Into the Mystic

by Garry Hicks

Back at sea, the men lean against the rear deck rail as the islands shrink. As they watch, a large wave rolls toward them.

  Steven, a bit on edge after seeing the wave, says, "What the hell is that mate? I thought we left all that behind us."

  "I don’t know but it’s moving fast." Brandon replies.

  As they watch the wave, they enter the thick fog.

  Immediately, huge waves crash over the side, the Mystic rolls on top of the waves. Everyone is inside in the control room. Gold tumbles out of the bulging gold chest and slides all over the floor.

  Brandon stares helplessly at Derek. "How can this be? It's starting all over again."

  Derek, ruffled, answers, "I don't know, this isn't supposed to happen."

  A huge wave knocks the rear deck door open. The front of the Mystic angles forty five degrees upward as it rides a wave. Steven and Joshua fly out the back door and slide across the deck on their stomachs, nothing to hold onto.

  Both yell, "Help...helllp!"

  Brandon grabs a rope from a closet as Derek struggles to keep the Mystic afloat. Brandon ties the rope to a grab bar on the wall, tosses it to the men. As both struggle to grab the rope, another huge wave lifts them in the air.

  Steven is able to grab the rope with one hand and reaches out to Joshua with his other hand. Joshua grabs his hand and Steven helps pull him to the rope. Both men now have both their hands clasping the rope.

  Brandon yells to Seth, "Help me pull them in!" Brandon and Seth struggle to pull them but make a little progress.

  Joshua and Steven are able to struggle to their knees and start to crawl toward the door. Just when they are ten feet from the door, a monster wave smashes in from the side and lifts both and tosses them overboard.

  Brandon screams..."Noooo!" He tugs on the rope, it's tight, both men still hold on. Steven and Brandon again try to pull in the rope but cannot do it.

  "Derek, we need you to help." Brandon yells.

  As Derek rushes over, the rope yanks the bar from the wall and flies into the sea.

  Brandon screams, "Nooo, not again!"

  The storm immediately calms down, the skies become quiet. All three guys rush out to the deck and stare into the murky water.

  Derek utters, "I guess it got what it came for. After all that time they were held by the sirens, they are taken away again." he pauses. "I just don't understand it."

  The fog eventually lightens, then completely disappears. In front of them sit the two islands.

  "This is really messed up. None of this makes any sense." proclaims Derek.

  Brandon adds, "After all we've been through, we end up back where we started. And now Steven and Joshua are gone. How could Arianna let this happen?"

  Seth, to the right of them, replies, "She could do nothing, it is I that have made all this happen."

  Derek and Brandon turn to Seth. He is no longer Seth but has turned into Thanos. The two guys glance at each other, then back at Thanos.

  Derek asks, "Who the hell are you and what happened to Seth?"

  Thanos, looking toward the island, replies, "I am Thanos, I am here to ensure Brandon survives and breeds with Treena. She will then have a son who will rule the Earth and bring my kind back into power.

  "I'm sorry, I'm not sure what you mean, Treena already carries my child."

  "Treena will lose the child because it is not a boy. You must then deliver a boy to her. It is written in our ancient scrolls that this is the way it will happen."

  "Why Treena...and more important, why me?"

  "You don't know who you were, do you?"

  "Arianna spoke of this but no, I have no clue who I was...I'm just Brandon."

  "Let me help you out. You were Asclepius, the God of medicine and healing. Your mother, Coronis, also known as Arsinoe, became pregnant with you by Apollo but fell in love with someone else. Apollo learned of the affair and he sent his sister, Artemis, to kill Coronis, your mother. But before she was killed, you were cut out from her by, who else, none other than Apollo. Go figure on that one. Apollo gave you to the centaur Chiron to raise. Chiron taught you the art of surgery, of how to be a doctor.

  For reason's I don't want to go into, your powers were not appreciated by all, and your ability to revive the dead soon drew the resentment of Zeus. He struck you down with a thunderbolt.

  But Zeus soon learned how important your work was. After he realized your importance in the world of men, he placed you in the sky as the constellation Ophiuchus.

  But while you were alive, you were married to Epione, and with her you fathered six daughters. Your next child was going to be a male, a boy child favored by the Gods, but you were taken before that could happen. This is why you were brought back to father a male child who will be a God to rule this Earth. This is why I must take you back to the island."

  Brandon muses, "Six girls? That's crazy. And me being a Greek God? Admit it Thanos, you're making all of this up."

  "I speak nothing but the truth. I have no reason to lie."

  Derek has slipped away, unnoticed. He slithers behind Thanos and plunges a knife into his back.

  "That was total stupidity you fool."

  Both Brandon and Derek stare at him in disbelief. Thanos backs up, slides the knife out, shoots evil rays at Derek from his eyes.

  Derek rubs his face, screams "Noooo!"

  Thanos flicks his finger toward the ocean and Derek flies out of the boat and plunges into the water that swallows him.

  Brandon screams a war cry and lunges at Thanos, wraps his hands around his neck and squeezes. Thanos only smiles, then disappears.

  Brandon jerks awake in bed, his hands extended in a choking motion. His hands tremble as he snaps out of it and sits up. He glances around to orientate himself. He shakes his head.

  "Damn, I, these, these are gonna kill me."

  He remembers back to what Arianna told him. "You must listen to your dreams, they reveal the future."

  "Man I hope not." He jumps out of bed, dresses, leaves the area.

  Later, as the fog lightens, Derek hurries inside the control room, stares at the gauges. As he watches, the needles jump, the radar beeps. Derek turns the key, the engine roars. Everyone claps and yells.

  The fog has evaporated. Where the two islands sat is now endless ocean.

  Brandon leans on the deck, gazes out to sea, a sad look on his face. He feels hands on both his shoulders.

  He warns, "Stop messing with me Kyle!"

  The two hands then cover his eyes, turn him around. He grabs the hands and pulls them off.

  Brandon, both shocked and thrilled, yells out, "Treena!" they hug and kiss. "I never thought I was going to see you again!"

  Treena, responds, in almost a whisper, "The love you spoke of, it is very powerful."

  "You must be a vision, Arianna said we wouldn’t remember anything."

  "What, and forget about me!" Treena smiles. "You remember me Brandon?"

  "Ahhh, the power of the mermaid!"

 

 

  CHAPTER TWENTY THREE