsciously, “My name is Alexander by the way,” he looked down, “Let me put my shirt on.” He felt a bit odd shirt-less with a girl in his bed. He just hoped that he would not embarrass himself too much.

  She nodded and pointlessly turned away. The boy jumped down and took a white t-shirt from his bag. Everyone else slept. Alexander caught a glimpse of Alary looking at him when he put on his shit in front of the mirror. He enjoyed cuddling with her, pressing his body up against hers. Alary IS beautiful, he thought and looked up at her in the mirror agai
n. She looked away hurriedly. The bruised boy hated the way he looked, but only to a certain extent. He was slender, skinny with a thin layer of muscle developing. He could see his ribs showing but he was proud of his “4-pack” below. Nangern is going to be angry at me, he thought, but come on, I can’t let this chance pass. Live in the moment, he thought.

  He proceeded to put on his shorts and climbed back to his bed. He stared at the ceiling atop and then turned to the girl beside him, “Hey Alary?”

  “Yeah?” she whispered and turned to him. The boy lay silently and did not know what to exactly say so he just looked down and thought.

  “Never mind,” he said but he pushed himself, “I’m not sure. Today was a crazy day.”

  “Yeah. It was,” she answered and eyed him carefully, the moonlight danced in her eyes. I wish I was older, he thought. He imagined being fifteen or sixteen with his own room, and a girlfriend he could bring over. She would sleep over whenever she wanted and his parents wouldn’t care. My parents, he thought and felt the dull thud of his heart quicken. He pushed the thought away and remembered a show he watched on regular basis. It was about a traveling boy, away from his family, but still with his friends. The boy traveled to distant countries, learning new things, enhancing a particular set of skills. Alexander always wanted to be that boy and in his world, in a world free of money and of rules. In a world where he could go outside and leave, and not worry about sickness. He wanted to be in that world where he could travel with Alary and see amazing things.

  Finally, the shy twelve-year-old boy decided and reached out with his hand. Alary watched him expectantly. He wrapped his hand around her waist and brought her closer. They quickly fell asleep together in peace and stayed that way until dawn.

  IV

  Weeks passed by, Alary and Alexander spent their time together more frequently than anyone, especially Nangern, would like. Alexander always waited for her after his classes and she would seek him out in the courtyard, the playground, during lunch. He liked the feeling when he was with her, he felt carefree and happy. The misery bestowed upon him ceased to have such an influence. Occasionally, the boy left the illusion behind and he would remember the death of his parents, and the state of his life.

  Alary talked to Alexander about her life, she had transferred in and out of orphanages with her brother most of her life. She barely remembered her parents but Nangern always reminded her of how amazing they were. At those times, they would lie together under the star-filled sky and cuddle in the spring cool wind.

  Neither the faculty nor the guards cared about the midnight ventures. They, themselves, usually stayed inside the office and refused to patrol the area. Strangely, though, Alexander and Alary were just about the only ones to leave the dormitory premises.

  The more time they spent together, the more secrets they revealed to each other. Every day became a challenge for the couple to learn something new about each other. Some jaded truth came out of Alary who admitted to the strange abuses in the girl’s dormitory. How they were cruel to each other. On more than one occasion, someone switched out the shampoo with glue. And it was a common practice to beat up someone during the shower time. Alary was a victim frequently and she could not stand it.

  Alexander wished there was something he could do but he could not so he just hugged her closely and let her enjoy the time they had together. Alary went to mention the rapes, but those did not take place at regular intervals but though rare, they did happen. Most girl, Alary would continue her horrid description of the dormitories, did not mind the last activity. They gave into it and though there was nothing necessarily wrong with it, many were forced to follow suit with homosexuality. Much like most forced themselves straight outside the orphanage walls.

  The nights went on and on wherein they talked endlessly. They discussed everything, but mostly they talked about life beyond what Alexander referred to as “this” and he would spread his arms around as if to encompass the whole area.

  Classes held no interest to anyone, not even the bright boy who enjoyed learning just a couple months earlier. He found the classes boring and the teachers irritating. They did not enjoy teaching and they did not like kids. Despite that, none of the teachers ever cancelled a single class. Alexander and the others would endure through the period and then run outside to engage in their usual activities.

  One day, Nangern took notice of Alary and Alexander for the first time, “Hey, Alexander, what are you doing with my sister?” he asked him during.

  “We’re kind of dating. I hope you don’t mind,” the boy started out cautiously but he already knew that this would end in a fight. Nangern had a fighting spirit behind his eyes, and anger that Alexander never noticed.

  “Can you cut that out? I don’t want anyone messing with my sister,” his stare turned cold.

  “Hey man, I’m just dating her, we’re not even doing anything,” Alexander backed off and got ready to leave but Nangern pulled him down.

  “I don’t care, just leave her alone, alright?”

  “I can’t do that.”

  “You can, and you will,” Nangern’s hand grasped Alexander tightly around the arm.

  “No,” Alexander shook the boy’s hand off and left the lunchroom.

  Nangern followed him closely and yelled at him to stop. Everyone at the playground turned their way.

  “Why don’t you talk to her about it? She’s her own person, you know. And so am I,” Alexander yelled back, his hands ready. He walked warily backward.

  “I already did, that’s why I’m talking to you,” he mumbled, “I thought you were my friend.”

  Both purposely talked loudly enough to get the attention of the other kids that formed a circle around them. The circle moved as they walked, and Alexander realized that he could not keep walking so he stopped. Nangern followed suit.

  “So are you going to knock it off or not?” Nangern asked, and implied that this was the last time he would ask.

  Alexander only shook his head and walked closer to the other boy, “Look. I beat up Leo pretty bad. I saved you and Alary. Now back off before I fuck you up, too.”

  And with that, the classic movie scene, the fight started. Nangern pushed Alexander and Alexander pushed back. The two boys were of similar build and similar age. They could have been brothers except Alexander’s skin paled in comparison to Nangern’s, his hair was lighter as well. In strength, both looked equally as able but everyone else knew Alexander would win. They saw Nangern fight Leo and they saw him lose and they saw him cry. Everyone at the playground has also seen Alexander fight and they saw him win and they saw him show power they did not think he had. The fight, in their minds, was over before it started.

  “You won’t fuck me up,” Nangern spoke through his teeth and spit on the ground. Alexander smiled; whatever power he had before, it would come again and he would beat the other.

  Nangern launched himself and his fist and planted it straight into the other’s stomach. Alexander stumbled back and caught his fist in his hands. He kicked upward but Nangern blocked him with his knee. Nangern retaliated and with a kick of his own that landed on Alexander’s shin. Alexander stumbled back and let Nangern’s fist go. They spared for a few minutes, each landing a couple of blows on each other but nothing major happened. Nangern kept dodging or blocking the other boy’s attempts to hit him in the face or the stomach and always tried to push Alexander back with blows of his own.

  Neither of the boys was a skilled fighter and neither could actually fight well. When Alexander hit Nangern in the face, on his cheek. The boy turned and fell down on the ground in a twist. He brought his hand up to his jaw and felt blood in his mouth.

  As soon as he got up, he ran toward Alexander and despite a couple of blows in the stomach, he brought him down on the ground. He used his knees to keep the boy’s hands down and hit him in the face. Then he started choking him. Alexander countered by bringing his legs up and kneeing Nangern in the back. Nange
rn, startled, turned around, expecting to see someone. Alexander writhed his hands from under the other boy’s knees and punched Nangern in the stomach, that was his sole reach. Nangern fell back and as soon as he did that, Alexander brought his legs up once more and twisted them around Nangern’s chest. With all his strength, he pushed Nangern down to the ground. He untangled himself and stood up. Much to his surprise, Nangern entangled his legs in between Alexander’s and tripped him. The crowd mindlessly cheered on.

  The two wrestled on the ground, each beating the other when he had a chance. The dust started to whirl as the wind picked up. Nangern pushed Alexander off him and moved him away. He stood up and walked over a couple meters and fell down, exhausted. Alexander did not pursue him. It is said that the best way to get to know someone is to fight him. They fought and they got to know each other. They felt a bond that they have not felt before, it was not supposed to be there. It confused Alexander, and angered Nangern. The two boys were like brother, and that’s what made the situation much worse.

  The rain started to come down, and the crowd dispersed. Nangern could feel his anger seep away with the cold droplets. He had used as much energy as he could to fight off Alexander and Alexander did the same. In a last attempt, Nangern stood up from the ground, nearly sliding back down on the already wet ground. He walked in the mud, feeling the dirt sucking on his shoes with every step. He did not wish to talk, talking would mean the fight was over and it wasn’t.

  With a swift kick, Nangern turned over the other boy as he attempted to get up. Alexander slipped in the mud and breathed heavily. He looked up at the towering figure above, and kicked with his leg against the other’s legs. Nangern slid down on the mud and for a while, as the boys scrambled to stand on their feet, they kept tripping each other.